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By kilax, June 17, 2016 3:07 pm

… but the commute sure does! And being around so many people.

Where we live now is such a stark contrast to the city. Very, very, VERY quiet, peaceful and calm. The opposite of a city. We have to leave our property to see or hear anyone.

Which makes going to the city a day (or sometimes, two) a week a nice change of pace.

But it’s the consecutive days of commuting and being around so many people that does me in (especially in a training environment). I’m not sure if I was this introverted before, or if living in the (essentially) country for four months has done it to me*, but I feel completely drained/exhausted after several days of interacting with people all day long. Which is where I am now, after completing a final round of training. I just need some quiet and alone time!

And I bet some people would visit an area similar to where I live and say “get me back to the city!” Ha!

The good news is, I am done with all that crazy work training and have some days off work coming up. Yay!

(The bad news is my boss just mentioned an assignment to me that will require a lot of travel, but hopefully it will be spread out!)

*Gradually working from home more and more days a week probably has done it. Now I can’t imagine commuting every day full time anymore. My quality of life wasn’t the same when I was doing that. 

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By kilax, June 16, 2016 6:08 am

• My day job is in the design (interior architecture) industry. That means going to NeoCon, a several day design exposition and conference for commercial interiors at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago (I only went one day this year). All that intro is to tell you I saw this office jungle gym yesterday at NeoCon and ME LIKEY!!!! It’s called the BuzziJungle, by BuzziSpace. You basically climb in, and sit wherever! Don’t you think your office needs this?! Mine sure does!

• I ended up completely starting over with the dishcloth I started Tuesday (I was only 14 rows in, so, no biggie d) so it would be more tightly knit. I thought I was going to finish it last night but I had to do work when I got home. Maybe I’ll finish it on this morning’s train ride! Or maybe I’ll nap. Ha.

• Work has been frying my brain something serious lately. Pair that with days in training where I am trying to get my regular work done and pay attention to class, and I am SO brain dead. Blah. I can’t wait for vacation! I really need a reset.
• It’s too hot out (for me) to wear pants or jeans to work (and not suffer from my sweatiness). Time to bust out some of the last few boxes I haven’t unpacked since February – summer skirts and dresses! Woo hoo! Let the legs breeeeeeeeeeeathe!

• Ugh. The bugs out here. Those are NOT moles on my neck in my post run picture below. It’s not so much that the bugs gross me out, just that I wish they’d stay off my body/stop flying around my head. And summer hasn’t even started yet… muah ha ha.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 102

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By kilax, June 15, 2016 6:45 am

I picked up some yarn on Saturday to knit a few dishcloths.

No one wants any dishcloths. And I won’t use them*. And the start of first one is kind of wonky because my hands are remembering how to hold even tension on the yarn. But I wanted something to do on our flight to and from Alaska, and after dinner, to keep my hands busy. And a dishcloth is a good place to start to remind my hands what to do, before I try something more complicated.

And yay, my hands remembered how to knit! I haven’t knitted anything since January, and I was excited to remember how to do it (again) without having to look anything up.

I’m also thinking about buying a copy of Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike to read on the plane. Has anyone read it?

*Mica suggested saving them for gifts (pair with soap!) – which I probably will (well, if they turn out okay, ha!).

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By kilax, June 14, 2016 1:56 pm

I hit 1000 (well, 1003) miles run for the year, today!

Um, apparently, on the EXACT same day as last year. That was NOT planned. Ha.

I don’t have a goal for total miles run for the year, so consistency is fine with me!

What else happens on June 14th? My snister’s wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary, snis! Pretty soon we’ll have another June anniversary in the family… my older brother’s wedding is coming up!

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By kilax, June 13, 2016 6:23 am

We went to our first (and hopefully not only!) baseball game of the year yesterday.

We missed the Royals when they were in Chicago in May to play the White Sox and this was our last chance to see them here this year (during the regular season, anyway…). Steven’s brother, Andrew, hooked us up with four tickets (we went with Bobbi and John!) as an early birthday present for me. Thanks, Andrew!

Our seats were in row 2, along the middle of left field. It was awesome to sit right by the field and see so many plays up close! It was hard to tell what was going on with the pitching (and funny to hear people around us saying things like “that was totally a strike!” – how could you possibly see it?!) but I would trade being in a more central seat, to being so close to the action, again. And Andrew even found us on the broadcast of the game:

Did you find us? Look for Steven’s beard.

Thankfully, it was mostly overcast yesterday, and only in the high 60s. It was in the 90s on Saturday, and all day Saturday (as we worked in our hot attic, ha!) I was thinking about how happy I was that Andrew picked Sunday’s (and not Saturday’s) game for us to attend. I have sat in a ballpark, drenched in my own sweat before and… eh. It’s no bueno.

All week I kept telling Steven how excited I was to get a vegan hot dog at the game. It got to the point that he asked me if I was more excited about that, than the game. Ha! No…

The hot dog totally lived up to my expectations. I love that ballparks have vegan options!

And I love that the Royals won yesterday – yay!

