Seriously, now?!

Just last week, I was starting to feel comfortable in my job. I have a need for change and this need drives me crazy at work because I get stuck in ruts where I do the same thing over and over - and say the same thing over and over. There are lots of pockets of time when I get to work on a new project, but it is usually at the expense of my sanity. So, last week, I decided that I needed to settle the F down and just get into a rhythm. I needed to focus my time and stop putting in so many extra hours. I have 2 small children and I wanted to enjoy my evenings with them and then have time for myself when the kids went to bed. It was like a glorious epiphany! I didn't have to do it all right now and that I am still young with a long career ahead of me and I could chill the F out and ride for a bit. Then, it happened! I was in a meeting with my boss' boss (who put me in a charge of a committee that both my boss and I are on - yes, totally awkward) when we started talking about my long term career plans. In about 20 minutes, he was wanting to setup a lunch with one of the VPs to discuss moving me into a much more high-profile, high-responsibility job. This caused a very uncomfortable ripple effect that resulted in many uncomfortable conversations with my boss this week. See, my boss and I have a long 16-year history. She has known me since as a student before I became her colleague. She has been my supporter and advocate for years, but now, our relationship feels different. I'm feeling held back and while she says she is trying to "protect" me, I'm feeling... what? What am I feeling? I have no idea. So, the sleepless nights ensued this week and I am totally exhausted. I figured I would blog to try to get this off my chest. World, tell me, how do you deal with someone who you trusted and has been a mentor who suddenly seems like a stranger?

So Excited!

I'm so excited! My bestie (who looks more like my sister than my blood sister) and I are picking back up on our annual tradition of seeing Alvin Ailey (if u don't know about Alvin Ailey I strongly encourage you to stop reading my boring ads blog and Google it and watch videos). If I weren't working in academia, I'd be a chef and I weren't doing that, then I'd be an Alvin Ailey dancer. So excited!!!!!
On another note, I took a rest day from running. I put in 6miles yesterday because my wonderful son woke me at 5:20am and since my husband is home with kids on Thursdays, I got my butt out of bed and went to the gym. So, I rested today. I did well in the food department. Egg sandwich for breakfast(5 points), veggie stuffed pepper for lunch (5 points), fiber one brownie for snack (2 points), chicken stir fry with whole wheat couscous for dinner (8 points) and DunkinDonuts red velvet munchkin for dessert (2points). I'm trying to be extra conservative with points bc part of tradition described above is visit to Crumbs bakery!!!!
Ok, I'm done for now. typing blog on Kindle sucks!

Almost Two Years

It's almost two years since I last posted! I started this blog wanting to put my thoughts out into the world and give my mind some room to "run." I needed a place to reflect on life and hold myself accountable. Well, life got in the way... so here is what happened. The day after my last post, I took a pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE! I was so excited. We were trying for over a year. I already had an appointment with the OB/GYN to test for "problems" because that is what she said they do after a couple tries for a year - even if they have previously conceived (and as you can see from my earlier posts, I have a toddler). I loved this OB/GYN practice. They were awesome when I was pregnant with my son and I had continue to see them for annual visits. So, I took my excited self to my trusty OB/GYN only to have one of the doctors who I had never seen before (big practice, lots of docs) tell me that I am probably having a missed-miscarriage because ultrasound didn't show a viable pregnancy. He was telling me this as he was holding me under my arm and escorting me out of the practice. I cried all the way to work and my amazing colleague told me to get a second opinion ASAP and gave me the number of her doc who saw me the next day. He assured me that no one can diagnosis a missed-miscarriage and that there is indication of a viable pregnancy and to just wait. To fast-forward, the pregnancy was viable and my daughter just turned 1 a few months ago! My heart goes out to all the women (and men) who have miscarried and lost sweet little angels. The 2 weeks in between my follow up and getting to a point where they could actually see a viable pregnancy were pure agony. Children are amazing, but they are little time suckers! Hence, the year in blog hiatus. I've been consistently running since I got the "all clear" at 6 weeks postpartum. I've even improved my speed to 11:45 minute/mile. I also joined Weight Watchers in September and it is freaking awesome! I am now the lightest and healthiest I've ever been in my adult life! Since September, I have lost 15lbs. I'm going to start posting more on here about WW and get some pics up of my recipes. So, that is the update for now. As we are nearing another New Year's, how would your year-in-review look? As you reflect on 2012, what are you most proud of and what would you have rather not gone through?

