1 lb down, 9 to go...

Well, that was Monday morning. Now I have been in WI for a couple of days and eaten not the healthiest food in the world. But - I have also gone for two runs with my pal Katie. And this morning another colleague joined us and really pushed us pretty hard - it was great!

Btw, I'm back!!! As far as running goes. On Sunday, I did an hour run and felt like I could have gone on forever. Yay!

Considering that I'm still at work and it is 1:22 AM, I probably won't go for a run tomorrow. It's deployment time. Fun! Pizza galore. At least this time, I remembered to give a tip to the delivery guy. He seemed glad to know that I was not brain-dead today.

I'm rambling, am I not? Because I feel like a zombie... Too much of a zombie to actually work, but yet I feel like I need to be here and support the team. My eyes are so dry that my contacts keep sticking to my eyeballs - not good.

I need sleep. Lots of it. Why in the world did I agree to an 8 o'clock in the morning? Craziness.

Adventures in WI & TN

At the dog park
Originally uploaded by tabita.

I missed my flight last night. First time ever. It was not cool. I was sitting in the Midwest Best Care Club and nobody told me that my flight was boarding. Doh!

Well, I finally got home this morning and went almost straight to the dog park (we had to come back home first and get the dog). Sophie was scared for the most part and hid under select benches. She did venture out toward the end of our time there.

Now we're all kind of pooped, so Rebecka and I are going to go lie down and attempt to nap. We'll see how it goes.

Date night tonight - got reservations at Maggiano's Little Italy at 5:45 PM. No tiramisu this time though... :(

It will pay off!!! (this is what I keep telling myself)

Tired, oh so tired...

I'm going home now. I'm done. I'm exhausted. I'm going to watch TV and probably eat something unhealthy... I won't be able to stop myself. It was that kind of a day.

All of my sentences started with an 'I'. Weird.

Breakfast thoughts

The difference between a high quality hotel and a quality hotel is that a high quality hotel offers complimentary, made-to-order banana panncakes with hot syrup for breakfast. This is a high quality hotel.

All cleansers are not created equal...

So I just found out the hard way that the hotel-provided cleanser can not be used in the same way as the Oil of Olay cleanser that I typically use (and which I left at home). I.e., it cannot be used anywhere close to the eye. Aaaaahhhh - it stings.

Btw, another way to differentiate between a high quality hotel and a quality hotel is that the high quality hotel has soap, shampoo, lotion, etc from Bath and Body Works. This is a high quality hotel
- even if the cleanser isn't designed to remove mascara.

Day 1 status

I didn't have a cookie on the plane - they don't serve cookies on the morning flight. They did however serve small blueberry/peach and oreo muffins - I made the "healthy" choice and picked the blueberry/peach muffin.

Victory #1: I sat next to a box of Panera Bread cookies from 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM and didn't even have a crumb. My developers enjoyed them very much though. Cookies are the #1 tool in the Project Manager's tool kit.

Weakness #1: I ate eight very yummy (and very small) chocolate mints in my hotel room this evening. You know the difference between a high quality hotel and a quality hotel in that the high quality hotel has chocolate mints on the night stand or pillow. This is a high quality hotel.

I would say the victory wins over the weakness.

Good job me.

Announcing to the world...

OK - I am officially going on a diet. I'm 10 lbs heavier than I was when we moved here 4 years ago and - well - I'm sick and tired of it...

I figure if I declare it here for all to read, then I will feel more compelled to stick with it. It's so freakin' hard when you travel all the time to eat healthy, but I'm motivated.

So - 10 weeks - 10 lbs. That's the goal. I'll give you an update on October 29. Hmmm, just in time for Halloween - how convenient.

Well folks, have a pleasant week. I'm in WI Mon - Fri. Good times.

At Panera

I'm working.

I had a Morning Glory bagel.

Rebecka is reading.

She lost her 17th tooth in her Chocolate Chip bagel.

Todd is working.

He is taking notes on an article in Febe - a 19th century deaconess periodical.

Life is good.

My hotel...

...this week has an indoor water park. it is so big that they gave me a map to guide me to my room... which is an "executive suite," but doesn't even have a refrigerator for me to keep my water and rice milk in.

yes, my ritual these days is to go to the organic grocery store the first evening i'm here (WI) and stock up for the week: rice milk, soy milk, cherries, bananas, various organic granola bars, and fruit leather. no need to go out for dinner with such treats "at home."

today, i tried the evening workout concept. it was awesome! i watched Friends for an hour and ran almost 6 miles. felt so good. now a shower and some random sitcom later, i think it's time for bed. i'm trying all kinds of new things - like not working right up until it's time for bed. let's see how it goes.

Took the weekend off...

It rocked. Mamma, are you reading this??!?!

On Saturday, after an oh so painful run with Todd, Rebecka and I did some shopping, read books at Panera, and planned and executed an early surprise birthday party for Todd (he was soooooo surprised!). During one of the birthday party activities (watching HP2), I passed out and woke up the next morning feeling oh so much better.

On Sunday (after a much better morning run than on Saturday), Rebecka and I spent the day at Nashville Shores splashing in the water. Rebecka had an exciting adventure involving falling off an innertube right before starting a water slide ride. "I didn't think I would live to tell the tale," was her comment after the "accident." We had tons of fun and now both have very red noses (yes, the sun still does shine behind those clouds) that can fortunately be covered up by powder.

Rebecka started 4th grade today. She is so big! Cool thing is that she ended up in her Kindergarten room, so it's like everything is coming full circle. She also got to sit next to one of her best friends from Kindergarten, Elizabeth. They haven't been in the same class since - just same choir, Sunday School class, etc... Now they are finally back together. It's all good.

getting back into running

Ever since I went to India back in Sept/Oct (and didn't run for 3 weeks), I haven't been in the zone with my running. No more running back home from dessert parties on Christmas Day or freaking out if I have to skip two days in a row.

Yes, I completed a half marathon in the spring, but I'm still not where I was.

This is about to change. I have now run 1+ hour runs two days in a row and I'm determined to get back to the point where a run under 60 minutes just isn't worth the time it takes to put on my running shoes. The hot, humid weather (even at 6:30 in the morning) isn't helping, but I figure if I can get back into it in this heat, there is nothing that will make me stop.

Biggest motivator: catching up with Todd. No, I'm not competitive...

sleeping soundly

i took a nap today. it was a happy thing. when i fell asleep todd was next to me. when i woke up rebecka was next to me and sophie was getting ready to lick my face. not sure what happened there.

last night i slept through all sorts of adventures (todd was up all night trying to convince the electric company that they had missed our part of the street when the turned the power back on after the storm - he finally convinced them at 4:30).

of course, if my phone makes the smallest beep, i immediately wake up. todd says it's part of my disease - what disease?

hmmm...

stuck in the airport

good think i just signed up for Midwest Best Care Club. free food, drinks and, most importantly, wireless internet access.

i love comfort.