Cat-ertainment

Today was a rest day, so in the morning, I decided to go pick up some stuff Jerry asked me to get at Sam's Club. He wanted to bring the stuff for chili dogs to work for he and his co-workers (about 12 people total) to eat. The running store is fairly close to Sam's Club, so I planned to stop there on the way, so that I could buy a patella strap.

I got on the expressway, and about 20 minutes later, I got to the exit I was supposed to take for the running store. The exit was closed, so I had to follow the detour signs. They had me get off a couple of exits later, and then go back on the expressway in the opposite direction, taking me to a different exit. It was very odd, but I'm terrible with directions, so I didn't know any other ways to get there.

I kept following the signs, and still had no clue where I was. Eventually, I got to another road block, and got so frustrated that I just decided to skip the running store and go to Sam's Club. It took forever to find my way back to the expressway, and 40 minutes after I had started following the detour signs, I arrived back at the exit where I had started. I had spent 40 minutes driving in circles!

I finally got to Sam's Club and picked up the stuff Jerry asked me to get. And of course, going in for "just a couple of things" turned into way more than I'd planned. I was so tempted by these enormous cookie cakes loaded with buttercream frosting--cookie cake with frosting is probably my all-time favorite treat--but I restrained myself.

By the time I left Sam's Club, I was starving. I hadn't been planning on that 40-minute detour, and it was 1:00 when I got home. I threw together a quick lunch (turkey sandwich and grapes), then finally got to work on cleaning the house, just like I promised.

When Jerry woke up, we actually just sat on the couch and let ourselves be entertained by the cats. Estelle was chasing a fly (again). She was running all over the place, jumping up in the air, and crashing into windows. Last week, we were at my parents' house and my mom was cleaning some stuff out of the attic--one of the things she brought down was a table that Jerry made in woodshop class in high school! I didn't want to get rid of it, so I brought it home. And now Estelle has claimed it as her "perch" to see what's going on outside.

We were making fun of Paolo, because he clearly has no idea what his name is, but anytime someone makes a clicking noise with their tongue, he starts looking around for the source of the noise, so that someone will pet him. We were both calling Paolo, and he was looking back and fourth, and couldn't decide who to go to.

We had the most fun watching Chandler, however. He was in our bedroom, and the door was open just a crack. All of the other cats know how to open the doors by sticking their paws in the crack and pulling the door toward them. Chandler seems to think the only way to open the door is with his face. He was looking at us from the crack under the door, obviously wanting to get out, but he didn't think to just open the door by pulling on it.

Jerry and I started calling him (he always comes when he's called), and he was trying to squeeze out through the crack in the door. I even tried "showing" him how to open the door, but he didn't understand. So I finally rescued him, and then he wouldn't leave us alone.

Chandler is always the one to let us know when the cats are out of food in their dish--I mean, look at him, he's obviously starving to death. We know they've run out of food when Chandler crawls on our laps, rubbing all over us, being extremely affectionate. He lets us know the very second the food dish is empty.

Phoebe was outside all day (it's impossible to keep her in unless it's snowing or raining), so she wasn't part of the entertainment.

I love that cats all have very unique personalities. Jerry and I always talk about what our cats would be like if they were people. If we had named them for Friends characters after we'd gotten to know their personalities, they would all have different names.

Anyway...hoping for a good run in the morning! :)

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Random Tidbits

This morning, Jerry came home and said, "Look in my lunch box." Weird, but I did. Inside was a frog! It was huge (his lunch box is enormous, so it makes the frog look small).

He said he saw it at work, and brought it home to show the kids. Estelle couldn't contain her excitement--it was hilarious to watch her. There was about an inch of water in the bottom, so I didn't worry about her jumping in (she loves to jump inside of any sort of box). Two seconds later, she jumped inside.

She kind of panicked because her paws got wet, so she jumped right back out. But after that, she was going crazy with curiosity about what was in the box. So she decided to just sit and stare at the box for no less than 20 minutes, occasionally circling it.

Anyway, the boys thought it was pretty cool, and then Jerry let it go when they went to school.

Today was a scheduled run day, but I didn't have much hope for being able to finish all 60 minutes that I had scheduled. After Friday's 20-miler, my left knee was killing me. I took it easy all weekend, and it was feeling good this morning, but I was worried it would start hurting while running.

