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The Twelve Days of Gazelle-mas: Day 8 (2011 In review)

Dec 30th, 2011
by gazelle.
1 comment

First of all, I need to mention that I fell asleep about 11:30 pm last night and then: I slept until almost 7 AM! I woke once & briefly about 5, but did not need to get up. I’m sure those of you who aren’t/have never been pregnant (or closely associated with a pregnant person) are not sure why that’s news-worthy, so let me enlighten you.  This is probably the 3rd or 4th time since late July that I haven’t had to get up to pee at least once. I don’t know if you remember me bitching about remodeling our bathroom in August – the month of no running water in our upstairs (read: bedroom adjacent) bathroom. I know you didn’t know I was pregnant, but I was, and holy balls, that sucked the big one.

ANYWAYS – looking back! Such an interesting year. A lot of surprises – mostly  good ones.  How did I do with my 2011 goals, you (probably don’t) ask?

Well – let’s just look at that, shall we?

 

  1. Run a half marathon by the end of June. – FAIL! In fact, I didn’t run a half marathon all year. I only had one run over 13 miles, even. Boo!  However, it took a LOT longer to recover from my foot surgery, and just as I was getting into the swing of things, I got myself all knocked up.
  2. Read 52 non-paranormal romance books, including at least 12 from my Nobel Prize list. – FAIL! I only read about 50 books (not counting textbooks) total in 2011, and only 2 were from my Nobel prize list. There’s no way a majority were not brain candy.
  3. SIRASANA! With no wall support. – SUCCESS! Albeit, briefly. I did hit this pose a couple of times, for short periods of time. This is something I will never stop working on.
  4. Take fencing classes. – FAIL!  Due to school/work/pregnancy, this, too, was put off.
  5. Achieve contentment with my body (which may be a combination of weight loss and muscle gain) – EH??? I don’t know. Pregnancy has really thrown this off.
  6. Take a few risks that may lead to happiness. – SUCCESS! Job risks, Toast risks, getting knocked up risks….
  7. Secret Goal that I don’t want to talk about – FAIL! Job changes really got in the way of this (btw, it involved a career switch, and I did interview for a new job in January/February 2011, and was a finalist, but it was not to be….)
  8. Finalize my capstone paper topic and get ready to finish grad school! – SUCCESS! I have only 7 weeks left until I’m done with grad school! YAY!
  9. 5K PR – FAIL!  Again with the recovery from foot surgery + getting knocked up. 2013 is my new year of the runner!
  10. Successful cheddar cheese! – SUCCESS! I love cheese.
  11. Eliminate all non-mortgage & non-student loan debt. – EH….I am in much better shape now than at the beginning of the year. Of course, I’m sure that having a baby will make all my financial dreams come true, right?

 

Overall – even though it looks like I had an approximate 50% fail rate for goals, I am okay with the ones that are fails. I failed for good reasons (i.e. not pushing too hard during surgery recovery, getting pregnant, getting a new job that changed a few of those goals), and I am pretty happy with my 2011 overall.

I have some of the best friends a girl could ask for – both here in PDX, back in South D, and in the internets, as well as the best architect in the land. I’m having a great(ish) pregnancy, I’m almost done with school, I got a promotion at work (and no longer feel one step away from failure at work), and life is pretty damn good.  There are still changes I want to make with my life and my job and all sorts of things, but overall, I’m generally pretty content.

***First the song, and then I will reward (punish?) you with a photo recap of the year!***

On the eighth day of gazellemas, Amy gave to me:

Eight hours a-sleeping

Seven miles a-cycling

Six yogis posing

FIVE PAIRS OF SHOES!

four pancakes,

three lazy cats,

two empty boxes, and

A Pooh Bear outfit, adorable and twee!

 

January 2011:

February 2011:

March 2011:

April 2011:

 

May 2011:

 

June 2011:

 

July 2011:

 

August 2011:

September 2011:

 

October 2011:

 

November 2011:

 

December 2011:

 

 

I am pretty excited to see what 2012 will bring. It certainly won’t be boring!

