Conquering The Himalayas

Before Christmas, a certain someone came to me with what she thought was a brilliant idea. She thought it would be fun to sign up for a 5k obstacle race aptly called “The Hellish 5k.”

Instead of going with my instinct and asking her to leave my office with her crazy idea, I went online and signed up the boy and I. When I told the boy, he didn’t seem upset. It probably has something to do with the fact that he’s 16 years old and has a lot of life to learn. Me? I know that this 5k WILL be hellish.

The lady responsible for this craziness, Miss Deb, and I go way back. We have a history so to speak. I’ll tell you more about it in a bit.

But first, I want to vent the first of many vents about my training regiment.

I have been running off and on the past few weeks outdoors in the cold. I was doing what I thought was a nice easy two miles each time. My stamina increased but I stayed within what I thought was that two mile range because I wanted to start slowly. Very slowly.

A couple of nights ago the girl and I drove the route that I have been running. It’s not two miles. It was 1.8 miles. I was deflated. I turned to the girl and I said, “I’m a wimp.”

She said, “Mommy, you can run down Jones Road and do that loop thing. That should be two miles.”

That thought has crossed my mind. But the reason I don’t do the loop thing is because there are hills. Or rather there  is one hill but it might as well be the Himalayas.

I am a wimp.

In any case, this morning, I started out to conquer the Himalayas and about 3/4 of the way through, my right hamstring started to tighten up. I stopped and walked the rest of the way because I wanted to take it slowly, very slowly.

Total mileage for the loop thing? 2.3 miles.

Tomorrow is my yoga class. I am so looking forward to it . . .

My Mary Kay Lady Lives In The North Pole ~ Giveaway

I have a friend who sells Mary Kay. She lives in North Pole, Alaska. I live in Maryland. We met in Arizona about 14 years ago.

Because I have a friend who sells Mary Kay and lives in the North Pole, I’m giving away this Mary Kay eye makeup remover.

You can consider the rest of this post a disclaimer:

Because I have a friend who sells Mary Kay and lives in the North Pole, I will occasionally use Mary Kay. I am not a Mary Kay distributor and I am not an exclusive user of Mary Kay products. I do not receive any compensation, rectification, or reciprocity from Mary Kay. I do not know Mary Kay and I do not have a pink Mary Kay car.

However, when I find a great product, I crow about it. And this eye makeup remover is just plain great.

When I placed my latest order (which happens about twice a year) with Lonnie, my Mary Kay lady who lives in the North Pole, I asked if she would give me a free eye makeup remover in place of the bonus gift to give away on this blog.

She agreed, she’s a doll.

I have tried many different types of makeup remover products, including Clinique, Neutrogena, CVS and a variety of others and hands down, this is the best. It’s not greasy, like baby oil. It doesn’t sting and unlike some makeup removers, your makeup will come off in one application. It leaves my eyes soft like I just moisturized them, which is wonderful because too much tugging at the eyes equals wrinkles.

I don’t always get makeup readily (because Lonnie lives in the North Pole) and I’m loyal to her and no other Mary Kay lady, so I will run out of some things because I’m a bad makeup planner. I am intimidated by the ladies at the makeup counter at Macy’s – I feel like a fish out of water.  I travel to Walmart and I stand and stare at the myriad of cosmetic offers and I start to shake. Oh the pressure.

So I fall back on the old standby.

If you would like me to send this makeup remover to you, tell me what kind of makeup you use in the comments and it may be yours. I don’t have any other interest other than I’m just curious. Maybe some of you will have a great makeup tip for me. Or if there is something that you use that you really like, please share it. I want to know!

And of course, if I pick your name, this fantastic makeup remover is yours:) Giveaway ends next Monday.

Leave me a comment please!

Thoughts On The Winter Classic

The Winter Classic is a yearly hockey game between two teams in the National Hockey League that takes place on New Year’s Day. We watched it as a family yesterday. LCAT Daniel was over to watch as well but I’m not sure if he’s a hockey fan. He slept through most of it.

We started following hockey over the last several years because our darling neighbor, Neighbor Doug, is the equipment manager for the Anaheim Ducks. Before that, I had no idea what hockey was.

