1. Got an "I heart shamrock" shirt in the mail today from the bf's sister. That's a little more aggressively, and kitsch-ly, Irish that I usually am on St. Patrick's Day, but hey it was a gift so I've got to wear it.

2. Work work work. Have come home every night this week thinking I can take the night off, but then the bf is working till ten anyway, so I do too.

3. Too tired to think of a #3, except that Daylight Savings Time wreaked it's usual havoc on me again this year. Please just stop fucking with the time already. Makes me really miss Arizona, which had none of that nonsense.

Also, please please say what the lip balm is. My perpetually chapped lips thank you in advance.

1. I'm wearing my Three Wolf Moon shirt

2. I rode my bike to work for the first time this month. I figured it's time to get back to normal.

3. After work rode over to the softball field for a game; I was playing catcher and one of the dolts on the other team got a hit and promptly flung his bat directly back at me, catching my left forearm full on. A trip to the ER revealed nothing broken, but it swelled up a lot and hurts like the Dickens.

So much for riding, at least for a few days. :(

1. Work is unusually quiet at the moment. The calm before the storm?

2. Somewhat tired from all the training, especially a punishing boot camp session last night.

3. Kids are playing up a lot and driving us nuts. Anyone want one? Shipping free.

I got a remote controlled helicopter. I need not say more.

Oh, c'mon Senyar. You can say "pussy juice".

Damn, busted by Ardiril.

What happened is this: I gave myself a shaving rash in a, er, delicate spot, and on arrival in NYC, took myself off to Duane Reade, where I looked for something to soothe it in the baby aisle. I bought this cream for diaper rash, which has certainly done the trick where it was meant to work, but I also, without thinking, rubbed a little on my lips (I usually do this with excess lotion, so it was a sort of muscle memory action) and, lo and behold, Most. Kissable. Lips. Ever.

Actually, on reading the details on the tube, it turns out that this magic cream is also suitable for burns, grazes and chapped skin - yay!

It's called A+D Original Ointment and was about $5 I think, for a huge tube that will last me for ages. It's just within the size limits for me to bring it home in my carry-on.

1. It's finally gotten a tiny bit warmer so I cracked open a window last night to have fresh air while I slept. Woke up to the pungent smell of skunk-kitty, as my mother calls it.

2. I have about a foot to go on the lovely afghan I'm knitting for my nephew's wedding present. (He probably won't be too interested but I hope the bride will like it.)

3. workworkworkworkovertimeovertimeovertimeovertime. Brain is deteriorating daily. Plus which, this month I'm working with another new person who's Not Really Getting It. It does make for some private laughs, but otherwise it adds to the brain drain.

A&D is a classic and something you'll find in a lot of medicine cabinets in the US. And a lot of nursing floors. It has a million uses.

1. I have been going to the gym consistently for a while now, and it is definitely helping with a bunch of things. With weights, I'm slowly working my way back up to where I was before the Christmas break, and I'll be there next week. After that I'm going to start mixing in some days with heavier weights (but fewer repetitions) and I'm finding myself quite excited about that. I've also been hitting the exercise bike pretty hard and that's going well too. My benchmark for a great cardio workout is when it says 600 calories burned after 40 minutes. I had trouble getting that much past 400 when I started again earlier this year, so I recently started ignoring the "recommended" heart rate on the machine and went for something more intense. Improvement has been pretty rapid since then.

2. Despite item #1 above, my weight is staying the same (although I think my waistline might have decreased ever so slightly in the past week). I'm blaming a new medication I started on a few months ago for treatment of type 2 diabetes. It is working great for that, but it sure does make me hungry all the time.

3. Slowly catching up on the change to daylight saving time. Hate waking up in the dark again. Monday was one of those "floor of the train looks like a nice place for a nap on the way to work" kind of super-tired days. I think I finally feel back to normal today.

We called A&D "ass and diaper ointment," way back when we were using it as such.

