I Love a Challenge....

Started the New Year having breakfast with the Mr...it's been a blessing to have him still. Last year was quite the medical challenge for him, and a mental/physical/emotional challenge for me. I have 2 reminder quotes I say to him. The first is when he starts getting 'antsy' and I think he's about to do something really physically stupid is ''I did agree to the for Sickness & in Health'' but I did not sign up for Stupid! The second ''go ahead and do whatever you want...your insurance is paid; I have my widow/single plan ready''.

In 2022 I'm challenging myself to be better at this Blog thing. So post #2 of 2022 = Go Me!

I went for my first walk of the new year yesterday 2.2 miles for the #FrostyFeetWinterChallenge that my timing group partner is putting on...Timing group?? Partner?? you ask? Yep, I'm continuing doing race photography with Bob Baney/RaceRise and am listed on race bibs...How Cool Am I??

#meatlessMonday starts Jan 3rd, menus for Mondays already planned out. Meals like loaded baked potato, veggie soup, chili made with Morning Star Crumbles, tomato soup & grilled cheese, broccoli cheddar soup [xtra broccoli of course], veggie pizza, huge mixed salad, Morning Star veggie burgers, mushroom stroganoff, beans & rice, side salad nite, baked cauliflower, veggie potpie, there's so many options.., you just need to look and get creative!

My 'race' challenges are many...my main goal is to get back to at the very least a 16ppm walking, then work toward a walk/run high 14ppm/low 15ppm. As I mentioned 2020.1 was a mental/physical/emotional challenge playing nurse wife. But I'm coming back! I've already signed up/paid for multiple race events, and though it may take all of 2022 I Will compete & complete all of them and get back to where I was before. I may be the last walk/run person, but know this, I will finish... #challengeaccepted 

#nospendchallenge this challenge for me pertains to limiting un-necessary trips to the grocery store, I have plenty stocked up for monthly meals and 'treats' and setting a cash budget of 125$ monthly for any necessity's aka milk, bread, eggs, fruit, veggies. You can find lots of no spend challenges on social medias choose whatever works for you. **this amount does not include the boys canned & dry food**

#sinkingfundschallenge I will be setting up 'envelopes' for my extras as well as indoor/outdoor projects I want to do this year, all in I think I need around 3500$--4000$ set aside, more on these later! 

#cleansinkchallenge challenge should actually say no dishes left in sink, this challenge will be difficult, the Mr does put some items in dishwasher, and as bad as I hate doing dishes you would think I would be better at making sure the dishwasher was loaded, I. Get. Lazy! Yep even Me, but hoping to have this become a habit. 

#nosnackingafter7pchallenge I made this one up...in order to 'loose' some of the Virus weight, I'm gonna try and not snack after 7pm. Sort of a fast[?] challenge? We'll see...I do Love a good snack before bedtime.

#hikingchallenge Ahhh this challenge is going to be my favorite! With the right bundling up I plan to hike as much as I can with my Tuesday Casey County Explorer's group, then hopefully get in some hike with the Thursday Sauntering (women's hiking & kayaking) group... and yep may just be adding kayaking to my adventures this year!

Tell me what's in store for all of you in 2022? Any challenges?

Do you have any goal miles planned? How about races? Tell me what you're training for?

Have you tried Meatless Mondays, does your family enjoy them?

 Hug's, Kisses, Run Safe Wishes!

You can follow me on one or all the social medias... FB  IG  or Twitter

Priority Changes coming....

Lawd Have MERCY it's been a While...again, sorry 'bout that. Let's play a game I call catching up! Since last time blogging I've worked the inaugural Rainbow Run..what an Amazing race event. they raised just over 10,000$ BEFORE the race even took place. And talk about the most fun ever! They set up pop-up tents for shade, DJ music, pizza, BBQ, West Sixth Brewery brought beer, and OMG---FIREBALL shots, Woah! PARTAY!!

