Archive for July, 2008

July 31st, 2008

New Harry Potter Movie Trailer Released Today

Wow! I can’t believe that at this time last summer, I had already read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Last summer was busy, and we’ve pretty much gone an entire year without any big Harry Potter news (aside from the whole Dumbledore-is-gay fiasco).

Today, though, the new Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailer was released! Finally! I’ve been hoping for glimpses of the new movie for months!

My fellow Harry Potter friends, clear your calendars in October and November because Harry Potter movie nights will commence soon enough (as will Harry Potter-themed treats)! I can’t wait!

July 30th, 2008

The Great Cat-astrophe: Mowgli Eats Funny Things

Well, it’s the end of July, and summer has been in full swing for a month or so now. With summer, we welcome a series of miscellaneous critters in our house, namely bugs. Mowgli has been proving his usefulness in this department for weeks.

Mowgli Yawns for the Camera

Mowgli Yawns for the Camera

Because we’re not sure of Mowgli’s past before we adopted him, Chris and I are left to speculate what events transpired to shape his personality. We have reason to believe that he had to scrounge for his food at some point because he is constantly begging for food—cat and human. Likewise, no plate or bowl is safe from his scavenging. Thankfully, he’s not a good jumper, so we haven’t had problems with him jumping on the cabinets. I sometimes think he is part raccoon because of his food-finding abilities.

Mowgli likes to pig out on his kibble and tuna treats, but one of his favorite treats is an empty bowl of cereal or ice cream. He also likes popcorn and will sit mesmerized while we eat it, waiting for us to drop a piece that he can eat. When Ravi gets a hairball and coughs up some food, Mowgli eats that, too, but the most surprising thing Mowgli eats is bugs.

Yes, bugs. On one occasion, Mowgli was playing with a moth, and he managed to pin it under his paw. Not sure what to do with his hostage, Mowgli let it go and caught it in his mouth. He let it go once more before gulping it down midair. The poor moth had no idea what was coming.

Earlier this month, three slugs and a tree frog got in the house. I managed to send the first two slugs packing without any fatalities, but while I was disposing of the first slug, the tree frog got in the house. No, Mowgli didn’t eat the frog, but he did catch it for me before it went under the couch. I soon found the second slug and sent it packing, too. The next morning, I found another slug on the living room floor—dead. I picked it up with a paper towel and noticed a few teeth marks on the creature. Mowgli met me in the kitchen, and yes, he had a little bit of slug hanging out of his mouth. Apparently, he doesn’t eat everything.

P.S. More or less, nothing has changed with Ravi. He sometimes retreats to his travel case and closes the door behind him, and he has adopted a box of books as his throne. I’ll try to take a picture of him reigning over the spare bedroom sometime.

July 28th, 2008

Triathlon Training: Week 8

Another good week of training. I got caught up in the weekend, so I didn’t get in any workouts Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Oh, yeah, and it’s miserable outside, so who wants to work out outside? I bought a helmet on Friday, so now I can ride both safely and in style, but I haven’t taken it on the road yet. I’ll keep you posted. In the mean time, here’s what I did last week:

Monday, July 21, 2008

  • Workout type. Running
  • Route. Forest Park subdivision
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 35 minutes
  • Distance. 3 miles
  • Pace per mile. 11:40
  • Additional notes. Nothing new this week. Just a run-of-the-mill run around the subdivision.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

  • Workout type. Brick (Cycling + running)
  • Route. Forest Park subdivision
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 69 minutes (58 cycling; 11 running)
  • Distance. 13 miles (12 cycling; 1 running)
  • Pace per mile. 5:20 (4:50; 11:00)
  • Additional notes. Another ride around the neighborhood. This time I was riding after dark, so I had to be careful with the traffic. I dropped off my bike and took a one-mile loop around the neighborhood. My legs were jello-y until about the half-mile mark, and I didn’t find my groove until I was about 3/4 of the way done.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

  • Workout type. Swimming
  • Route. YMCA
  • Feeling. :|
  • Time. 45 minutes
  • Distance. 1000m
  • Pace per mile. n/a
  • Additional notes. Rough waters today. The pool was really busy because I went after work, but I managed to get in a decent workout. I need to work on my stamina in this department; I think I’ll be OK for the race, but I would like to swim well.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

  • Workout type. Cycling class
  • Route. YMCA
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 44 minutes
  • Distance. 9 miles
  • Pace per mile. 4:50
  • Additional notes. Just another cycling class with weight lifting beforehand.
July 25th, 2008

Response to Freewriting Prompt #37

“There is a very old and beat up white armored truck that has been parked outside my house all morning,”* and I suspect an organization with three letters in its name is keeping an eye on my next door neighbors. For three weeks now they have mowed their yard at noon every day without regard to July’s heat and humidity. This, along with my observation that they never exit their cars without first closing the garage doors behind them, makes me wonder if they’re watching their backs. We all know the mob likes to hit people when they least expect it, so perhaps my neighbors are using their lawn mowing as a preemptive strike against the mob. But this doesn’t explain why they mow every day or how the white armored truck came to be sitting outside my house.