Senyar, I thought you were going to say "cat oil", since I just watched The Book of Eli last night, and concentrated cat oil (don't ask) was touted as a good lip balm.

1. Beautiful day in central North Carolina, I have a crappy project to finish this morning (anybody know anything about the geology of the Atacama Desert and wanna finish the research on this bad boy for me?), but I hope to get out for a nice long walk with the dog this afternoon.

2. Since we decided to move back to Brazil, we have started listing the furniture we don't want to store on Craigslist. The response has been really great, and I fear that my husband and I are going to get out of hand and sell off too much. At the rate we are going, we'll only end up storing our books and other personal effects.

3. Today is our wedding anniversary, so we are going to try out a new-ish restaurant in town, then hit up a local bar to drink and watch the start of the NCAA tournament. Neither of us are Irish, but we aren't afraid to use the occasion to get a little bit tipsy.

1. I finally got to meet Senyar, who is also just as great in person as I thought she would be! And I totally forgot to give her the Irish potato candy I brought to NY, and I'm kicking myself because I think it's a pretty uniquely Philly/South Jersey thing and I thought it would have been neat to introduce it to someone who may never have heard of it. But now I'm wondering - is it really so unique to that area? Are any of you from elsewhere familiar with it?

2. I am reading this book Tiger, Tiger at night before I go to sleep, and I keep having scary, creepy dreams from it. I need to stop reading it at bedtime.

3. I hate that I always have to be the one to bring up weekend plans with the SO, or otherwise wait til he brings them up at the last minute. I like to know what I'm doing on the weekend ahead of time, but apparently that's not really how things are done anymore (there was an AskMe recently on this topic that was really eye-opening for me); I'll lucky if he asks me tonight about tomorrow night, and chances are I won't even give him a chance and I'll bring it up first.

1. Trying to get motivated to clean and pack and hit the road. Thing is, I'm really not under any time constraints. My main motivation for leaving at any specific time is the (probably vain) hope of missing rush hour in Dallas. But it's only a four hour drive and my buddy that I'm staying with is at work today, so....eh.

2. Have to go to the bank on my way out of town because the replacement debit card I requested on the 4th *still* hasn't arrived and I'll need to get a temp. Five to seven business days my ass. I still have my old one, but the magnetic strip is almost entirely dead and there's a crack in the middle and I don't want to get caught out of town having trouble getting cash.

3. Screeching Weasel tonight! Meeting up with friends I haven't seen in over two years all weekend! Stoked!

(It's Thursday for me, but I didn't see this thread until the morning.)

1. Kicked ass at the gym last night and got a new high score: 4.72 miles! (in 32 minutes). Makes me feel a touch more confident about starting Couch to 5k on Sunday.

2. Some of my pretties arrived yesterday and I'm amazed at just how wee iPod Nanos really are. (I do not trust the 30 gig iRock purchased in 2005 to survive outdoor activities.) My second round of shoes are supposed to arrive today and I hope they fit because otherwise I'll have to go to an actual store, which I hate.

3. The Excel paper came back with "revise and resubmit" and I sent the Access paper out yesterday. I just wish TPTB here at work would get off their asses and figure out how they're going to change my schedule so I can sign up for my 2 weeks of vacation.

1. I built a lightbox from foamcore and duct tape yesterday. The photos suck so far, but this was a big stumbling block on the path to huge crafty destashing on Etsy & eBay, so there's that. Plus it was fun to wield a sharp blade.

2. Doing Artist's Way again and actually made it through the first week for the first time in years.

3. I need to cancel a business checking account that I've had for years and barely used; Chase is starting to charge a monthly fee and I don't keep $5K in it. Chase scares me, though. /irrational

1. amro, I'm with you on the planning thing. Luckily I married a man who feels the same way. We have weekend stuff planned months in advance.

2. lovely day today! shame I'll be inside all day.

3. watching the England - West Indies game on cricinfo. Not good cricket from either team, really.