I did the treadmill, because it's the easiest on my knees. Instead of doing the intervals I was scheduled to do, I just ran at an easy pace. After three miles, my knee started to hurt, so I called it quits. I'm not going to run through the pain, like I did in the spring. I'm going to do whatever I can to make it better before the marathon. I think I may try patella straps (a strap that goes around your leg, just under your knee).

I only did three miles at an easy pace, and when I was done, I didn't even really feel like I worked out. Usually my clothes are drenched in sweat, but I barely broke a sweat today. That was disappointing.

I totally forgot to stop my Garmin after I stopped running, so the fourth split shouldn't exist. I had to adjust the time.

I had volunteered to chaperone a field trip for Noah's class today, so I showered and got ready for that. I went to the school at noon, and we took a school bus to the local community college for a play. The bus ride on the way there was a little irritating. There were two boys sitting in front of me that put their window all the way down and thought it was hilarious to throw things out the window. I was freezing the whole 30 minute ride.

First time on a school bus in over a decade

That's a really creepy picture, isn't it? I think it's my eyes. Or my crooked smile. I don't know, but I think it's kind of creepy looking.

The play that we saw was called Bunnicula. About 10 minutes into it, I realized that it seemed familiar... and then I remembered that I had read that book in elementary school, maybe 2nd grade? It was interesting to watch the play after that, because I remembered how I felt while reading the book--I thought the book was so scary!

When I got home, Jerry and I had an hour before the boys would be home from school, so we watched the season premier of Dexter. I love that show! I was disappointed with the premier, though--I don't think this season is going to be very good, unfortunately. (It's Deb--she ruins everything!)

Yesterday, I was flipping through Health magazine, when I saw this little tidbit:

After reading that, I seriously started to think... How would candles cause cancer? Maybe from ingesting the wax somehow? I was trying to figure it out. BAHAHA, then I "got it" and couldn't believe I actually read that so stupidly ;)

This morning, after running on the treadmill, I made a cup of tea to drink while I was reading my e-mail (like I always do). The cup was very full, and as I started to set it down, some of it sloshed out right onto the mouse of my laptop. I grabbed the first thing I saw (a blanket) and wiped it off quickly. I didn't think any tea had gotten into the cracks where the mouse buttons were; but then when I tried to use my mouse, the pointer was jumping all over the screen.

I was so mad at myself for spilling the tea. I was trying to Google search what to do, but I couldn't control the mouse at all and it was impossible to do anything. I decided to see if I could take apart my computer and see if the tea had gotten in. I grabbed a butter knife and started prying at it, which was more difficult than I thought. I used the knife to try and lift the buttons up just a little to see whatever I could underneath. I didn't see anything, but prying at the buttons seemed to work, because then I had control over my mouse again! That was a close one.

Tomorrow, I MUST get my house back in order. I've been neglecting the vacuuming and sweeping, dusting, and the other stuff that I hate. I'm writing this because then maybe I will actually do it ;)

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Progress Report on Weight Watchers

I am just three weeks out from my marathon, which also means I'm three weeks IN to my challenges. I had created two six-week challenges for myself: 1) Give up peanut butter, and 2) Try the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program. Since today marks the halfway point, I figured I'd write a little progress report.

First, the peanut butter. This is probably the longest I've ever gone without peanut butter! I knew I was hooked on it, but I didn't realize just how many calories I was getting each day from peanut butter until I stopped eating it. I thought giving it up would be awful (seriously, I thought I would die), but it hasn't been too bad.

Some might stay I have a small obsession ;)

I've learned that peanut butter is my biggest binge trigger there is. More-so than ice cream or cookies or candy. Every time that I binge, the foods I choose contain peanut butter in some form. I am excited to say that I have been 100% binge-free for three weeks now. It's been a long time since I've gone that amount of time without a binge.

Before this challenge, my snacks would almost always be:
Toast with peanut butter
Carrots with peanut butter
A spoonful (or two or eight) of peanut butter
Nutella with peanut butter (yes, you read that right)
A granola bar spread with peanut butter
Peanut butter + honey + dry oats (kind of like a cookie dough)
Frozen yogurt or ice cream topped with peanut butter
A brownie with peanut butter

For the past three weeks, my snacks have been:
Fruit (mostly grapes)
Broccoli with ranch dip
Fiber One bar
Almonds
Popcorn

I certainly don't think there is anything "wrong" with peanut butter, but I was obviously eating a lot of junk WITH the peanut butter before. So my snacks have been much healthier. I do miss peanut butter sometimes, but it's usually in a binge-y kind of way, which is no good. Giving it up has really helped me with my second challenge...