We attended two hockey games in two weeks in December. The girl has developed an affinity for Sydney Crosby, the star player for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ever since her field hockey experience last fall, she has been a hockey fanatic. I guess Jason Dunn of Hawk Nelson is merely a memory.

That looks like it hurt!

Last Wednesday, we took the trip to my Alma Mater for the boy’s first ever college tour and it just so happens that the feeder team for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Wilkes-Barre Penguins, were playing that same day. We had to go of course.

Ouch! Over the wall he goes!

I know all this talk of hockey can be boring. Are you still awake? Hello? Stay with me, I have a point.

That’s not very nice…

So we’re watching the Winter Classic and of course a fight broke out.

I’m starting to think that this Festerline guy is a bully.

Intermission.

I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.

Play nicely now!

Hockey has a reputation for fighting and I started wondering why. Why would such barbarism be condoned? The referees seem to turn the other cheek and only intervene when it gets out of hand.

I don’t understand it.

So of course we looked it up on Wikipedia. It actually has a posting for “Fighting in Hockey.” Here’s the link.

Intermission.

It was explained to me like this. Hockey is fast paced and highly physical. Players must maintain control over their actions but since they are on the ice, momentum can sometimes take over.

Which explains the checks into the wall. I actually don’t mind that. I see that it’s difficult to stop in skates.

Since it’s so exhausting, the line changes quite often to give players a rest. And since it’s so intense, the players can get really angry when they are checked or pushed.

And they fight.

Fighting is condoned to release their aggression so that they don’t suppress their anger and cause more damage to each other later on. In a strange way, it’s a deterrence.

Makes sense to me. Sort of.

I am becoming a hockey fan too. I think the sport is beautiful. It takes such skill, such finesse, such mastery. I can watch it without the fights and I would be perfectly alright. I don’t like watching two guys take their gloves and helmets off and hit each other while the referees watch. Even the girl was yelling “Fight, Fight!” I feel like we’re in a Roman coliseum. It’s barbaric. I was literally squirming in my seat.

But I think I’m in the minority.

These photos were taken at the Wilkes-Barre Penguins/Syracuse Crunch game on December 29th. It was a great game and so much fun. We were up close and personal, ten rows up. It was a blast.

There was legal checking and some emotion but no gratuitous fighting. It’s the way it should be. I read that most hockey fans do not want fighting to be banned. I thought as much.

Last night hockey. Today football. I think I may have to read an Oprah magazine when it’s all over and done with.

P.S. The Penguins fell to the Washington Capitals last night, 3 – 1. The girl is devastated.

Sometimes You Win – Sometimes You Don’t, A Shoe Story

I don’t know what has come over me this past holiday season. I am by no means a fashionista, and one look in my closet will attest to that. Which probably explains why I have so many fashion misses. But I keep trying, hoping to get lucky sometime.

Take these shoes for example. I wanted a new pair of shoes to wear for Christmas Eve. I was going to spend the evening at church so I’m not sure why I was obsessing so much. We planned on going to a Christmas party afterward but never made it. It was because my feet were killing me.

Only half kidding.

This tale of the Christmas Eve-shoes-gone-bad started with this shopping trip a week ago. Look at my poor boy, shopping’s not his favorite thing. And on top of that, he’s holding Miss Alicia’s Victoria Secrets shopping bag.

Miss Jackie, who by the way has incredible fashion sense, found the shoes I bought. She really liked them. And she reminded me that we wear the same size. I can’t in good conscience torture her by giving them to her though.

The shoes are gorgeous. They have a little ruffle on the front. They are a beautiful suede and the heel was not too high. They also had a really sexy silhouette. They looked great in the store. And they were $40. Sold!

Fast forward to Christmas Eve night at church. I had black tights on with my sparkly mini-skirt (yes, it’s true), my foot kept slipping out of the shoe. As I came off of carpet (like in the store) and started walking on stone or cement – well forgettabout it. I couldn’t keep them on for anything. I looked like a penguin walking down the hall.

I was at a Christmas party the week before and for some reason the conversation kept going to shoes. Everyone wanted to show me theirs. Neighbor Beth bought these the same day as the party

These shoes belong to Neighbor Kiaishia and I wish I had these on Christmas Eve. They look like they would actually stay on. And they are pretty sweet looking.

