Friday Four - Random things that have nothing to do with the other

1. I'm "Judgey McJudgey Pants" in the check out line. I look at what you're buying, I look at you, and I make assumptions. Well today, I would hate to think what people were thinking of me.

Usually I'm all veggies, lean meats, and whole grains.

Today...not so much:
- hot dogs (turkey dogs...but still),
- hot dog buns (white enriched flour buns, not the whole wheat ones),
- chili (hormel...not Amy's Organic which I would have felt less guilty about),
- steak fries (cause I'm running low on tator tots and prefer steak fries),
- and a box of wine (cause it's Friday and I'm thirsty).

Happy Friday!

2. We are finally having our Housewarming. If you weren't invited it's because I either don't have your email address (send it to me) or I don't know you but I appreciate you reading! Since we live in the sticks (a good 30+ miles from many of our friends) our theme is "Putting on the Sticks" - Kebabs and appetizers on toothpicks.

3. Charlie is the best darn dog in the whole universe! We finally found a dog park close to us (then three days later I found out about another one). I also figured out that he is not a running dog. Well, maybe he could be a running dog, provided he is off leash. Attach the leash and he becomes s-l-o-w walking dog!


4. George Clooney was apparently in town and he didn't call. :-(

Thirteen About The Move

1. My townhouse rented, it showed for two days, got five applications, and one person is moving in on 26 June.

2. Which is great! Think of all the $$$ I can save in the next 4 or 5 months until the house is built!

3. But, now I have to pack. I hate packing (but I love unpacking). So far the “stuff” in my office, spare room and bedroom are done. By the end of the weekend, the closets, living room and kitchen will be done.

4. Storage facility is reserved, movers come next Friday, and the carpets get cleaned on the 25th then I am D-O-N-E with that place!

5. Except that whole being a slumlord, I mean landlord.

6. And I have to do that whole change of address thing. Hopefully my junk mail will decrease.

7. I didn’t expect this to happen so quickly so training has taken the back seat this week. Missed both bike rides during the week, both strength, and one swim. ARGH!

8. And because of the timing of this, our weekend getaway is cancelled.

9. But still, I’m glad it rented and I’m looking forward to saving some money over the next couple months!

10. I didn’t think I had a lot of stuff until I started packing. By my guesstimate, I have about quarter of stuff then Dude has. This means packing his place is going to SUCK!

11. New House News – Apparently we are NOT on the neighbor’s schedule. If we were we’d be getting the foundation poured by now. So far we have an excavated basement. In other words, no progress since last week.

12. But the neighbors have all their exterior framing, roof, most interior framing, and the porch done (again, they signed a week before us).

13. I hate the neighbors. OK, I don’t really hate them but I’m really jealous of them. They got my first choice house (not that we could afford it), the lot we wanted (no ugly green box in the yard), the stone we wanted (but ours is still awesome), and now a much faster build. But I am 1/4 acre closer to Wegman’s then they are!

13

1. Two posts in one day, and a Thursday 13 on time. Apparently miracles DO happen.

2. I’ve finally gotten into the Training Groove. And just in time since IM-AZ is 5 months and 11 days away!

3. I am doing strength training with Barry the Strongman. He had me flipping 375 pound tires, over and over again. Pretty cool stuff, and great for the core muscles! Unfortunately, he got a new job and so far, aligning our schedules has been difficult.

4. My calf is all heeled now but I’ve had back pain for months. I finally let Dr Tara take x-rays and here’s the results:

I have mild scoliosis – lower back.
Then where my spine is SUPPOSE to curve (think side view towards the bottom), it is perfectly straight (has no give).
AND the lowest disk is almost non-existent due to arthritis.
But wait, there’s more…
bone spurs on my spine and hips.

And THAT is why I wake up in pain everyday and why I have to build up my core muscles!

5. Along with the Training Groove, I’m also on the Eating Groove. Which, by the way, is counter-productive. By IM-AZ I'd like to look like Princess Leah in this picture, but the way things are going, I'm more likely going to look like Jabba the Hut!



6. House News!!! They STARTED!!!! (3 ½ months after we signed all the paperwork and without telling us, sigh …details). As of last Sunday, they have excavated the basement and as soon as Dude gets around to sending me pictures I’ll post them. If they work at the same pace as they did with our neighbors we should have basement walls this week, floor next week, and metal beams the following week!!