Following the Weight Watchers' PointsPlus program for six weeks.

It's been three weeks, and I have logged my food and counted my PointsPlus (PP) every single day. I decided from the very beginning to give the program a fair chance, and not think about my past experiences with WW.

I had the materials at home to follow the program without actually joining, but to give it a 100% fair chance, I figured I should at least join the online program--which is what I did. I forget the exact cost, but I think it was about $60 for 3 months. ($20/month is a LOT to me--it was hard to fork over that money).

Ironically, it's the money that has made me stick to the plan! I honestly would have quit on Day 1 if I hadn't paid the money. Every time I had a thought of my usual, "Oh, I'll just start over tomorrow", I reminded myself that I just paid them a lot of money, and I better get my money's worth out of it in the long run.

I've had a few obstacles, but I took Pete's advice and made a plan ahead of time for how to handle them. First, was dinner at my mom's house; there was Jerry's 90-Day dinner for work; going out to lunch with Renee and Jessica; and a couple of date nights with Jerry. I stayed on plan for all of those, which is a big achievement.

I'm really surprised that this time around on WW, I actually like the plan. The free fruit thing has me sold ;)  Whenever I am feeling ultra snacky, and feel like I'm going to lose control, I'll usually have fruit (almost always grapes). I haven't been "abusing" the free fruit, either--I typically will have 3-4 servings per day. Grapes have really been my savior over the last three weeks!

Since my desserts almost always include peanut butter in some form, I haven't really been eating sweets. At night, for my daily "treat", I've been having a glass of wine and a single Dove Promise (dark chocolate).

Typically, my food intake is breakfast, then lunch, then snack, then dinner, and then a bedtime treat/snack. I'm allotted 26 PointsPlus per day, as well as 49 "weekly PP", and "activity PP" (for exercising, I can earn extra PP to use on food). I've been eating all of my daily's, all of my weeklies, and almost all of my activity PP for each of the last three weeks. Here is what a typical day might look like:

I log my weight on Sundays, and today's weight was 146. My technical starting weight was actually 156 (!!)--BUT, I don't consider that accurate, because I had binged the day before, which always makes me gain 4-5 pounds of water weight. So my actual starting weight was probably more like 152 (yes, that's way above my panic weight). That would be a total loss of six pounds, or an average of two pounds a week. I'm very happy with that!

The best part is just that I feel like I'm in control again. All summer long, I felt like I was just one binge away from gaining back 100+ pounds. I was stress-bingeing too often, and it scared me. But like I've said before, the summertime is very stressful for me, and I always do best at weight loss/maintenance in the fall and winter months.

My jeans were extremely tight, and a lot of them were unwearable--and now, after just three weeks on plan, my jeans are getting comfortable again (and some of the unwearables are now wearable).

So as of today, I'm very happy with the way things are going. I am going to continue with my challenges until the marathon (and possibly beyond?? I would be thrilled to get back down to my comfortable weight of 133). As far as counting calories vs. counting PointsPlus, I think either one is fine and both work. I got sick of counting calories, and decided to give WW another try. I like that it's easier to tally up PP in my head, and I love the free fruit. I'll write more about what I think about the plan after the six-week mark, but for now, I like it enough to keep going :)

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News article

Yesterday, Jessica sent me a text saying, "Why didn't you tell me that you're on the front page of the newspaper?" I had no idea when the article was going to be printed, and I really had no idea it would be on the front page. I come from a very small town, so I guess even the smallest news makes the front page of the daily paper ;)

I was really dreading seeing it, because of the issue with the photographs. Jerry bought the paper on his way home, and I almost didn't want to look. But I'm glad I did, because the photo wasn't nearly as bad as I pictured it to be!

I skimmed the article quickly, hoping that it was accurate--then I went back and re-read the whole thing slowly. I'm impressed that the facts are (mostly) accurate, and I'm very glad that the story focuses more on my team than on me. Despite what people may think, because of my very public blog, I hate having attention drawn to me. I'm shy, and private, and having this story on the front page of the newspaper really terrified me. (I think the title of the story is very ironic).

This newspaper actually wrote a story on my appearance on The Dr. Oz Show last year, and that was also ginormous on the front page. So I was especially nervous about being in the paper again; that people would think that I'm just after attention. 

My Ragnar team seemed to really like the article, which was the most important part to me. And as a bonus, I will think twice before buying lots of junk food, because of the possibility of someone recognizing me as "the girl who lost weight and was in the paper". I will be conscious of that everywhere I go now ;)

The article isn't online, so I took a photo of it. It will be hard to read unless you enlarge it (just click the picture to enlarge).

