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By kilax, April 8, 2016 4:47 am

For whatever reason, when I leave to teach class just after 4:00 am on Fridays, Data cries at the front door to be let out.

So this morning, I had a bit of extra time and decided to open the door and let him look out (while holding him).

Right after I open the door, I think “Oh! I need to tell Steven about that bird poop I saw on the door step yesterday. There might be birds or something living there.”

So I’m thinking that, and holding Data, and we’re looking through the front gate… then you know what happens. Something starts fluttering around. Sounds like a bird, could be a bat, but I’m holding Data and he’s freaking the eff out because it’s right above our head.

Data’s squirming and hisses at me, and I’m desperately trying to close the door, without letting Data out, and without letting whatever was outside in.

What a great way to wake up!

But I was successful. Although Data was a little worked up when I left to go teach… and I went outside and looked around the door and have no idea what was there.

Eh, one more critter to figure out.

Comments (20)

By kilax, April 7, 2016 6:38 am

• I had a great time seeing my mom last Friday and Saturday night but MAN staying out late (her conference was an hour drive (one way) away) wrecked me for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I am an early riser and am not used to that! Totally worth it, though.

• My mom met someone at her conference that lives really close to where we are going in Alaska in June. I asked that woman if she knew any runners that could run with me while I am there, since my family is convinced a bear is going to attack me when I am running (and maybe a local can help with that? ha). The lady said she does know some runners, so I friended her on Facebook and plan to make some dates for our trip!
• We had chimney caps installed last week. Yay! I like the way they look, AND this will keep things out of the chimney. Win win. Ha.

• Peoples visited again early (4:00 am) Saturday morning. It’s cute when he visits the balcony – he runs back and forth on the railing and Data follows him. Then he comes down on to the balcony and runs around… and Data follows him some more. Aww, besties! On Saturday night/early Sunday am, we also heard some interesting noises outside that may have been Peoples… some animal decided the bottom of the downspout needed to be taken off and dragged across the driveway. That was a creepy noise to hear in the middle of the night!

• My second cousin has recently fallen in love with Asics shoes and tipped me off that Kohl’s had the Cumuluses for $60! What a deal! I used a 20% coupon, and with free shipping, they were just under $50 a pair. Yay! I am happy I didn’t wait for a 30% off – I checked the day after ordering them and all the size 12s were gone!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 93

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By kilax, April 6, 2016 12:51 pm

Wow, I’ve blogged every day for the past one hundred days! I don’t think I’ve ever done that before!

I wasn’t initially planning a blogging streak, but I’ve stuck with it because it gives me some semblance of control while my life is feeling a bit chaotic. I know – two moves for someone who works from home a lot and doesn’t have kids? Doesn’t seem too chaotic.

But what makes me feel anxious (and chaotic) is not having control of my schedule, and I’ve (we’ve) had A LOT of that over the past few months. It’s funny – what are our instincts when something major is changing? KEEP AS MANY THINGS THE SAME AS POSSIBLE! Ha! Flexible, I am often not. But I am working on it.

New longer commute? No problem. Finding new stores and figuring them out? Okay, I can do this.

But I stupidly tried to keep other things the exact same after our moves – how much I work out, how much free time I have, how much we cook, how many movies we can watch a week, and so on. Some big things, some little things. All important things.

And my point is, things are up in the air as construction is on going at our house, and even though it’s ours, we’re still in a bit of a limbo. We’re not settled.

So it’s nice, with all that, for me to have this space as my constant. And to share things with you each day and interact with people, for fun. Thanks for reading!

(And me mentioning this means the streak will probably end soon – ha ha – that seems to be how things go!)

Comments (26)

By kilax, April 5, 2016 6:23 am

Steven says to me in bed this morning “There’s poop on my face.”

Um, what? I must have not heard that right. “What’d you say?”

“There’s poop on my face.”

Oh man, I’m thinking. What did Data do? I just fed him! He is going to be in so much trouble!

I turn and look at Steven.

Oh.

Ha ha. There is a poop emoji pillow on his face. Ha.

Ahh, the poop emoji. One of my favorite emojis. My mom was just telling me about how she was at an event recently, and as an ice breaker, everyone wrote a question on a piece of paper, crumbled it up, threw it in the center of the room, then everyone grabbed a random question to answer. Hers was (you guessed it) “what’s your favorite emoji?”

