Thursday, October 27, 2016

Movies

Alright, for week six of prompts with The Martinez, we drew "movies you can re-watch".  We really need a clever name for our weekly posts (we should work on this, Martinez).   Poor Martinez was slightly stressing over this because there is not a number; there are no specific instructions. I find her stressing over this extremely entertaining.

Let's get on with it.  You will probably notice a theme with the movies that I can re-watch...

1.  Love Actually - this is one of my favorite movies. When Christmas gets close and I haven't watched this, I start getting antsy. I need to see it and I need to hear that song!



Here is something I just discovered this weekend.  Andrew Lincoln plays Mark (the kinda creepy guy that holds the cards up to Keira Knightley).  You guys know who else Andrew Lincoln plays?  Rick Grimes. That's right. Same person. 


My mind = Blown

2.  Home Alone - I must watch the first one and I must watch it with D. He laughs so hard when the bad guys are trying to get in the house but keep running to his traps that his body shakes.


2.  The Holiday - Yes, another Christmas love story.



3.  Elf - I love Buddy. I love the narwhal. I love it all. And I laugh. I laugh hard every time. I could probably just say all Will Ferrel movies. When I see him, I just laugh. (Except for the ice skating movie he did.)  Elf is one of the kids' picks for the car, so it is not unusual to find it playing in the middle of July. 


4.  Sex and the City - I love SJP.  Judge away.


5.  Bad Moms - this one is going to be an owner. I've already expressed my love for this gem


So, yes, most of my re-watch movies are Christmas movies.  This kind of put me in the mood for Christmas.

Martinez, you okay?  Did you make it okay without any rules?

-Amy D.



Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Pet Peeves

For prompt number five with The Martinez we drew 'What are Your Top Three Pet Peeves'.

1.  People who think they are better than/more entitled than others.  These people just make me mad.  I have the luxury of dealing with some of these people I'd say at least on an every other day basis.  Unfortunately for them, I feel it is my lot in life to remind them that they are not better than, nor are they entitled to anything more than everyone else.     

2.  Know-it-all people.  You know the type.  You might say "the sky is such a pretty blue today".  That fool is going to respond "I believe it is actually more of a powder blue".  I feel as though one-uppers may fall into this category.  You may say "I hurt my knee while running".  They're going to say "last time I ran I broke both of my knees, and crawled past the finish line".  Whatevs.  You know what else I feel like could go into this category?  Mansplaining.  Yes, I already spoke of this, just last week in fact, but it still annoys me.  I guess the first two could really be summed up by saying people that are really proud of themselves.    

 

3.  People that bump their music.  You guys.  This one always has and always will.  You are not cool, if I wanted to listen to your music, I would turn it on in my car.  Please turn it down.  No one finds you more attractive due to your "bumping" as such, stopping would be most appreciated.  I have a physical reaction to this that The Martinez pointed out just the other day.  Cannot handle it.  

Now, one would think that I may stop here as the title we drew only says three.  But, I cannot.  I have more.

4.  I am going to try to say this in the most nicest way as possible and will preface it with the fact that I want you to keep in mind that I spend the majority of my days in an office with the same people.  Now I shall proceed, flush the toilet all the way and should it be necessary please utilize the courtesy flush.  So what I am saying is check and make sure there is no evidence of you being there.  I visit the toilet often as I drink at least a gallon of water a day and I come across this offense often.  It is a problem and while I know it is not entirely avoidable, the physical evidence is most definitely avoidable. 


5.  The use of LOL.  Are you really laughing out loud?  No, I bet you are not.  It actually pained me to type that just now.  I also do not like the use of "u" in place of the word you.  



I hope the fact that I had no problem coming up with pet peeves and actually had to stop myself is not a window to my soul...  

Oh, I have a funny middle school story for you.  Last night Em was going on and on about this girl at school that is rude and she has to be in a group with her.  She was just venting so I just let her go.  Then she tells me the girl called her and her friends a name.  That got my attention, I said what did she call you?  "She called us basic white girls!"  I laughed.  I laughed really hard, that was the best thing I had heard all day.  So, that means I have been calling her basic white girl instead of preteen and sent her this.  
 
 

-Amy D.

P.S.  I have one more pet peeve I have to mention. 

6.  Fake people on social media.

Now I am done.