1. Kicked ass at the gym last night and got a new high score: 4.72 miles! (in 32 minutes). Makes me feel a touch more confident about starting Couch to 5k on Sunday.

Wait, isn't this like less than 7 minutes a mile? I would say you're past the need for Couch to 5k!

yeah... I'm an OK runner and I couldn't run 4.72 miles in much under 42 or 43 minutes. That's awesome, sperose.

(I'm ellpiticalling, so I know that I'm going to lose some serious speed/time when I actually go out, but I'm still excited to go jog/walk in the park across the street with it's bitchin' "natural" trails[PDF].)

I'm wondering - is it really so unique to that area? Are any of you from elsewhere familiar with it?


It's really unique. I remember it from when I lived in Philly, but I have never seen it elsewhere - not even in my Irish neighborhood in "Northern" (really Central) NJ.

I'm with you on the planning. And frustratingly, LT is not. However, this means basically that I make plans anyway, and let him know about them. He then forgets about them until on a Thursday he says "Hey, want to go to trivia night at Local Bar on Saturday?" and then I say "No, because we're going to be three states away." And he says "Oh right!" and packs his stuff, and it works out OK in the end.

1. Last time I heard from The Husbad was three hours ago, right before nine a.m. He was waiting outside a warehouse in Charlotte to meet up with some Ebay types to buy a giant puppet for big cash money. I am officially worried.

2. Afternoon off as I foresaw the puppetcaper could go complicated. Gym, grocery, dog to park on lovely day, and hopefully peacefull basketball watching punctuated by naps. Unless I have to head down 85 with an axe and a gps.

3. He's ok. Plant puppet is ok, if a bit musty. They are headed home.

1. All of my problems pale in comparison to the possibility that rainbaby's husband is caught up in a puppet transaction gone bad. My thoughts are with you, rainbaby.

2. Do you go through those phases where one coworker in particular annoys you so bad that you just have to avoid them? Mine changes periodically. Right now, it's this woman who's conversational style is as follows:

Random person 1: Oh look, there's a squirrel digging through the garbage can. How cute!
Coworker: Yeah, one time there was a squirrel in our backyard and it _________.
Random person 1: Oh. Huh.

Random person 2: Oh hi, Coworker. Excuse me while I put this envelope in the outgoing mail slot.

Coworker: Yeah, one time Husband and I were passing a post office and we saw _________.
Random person 2: Uh, okay. Bye.

Drives. Me. Crazy.

3. There was a gathering in the break room this morning, and I always go down there for free food. But as soon as I walked in, I overheard Coworker saying, "Yeah, when I was growing up my mom only used cloth napkins, so ________." And I left. No free food is worth listening to the KH show.

But then I came back to my desk and checked me email and an aggrieved student had sent a "formal" complaint about an instructor to the ENTIRE OFFICE STAFF, including the IT people and accounts payable. And it was so absurd and so laughable (his primary complaint was that the instructor -- whose job is to supervise student teachers -- insists on teaching them how to be accepting of diverse groups, ergo she teaches that "white men are evil") and so inappropriate that it totally made my day. I feel bad for the instructor, because I think she'll be upset by it, but it's really pretty hilarious.

4. I think I must be getting kind of burned out in my job.

On preview, 5. So glad I won't be reading about The Puppet Massacre of 2011 on the wire services.

1. Hanging out in NC with my brother and sister-in-law. Lazy days! It's a good rest.
2. Got a call yesterday that my cousin is very sick and will be in the hospital for a few days :(
3. I miss my little puppy, I hope she's having a fun time at the boarders!

1) Tired
2) Job's on the line
3) Worse, the whole organization may be on the line. Worried.

1. it seems I'm starting to get the hang of freestyle/crawl swimming. I'm the King of the Pool! The technique point I'm learning at the moment is what the australian website mr smooth calls 'the body roll'. It makes a huge difference. You may call me Hoogenband now.
2. according to that website my ape index is +3. That is: I'm 6'6" and my wing span is 6'9". Of course the ape index should be proportional to your height. And then my ape index is rather disappointing.
3. it's Chimay Bleu o' clock!

