Tag: Christmas

Merry merry Christmas Eve Eve

Merry Christmas Eve eve!!!! For those of you already at Christmas Eve, I am envious!

Thank you WordPress for the slew of fake likes. That was fun. I used to like hearing the WordPress notification chime on my phone. After the other nights post, I almost began to dread it. Less than 2 seconds after I posted, someone had liked it. I was skeptic, so I looked into it. Turns out it’s not legit, nor were 9 or 10 that followed. (I did get a few real ones, thanks guys!) I have to admit, I don’t get the point. Its supposed to be about clicks, but they don’t even do a great job of making it look realistic?

Sunday’s shopping trip was pretty good. The crowds were not insane and weather was freakishly warm- 70º!!! I was able to finish my shopping and my wrapping on Sunday 🙂 Today was pretty good at work too. Other than that same piece of equipment that crapped out a on Friday the 13th, died again. When we left for the day it was still not working. 😦 Hopefully the tech guy will be out early in the morning tomorrow.

I really had planned on running this evening, but somehow I forgot caffeine today. All day. I fell asleep on my lunch in the break room. I have been trying to transition from Diet soda to coffee. I eliminated the diet soda entirely 2 weeks ago and replaced it with a 12oz real soda. I would also try to choke down a coffee. It’s not going so well, still can’t stand the taste. Then this weekend, I bought some tea thinking I would try that. I noticed today that I stupidly bought caffeine free. Today, I some forgot to get a soda, and never managed to drink my coffee. By 2:00, my head was pounding and then the nap. Oops.

Tomorrow at work, we are having a breakfast potluck and an ugly sweater contest. I don’t one so I decided to make one. Hmmm, this is not my strongest talent. The cat also discovered tinsel for the first time and it was apparently better than catnip. It turned into a tug of war for the garland.

Ugly in progress..oh and it jingles too!

Living in central California, I long ago gave up on snow for Christmas, but fog or clouds would be awesome!! I am not a fan of bright sunny Christmas’s. Fingers crossed!!!!

Wishing everyone who is traveling, safe journeys!

Is everyone ready for Christmas?!!

Embracing the Excuse

December has shaped up to be Slacker month. I have decided to stop stressing about it and just enjoy it. I hit my weight loss goal in January of 2013 and have stayed there for almost a year. If the scale goes up a couple pounds in December, so be it. I would rather spend the holidays enjoying time with family and friends than being the weird one who isn’t eating. Besides I am having a hard enough time with the new stupid diet restrictions my doctor gave me, I am not going to stress about counting calories and pounds. I am having troubles with my newest restrictions, some days I notice I eat hardly anything and other days way too much. I am still tracking my food everyday (Lose It) but now it’s mostly so I can try to level it out and watch my nutrient intake.

That Slacker-ness has extended to running as well. 😦 My standard 3 days a week has become 2 days a week. Ouch. On the upside, my class finally finished and all final assignments have been turned in so I am hoping that will clear up some time for running. I am aiming to finish 95% of my wrapping tonight as well. I am going to attempt some last minute shopping tomorrow so I may have a few last minute items. Fingers crossed, it is not totally insane tomorrow.

I did make it to the gym on Tuesday evening. I was cranky and tired but my goal was to do 3 miles (very Slacker). I went with the same cuckoo pattern that I had done last week. For every mile, I walked 1:30, ran the middle at a steadier pace and then ran at 7 for the last .25 mile. I also had the incline set at 2, yeah that probably should have been higher too. L Luckily, none of the TV’s had Monsters Inside Me on, and yes I checked before choosing a treadmill. I chose one near the door so I could take advantage of the occasional cold air coming in. I must have been good because I ran 10 minute miles for 3.5 miles. Usually the treadmill feels like I am slogging and my pace reflects that. I noticed that I had upped my middle steady pace, so I will aim for more of that in the future.