These are my shoes that I wore to the party but Neighbor Theresa’s absconded them. I didn’t want to wear these on Christmas Eve because I thought they were too high. I would have looked a little too glittery with my sparkly mini and these five inch sparkly heels. God may not have approved.

So another year of fashion misses. Oh well. I’m taking the Christmas Eve shoes back. Does anyone know if the mall is open on New Year’s day?

New Year’s Shoe Resolution

Happy New Year! I’m listening to everyone’s plans for the night and I find myself very grateful to be at home on my couch.

New Year’s Eve isn’t like it used to be for me.

Nonetheless, I started thinking about the awful shoes I wore to church on Christmas Eve. They hurt like the dickens. Then I thought about the above pair. I wore these shoes to Neighbor Sue’s Christmas party the week before Christmas. It was a great party and I purchased these just for the event.

They are five – I say again – five inches high. They are literally the highest pair I own. And I love them.

They are comfortable, they stay on my feel when I walk. And they are slightly glittery.

As it turns out, Neighbor Theresa also likes them. So much so that she asked to borrow them then walked away leaving me in my stocking feet.

She carried on conversations at the other end of the room. She ate. She drank. And I was afraid I would never see my five inch heels ever again.

Neighbor Theresa and I are about the same height. To put it bluntly, we’re short, so the thing she loved about the heels was that it made her really tall.

Tall enough to compete with just about everyone in the room. Except for perhaps Neighbor Susan.

Or Neighbor Sue.

Or – well, you get the point.

In any case, for a couple of hours, both she and I were walking in the clouds. Tomorrow, I’ll show you my other purchase which didn’t turn out as planned and I will bring back to the store as quickly as I can.

Happy New Year!

Does This Lens Make Me Look Fat?

My friend Mr. Tim sent me these photos this weekend. The scene is typical of this year’s soccer season. The boy is yelling, “No! Our goal is the other way!” and I’m taking photos for posterity.

Mr. Tim is a geek-extraordinaire. He’s forgotten more about computers than I will ever know.

But there’s something wrong with his lens. The boy looks normal but I seemed to have gained ten pounds. If the wind stops blowing today, I’ll put my running shoes on and run around the block.

Comments are off!

A New Fitness Beginning

I have been really disappointed in myself this summer as far as my fitness regiment goes. I fell of the fitness wagon and really didn’t do much over the summer for my physical health and well being. Then I came down with a very bad case of sinus infection and I used that as an excuse not to work out. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t totally negligent. I continued to teach my yoga class and I did walk the dog (slowly) every morning.

But I didn’t do any cardiovascular exercise and I didn’t ever elevate my heart rate to the point where I would burn fat, the kind one gets from eating too many Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Guilty as charged. As a result, I have gain some weight. I would tell you how much except that I don’t know the exact amount. I won’t get on the scale. I do know – like most women know – that I don’t feel good, my clothes don’t fit well, and for some reason, I’m swelling in all the wrong places. A bathing suit? Fuggetaboutit. I had to coach the boy’s soccer team last weekend and I was very embarrassed to put on shorts. When I don’t exercise, my legs look like stumps.

Above is a photo of the ladies who were in a spin class I took back in August. The class is taught by my friend and co-worker, Miss Robin. This class begins at 5:30 am – that’s 5:30 in the morning. My yoga class starts at 7 am so I thought I would go to this class then teach afterward. Best laid plans and famous last words and all those other cliches apply.

I was getting over my sickness and I made it exactly 12 minutes before I had to hop off my bike and run to the locker room to throw up. I coughed violently for 15 minutes and laid down for another 30 minutes on the bench in the locker room before I could function again. I don’t know what the other ladies in the locker room thought of the episode but I was hoping no one called the paramedics.

And I was hoping they didn’t know I was an instructor there. Very embarrassing.

But I now am making a new commitment to my body. I’ve done cardio three days – that’s three days – in a row. I’ve been to Miss Robin’s class twice this week and didn’t throw up once. It’s a major victory.

