Weekly mileage report, week 3

Monday- I ran errands (does that count towards my mileage?)
Tuesday- walked 1 mile
Wednesday- walked 3 miles
Thursday- I took a break
Friday- walked 3 miles
Saturday- walked 2 miles

Total week 3: 9 miles
Total week 2: 6 miles
Total week 1: 3 miles

LMS running her 1st race, New Years Day 2009

Walking, packing, and some great news

I didn't walk yesterday because I only got a couple hours of sleep that night (I just could not shut off my brain!), but I did get some projects worked on and some more packing done.

Today I walked 3 miles. My shins are still feeling good- I wear my compression sleeves while I walk and ice them after every walk, and no problems so far.

I've finished all but one of my sewing projects. I'm hoping to finish that one tonight, then tomorrow I'll pack up my sewing machine. I packed up my craft and sewing stuff this afternoon, but ran out of boxes before I finished packing stuff from the closet. I cannot believe how much stuff we had stored in that closet.

I told LMS to put all her toys away (they were scattered all over) so we could start packing some of them. She wasn't real happy about that idea. Luckily for her, I ran out of boxes, so we can't pack them yet.

And for some really good news: last night we got word that we're approved for the house we want to rent! Isn't it pretty? It's in a nice neighborhood, close to work, and has lots of trails in the community- no more getting chased by dogs! Yay!

More walking and sewing projects progress

There's snow still  on the ground, but I still managed to get outside for a walk yesterday and today. Today the weather was actually quite nice- I don't think the snow will be sticking around too much longer.

Yesterday we walked to the house of one the sisters I visit teach- she lives about half mile away, I think, then we walked to the in-laws house. I think I did about a mile all together but I'm not completely sure on the distances since I don't usually go that direction.

Today I walked 3 miles, and it felt quite good. I'm tired, but not sore. I've been using my compression sleeves, and I think they're making a huge difference. The first two days I walked I didn't use the compression sleeves, and my shins were a little sore- sore muscle sore, not shinsplint sore- but still sore. Last Monday I pulled out my compression sleeves and have been using them since without any soreness. Hopefully it lasts- I'd really like to be able to run without shinsplints.

I finally sat down and knocked some of my sewing projects out- some mending, another pair of leggings for LMS, some mesh produce bags, a tan skirt for me (I bought the fabric when I was pregnant with LMS more than 4 years ago, intending to make a maternity skirt, but I never got around to it), and started my envelope wallet. I want to get my sewing finished so I can pack up all my sewing supplies and my sewing machine.

LMS's new leggings

Weekly mileage report, Week 2

It took me most of the day, but I managed to get out and walk two miles this afternoon. In my defense, it was cold, alternating snow flurries and fog, so visibility wasn't the greatest. I ended up going during LMS's nap because I was worried about taking her with me- worried about how slick the road might be and worried about how cold it was. I think the stroller would probably have been ok- BOB does a great job on all sorts of terrain, but she definitely would have gotten cold, even bundled up and with the rain cover on.

Over my jacket I wore my day-glo green cycling jersey to make sure I could be seen from at least a mile away, and I didn't worry about the slickness of the roads, because I had my YakTrax Pro on my shoes. I actually bought them (and a set for my FIL) for Christmas last year (more than a year ago), but this was the first time I've used them. I've just been too wussy about getting out in inclement weather. I have to say, I didn't worry about my footing at all- the metal spring things give awesome traction, even on icy roads.Well worth the money I spent (I think about $20-25 on ebay?), and hopefully now I will be more confident about getting out in bad weather.

July '08: LMS wearing my cycling jersey inside out and backward

This week:
Monday: ran errands
Tuesday: walked 2 miles
Wednesday: walked 1 mile
Thursday: walked 1 mile
Friday: watched Mr. M's niece
Saturday: walked 2 miles

Total: walked 6 miles

I've gotten quite a bit done this week

Since we spent a good portion of Monday running around doing errands, I didn't go for a walk. However, Tuesday I walked 2 miles, and Wednesday I walked 1 mile. I was planning on taking Thursday off, but there was a last minute change in plans (I was needed to help watch a niece on Friday), so I walked a mile on Thursday and took Friday off instead.

I also packed up our books, movies, papers from the filing cabinets, and the clothes we won't be needing till after the move. It's amazing how much stuff we have. I keep taking boxes out to the storage container, and there's still so much that still has to go out- toys, my sewing and craft stuff, and so on. I can't wait to sort it all out and declutter.