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Over the past couple of days, I've been trying to come up with a stress-less plan for next year. This year, I did too much, and it caused me to stress out a lot (I ran a LOT of races, including two full-marathons! And every time I traveled somewhere, it was for a race).

Next year, I want to do the opposite. (Well, after Key West, of course!) I'm only going to choose 2-3 races that are important to me, train for them properly (without extra races thrown in "just because"), and even take a trip without running a race. I've decided not to run my beloved Indy Mini-Marathon in 2013. If I do a spring race, it will be local. I may pick a half-marathon in the fall to do somewhere on location (maybe the Monster Dash in MN with my brother).

I have also been wanting to go visit my best friend Sarah in Arizona. She just had a baby recently, and I would love to go spend time with her (without also doing a race). So next year will be very low-key as far as racing. I'm going to cut my weekly mileage quite a bit after the marathon next month, and go back to the mileage that is comfortable for me--about 12-15 miles a week.

All the stress from this year has been getting to me, and I feel like it's all coming to a head. After my marathon, I will feel so much relief. I've done all the training, so not running the race isn't an option; but I will be relieved when it's over, and my longest run from there on out will be 13.1 miles!

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My last 20-miler!

The last thing I wanted to do today was run 20 miles, but I kept reminding myself that after today, I would be tapering for the marathon. And after the marathon, I don't ever have to run more than 13.1 miles again :)

It was 48 degrees outside, so I chose to wear a long-sleeved shirt. It was very breathable fabric, and a looser fit, so I figured I could just push up the sleeves if it was too hot. But my upper arms have been chafing badly on my long runs when I wear a t-shirt. They don't chafe with a tank top, or a long-sleeved shirt, but they chafe badly with a t-shirt.

I packed my GU and Gatorade, uploaded a couple new podcasts for my iPod, and, after much procrastinating, left the house. I parked at a high school to pick up the bike path that I love to run on. I picked a bad time to park there, because there were a billion teenagers pulling into the lot for school.

My plan was to do two out-and-back routes from my car. The first was a little under 12 miles, and the second was a little over 8 miles. The first few miles went by pretty quickly, and I didn't even look at my Garmin until mile five or so. I ate my first GU at mile eight, and was still feeling good.

At mile 10, the half-way point, I stopped for a second to stretch and send a text to Lealah. Lealah is a runner on my Ragnar team, and she was running her scheduled 20-miler at the same time I was. Since she lives in Oklahoma, we agreed to run together "in spirit"--via text message ;) I also snapped a quick picture since my phone was handy, and the scenery was pretty. As a bonus, there was nobody around to think about how vain I was, taking photos of myself.

Mile 10

At that point, I was running a 10:17/mi average pace--which is too fast for a 20-miler. Typically, my long runs during this training have been about 10:30/mi. This is where the whole run went downhill--not literally, because that would have made it easier! But the way I was feeling went downhill.

There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, so the sun was full-force. It was only 60ish degrees, but it felt hot with the sun and my long sleeves. I wished I'd worn a tank top. I pushed up the sleeves, and kept moving. When I reached my car, I refilled my water bottle with more Gatorade, stretched for a second, and then kept going. The last 8 miles was mostly through the Metropark, which is my favorite part of the run.

I was drinking a LOT of Gatorade through the run, but was still feeling thirsty. At 14.5 miles, I stopped for a bathroom break and to top off my Gatorade with water from the fountain. I ate my second GU. It was at this point that I started questioning whether I could actually do 20 miles. My body felt exhausted! My pace slowed drastically, and I took a short walk break.

At 16.6, I just felt like I was done. I had nothing left in me. My heart rate was up really high, and I was feeling short of breath. This only happened to me a couple of times before, the most memorable was when I hit the wall when running with Jessica. I sent Lealah another text:

I stopped for a minute, considering my options. I called Renee, to tell her that I might not be able to meet her for lunch, because I didn't know how long was going to take me to finish. I almost called Rik to whine about the run, but decided to take a true break instead. I decided to sit on the grass for 5-10 minutes, hoping that the break would give me fresh legs to finish it out.

Okay, I laid in the grass

I talked myself into finishing, because I had less than 3.5 miles left, and this was my last chance to get in 20 miles before the marathon. I started running again, at a pretty slow pace to keep my heart rate down. When my legs felt like lead, I stopped to stretch for a second. I took a few walk breaks the last 3 miles.