1. Emergency dental procedure! Luckily and kind-of-amazingly, my dentist was able to take me today, and I was able to subdue my usual dental panic. Also luckily and kind-of-amazingly, I had money available to pay for it.

2. I still have a pretty good case of novocaine half-face, to the amusement of my loved ones.

3. Eldest niece's birthday party tonight! She just returned from a trimester in Mexico. I'm SO EXCITED to see her!

Homecoming

≡ Click to see image ≡

Yep. That's a truck bed full of two puppets.

≡ Click to see image ≡

Sperose, 4.72 miles is 1.52 miles further than a standard 5K, which most people are very pleased to finish in less than 30 minutes. Also, I strongly suggest, particularly now that we know what an incredible runner you are, that you steer clear of anything more complicated than Nike Frees in your choice of shoes.

All is fine here except that I missed this update yesterday. Happy St. Patrick's Day, all!

sperose, I've never officially run a 5K in less than 30 minutes and I ran cross-country in high school. Of course I was a terrible slacker at training back then.

bearwife, I'm in total agreement on the shoes angle. I started up trail running again over the winter and in a flash of... desperation? inspiration? sheer laziness? ditched the horrendously uncomfortable $130 "stability" shoes the running store sold me for my heavy stride/pronation issues. I exchanged them for a cheap, crappy $20 Target pair with zero cushioning and support. Result? I have not had a single incident of knee pain, blisters, shin splints, plantar fasciitis or other grief, despite the fact that I've worked my way up to 10K of hard super steep and rocky trail runs that at times border on parkour. Sure I've had some muscle soreness from adaptation but that's an entirely separate beast that goes away with training. I'm running further and faster than I did even in high school.

Thinking about jumping into a local 5K trail run in mid-April. It will be humbling to say the least; not merely because the Kenyan men's Olympic team keeps training quarters less than 2K from the start line :S

1. Kicked ass at the gym last night and got a new high score: 4.72 miles! (in 32 minutes). Makes me feel a touch more confident about starting Couch to 5k on Sunday.

Wait, isn't this like less than 7 minutes a mile? I would say you're past the need for Couch to 5k!
I thought this too. 4.72 miles is about 7.5 km and to do that in 32 minutes is pretty good. You are way beyond the couch to 5k bracket already. I've been training pretty hard (5 days per week) for over a month now and, in a 3 km time trial last week, I managed to average 12.14 km/h (7.45 mph), about 2 mph slower than your time indicates. Sure, it's probably harder on the road than in a gym, but still ...

lonefrontranger, I hear you - I did my first half-marathon about 18 months ago and, by about 5 km into the run I was feeling pretty good and happy with my performance. Until, that is, a group of Kenyan runners passed me on their way back, having completed around 15 km in the time it took me to do 5 :-( Humbling doesn't even come close.

I'm with sperose...not sure everyone noticed she's on the elliptical, not the treadmill. I've found it doesn't translate especially well to road distance. On the elliptical you save a ton of energy on the landing/lifting of each foot, because the machine basically moves your foot back up into position for you nice and smooth using your momentum, and on the road that feels quite different and does result in slower time.

However, cardio wise, you are probably good to go anyway, sperose, even if your time is different.

For testing purposes, I did the trail loop that I'm hoping to do and it came out to be 3.23 miles in 52 minutes. (Of course, that was really slow walking and checking the trail map and learning what the markers are.)

Sperose, sorry, I did miss you were on the elliptical. You are still good to go on the trail, and I predict a very good time for you. Take care of your feet and DON'T spend moolah on expensive structured running shoes. If you feel a strong desire to spend, you may want to try Vibram Five Fingers, though they aren't all that expensive. I got converted to running with minimal padding by reading Born to Run, and like lonefrontranger, I have rejoiced in the absence of injuries ever since. (I like half marathons, and for the record my fastest 5K was 35 minutes.)