I made our Amtrak reservations, but I'm a little perturbed. I had read online that if you buy a particular Thomas the Train DVD, it has a code for a free child's seat with purchase of an adult seat. So I bought the DVD, and tried to book our seats using the code. Turns out that the 'some exclusions may apply' should have been spelled out better:

• you can't book online- it has to be in person or over the phone
• it only applies to the regular reserved seats- it can't be used when upgrading to a sleeping compartment

So I wasn't able to use the code. Very disgusting. Anyone want a Thomas the Tank DVD?

I did figure out that by changing the route slightly, I could save some money. On the original route, point A to point B to point C, the least expensive sleeping compartment is not available on the point B to point C leg. By changing the route to point A to point B to point D to point C, we're on a different train for the second leg (point B to point D), and the least expensive sleeping compartment is available.  We do end up with a bit more time spent waiting in between legs, and a bit more time on the train, but between the savings and the later arrival (evening rather than middle of the afternoon, so Mr. M won't have to get off work early), I figure it should be worth it.

I made the reservations for the ReloCubes a couple weeks ago, and this week I called and made the appointment to have the storage container picked up after we unload it. Just a few more things to get taken care of, and we'll be ready for the move.

our little cutie, with a bit of rugburn from a tumble down the stairs

Weekly mileage report, Week 1

Despite falling temperatures and a stiff wind, I bundled up LMS and went for a walk yesterday. We only went a mile because it was quite cold and windy, and because I need to ease back into the exercising thing, right?  :)

At least I managed to get outside even though the weather wasn't optimal. If I can just keep that up...

Mileage for this past week: I walked 3 miles

Running goals

Last night I realized that since I know where we're moving to, I can plan which races I want to run this year. I did some research, and found several in the next couple months that I'd like to run, but since I haven't exercised in quite awhile, those aren't on the list for this year- I'll have to wait till next year. I need several months to gradually increase my mileage and properly train, so I won't be ready till summer. There's no local half marathons in July, but I found several in August. That gives me 6 months to properly train and prepare and avoid injury. I'll also be training for the same marathon I ran a year and a half ago. That's in September, so the half in August will be a prep for it. There's also half marathons I can run in October, November, and December.

LMS and I after my first marathon in Sept. 2008

If I can get in shape and keep running, despite the weather, I could conceivably run one big race a month year round, starting this August. The key will be to avoid injury. That's why I need to take my time getting in shape and increasing my mileage.

My goal in running the marathon again is to complete it without the massive amounts of pain I had the first time, and to cut my time significantly- by at least an hour, more would be better. My goal in running the half marathons is to gradually decrease my time and lose weight. I've lost some weight since going gluten free, but I still have quite a bit to lose.

This morning I got up and went for a two mile walk with LMS. It felt good, and I iced my shins afterward while I stretched. I think I'm going to try really hard to ice my shins morning and night, regardless of whether I went for a walk/fun. Hopefully that will help prevent shinsplints from taking over again. Now I need to make sure I keep getting outside so I can build my mileage base.

Man, I'm tired...

I had a busy day today. We got up and I pulled LMS around in the toboggan she got for Christmas but hasn't been able to use yet. Most of the snow melted today, so it was good that we did it first thing. She thought it was great, while I realized just how long it's been since I exercised on a regular basis.

Then, while she played, I rearranged the storage container again. I should have taken a picture of it before I moved everything around last week, but I forgot. Here's what it looked like this morning:

A narrow walkway to one side, simulating the size and shape of the Relocubes. Plastic on the floor to protect the boxes from moisture seeping up from the ground.

A little bit better view of the left side of the container. Not a great view, since I didn't open the other door half. Man, we have a lot of crap. I can't wait to unpack and declutter!

This morning I shifted boxes into the walkway to the back and moved a lot of stuff to the right side of the container. I needed to unearth the bins that were on the left side so I could make sure they were all full. I also made a flat area to put the futon mattress on on the right side of the container.

After lunch, I took apart the futon that's been in our room and moved it out to storage. My grandmother gave my parents a chair that we decided to put in our/their room. There isn't room downstairs for it, so I went ahead and moved out the futon to make room for it upstairs. My brother really likes to watch tv while sitting in the chair that was going to come up here, so it'll stay in the basement and I don't have to recover it. Bonus for me! My procrastination has paid off :)

While I was in the cleaning mood, I also boxed up some of LMS's books and some of the miscellaneous stuff sitting in the closet. I'll take several more boxes out to storage tomorrow, and Monday I'll buy some more boxes. I have some bigger boxes, but I need some smaller ones to pack books in- if you use too big a box, it's just too heavy.

