Why I Hate Law School Reason #1220

I got home at 7PM tonight and the house was empty. And I'm writing this post at 9PM and it's still empty. Richie started school again today. Granted it's his third year and it won't be as busy, but after an entire month off (including no working), I was getting used to playing every night. Oh and not to mention his cooking and cleaning.

Guess I'll have to actually start being responsible again. Hmm or I could find other things to keep me busy. I think I'll go with the latter. Stay tuned for details on the "other things."

Slow and Steady Is My Pace

This weekend was great. Friday night we went to dinner at Matchbox then watched Knowing with some friends. Saturday we played miniature golf and got ice cream with some other friends. It was really just a friend-filled weekend :)

But before all of the fun and games on Saturday, I got up before the sun (really it was just a cloudy day) and went for my 10-mile run.

It may have been slow, but I ran (my Garmin calls it a jog) every step of 10 miles.

With my registration in, long-sleeved t-shirt guaranteed, and final long run done- half marathon #5, here I come.

Friday Food

I love Fridays. And I love food. Here's what we've been eating (thanks to the produce box) for the past week. I've learned that I really like vegetables, especially eggplant. Especially. Fried. All of these recipes were delicious and are linked if you click on the recipe name.

Roasted Eggplant and Garlic Pasta Nests (Rachael Ray recipe)

Pecan and Arugula Pesto (Rachael Ray Recipe)

Fried Eggplant- Two Ways (Food Network recipe)

Squash Salad and Sesame Seed Tuna Corn Chowder (Mix of Tyler Florence and Paula Deen)

The Day My Colleagues Won The Lottery

A bunch of my colleagues (I think the actual number is 85) bought lottery tickets together last week with the promise of splitting any winnings. I had no idea until I heard one of my colleagues talking about his winnings last Thursday. I went over and asked him how much he won, and he told me $.07. Seven cents. Forget the fact that he spent $2.00 for the ticket, he won $.07 and that's all that matters (or at least that's what he tried to convince me).

Could you imagine if I applied that philosophy to everything?

I wouldn't have to feel bad about buying a new camera because I got free shipping on Amazon.

And I'd go out to eat every night this week because a 3-course dinner during Restaurant Week is only $35.09 and just the entree is normally $25-30.

And the coupon I got in the mail today for a $49 massage that's normally $79. That's kind of like winning $30 right?

And don't even get me started on the daily Groupons I get by email. I'd be rich.

If.Only.

Birthday Wish List

It feels like August has been going on forever and September will never come - this is good and bad for me by the way since Richie goes back to school in September - which means my birthday just isn't getting any closer.

Hmm that might be the reason I've already bought myself everything I wanted. I thought about waiting but when I realize August had 31 days (and not 30), I just couldn't do it. So putting together this list was tougher than normal. But.Not.That.Tough.

So here are 24 things I'm wishing for this year (can you guess how old I'm going to be)?

***Since people are actually looking at this list, I am going to start crossing things off the list as I get them.

1. Plane tickets to see one of my best friends in Utah. I miss her :(
2. Pedicure/Massage (I don't think these ever leave my list)
3. Striped delight
4. Cute flats or wedge heels.
5. A new purse in a dark purple color. One with pockets for my cell phone and keys.
6. iPod Nano (my 1G nano isn't cutting it anymore).
7. Pampered Chef Mandoline
8. A personal trainer or just a mean workout buddy.
9. Ice cream maker
10. Recipe/cookbook stand
11. Wii Microphone stand (for singing while I'm drumming)
12. Gummy worms or Hairbo (gold bag) gummy bears
13. Either this So You Think You Can Dance workout DVD or this one.
14. Money (because when is this ever a bad gift)
15. Gift card from Ann Taylor Loft or Banana Republic
16. To go on quadruple date with my two brothers and sister (she turns 16 next month).
17. Netflix subscription
18. ClearPlay DVD player (edits movies for content you don't want)
19. Subscription to one of the musical theaters in the area (Kennedy Center, Signature Theater, Arena Stage, or Wooly Mammoth)
20. Dessert at Melting Pot (or just chocolate fondue)
21. Piano music (since I started playing the piano again)
22. A weekend in Aruba. Or maybe Grand Cayman. Anywhere with a beach and no internet
23. Strawberry and nutella crepes in bed
24. A pepperoni, cheese, and black olive calzone from Ashburn Cafe. And mozzarella sticks.