Perhaps I was wrong about the three-lettered organization. Perhaps my neighbors are working with this organization and by mowing every day are hoping the mob will try to take them out so the three-lettered organization can combat the mob’s presence in my small suburb. Whatever the case may be, I should probably get out of my house in case anything goes down this afternoon.

—–
*Thanks to G who posted this fun little writing prompt this morning. Sometimes I miss freshman composition.

July 23rd, 2008

Triathlon Training: Week 7

Wow! Last week was so much more productive than the previous two combined! Of course, I’m pretty sure my increased motivation came from an increasing number on my bathroom scale. I haven’t checked my body fat percentage in a long time, but I’m hoping the few pounds I’ve gained are a result of increased muscle mass rather than an increase in body fat. I certainly haven’t increased in inches anywhere, and my clothes still fit fine. We just happen to live in a “vanity number” society, and even though we’re healthy as horses, we hate the scales to reach certain numbers (and I’m getting a little too close for comfort to my vanity number). Here’s what I did this week:

Monday, July 14, 2008

  • Workout Type. Running
  • Route. Forest Park subdivision
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 33 minutes
  • Distance. 3 miles
  • Pace per mile. 11 min/mile
  • Additional notes. Felt good for being the first time I was out in a week! Even though I wanted to hit the road hard for an hour or so, I held myself back. I tend to work too hard on Mondays and Tuesdays and then have zero energy for workouts later in the week. I’m pacing myself.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

  • Workout type. Cycling class
  • Route. YMCA
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 59 minutes
  • Distance. 12.6 miles
  • Pace per mile. 4:40 minutes/mile
  • Additional notes. Our instructor didn’t show up, so I “warmed up” for 20 minutes before a sub took over. It’s encouraging to see that I can easily get in 12 miles in less than an hour, which will help me finish the triathlon in less than 2 hours.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

  • Workout type. Running
  • Route. Forest Park subdivision
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 58 minutes
  • Distance. 5 miles
  • Pace per mile. 11:40 minutes/mile
  • Additional notes. Still incorporating walking into my runs. I find that when I stop and walk when necessary, I can go faster when I’m actually running, so my overall time is faster, too. Even with all the time off from running this winter, my pace is right where I left it when I did the half marathon last fall.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

  • Workout type. Cycling class
  • Route. YMCA
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 46 minutes
  • Distance. 9.6 miles
  • Pace per mile. 4:48 minutes/mile
  • Additional notes. Just another cycling class. Actually, they’re getting to be old hat for me. Maybe I should look into learning how to teach a cycling class. Every time I get out of one, I think about the music I would use, how I would plan the class, and how I would encourage my students. Ooh, and if I teach, I could probably get a discount on my gym membership. Dave Ramsey would be proud!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

  • Workout type. Cycling (road)
  • Route. Forest Park subdivision (4 laps)
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 56 minutes
  • Distance. 12 miles
  • Pace per mile. 4:40 minutes/mile
  • Additional notes. I actually aired up my tires and rode outside! Of course, I was a genius and went out at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and it was miserable, but I didn’t notice the heat until after I got off the bike. I did four 3-mile loops around my subdivision. My subdivision is by no means hilly, but it rolls in a few places, and I handled those spots just fine. I knew I could do 12 miles in cycling class, but I wasn’t sure once I got out on the road, so I was thrilled that this 12 miles was pretty easy for me. Once I finished, I dropped my bike in my yard and ran a lap around my block (4 minutes). That was the most painful part: for one, I realized just how hot it was. Secondly, I realized how much my quads had been working on my bike ride (I don’t have bike clips, which let you use your hamstrings more). My legs felt like jello for that four minutes. I’ll have to work on my transitions in the next month or so!
July 20th, 2008

I’m Still Here!