Today I worked, so it was up cold and early to head that way. Of course I was stuck behind a car driving below the speed limit but even with that delay I was still 25 minutes early. I should have slept longer 😦 On Saturdays I work at a different location so sometimes I end feeling as useful as a bump on a log. Other than that it was a good morning, I drove home for some lunch and braving the Target crowds to get some essentials. I also picked up some ingredients for a Crock Pot French toast recipe that I found on Pinterest. Work is having a breakfast potluck on Christmas Eve. This is amusing because I can barely boil water. 🙂

After all that the plan was to get in 5 miles. However, my stomach was not keen on that plan, stupid diet. I thought about waiting and going to the gym when I felt better but I knew I would not follow through. I was also running out of daylight, so I sucked it up and went. I was torn between going really, really slow or just hauling to get it over with quicker. I also knew 5 miles was probably not going to happen. My first mile came in at 10:23. With that hill? When I run from my house, my first mile is always SLOW as I usually walk half of it. So hearing 10:23, hot damn!

Maybe the incentive was that I knew my mom was out somewhere walking the puppy for her first long walk. Success at 1.5 miles!!! I pause Nike for some puppy time and then ran on. I threw in some loops so I could meet up with them every mile. It was great incentive to keep moving quickly 🙂 I finished at my driveway for 4.27 miles in 42 minutes, sweet! But I was also glad I was done.

Now, I’ve spent too much time in the Comfy Chair, so it’s off to wrap presents. I even have a little helper-

If she stops eating the paper that is... — If she stops eating the paper that is…

Anyone brave the chaos today?

Any races this weekend?

~Christmas Parties and Randomness~

Happy Monday!!!!

Yesterday was our office Christmas party. So we all put on our party duds and met at a local steakhouse. For once I had the shorter drive, woo hoo!! After some reservation confusion (if you have 3 locations but all phone lines ring the same place, you think they would ask where you wanted to eat!), we were finally seated.

I live less than 10 minutes from this particular restaurant but I don’t think I have been there in almost 20 years. I was super excited when we chose to eat there because I have been craving a good Filet. Even better when I don’t have to pay 🙂 There were 11 to our party and I was rockin’ the single life at the head of the table, ha! Or was that the bottom? Hmmmmm. Either way it was still a blast. We started out by exchanging our secret Santa gifts. Mine knew me pretty well, a Barnes & Noble gift card, sweet!

This restaurant is big on the real steakhouse, cowboy theme. And the food was amazing. There is no such thing as diet, when you eat here. Every meal comes with beans, soups and salsa. Then salad, garlic bread, rice pilaf and potato spuds. Then you chose your entree. It was then followed by desert of a root beer float or after dinner licqour. Like I said, all included, so yummy. I chose the Filet Mignon, with Shrimp Scampi on the side. Up until that night I had never tried seafood. And yes, I know exactly what facial expression you are making right now. The Filet was amazing and the shrimp was, ehhh. I ate one and passed the rest around the table. Still not my thing but at least I tried it. 🙂 I topped everything off with a Root Beer float. I can’t remember the last time I had one, and they are just as good as I remember.

After all that calorie loaded goodness, I really should have gone for a run tonight, but nah. After a good day at work, I finished up the last bit of my final while watching a cheesy Christmas movie. It was filmed in my town, I had to watch! Tomorrow, I have a date with the bore-mill, oops, sorry- the treadmill.

So I leave you with a little random-ness inspired by my morning commute and Christmas music. Apologies in advance for the cheesiness. Oh, and please no on sue me, I have no money, but you are more than welcome to all my bills!

And some more festive pictures from Saturday-

Anyone else Secret Santa’ing this year?

Any good Christmas parties?

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

Normally I like Friday the 13th, and I can still say that even after my first car accident years ago that was on Friday the 13th. But yesterday was rough. It started out good, but then a very important piece of equipment broke. Customers were stressed, I was stressed. We called in a tech, then the back office, then the network provider and all 4 of us had a lovely little conference call trying to figure out what the heck went wrong and how to fix it. This felt like it took forever but I think it was about an hour and a half. We finally got it running but still have no idea why it went cuckoo. 😦 I’m saying trickster elves.

We’ve been running a toy and food drive since thanksgiving and look how amazing our customers are-

And this is the third time it has been emptied. It’s been this awesome at all of our locations too. 🙂

Last week, my doctor suggested (ha!) a new diet to see if it helped. I waited to start until this last Monday because I had good food in my fridge and cabinet that I refused to let go bad. Like apples! I will so miss those honeycrisp. 😦 I have been so hungry all week, and after the stress of yesterday, I just wanted pizza, so I picked one up on the way home. 🙂 Yummy. And the ingredients are not on my bad list so I can lie to myself that way right?