So that's it. I don't think I'm asking for too much this year. Just enough :)

I Blame It on the In-Laws

My bedroom is a mess, I've gained five pounds, and I haven't run in two weeks. Things were going great, and I was taking good care of myself, Richie, and my apartment. Then my wonderful in-laws came into town, and I decided to take a break from my routine. A two-week break. And now I can't get back into that routine. When I'm running a half-marathon in two weeks, taking a two week break from running is not the best idea. And taking a break from watching what I eat (especially when I'm not running) is never a good idea.

And now I'm paying for it. I've got to buckle down now and run hard for the next two weeks so that I can cross that finish line and hopefully lose those 5 lbs in the process. Because you can do anything for two weeks right? My running plan for the next two weeks is here.

And P.S., I know that it's not really my in-laws' fault. We had a great week with them, and I could easily have fit everything in. I was just looking for a way to take a break.

Weekend Worth Waiting For

Since Richie has been off all of August, we have been playing a lot. This weekend won't be any different. Saturday morninig we're going to a delicious breakfast buffet, then I'm playing sand volleyball with friends. Then Saturday we're going to the Montgomery county fair and demolition derby with a bunch of friends. I've never been to a demolition derby before but I loved watching the cars crash during Nascar races so I'm sure I'll love it. Sunday we don't have plans yet, but I'm sure we'll come up with something fun and exciting and then Monday night (I know it's not the weekend) we're going out to dinner for DC Restaurant week. We've been here for over two years and never (okay maybe once) partaken in the deliciousness.

Somewhere in there I'm going to fit in an 8-mile run, but I haven't quite gotten that far yet. Sounds like a good weekend to me. Now I just need to get through today.

The Joys of Living In a Diverse Area

I did not (and probably couldn't if I tried) make this up. All I wanted was some lunch.

*********************************************************
Act 1: Soup
Me: I'd like a cup of broccoli cheese soup.
Quiznos Sandwich Maker: Tuna melt?
Me: No. Broccoli cheese soup.
Quiz: Tuna?
Husband: No. She wants soup.
Quiz: Soup over there. (points to other register)

I walk over to register and decide I don't want soup (big mistake). Walk back to sandwich area.

*********************************************************
Act 2: Sandwich
Me: Has someone already gotten my soup?
Quiz: Tuna melt (seriously he asked again)?
Me: I don't want the soup anymore.
Quiz: Just soup. Over there (points again).
Husband: She doesn't want the soup. (walks over to get his sandwich)
Me: Can I get a kids meal?
Quiz: Kid? What kind?
Me: Turkey and cheese.
Quiz: (pulls out wheat bread) American cheese okay?
Me: Sure.
Quiz: (puts cheese on bread and puts on toaster machine)
Me: Is there any meat on that?
Quiz: You get over there.
Me: No, is there any meat on that. I just saw cheese.
Quiz: Yes, toasted cheese.
Me: No I wanted turkey on it.
Quiz: (picks up a handful of turkey and takes it to worker on other side of toaster- other worker puts the cold turkey on the toasted cheese sandwich and wraps it up).

*********************************************************
Act 3: Something like that
Quiz 2: $12.00 (or something like that)
Me: I didn't want the soup (because of soup there is a cup of soup on our tray)
Quiz 2: Yeah soup.
Husband: We didn't want soup.
Quiz 2: Oh. (takes soup off and throws in the trash).

Twenty minutes later we finally get our correct order (well if correct means not getting to put any toppings on our sandwiches) and go sit down to eat. The entertainment is much better than the food. Who knew watching people try to order could be so amusing.

Monthly Goal Recap

I wrote a new set of "annual goals" back at the beginning of July and think it's about time to go back and review how I'm doing. I think there's something to this whole goal setting thing as I'm making progress. Maybe it's just writing something down so it's in the forefront of your mind all the time. Who knows, but it's working. Here's a recap.

Run two more half marathons in 2009 (Iowa and Baltimore).
I started the running group to help me out, but I'm going to make it. Even if it's just so I can go see my cute nephews. I've already registered for Baltimore and just need to mail my Iowa form.

