Work Family

this morning i was very ambitious. i got up at the first alarm (instead of snoozing 5 times like my hubby likes to do!), i brought the LO to daycare (on time since i didn’t snooze for an hour!), and then i got home and decided to go for a run around the local park!  i haven’t gone for a run (read as “slightly-faster-than-walking-speed-jog”) in what seems like forever. i think i went out for one sometime last fall when i was still nursing (not so fun with over-sized boobies) but then my most recent job started up and i’ve been beyond busy since then… until now!  well, not that i’m not busy. there’s a TON of cleaning to do before our LO’s first birthday party. (that’s right! i’m a little freaked out by that too!! AAHHH!!!!) and i’ve got a lot of catching up to do on sewing projects and job searching on top of that… but anyways, i digress.

i got my running gear on, including my headphones and shoes, and made my way out to the park. while there, i ran into a gal i used to work with.  she recognized me almost immediately, and once i paid attention (instead of zoning out like one does during a run) i recognized her too.  i stopped my run, turned her direction and walked along with her for the remainder of my outing.

though i hadn’t seen her in more than a year, and although the age difference between us is enough that she could almost be my grandmother, we had a great time catching up with one another.  we talked about camping and traveling, exercising, life and family, parenting, and other members of the ‘family’ we had when we worked together.  we both agreed that the people you work with can make your job a pain or a great way to spend your days.

many of my previous jobs have had similar ‘work families’, people i’d look forward to seeing each shift, people i wouldn’t mind sharing with, people i wouldn’t mind listening to, and most importantly: people i could count on for support, understanding, and encouragement.

it’s a bit amazing to me that so many strangers can come together and create such a marvelous web of mutual caring strong enough to catch a member when they falter or boost one another when the skies turn grey. it’s so encouraging, to me, to know that there are people in this world capable of that kind of caring for others who don’t share any part of their genetic code. i only hope that those people again become the norm, rather than those whose negative acts rule the newscasts these days.

and i hope that i can again find a place where my ‘work family’ is waiting with open arms.

do you have a ‘work family’? or a church group ‘family’? who do you turn to when blood-relatives are far away and the skies turn a nasty shade of grey?

Irony

this time last week, I was the one feeling like crap. today, it’s the Hubby’s turn.

at least his reason is more awesome than dehydration. he ran a half marathon today! in 80 degree heat no less!

we’re so proud of him! and to show it, i made dinner (so what if it was frozen pizza!), have been fetching him water all night (and gatorade and vitamins and more water), and have been massaging his totally cramped hamstrings (totally PG-rated).  i was a helpless slug for a good portion of my pregnancy, i figure he deserves at least one night of being waited on.

as much running as i had done in the recent past, i’m not sure if i could’ve done a half marathon. now that i’m feeling fit enough to get back in the running shoes, i’m not sure if i even have the guts to try…

do you have a goal that scares you and invigorates you at the same time? what is it?

My Groove

i’ve been working on getting back into my exercising groove lately. so far it’s been slow going.

2 weeks ago i did a 15 min run/walk interval. i felt pretty good about it. definitely felt it a couple days later (which is the usual for me).

last week i did a 15 min bike ride, and not just a sissy cruising style bike ride, i mean a powerful-but-not-quite-spin-class-crazy bike ride. then did a few laps in our (teeny) pool to refresh and cool down.

what’s in store for this week? i have no clue. but i hope i keep it up. even just once a week is better than no exercise at all.

what i’d really like to work on is my core, so maybe i should try to incorporate something that’ll work that with a bit more intensity.  i don’t want to end up like homer.

how do you get back into a groove after losing it?