*****

Last weekend I had the honor to work the inaugural Blazing Blue Devils 5K--it was so much fun to interact with XC runners, and you could see just how much they respected their Coach! Unfortunately I missed the local Coach Plummer 5K, maybe next year. 

Also I went with the Kid to her half-marathon in Morrow, Oh. There's nothing there to speak of, but talk about a Great turn out for a race. They also had a 10K going on. 'Ol mom even scored a race shirt..Win! 

*****

I took the Mr for his first after surgery follow-up. They took out 60+ staples from his incision, and though he's not under any major restrictions our discussion driving home about continuing to take it easy until his next appointment in a couple of weeks...yeah that went in one ear and out the other...[sigh]. Though he's not back to doing much physically he's still made it to check things out at Church, went to Senior Citizen's Center, and is at the beckon call to the elderly [surrogate Mom] lady who in my opinion is taking advantage of him. 

*****

August 1st I decided that I was going to attempt to get back into doing what I want to do, I want to get in mileage for upcoming races, I want to re-join in hiking with my group, I want to complete a couple of home projects, I want to work on controlling Stress Eating...I Want...I Want...I WANT !!

*****

This all for tonight...

Hugs, Kisses, Be Safe Wishes!

 

Monday Things to Do ~ Having a PLAN

 

 

 

Monday Motivation

Once I finished yesterdays blog post I made my plan for todays activities first by getting clothes ready for the gym which may not seem like a lot to most but for me it was just what I not only wanted to do but needed to do....

 

 

My Soxy Feet says it all I had a Plan and there was No going back....On to the next task...getting the bed made, Yep I'm one of 'Those' people, I can't tell you how happy I am when this is done.

 

Coffee ALWAYS first, then Breakfast next and if you checked in with yesterdays post you seen where I had made these eggs and French Fry hash browns while cooking other stuff, add a piece of toast and DONE! 

 

Next up...Head for a class at the Gym....yeah OK~~When did all This Happen??

My Entire car is Froze Shut...as in all the doors, windows you name it, everything was froze so the plan to go to the gym was temporarily on Hold.   I dug around in the garage looking for de-icer and as luck would have it I found some....by this time I have 20 minutes to get to the gym...I sprayed, tugged, sprayed some more when Finally I got a door open...a Back Door...well OK climb over the seat and shoulder push the driver door only to almost fall out of the car....cause De-Icer!

OK...I'm in the car, get it started, step out to spray windows all around and slip on a ice patch,

Lord Help Me I REALLY Want to Cuss go to the gym I have a plan....

now I have 10 minutes till class starts...

It's cold sitting in the car waiting...waiting on it to warm up and hopefully thaw out enough for me to get a spot on the window to see through....Now I'm just aggravated enough to go back in the house...my head hurts, my shoulder is reminding me I banged it on the door, and my back has decided to twitch when I walk...

Once in the house I look at the class schedule One More Time - it just started - of Course it has.

But Again I Have A Plan.

Back outside I'm able to scrape a hole to see out of and I'm finally on my way. Class has already started and not sure if I will be able to still do it or not but I'm going to do something at the gym....It's my Plan!!

 

YEA!!!  I got to the gym and Thankfully Autumn has given me the Thumbs up to still join in....Silver Sneakers class for the WIN. Don't judge I've been out for a while so starting back slowly with a Plan. I enjoyed my time there even if it was only 45 minutes worth, stopped on the way out and got the MR signed up to start in March....Welcome to Retirement Sweetie!

 

Headed home to shower and fix a Smoothie for Lunch:

6oz Almond Milk, 1 frozen banana, leftover strawberries [1/2], 1T flaxseed, scoop of GLUKOS protein powder, Ice till I liked the consistency.....

 

Next it's some of the usual stuff..Load of laundry, dust mopped {thank goodness for hardwood floors--so easy to take care}, damp mopped the kitchen {'cause Laminate floors there}, and got the bathroom cleaned.....

