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By kilax, October 20, 2009 12:35 pm

Every work day, I walk past the little dining section of Union Station. At the early hour, the tables and chairs are more likely to be used by tired travelers and homeless people, than people dining.

Every time I pass that area, I look for the lady with the cat. She sits with all of her bags around the table, but always has a special bag on the chair next to her, that has her cat sitting in it. He’s a big tiger cat, with mangy fur. She’s usually talking to him. And he’s usually looking right at her.

I wish I had an actual picture of the cat, but I will use this Simon’s Cat pic instead.

For some reason, it really intrigues me that a homeless person has a CAT. Does this cat follow her around all day? Does she carry it around in an open top bag all day?

Yes, these are my deep thoughts this particular Tuesday.

Every time I see her, I think about all of the homeless people in Rome who had dogs. Most of them did. They use pets to gain sympathy from tourists (like how this cat is catching my attention) but most don’t actually treat the animals very well. In fact, Rome officials encouraged people not to give money to the homeless who had dogs, because the dogs are so abused.

I’m so cynical/bitchy/jaded/unsympathetic, that when I see a homeless person here, I don’t give it a second thought. I don’t feel any sorrow or remorse for them. Especially because I see the same people, every day I’m downtown, in the same spots. Of course, I keep thinking about that cat. Is he well fed? Is he happy? Is he healthy? What is wrong with me? See, this is why they have pets… because of saps like me.

I would really like to understand the homeless problem better. I would like to not be so cynical/bitchy/jaded/unsympathetic. I remember taking a sociology class in college, and learning a lot of interesting facts about why people are homeless. Of course, I don’t remember what any of those are…

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By kilax, September 30, 2009 7:32 am

Data has decided to honor me by sleeping with me the last 4 or 5 nights.

What this really means is that I wake up a few times in the middle of the night because I want to roll over, but I don’t, because he is sleeping so peacefully between my legs/next to me/on my feet. And I would never dream of interrupting his slumber (in the middle of the night)! I mean, he wouldn’t do that to me!

Oh, wait. He does. Every time I try to sleep in past 5:30 a.m.

Data sleeping between my legs. It’s kind of hard to tell, but I am under the covers! Like my cat blanket? HA!

The things we do for our pets. Does anyone else have this half-conscious, “I shouldn’t interrupt the sleeping pet” mentality in the middle of the night?

Ha. On a somewhat related note, Steven and I watched The Cat from Outer Space Monday night on DVD. If you like cats and cheesy old movies (released in 1978*), you have to watch this. I was laughing out loud for much of it, just because it was so ridiculous. It’s definitely going on my holiday wishlist.

*For some reason, I expect movies that were released after Star Wars (1977) to have similar quality graphics (The Cat from Outer Space, The Last Starfighter, Robocop)… they don’t. And why would they? I guess that just shows how ahead of his time (crazy) Lucas was.

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By kilax, September 23, 2009 5:55 am

Which stores send you weekly (and sometimes daily) ad and coupon emails? Please let me know who is sending out great deals that I am missing out on!

I get emails from New York & Company, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and White House | Black Market (WHBM).

Damn WHBM and their marketing campaign. For the last two Thursdays they have sent me pictures of women modeling their dresses, while holding a cat. Apparently, all it takes to pique my interest in a product is a picture of a cat,* because I have visited their site after both emails. Is it more sad that I am admitting this, or that I am hoping one of you can relate (it doesn’t have to be a cat – anything cute and cuddly!)?

*Especially a GRAY cat!!!

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By kilax, September 7, 2009 7:54 am

Yesterday while I was cutting up our vegetables and fruit (and cleaning the fridge and running to the grocery store),

Veggies and some fruit for the week.

Steven made a vegan chocolate cake! The same one my grandma made me for my birthday in July.

Nom nom nom nom nom.

My mom got me a mixer for my birthday (can you believe I have been mixing everything by hand until now?!), so we’ve been using that for all of our baking lately.

The batter.

Does anyone else ALWAYS think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding whenever they see a bundt cake now?

I want to eat it now!

The frosting… we had a bit extra…

So we had to be creative on how to use it! (There are still two cups in the fridge!)

The finished product!

This cake is so decadent, dense, moist, rich and PERFECT. When my grandma made it for me for my birthday, I think I ate a fourth of it in one day. I couldn’t get enough. I have never had chocolate cake this good (I don’t even really LIKE chocolate cake that much!!!). Try it if you get the craving for something AWESOME and CHOCOLATE. You can find the recipe here.

Drooooooool…

Happy Labor Day Everyone! We stayed in town this weekend and have been taking it easy. It’s been nice!

(What would this post be without a pic of Data? He was very chill while we were working in the kitchen. He has been enjoying many long walks this weekend, followed by long naps.)

Comments (10)

By kilax, August 28, 2009 11:22 pm

Data has his own answer to today’s Friday Question. His favorite pillow is… my foot.

He cleans it almost daily, but doesn’t take it with him when he travels.

And he also wants to share his sleeping habits – he sometimes sleeps upside down:

Like those jelly rolls?