7. Townhouse is on the rental market (through a realtor, I don’t have the time or energy to deal with it) and besides not wanting to pack/store everything I hope it rents soon!

8. Back to the eating thing, we just started getting veggies delivered to us though South Mountain Veggies and it’s pretty cool. Since I tend to stick with veggies I know when shopping this will give me a chance to play with new items. Last week I got beets and rhubarb as part of the bag. The beets made their way into a grilled veggie salad and the rhubarb was used in a fantastic strawberry-rhubarb pie.

9. Speaking of cooking, and the above mentioned dishes, I am WAY behind on blogging on my Tri To Cook site. I have at least 8 recipes written down, just need to type/add them to the blog. Maybe this weekend!

10. It’s been a while since I blogged, but Face of America was a rousing success in money raising. Team Steel Wheels raised over $24K and the event itself raised over $400K! As for the actual ride, day one was a freezing wet adventure and day two was great. Definitely an inspiring weekend made more so by one of our team members, Jothy Rosenberg, who lost his leg and half a lung when he was a teenager and was told he would not survive. He’s in his 40’s now – check out his book and you will probably never say “I can’t do that” again! I love this picture of our team after the race!



11. It’s Thursday, Dude’s birthday is Sunday and I have NO IDEA what to get him.

12. Dude and I are taking a quick weekend getaway in 3 weeks. Either Blackwater Falls or Seneca, WV. He wants to camp, I want to cabin and it looks like he’s going to win.

13. I just got my bonus and I know I should save it for everything we’ll need at the house, but Penny has been eyeing new wheels. Not ZIPPs mind you, but something more lightweight/racier. Hmmmmmmm….

Positive Attitude…Activate!

1. A dear friend is going through a health scare and I am scared to death of the results. To make matters worse, she’s not here so I feel helpless. I know she is where she needs to be to get the best medical care/attention, but I’d give anything to go to these appointments with her. And in typical “Es Fashion”, I tend to make jokes when talking to her but my heart breaks when I think about what she’s going through and the fact that her support system is hundreds of miles away.

2. The same weekend I found out about her, I found out another friend was in the hospital because his pancreas was essentially giving up. He was in a coma for three weeks and thankfully he’s rallied and is back home now. He has to make a major life change (no alcohol) but I hope he realizes there is more to life than his dear Miller Lite. Right now he swears he will never drink again. I only hope this fear of death sticks with him for the long haul.

3. All this worry and fear about my friends has made me realize that Life is Good! So, if you recall, I want this year to be more c’est la vie, less Type A so here goes! POSITIVE ATTITUDE…ACTIVATE!

4. After a three week hiatus I am back to exercising!!!!! My calf is 90% healed so I am run/walking. I took Penny for a ride on Tuesday, muy happy! And I’m back in the pool (and was told twice in one practice that I have a beautiful stroke).

5. So here’s a picture of our house from March:



And from this past weekend:



Wait, that’s the same picture. But if you were to go there today it would look EXACTLY the same. Word is they will start late April. Right now they have a promotion going on that says houses will be done in six months. Since we signed a contract two months before this promotion I HOPE our house will be done within six months as well!!!! That would give us an end of October move in which means Recovery/Taper period. That would work!!!

6. On Sunday, Dude, J, and I hiked the property. We spent about an hour along the lake shore and didn’t come near the end where it opens up into the “big lake”. It is beautiful, peaceful, and right in my backyard!!! Sooooo excited about moving!

7. As for my townhouse, the kitchen has a new look - I got new countertops, sink, faucet, and drawer/cabinet pulls installed. Final cleaning and de-personalizing is in the works and it will be back on the rental market soon!

8. This week, Dude and I were supposed to start our “diet” – more protein & veggies and fewer (but better) carbs. Unfortunately I’ve been busy. Next week I’ll be out of town thru Wed, then have Face of America ride Fri – Sun. I guess diet starts 18 April. Still trying to drop 10 pounds before IMAZ!

9. Face of America in next weekend. We had a fabulous Happy Hour at Glory Days last Friday – raised $1,100! And if you eat at ANY Glory Days in the month of April, give me the food receipt (not the credit card receipt) and Glory Days will donate 10% of food purchases to Team Steel Wheels! Or you can DONATE HERE!