Today was spent errand running with a little bit of Christmas shopping. Prior to the shopping lunch was pizza again, but this time it was Red Brick, so totally acceptable. 🙂 After a little procrastinating of the presentation that I need to work on, it was over 60° so I went for a run. I was slow (oops pizza) but it felt good. I even threw in a couple of hills. When I hit the bottom of my driveway, I was close to 5 miles so I did what us crazy runners do and ran another block and back. Finished at 5.26. While I was adding in that little bit extra, i ran passed a house that had an inflatable Santa in the yard. There was also a girl with a bow and arrow. No, Katniss, no!!! Hehe, luckily the Santa was still standing on the return trip.

Tonight was a local holiday tradition, the Vine St Victorian Showcase. It’s also always been a family tradition to go, but tonight it was just me and my mother. We were able to walk there also, so yeah for extra miles. Granted, these ones were a lot colder. The street is blocked off, the houses are decorated, there are carolers and dancers and cotton candy, hot chocolate vendor’s, lots of fun. So to finish out this post, here is what I saw tonight. Hope you enjoy them!

This house is my favorite! I love how the ornaments float between the trees 🙂

Any local or family traditions of your own?

Anyone else get a warmer day?

So much pink!

Baby, it’s cold outside! Shouldn’t be a surprise as it’s December, but every time I walk out the door, brrr! Yesterdays run was so cold, I think my cheeks were wind burned. Which is sad because it was around 38. Toasty compared to some other places.

Pardon the bald look, my cheeks were so cold!!!

I didn’t get back from shopping until almost 4 and the temperature was dropping but I wanted to run. I changed as fast as I could into what I hoped was warm and was running. I ran the exact same route as Saturday. Not sure if it was that I was feeling better or if the cold was the incentive but I took 4 minutes off of the previous days time. Woo hoo! I felt good and would have like to run more but the setting sun was against that. 😦 As I was stretching out afterwards, I realized just how pink I was. Not only were my cheeks pink and stinging, my clothes were too! I don’t think I have ever worn that much pink before.

This was also the first time I had ever run in full length pants not capris. I had picked them up while shopping on Sunday, and figured it was cold, why not try them out first thing? They were awesome. They never moved or slipped and felt comfy the whole time. The waistband was still higher than I would like but I think that’s just me. The odd thing is that I bought these exercise pants at Abercrombie (I know, I know, but I really like their sweaters, even when I was 40 lbs heavier). Random I know, but I have not been liking the pricey Nike capris or the numerous pairs of Fila I own. I had to go up a size and I was hoping for a lower waist but so far, worth the money. Which was the best part- $20! They washed well the first time, so now to see how long they last.

I also picked up a running skirt (my first one!) on clearance at Sports Authority and a new pair of knee socks. I also finally treated myself to some new jeans (amazing Gap coupon!). I only had one pair. Losing weight is awesome, but it was a real hit to my budget. I don’t wear jeans that often but it was making things a little tricky. My mother on the other hand became a veritable clothes horse when she lost all her weight, so I was usually calling her on the Thursdays before Friday Jean Day, crying help! I need pants!

My family is incredibly hard to Christmas shop for but I think I managed to pick something out for my brother. I am 99.9% positive that he does not read this, but just in case, that is all I am saying. Now if I can just figure out everyone else before Christmas. Managed to finish my Secret Santa shopping too, now fingers crossed, it gets here in time!

At work, we finally managed to get our Christmas tree decorated, but this Slacker forgot to get a picture. I also apologized to my boss, because as I was tumbling on Friday, I managed to break one of her icicle decorations. Sorry!!

The plan is to hit the gym tomorrow night and get a couple miles in on the treadmill. That will depend on how far I manage to get with my advertising plan. This post has been a wonderful distraction from the headache of formatting but I better get back to it! The Sing-Off is pretty distracting too 🙂 And I am on standby for jury duty again tomorrow, so who knows?

How was everyone’s Monday?

Anyone like jury duty?

Anyone else singing along?