Where you at? Well, my 5th grade English teacher would “I’m after that sentence that you just ended with a preposition.” Good thing she ain’t here, so I can use my bad grammar and say again “Where You At?” That’s probably the question that my frequent blog visitors are asking, Carli where you at?… I’m here, I’m alive. I’ve been swamped doing a financial overhaul of my life. I have papers everywhere. I could give you all of gory details, but I feel like I’m finally getting to a better place. I’ve removed credit cards from my purse and set up a stricter budget plan. I usually go out to eat a lot, because I like it and it’s usually quick and easy. Sometimes it’s hard to come home and cook a whole meal just for me. And people say, well eat left-overs. I’ve never been a big fan of leftovers. I like to eat new things. Anyway, this past week I did a really good job of coming home cooking and taking dinner for lunch. Although I do still have a half of a pot of chili and a half of a Crockpot beef stew left. I think I’ll freeze it. I went to the grocery store this evening and bought a bunch of frozen meals. Those should be good for the days that I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to cook. Frozen meals have come a long way from chicken-like nuggets and weird mashed potatoes. I was able to get Panini sandwiches, barbecue chicken pizza and frozen veggies with sauce.
Anyway, I’m sad to admit that I missed group training again this past weekend. I was preparing for a meeting with my accountant. I have some investments that went down when the economy went down so I’m trying to get things back on the right track. Now that I’m about 75% done getting my finances in order I felt like this week will be more normal. I’m about only six weeks from my half marathon. The time is getting closer and closer, I’m excited! I hope this weekend that I can get in 10 or 11 miles. The strange part is I think that I can do it.
I knew that yesterday would be busy with the birthday party and movie night, so I planned my 9 mile walk for today. How in the world was I going to get in nine whole miles? I decided to walk to Forest Park instead of driving, to give me the extra mile boost that I needed. I stopped at my Mom’s house along the way because I forgot my bottle of water. My little sister gave me some encouragement and sent me and my water on my way. As I walked down the street in my matching gear and sexy sunglasses a guy started yelling out of the passenger car window. “Hey Miss Walker, you sholl are looking good today!” “Can I walk with you?” …TLC’s classic song “No Scrubs” immediately came to mind. I started humming, “I don’t want no scrub, a scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me, hanging out the passenger side of his best friend’s ride, trying to holler at me.” I laughed and gave the guy a friendly wave but continued walking but at a faster pace. I learned years ago it’s easier just to give a quick wave to acknowledge their presence so that they don’t get angry and keep moving to let them know you’re not interested. Mr. Scrub continued to yell out compliments, much to the entertainment of those dining outside near the U-City Loop. After what seemed like an eternity at the stop light he yelled out his phone number digit by digit and begged me to call, I just walked faster; he had to be my Dad’s age.
Once I got to the Park I decided to be a little adventurous. I figured I would go to the Zoo. It was a good idea in theory however, everybody and their Mama decided to go to the free St. Louis Zoo since it was 70° out today. As I got closer to the entrance, the aroma in the air changed from elephant poo to funnel cakes. All the children and strollers slowed my brisk walking pace but it was nice to see a different scenery. I walked through Rivers edge and snapped quick pics of the elephants the scary hyena and the cheetahs.
After about 30 min. I was back outside of the Park on the walking trail. I decided to be even more adventurous and take the unpaved hiking trail. There was a sign that pointed to the ancient Native American “Tree within a tree.” That sounded interesting enough, and at this point I had only completed 5 or 6 miles. When I got to the tree within the tree, I was less than impressed. I mean I guess it was little tree growing inside of another tree, but nothing really exciting. But, I took a little time to stop and stretch. When I looked ahead of me and behind me there was no one else on the wooded trail, I got a little nervous and decided that maybe I had been a little too adventurous.