Those last miles took forever. Once I left the Metropark, I had just a half mile to go until I got to my car. I gave it everything I had, which wasn't much at all. I was so relieved when I heard the beep from my Garmin signaling the 20-mile mark!

The time and pace don't reflect the times I stopped moving. My walk breaks are figured in, but not my stretch breaks (or lying in the grass!).

I had just enough time to get home and shower before heading out to meet Renee and Jessica at Panera. We had to cancel plans to go to La Pita (it's far away and Jessica had a dentist appointment), but hopefully we'll be able to go there next week. I had a delicious lunch--tomato and mozzarella panini and chicken noodle soup with bread, for 17 PointsPlus.

The newspaper story about my Ragnar team was in today's paper (on the front page). But I will save that for tomorrow! This post is long enough.

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It's booked!

I had the worst night's sleep ever last night. Jerry had to work, but only an eight-hour shift (he usually does 12-hour shifts), so he would be home a little after 2:00 a.m. My mind was racing a mile a minute about the whole stolen photo thing from yesterday, and I couldn't fall asleep until sometime after 12:30. Then Jerry got home at 2:15, and I couldn't fall back asleep for anything!

The last time I remember looking at the clock, it was 4:55. I had to get up at 7:00 to get the kids ready for school. So I maybe had about 3-4 hours of sleep total. Not enough! Right now, I am wearing my so-very-cozy Vera Wang pajamas I bought yesterday. Seriously the most comfy pj's I've ever worn! I tried to get a picture, but it wasn't very easy, so this was the best I could do:

I did get an e-mail back from the ad agency that I contacted about my photo. They apologized profusely and said that it would be removed. I kept checking all day today, but it was still up there. I e-mailed again, and was told it could take up to 24 hours for it to be gone from all the spots that the ad appeared. I know when I edit a photo on my blog, it can take 24 hours for the editing to show up, so that was believable.

The person who was really in the wrong was the blogger who stole my photo. The ad agency probably didn't ask where he got it, and he obviously didn't tell them that he didn't have permission to use it. But anyway, I feel like I resolved that, so hopefully I can rest better tonight ;)

If any of you happen to see my photos on an ad, or just posted on a blog that I didn't write a guest post for, I would be very grateful if you'd let me know by sending me an e-mail with the link... because I can assure you, I did NOT give anyone permission to use my photos. (Posting a link to my blog is always fine, however).

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We got our team shirts! The back is a collage of
before and after photos of everyone on the team.

I spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out our travel plans for Florida in January for the Ragnar Relay. I wasn't sure if Jerry should go down with me, or go down a couple of days later, after the race. Since I'll be flying into Miami, and running down to Key West, I also had to figure out if I should fly home from Key West or go back up to Miami.

I looked at all the different flight possibilities, and was shocked to see that a round trip ticket was actually $50 cheaper than a one-way ticket! That makes no sense at all. So I knew I'd have to fly in and out of the same airport (Miami). And so would Jerry (the original plan was for him to fly into Key West). Yes, this is all very confusing.

So the whole point of this mess is that I booked our flights today!! Jerry and I will both be flying into Miami on Jan. 3rd. The following morning is when the race starts, so I'll go with my team for the race, and Jerry will make his way down to Key West with the spouses of my teammates. We'll meet up again at the finish line in Key West, and then Jerry and I are spending three glorious nights in a beautiful hotel on the beach!

Then we'll hopefully hitch a ride back up to Miami on Tuesday, and spend Tuesday night in Miami, before flying home on Wednesday. I am SO EXCITED. Jerry and I have never taken a "real" vacation before, and we've been together for 13 years! My kids will be staying with my parents, and they're really excited about that.

We're actually going to be gone for Eli's birthday, and I was feeling really guilty--but Eli got super excited when I told him he could spend his birthday at my parents' house ;) And I promised to buy him an extra special souvenir. He requested a fishing lure to catch squid. Hahaha! Eli is absolutely obsessed with fishing, and he loves lures.

By the way, do I happen to have any readers in Key West or Miami? Or is anyone running the Ragnar down there as well? Just curious :)

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I'm going to be early tonight. I can't afford to miss any more sleep--tomorrow I'm running 20 miles! After tomorrow's run, I will officially be tapering for my marathon :)

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Violated

Sometimes when I wake up early, and don't have to get out of bed just yet, I'll use my iPhone to check my e-mail. Which is what I was doing this morning when I read an e-mail from a reader who said that someone had stolen photos from my blog and was using them in an advertisement.