Having an interest in professional sports is new to me. It’s not something I was raised to do or ever understood. I wondered, “Why do people care so much?” To try to understand it, I just compared it to the way we all have hobbies we’re extremely passionate about that other people just will never get – but can definitely respect and still show interest in!

Then, I read this paragraph from an excerpt from Shoe Dog (a memoir from the Nike creator, Phil Knight) in the June issue of Runner’s World, and it explained it to me in a different way that makes more sense. Knight is talking about watching Steve Prefontaine race:

Knight was there to watch the game – not race, yet he felt like he was racing – he even felt sore afterward!

For many people, watching sports is more than a hobby. It’s living another life, like you do when you read a book. It’s a chance to get a taste of an existence that will never be your reality. Maybe it’s even a bit of an escape at times… with a definite guarantee that there will be times of highs and lows.

And that’s not where I am, but reading this really helped me understand sports culture a lot better!

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By kilax, June 12, 2016 10:30 pm

Highlight of the Week: An even effort on my long run!

Monday | June 6, 2016: 5 m run + 7 m ride + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 77°/78°, Time: 48:08, Pace: 9:37 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, ready for rest day!
Indoor Ride Time: 28:19 Pace: 14.9 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good (also frustrated with speed sensor, but fixed it after the ride)
Strength: medicine balls and airex pad, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | June 7, 2016: rest
Wednesday | June 8, 2016: 6 m run (incl. 10×400) + 20 mins strength + 5 m ride
Loc: hood, Temp: 59°/60°, Time: 53:36, Pace: 8:56 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: decent (eventually tired quads)
Indoor Ride Time: 19:23, Pace: 15.5 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: PISSED I couldn’t get the TV or my computer to work
Thursday | June 9, 2016:: 4 m run + 7 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 61°/65°, Time: 36:31, Pace: 9:07 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, enjoyed the clouds
Loc: to VP Woods, Temp: 63°/71°, Time: 1:06:03, Pace: 9:26 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, getting tired toward end
Friday | June 10, 2016: teaching strength class + 4 m run + 1.75 m walk (w/Steven, Anne & Terry)
Strength: medicine balls and airex pad, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 89°/89°, Time: 37:48, Pace: 9:26, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good in heat, biggest problem was stomach
Saturday | June 11, 2016: 17 m run
Loc: DPRT, Temp: 70°/74°, Time: 2:54:22, Pace: 10:15 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | June 12, 2016: 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 64°/64°, Time: 27:54, Pace: 9:17 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but sore toes!

Notes:

• Blah, it’s that buggy time of year. For a few weeks, I’ve had bugs flying around my head during parts of my run. ANNOYING! Leave me alone!
• I had my hottest run of the year (and hotter than any run last year) on Friday- 89°F! I actually didn’t feel horrible, which is great. (My stomach was another story – oops, too many Doritos.)
• I had one of those awesome long runs this week where you want to keep going! I planned an out and back and was supposed to turn at 8 but felt so good I went to 8.5. Ha, I know, an extra mile isn’t that much, but it was encouraging to feel so good when it was really humid and gross out. I am not training for anything right now that requires that kind of mileage – I enjoy running it, so I do. And it helps with the Doritos mentioned above. And my sanity.
• I was disappointed in the lack of (some) biker’s courtesy on the trails on Saturday. It’s so easy to warn someone you are coming up on their left. Do it. And don’t ride down the middle of the path and brush by them. Sigh.

Link to Training Week 346

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By kilax, June 11, 2016 9:55 am

A couple of years ago Runner’s World had a hot off the press tip for one of their “use running to lose weight” articles – during your runs, swish your sports drink in your mouth then spit it out to save calories! Recent studies show the sugars trick your brain in to giving you a boost without ingesting it!

Sigh.

Yes, let’s encourage disordered eating (drinking?). It’s not enough that you’re running – don’t you dare think of swallowing (ew)!

They’ve included this tip in their magazine every few months since then. Each time it makes me ragey. I can see encouraging skipping caloric beverages when not running, when not running for a long time, and spitting out during a run if your stomach is upset, but come on. I’m a runner who almost always needs to lose weight and I’m excited I finally found a caloric beverage that my stomach can handle on long runs – because it REALLY helps me get through my run. I’m swallowing it.

I drank and swallowed ALL of this Vitamin Water!

Ugh.

The funny thing is, the article in the July issue that made me think of this is actually an article I like, because it’s about a topic I wrote a draft post about a few months ago and never posted – decision overload (I’ll have to post that once this article is up on their website). And this time, they are giving the tip to do it for a boost of energy when you are NOT running, and to actually ingest the drink if you do need to replenish your glucose stores during a run. So… maybe progress?! I don’t know. I bet we’ll see it show up as a running “weight loss” tip again in a future issue – it seems to be a favorite of theirs.

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By kilax, June 10, 2016 6:56 am

Data and Steven wore their matching ties for Data’s vet appointment yesterday and the ladies in the office loved it!