I started to get a little tired and my main goal was now to find the paved trail and start heading home. My book on tape was keeping me company, I’m more than halfway through it. After the 7th mile I was really ready for this walk to be over. Finally I reached the edge of the Park and walked down the regular streets back towards my house. The sun was setting so I decided to pick up the pace and walk just a little faster, especially since I didn’t have Nyah with me for safety. When I was about three blocks from my house the Nike iPod lady told me that I had reached my goal of 9 miles. Not bad since I had pretty much guessed the whole distance, I didn’t map out anything before I left the house. Finally in just under three hours I was home from the long journey. I kept an average of 18 min mile walk pace, however I really want that down to 16 before the race. Nonetheless success! I never thought in a million years I would be able to walk more than 9 miles on Sunday by myself. I guess when you put your mind to it you can do anything
Today was my friend’s son’s 3rd birthday party. Of course I wanted to bring my little niece. However, there was one little problem. If you read my blog you know that I rarely talk about children. I mean they are cool little people, but they typically don’t fit into my schedule which is why I don’t have any yet. But, for some reason I really wanted to take my niece. I was so nervous, I’ve never taken her anywhere alone. My friend assured me that I would have plenty of back up. When I went to my sister’s house to pick her up, as soon as I walked in the door, my niece exclaimed “Ni Hao Auntie!” Ni Hao…I asked my sister? Isn’t that Chinese for hello? My sister laughed and said yes it is, she watches some show like Dora the Explorer where the little girl speaks Chinese. How cute for my 2 year old niece to greet me in Chinese. I asked her about the special rules. You guys probably know our baby was a preemie (1.7 lbs at 24 weeks) so she’s got all kinds of stuff going on. Aside from severe asthma and allergies, my sister said no strawberries, no citrus fruit, no pork, no egg whites, no peanuts. “Uh….okay, is that all?” No wonder I’m nervous I thought to myself. She asked the baby is that all and she shook her head no. My sister says “oh yeah, no dairy or dogs”…. Well, me or my sister don’t eat pork and we’re both lactose intolerant so that part would be easy to remember. She saw my worried look and asked “Do you want me to write it down?” I said “no I think I got it all.” We loaded up her car seat into my car and we were off.
I thought I got a great parking spot at the huge mall, but I grossly underestimated the challenge of walking with a two year old. When we got inside the party she freaked out because of all of the balloons. She LOVES “ba-oons”. Inside the party we had so much fun. As a paralegal, I was a little concerned that I had to sign a waiver before she played in the bounce house. Of course I read every line, and hesitantly signed stating that I would not sue them for emotional distress, paralysis, head injuries, suffocation or death…This was just what the nervous Auntie needed to make her feel even more uncomfortable. Nonetheless, my niece got in the castle shaped bounce house (she survived), played musical chairs, danced to the hokey Pokey, and even rode the real train around the mall. When it was time to eat my friend offered her a fruit cup. I quickly called my sister… can she have a fruit cup??? She told me a small fruit cup was okay just not to let her eat like a whole orange. I was happy that my niece chose the breadstick over the cheese pizza or the pizza with pork sausage. We had a blast!
We went to Cabela’s sporting goods store after the party to look at the giant turtles and the aquarium. At the end of our adventure, there were no tears, no tantrums, no messy diapers. After I returned her to Mommy, my friend and I met up for our usual weekend movie marathon. We only saw two movies today “Just Go With It” and “Unknown”. Surprisingly enough “Just Go With it” was much funnier than I anticipated, and even though Unknown had an unexpected twist, I still wanted it to be better. Oh and before I forget, let me rewind, I knew today was going to be busy, so I got up and walked 2 miles at the gym this morning!
Today was such a weird day. It was a freakishly beautiful spring-like day in February. My coworker friend and I went to lunch at Chavas, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Soulard downtown. She got to the point where she was tired of the shenanigans at the law firm where we work. For example, “spell check this document for me, or print the e-mail I just sent you and bring it to me.” She jokingly said it’s such a beautiful Friday it would be a great day to get fired, so I could go home and enjoy the rest of the day. I jokingly said you know you hate your job when… You say it’s a beautiful day to get fired. Ironically enough, this afternoon I got a text from her simply stating “God delivered me!” I knew exactly what she meant with no questions asked. This is my lunch buddy we eat together every day, and hang out for movie marathons most weekends. All I could think of was how bored I would be at work now. I can’t say all the things I’d really like to say about the firm where I work because someone could find my blog and, I have a mortgage to pay so I don’t want to be next on the chopping block.