10. This getting up at 4 AM to make swim practice is tough. I always feel incredible until about noon then nose dive into exhaustion. Any ideas on how to extend the post exercise energy? Since I’m thinking about starting to run 4-days a week, maybe a lunch time run might do the trick.

11. Dude and I are heading to Colorado this weekend. We will be spending the weekend with my BFF and her family. I’m planning a meal for Friday, we are hiking Saturday then joining her family for dinner, and then Sunday Dude and I are on our own. We may go to Boulder to see another friend or may just goof around in Denver.

12. Hmm, if the government shutdown happens I’ll be in Colorado. Can you say darn-it!


13. Don’t forget to check out my cooking blog - Tri To Cook! Oh, and just so you know, I’m a little behind on blogging on that one as well.

Thursday (Friday) Thirteen

1. Weight Goal – Nothing to report. Still the same and I’m considering joining Weight Watchers – in-person. I’ve done the on-line thing and stick with it for about 30 seconds. If I have to check in somewhere so I feel accountable (she said as she finished the slice of cake from an office mates birthday).

2. Exercise Goal – 5 am still sucks. I need to run more. I wonder if I’ll ever do weight training again. Anybody want to buy a Kinetic bike trainer??? Daylight savings is around the corner and Penny is getting antsy (but my seat bones are not)!

3. Red Nose Race #3 Recap – This was supposed to be my 16 mile run. Started running and just below my calf muscle feels like a tight ball and as a result I can’t flex my foot/ankle. I’ve been having this problem for a year and I’ve learned that usually by mile three it works itself out. Well, not today. I only did 10 miles, most at a 5:1 run/walk. Because of the pain in my calf, my form was completely off so it jacked up my hips and lower back as well. I really need to see a Dr about this!

4. T.E.A.M. Steel Wheels – My letters will go out this weekend and am going to resort to bribery. For one week only, if you donate over $50 and live in the local area, I will make you dinner. If you are not from the local area, I will send you baked good (I’m experimenting with scones and biscotti now). We are also going to do at least two Happy Hour fundraisers, hopefully details will be out within the next week.

5. Change to Race Schedule – After looking at the long-term schedule for IM training I will most likely have to remove the Covered Bridges ride and possibly the Great Pumpkin ride from the schedule. I’m down to the marathon, three 70.3’s, and Ironman.

6. Run Faster – Well, I’m putting the run faster on hold until after the marathon (but I have every intention of incorporating it into my training) but I have implemented it into my swimming.

I now swim in the fastest lane at practice. Now, before you start thinking “wow, she’s bad ass” you should know our Team Z West pool is often quite empty. Joining the fast lane started because last week there was only one person in the lane so I joined him. We actually swim at the same pace but Competitive Me just had to “beat him”. Mind you, we were splitting the lane so we weren’t even really swimming together. My only goal was to catch and pass him, regardless of where either of us were in the workout.
So today, we’re all getting in the pool and someone had to go down a lane. He looked at me and said you get the fast lane, you’re faster than me.

I think he was setting me up. New guy leads, first set is a 500 in Zone 2. He TAKES OFF. Competitive Me tries to keep up. We finish the set and I ask (pant) was that your zone 2? Yep. CRAP!!! I ended up doing the entire swim practice in zone 4 except when we were doing a 200 in zone 5. And that’s when I caught him. BOOYA!

7. 20 Mile Run – Done. The good news is the calf issue worked itself out (this time). The better news, aside from the marathon I won’t be running anything over 14 miles until early fall!

8. Ironman Arizona Update – Bike transportation is set-up. If you know anyone in the Northern Virginia area racing, please let them know there is special pricing available through trisportexpress.com. Go to the bottom of the left column and use the Northern VA IM-AZ link! We haven’t nailed down the pick-up/drop-off location yet, but most likely Arlington. The next big planning hurdle is finding a place to stay. Then of course the training (kicks off a week after the marathon)!

9. House Update – Since I wrote the Design Center blog, there’s not much to report other then there is a boat load of paperwork involved. Got the call today that all of the permits were filed two weeks ago so anywhere between two to four weeks will be ground-breaking. I kind of want to go out there with a ribbon and big scissors but Dude will think I’m a freak! Can’t wait until they start though because for each delay it’s pushing closing/moving closer and closer to Ironman!