Lamely (ha ha, just kidding) she answered “the smiley face emoji” (zzzzzzzz, Mom), but she did the story about how she never thought there would be a good use for the poop emoji, until I used it in a text to tell her my septic tank needed to be replaced. Apparently, the group thought that was very funny. <— insert smiley face emoji.

Speaking of poop emojis, I can’t wait until our other bathroom is ready to use again. It will be nice to go back to having two toilets in the house. This must really be on my mind, because I actually dreamt we had a third toilet that I had just forgotten about. Ha!

Comments (22)

By kilax, April 4, 2016 6:28 am

These two beautiful white birds that belong to our neighbor like to visit our pond. We enjoy seeing them!

On Thursday night, we had some other visitors. Coyotes. We heard them three separate times throughout the night.

Then on Friday, only one white bird showed up.

And Saturday.

And Sunday.

And today.

I am really hoping the other bird is off on official bird business. Because my animal loving heart REALLY needs to toughen up, if he/she isn’t!

Comments (5)

By kilax, April 3, 2016 1:58 pm

Highlight of the Week: Fast finish long run.

Monday | March 28, 2016: 8 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 42°/44°, Time: 1:11:08, Pace: 8:53 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fine, annoyed with the wind
Strength: kettlebells and boxing pads, Difficulty: easy (observing boxing), Felt: good
Tuesday | March 29, 2016: 10 m run
Loc: DPRT/Kilbourne Loop, Temp: 51°/51°, Time: 1:25:47, Pace: 8:35 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, annoyed with wind, upset stomach
Wednesday | March 30, 2016: rest
Thursday | March 31, 2016: 15 m ride + 20 mins strength + 5 m run (incl. up ladder: 400, 800, 1200, 1600) + 5 m run
Indoor Bike Time: 1:01:46, Pace: 14.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fine, but too hot
Loc: hood, Temp: 62°/65°, Time: 42:12, Pace: 8:26 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: too hot then too windy
Loc: hood, Temp: 51°/55°, Time: 43:06, Pace: 8:37 avg, Difficulty:easy, Felt: good
Friday | April 1, 2016: teaching strength class + 7 m run
Strength: kettlebells and boxing pads, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 45°/47°, Time: 59:45, Pace: 8:32, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay, tired (didn’t sleep well night before)
Saturday | April 2, 2016: 5 m run + 15 m ride
Loc: hood, Temp: 31°/33°, Time: 44:23, Pace: 8:52 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, not horribly windy yet
Indoor Ride Time: 1:01:33, Pace: 14.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | April 3, 2016: 15 m run + 15 mins strength
Loc: DPRT/Kilbourne Loop, Temp: 37°/49°, Time: 2:14:13, Pace: 8:57 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Notes:

• Ha ha, what a goofy weather week. Some runs were in shorts and a tank… and one run was in full winter gear, while it was snowing. Ahh, spring in the midwest!
• My long run was the first time since moving (so just over eight weeks) that I’ve used my hydration back pack – I’ve been too lazy until now! But some of the routes I want to run don’t have places to get water, and my handheld is barely enough for eight miles when it’s not hot, so backpack it is!
• March Recap! In March I ran 206 miles and cycled 104.25 miles. I taught 9 strength classes, 2 fitness boxing classes, 1 Burn & Buff class, and 1 indoor cycling class. I rode my bike 9 times outside of class (once outside!), and also did 6 strength sessions at home. My coldest outdoor run was 21°F and my warmest was 65°F. I did four doubles (runs) to get mileage in on my busier work weeks.

Link to Training Week 336

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By kilax, April 2, 2016 8:42 am

On her April Fools’ joke!

Snow?! Good one!

Ha ha, snow isn’t uncommon here in April and it will all be gone tomorrow. I’ll enjoy looking at it while it lasts today!

And I still have all my cold weather running gear handy, so it’s allllll good. To think, though, I was tentatively planning (earlier in the year) on racing for a half marathon PR today if I got my shiz together. I wonder how that would have gone in this weather – besides the snow it’s supposed to be REALLY windy. The cold temps would have been nice though.

Speaking of having all my cold weather outdoor gear still accessible – do you pack up winter and summer items when you aren’t using them? I didn’t at our townhome since I had a walk-in closet, but I think that’s something I might (have to) start doing now, to free up some closet space.