Comments (19)

By kilax, August 18, 2009 5:06 am

Data’s been a bit of a sh*tbox lately. He normally likes to “hide” behind things in the evening, and jump up at our legs playfully when we walk by, then run away. But lately, his attacks have been vicious. On Sunday morning, he jumped up on me and bit me in the thigh. When I was standing up! He left a mark.

I think he is stressed because he hasn’t had enough alone/free-time (hey, that is why I’ve been in a funk too!). But seriously, he needs to get over it (and so do I).

On Sunday, on our way to run some errands, we stopped at the animal shelter near our house. I had never been to the shelter before, but thought playing with some nice, grateful, cats for awhile would cheer me up!

Surprisingly, seeing all of the cats (over 300!) didn’t make me feel bad. They were all playing together, and a lot of people were there playing with them. What made me feel sad was seeing the dogs, alone in their kennels, begging for attention.

Anyway, one of the small tiger cats really liked me. She kept trying to crawl onto me, and play with me, and steal all of my attention.

My new friend.

Some of her fur was still on me when I got home, and I think someone noticed. Maybe Data was a bit jealous… but he was really well behaved for the rest of the day! That is, until nighttime came and he wanted to jump up on me again.

So, all I need to do to get a little lovin’ from him is spend time at the shelter everyday. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Just for fun, here are some photos of the sh*tbox from this summer:

6/26 – Thinking “what have they done?!?!”

6/26 – “Who the hell is this guy?!”

6/28 – Sharpening his “claws.”

6/26 – Scandalous!

7/11 – Think he’s comfortable?

7/11 – Vacuum Kitty!

7/12 – Showing us a new way to lay on the couch.

7/15 – Sleeping on a large pile of dirty laundry (we had 6 men stay over!).

7/17 – Data is not a big fan of Rock Band.

7/21 – Playing with a ribbon from Gina.

8/9 – Steven holds Data back from bothering me so I can sleep awhile longer.

8/14 – Relaxing in the sun.

Comments (15)

By kilax, July 28, 2009 5:19 am

Steven sent me a text message yesterday with this image and said:

Data is missing an arm!

I am not sure why, but the text really made me laugh. I am still laughing about it today.

Sometimes you just need a good laugh to distract you from the things in life that are stressing you out. I get caught up in the little annoying things and forget that they are just little annoying things. Things that upset me but don’t really matter in the long run.

I am lucky to have someone in my life with such a fun sense of humor (meaning Steven, and well, Data too?).

Comments (19)

By kilax, July 12, 2009 3:05 pm

Welcome to week 4 of marathon training! If you click on the activity links after the dates, it will take you to the Garmin connect website for full stats.

Day 22 | Monday, July 6: Cross-train for 30 minutes Rest

Ugh. I felt mopey and was suffering from a sugar withdrawal headache so I did nada for cross-training and went to bed early.

Day 23 | Tuesday, July 7: Run 3 miles

I keep repeating this, but I absolutely have to start doing these shorter runs slower. I ran the first 1.5 and last .5 miles of this run with Steven. We started out fast and I didn’t want to slow down. I also don’t want to over-train though! I promised myself I would run slower on Wednesday, but Wednesday’s run never happened.

Distance: 3.01 miles | Time: 26:10 | 1: 8:49 | 2: 8:52 | 3: 8:25 | 4: 00:02

Day 24 | Wednesday, July 8: Rest

I felt frustrated (and sorry for myself) since the moment I woke up on Wednesday, so I took the night off to relax.

Day 25 | Thursday, July 9: Run 6 miles

Six nice easy miles, at a comfortable “conversational” pace – check!

Distance: 6.00 miles | Time: 57:01 | 1: 9:25 | 2: 9:29 | 3: 9:47 | 4: 9:35 | 5: 9:24 | 6: 9:19

Day 26 | Friday, July 10: Run 3 miles

Three hot, accidentally race pace, PISSED OFF miles.

The two highlights (low-lights?) of this run both involved kids getting into my way ON PURPOSE. I wish I was imagining this, but their actions were obviously intentional.

The first time I was on the loop around our neighborhood park. I saw two kids on one motorized bike coming my way so I got over to the right edge of the path. They started swerving back and forth and back and forth over the path, crossing dangerously close to me before quickly swerving out of my way. The kid driving gave me a malicious look. I think it is the same kid getting in the way of cars on the street two weeks ago. What the heck?

The second time, I saw a kid dribbling a ball in the sidewalk, so again, I got over in the right edge to get away from him. When I got near him, he made eye contact with me, then he dribbled the ball in front of me and I had to stop and jump into the grass. What the heck?

Parents, anyone, reading this, what should I do? I doubt it is worth saying anything to these kids, but it is seriously frustrating me. These are not young awkward kids trying to figure out sidewalk etiquette. They are being little sh*ts on purpose. Maybe I should just stick to the early morning hours before the terrors get out of bed. Or try REALLY hard to ignore it.

Distance: 3.00 miles | Time: 26:34 | 1: 8:54 | 2: 8:56 | 3: 8:40 | 4: 00:02

Day 27 | Saturday, July 11: Run 6 miles at marathon pace

I set my regular alarm for 6:00, but had to rely on my kitty-cat alarm clock to wake me up at 7:30. Thanks Data! (Funny thing is, he started waking me up at 5:30 on Sunday. He’s a kind of unreliable alarm clock!)

