Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Kickin' Back


So, what have I been up to? Well, I finally spent the time that was needed to deep clean my house. I've been learning about Indians, Buddhism and Hinduism with Briar as he does his social studies homework. I've been cooking! Yes! It's true...I've actually been cooking meals lately! Wendy's and Pizza Hut are probably wondering what they've done to piss me off. I had a birthday party for Bo - he turned 7 years old. I've actually talked to some of my friends lately. J.T. and I had a successful budget meeting to make sure we do not overspend throughout the holidays. We took Bo to a tryout for a travel baseball team and he loved it and they want him! I've been sleeping late when I want to. I've been running 5 milers here and there. I've been running 1 and 2 milers with Briar. I've been doing toning work, situps and lunges - OUCH! I haven't ate any meat or dairy since the Ironman - it's been 17 days and I'm going for 30. I feel great, by the way, and have lost 4 of those 6 lbs I gained during taper. I don't know if I'll stick with the vegan thing long term or not...but it's not so bad...I actually feel really good.

Oh yeah, and we are turning into Mennonites. You see, when we got hardwood floors put in during the summer, I told J.T. to take the living room furniture and do away with it because I was going to replace it with new stuff. He did so, and I was glad, but we never figured in two important things: #1 - I am very, very picky when selecting things like that. Sometimes it takes me months to decide what I want. And #2 - I had no time to go shopping around at every furniture showroom in the south while training for an Ironman. After a few weeks, The Flash started feeling sorry for the kids and brought them a couple of Cubs beanbags so they'd have something to sit on while watching T.V. or playing Wii. Television - that's another thing we are without now. My Charter cable internet stopped working back in September. I called and spent an hour on the phone with them and they finally sent someone out to work on it. It worked for a few hours, and then it went out again. I called, spent another on the phone, they said they would send someone out, and they never showed. This actually went on the entire month of October, and my internet only worked sporadically. I made dozens of phone calls, to no avail. Finally, when I got back from PCB to find that it still wasn't working, I called them on a Friday morning and told them that if it wasn't fixed by the weekend that I was canceling it. They said the best they could do was get someone to come out Monday. I said, "That's not the weekend. Cut it off. And while you're at it, cut the cable television off too. I don't want any Charter services." My thinking was that I would called AT&T and immediately get them to hook up some DSL, and we'd get some sort of satellite television. So, I call AT&T only to find out that they don't offer DSL in my neighborhood. Lovely. I put J.T. in charge of the getting new television service, and he still hasn't done that either. So...we now have no living room furniture, no internet, and no television. All I need is a black dress, and I need to get JT and the boys some black top hats and we could pass for Mennonites! It sure is quiet at our house. I walked through the bare living room the other day and Briar was sitting on a bean bag drawing. A strange site, but I kinda liked it.

Now that IM is over, though, I have no excuse for not buying some furniture. I think that is next on my list.

Speaking of my list, if you are wondering what will be on it in '09, your guess is as good as mine. I'm not even thinking about it right now. I'm just a wife and a mom and a computer programmer. Actually, I do have one thing set up. I'm going to do the Seaside Half Marathon with my friend Mae Anne , Bethany, and a bunch of other friends who are just getting into running and racing. I love to see people catch the running bug...that's almost as fun as racing myself. As a matter of fact - if you are reading this and I haven't yet asked you if you wanna run this half mary with us, consider this your invitation - the more the merrier! It's at Seaside for crying out loud! I am definitely going back to PCB for the Gulf Coast Half Iron in May, but I haven't decided yet whether I'll do the whole thing or just be part of a relay team. I'm not making any big decisions until after the New Year. Until then, I'll run my 5 miles, run with Briar, run with friends, go to spin class and yoga, tone up my arms, legs, and butt that have gotten embarrassingly flabby, tweak my diet, and just kick back.

Will I ever do another Ironman? You betcha. I'm not ready to name the year or the race, but I will do it again someday, provided my family is good with it, and it won't disrupt their lives too much. Indefinitely, though, I have 3 things that come first...I call them J.T., Briar, and Bo.

15 comments:

Lisa said...

Oh Girl, don't get me started on charter! I think they have some sort of negative feedback on me in their system I've had to call them so much over the YEARS!

See you in spin! :)

Jessica said...

Those sound like the best three priorities to me! I bet they are loving all the time and attention! Jess

Marathoner in Training said...

Glad to see the recovery is successful, and you are able to reconnect with the family again and cook a warm meal for them.

Brad Braden said...

It takes a lot of understanding from the family thats for sure..

cheers.

Missy said...

Yeah, I got the - wow, it's nice having you home on a Tuesday, this is fun. While it's strange not to be scheduled to death, it's good. My body is still totally jacked up, not sleeping right. Can only run little bits at a time before I crash, swim a little and that's about it. Abby and I are looking for a runner for GCT, need to be in the all female division?!?!

Chloe said...

Yeah Seaside 1/2! That is in my backyard! I'll see you there as well as Gulf Coast :)

Jill Ann said...

I am in for Seaside...and I need to get my BUTT in a pool to train for GCT...maybe...we shall see about that. But, I am for sure going to "tri" in 2009.

As for the TV, it's the best decision yet. My parents never let us have TV and we are so well rounded b/c of that. If I could get Joe to part with our 7 TVs (3 at the house and 4 at the cabin)...no kidding..I would be in HEAVEN.

As for the Vegan...I don't know about that...that's your deal..but I support you if you like it. Be careful though...your body is still in "repair me" mode.

You have it all figured out and it only took you a little while to get back into real life! YEA!

Anonymous said...

I like your IM shirt! Glad you are enjoying all your free time and relaxing with the family. If my husband didn't have to watch every sporting event I would get rid of the cable.

Spandex King said...

I've been tapering since my crash and have decided to train for the Biggest Loser 2009. Bring on the pie.

Born To Endure said...

Glad to see you're back at it! I have that same top from IMFLA. I would love to do the that race in May too, but I'll be doing Triple T in Ohio..have fun though.:-)

Michele said...

Wish I could go to Seaside but I have already booked 3 race trips and still working on Vegas. So I better pass on that one :(

I have a room in GA for Sept if you want to do that 70.3

Enjoy the family time you all deserve it.

TJ said...

Sounds like you have your priorities right.
See you at Gulf Coast!

Nancy said...

I love it...thanks for this post...now I won't feel bad about training for my first duathlon as a fledgling runner who is really just a cyclist at heart!

Rae said...

You have earned that down time! And personally, we're about to cancel our cable and all that crap too! It's too expensive and there's more to life that TV!

Steve Stenzel said...

Oh, but think of Wendys and Pizza Hut?!? What will they do?!? WHAT WILL THEY DO?!?! WHT DON'T YOU THINK OF THEM?!?!

;)

just kidding, of course...