She had taken screen shots (brilliant) and sent them to me with links to where the ad was. I was SO UPSET. It was my before and after photo, as an ad on someone's site. Following the links, there were actually three separate parties that were profiting from my photos.

My immediate knee-jerk reaction was "Ohmygod, I need to delete my blog!" Of course, that was overreacting, but I just felt very violated. I showed Jerry, and I started crying. He told me he'd get the kids ready for school, so I could start working on the problem. There was no way I was just going to let it go! And I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything until I'd done what I could about the problem.

I sent e-mails to all three parties. The source of the problem was actually a Blogger blog. Some guy took my photo, removed the watermarks, and posted it on his site as "amazing transformations" or something. Then he sold it to an ad agency, who made an ad linking to his site. The ad was also on their website, stating "You won't believe how her body looks now!" to get people to click. And that ad was in their network, meaning it could show up on all kinds of blogs and websites.

The original Blogger blog owner removed it within about five hours after I sent the e-mail. The ad agency still has it up, however, and I'm pissed. I'm not going to link to them, because they earn money every time someone views their site, so the last thing I want to do is give them traffic. Same thing with the Blogger blog owner--he had TONS of ads on his site, so every time someone views it, he's earning money.

Anyway, I'm working on filing a formal complaint about the ad agency. In the meantime, I'm feeling upset that this happened. I know that it happens all the time, but it still sucks when it happens to you.

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This afternoon, I decided to go to Kohl's to spend a gift card and Kohl's cash. I really needed a new bra, and while I was there, I looked at all the clearanced pajamas. They had a whole bunch of the Vera Wang collection on clearance for less than $10 each--which is super cheap! I normally only get those when my mom buys them for me for my birthday or Christmas ;) 

This isn't from the fly attack today, but I have
no pictures of it to share, unfortunately

When I got home, I saw Estelle chasing a fly in the house--nothing unusual. I watched her for a minute, and then noticed something very unusual. There were flies everywhere! Looking at the window, I counted 14 flies. I called Jerry in, and he couldn't believe it either. I went to the back sliding glass door, and counted another 10-15 flies there.

This was SO STRANGE. The windows in the house were all closed, and there weren't any flies around before I left for Kohl's. They all just came out of nowhere. I grabbed the flyswatter from under the sink, and started swatting. The flies were dropping like... well, flies. I started counting, and lost count at 30. Every time I thought I'd gotten them all, there was another buzzing around.

Jerry and I searched the house, wondering where in the hell the flies came from, but we were clueless. Our house isn't dirty or gross, so I have no idea where these things came from. We'd never seen anything like this before! Jerry and I were killing all the flies (well, I was killing, he was following with a paper towel to pick up the dead ones), and he said, "I feel like I'm on an episode of Hoarders!" Hahaha, that's exactly how I felt too.

We killed (most of) the flies, but Jerry went and got some fly paper from the store just in case. That stuff is messy. And we haven't gotten a single fly with it. It's bugging us both (pun totally intended) about where the stupid flies came from in the first place!

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Free panties!

I was in a really good mood today when I woke up. I had time to shower and get dressed before waking the kids up for school. Jerry asked me if I would go to Best Buy today to spend his gift card on a movie that he wanted. I guess The Avengers came out, and he was excited to get the Blu-Ray with his birthday gift card.

At first, I really didn't want to drive all the way to Best Buy, but then I remembered that it's in the mall with Victoria's Secret, and I had another coupon for a free pair of panties :)  I have no idea how I got on their mailing list, but I get coupons for free panties about once a month or every other month. I love it!!

Those people at Victoria's Secret are very sneaky--because I can't seem to just go in, get my panties, and leave. I end up browsing, and buying things I wasn't planning on! ;) I've mentioned how I'm very cheap when it comes to clothes, and I buy everything used. Well, I make an exception when it comes to lingerie! When I was overweight, I always wished I could wear cute little lingerie and feel good in it. Then I lost the weight, but my stomach was very saggy, so I didn't feel very cute. But now that I've had my skin removal surgery, my guilty pleasure is definitely lingerie ;)

Of course, the free panty table is always in the back of the store, so you have to walk past all the super cute things to get to them. Then walk through the store again to get to the cashier. Today, a very cute purple nightie caught my eye, and I tried it on. It looked good, so I bought it.

