8 posts tagged “running”
My daily trips on th
e treadmill are going really well recently. I have my three mile run down to 23:45 or so and I’m pleased with my progress towards slimness. Running to movies is fun too – I just finished “Into the Wild” and it was a decent show to run to.
I invited Michelle over for supper last night - she was working, but she really appreciated the invite. She took home the leftovers this morning when she drove Sherry to work. At least she’s still connected.
My programming has been going nicely too. I’m in the thinking phase for a new project right now – it’s tough to come up with how the screens are supposed to look. I’m also toying with replacing the Data Access Layer that I developed two years ago and replace with a LINQ DAL that’s built into the new compiler.
My internet connection is slowing me down now (and it always does when I’m trying to learn something new). Turns out that Microsoft’s new way of teaching is YouTube style videos. I can’t watch videos on my connection. I can watch one minute of video for every four minutes of download. So the 58 min video yesterday took me about six hours to watch (and it turned out to be the wrong video – the title was very poorly chosen).
Bummer.
Today is supposed to be a rain day for Sherry – it’s pouring out but she’s still at work. She had better not be working outside in this. I’ll make her quit if she gets sick over this.
Not much else to say.
I’m thankful that my job is indoors.
I’m thankful that my job is mentally challenging
I’m thankful that my job is not physically challenging
I know that God wants me to be completely healthy.
My diet is taking a serious beating, but the food is amazing.
It was a really nice day yesterday – it seemed that everything that I touched worked out well. My programming day was amazing, I had a great time with Sherry over supper, Michelle and I had a nice chat before she had to go to work and we had a chance to visit with my parents for a bit.
Very nice.
My bulbs are finally in for my projector. The project is due Friday and I have just enough time now to get it all done. Yikes.
Sherry died her hair last night (and added a nice red highlight to her already gorgeous brown hair). She was looking for a change and it was either cut off her long hair or colour it, needless to say I was pleased when she chose colour over cutting!
I’ll have to get her in the studio shortly to show you how nicely it turned out.
This is a relatively quite week leading up the Christmas Rush. Starting Saturday we have five Christmas parties quite quickly. Should be fun (but, again, tough on my diet… sigh)
I’m thankful that I can eat amazingly tasty food.
I’m thankful that I own a treadmill and don’t have to run out in the snow and slush.
I’m thankful that yesterday was so nice.
Sherry has started into her project mode – she didn’t actually take much time off before she got started. The first thing to go was the Christmas clutter in the living room. Then she started in on the furnace room.
Man, she’s a hard worker!
How much should you bend the rules for your friends? We’re cooking for Alpha and the food is really good every Monday night. We have a guy who’s recently divorced and helps out a lot at the church. He didn’t sign up for Alpha and really isn’t interested in the course.
But he could use a home cooked meal once a week.
Do you let him come? Well, technically the food isn’t meant for him. But he helps out a lot in other areas of the church. If you let him – how do you say no to other people? But if you say no to him, will he feel put out for all the help that he’s giving.
Grrr.
We’re really excited for Christmas now. The parties are stacking up – we have one for Sherry’s extended family and my work party on the same day – that’ll be a bad food day.
Oh, speaking of which it was a brutal food weekend for me this past weekend. I put on two pounds! I’m clocking in around 196 now. Yikes. This is a really brutal time of year for eating properly. Sigh.
I’m thankful that I have to worry about over eating and not where my next meal is going to come from.
I’m thankful that there are people at the church that are willing to put in a lot of extra effort.
I’m thankful that Christmas time for my family is a time of excitement and not dread – there are far too many people who hate this time of the year.
Ok, I need to get off this ride for a while.
Prozac levels out emotions. The patient neither experiences the deep lows or the high highs. That sounds attractive this morning.
Three days ago I was ready to strangle Michelle and today I couldn't be more proud.
She came home last night and she said that her marks were strong and that when she really tries at school she's able to acheive. She had the highest average among her friends this midterm (she's usually dead last every time) and for her major Anthro test she had the top mark in the class (which must have been pretty good since it raised her average in the class substantially).