Hit my goal weight and stay there for six weeks.
I kind of forgot about this one. I've stayed at a weight for the past four weeks, but it's not my goal weight. I need to work on this one as six weeks is a long time.

Save $5000 from my paychecks (not my husband's).
Not going so well. The money has gone here, here, and here. Anywhere but the savings account. Another one I need to work on.

Learn how to play Stay by Sugarland on the guitar.
Richie is off all of August and promised to teach me. August is almost over and the only guitar I've picked up is for RockBand.

Get a book printed with the first two years of my blog.
I put together the posts that I want to print out. That's a start. In September, I'm putting together the actual book to get printed.

Get a cookbook printed with all of our favorite recipes.
With the produce box, we've tried out a lot of new (and yummy) things. So I've added more recipes to this including sopapilla cheesecake, eggplant parmesan, overnight cinnamon rolls, 5-minute potato au gratin, and zucchini and tomato couscous.

Plan six fun activities for the young married couples at church.
We've already had three- duckpin bowling, hiking in Great Falls, and a National's game (sort of). We're going to a demolition derby this weekend and the beach the next. Yeah, I think I'll probably make this one.

Go on ten real non-work related dates with my husband.
Hmm... this one has been tough. We've had lots of double and triple dates with friends, and I think I'll count those. But we really need to go out just us...but I hate to spend money for just us to go out. Maybe I'll change this goal to one (only us) real date every month.

Go through all of my stuff and get rid of anything I don't need or use.
I got rid of a bunch of clothes earlier this month but picked up some others. Oops.

Write and send out a letter/Christmas card to friends and family.
This is more of a later in the year thing. I'll work on it then.

Who Cares About PMS When I've Got CRS (Crying Randomly Syndrome)

Today was an emotional day, and I really don't know why. Maybe it was just thinking about how much I miss my family, or Stephanie's funeral, or having to get up and go to work. Whatever it was, I was an emotional wreck and had the red face and tear stains at my 2PM work meeting today to prove it. (Oh and I might have gone off on the colleague who made me cry but that's a different story.)

But I don't get it. I've been just fine since I wrote this post so I'm really not sure it had anything to do with that. I really think I just have so many tears built up somewhere in me that I don't use that sometimes they just all come out. I ignore bad/sad things rather than embrace them; ignoring them makes them go away right? And maybe the random tears that squeak (or rush in today's case) out are the ones that I never used when I should have. Who knows.

But I do know there are times a girl is not supposed to cry. Like when someone on the Biggest Loser finishes a half-marathon. Or when Joey proposed to Rachel (accidentally of course) on Friends. And those are of course all of the times I do. And heave and shudder and get red-faced (and red-eyed).

Maybe next time I'll work on the whole embracing and getting over instead of ignoring thing. Outbursts at work just aren't my thing. Thank goodness my boss was out today.

Produce Part 2

Before I write this post, I need to add a disclaimer. The majority of this food is made and photographed by my husband. I just have the blog to put it on.

So this week's box was full of all sorts of new and delicious produce:

corn

sicilian eggplant

vine ripe tomatoes

yellow squash

green beans (x2) (we eat these too fast to take pictures, sorry!)

red cabbage

portabello mushrooms

yellow peaches

nectarines (x2)

red plums

And here's what we came up with to use it:

Shrimp ceviche

Mexican stuffed tomatoes

Eggplant Parmesan

Zucchini and yellow squash salad with chicken and mushroom stirfry

And as a yummy bonus, here are the cinnamon rolls I made this weekend. The first is during the rolling step. And I tried to get a picture of the finished product, but they didn't last long enough.

Just an Update on Life

I've been asked a couple of times lately, "What do you write about on your blog?" And I told them, "Whatever I feel like writing about that day." A lot of people write about their lives and post pictures of their kids and vacations and whatnot, but I don't do that very often. Maybe because I don't have kids or go on vacations. But today I am so in case you were wondering what I do when I'm not blogging, you'll know.

The past few weeks we've been hanging out with new friends and having a great time. Back at the beginning of this year I was missing friends, and we finally found some good ones that are in our same situtation and (I think) like hanging out with us. We've probably gone out with friends five times in the past two weeks (that's high for us). And I think I've laughed enough to cover me for the rest of the year.

