One lucky girl

Today is K's and my three-year wedding anniversary (from the Florida wedding, the one where we were actually legally married). Three years and a second wedding later, we still haven't had a honeymoon. We swore to ourselves that we'd finally get around to that this year, but between all the traveling for weddings, wedding showers, a baby shower, and we-haven't-seen-you-in-a-while visits, we just don't want to have to take off work again for something else. That, and sometimes it's just nice to be home for once!

We're very fortunate to feel like we have everything we want or need, so we didn't plan on even buying gifts.

So imagine my surprise today when I see an enormous bouquet of flowers coming up the stairs today. And when the bouquet was moved aside, I could see that the delivery person was K!

Of course he planned his arrival just in time for lunch. That alone was a nice treat, since we work in completely opposite directions from one another, so it's a good 40 minutes or so between my workplace and his.

Tonight is our weekly kickball game (by the way, I had an amazing catch at last week's game, AND I'm somehow the 3rd kicker in our new lineup!), which we always look forward to.

We're still going to fit in some of the sweet, romantic stuff -- we've got brunch and a couple's massage at a spa schedule for Sunday. Considering the jam-packed day we have on Saturday, which includes a 16-mile training run, Sunday's relaxation will be pure perfection.

But for tonight, we'll celebrate with a little kickball, lots of friends, and a couple beers.

That's more our style anyway.

Since odds are good we won't find ourselves at the same Halloween party

An actual email I just sent to K.

Subject:
*gasp* We have 1 month and 10 days ...

Body: 
... to come up with a kick-ass Halloween costume.

What do we want to be?

• Paris Hilton and a bag of cocaine?
• Julius Caesar and a salad? ('cause together, we'd be a CAESAR SALAD!)
• Pizza & beer, because they're everyone's favorite and they go perfectly together? (Like US?!)

My vote is something more punny and funny than romantic and gag-inducing.

I also don't want it to be an obvious combo ... so I guess that eliminates Paris and the cocaine.

Damn.

Love. That. Class!

Last night, I went to my first kickball class in for.ev.er. I can't even remember the last time I was able to go to that class, but I'm pretty sure I'd only been once since my class with GFF.

With all our travels in August, we just weren't here on Thursday nights for me to enjoy my class. I had to skip last week because my knee was still acting up, and I figured the last thing I needed to do was spend an hour doing squats.

But last night. Oh, last night.

I didn't bring my own kettlebell with me because I wasn't sure I could handle it after all that time off. I grabbed a 10-pounder from the gym, and it made the first half of the class very easy. At our first break (30 mins. in!), I grabbed a 15-pound kettlebell that someone had just put back, and I used it as much as I could for the rest of the class.

It was exhausting. It was painful. It was sweaty. It was fantastic.

Today, my glutes are burning. My thighs are burning. My back is sore. My arms are even protesting a bit. I just might be in the best mood I've been in for a good couple weeks, probably (and it's a workday!).

And for the first time in 3 weeks, my left knee feels 100%.

I suspected mentally that I was addicted. Evidently my body needs that weekly ass-kicking too.

I'm happy to oblige.

Real men love football

I'm so excited it's finally football season again. Maybe that's part of the reason it suddenly feels so much like fall.

One thing about life in Oklahoma and texas is that football is huge. Guys love it. Girls love it. That's it. It's inspirational.

Here in VA, they have other sports. Hockey. ... ... I'm sure there's something else, but the point is, you can take the girl out of Oklahoma, but you can't take the Oklahoma out of the girl. My awareness that hockey exists here is solely due to my confusion that people can get wrapped up in any other sport than football (and sometimes NASCAR -- hey, my brother works for them. don't judge). I mean, we have basketball and baseball in OK, but we still know the big show starts in September (and sometimes, when we're very very lucky, late August).

In OK & tx, I always had plenty of people to talk to about college football. I never really had to even seek people out. But in VA? Not so much. And I definitely haven't found a girl here who likes The Greatest Sport Ever Invented.

I first realized the gravity of the situation when the whole conference realignment was going on. The rumor that my beloved Sooners would become part of the PAC-10 was at its highest point. I was stressed. I didn't like the uncertainty.

I tried to talk about it to a coworker, Matt. "Do you follow college football?"

"No. Why?"

I ignored that first part. Since he's male, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I started going into the conference realignment. I had only been talking about 5 seconds when he interrupted me.

"Did you ever watch Charlie Brown?"

"Huh? No." I was confused why he'd be changing the subject from football to kids' cartoons.

Matt went on to tell me about the teacher, and how whenever she talks, all the kids hear is, "Woh woh wohwoh woh woh ..." (I had seen enough Charlie Brown to know that.) "That's what you sound like to me right now," he said.

I looked at him in amazement. And for the next 10 seconds (until my mind was back on the realignment), I wondered how on earth his wife is able to think of him as a man.

Reasons I love my job have a job

1. It gives me money to buy cute clothes.
2. It's helping me pay off my credit card.
3. It give me a place to wear cute clothes.
4. It gets me out of the house. 
5. It's helping me pay off my credit card. 
6. ... ... ...

Sometimes (most of the time) I need a reminder.

Maybe I should print this list and post it on my computer screen.