I’ve been MIA the past two weeks, and I apologize. We’re prepping for the fall at work, and I will be in a tailspin until mid-October. I’m also frantically working on an editing project that needs to get finished before the end of August. Oh, yeah, and I’m training for a triathlon. That said, I’m a little too mentally drained when I get home from work, so I’ll be posting when I can, but I’m not sure when that will be. Hope to get something to you at least once a week! Thanks for reading!

July 20th, 2008

Sad, Sorry Little Sarah

I have a case of nobody-likes-me-guess-I’ll-eat-some-worms tonight. It’s not true. Plenty of people like me, but I’m feeling particularly best friendless right now. It sucks.

I’ve made some efforts to meet new people in the last month or so: at the gym, at church, at a book club. But making friends is so hard. Everyone has a family or a job or a million other people vying for their friendship, but no one has time. I could argue that I don’t have time for friends either, but if the right gal(s) came along, I would drop everything to be her friend.

It’s no secret that making friends is hard for me. I don’t give the best first impression, I hate small talk, and I’m brutally honest (and sometimes lack a filter). I’m just not a sorority girl who has 1,000 friends on Facebook and who’s in a wedding every other weekend. Hell, I’ve never even been a bridesmaid, and I only had two in my own wedding.

Can I help that it takes months for me to warm up to someone new? When I try to do it sooner, I can’t help but feel like I’m trying to hard or that I’m being fake. Speeding through the process just doesn’t do it for me; if you want to be my friend, it’s gonna take a lot of time and a lot of sweat, but I promise that I’ll be your friend for life. I’m fiercely loyal, and I don’t let my real friends get away easily. Take a chance on me!

Sorry for being a downer tonight. Just needed to get it out.

July 18th, 2008

For-the-Love-of-Links Friday | 18 July 2008

You’d think having a new laptop would increase my productivity, but no, that hasn’t happened. In fact, I think I’m even lazier than before. Who knew that was possible? Anyway, I haven’t shared with you all what I’ve been reading (laziness has increased in that department, too), and here’s some material to get you up to speed:

That should be sufficient for this weekend. I like to keep the summer reading light. Be sure to check out my other Google Reader Shared Items and Delicious pages.

July 17th, 2008

Consider the Forklift with Me

I took five minutes of my Thursday afternoon to retrieve the office mail from the post office, and on my return, I observed two forklifts driving down the road. I’d like to thank the employees at 68 Lumber for demonstrating the versatility of this equipment, for I am now considering it as my next mode of transportation. I don’t think anything can beat the ability to pick up slow-moving cars that are in one’s way. And they’re a lot like convertibles. And they come in orange.

July 14th, 2008

Triathlon Training: Weeks 5 & 6

I just realized I haven’t updated you all on the triathlon training in a few weeks. Two weeks ago I was on vacation, so I was pretty lazy, and last week was my first week back, and I slacked off. Even though I haven’t been over-the-top dedicated to training, I still feel good about the race.

I’ve only been cycling at the gym, so I suppose I’ll have to get on the road eventually. My dweeby mountain bike needs new tires, and I need a bike helmet before the big day. I hope to get those this week. I’m also trying to figure out what to wear on race day. I have a two-piece Tyr suit that will work, and I think I’ll pull on a pair of shorts and a tank top (with a support bra) after the swim. I’ll have to do a test ride/run with my wet suit and those clothes to see if they’ll work.

Here’s what I’ve been up to the last two weeks:

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

  • Workout Type. Cycling class + run (+ strength training)
  • Route. YMCA track
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 55 minutes + 35 minutes
  • Distance. 11 miles + 3 miles
  • Pace per mile. 5:00 + 11:40
  • Additional notes. First brick workout. Not too terrible. A few more of these will definitely help me prep for the race.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

  • Workout Type. 5k race
  • Route. Clinton, MO, Katy Trail
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 31:13
  • Distance. 3.1 miles
  • Pace per mile. 10:06
  • Additional notes. Excellent race! One of my fastest times in a while. Runners were bussed out 3 miles, and we ran back into town. The course is fast and flat, but it’s made of limestone gravel, so pebbles in the shoes were a problem. And there wasn’t much shade. I pushed myself a bit harder earlier in the race than I usually do. I was really pleased with my results.

Monday, July 7, 2008

  • Workout Type. Lap swim
  • Route. YMCA pool
  • Feeling. :)
  • Time. 50 minutes
  • Distance. 1250 yards
  • Pace per mile. N/A
  • Additional notes. No problems with the swim, though I’m starting to realize just how slow I am. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to swim all 300 yards just free stroking, but I think I can if I combine free stroke and the side stroke.

That’s pretty much all I did for two weeks. Pathetic, I know.

 

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