Work has been crazy, but I asked for it. Be careful what you wish for I guess; no I actually love it so that's okay. I still like the people I work with, love what I'm doing, and am grateful to have a job that I like going to.

I've been running (well maybe not this week) to get ready for the half and playing sand volleyball with some friends from church (loving that as well). I almost blacked out while playing because of the heat today, but I was fine after sitting in the shade for a while. Apparently, I just haven't been playing enough volleyball for the past two years.

Oh and Richie's family has been in town since last Sunday. It's been a tight squeeze with five of us in our 1-bedroom apartment, but we've made it work and had a lot of fun. Richie made eggplant parmesan one night, we went to dinner and a flamenco show at Las Tapas, and showed them what good burgers taste like at Five Guys. Overall, just a lot of fun.

And tomorrow we're having a cinnamon roll and game party at our house because I'm in the mood to bake and homemade cinnamon rolls just sound amazing right about now (and have all week).

So that's it. See why I don't post about our lives very often? It's just not quite as exciting as my ramen noodle obsession or non-lily knowing confessions. I'll work on making my life on paper sound as fun as it really is.

What Do You Do When Tomorrow's Too Late

I found out yesterday that a woman from my church passed away, a woman that I visited with in her home on numerous occasions and came home inspired to be a better person. She is a woman that's been through more in the past year than many of us have in our entire lives; and that's just one year of many. Yet, she is also a woman of strength and great faith in the midst of all of these trials.

And a woman that in the past three months I haven't made time to see because it just didn't fit in my schedule. And didn't say hi to at church because I would've had to go across the entire chapel to do so. A woman that wanted me to call just to chat every once in a while, calls I never got around to making. Calls and visits that I was planning to make tomorrow or next week. Always later.

And now tomorrow isn't coming, and I missed my chance to see Stephanie's smile one more time and hear her laughter. I have absolutely no doubt that she's in a better place now where she's done with all of her trials, but I wish that I would've been around more and helped make her time here better than I did. Because who knows, maybe that one phone call would've helped brighten even just one of her days. To repay her for brightening hundreds of mine.

So Stephanie this post is dedicated to you and all that you've taught me. Especially this lesson - even if tomorrow comes, there's a reason we have today. So use it. Don't wait until tomorrow.

I'm Pregnant

And I feed aunts to alligators (sorry Kori).

Welcome to my dreams, or nightmares really. I haven't been sleeping well the past two weeks and these are the kind of dreams I'm having. And no I haven't been to the zoo, talked to my aunt, or watched Crocodile Hunter recently.

But I will say there is one good thing that's come from this, I woke up happy to remember it was that time of the month. There's nothing more comforting after a "I'm pregnant" dream than knowing without a doubt that you're not.

So anyone have a take on what either (or both) of these dreams say about me? I'm thinking maybe someone is trying to tell me that I shouldn't have kids until I stop feeding people to hungry animals. Or maybe I should stop eating right before bed.

My Name is Playful and I'm a Yes-Aholic

Growing up you hear, "Say no to drugs," "Don't drink and drive," "No playing until your homework is done," "No TV after 10:00," "Don't give into peer pressure," and all of these other great pieces of advice on how to stay away from the bad things.

But where's the, "Say no when someone asks you to go out and you have to work the next day," or, "Say no when someone asks if you'll volunteer for an organization," or even better, "Say no when someone offers to give you something free and you don't have time to review it." Where are the instructions on when to say no to the good things?

I realized last week when I looked at the 10 colors on my Google Calendar that I don't know how to say no. Someone offers me free stuff? I'm going to say yes. Someone wants to go do something that sounds like fun, I'm going to say yes. It doesn't matter what commitments I already have, I hate to miss out. On. Anything. I will rearrange my schedule to fit everything in (and squeeze out any free time I might have had in the process).

Between a full-time job, part-time job, training for a half-marathon, being the secretary of the law spouse's society, chair of the young married couples at church, coupon guru, and wife extraordinaire, I just don't have time to fit in anything else (or all of those things). I've always tried to be well-rounded and do a lot of things but I think at some point if I'm doing too many things, they all suffer because I can't give anything the time they deserve.

So I'm going to try and give and take my own advice. Start saying no to the things that don't matter. And to the things you know you don't have time for. And start saying yes to more time with the things that matter. You don't need anymore free books that you don't want to read or anything else to put on your resume. You need more laughs and more time to play and make memories with the people in your life.