P.S.S.  Not really done.  Ha!  Gotcha.  I am aware that The Martinez has probably listed that people that do not follow the rules are one of her pet peeves, and I clearly did not follow the rules...  So, yes, I am one of her pet peeves!  This is just further proof that this project is entertaining for us.  In fact, I think that I could write her post for her based off of the things that I do.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Dear Oklahoma Weather:

Hi. It's just me. I was just wanting to make sure you were aware that it is October. You're a little hot for my liking this time of year. And while the wind you are providing does make a nice breeze for these hot temperatures, it is pretty strong for outdoor activities such as running.  This afternoon while out at the park I was hit in the face with a leaf. Do you know why this leaf hit me in the face?  Because it is FALL. The leaves are falling off the trees because it is time for it to be cool outside.  I would also personally like to thank you for the sand blast I received today, that has to be some sort of spa type exfoliation.

Sincerely,

Still flossing sand out of my teeth

10.15.16 - park, 3.86 miles

10.17.16 - park, 7 miles

Anyone have any tips on how to keep the sand out of my mouth when the wind is blowing in Oklahoma?

-Amy D.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Three Good Thoughts

Our prompt for our fourth week is Three Good Thoughts.  After this week (since last Friday), this is not where my head is right now.  I could give you twenty seven bad thoughts in about five seconds, but the good thoughts are not coming as quickly.

1.     I get to hang out with both of my babies tonight.  It is Fall Break for the district that Em's dance studio is in, so we get a night off of dance practice, it is kind of silly how excited I am about this.  And we get to eat breakfast for dinner tonight.  #winning.   

2.    I am finally back on the right track with my weight and eating; and it feels good.  A quick review of things - I was at my happy weight, wanted to be more fit, I started this blog to help keep me on track with my workouts, then I got stressed which means I gained approximately twenty eight pounds over about three years.  I have lost eighteen pounds this year and plan on continuing until I meet my goal.  I do understand that as I continue to run/train for the half that my weight will go up with muscle gain so if you feel that you need to tell me that, you do not.  I know.           
 
3.    Only one more day this week.  One more day, then I am free from work for two days.  I will not think about work, I will not look at my email, and I will not look at the calendar for work for two entire days. 
  



Well, my good thoughts really ended up being about me and kind of selfish but that is just what came to my mind.  

And to perpetuate good thought number two; this week I shall list my workouts for you.

Oh, I'm going to chase a squirrel for a second.  The last two times I have trained for half marathons, I used a combination of plans that I found online, one from my bud Vic, an app on my phone, etc.  I did not really stick with one particular plan because I did not like any of them.  This time I have been using Nike+Run Club, which is awesome so far.  I guess we will really see how awesome it is come November 20th.  At this point in my training I would definitely recommend it.  Anyways, on to workouts:

Side note:  I do not claim to be a fast runner.  Maybe when I hit a consistent nine minute mile I will change the word jogging in the title of my blog to running :).  

10.10.16 Treadmill - 3.57 mile recovery run.  It told me to run it at a 12'40" pace, I ran it at an 11'50" pace.  

10.11.16 Treadmill - 15 minute benchmark run and ended up being 1.44 miles at a 10'41" pace.

10.12.16 NTC Workout - This is the cool thing about this app, it incorporates some cross training and instead of just telling you it is a cross training day - you can open a workout on the Nike+Training Club app.  Anyways, it was primarily a stretching workout which was great for the legs.  

10.13.06 - Rest day.  I think I will foam roll tonight.

So this got me fired up this morning.  I saw it on Facebook and it made me feel highly irritated.  George Takei shared it. He shares some great stuff sometimes. 
Now, I am not going to say that this happens to me on a daily basis. But I will say I have witnessed and experienced it and it is infuriating. On that note, I would like to tell the mansplainers to be quiet. Really just try shutting your mouth once. For like 20 seconds.  Because more than likely, no one cares about what you're about to say.  Especially if you're a chronic mansplainer. 

That's all I have for you now!

-Amy D.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Music

For prompt number three with Martinez, we drew 'ten songs I am into right now'.  I have a wide range of music appreciation, so I do not think I am going to simply list ten songs, let's just see where this goes.  My taste/mood flip flops back and forth constantly, but there are some that are constants.

1. The Beatles - I will always and forever big heart love the fab four.  My favorite song is '"Something" and my favorite album is Abbey Road


2. My Dad's music - my dad loves music.  As a child my dad always said "listen to the words" (he still does this when something good is on).  There were many nights spent listening to my dad's music.  This is probably where I got my interest/taste in music.  Basically all over the place.  Steve Miller Band, Willie Nelson, Janis Joplin, George Jones, Randy Travis, Beach Boys, etc.  And one of the best thing about my dad's music - the majority of listening occurs on a record player.  Yes, a record player.  And I love it. 