When we came in, they asked to see his bowtie (he’s been wearing one to his appointments for years, that is why they ask), so I pointed out he was wearing a tie that matched his papa’s and they just gushed and gushed over him. And asked right away if they could take a picture for Facebook. Of course! They also insisted that I knit a matching headband for myself!

Our male veterinarian and his male assistant? No comment on the matching ties. Ha!

This visit was a bit different – it seems they’ve started doing some new stuff to try to make your pet more comfortable – they were playing calming music for Data, and the vet said he was wearing lavender and another scent to soothe Data. Interesting! Not sure it worked, but it’s cool they’re making an effort. I wonder if that’s a trend at veterinarian offices right meow?

Data had a good checkup. He’s down a pound and a few ounces from last year, and is in good shape. Everything looks good except a small part of his top gums on one side of his mouth. It’s probably time for his every-two-year teeth cleaning. I need to find another cute tie for that appointment!

And since I am already gushing about my cat, here’s a cute picture I grabbed of him yesterday on our bedroom balcony. He’s arguing that we should turn it in to a full catio.

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By kilax, June 9, 2016 6:07 am

• My chest and arm muscles have been so sore lately. But not from anything I am doing on purpose. It’s all from functional training – yard work!

• Our kitchen hood is completely installed now! It turned out to be a lot more work than expected – Steven and Will had figure out how to make all the equipment fit in a shorter than designed space, then Steven had to cut the metal enclosure. But it’s up, and working! It’s really nice to have the extra light above the stove.

• Steven has been wanting to try Red Robin takeout, and I kept telling him that defeats the point of their bottomless fry offer – you can’t ask for more once you get home! Ha ha. We ordered it once in April and didn’t get many fries (NOT the end of the world – we were plenty full), but Steven ordered it this week and told them he didn’t get many fries last time, so they sent him home with all this awesomeness. Ha. We had LOTS of extra fries. Fries for days.

• My dad heard through the grapevine that there was an accident on the bike trail where we wiped out – a friend of his mom’s saw an ambulance and gurney there! And now they’ve put up cones and signs. I hope no one else wipes out there!
• My website is running really slow and I don’t know how to fix it. Eek! Sorry if you’re dealing with it on your end! I always assume it my pos host messing things up, but maybe it’s actually on the wordpress side this time. Which means I probably won’t take the time to figure it out. Which means bye bye blog. Update: the tech guy I talked to today actually told me the truth – there is a slowness issue on the host’s end. 
• I am not a yoga person, but I would definitely try this kind of  yoga – kitten yoga (pdf here)! Aww! I saw this on Facebook because a college friend of mine is actually in the article! I wonder if there is something like this in Chicago.
• Today is my mom’s birthday! I snuck a special surprise in her birthday gift. Muah ha ha. She found it right away.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 101

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By kilax, June 8, 2016 6:23 am

My boss and I were in Indianapolis yesterday for a two hour meeting. Getting there involved my two hour train commute, then a three hour drive from Chicago, and the same on the way home. Which sounds horrible, but I was actually not dreading it, because I highly enjoy my boss’s company and was looking forward to all that time to chat (which was fun!).

But then it did get horrible on the way home, because I started to get a migraine. UGH. This happens often when I am in long work meetings, or traveling for work. I drink less water, because I don’t want to constantly be getting up from meetings to go to the bathroom and BOOM – headache. And we had a nicer, cooler, windy day, and the pressure change didn’t help my head either. Blah.

So we’re driving home and it hits me, bad. We pull over and get medicine and more fluids. I think I am feeling better, then all of a sudden, I get that feeling in my mouth like I am going to throw up. Awesome.

I tried to close my eyes and relax and will it to pass away, but I couldn’t get comfortable. I was constantly adjusting my seat, the AC, and taking my jacket on and off. Ugh.

Can you imagine doing all that in a car with your boss?

I’m not sure I would have mentioned it, or at least, showed my discomfort to the extent I did, with previous bosses, but my current boss is so kind, understanding, and relatable, I felt okay about it.

In fact, she is so kind, that she INSISTED on driving me the entire way home from Chicago, instead of having me get on the train home. So… she added an extra two hours to her commute, so that I would feel comfortable, and could sleep in the car.

How nice is that?

At first I didn’t want to inconvenience her, but I was getting so out of it with the headache that I went along with it. Ha. And I am happy I did – sleeping in the car while she drove really helped me feel better, quicker. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep like that on the train.

So, long story long, my boss rocks. I’ll be really sad whenever she leaves our group (maybe that will be what finally makes me leave my group for something else in the company).

Also, I never threw up. Yay! (But Data threw up when I got home, so I got to clean that up while feeling crummy, ha ha! (Steven was gone all day (and still gone when I got home) so Data was making himself all stressed and that is why he threw up – he’s been doing that every now and then, lately, ugh).)

I don’t have any photos for this story, but here’s one from yesterday, of Freddie and Bill being demanding:

We used to think Freddie (the white duck) was the ring leader, but nope, it’s definitely Bill (the brown duck).