My main computer has become infected with a virus and I've been relegated to the son's laptop, when I can wrench it out of his hands! Not really, but I will have little time to blog until we get a new 'puter up and running that doesn't need to be shared by everyone in the house.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone (in the US)! I'll be back as soon as I can.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Veteran's Day
Happy Veteran's Day! Enjoy the day off if you have it, and let's not forget to thank our veterans! Thank you!
It's been a whirlwind week for me. First the elections last Tuesday, and then trying to continue in the groove that is life.
I managed to get a couple of decent workouts last week, one of which I already posted about at the track at the University. I also made it out one morning for a quick but good run one morning. This run, in fairly cold temps (around 49) worked out my lungs a bit. By the time I was finished, I was wheezing pretty heavily and coughing a lot. BUT, that completely went away within a few hours, which is great news. I'll try to work in another workout like that later this week. I suspect results will be the same for a while, but I'm looking for improvements over time. Went out for an easy 3 miles yesterday at the track again. It was a bright, sunny, but windy, kinda cold morning, even at 9am. And still, no one else using the track the whole time I was there. Weird.
I have another exam on Friday, so I'll be busy prepping for that for most of this week. I've thankfully been able to knit a bit more regularly again, as I continue to plug along on my MIL's socks. I'm on the foot portion of sock #1, and since it's all stockinette in the round, it's going very quickly. My Bunko Bucket Bag was a hit at bunko, it even got stolen from the original giftee, which is such a compliment to me!
Today, my kiddos are home from school for Veteran's Day, but it's not really a true vacation day since we all have lots to do. We will however, attempt to catch the city's parade.
Have a great week everyone!
Onward!
It's been a whirlwind week for me. First the elections last Tuesday, and then trying to continue in the groove that is life.
I managed to get a couple of decent workouts last week, one of which I already posted about at the track at the University. I also made it out one morning for a quick but good run one morning. This run, in fairly cold temps (around 49) worked out my lungs a bit. By the time I was finished, I was wheezing pretty heavily and coughing a lot. BUT, that completely went away within a few hours, which is great news. I'll try to work in another workout like that later this week. I suspect results will be the same for a while, but I'm looking for improvements over time. Went out for an easy 3 miles yesterday at the track again. It was a bright, sunny, but windy, kinda cold morning, even at 9am. And still, no one else using the track the whole time I was there. Weird.
I have another exam on Friday, so I'll be busy prepping for that for most of this week. I've thankfully been able to knit a bit more regularly again, as I continue to plug along on my MIL's socks. I'm on the foot portion of sock #1, and since it's all stockinette in the round, it's going very quickly. My Bunko Bucket Bag was a hit at bunko, it even got stolen from the original giftee, which is such a compliment to me!
Today, my kiddos are home from school for Veteran's Day, but it's not really a true vacation day since we all have lots to do. We will however, attempt to catch the city's parade.
Have a great week everyone!
Onward!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I Voted
for 'That One', that won! Congratulations to President-Elect Obama, and to Senator McCain for, by far, the most exciting election in my lifetime.
Monday, November 3, 2008
A couple of workouts
I'm loving this extra free time! I was able to get a bunch of stuff done this weekend that I'd been putting off for a while (mostly cleaning, nothing exciting unfortunately), and still had time to study and knit!
But first, to get to the title of my post. I went out last Thursday again for a double header workout. First, I ran 2 miles before getting the kiddos off to school, then after they were gone, went out again for 3 miles racewalking, this time no backpack! I didn't workout over the weekend, but, this morning I did go to the track at ASU that I mentioned in my previous post. It was (and has been for the past several days) a bit warmer than it should be for this time of year, but I plodded out 3 miles in the morning sunshine. The track is made of some material I have not seen before. It doesn't look new so I don't think it's some latest and greatest material. It reminded me of Berber carpeting! Blobs of rubber rather than a uniform looking surface. It was smooth and worked fine for my workout, I'm just rather curious as to what it was! Surprisingly, I had the track all to myself for most of my workout. There were a couple of ASU track girls there doing 100m sprints when I arrived, but they departed right after I got there. Then there was no one. I thought this really odd since ASU is one of the biggest (if not the biggest in terms of student population) universities in the country. How could there be no one else out of a student body of like 70k that would be working out?? Maybe they all take the scenic route along the lake? Probably.
Anyway, again, my times were not great, averaging right around 12mpm. I think I'll start adding in speed work next week as my legs aren't fazed by these 3 or 5 milers. It's time to test out the lungs again, something I haven't done since before getting ill last January. I'm still very susceptible to having lung problems due to the Valley Fever, so I plan on taking on speed work cautiously. I'll let you know how it goes.
On a final note, don't forget to VOTE tomorrow!!!!
Onward!