3. Country Music - I have been/am a pretty big country music fan at different times in my life.  I like the old stuff.  Johnny, Willie, Randy, George, Garth (sad to consider him "old stuff").  Garth was my first concert ever.  Has everyone watched the Forever Country music video?  I have watched it several times.  It is definitely awesome sauce.  I like a lot of the newer stuff as well.  I am a little obsessed with The Band Perry's song "Comeback Kid".  I just really like it for some reason.  I actually just turned it on my phone to listen to it while typing.

Click here to listen 

4.  Christmas Music - I love it.  I will start listening to it November 1st.  I am pretty sure it drives my family crazy.  If I am home cleaning, I turn it on loud.  I am kind of particular about my Christmas Music, my playlist consists of the following and I just listen on repeat - Dean Martin, Amy Grant, The Beach Boys, and Diana Krall.  Over the last two years I have added Pentatonix.  They should really feel pretty special about this addition.  (Dean and the The Beach Boys are really good on records.)



5.  XM 90's on 9 - Ya'll if 90's music is wrong, I do not want to be right.  You tell me where else I can hear Offspring, Shania Twain, Eminem, and Alanis all on one station?  And I get just as excited now as I used to when I heard them on the radio then.  I try to explain this to Em and she just does not get it.  She's all just download it.  Um, no, that is not how it works.  You listen until it comes on then record it on a cassette tape.  And let me tell you that my kids really love it when I blast something fabulous like "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "My Heart Will Go On" and yes, you could hear both of these songs in one trip.  I am sure at this point you are understanding the greatness of this station.

Because I love you all, you can listen to greatness here         



6. Hymns - I love me some hymns.  I like newer worship music too (not all of it).  But I do really like some old hymns; played on the piano and organ.  Sometimes at work when the Martinez and I get really stressed and consider throwing staplers, we sing hymns.  Which also means this - should you stand outside of our office and hear us singing "Victory in Jesus" or "The Old Rugged Cross" - run.  Or maybe don't run, we can see what happens.  These are also usually the days where we decide we should start a band and travel.  We will let you know our tour dates soon. 

This is basically my breakdown of music.  I know it is not consistent with the title we picked; however, we never really follow the rules, do we Martinez?

-Amy D.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Mom Life

We moms deal with a lot of stress.  We all know that our husbands have no clue as to everything we do, handle, think about, etc. on top of all of the other things they actually do see us do, handle, think about, etc.  Many times the effects of this stress appear in little ways like switching my kids' sandwiches in their lunchboxes, leaving something out that should be refrigerated out all day,  forgetting an item for a school project.. this list can go on (for me anyways). Most of these little mistakes are not even noticed by anyone else. Then there are days like today.  I started out really great today, left in plenty of time to drop off at school, I was actually early enough to beat those two early buses I always have to yield to.  Huge victory, it is the little things in life.  When we were sitting in the car I realized that I could not find my cell phone. I even asked D if he had happened to put it in his pocket. So I dropped D off, went home to look for my phone. I did not find it so I looked it up on J's iPad and pushed the button to locate my phone. I did not hear it in the house so assumed it was in my car. Got back out to the car and did not hear it there either. I just assumed it was in a room with the door closed or something and left for work. I get to work and the receptionist asks me if I found my phone. No. and... how does she know my phone is missing...?  Well, D'S teacher had called J because my phone was going off in D's backpack.  Now one might think D may have thought it would be cool to bring a phone to school. No. No, this is not what happened. Y'all, I packed his backpack this morning. Which means I packed my phone up for my son to take to Kindergarten with him.  His teacher is awesome and though it was hilarious. Thank goodness we do not have some stick in the mud teacher.  While most of my stress induced mistakes do not result in multiple phone calls and emails, some do and that is life.

I retrieved my phone from D when I picked him up from school and it was safe :). At first I felt a little panicked without my phone. But then..  I started to feel kind of free. Like people couldn't reach me.  Is it not weird how much we depend on our phones?  I kept reaching for it all day out of habit and felt silly. I clearly experienced a time when I did not have a cell phone, no one did. And we all survived!  I think this might initiate a bit of a phone detox. We will see.

-Amy D.