Last night the bf and I were talking about his firefighting goal, and all of the challenges that come along with it. The one I try not to think of the most is how becoming a firefighter will add so many risks to his life. I just pray that we’ll never have to get have to get disability insurance quotes for him due to a work accident. But the good news is he studies all the time, and he is determined to be the best he can be. Not only will this make him more employable, but it will help keep him safe.

Still, I can’t help but wish sometimes that he had chosen a career path that was more subdued, or safer. Then again, if he did that, he wouldn’t be my boy. He would never be happy with a simple office job or anything easy. He would only be truly happy at something that challenges him every day. I know he’s going to be an excellent firefighter, despite the dangers.  And I know that having a boyfriend (and maybe oneday husband) that is happy with his career choice will be worth every bit of stress and worry it took to get him there. I know the road to his career won’t be easy, but I’ll be there for him every step of the way.

I thought I’d be a responsible little shopper and get all my Christmas shopping done early. I just have a few little things left to shop for, but other than that I am done. Or, I was done, until I realized that the big ticket item I bought for the boy got shipped to an old address I haven’t lived at in years. Maybe if the USPS had decent POS systems then we could track the item, but they said it’s impossible. I find that hard to believe. Either way, I’m sad because the package may not get returned to the sender, which means it may never find its way to me. So now I’m having to frantically search for something else to get him that can somehow top the super cool gift I already bought. Any suggestions? I could really use them!

In just a few short weeks my brother, sister in law will be staying with us, along with their two kids. Two, tow headed, rambuncious toddlers, who both walk, scream, and have the ability to get into trouble in under 2 seconds. I can’t wait to see my baby niece and nephew, but I’m terrified.

The boy and I are at that fun and carefree stage of our relationship. We’re very much in love but we are childless. That means our apartment has a fancy wooden chess set on it, and we have nice houseplants and ground level. We have breakable glass figurines on the shelves, and nothing is baby proof. I know this week long visit will give us a little taste of having babies in our lives, something we both want very much…eventually. I’m sure we’re not ready, and I know it’s going to be exhausting.

I’ve had a lot of talks about kids with my good friend Mama Drama, and they paint quite the picture. I can only hope that my three year old nephew doesn’t follow in Mama Drama’s four year old’s footsteps. allie takes troublemaking to a whole new level with her creativity. Just the other day MD was telling me how Allie had taken the mattress off her bed, propped it on its side and climbed up on top of it. That’s pretty creative in my opinion. So wish me luck this Christmas, and hope that the three and one year old will be on their best behavior, and don’t decide to use my new flat screen tv as a homemade sled or something!

The boy recently posted a great blog about what to get me for Christmas. It was definitely one of the sweetest posts he’s written about me. What was cool was that he knew what I wanted, and that was before I sent him a list.  Some other things that I want that aren’t something you can buy in stores :

1. To lose about 10 pounds in the next two months would be amazing. So what I’m wishing for is the will power to stick to a workout routine. It’s going to be rough with the holidays too-all the food is so tasty. So I think I’ll just have to work out extra hard whenever I eat anything less than healthy. Fudge? Drop and give me 20!
2. For sure knowing where we are going to live come January. Right now we have a great opportunity, but nothing is for sure. I hate the unknown and it will be so nice to have that all figured out.
3. For the boy to be done with his fire academy-something I will get right before Christmas. I just can’t wait to be able to spend our weekends together. Just the idea of sleeping in and then cooking breakfast sounds like the best present I could ask for.
4. For everything this Christmas to go smoothly with my ridiculously large and extended family. I want to share my Christmas with both my family and the boy’s. My family can be less than understanding of that at times, and it annoys me. This year though, I can’t wait to have the boy with me to share in all the activities!

Last night I told the boy we need to make a wish list for each other for Christmas. He’s surprisingly hard to shop for and I want to make sure I get him something he really wants for our first Christmas together. I’m also trying to come up with a wish list for him and for my folks. Seems like every year I get things i don’t really want, or end up throwing away. Also I get a lot of candy in my stocking, and I’m going to request that no one give me any of that this year. I’ve gained way too much weight! Maybe I should ask for some Orovo all natural supplements in my stocking. Ha!

While we talked about Christmas gifting last night, I went to go make a list on my home laptop. That’s right about the time my home computer decided to DIE. One minute I was clicking on a web link, the next minute the computer was frozen. I rebooted it, and up popped the folder with the question mark. Any mac user will know this is the equivalent to the PC blue screen of death. I was so sad! My hard drive failed, and my Christmas video project along with it. Luckily I backed up most of my photos and videos onto my external, but still. That was at least 3 hours of work that I didn’t back up. Now I guess a new hard drive is on my list. Major bummer! Thank god I have a work laptop, so I can make a new project from scratch. Too bad my pc can’t load the pictures on my external drive.

So if anyone out there has a spare mac they want to loan me for the next month, I’d appreciate it. Hahah!

I stole this from my good friend, The Queen, first because I love these kind of things, and second because this is my 102nd post! I can’t believe that I’ve written over 100 posts-for those of you who do read my blog, thanks for tuning in!

So here are 102 random things about me, starting with the first 51

1. I waited to be born till after my dad came home from work, and I was apparently a very quick and easy labor. My mom said I’ve been trying to please people ever since.

2. My older brother was my best friend till he went into 1st grade and some kid told him it’s not cool to be friends with your sister. To this day I wish we had a closer relationship.

3. I grew up on a quasi farm-we had goats, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, a hamster, at one point a ferret, and one sheep. Not a herd, just one.