I think she's finally getting it. Results are directly proportional to talent times effort. The classes that she's good in require relatively little effort to do well (but some - zero effort times a ton of talent is still zero). And the classes that she's not naturally talented in require more effort.
*sigh*
She's finally getting it (I think).
Now if we can just convince her that I'm done with stress for the day when I close my bedroom door we'll be all set.
That and perserverence.
I get to teach tonight (and they want me to videotape it - if it goes on YouTube I'll let you know the URL).
I also volunteer tonight - I'm looking forward to that too... there are a lot of cool people there.
My running is going well - I run a full mile in 7:14 now - I'm working toward a 7 minute mile. I weigh 193 on a good day (which still puts me in at overweight on the BMI scale - I'm only 6'2" so 193 is a lot to carry).
I found out yesterday that my True Colours training is a go. The classes are in two weeks and run Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so there'll be no Post on November 25th.
I'm thankful that I can experience the High Highs. The Deep Lows suck, but they don't happen that often and there's no way I'd trade in my highs, so I'll just whine and complain (and be thankful) through the lows and enjoy the highs.
I'm thankful that my family cares. I know too many people who don't have a family who cares (or live too far from their family for it to matter, or don't have family anymore).
I'm thankful that we're able to keep two cars on the road. It seems extravagant when you think about the global picture to keep two cars, but it really makes our lives more convenient. I'm thankful for my mechanic and my brother for being able to find cars that we can afford (we picked up a $200 van yesterday that's in amazing shape for being 15 years old!) Whohoo!
Looks like I'll get another chance to teach and learn again this fall. I'll be offering the Excel course at my work this fall - we'll open it up to the general public and charge $200 a seat for the seven week course. We're hoping to get about 15 people interested, so it'll be a nice profit centre.
I'll also get trained as a True Colours trainer. If you don't know what your colour is, you should find out. It's pretty cool. (I'm Green, btw).
Once I'm trained in True Colours I'll be doing my first workshop for Stoke's and then I'm hoping to offer it like the Excel course. I'm amped to be in front of a class again. Maybe training is in my future?
My running is going well. I'm having very little trouble running three miles, but the time isn't coming down very much. Hopefully over the winter I'll be able to trim my time down to 22-23 minutes for three miles and then I'll add a half a mile on again. I think I may be plateauing...
I cut out one leg of my Vader pants last night. Talk about exciting! Of course that's when I realized that I don't have enough pleated material for the other leg. Talk about disappointing! (To make the jacket and pants that Vader wears you take hundreds of 1" strips of leather (well, vinyl in my case - I'm not an Imperial Warlord) and stich them vertically into a sheet of material. Then you cut the pattern out of these stitched strips. Talk about labour!)
Ok, short entry today - it's weekend and I'm behind schedule!
I bought myself my birthday present from my Mom yesterday! I'm an amateur photographer and really enjoy taking pictures, but the digital SLR that I own is huge - it does take nice pictures, but I'd like to have something a little smaller.
So I ordered a Nikon Coolpix L1 (6M, 5x Optical, SD, <2" thick) I've always liked the Nikon brand (even though I'm a Canon owner) so I had no trouble ordering this one. It's a Factory Demo model (with a 1yr warrantee) so it's not 'new' but it's never been 'used'. It would have been the camera under the glass at Best Buy that the salesguy would pick up and let you hold, but not use.
Midterm report cards are just around the corner and Michelle is getting a little panicy - she's only allowed to keep her car if she's above the class average in each of her classes. Three of her four courses she's aceing, the fourth she has just about 12% in. Her teacher has given her a bunch of 0's on things that Michelle doesn't think should count toward the mark. If she can't pull that above the class average her car goes away until she does. Yikes. That car is her LIFE.
Today is election day. I think I'm becoming a little Jaded. I'm still interested in who wins, but it's not nearly as compelling as it's been in the past. I mean I'll watch the coverage on TV tonight, but I don't think I'll stay up past bedtime to see the final score. Bummer.
I _am_ interested in the referendum on the electoral system. I don't think it'll get the super-majority that it needs to pass, but I'm still in favour of the change.
Ken's wedding is less than three weeks away.