Comments (6)

By kilax, April 1, 2016 4:11 am

1. My mom being in Chicagoland for a conference (this weekend)! I’m hoping to see her once or twice.
2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming out on DVD on April 5!
3. Teaching fitness boxing, and teaching an outdoor cycling interval class with a fellow Efit instructor.
4. Using my “dump cart” to do some yard work! (I really enjoy picking up sticks… and we have A LOT in our yard.)
   
5. Dates with friends.
6. A visit to Dallas to see Gina, Steve and Luca, and to celebrate Luca’s fifth birthday!
7. A visit from my snister and her husband at the end of the month!
8. Contracted housework being done… maybe? Hopefully?!
9. Maybe hanging some artwork/photos up around the house!
10. That as of April 1st… I still have five weeks left to train for the Wisconsin Half Marathon. Phew!

What are you excited about in April?

Comments (15)

By kilax, March 31, 2016 6:29 am

• Why is health insurance sometimes (too often!) such a back and forth nightmare? I call the doctor to ask what the hell I’m getting billed for, because I didn’t receive an explanation of benefits. They tell me what it’s for, and that insurance didn’t pay. I call my insurance – they didn’t pay because they never got a bill. I call the doctor and tell them to send the bill to my insurance. I had to do that TWICE this week – for my dentist, and my doctor. Grrr. Oh, no problem, I’ll wait ten minutes to talk to the billing department so I can tell them to do their job. Ugh. Wah wah wah.
• Let’s follow that complaint with some good news! I LOVED working with the person who trained me at my job back in 2009, but she quit after I was there for a couple of years to raise her family. Well, she is coming back! She won’t be on my team, BUT! Her first project is with me! I am so STOKED!
• And let’s follow THAT with a cute baby pic! Aww, my nephew James is adorable! The next time I will see him is end of May, yay!

• Some flowers showed up in our yard!

• I am not doing the Fools 5K race this year, but I follow them on Facebook and was surprised to see they moved race day from this Saturday to Sunday due to projected high winds! If I was doing it, I’d be stoked to race on a less windy day, but a few people already said in the comments that Sundays don’t work for them for races. Interesting! Updated to add: here (pdf here) is an article that says more about why they moved it.

• I was talking with a family when I was waiting to get off the train yesterday, and the conversation lead to how people think everyone from Zion is “bad.” And I didn’t even lead it there! At least people aren’t just saying it to me, ha. I’ve had more interesting conversations since I last posted about people’s reactions to me moving to Zion. One guy asked me (after I told him) “You didn’t move to the hood, did you?!” <— insert his face of panic. Um, no. I wonder if this perception will change over the years?

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 92 

Comments (32)

By kilax, March 30, 2016 5:41 am

I am a strong believer that the type of music we were raised listening to has a heavy influence on the type of music we like as adults (it’s been proven!). And I was raised on rock/classic rock! Which means…

… as a kid:

• When me and my siblings would spend the weekend with my mom’s parents and hang out with their friends, they’d tease us for not knowing the lyrics to the country songs they listened to. And I thought something was wrong with us for not knowing. Aww. Ha ha!
• In grade school, when we were supposed to pick a song about love and write it out nicely on piece of paper, I was surprised my classmates weren’t familiar with Van Halen’s “Why Can’t This Be Love.”
• I pretended to know the lyrics to TLC’s “Waterfalls” at middle school sleepovers, and to Beastie Boys songs in high school… but I definetely knew the lyrics to ZZ Top’s “Tube Snake Boogie”!
• We’d listen to a class rock station (in the car and at home), and my parents would call in and try to win prizes (they did win from time to time!). I remember my dad telling us to listen for Van Halen’s “Jump,” because that was the cue to call, and us asking him to play it so we’d know what to listen for… and him blasting it on the speakers at home! (I have lots of good memories of my Dad playing music at home.)

It wasn’t until I started driving that I began listening to current pop/hip hop music. But my rock roots stayed true! As an adult:

• I’ve gone to see Van Halen with my parents.
• I’ve seen Foreigner with Rachel.

• I text my dad anytime “Thunderstruck” comes on my headphones so I can tell him how I reacted to hearing the song, ha!

• I love listening to rock music and playing it in my classes!

But it’s not the only genre I like. I do still listen to pop (it doesn’t make me crazy yet) and love most 80s music, and am in to EDM (electronic dance music).

What music were you raised on?