 

 

September 2011 Goals

Sep 1st, 2011
by gazelle.
2 comments

But first, as always, the August recap…

August 2011 Goals

  1. Buy new sheets/comforter for the guest room (breaking it down into small tasks) – finally! SUCCESS! I did get a new bedding set (and new pillows) for the guest room. Since the guest room is currently home to all the stuff that is normally in our bathroom, though, I haven’t put them on the bed yet…..
  2. Make Cheddar – FAIL! I did, however, go to a cheese making class and learned what I may have done wrong in regards to said cheddar. I then bought 2 gallons of frozen raw milk so that I can use that to make cheddar.
  3. Buy the tile and new vanity for the bathroom – half SUCCESS! We bought the new vanity, and have picked out the tile. We will go get and install the tile this weekend.  The bathroom is going to be awesome!
  4. Find a plumber – SUCCESS! Thanks to recommendations from friends, we had a couple plumbers come over and picked one, and they came and moved stuff around last Monday. When we’ve put down the floors and put up the walls, we’ll call them to come back and hook up the toilet & the sink. I really miss having a functional bathroom upstairs.
  5. Continue to do PT exercises twice a week – half SUCCESS! I have done pretty good at remembering to do the simple ones that I can do without needing equipment. I’ve sucked at the others. 
  6. Have a great time in South Dakota – SUCCESS! I got to see my three bestiest besties from college, my parents, my sister, and a decent assortment of relatives!  Yay!

August Training Goals

  1. Weights/Yoga/Swim/Bike – 12x this month(not 16, just a little more than the last months) – I definitely stepped up the biking this month, and hit the pool a couple times, but overall, a big, fat, FAIL
  2. Run 90 miles  – FAIL! And we’ll just leave it at that…
  3. Lift weights at least once – SUCCESS! I did lift weights exactly once.
  4. 30 hours of exercise – FAIL! I didn’t get as many hours this month as last month
  5. Hit all planned long runs – until marathon training is over! – half SUCCESS! I started every planned long run. I did not always hit the planned mileage, but I started, which is better than not, right?

Overall, I feel like this was a decent month, goal wise. I didn’t do as well with the training goals as I would’ve hoped, but travel and related exhaustion really cut into those plans.  Considering how fast August flew by, I think I’m okay with all of this!

And now – looking forward. September is my favorite month. It’s harvest time. The air is cool and crisp. The leaves start to turn color, and there’s still enough daylight that I don’t want to hibernate yet. Apples and pears are starting to appear at the markets, and the  mornings are just perfect.

Sepetember Goals

  1. Can tomatoes…salsa, marinara, ketchup, whatever – just can it!
  2. PICKLES!  My cucumbers, once again, sucked, so I will be hitting up a farmer’s market and buying as many cukes as I can carry for dill pickles and bread & butter pickles. I’ve already done beet pickles & pickled asparagus this year.
  3. Finish the bathroom before my in-laws arrive! It would be awesome to have a second usable bathroom as well as a usable guest room by the time they get here.
  4. Fancy dinner party. It is on my life list, and I am excited to host a few friends for my first fancy dinner party. I have invitations to go out this weekend. I am finalizing the menu. I wish I could invite everyone I know, but unfortunately, I don’t have enough room for that many people!
  5. Mother-effing pirate festival. Every year, I say I’m going to go, and every year, I don’t. I can walk there! The only year I actually did go was 2007 – and it was the day after the architect had surgery. He insisted he wanted to go, so we drove. And parked about 1/2 mile away (and 1/2 mile away from our house). We got there, walked around a bit, and then he felt crappy, so I went and fetched the car & picked him up at the gate. Not the best time, really. The next year it rained. I don’t remember my excuse for 2009, but last year, I just flat out forgot. Not this time, bitches!  I am going to the pirate festival, and you can’t stop me! YARGHHHHHHHHHHH!  (Ummm, I just went to the site to get the link, and it’s MOVED! I can no longer walk there! WTF, Pirate Festival?! Is this because I never attend? WHYYYYY??????) (AND, it’s Labor Day weekend! When I will be laboring! I do not want to drive to St. Helens for my piratey goodness!) (Also, I really wish the interrobang was a symbol on my keyboard.)
  6. Since I just maybe deleted my goal #5, I decided I should probably add a real goal #5. Okay, then….this is harder than I thought. I was so set on the pirate festival. Oooh – I know!  I will fall-clean and organize my kitchen! I was thinking I was going to anyways, due to the how-to guide posted by Cat, but now I have to! (And I really, really need to…the house cleaner is good at making my house look clean, but she hasn’t looked in the fridge or taken the initiative to organize my pantry & cupboards…I have a LOT of kitchen gadgets, and should probably determine which are necessary and which can go.)
  7. Oh, wait! I just thought of another! I need to plan the next 12 months of the gardening enterprise and get some fall crops in the ground!