Do you remember that temp job that I hated last winter? The reason I hated it is because it was data entry, which is so NOT what they hired me to do. They hired me for writing and editing. So not data entry.

My current job hired me for writing. And then, like sneaky little punkwads, they slipped some data entry crap in there on me. That stupid bit of side work now takes up a pretty decent chunk of my time.

And the funnest (yes, that's a word) part of my job -- which they interviewed me extensively about -- has been farmed out to outside companies because I don't have time to do it anymore.

Lame.

My 6-month review is tomorrow. I'm unleashing.

Maybe it would be good for me to take that above list into my review ...

How Mc Donald's cost me $100

I rarely leave the office for lunch. I've been that way in every job I've ever held. It's just cheaper and easier to bring a nice little Le@n Cu!sine to eat at my desk, so that's the route I've always gone.

Today, though, I decided to go out. Heck, I ran 13.1 miles Sunday (more on that later), and if I'm craving McDonald's, I'm going. I earned it!

I considered getting my lunch and eating it at a park nearby, but when I was walking to my car, I realized it might still be too hot to do that. I opted to head to the mall instead to return a tunic I'd been meaning to take back. Being productive and still getting my crap food fix at the same time? Score!

As I headed in the direction of the mall, I passed under a tree-lined street. A gust of wind made the leaves rain down over the road. I smiled. I had football on my TV last weekend, and now this? Fall feels just around the corner!

When I got to Banana Republic, it seemed I wasn't the only person who'd come up with the lunchtime productivity idea. Since the line was really long and there was only one cashier, I decided the best use of my time would be to look around the store.

Turns out Banana had been bitten by the Autumn Bug too.

Unfortunately, a trip to the dressing room only solidified my desire for a pair of brown corduroy pants (they actually had them in long!!! do you know how hard that is to find in corduroy?!) and two adorable, stylish fall shirts.

Aren't they so retro-modern chic?! You know how much I love yellow, and the other shirt has that great faux tie thing going on. And the updated houndstooth? Who could pass that up?! sigh  You win, Banana. You win.

I bought them all. I told myself it was a reward for finishing the half-marathon. And considering the pants were on sale (that was a fun surprise!), my total was under $100 (so what if that included the refund from the tunic I returned!). That wasn't even $1 for every minute I ran on Sunday.

On my way back to the office, I still swung through McDonald's. It was fantastic, but not quite as exciting as my Banana find.

As fantastic as today's lunch break was, it served as a great reminder of why I don't leave my desk for lunch. Looks like Le@n Cu!sines for me for the next several weeks.

Especially after I run my full marathon in November!

Pathetic, no?

This is a picture of all the vitamins and supplements I'll take through the course of my day:

• GNC Ultra Mega Active Women's Daily vitapak
• 2 Motrin
• 2 glucosamine tablets (which K is making me take for my knee)
• birth control

The funny part? The most important pill is the smallest one!

I'll take it!

My knee has continued to suck this week. I've been icing it regularly (especially the last couple days), and I've started taking Motrin again in case that helps. I haven't gone running since Saturday. 

But still, 5 days later, I'm hobbling a bit, and I've continued to clutch the stairs when I go up or down them at home and at work.

Because of that, I decided to wear my brace at last night's kickball game. I wondered if I should even be playing. I was ridiculously nervous about my knee, and I had K do a short, slow jog with me on the field before the game, just to see how it felt. The verdict? Not very good.

It feels almost like there's something missing beneath my kneecap on the inside part of my knee. That's the best way I can explain it. And there was still a slight pain/discomfort there on some steps.

But I played anyway, even though I worried it was a bad idea.

When I went up to kick, I heard some girl on the other team say, "She's got a busted wheel. Easy out at first." I felt a fire in my eyes. I stared straight forward, determined. Afterward, I wished I'd looked at her. I'm pretty sure I'd have burned a whole straight into her face. I know she was kidding, and jokes like that can be part of the game, but I felt like it was a little below the belt. Especially since I was so concerned about it to begin with.

I kicked, and I ran toward 1st base. The ball made it there before I did.  

Damn!

And then the girl on 1st base dropped it. SAFE! (Take THAT, "Easy out" girl! Also, for the record, the girl I think made the comment never made it to 1st base. One of those attempts was killed by K, who caught her foul ball. BOOM!)

That one trip around the bases (I only got as far as 3rd base, since our kicker got the 3rd out of the inning when I was there) made my knee a little more swollen. When I realized that, I told K I was afraid I might not be able to run our half-marathon on Sunday.

When I went to bed last night, I propped my knees up on two pillows to elevate them. I've continued icing today off & on at work. It's still felt iffy, and it's totally affecting my day. Obviously I have to skip kettlebells tonight (I haven't been in forever!), :(  which doesn't help my mood either.

But then, when I climbed the stairs today after fixing my lunch, I was able to make it up almost normally. Almost.

I wasn't exactly upright (I was leaning pretty far forward for balance), but there was no clutching of the rail. The lilting steps were almost even. And I climbed them pretty quickly!!!

When I went down the steps again later, even that had improved. It wasn't quite as much as with going up the stairs, but there was still a change.

Sah-weet!

It's a minor victory, but sometimes that's all you need. Maybe (with a couple more days' rest) I'll be able to run this weekend after all!