 For the rest of the day I'll get dinner ready for tonight work on a menu plan, budget plan, look at what races are coming up, look at some of the MR's newest adventure stuff, and maybe finish one of the books I'm reading.

 

 Until next time Hugs, Kisses, Safe Run/Walk Wishes

A Runner's Mom & More

2/4/18 Busy week ahead + Super Bowl Sunday means prep + Laura

Well look at me getting another blog post out!!  Let's just say that even with all of Life's challenges I've learned the one main key is Planning/Organizing/Follow Through...OK that's three things....and Not necessarily in that order.

But there they are, last week's events  Slapped me along the Head and got my attention and it wasn't  even MY event. It was for the MR  [he's deserving of his on post and will do that later this week}....

But back to me, I try to lead a Active & Full life, this year though sometimes it happened most times it didn't...not sure what was going on with me -- thinking it was a combination of things all jumbled together inside without a way to get out...Whatever it was it's gone now thank Goodness. How it happened is anyone's guess but one thing for certain is this Chick has got her Groove back and a few more Hats to wear.

Along with  MR event and leading up to and the hectic days since, I managed to stand still long enough to think about my friend Laura....She Too has many-MANY Hats to wear.

Seeing her at the Race Director's Symposium yesterday was Just What I Needed....after she reviewed her presentation we were able to talk for a few minutes and get caught up on a few things, but most importantly I wanted her to know "She" was the person I thought of when I was in the middle of a challenge brought on from the MR's event....yet another job to do [and I'm glad to do it], something that I need to get educated on and Quick!

Something that made me realize my Active & Full Life just wasn't~I wasn't Planning anymore...I wasn't Organizing things and I sure as Crap wasn't Following Through. But I know all that is behind me...I've managed to recoup and get my Crap together....

So Laura Coombs this post is for you and all the hats we wear!

 

 

Hugs, Kisses, Run/Walk Wishes
A Runner's Mom & More

You just can't fight genetics.

Here I am Again!!

August seems like it's Flying by.....I've had soooo Much going on the last few weeks with the MR's health, then my MIL, and again with the BIL (shhh don't really care about his crap).

Lets start with the MR....he's had a few issues before we became MR & MRS with the Ticker (2009) at which time I almost lost him...he ended up with a stint being put in the Widow Maker Artery. He was very lucky he didn't die during that time. A LOT of PT, time off work meds, revamped and finally he recouped. Though there were lifestyle changes done and he did improve You just can't fight genetics.
Now again it's reared it's ugly head yet again....he had been having heartburn, acid reflux, etc.....after consulting with 'Web MD' [I hate that site] he continued to eat Tums/Rolaids like they were candy until Yep pains in his chest & arm sent him to the ER from work on Friday....

After everything was said and done at the ER...as they couldn't find anything heart related for his chest & arm pain, but suspected it was his gall bladder that was giving him problems so we went on home. He went to work the next day [Saturday] had a couple more 'mini' attacks but since he was told it wasn't heart related he continued on...But Then Sunday morning was a Whole Other Story...he felt like crap, had some discomfort in his chest and just lousy feeling. We went to his family Dr on Monday....he informed us the Gall Bladder NEVER causes pain in your arm. He did order a gall bladder & Upper GI test and also managed to get us a heart Dr appointment the very next day..Thank You Jesus!!
Well the heart Dr really hated being second guessed...so he orders another stress test (the MR just had one in March)....

So within a 2wk time period (as in 14 days) here's a re-cap in a nutshell:
     3 Doc's = 1 ER, 1 family & 1 Heart
     1 ER visit
     2 Dr's appointments
     4 medical tests = 1 GallBladder, 1 Upper GI, 1 Stress Test, + Blood Work
     1 Heart Cath
     2 Stints in the Widow Maker Artery!!!

Physical Therapy and some much needed time off is the current future plan....