September Training Goals

Well, really, more of the same. Run. Bike. Swim. Yoga. BUT, this month, I really want to start focusing on strengthening my core and doing some stability exercises. If that means I need to get my stability ball out of the closet and start using it, so be it. I’ve really had it brought home in the last month how much strengthening my core needs – it’s the weakest part of my body, and unfortunately, it seems to be vital to my comfort and strength in every other aspect of my life.

So – keep up with the exercise & training, and also CORE!

Weekend in Review

Jul 18th, 2011
by gazelle.
8 comments

These two-day weekends are still taking a bit of getting used to! I was sooooo tired last week. I haven’t been sleeping well (hyposomnia!) (yay book club!), and have been working a few ridiculously long days.  So, Friday date night was supposed to be Harry Potter (totes just typed Happy Potter, which would be his less well-known and irritatingly optimistic cousin) at the beer & pizza theater down the street from my house, but by the time the architect picked me up from work, I was all “need sleepy! no movies!”

So, we went and grabbed a quick bite o’ food and went home to veg on the couch (and watch Harry Potter [typed Harpy this time; what is wrong w/ me?] #7A in preparation). I barely even dozed off during the movie! Go me!

Saturday morning, I met Sarah for our long run. On the schedule we had 10 miles, we’d decided to do 12 miles, and had picked out a figure 8 loop in Lake Oswego. We’d never run there before, so thought we’d mix things up a bit.

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for the run. Overcast, cool, and occasional mist to keep us cool. The route? Beautiful. The bad? HILLS! I think the entire first loop was uphill. Seriously. Also, we got lost. Which we should’ve expected. That pretty much happens every time we try a new route. Glad I had my phone, though! After a while, when we hadn’t come to our turn, we looked it up on the map & realized we’d passed the turn about a mile previously. We decided to roll with it, and instead of running on the North Shore road, we did the South Shore. It really was gorgeous.

Pretty bridges

Sarah

 

Doesn’t Sarah look happy & full of energy? She is a GREAT actress! 

We got back to the start at about 8 miles, and decided it was good. As Zach pointed out yesterday, you have to take into account the vertical gain during the run, which probably added another couple miles, right? RIGHT?

After running, we grabbed some bagels & coffee and then headed to the Portland Farmer’s Market to pick up our CSA share. We are splitting a share, which was advertised as enough for a family of four each week. Since we are each families of two, it seemed great!

The CSA share has been a bit sparse. And a little disappointing. For instance, in this week’s share, we got two heads of broccoli. One of which looked like this:

IMAG0460

Also included were some wilty looking greens, 11 roma tomatoes (that were mysteriously placed under the other items in the bag, leading to some tomato bruising), a bag of green beans (that looked great!), and 4 zucchini. Previous shares have included apples (that were obviously from last fall) and potatoes (ditto).  So sad, right?

ANYWAYS, Saturday afternoon, after I got home, was packed with homework. Lots of stuff to do. I seriously don’t know what I’ll do with my life when I’m done with school!  I will have so much free time!

By the time Saturday evening rolled around, I was (again) exhausted. We had a low-key evening with Harry (spelled it right the first time!) Potter, el fin, and I was in bed early again.

Sunday was a busy day – I can’t even believe that was just yesterday!

I woke up at about 7:15 so I could get read to go spectate Jen’s triathlon at Vancouver Lake. When I woke up, I had a text from her saying it was pouring & she might not go. A couple minutes later she texted saying it was ON! so I got up, got dressed & headed to the ‘Couv to meet Emily. We loaded up on caffeine & headed through the drizzle to the race site. We got there just in time! Jen was in transition #1, having killed it on the swim! We were able to see her get on the bike & take off!

IMAG0465

The skies were low and heavy, but the rain was holding off…for now.

It started raining while we were waiting for her to come back, but it mostly wasn’t too bad.  At least for us spectators :)

We got to see all the charity leaders (and never did quite figure out what that meant) come into the bike & start on the run, and then Jen came back in, looking really strong. We stalked her down the transition, yelling at her over a hedge (yelling at her encouragingly, of course), and then cheered her out of transition two. It was raining a fairly decent amount at this time, so I kept my phone safely tucked away in my pocket so it wouldn’t get wet. (Or, perhaps I just forgot.)

I did manage to check Emily, Zach & I into Frenchman’s Bar on Facebook (it’s not really a bar), so maybe I wasn’t too concerned about my phone!

