Saturday, August 29, 2009

Happy Ending

My precious Kramer is home safe and sound!

At 8 Saturday night - just a few hours after I'd given up hope and cleaned out his things - the doorbell rang. Some neighbor kids found a cat in their yard and had seen the flyer we put up at the park.

Wonderful Husband went down the block to their house and sure enough, it was Kramer.

After a week off his meds and running wild we need to get him to the vet, but aside from being thin he looks none the worse for wear.

He's been insatiably snuggly all night, so I'm gonna assume he's as happy to see us as we were to see him.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Annoying But Effective

My foot hurt so much after dancing at last weekend's awesome wedding I almost got out crutches. So when I had a little time to squeeze in a workout Thursday morning, I wasn't going to take any chances with a run, it was pouring rain so I couldn't bike and going to swim would take too long.

But I was determined to work out. So I rooted through my very small, very dusty collection of workout videos and found this:


No idea where it came from, because I find her annoying as hell and I certainly didn't buy it. Probably a gift from the MIL somewhere along the line.

Anyhoo. She's still annoying. And while there is some actual yoga in there, it's more like someone nostalgic for the 90s realized they can rebrand the same old videos by throwing a few yoga poses between elements of an old school cardio and toning session. Aside from that, the only real difference was the background folks traded out neon spandex for yoga wear and someone was apparently off camera with a cue card reminding Denise to say "yoga body" once in a while.

It was kind of like getting a side o' cheese with the annoying.

So. REALLY. Hate to admit this. But it was a good workout. Good enough I'll probably try to learn it enough to mute her annoying voice and play my own music.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Missing

My beloved 14 year old Kramer is missing. I raised him from a teeny little 4 week old kitten. I'm a wreck. Neither of us can remember seeing him for sure any more recently than last Thursday or Friday. We had company all weekend, plus hosted a big brunch on Sunday. He's shy and we figured he was hiding until everyone left. But there's been no sign of him since.

He's a strictly indoor cat but occasionally tries to sneak out onto the porch for some sun. We wonder if that's what happened when we had company and no one noticed. We've done the awful searching through the basement ceiling to make sure he isn't up there. I think it might be easier if I had found his body in the basement. Then I wouldn't be tortured with wondering where he is or if I'll ever see him again.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Subtle as a Train Wreck

One morning last week I told Bear we were going to the park as soon as I got my shoes on. Then I went upstairs to get my shoes, and took an extra minute to apply some sunscreen.

This was waiting for me when I came back down.


He managed to extract this stroller - which weighs as much as he does - from its entanglement with the other stroller in the foyer, drag it all the way across the house, partially unfold it and get it wedged in the sliding glass door. Which he opened.

Let's hope when he grows up he will use his powers for good.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Calorie Nazi Status Report

I officially reached a new loss level today - that's 55 pounds, baby!

I haven't been this weight since the mid 1990s. As this last few pounds came off I've noticed a difference in my face that makes me happy when I look in the mirror. That last extra chin is practically gone!

Technically I did get down 10 pounds lower than this - to 207 - while I was pregnant. But I think it doesn't count when weight loss is due to possession by an alien pod person who makes you puke your way down the scale.

All in all, I'm a happy camper. I got past the endlessly frustrating plateau that was spring 2009 and calmly accepted I won't be making it down to 190 this year. But if I keep working at this very manageable pace I could still see 210, or maybe even 205.

I know that's ridiculously slow to some, but between work and Baby Bear and life in general it's what I can manage right now. It's still progress. The numbers on the scale - and in my closet - are still getting smaller. And my paces on the workouts I can squeeze in are still getting bigger.

I'm the tortoise, not the hare. And that's all kinds of fine with me.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

I Run on Tuesdays

Between the car accident and a two day migraine, I've been feeling less than stellar since Sunday. This morning I was feeling dazed and befuddled and sliding towards depressed.

This morning it hit me that I was supposed to do a triathlon this weekend, but I'm not. And not just because I haven't worked out once since the race in June.

It's not that I don't want to train and certainly not that I don't want to race. I miss it terribly. I just don't know where the time goes any more.

Work has dried up like it always does in the summer. So this morning - after oversleeping and making the Bear late for his ride to school - I found myself with zero motivation and a mile long To Do list.

Then I remembered it's Tuesday. And I run on Tuesdays. At least, I used to.

So I blew off my list and geared up. Almost made it out the door. Remembered my foot. I never know if it will let me run 5 minutes or 5 miles, and I've got no exit strategy if I run outside. You could see the disappointment on Kona's face when he realized we weren't going out. So he did the next best thing - he sat on the treadmill waiting for me to start his workout. I seriously love my dog, even when I have to fight him for a turn on the treadmill. Especially then.

I plugged in an interval session and went to town with my Oldies playlist blaring. Still mopey, still depressed, still not wanting to do it. But it's Tuesday. And if I want to stop feeling like this that has to mean something again.

I leaned on Bill Withers. I Do Run Runned with the Ronnettes. I got me some Respect from Aretha. And by the time the Five Stairsteps sang things are gonna get easier, I believed them.

I went aggressive, pushing myself with a 4.5 mph (13:20) pace on the run intervals. Not long ago 4.3 mph felt really hard, so imagine my delight when I was able to bump up and hold a 4.7 mph (12:45) pace for the last 3 intervals.

Then Kona got his turn running while I stretched.

It's Tuesday. And I ran. So that's something.

Sunday, August 02, 2009

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

I've recently become a big fan of freecycle because I'm all about keeping things from being unnecessarily landfilled and finding homes for items that still have life in them.

So I posted my retired vacuum and someone wanted it. She had no transportation and requested I deliver it. This is not cool. But it was on the way to somewhere I was headed anyway and I really wanted to get the vacuum out of the house, so I reluctantly agreed to drop it off.

We take the damn thing over and drop it off at this person's apartment. Because I figure if someone is in such a bad financial way they need to ask a stranger to bring them a free vacuum, it's the least I can do. I get that my life is blessed and I try to never take that for granted.

As we're leaving the parking lot, we got hit by someone who didn't bother to look behind her while backing out of a parking space.

A non English speaking, unlicensed, uninsured someone. Who - through a young boy who got dragged into the conversation to translate - kept trying to talk us out of calling in the accident while telling us she had a friend who could fix it cheap and that she could get us the money 'manana.' (No, I can't find the fucking tilda right now, I know it's not right, I don't care.)

The passenger side of my van is all smashed in. The side, incidentally, with Baby Bear. I'm not sure I'll ever forget how helpless I felt as I watched that car back into the exact spot my baby was sitting.

Wonderful Husband and I had just spent the morning going over our less than fabulous finances and planning to look into a refi to see if that would make things a little less tight. Now we're on the hook for the $500 deductible and a rental car while the van gets fixed.

Oh, and the officer told us if this had happened on the road she'd have been ticketed and arrested. But because it happened on private property he can't touch her. Bottom line - the chica at fault walks away scott free.

I don't want anyone arrested over a repairable incident with no injuries and I'd have been mortified it that had happened to her. But I'm furious to the point of tears that she can't even be issued a ticket and we're stuck paying for the whole goddamn thing.

I am making no judgments about this young girl's situation. I'm just sayin' if you're illegal, unlicensed and uninsured, please look the fuck behind you when you're backing out of a goddamn parking space.