But first, to get to the title of my post. I went out last Thursday again for a double header workout. First, I ran 2 miles before getting the kiddos off to school, then after they were gone, went out again for 3 miles racewalking, this time no backpack! I didn't workout over the weekend, but, this morning I did go to the track at ASU that I mentioned in my previous post. It was (and has been for the past several days) a bit warmer than it should be for this time of year, but I plodded out 3 miles in the morning sunshine. The track is made of some material I have not seen before. It doesn't look new so I don't think it's some latest and greatest material. It reminded me of Berber carpeting! Blobs of rubber rather than a uniform looking surface. It was smooth and worked fine for my workout, I'm just rather curious as to what it was! Surprisingly, I had the track all to myself for most of my workout. There were a couple of ASU track girls there doing 100m sprints when I arrived, but they departed right after I got there. Then there was no one. I thought this really odd since ASU is one of the biggest (if not the biggest in terms of student population) universities in the country. How could there be no one else out of a student body of like 70k that would be working out?? Maybe they all take the scenic route along the lake? Probably.
Anyway, again, my times were not great, averaging right around 12mpm. I think I'll start adding in speed work next week as my legs aren't fazed by these 3 or 5 milers. It's time to test out the lungs again, something I haven't done since before getting ill last January. I'm still very susceptible to having lung problems due to the Valley Fever, so I plan on taking on speed work cautiously. I'll let you know how it goes.
On a final note, don't forget to VOTE tomorrow!!!!
Onward!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Some promised pictures
My lone tomato plant, which has some flowers (yay! soon to be tomatoes hopefully). Too small to see unfortunately.
My lone okra plant and several broccoli plants.
My Bunko Bucket Bag!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I'm Back!!!!
Whew! That was a really awful week. And, after all that studying for organic Chemistry, I still only managed a 'D' on that exam, so I've dropped that class. I'm still going strong in Analytical Chemistry, so that will be my only class for this semester. Not sure why I couldn't wrap my brain around the reactions, but I tried. When the test was put in front of me, I just blanked out.
As predicted, I didn't workout or knit for that week plus. However, since deciding to drop the class on Sunday, I immediately got back into myself and picked up yarn and got busy. So, in one day, I crocheted up a bucket bag purse, which I fulled yesterday, for our monthly bunko gift swap. Once a month, a group of neighborhood girls and I get together for some fun playing bunko, enjoying a few alcoholic beverages, and gossip. At the end of the night we have a white elephant gift exchange based on a predetermined theme. This coming up month the theme is purses, so what better purse can I give than a one-of-a-kind creation of my own! I'll try to post a picture later today. I used Brown Sheep Burly Spun yarn in a multi colored colorway called 'Strawberry Patch', with a plain red border on the top. It looks pretty darned good, was very fast with a 'P' sized crochet hook, and fulled up quickly and firmly. I almost hate giving it away!
I'm also working on a pair of plain stockinette socks for my mother-in-law. She asked for some several weeks ago when she saw me working on something else. I'm knitting these up with Panda Cotton sock yarn, in a pink colorway (sorry, don't remember the name of it right now). Then, my sister-in-law has asked me to knit up some leg warmers for my new nephew, which I'm happy to oblige on that request (who am I to turn down a request to knit someone something -- that'd be sacrilige)!
I finally got out this morning for a workout after my 10 day + hiatus. Boy, did it feel wonderful! I thought I would be much slower, but actually I finished the 2 miles in under 12mpm pace, which I thought was pretty darned good. And if I had had more time, I could've gone further. After taking the kiddo to school I did another walk to the store to mail off a few Netflix movies that needed to be returned, and pick up a few items we needed. While I didn't racewalk there or back, I kept my pace at under 15mpm both ways to at least feel a bit more like a workout. It's a bit hard to racewalk with a backpack when there's a water bottle, and a bottle of mustard careening back and forth slamming into each of your kidneys. Yeah. Not cool. So I got in a total of 4.75 miles this morning, and it felt great!!!
I also discovered about a week ago, that the track at the university is located right next to the parking lot where I park. How convenient! Now that it's getting light a lot later in the morning, and I don't have my OChem class anymore, I can still arrive at the school the same time I did before, and get in a workout before my AChem class! Score! I just hope my classmates don't mind the post-workout 'ripeness' that I may exude. Maybe I'll take some deodorant with me to cover things up a bit.....