Darth Vader progress is being made nicely.
I'm going to meet the guy at the college who's leaving a spot that Mike wants me to fill (that Bernie melted down over).
Sherry is hoping for an early layoff this year. She worked too late into December last year and it almost wiped out Christmas.
Our saving for Europe is coming along nicely.
I had a brutal time running yesterday. I could only manage to do 11 of my 12 laps (and I walked the last lap!) My weight is consistently between
192 and 195. Not quite there, but pretty close (I'm 6'2").
I really like playing Tiger Woods Golf on the Wii. I want my Mii to get better!
Off to election day.
A dozen years ago or so I wanted to go out with Michelle on Halloween (I may comment on my thoughts about Halloween in a later post) so I bought a pattern for a Star Trek TNG Season 1 Riker outfit. I bought the spandex and the little pips and a Communicator pin (it didn't actually work, but it looks realistic!) and spent a couple of weeks sewing the whole thing together.
It was a lot of fun - everyone recognized me and I had a great time.
Fast forward a decade of fast food, sedintary lifestyle, desk job and weight gain - there's no way that outfit is going to go back on - it doesn't even cross my mind.
Now fast forward two or three years of eating healthy, running and gym work (and a 30 pound weight loss) and I start feeling good about how I look again. Halloween last year I tried on the outfit again and it's good enough to wear out in the dark. Everyone loves it, they recognize who I'm supposed to be and it's fun.
But it's still spandex and I'm a lot older than I was when I made it.
Time for a new costume!
But who?
A Dalek! Nope - too hard, too bulky. Frankenstein's monster? Nope. A Harlem Globetrotter - nope, they travel in packs.
Darth Vader! Oh, yes. That's exactly it.
Google searching... costing... whoa! $1800 for the costume???!!! I don't think so. Vader Maker Australia... oh, he *made* his own suit from scratch. I can do that.
I started the project about 9 months ago and I'm about 75% done. I suspect that I'll wear it about 85% done and then finish it in the off-season.
So far I've:
o Modified the helmet to insert my prescription lenses in the eye sockets
o Sewn the Cape, Cloak and Jacket
o Created the gloves
o Created the chest armour
o Started the chest computer and belt computer
o Started the boots
That leaves:
o Sewing the Pants
o Creating the codpiece
o Create the shin guards
o Finish the computers
I suspect that finishing the computers may be all that I get done before the end of next month.
If we hadn't moved this past summer and hadn't hosted our house warming party I'd be a lot further along than I am, but I'll be able to wear the costume with a simple pair of black dress pants - no one will notice outside in the dark - it's a pretty black costume...
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In other news: I've FINALLY broken the 190 barrier! I was 189.5 yesterday! Yaaaa! My three mile runs are getting easier again. I can run about a mile (in 7:30) without my breathing going too ragged and finishing the run is no longer an issue.
Michelle and I are simply avoiding each other until we figure out how to call a truce. It's been nice not having to deal with the stress on a daily basis.
I had lunch with an old friend on Tuesday. We laughed and told stories. It was wonderful.
Good morning all - it was an amazing day yesterday - I was doing what I was created to do and it felt fabulous!
Michelle had a decent day at school and came home in a good mood (she's still fighting this stomach thing, but we'll figure it out - she has blood work scheduled for this afternoon - hopefully that'll shed some light on what's up). Sherry's day was good too.
It was such a good day that we set the good china and crystal for supper. We had a fabulous chicken and pasta dish with a decent red wine and blueberry pie for dessert. The rain made us move dessert from the deck to the living room, but no big deal.
The B&M party details are pretty much done now - I'm just cleaning up a few last minute invites to people that I haven't seen in a while and rounding up the last few supplies that we need. It's exciting.
Alpha is getting more stressful as time goes on. Turns out that a lot of the people that helped run it last time are not going to our church this year. It means new opportunities for new people, but it also means that we have to figure out who'll do a good job with it. Good thing I'm working with some good people.
I did get my full three miles in yesterday (and in a near record time - 00:24:50). It was a tough go, but I made it! Whohoo!
Ok, off I go.
Blessings and Peace,
Darren.