Somehow, I don't think Jerry will mind ;)

This afternoon, my legs were really bothering me. The only way I can describe it is "growing pains" because that's what my mom used to call it anytime I complained about my legs hurting as a kid. Today, I knew they were feeling that way because it had been over three days since I ran. Whenever I go more than two days without running, my legs ache.

I was feeling very antsy, and so I decided I might as well run today instead of tomorrow morning. Then it would give me two full days off before my 20-miler on Friday. I threw on some running clothes and went outside for a six-miler.

It ended up being a terrible run--not because of my knees or anything, but because I was terrified THREE TIMES by dogs charging at me. Unleashed, unfenced dogs. I've written before about how much I can't stand that people let their dogs roam without a leash. I was never scared of dogs until a couple of years ago, when I was bitten three separate times while running during the summer.

Today, two of the dogs ran at me barking (not at the same time, they were at separate parts of my run), but I could tell that they weren't out to hurt me. I just froze and tried to concentrate on breathing while they sniffed me. But the third dog was MEAN. It was growling and baring it's teeth, and snapping at me. I froze, hoping it would turn and go away, but it just started barking viciously and jumping toward me. I didn't want to turn around, for fear of it attacking me, so I started stepping backwards slowly. It stayed a few feet away from me, growling and barking the whole time, while I continued to walk backward. After I'd passed about four houses this way, the dog finally stopped and I ran back the way I came.

Not a single person came out to claim their dog. I could feel really hot, angry tears in my eyes while I ran, and I was debating whether to continue my run or go home and call animal control. I decided to finish my run.

On the bright side, I had no issues with my knee, so I'm hoping that an extra day and half of rest was what I needed. Now I have two more days off until my 20-miler. I'm actually looking forward to it, so that I can get it done and over with!

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Lava lamp

There is something magical about a lava lamp. It has this way of lifting my mood, and making me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

My sister bought one for me for Christmas years ago--I think I was about 12. It has a black base and yellow lava. When I was a teenager, and always taking on the phone, I used to lie in the dark on my bed with just the glow of the lava lamp while I chatted with my friends.

When I got upset for some reason or another, I used to lie on my bed and just stare at the lava until I fell asleep. When my boys were just babies, I used the glow of the lava lamp in order to see while I fed them in the middle of the night.

There is something so hypnotizing about watching the lava move around in the lamp. A few years ago, I had put the lava lamp away and somehow forgotten about it. Yesterday, I spotted the lamp and immediately plugged it in. I asked Jerry if he wanted to lie on the bed and watch with me, and we ended up having the best afternoon together!

We just sat and talked for a couple of hours about all kinds of stuff, mostly about when we were dating. I have to say, I am loving his tattoo. I've never been a big tattoo-person, but I think he looks hot with it ;)

Unfortunately, my lava lamp does not like to be photographed--you can't see the lava at all in the picture! Just imagine it as the color of an egg yolk.

This morning, when I was cleaning up the kitchen, I looked at Jerry's food log from yesterday. It's such a joke! I thought it was hilarious and anyone looking at it would totally think he's a bachelor:

Brats, beans, beer, pretzels, beer, and a protein bar. Really?!

What's worse is that he's lost 10 pounds over the last 2 weeks!! (For the record, his food log doesn't always look like that--I just found yesterday's log to be very humorous). Here's my log, from the same day:

And I will tell you right now, I did not lose 10 pounds over the last two weeks ;)

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I was scheduled for a six-mile run today, but after Friday's long run, I decided to take an extra day off this week because of my knee. It hasn't been hurting very badly, but I'm hoping to avoid it getting to that point; so I don't mind skipping a shorter run here and there if it means my knee will be better. I have a six-mile run on Wednesday, and then a 20-miler on Friday.

It will be my last 20-miler (hopefully in my life). After that, I will start the three-week taper until my marathon! Renee has a 20-miler scheduled as well. I think we're going to go to lunch at La Pita afterward. I am going to plan out my points before I go, so I don't go too crazy with the garlic sauce (which is known to happen at La Pita!)  ;)

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Reader Questions and Answers #25

On Sundays, I will answer some readers' questions in a post. If you have a question that you would like me to answer here on the blog, just send me an e-mail with the subject "Q&A", and I may include them in a future Q&A post. They don't have to be about weight loss or running--anything is game!  (Remember, I'm not a doctor or dietician, or any sort of medical professional--I can only answer questions from my own experience).