4. My stepdad killed and ate the lamb-her name was Precious. He actually said, “Mhmm, Precious sure tastes good.” Mean. He was just playing around though.

5. My stepdad has been the best father to me I could have ever asked for.

6. My stepdad was my track coach in high school, and I couldn’t run a race without hugging him first and getting a pep talk.

7. I have a really strong connection with my mom. Sometimes I think we can read each other’s minds.

8. My mom is manic depressive, but she doesn’t let it rule her life. She is the strongest woman I know.

9. When I was a little girl I loved the color pink. I wanted a pink house, pink car, pink everything. When I got a little older I was a huge tomboy and hated pink. In college, I dyed my hair pink.

10. In 6th grade, I was part of the junior pep squad. We performed at half time for a high school football game and I thought I was really cool. I watched a video of it when I got older and it turns out I’m really uncoordinated.

(more…)

It’s finally fall! I’ve been waiting for this season for a really long time. I love that the nights are chilly, where the boy and I can burrow under the blankets and snuggle. I think it might be time to break out the electric blanket because it’s getting downright cold. I love it thought! I think that there is just something about the seasons and change that makes me happy. Plus the fall leaves are gorgeous!
It’s only a few days until Halloween, and I’m getting excited to flaunt our costumes. I’m dressing up as Alice in Wonderland, and the boy is going as the White Rabbit. I’ve never done the couple costume thing, so it should be a pretty fun time.

Work has drastically slowed down lately, and I’m pretty sure it’s because of the current economic crisis. I think most people are pinching their pennies, including me. Still, it doesn’t stop me from daydreaming about owning a home one day, instead of this drudgery of apartment living. Our place isn’t that bad, but the neighborhood is lacking. Plus there are a limited number of covered carports so the BF and I are constantly switching. I can’t wait to have a garage, so we can both park in a covered spot. Also, I hate that poor Monkey has  no backyard to run around in.

I have been walking the poor pup at night, but I get nervous as it gets darker. This isn’t the safest neighborhood, and I don’t feel as secure without the boy there with me. Just today, when I got home from work, some really creepy looking guy started following me! I was walking upstairs, and the boy pulled into our parking space at the same time. He said he watched the guy turn at the last minute and walk the other way. It sent chills down my spine! January and the end of our lease can’t get here fast enough.

It’s hard to put into words how this morning’s half marathon made me feel. It’s hard to describe the emotions you go through as you watch 20,000 people line up in San Francisco, each person excited, jittery, and anxious. It’s impossible to describe the lump in my throat as I lined up behind a mother whose jersey said, “For my son, in memory” with a picture of a little boy no more than 7. To know that over 18 million dollars were raised in this year’s race for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, and to know that the donations I received are a part of that number is beyond comprehension.

As the gun went off, there were so many people that we had to wait to get to the start line. It took 15 minutes after the official start time before we crossed it. I felt like I was being swept away into the current of people, and it was hard not to start out too strong. I felt like sprinting I was so excited! My goal was to run the race in 2 hours and 30 minutes, but I was going to be happy with 3 hours, especially considering the bad shape my feet were in. I’d been suffering from planter fasciitis, a condition that causes severe heel and arch pain, and the first few steps were brutal. But as I looked up, I noticed I was running behind an honoree, someone who had battled cancer and I thought, this is nothing compared to what he went through.

My name was written on my jersey, and even though I was running alone, and none of my friends and family could be at the race, I felt like I had a fan club. Spectators were gathered all over the course, and they happily screamed, GO “Insert my real name here”! It really helped push me, especially up those monsterous hills. When I crossed the finish line I had tears in my eyes and the biggest grin on my face. I couldn’t believe the time-I managed to run the race in 2 hours and 17 minutes.  Almost 15 minutes faster than my goal time! I owe that all to the motivation of every runner out there, and all of the spectators. Watching the strength and drive of so many people at one time is enough to make anyone pick up the pace.

Now I sit here resting, with my feet and knee iced, and exhaustion setting in. Will I ever run another half marathon? Probably not-but what a great thing to say that I did. This was by far the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. I couldn’t have done it without my sponsors, my friends and family, and boyfriend for motivating me to stick with the workouts. And last but certainly not least, my team. Team in Training may have been difficult at times, the early morning workouts, the lollygagging around waiting to start our runs, but in the end it was so worth it. Being among the people out there in purple jerseys was exciting, and I was never without a team member in the run, be it from my chapter, or all the other chapters that came out. The team was full of encouraging people-everyone was so positive and enthusiastic, and without them, I would have surely quit. So thank you, and GO TEAM!!!!

I can’t believe it, but it’s only one more week until my half marathon! The Nike Women’s Half Marathon is next Sunday, and I am excited, nervous, but most of all relieved. I’ve been working my butt off, but I’ve been bored with it too. Just running those long distances gets old quick! I like changing up my workouts, so I started doing a lot of aerobic and ab routines that I watch on exercise TV. They’re a lot more fun than just running. Still, I know when I do that race I’ll be proud of myself, and happy that I stuck with it.
With me busy training, and with the boy in Fire Academy, there hasn’t been much time for the two of us to do anything besides watch a little tv and go to bed. We’ve been talking about all the fun things we’re going to do when he’s done with academy and finally has weekends again. We talked about going to a bed and breakfast, or maybe taking advantage of one of the many Disney cruises, or even a trip to Hawaii. All of those things cost money though so we’ll have to start saving. I think just being able to go out and stay up late for a night and then sleep in will be a huge treat. I can’t wait!