10. Dude loves me – As many of you know I do finance for a living. This means I live/die by spreadsheets. You can figure that I have a slew of spreadsheets built for the building/buying of this house. I was showing Dude my latest addition, where I went room by room of my place and have a list of everything I have. I then have it broken down by whether it goes to storage, gets moved to his place, sell, etc. Then I have where it will go in the new house. He got as far as reading the column headers, looked at me, said “I love you honey, but…” Then just gave me a look that basically said “you crazy”.

He’ll appreciate my organization skills in a couple months.


11. Hair – I got 4 inches cut off!!! It’s now right at shoulder length (shortest it’s been in 3 years) and I LOVE IT!! I wear it curly and it rocks! It also looks quite professional when I straighten it.



12. Vacation or lack thereof – Remember when I said I was going to save money this year? Well, BHP (before house purchase) we were planning on a quick weekend trip to Colorado to visit friends. Well, Dude’s sticking to our save money plan and that trip is no longer on the books. So sad! I need a break!!!

13. New Blog – Did you see that I launched my cooking blog? Tri To Cook! Check it out!!

My First Design Center Visit

I spent 3 hours at the Design Center for the new house and got the cabinets down to two colors (Java Glaze (brown with a wash where you can see black on the edges) or Sasparilla (black), granite is picked (Crema Bordeoux), and the tile is somewhat narrowed down. All choices still need Dude's look/ok.

One of the advantages of building NEW is because you get to make the choices and roll everything into your mortgage, right?!? That's what I thought at least. I know I'm not getting a custom home, so my dreams of the walk-in shower with jets is on hold, as is my dream for a pot-filler above the stove, and my custom built drawer for my pasta machine. OK, I'm fine with that but I still thought I would get "my kitchen" - an open kitchen with stainless appliances, double oven, beautiful island with shelves for my cookbooks, big sink....

Then I got to the design center, or as Dude calls it "Sorry, this is what you're getting" Center.

Three major things that ticked me off (and had I known, I may not have gone new).

Appliance packages:
1 - Builder's Choice - plain old white GE appliance (free);
2 - GE Profile Stainless - Dishwasher, cheesy looking 36" Cook top, Microwave above (with vent), Double Oven, Side-by-side refrigerator (relatively inexpensive);
3 - GE Monogram Stainless - Dishwasher, 36" Cook top, Wall Mount Vent Hood, Single Oven, Microwave, Side-by-side refrigerator (pricey, but within budget);
4 - GE Monogram Stainless - Dishwasher, 36" Cook top, GE Wall Mount Vent Hood, Double Oven, Ugly Side-by-side refrigerator (take out a 2nd mortgage for this one and you're still not getting what you want);

What do I want? Well...
I want a French Door Refrigerator - not exactly new technology and the number one choice in fridges these days. Oh, and they run about the same price as a side-by-side. But NO, a French Door Fridge is not an option but "that's one of the main things people ask for".
I also want the wall mount vent AND a double oven, or a single/double oven, or a single oven with a convection microwave (or Advantium but I know that's pushing it) and I want this without jacking the price up to the "second mortgage required" price range.

Kitchen Sink Choices
I want an under mount single bowl sink. Is that asking for too much? It's the same price as a double bowl. It takes up the same room. It's the same to install, no, actually, it should be easier since there's only one drain. But NO, not an option but "that's one of the main things people ask for".

Kitchen Island
Like I said, I have the color of the cabinets down to two colors. Here's a perfect idea, I'd like my island in Sasparilla and the rest of the cabinets in the Java Glaze (because the colors look great together). I mean, both colors are available, right?! And it's not like they have already built out the cabinets. But NO, not an option but "that's one of the main things people ask for".

So, at the end of the day, I'll probably get choice 3 in appliances, and I'll find a way to get the installers to install the sink that I want, and my island won't be contrasting but it will still look great. But going in, I already know that I will eventually be spending a lot of money to get the appliances I want (and dang it GE, post the prices of your Monogram stuff) and re-doing the island into something I want.

And did you notice the theme of "that's one of the main things people ask for", yep, every time I asked for something, that was the response I got. I have an idea...make these AVAILABLE CHOICES and you'll have happier customers.

OK Es, breathe...
count to 10...
and remember you are getting a beautiful house within a half mile of Wegmans.

Breathe in...Wegmans, Wegmans, Wegmans...
Breathe out!