Q. Since you look so beautiful now (the reader's words, not mine, haha), do you ever find yourself wanting to overspend money on clothes or jewelry or makeup because you feel "you deserve it?" I lost over 70 pounds and I find myself wanting to spend a lot on clothes and stuff that I could never wear before because I was so big. It's taking a toll on my budget and my marriage.

A. First off, congrats on your weight loss! I can completely understand wanting to treat yourself to new things. Fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), I have always been very thrifty, and a bit of a tightwad when it comes to money. Even in high school, I bought my clothes at thrift stores, and losing the weight didn't really change that. When I first got to my "goal size" (I knew I didn't want to get smaller than a size 4, so when I was able to comfortably wear size 4, I felt I was at my goal size), I did go buy quite a bit of new clothes.

A fashionista, I am not.

However, I did my shopping at thrift stores and garage sales. I just can't imagine myself spending $50 on a pair of jeans that I could buy for a $1 at a garage sale! It takes some hunting--sometimes I find all kinds of great deals and sometimes none at all. But, with all of that said, I am not a big fashionista. I really couldn't care less if I wear trendy clothes or not.

I think if you really enjoy clothes and accessories, and you are excited to show off your new body, then go for it! But you said it's taking a toll on your budget and marriage, so you definitely need to be careful. I would talk with your husband, let him know how much it means to you, and maybe you both can work some new clothes into your budget.

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Q. When you were overweight, did you ever worry that your kids would grow up to be too? Do you still worry about that now? My long time boyfriend and I have always been overweight, and I feel like our chance of raising non-overweight children are so small!

A. This was a huge fear of mine, even long before I had kids. I was teased really badly in elementary school, and because of that, I had zero self-confidence all the way into adulthood. I knew I didn't want my future kids to feel that way, but I also didn't want them to grow up with disordered eating habits (namely binge eating, like me). 

The last thing I wanted to do was make my kids worry about their weight, so I don't talk about dieting or calories or anything like that with them. I generally let my kids make their own decisions about what they eat; but I hold a lot of control in that I don't buy lots of junk. We never have soda in our house, or even juice (water and milk are their options); we don't buy chips or cookies or anything like that unless it's for a specific purpose (I might buy a bag of chips if we're cooking hamburgers on the grill, for example); we don't eat at restaurants very often (maybe once a month, and it's never fast food); and I only let them buy the school lunch once a week.

My boys run for cookies too ;)

 My kids certainly get their share of junk, however--when they spend the night at my parents' house, they drink soda, and my parents sometimes take them to Wendy's for lunch after church. My dad has a jar of candy and he lets them have a piece or two when they come over. When I go grocery shopping, I usually buy them a treat (a single serving). On the occasion that we do go out to eat, I let them order what they want.

My system certainly isn't perfect, but it works for my family; and my kids aren't overweight. I'm not sure yet how I would handle it if they become overweight in the future, but hopefully that won't be a problem. The best I can do is set a good example for them, which I strive to do every day!

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Q. You've mentioned listening to podcasts when you run.  What kind of podcasts do you listen to?  Are they fitness related? 

A. On my shorter runs, I don't bring my iPod, but on really long runs, I do take it to listen to podcasts. My favorite podcast is The Jillian Michaels Podcast, which is funny because I really disliked Jillian the whole time she was on The Biggest Loser. Since I've started listening to her show, however, I've totally changed my mind about her. She's entertaining to listen to, and I've gotten some great info from her.

Another podcast that I recently discovered is called Half Size Me. It's by a woman named Heather, who has lost 170 pounds. She talks about her maintenance, and she is a self-proclaimed success story junkie (so am I)--so she interviews a lot of people who have lost a large amount of weight. That's actually how I first heard about the podcast--she invited me to take part in an interview! We've already recorded it, and she said it will probably go up on the podcast in November. (I was terrified to do a talk-interview! I'm much better at writing than I am talking).

I've also recently discovered Vinnie Tortorich (Angriest Trainer); he's a personal trainer who talks about different fitness topics. I find the stories he tells very amusing, and I like that he's so honest about his thoughts. (Just FYI, he uses explicit language).

I like listening to fitness/weight loss podcasts because those topics interest me in everyday life. But there are podcasts for just about every topic you can imagine, so I would just search for a topic that interests you.

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And now a question for all of you...
How did you spend the first day of fall (yesterday)?  It was cold and raining all day, so I truly enjoyed wearing sweats and curling up under a blanket in front of a Lifetime movie :)

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