Look at this. This does not make for a happy me when I get to work. It also is the ONLY reason I’m happy to have an automatic now. That, and the ability to kick off my sandals and drive barefoot with one foot in my lap.

Yeah, that’s right. Making a mess. We’re trying to reorganize at work and, well, let’s just say that we have lots of stuff and a little bit of room.

See those boxes? Those are all old stamps that we can’t even use. But hopefully once we’re done, our mad organization skills will help to make life, uhm, organized.

I have  been sick on and off for the past two months so there went my working out. The  good news is that I managed to finish out my semester with straight A’s so that took quite a bit of stress off of me.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of reading again. One of the books I picked up (finally) over the past year was Wicked by Gregory McGuire. I have to say, I absolutely love that book and much prefer the “Wicked Witch’s” story over Dorothy’s – at least, from what I’ve seen in the movie, which I never particularly liked. I also read Son of a Witch, which was decent but didn’t quite hit me the same way wicked did. And then, recently, I read A Lion Among Men.

A Lion Among Men follows the story of Brr, who is actually the lion from the first book that Elphaba helped rescue and that was with Dorothy. Great, I thought, this should be interesting.

It’s not. There’s few things in the book that make the lion likable or even allows me to relate to him. The book is a bit, well, over wordy and the majority of it is spent learning about how Brr is a complete moron who, when he does have an advantage, uses it in completely selfish ways. So, unfortunately, unless the next book (if there is one) wins me back in some way, I’m going to have to quit this series. I did, however, hear that Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister was as good as Wicked, if not better, so I may have to pick that up.

In all honestly, my heart wasn’t as into it as my previous races. The weather was perfect, the people seemed to be nice and of course the free beer after had everyone in good spirits (I just wish I drank beer). However, I recently found out that someone close to me (like family) has a brain tumor. Thankfully, it’s not malignant and it is operable, but it’s rather large. She’s been having issues for a few months but we just found out what it was on Wednesday. I am currently going in to “hoping for the best, preparing for the worst” mode. I think that running will be one of the only things keeping my mind somewhat clear and positive.

My vibrams were one such thing. I spent a few weeks looking at them, reading blogs, fantasizing about them. When I went to Rehoboth Beach, I hunted down a store that had them in stock. Only problem – the only styles that they had my size in were the Classics and the Treks. I loved how the Classics felt but due to my super-powered research efforts, I felt as though they might be prone to slipping off. And… I hated how the Treks felt. They just rubbed me in all the wrong ways. So, with a heavy heart, I headed back to Maryland and found directions to another place that carried them.

When we finally got to the store, I have to admit I was feeling crappy that day. I don’t know why but at times I think my body hates me. It just randomly feels bad and I end up rushing things. Like… buying shoes.

What is the point of all of this?

Well, I’ve come to notice that my vibrams are too large. I mentioned that they rubbed a little more than I would like on the toe. I figured that would go away after a while, but no, it took me several months for point A to collide with point B and come to the realization that they’re simply too big. Not a huge amount so, but enough to where it rubs me. I’ve fixed it temporarily with the aid of some bandaids strategically placed underneath of my big toe.

And then, Adam (my male bff) had to go and show me the Bikila. He got a pair yesterday and now I’m green with envy. Green, I say! And I want these. So… siiigh. Time to save up the money and invest in a pair of these. At least he discovered that a store near us carries them and apparently in many sizes, too. Sky blue/dark grey/grey ones, I’m looking at CHU.

Leading up to the semester, I am ohsoexcited. I can’t contain myself. I pretty much spamcheck the website (I take online classes through UMUC) every. freaking. hour.  Did someone post yet?? What is this class going to be? AMAGAD IT’S UP GOGOGO.

I feel like Leeroy Jenkins, except I rush in and nothing is there to bash my face in.

I also have a weird forum rule. I cannot be the first one to post an introduction. I can be second, or even third, but first? No. I feel like being the first admits that I have no life and I’m just waiting to post. Nevermind that once the first post is made, it’s OPEN SEASON!

So after the introductory post, I usually make a mental list based on the class schedules. As in: Do x class on this date, do y class stuff on that day.