It's only Monday

So first lets talk about night shift--12 hr night shift. 7a-7p the hrs that the MR is working for the next few weeks. For me this means that I need to try and be quiet as much as possible so he can get some sleep, and it also means I'm not able to do my normal daily cleaning chores which means I either do them 'After' he leaves for work 'Which' is when I'm getting my gym time in 'Which' means not a whole lot is going to get done!! This old Lady is tired after 60-90 min of Abs, KettlebellAMPD, Zumba and tonight we started doing Arms class.

Guess What, none of this matters to anyone but Me!

I'll get to everything on his days off and start all over again next week. sigh!

 

Starting my day off with Coffee & Conversation with the MR is Priority for me, I listen to him gripe, comment, complain about everything that's going on at the workplace (I'm retired from there) send him to bed and most of the time I just FB'ed or do laundry downstairs. Today however instead of FB I went for walk, it was suppose to be just a short walk, yea well 4MILES LATER I get back home. Oh well at least I got my steps in Right !?!

 

My Mind tends to get busier & busier then stuff like this happens;

 

More stuff that I talked about in the video

 yet to come!

 

My weather this week looks like this--hoping for some of the same in Va Beach, Va leaving Friday (maybe Thurs) Bobbie, Mindy & Starr has a Half Marathon and I'm doing the 1Miler on Saturday WooHoo!

 

 

A Runners Mom & More



Sorry Honey it's not what you think..........

After 6weeks of night shift the Hubby is finally starting day shift (6wk rotation) Monday..Yay!  A somewhat normal routine will be a change as now I can get MY daily routine in order, when the Hubs does nights I try not to make noise and try to find more things to do outside, on day shift we do try and get out more so when the MR suggested we check out the new joint he seen downtown I was a little confused as to where he was talking about. I've been riding the bike around town and try to walk around and couldn't figure out where he was talking about.

I give you the 'New Joint'

well I can't tell you enough how tempted I was to

Laugh out loud! So instead I had to say well Dear that would be great but it's not what you think, they ''DO'' planks there. Actual on the floor horizontal  Planks along with other exercises.

 view of their Studio. Needless to say we're not going....as this is what gets served at the bar....

I just don't see the MR drinking Anything Green.

How about you, what do you drink that's Green??



a runnersmom & more..



Meatless Meal Days and the 'MR'

Breakfast this morning= scrambled eggs w/ a dab of Co-Jack cheese, Gala Apple, Almond milk w/Soy Protein powder (much needed after Kettlebell last night)

Lunch= Spag w/mushroom sauce, leftover Tortilla chips

Snacks during work if I want them= last of my English Cuc (burpless, Thank-you Jesus!), Strawberry/Bananna yorgurt, Gala Apple, left over Sesame stick & nut mix.

Tonight's Dinner= 1/2 baked potato w/tomato, pinch of co-jack cheese & sour cream, spoonful or coleslaw & cottage cheese, 1 1/2 C romaine mix w/poppy seed dressing (hope I never get drug tested this is about the only dressing I eat)and a few croutons.

I didn't have any exercise class tonight but did get some dusting done, my SIL is staying upstairs in "Motel Cline" so talked with her about the MIL/in-law stuff then turned on the TV and got this

OMG!!!

Yep, Great JUST Great!! 'MR' is at work and it didn't matter what buttons I push, nothing is happening! What's a girl too do?? Text the 'MR' of Course, I'll admit it, I sure did. After Several texts with the last few getting a bit U~G~L~Y he came home on his break and reset me (yea right) the TV.

I mean come on people the WildCats are on tonight,

BTW we won 88 to 54--yes please and Thank You.

Shew,,,,Good Night people!!


arunnersmom

Lordy Be!! Then it happened Again!!

Yep 11" of snow!

FurBaby Andi Girl not impressed!

But neither is the MR!

Ya know though, it could be a Lot Worse! We could have the freezing rain/cold, for now there's some wind but nothing we can't handle.  Admittedly I did something that I Never thought I would/could EVER do...I called in! 