It’s Friday and I’m exhausted from running my kids around and fighting the school grades fight. But I am determined to run this morning. Right after I post this … yeah … going now …

I’ve Got It All Wrong

I try the best I can to adopt a healthy lifestyle. I do fall off the wagon and I have to pull myself back up again. Speaking of which, I haven’t done any cardio in two weeks. Hello belly.

I’m sitting here, minding my own business, and mending my body when I received a funny email from a friend which tells me that I’m doing it all wrong.

Or as she puts it, “I knew all that exercise and eating right stuff was crap - now there’s proof from a real doctor!!!”

The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans

The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Photos are mine. The words are not. I don’t even know if it’s true but it’s funny all the same.

Still resting…

And Now For The Walking Shoes…

It’s really fun when you find the perfect thing, you just want to shout it out to the world. So that’s what I’m doing.

I ran out of time yesterday to tell you about these shoes but I really want to. Because I can’t believe I found these. I told the husband several times that these are hands down the best walking shoe I have ever had the pleasure of putting on my worn, calloused, flat and ever-lovin’-I-can’t-wait-to-get-off-of-my-feet feet.

First of all, they have a heel. For a shortie like me, that’s a huge plus. But they don’t feel like they have a heel. They somehow medically and scientifically built them to cushion your feet for optimimum walking. I can wear them ALL DAY and still feel good at the end of the day. The one drawback is that they have a suede bottom so I bought a product that you can use on the bottom and help the suede stand up.

They are from Dansko, the Sela model. The one I have is the nubuck color. I like the neutral color because it doesn’t immediately draw people’s eyes to your feet like a darker color would. However, in researching these I saw the Berry Gecko color and I thought, “Hmmm…those look great.”

At $110 a pop, I guess I’ll pass on another color for now but I’m tellin’ you, I would own every color if I could.

Speaking of money and clothes/fashion…I’m on a roll. The bathing suit I spoke about yesterday is $158. These are $100 and up, depending on the color and material. You say, “I can’t afford that.”

And I’m wid cha.

But tomorrow, I’m going to tell you a story about the investment of a good quality piece of clothing or shoes. Hopefully it won’t be a soap box…

Wait! Here’s the link to Zappos.com. I bought them at the mall but there are many distributors out there. Dansko sells a lot of clogs…hmmm…I was never a clog person but they may have another sale this winter.

The Magic Suit & Walking Shoes

It seems that the last couple of months have been non-stop travel for me. It’s not that we’re independently wealthy nor do we own a family jet. No no.

It’s because the husband’s job gives us the benefit of flying stand by when there is room on a flight. Sort of like a 20% employee discount at Pier One Imports.

Anyway, we are very grateful for this benefit. It’s a little like hitch hiking across the US. It has it’s drawbacks which I’ll cover another time but today, I’m grateful that we were able to take advantage of this great bene and get away for a couple of days to celebrate 18 years of wedded bliss.

And a few blisters, but that comes with the territory.

Since our latest trip was to Florida and all that was on the agenda was beach, beach, and more beach, I wanted to get a great swimsuit. And I found one I wanted to show you. Are you ready to see me in it?

Here I am…all one hundred pounds of me in the “Magicsuit.”

Okay it’s not me. Details.

Though it didn’t make me look like a Victoria Secrets model, I did feel surprisingly un-self-concious in this suit. It’s because it truly is magic. It squeezes you in all the right places so you actually don’t see any rolls or bumps but at the same time it doesn’t feel like a girdle either. It’s fantastic.

It has little folds a the waist that camouflages quite a lot, if you need it that is. And I do.

Another bene?

It’s versatile too. I wore it with the skirt down at breakfast time, then I hitched up the skirt for a four miles hike on the beach. Have you ever walked four miles in the sand? It’s torture but it’s good torture. The suit held up better than I did.

The neckline is slightly plunging and that may be uncomfortable for some of you but it’s better than a bulging belly at breakfast time. I think it actually made me look taller.

It comes in hot pink too I think. Now that would look hot!

If the beach or pool is in your future this summer, and I hope it is, you should get this suit. You can find it at Victoria Secrets, where I do a lot of online shopping. Really I do, I love their sales section.

I’ll show you the shoes tomorrow. Don’t want to overwhelm you with too much fantastic-ness in one day and I have to go teach my yoga class.

Namaste!

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