Anyway, I thought it would be a good day to soak in the hot tub at the gym. Of course my little sister was on board to join me. We went to the gym and talked and walked a leisure 3 miles around the track. Then we put on our swimsuits and headed to the whirlpool. I turned on the bubble maker and put my foot in. It was so hot! I don’t know how my little sister stepped in with no problem. I felt like I was stepping into a pot of boiling water. I eased myself into the whirlpool as my body began to adjust the temperature. After a minute or two it started to feel good. Then I looked at the floating thermometer and it said 102°! I panicked and got ready to climb out, no wonder why felt like I was stepping into a pot of boiling water. That was until my little sister pointed to the sign stating that the whirlpool should stay at 102°. Maybe I was just a little wound up from the events of the day. I decided to use lean back and relax and enjoy. I laid my head back, It was so fantastic it felt like a water massage. After I marinated in the human sized pot for a while, I decided to try the sauna. I have access to all this nice stuff at the gym and never take advantage of it. As soon as I stepped into the sauna it felt like I walked into an oven. Is it supposed to be this hot I asked? Maybe it’s been so cold outside for so long that regular hot feels like superhot. Regardless, I could only stay in the sauna for just a few minutes before I had enough. And then I wondered why did everything remind me of the stove and the oven? Is it because I’m fat or because I like to cook? Oh well I guess it doesn’t matter. What did matter was that I felt good that I got in a quick workout and I felt extremely relaxed. I think I need a whirlpool at home. It was so nice, definitely something I will be doing again in the near future.
Oh! P.S. I signed up for a 5 Mile St. Patricks day Race today! Not a 5K …5 MILES!
Unfortunately, I missed TNT group training yesterday morning due to circumstances beyond my control. However, after church today, I went to the Park with the hope of completing 9 miles. I was so excited that today’s temperature was well into the 50s. Finally, some of the snow and ice would begin to melt. I took Nyah with me. But, I forgot how poorly she behaves in public around other dogs. And today, it seemed that everyone brought their dog to the park. At home she is the sweetest dog… “Bring me your toy Nyah, sit Nyah, come here Nyah.” Friends and family that visit me actually tell me she’s one of the best behaved dogs that they’ve seen. However, when she gets around other dogs, she morphs into an uncontrollable 65 pound beast. She barks and charges at other dogs both big and small. All of the other walkers and runners look at me like why can’t you control your dog? I want to tell them “really you should see her at home she’s nothing like this, I swear!”
Trying to control her became unbearable/embarrassing, and my back was hurting from pulling her around and trying to dodge a million melted snow puddles. Me and my soggy socks and muddy shoes were only able to finish about 3 miles. I felt a little disappointed, especially since I missed group training. I told my Big Little sister, who reminded me that some miles was better than no miles. And, I’ve got a whole week to make it up…Well, that’s about it. I’m about to plan out my menu for tomorrow’s Meatless Monday. Last week, I was completely unprepared and I ended up eating bowls of cereal and Doritos. Hopefully I can make this Monday a lot healthier.
” immediately came to mind. I started humming, “I don’t want no scrub, a scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me, hanging out the passenger side of his best friend’s ride, trying to holler at me.” I laughed and gave the guy a friendly wave but continued walking but at a faster pace. I learned years ago it’s easier just to give a quick wave to acknowledge their presence so that they don’t get angry and keep moving to let them know you’re not interested. Mr. Scrub continued to yell out compliments, much to the entertainment of those dining outside near the U-City Loop. After what seemed like an eternity at the stop light he yelled out his phone number digit by digit and begged me to call, I just walked faster; he had to be my Dad’s age.