 

It’s Loaded!

i mentioned this project in my WIP post this week. so here it is.

it doesn’t look pretty, but my home-made, didn’t spend a cent, and will stay in place while running mp3 player holster is probably about as complete as it’s going to get: (sorry for the crappy pic; taken with an iPod cuz the camera’s battery is dead)

i used elastic for 2 armbands, some clear vinyl from a random package for the mp3 player’s pocket, and velcro with adhesive on the back to secure the pocket shut.

the two arm bands are much better than one! and they’re spaced just about right to fit above and below my meager bicep. (again, awkward photo cuz i couldn’t really get it far enough away to take a pic without my shoulders being all wiggidy)

i like how i designed the pocket: there’s a little half-separating bit of stitches (that white-ish splotchy line to the left of the headphone jack) to help secure the player in place. since the headphone jack is on the inside of the pocket, that stitching helps keep everything in place. that way, even if the velcro came off for some strange reason, the chances of my player plummeting to the ground are much slimmer. (just like i’m hoping to become!)

of course it’s meant to be kinda utilitarian rather than pretty; no one looks pretty when they run. not even the future queen of england! so why should my mp3 holster?  and i liked the idea of using clear vinyl instead of fabric so that when i get all sweaty and gross (which is a certainty in FL), then i have less chance of contaminating and killing the mp3 player.

the only thing i don’t like about it so far is that the volume can’t be adjusted while everything’s in place. you’ve got to open the pocket and shove your finger in there to get at the little dial on my sansa.  i’m debating trimming out a hole in the front so i can get at the volume dial.  not sure yet though…

other mp3 players might have a different set up, and certainly have different dimensions, so i won’t post the specs/tute unless you want me to. this was really just a rough idea in my head last week, and now it’s a rough reality!

still, i can’t wait to use it as it’s meant to be used! the only problem with that plan is that right now, the only real time i have to run (without dying of heat exhaustion) is when Hubby is doing this:

and that just doesn’t seem fair to me.

Aching to be Active

i’d hoped to get back into some sort of an exercise regimen by now. who’d've thought a baby would take so much TIME and EFFORT?! well, duh, they take a lot of both, but they’re SO worth it!

anyways, i’ve been hoping to go jogging again. actually, i’d planned on restarting the couch-to-5k program with my new vibrams to sort of ease into them. but i cant’ leave the Little One home alone during the day, she’s not old enough or strong enough to handle being jostled in a jogging stroller yet, and Hubs usually has his own ideas of how to spend his off-work time. not to mention the heat and humidity that is a hellish constant of FL summers.  at least we’ve got the stroller already ($40 garage sale find!) for that magical day when she’s got enough head control to ride in it! it’s just sad and lonely sitting all folded up in the garage:

my vibrams look pretty sad and lonely too, shoved down in the lower right of our shoe pile (those are hubby’s at the top left):

i’d love to take my mother’s day gift (new bike!) out for a spin, but we don’t have a bike trailer for babies. even if we did, they usually say recommended for 6 months old and up and we’ve got another 4 months before we reach that milestone!

luckily, there ARE some things i can do at home, while still taking care of the Little One. Hubs got a door-gym thing for christmas last year, so i’ve been thinking of using that for pull-ups, leg-lifts, and push-ups (taking it down for that of course).  we’ve also got an exercise ball, a pair of 25lb weights, and a pair of 3lb weights.

and Women’s Health magazine has a free workout app that i’ve loaded onto our iPod Touch. haven’t used that yet though.

but mainly, i’m planning on using our Wii Active game. i did a pre-planned workout on it yesterday, and i’m definitely feeling my legs today! (stupid lunges!) it’s got goals i can set for myself, pre-designed workouts for certain muscle groups or for a full-body workout, a journal function where you can record other activities as well as nutrition information (pizza doesn’t rank as high as carrots, who’d've thought?!), and it’s got a very encouraging voice that makes working out by myself almost as fun as working out with a personal trainer (not that i’ve ever done that).

we’ll see how well i stick to it though. since it has that journal ability, i was able to scroll back through time and see when i used it last: more than 2 years ago.  and i used it for about a week before letting it sit in the video game basket to collect dust. hopefully i can do better this time around!

what hurdles are you facing and how are you jumping over them to reach your goals?