We cheered for all the runners coming out of T2 for about 15 minutes before heading over to the finish area.

Pretty soon, Jen zoomed across the finish line.

IMAG0466

She placed second in her age group – pretty good considering her year-and-a-half hiatus from triathlons, right?

Shortly after that, it started raining in earnest. Driving back home was a little nerve wracking! The freeway lane lines were barely visible in the rain and there were a few big puddles to navigate through after I got off the freeway.

The rest of the afternoon was spent alternately lazing about & working on the bathroom remodel. (The architect is doing the plans & drawings now, and I occasionally helped by sending pictures of tile.)

Around 5, we headed to Rogue to meet up with birthday boy Andrew & his lovely wife Lisa for celebratory beers and gifties.

All too soon, the day was over, and I was tucked in bed in anticipating of the 5 am alarm clock.

This week is supposed to be warmer & sunnier than last week, but I am hoping that tomorrow forecast of gray skies and drizzle holds true for my planned afternoon run!

Happy week, y’all!

Weekend in Review

Apr 11th, 2011
by gazelle.
1 comment

Another busy weekend, although honestly, if I typed “this was a very mellow, low-key weekend, I did nothing,” you would call me a liar.

Also – this is the third time I have started this blog post. It keeps freezing & disappearing, and I am putting you on notice, Word Press! Or something.

ANYWAYS – I’m sure the first couple of times I typed this out, I was much wittier, so if this is boring, just pretend it’s awesome.

Friday I had my third (of four) standing up straight appointments. Although I’m making great strides in standing (outstanding!), there is a small problem. I’ve started pronating in my right foot as a reaction to the surgery. This pronation is causing my fifth metatarsal to spread outwards, which in turn is causing the little toe to point inwards. Or, in other words, the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING THAT CAUSED ME TO HAVE SURGERY IN THE FIRST PLACE. Ahem. Sorry. That makes me shouty. It also makes me want to kick the surgeon in the shins (with my left foot) for saying I didn’t need physical therapy. Clearly that would’ve been a waste of time, preventing a recurrence of the problem that was now caused by the surgery that was supposed to fix it.

Moving on.

After standing up straight & balancing on one leg, I went home and did some homework before hopping on a bus to go to Surreptitious Brew Review #24 at Tugboat Brewing. Surreptitious, because last time, I did my usual facebook invite, and eleventy hundred people showed up and tried to fit in a space designed for 10 people.

This place was a wee bit bigger, but still wee, so only a few people came (invites were sent based on a complicated algorithm that took into account a) who shows up most often and b) who seems the most enthusiastic about beer).

Brew review #24 - April 8, 2011

After brew reviewing (I really liked this place, and am committing to posting brew reviews 22, 23 & 24 in the next three weeks. I promise), we headed across the street to Bailey’s taproom, which is just a great place to grab a beer.

Saturday morning, I got up bright & early to head to the Living Yoga yogathon (give me money, if you so desire – link in the sidebare). I am on the yogathon committee (with Jen & Emily – Emily is the head honcho).

It was such a great day! We got all set up, and then people showed up to register. I participated (along with fellow yogathoner Sarah!) in the yoga class and the guided meditation, before helping break everything down & heading home to finish my paper.

I also finished my bacon on Saturday. I had made a batch of maple-flavored bacon and one of just plain old salty bacon. The maple bacon was fantastic! So good. Awesome. The other bacon? A wee bit on the salty side. BUT – it will be great for soups, I’m sure. No extra salt needed!

Next time, I’m going to plan things better so I can take advantage of the neighbor’s smoker without having to bother said neighbor immediately after she’s had surgery.

Bacon! April 9, 2011

Saturday night was pretty exciting. The architect & I went out to dinner (used a Groupon) at a place I used to love (definitely used to – Saturday night was not a good experience), and then went out dancing all night went home, popped in a movie, and were asleep before 10.

Sunday morning was a lazy morning. I made us breakfast: maple bacon, homemade bread (courtesy the architect), and eggs (courtesy anonymous donors) topped with parsley from my herb garden.

IMAG0259

After breakfast, we kicked it into high gear. There was cleaning. And vacuuming. And laundry. And grocery shopping. And finally replacing my headlights on my car so I can drive at night (the dim lights died, one after another, the weekend we were in Seattle). And then – some gardening.