Here's LMS sitting on her cushion on top of the ottoman that goes with the chair. She's a nester- she's got her pillows, her stuffed animals, her books, her princess dress- she's happy.

LMS is cute!

We went to Target last week, and walked past mounds and mounds of pink and red Valentine's candy.
LMS pointed at it and asked if we could get some candy.
I said no.
Her response: "Hmmm. 'Cause it will turn me pink?"
Something like that....  :)

more fun with photoshop

The other day, LMS discovered that if she turns on the light in her room, the night light (light activated, of course) will turn off, and vice versa.  She was quite excited about it, and stood there, flipping the light switch on and off while marvelling at the coolness of the process. It's fun to watch her make discoveries and figure things out.

Boxes and deer poop

Today I spent about 3 1/2 hours rearranging the storage container. I definitely got a workout! It'll be tight, but I'm pretty sure everything will fit in the cubes when it's time to move. Now I have to go back and rearrange a bit again so I can make sure all the bins and boxes are filled. Then I just have to hold off on packing up everything in the house. So tempting!

LMS was playing outside while I was rearranging stuff. She came over to ask me to look at something, and I walked over to her sandbox with her. She stopped and pointed to the ground and said

"Look Mommy, beans!"
"Sorry kiddo, those aren't beans. That's dear poop."
"Oh." (thinks about it for minute) "Ewww."

She then obsessed about deer and deer poop till naptime. Where are the deer? Why do they poop on the ground? etc, etc.

Bed Frame and Taxes: All Done!

Refinish Bed Frame: check
I stained the bed frame yesterday. It turned out a bit redder than I had planned, but I think it'll work out still. It'll be a nice pop of color in the room. Today I sealed it, and other than finding the hardware (I cannot remember where it got put), the bed is ready to go.

Things I learned from refinishing this bed (and will be keeping in mind when I refinish furniture after we move):

1. Trying to apply stain on top of a clear coat does not end in good results. That's why we had to strip, sand, stain, and seal the bed. I'm convinced that we got such a good deal on the frame because the people selling it messed it up and didn't want to fix it. Understandable- it did turn out to be more work than I thought it would be.
2. Chemical stripper still finds its way through stripping gloves, and it makes your hands all weird and tingly. Neither Mr. M nor I enjoyed that. Sanding was much easier to handle.
3. My dad's multi tool from Harbor Freight is great for getting into the nooks and crannies of furniture. They're going on sale over the Valentine's/President's Day weekend, I'll be buying one and I'll post a pic then.
4. I have got to find gloves that fit. The one size fits all stripping gloves definitely do not fit my hands. An extra inch of thick rubber glove hanging off each fingertip is frustrating, annoying, and fatiguing.

Do Taxes: check
I stayed up last night working on our taxes. I waited till this morning to actually file them so I could review them one more time. I needed to get them done asap- our refund will be paying for our move, the deposit and first month's rent on a house, and our train ride out there. It's supposed to take about 10 days to get deposited in our account, so once that happens, we're moving forward with things.

To do tomorrow:
If the weather's yucky, I need to sew the chair cover still.
If the weather's nice (it has been for the last week or so), I need to start organizing the storage container. This will involve pulling a lot of stuff out of the container and putting it back in specific piles. We'll be using ABF's ReloCubes to move, and I already have an idea of how I'm going to divide everything up, but I'd like to get a better idea of just how much space everything's going to take. The cubes combined are a bit smaller than the storage container, but they should also have less wasted space (since you can fill each completely), so everything should fit. I hope.

A random goal for after we move:
Improve my photography- we don't have good natural light in this house, so my picts tend to turn out on the dark or over flashed side. Hopefully we'll move into a place with lots of natural light throughout the day. When we're rich and famous (as my sister says) I'd like an SLR camera. It'll take some work to figure out how to use it effectively (I attempted to learn as a teenager and failed miserably), but I'm willing to do it if the results are better than what I'm getting now. Digital should make a huge difference: instant results= instant feedback on technique.

The lighting in this photo was actually pretty good for once, but my camera still didn't like having the flash off, so it turned out a bit blurry. LMS was laying on my worktop, watching Caillou. I couldn't resist catching this pose!