Making the most of the winter

Saturday was a cross-training day, so instead of another 60 minutes on a treadmill or on an elliptical machine, we saddled up our mutt and headed to the park.  Our intention was to hit the pet trail at Highbanks, but we found that it was open to cross country skiers only.  We ignored the sign, but quickly realized that the deep, slushy snow would be no fun for anyone, so we turned around and decided to just take a walk.  I had the camera with me, so I captured some photos of the day.

A view of the trail by the river.  I'm kind of proud of this shot.

Playing with the "blurry background" feature on my camera.  I liked how it looked like these two leaves were holding on for dear life.  The bit of color against the gray-ish background caught my eye.

Looking down river.

 This sort of looked like a heart.  I think that Nick was rolling his eyes when I snapped this one.

"Mama, where did that snowball go?"

Chino in action.

The rest of my pictures are up on Flickr.  Enjoy!

The gear

After deciding that yes, I would run a 1/2 marathon, I decided that I needed to go get some running shoes.  Not clearance rack DSW shoes, real running shoes from a real running store.  I had heard about places that fit you for shoes after watching you walk and run on a treadmill.  Off to RoadRunner sports I went, Nick in tow.  I did the treadmill and the balance and then the walk across the Wii Fit thingy to see how I distribute my weight.  After all of that, I tried on some brand spankin' new shoes followed by a custom insole fitting.  I figured that if I was going to do this, I might as well do it right?  Right?  Wrong.  Time for a do-over!

 Here is a picture of the culprits.  How can shoes that look SO GOOD treat my feet so bad?

If I would have hit a mailbox, it would have been worth it.

These pictures don't do last night's sunset justice.  It was the strangest thing, driving home around 5:30, it was the end of a gray day and then all of the sudden, I saw a flash of orange in my side view mirror.  My first though was "where in the hell have you been, sunshine?" and my second thought was, "where's my phone? I've GOT to get a picture of this."

I turned to go over the dam, hoping for another glimpse of the sunset (believe me, this picture doesn't do it justice) but only saw the very red sky.  It was the neatest thing because the light from the setting sun was shooting up to the sky, almost like the beam of light from the Luxor in Las Vegas.

This view paired with great music and no commercials made for a nice drive home last night and a reminder that the end of winter is in sight and convertible weather WILL return.  Its amazing what a little glimpse of sunshine will do for the soul.

Because I can't think of another reason NOT to...

First:  the all important background info.

Nick and I have been working out with a personal trainer two times a week, since the summer.  Although I haven't seen the weight loss results that I'd like to see (damn you thyroid!), I'm starting to get stronger, even able to do multiple sets of real push-ups.  I love my muscles so much, that I keep them protected with a nice layer of padding, just to make them feel warm and cozy (damn you thyroid!).  So January arrived with the winter blah's and I started to get tired of the gym routine.  I also found myself making excuses NOT to work out during the other 5 days of the week, which is a waste, considering I was getting my butt kicked on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  In my infinite wisdom, I decided that I (we) needed a goal.  I've always wanted to run a 1/2 marathon, so I decided that this would be the year.  No more excuses, no more fear and no more "what-if's?".  I can't think of anymore reasons not to do it, so I got it in my (our) heads that it would happen.  I looked up the races and found the Capital City 1/2 Marathon on May 1st.  I then stumbled upon a friend's Facebook status about training for that same race and commented on it.  She so kindly provided her training program, which fit nicely within my time line and included two benchmarks to work towards;  The Arnold 5k in March and the Hoover Hustle in April.

Nick said that he'd support me and train with me, so I suggested that he sign up and do it with me.  After some back and forth, he decided to go for it.  We are officially registered (bibs 2525 and 2526) and working on a regular training schedule, leading up to the race on May 1st.  I'm not used to saying or hearing the phrase "I'm training for a 1/2 marathon" come out of my mouth, but I have to say, it has a nice ring to it.

Dirty Martinis

Having perfected the art of coffee making and French Pressing, Nick has moved on to Dirty Martinis.  I think its the engineer in him, figuring out the formula and perfecting it.  As you can see, he's got his materials laid out in front of him, computer on for reference and his game face on and ready.

I did offer to help and was shooed away, so I chose to document the process with my paparazzi camera.

 

The materials are laid out - martini glass (its maiden voyage), Kirkland's vodka, olives (off camera) and ditry martini mix (who knew!?).

Had to throw in an olive close-up, since  Nick found some lovely blue cheese stuffed olives at Kroger Marketplace.

Look at that confidence.  I'd say he had a bit of a swagger while he was shakin' his money maker.

Look at that pour.  Looks like he's been doing this for years.

Taste test....he's sipping, not sniffing...

...and one last photo op before I chuggalugged.  Hubby perfected yet another one of my favorite beverages and I settled in for a lazy Friday night. 

Multi-faceted Mutt

Ok Chino, give me annoyed....

...good boy...although technically, I guess I made YOU annoyed.  But whatever works, right?  Your annoyance is my amusement and I can't really help myself.  You understand that a monkey toy is just begging to be placed on your head and held there while your dad grabs the camera, I laugh hysterically and he takes a picture, right?

Ok, now give me a smile!  Say..."CHEWIE!!!!"  No, I said "chewie" not "BITE ME"....

Being the dog mommy that I am, know that this face isn't a smile, its screaming for me to STOP using the furminator, for me to back away and to give you a treat immediately.  However, we can only get this sweet "smile" out of you when you're extremely annoyed and you know how obsessed I get when it comes to proper furmination and you know what great material you make for this blog.

Brownie points for the hubby

On one of our nightly walks with Chino, Nick and I were discussing social media, namely Twitter.  Originally I signed up for a Twitter account to try to understand the ins and outs, tweets, retweets and follows.  We have clients who are dipping their toes into social media, so I figured that I should at least be able to have an intelligent conversation about the subject, and to do that I needed to gain somewhat of an understanding.

So I told Nick that he should follow me on Twitter, since 140-something other people think I'm interesting.  Without skipping a beat he says in a somewhat sarcastic tone, "I don't need to follow you on Twitter, I follow you with my heart."

And he says that he's not quick witted?  I beg to differ.