I mentioned briefly in a previous post my interest in gardening. Well, here in the desert Southwest, we garden a bit differently than the rest of the world. Nothing grows here in the summer (except okra I'm happy to have discovered), so pretty much most gardening is bassackwards compared to everywhere else. I finally ripped out my okra plants (I think 14 pints of okra pickles is enough, thankyou), and recently planted broccoli plants, a tomato plant, tomato from seed, peas, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, and a jalapeno plant. The broccoli and tomato plant are doing well (even have flowers on the tomato plant already), and the lettuce, carrots and parsnips have all sprouted. The tomato from seed and the jalapeno plant did not :(. So I've replanted some more seed, in containers this time, so I can move them around more to get more sunlight. The peas -- well, they sprouted. But, as soon as they sprouted, it seems, the birds dug up the sprout and took off with the seed!!!! GRRRRRR!!! I'm so not happy about this. I've replanted some this morning, in containers, and in the garden straight, and am trying out some measures to deter them. However, if any of you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
OK, so that's what's been going on around here. Hoping that with my time now incredibly freed up, I should be posting more often.
Onward!
As predicted, I didn't workout or knit for that week plus. However, since deciding to drop the class on Sunday, I immediately got back into myself and picked up yarn and got busy. So, in one day, I crocheted up a bucket bag purse, which I fulled yesterday, for our monthly bunko gift swap. Once a month, a group of neighborhood girls and I get together for some fun playing bunko, enjoying a few alcoholic beverages, and gossip. At the end of the night we have a white elephant gift exchange based on a predetermined theme. This coming up month the theme is purses, so what better purse can I give than a one-of-a-kind creation of my own! I'll try to post a picture later today. I used Brown Sheep Burly Spun yarn in a multi colored colorway called 'Strawberry Patch', with a plain red border on the top. It looks pretty darned good, was very fast with a 'P' sized crochet hook, and fulled up quickly and firmly. I almost hate giving it away!
I'm also working on a pair of plain stockinette socks for my mother-in-law. She asked for some several weeks ago when she saw me working on something else. I'm knitting these up with Panda Cotton sock yarn, in a pink colorway (sorry, don't remember the name of it right now). Then, my sister-in-law has asked me to knit up some leg warmers for my new nephew, which I'm happy to oblige on that request (who am I to turn down a request to knit someone something -- that'd be sacrilige)!
I finally got out this morning for a workout after my 10 day + hiatus. Boy, did it feel wonderful! I thought I would be much slower, but actually I finished the 2 miles in under 12mpm pace, which I thought was pretty darned good. And if I had had more time, I could've gone further. After taking the kiddo to school I did another walk to the store to mail off a few Netflix movies that needed to be returned, and pick up a few items we needed. While I didn't racewalk there or back, I kept my pace at under 15mpm both ways to at least feel a bit more like a workout. It's a bit hard to racewalk with a backpack when there's a water bottle, and a bottle of mustard careening back and forth slamming into each of your kidneys. Yeah. Not cool. So I got in a total of 4.75 miles this morning, and it felt great!!!
I also discovered about a week ago, that the track at the university is located right next to the parking lot where I park. How convenient! Now that it's getting light a lot later in the morning, and I don't have my OChem class anymore, I can still arrive at the school the same time I did before, and get in a workout before my AChem class! Score! I just hope my classmates don't mind the post-workout 'ripeness' that I may exude. Maybe I'll take some deodorant with me to cover things up a bit.....
I mentioned briefly in a previous post my interest in gardening. Well, here in the desert Southwest, we garden a bit differently than the rest of the world. Nothing grows here in the summer (except okra I'm happy to have discovered), so pretty much most gardening is bassackwards compared to everywhere else. I finally ripped out my okra plants (I think 14 pints of okra pickles is enough, thankyou), and recently planted broccoli plants, a tomato plant, tomato from seed, peas, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, and a jalapeno plant. The broccoli and tomato plant are doing well (even have flowers on the tomato plant already), and the lettuce, carrots and parsnips have all sprouted. The tomato from seed and the jalapeno plant did not :(. So I've replanted some more seed, in containers this time, so I can move them around more to get more sunlight. The peas -- well, they sprouted. But, as soon as they sprouted, it seems, the birds dug up the sprout and took off with the seed!!!! GRRRRRR!!! I'm so not happy about this. I've replanted some this morning, in containers, and in the garden straight, and am trying out some measures to deter them. However, if any of you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
OK, so that's what's been going on around here. Hoping that with my time now incredibly freed up, I should be posting more often.
Onward!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Coming up for air
I'm buried in my chemistry books as I have 2 exams this week. Despite studying all week long, I'm still feeling very unprepared. While I'm not totally in the dark in trying to understand everything, I've not had the 'lightbulb' moment yet, when it all seems to mesh together. Oh well.
Anyway, due to the exams, I doubt I will have anything else to post regarding workouts or knitting this week. It is literally that bad!! So hopefully I'll have something fun to write for you next weekend!
Onward!
Anyway, due to the exams, I doubt I will have anything else to post regarding workouts or knitting this week. It is literally that bad!! So hopefully I'll have something fun to write for you next weekend!
Onward!
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