Why do I do this? I never stick to it. Halfway through the first week I start thinking “nah, I’ll just do this tomorrow.”

I think I lack that special something that other people have that makes me actually want to DO things and in its place I have an extra helping of procrastination.

The first thing that bothered me was that I neglected to take into consideration my vibrams and their lack of laces. Why is this a problem? Because, for whatever reason, I felt it was way too complicated the night before to devise a way to secure the race chip onto my shoe. I’ll blame this on being tired and lots of eventful things happening the past week.

Secondly, Becca and I stayed together the first race and that was good in a way. We kept pace with each other and finished within a few seconds. On this race, she told me to do whatever pace I felt and while I finished a few minutes ahead of her, I also managed to feel like a youngin’ who races ahead and blows it all too early. The first race we did, I was amazed at how fast I felt mile1 finished. This one, I was like “holy crap, I just finished the first mile?!” and just tried to push through.

I knew ahead of time that I couldn’t run the whole thing. I hate to say it, but at current time I can run perhaps 1.5mi before having to walk. That’s mostly fine with me – as someone who has had asthma all her life, I can safely say that I never thought I’d be able to run for more than a minute straight, much less for 12-15 minutes straight. However, I also know that had I paced myself, I probably could’ve ran that 1.5mi, walked for a half mile or so and then finished by running the rest. BUT, I can also say that when I saw the finish line, I sprinted my ass across it as fast as I could go.

Overall, I’m pleased that with my time and pace (11:59 pace, 37:11 overall time). My next race is in three weeks and hopefully by that time I’ll be able to improve it even more.

Well, no, I really suck at sticking with exercise. I’ll do well for 2-3 weeks, maybe even a month or more. Then for whatever reason – I’ll stop. This last time was because I went to Texas for a week over the 4th of July with the boyfriend and kid and while we were there it was absolutely hard to tear myself away to go running. And it was hot. I’m talking Lil’-Jon-til-the-sweat-drips-down-parts-I-don’t-have hot. And honestly, it wasn’t even that it was hot, it was that Texas stole the rain we usually get here in Maryland and was humid. I stepped out of the airport and had a nerd moment, except I wasn’t a guy looking at porn. I’m still not, btw, if you were wondering.

So anyway, I hadn’t really exercised much since then. Perhaps all of five times or less, and those times were with my bff, personal motivator and perhaps, at times, slave driver. So after my finals this semester (yay, summer classes), I decided to pick it back up.

I kind of want to put it back down. Not because I didn’t enjoy it but because I am too sore! Aargh! Why do I do this to myself? Here’s to hoping that I wake up tomorrow NOT feeling like an old lady.

Hmmm, I thought. I have olive oil.  So I heated some up in a cup, got a bit of saran wrap and got my butt in the shower to apply it.

First off, I guess when they say only use a tablespoon or less, they aren’t kidding. Why the hell I thought I needed more, I have no idea. None. But I can tell you that I spent a good 40 minutes that night trying to get it out and ended up going to bed with olive oil slicked hair. In my defense, I maybe used 3 tablespoons… but somehow it coated all of my hair and then some. Friday morning I tried scrubbing it out some more and I gave in and used shampoo – I absolutely refuse to go to work looking like a greaseball. I made myself feel better by using vinegar on my hair after that but I still feel kind of like fail.

The positive of this all is that I also decided to try a bit of baking soda on my face. Every other night I use about a teaspoon of it mixed with some water and scrub my face then rinse/wash off with a warm washcloth. Twice a week, after that, I use Origin’s Out of Trouble mask for 10 minutes (or so, I don’t really time it and it feels amazing). Next – lemon juice for a toner. I have mixed feelings about this because I read about it, decided to try it and liked it but then when I googled it other people are like AMAGAD DON’T DO THAT. And then I use moisturizer.

I have to say, if nothing else, my face looks amazing. Probably the best it’s looked in years and I really don’t want to give that up. It’s smooth and clear and the spots are fading. I might experiment (I read about a lemon juice/witch hazel/water mix) but otherwise, I’m going to leave the facial chemicals to other people.