Yep Me the it don't matter what the Governor says I-got-to-go-to-work was absent...and I Liked It!! I stayed home with the FurBabies and the MR, I played the Domestic Diva, making breakfast getting some laundry done, checked in with my kiddos making sure everyone was safe and sound, helped the MR with shoveling every couple hours (only a little bit) then relaxed with TV watching.

So knowing that my world doesn't come to a stand still if I don't go to work, I wonder what would it be like to finally Retire?? Thinking I may need to make another appointment with my financial group once all this weather business gets under control.

So how has it been with all you? Weather got you stuck at home?? How are you handling it??

Come'On People!

Well apparently with the revised blog name and promise of being more accountable, my first posting on FB has sent the Rumors Flying!! Now I know that the post was a bit vague but there was a 'hightlighted'link come'on people!  Huge, Huge, thanks to Marie a friend at work and on FB for bringing to my attention that people are talking (imagine that), wondering if I & the MR. are having ''problems''. What in the H~E''doublehockeysticks'' is the matter with all of you!?! No--We--Are--Not!

Our Love Story:

Admittedly co-workers that know both of us were surprised (ok shocked) that we were even dating. We didn't necessarily keep it a secret, we kept work separate from our personal life. I for one am still amazed he asked for a date. If you r-e-a-l-l-y know me, you know I'm a Type A person and can be a bit of a bitch handful. MR. asked and asked to go out and I for one wasn't sure it was such a good idea, see, I've known MR. from the time he got hired (we worked opposite shifts), and fact of the matter is, he was also married (for a short time) to a work friend of mine.

After months of putting him off, making excuses, and months of listening to another friend Kathy telling me how Perfect we would be together. I finally gave in with him going along with my PartyHardy group of friends to a local pizza joint, but, I drove myself (I know - lame). This went on for some time, I still was a bit reluctant to get very involved. After about 8-9 months of him asking and going out in a group setting I finally decided I would give it more serious thought and go out with him, that is after I called the EX.

That's right people, I called the Ex, Why? well for me it was the right thing to do....remember I had a working relationship with her and I didn't want it to become weird for us.

We went out for the first time, for dinner on October 4th, 2004, I walked (again lame I know) to the restaurant as it was in town. Dinner and hours of talking later he drove me home, a walk to the door and a very sweet good nite kiss ended that first date. Flirtations and working overtime to sneak peaks with each other went on for a few weeks along with a date or two.

Then 'IT' happened. THE talk, the lets be exclusive to each other discussion. Thinking to myself 'Lord help me' yes we need to talk.

MR said his piece told me what he wanted (me people he wanted me) then it was my turn, thinking that it was fun while it lasted and from here we can part our ways and still be friends I proceeded to tell him what was what.
     #1=He needed to understand that he would Never be first in my life, I had children and grand-children and they would always be #1....
     #2=I had already moved my Mom & Carl to Ky and though we didn't have the most loving relationship they would still be #2....
     #3=Work, as in my job, I try and help the kids and was trying my best to continue working on the house, paying half the mortgage and all the utilities so I worked all the OT I could beg/volunteer for....
     #4=I would however make it a point to include him with the kid/family activities as he wanted to join in with, and make whatever time we had together the best possible  whether we went out or just stayed in. I really didn't need or want to go out all the time, sometimes you just need to ''BE''. Be with each other watching TV eating a pizza, or go through McD's get a sandwich and go for a drive, or grill out and sit on the porch.

And so it began, to my surprise he was OK with everything I said. He understood about the kids, jobs & family and was willing to take a chance on making an 'Us'.

After going through as much as any couple possibly can, the ups and downs every relationship have, the birth of the youngest grand daughter, health issues (his), my Mom and his Dad passing we were engaged 7yrs in. Yep 7 years, and was engaged for almost 2yrs after that.
Here we are a little over 10 years later still as much in Love as that first Flirtatious wink!