Look! A talking shoe!

It was cloudy when I got to the park, so I was excited, thinking I wouldn’t be running in the sun. That quickly changed though! I got really hot right away. I was too lazy to put my hydration belt on, and ended up stopping at the car THREE TIMES for water. Yikes. I need to wear the belt next time!

The deceiving skies…

… quickly turned to sun!

I took a photo of my awesome bruised wrist to share with you all. I look forward to running as one of the few hours of the day when I don’t have to wear the stupid splint and wrap.

Pace runs make me so nervous and stressed out. I feel like I am constantly looking at the Garmin to keep on track. I feel guilty if my pace goes up at all. I much prefer the method we used for the half marathon – just putting the miles in, at ANY pace. I know this is the way to becoming a better runner though!

Distance: 6.00 miles | Time: 53:15 | 1: 8:55 | 2: 8:52 | 3: 8:57 | 4: 8:49 | 5: 8:55 | 6: 8:40 | 7: 00:03

Day 28 | Saturday, July 12: Run 11 miles

I found a new out-and-back trail to try near our house, but was concerned about getting too far out on the trail away from a toilet. The park by our house has a loop that goes by three separate toilet facilities (!!!) but I am getting kind of sick of running there. When I told Steven my dilemma, he suggested I run to the park by our house, then do a few loops there, to change things up a bit. I have always been a bit nervous about running on the shoulder of the street (especially with a 55 mph speed limit!), but it went well, and it was fun to run somewhere different for the first and last 2 miles.

Not driving there created another dilemma though – I couldn’t bring extra water. My hydration belt (this one) only holds maybe… 16 ounces total? And it LEAKS. I was definitely dehydrated today. I have been looking for a belt that holds more water, or a hand held water bottle, or maybe even a camelbak. Actually, I am really interested in camelbak, but worried about my back getting all sweaty and gross. What do you like to use for hydration? Have any of you used a camelbak?

Edited to add: My brother-in-law was disappointed that I didn’t mention I tripped over him and five of his friends on my way out the door that morning. So… Andrew (my BiL) was in town with his friends for a Cubs game on Saturday and the Brewers game on Sunday, and they all stayed at our house. It was fun seeing him and his friends, and finding spots for all of them to stay (three couches, one bed, one air mattress, and one sleeping bag!). Data enjoyed sleeping on their dirty sheets after they left. Ew Data, ew.

Distance: 11.00 miles | Time: 1:49:58 | 1: 9:42 | 2: 9:38 | 3: 10:24| 4: 10:08 | 5: 10:09 | 6: 10:03 | 7: 9:58 | 8: 9:46 | 9: 9:56 |10: 10:08 | 11: 9:59

Week Summary: 29 Miles

I seem to have fallen prey to the “I can eat anything I want, I am training for a marathon” mentality. Well, if that were true, would my jeans be this tight? My diet has been disappointingly junky lately, and feeling restricted by my wrist and moody all week surely didn’t help. I get through my runs just fine, but know I could perform better if I ate better, and lost a few pounds. I haven’t mentioned it, but I took my weight loss tracker off the site awhile ago, and stopped weighing myself. I didn’t want that to be a focus during training. I want my focus to be on feeling healthy. I’ll get there.

The end of week 4 means I am 25% through the training program! The marathon will be here before I know it! I just found out you can track the racers online during the race, so I will make sure to post all of that info closer to the actual date.

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By kilax, June 17, 2009 5:46 am

This lady took up an entire seat on a crowded train, for food for her and her friends. What the heck?!

I saw this chair during one of the NeoCon classes I attended on Monday. What the heck?!

Dato Potato was meowing outside at a turtle on Sunday, but when I took him outside to see him, he got all scared. What the heck?!*

My sunburn is barely visible anymore but it still hurts big time. What the heck?!

This “June” weather. Seriously. What the heck?!

Have you said, “what the heck?!” about anything lately?

*Grow a pair Data! LOL, just kidding, mean joke.

Comments (23)

By kilax, April 28, 2009 6:53 am

I’ve been tagged by Mrs. Smith. Here are the rules:

1. Take a pic of yourself right now.
2. No primping or preparing.
3. Just snap a picture.
4. Load the picture onto your blog.
5. Tag some people to play along. I don’t tag, but participate if you want!

This is me, when I woke up at 5:00 am, sans makeup! (See how wavy my hair is, Denise?!)

Of course, Data saw that I was snapping pics with my phone and wanted to get in on the action. I think he cheated though – he was definitely licking himself before he jumped into the photo!

See how tired I look? I look this tired ALL DAY LONG. Even though I put on makeup, try to get enough sleep and drink lots of water… I always look tired. Even when I don’t feel tired.

And… more blabbing – I love Jillian Michaels’s* podcasts. I often feel like she is speaking directly to me, about something I am personally struggling with. Already, I have been able to apply something I listened to last night to a situation this morning. More below…

Continue reading 'No primping or preparing / Why I love Jillian Michaels'»