It's just like in DARE all of those years ago, just say no.

I Love It, I Love It Not

The title of my running blog is It's Either Love or Hate, Not Both. The goal of starting that blog was to find a way to love running, really love it. Last night, I loved running. I got my August Runner's World in the mail (great edition by the way) and was feeling great about running and my half-marathon in a month. I even told Richie, "I want to run a marathon," and was serious. It was a good day.

But today I hate it again. I just don't feel like running not just today but at all. I didn't get my tempo run in tonight, and I called and canceled my running group for tomorrow morning. It just doesn't sound like fun at all.

Can someone please explain how I can go from such a high to such a low so quick? When I named my running blog, it wasn't hard. All I did was think about my relationship with running, and the name came quite easy. I'm thinking maybe it's time to change that name, or at least change my perspective. I've got to do something because I can't handle this going back and forth over and over again. I can't keep skipping runs and workouts because I forget what I felt like during that great run the day before. And it makes getting out there for another run even harder.

So what do you do? I don't mean just with running, how do you get yourself to do something you just don't want to? Or how do you remember the good to get past the bad?

Playing with Produce

When I walked into my friend Rachel's a couple of weeks ago the first thing I noticed was a big cardboard box full of produce. I assumed she'd just got to one of the local Farmer's markets and asked her what it was. She told me that she'd signed up to get a produce box delivered to their house every other week through www.washingtonsgreengrocer.com.

Since Richie loves fresh produce, and I never buy anything but fruit, he was really excited when I told him about it. And we ordered our first box last week. Basically the owners send you a list of 12-14 fresh produce items (from mostly local farms and markets around the area) and you get everything on that list. Or if you don't want something on that list, you can substitute it with something else on the list. So for instance, this week instead of getting bananas we got two cartons of blueberries. Ooh and those blueberries were delicious.

One of the best things about getting the box is that we're getting stuff we don't typically buy, which means trying out a lot of new recipes. So every two weeks (or maybe every week, we haven't quite decided yet), I'll post about what we got in the produce box and the new recipes we used. This past week has been full of them. The pictures are courtesy of Richie and our new camera.

This week's box (meals in italics):

White Corn
Taco Salad w/corn, black beans, and tomatoes

Baby Bella Mushrooms
Creamed Mushroom Saute with Artichokes over Penne (Rachael Ray recipe)

Red Leaf Lettuce

Taco Salad w/corn, black beans, and tomatoes

Suntan Peppers
Zucchini, Tomato, and Basil Couscous Salad


Green Beans
Green beans with garlic and olive oil

Baby Zucchini
Zucchini Bread (Paula Deen recipe)

Zucchini, Tomato, and Basil Couscous Salad

Vine Ripe Tomatoes

Zucchini, Tomato, and Basil Couscous Salad

Taco Salad w/corn, black beans, and tomatoes

Basil and tomato omelet

Blueberries x2

Yogurt Parfait

Peaches
Nectarines
Cantaloupe

Everything was delicious, and I'm always excited to see what will be on the list next week. My goal is to use everything each week before it goes bad.

Pick a Color, Any Color

We have a decent sized closet in our apartment, but it still doesn't fit all of our clothes if we don't hang things up and organize neatly. Lately, it'd been getting pretty out of control so I decided to give it a makeover to add the nine new shirts (thank you Anna that I don't know for sending me the Banana Republic/Gap friends and family 30% off coupon) I bought this weekend.

Most people tend to buy more of one or two colors but going through my tops this weekend, I realized I have almost even numbers for all of the colors other than red, yellow, and orange (three colors I really don't like). Everything else falls pretty close together. Black wins by a slight margin but only because I have three black suit jackets and three black sweatshirts.

And with a closet like this one, can someone please tell me why it's so hard to pick out an outfit every day? I could wear a different top (not even counting the bottoms) every day for four months yet somehow I wear the same thing every other week or so. I seriously need one of the outfit picker outer things Cher has on clueless.

24 DC-Only Things

1. National Book Festival- September 26, 2009
2. Adams Morgan Craft Fair- October 3, 2009
3. Metropolitan Cooking and Entertainment Show- November 7, 2009
4. Eastern Market - April 28, 2010