A picture of possibility....peas, arugula, and radishes - April 10, 2011

I planted peas and arugula and radishes, some hops, and removed a stupid bush of evil thorniness. I also turned over all the dirt in the main garden, getting it ready for tilling (not that too much is going in any time soon – carrots, beets & onions, but the rest of that garden will be given over to peppers, tomatoes & corn, none of which should be planted any time soon (step away from the tomato plants, Portlanders! just because you CAN buy them in April doesn’t mean you should).

I reacquainted myself with all my trees, offered some encouraging words, gave myself a couple new blisters (hoeing is such hard work!), and then, after the architect finished mowing the lawn, we sat on the patio and had a beer.  Shortly after that, we set up the motion-activated sprinkler to try to discourage the stupid dog from down the street from shitting in my newly planted garden. I hate him & his stupid owners who just let the thing out every morning to go do his business wherever he feels like. I am about one more 1-gallon bag full of crap from buying them a bunch of baggies & returning what their dog has left behind. FOR REAL. HATE!!!

After drowning the hate with the beer, it was time for dinner.

We made linguine with fresh asparagus (unfortunately not from my garden), tomatoes, garlic (this time from my garden) and some of the homemade chicken sausage from last weekend (ooh – and homemade broth from my pantry!). It was so good. SO GOOD. Honestly, one of the best meals I’ve ever made.

IMAG0263

(I think I need to take a food photography class….is there such a thing? All my food is blurry.)

Last night was another early night – all that hoeing made me tired.

This morning, I was getting ready to work & went to grab my glasses. The new ones. The ones I’ve had for a week and a half.

And they were gone!

I was so sad – where could they be? I remembered having them on Friday at the bar, and I also remembered taking them off Friday at the bar & stowing them in their handy little case. Did I leave them at the bar?

I know I hadn’t worn them since Friday night.

I had a vague memory of shoving them in my purse before heading out on Saturday, but maybe that was just wishful thinking?

This is why I can’t have nice things, people!

Good news, though – they have been found. I did indeed shove them in my purse on Saturday morning, but they hopped right out at some point during the yogathon. Perhaps they wanted to try a couple poses. They were picked up by the Living Yoga ED and saved from being lost forever, and tomorrow I get to have them back.

Yay!  Who doesn’t love a happy ending?

Happy week, everyone! See you back here tomorrow for shoesday!

Yay! Glasses!

Weekend in Review

Jul 27th, 2010
by gazelle.
1 comment

Another busy weekend – are there any other kinds? Alas, this weekend is picture free, due to the fact that my camera is currently a) broken and b) hoarding the photos on it & not sharing.

Friday, I headed to yoga in the park with Emily. It was a pretty good class – yoga in the park definitely offers some balance challenges.

After yoga, we wandered about for awhile before heading to VQ to meet up with The Ambitious Birthday Girl and a few other friends (including the blogless Lisa & Sarah) for a great birthday lunch. After lunch, it was back home for some yard work followed by dinner with the architect, then drinks & dessert with the kick-ass neighbors. Kick-ass neighbor #1 also had a birthday last weekend, so much celebration was in order.

Saturday was pretty awesome – I started the day with a 5.5 mile run in Forest Park. Longest run I’ve done since the Bridge to Brews 10K in April. Good news: no Damian pain during the run. Bad news: the distance + elevation gain + a body unused to such things anymore = super painful quads the next day. It was definitely worth it, though. It was one of those magic runs where everything just feels so perfect & you don’t want to go back.

Saturday afternoon was more yard work in the heat, and then my cousin & her bf came over for dinner. Her bf helped the architect get his job, so we definitely wanted to thank them.

Sunday was a lazy morning, followed by a little yard work & then a trip downtown to the beer festival. The architect & I tried to buy 14 tasting tokens each, but for some reason the guy gave us 50 tokens. A lot of beer was tasted!

Monday (which I’m counting as a weekend, since I didn’t work) was pretty low-key. I’d tweaked my neck in the shower in the morning, and decided that was a good enough reason to stay home. I did some cleaning, made some bread, and made English muffins. The muffins are not perfect, but they are still pretty good. Next time they’ll be better, I think.

Monday afternoon I head up to the ‘Couv to visit Emily’s garden & then we went to Ft. Vancouver for another yoga in the park session – this one taught BY Emily. It was a great class; a good mix of some basic stuff and some really challenging stuff. She’s turning into a GREAT instructor.

And now? Back to work. And a lot of work it is. It’s definitely going to be a busy three days!

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