Couldn't Run Today

I was dressed (with two sports bras - shout out to all my big boobie sisters), ready, and on the treadmill, but I couldn't muster up the energy to run. WTF? I was doing so well. I've run everyday except yesterday (my scheduled rest day). In the spirit of staying positive, I'm not going to beat myself up... just going to aim for a nice long run first thing tomorrow (love when hubbie is home in the mornings!). I'll even give myself credit for not just doing nothing - I ended up walking at a good pace with an 8% incline. At least I worked up a little sweat and burned calories.

So, let me ask you, what motivates you? (This can be about running, or life in general.)

P/S I posted some recipes (link above). Let me know if you try any. More to come...

Puke

Does the title of my post make you gag? It makes me gag! Ugh, my poor baby got sick last night (hence no post yesterday). He had already been asleep for about an hour and woke up puking. I felt so bad for him. I also felt bad for myself because I can clean poop all day (yes, that is gross!) but I cannot stomach puke. Ick, I need to stop talking about this. He's doing a lot better today and I'm hoping he'll have a peaceful rest.

I did manage 2.5 miles yesterday and 2.5 today. I hate doing back-to-back runs during the week, but I know I won't have time to run tomorrow. My co-worker joined me on the treadmill today. She was a track start in high school, so running is natural for her. She claimed that she was a short-distance runner and didn't think she could "hang" with me for 2+ miles. Well, we get started and I look over at homegirl and she is cruising on the treadmill! At 1.5 miles, I turn to her to see how she's doing and she wasn't event sweating that much! My instinct was to either (a) push her off the treadmill, or (b) kick up her speed to shake her up! I did neither - just smiled and when we got back to the privacy of our office, I yelled at her for faking me out about how she didn't know if she could hang! LOL I love her and she is awesome, so no hard feelings... well, maybe a little and a lot of jealousy!

Okay, I hope everyone is feeling healthy and that 2011 is off to a great start! My question of the day is would you rather clean poop or puke?

Vacation!

I'm hip-hip-hooraying today! For the past 5 years, my husband and I have been saving all our "points" (the stuff that adds up when you use credit card or fly) and we finally cashed it in for a vacation! The three of us (hubbie, baby, and me) are heading out on a cruise at the end of January. It is a 5-Day Caribbean cruise with flight included all for the hefty cost of $45 in processing fees. Yoooohoooo! The only downside is that I have a fear of water. I don't swim and driving on bridges over bodies of water make me nauseous. So why the heck did we book a cruise? I have no freakin clue... it's probably because so many people have told us what a great time they've had on cruises and how family-friendly the environment is... wish me luck!

After booking the trip, I wondered if there were running cruises and sure enough there is! I found this site: http://www.cruisetorun.com/. Anyone ever been?

Speaking of running, I got in 2.5 miles on my lunch break today - yay! I was really dreading having to run at night. Once I've put in a full day of work, picked-up baby, cooked dinner, bathed baby, and put baby to sleep, I am totally wiped out and usually cannot muster the energy to hop on the treadmill. Luckily, work will be slow over the next couple of weeks so that I can get in lunchtime runs :)_I updated my widget on dailymile.com but it is not updating on my blog. Is there something more I need to do than update it on the DailyMile website?

Okay, that is the post for today. Have a great night!

I Hate Mondays!

Mondays, suck, don't they? I want to hear an "I love Monday" story... who out there loves Mondays and why?

It was my first day back at work after an entire week off, which is why I'm boo-hoo-ing. I enjoy my job, but staying home and watching my son figure out the world is so much better. In this economy, I am grateful that I have a job and one that I enjoy, so I will snap out of it and suck it up!

Today was a rest from running day. I did strength training on Wii Fit. The alternate title for my post was going to be "I Love Wii" but I went the more negative title (bad, I need to be more positive 2011). The goal for tomorrow is a run at lunch.

I'm looking for some new quick healthy recipes (snacks, lunch, and/or dinner). What's your favorite recipe?

Okay, that's my boring post for the day. Have a great night everyone!