Superstitious Much?

Posted on June 17, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Mike and I were talking today about superstitions. Mike is severely superstitious, me not as much. I like to do silly things like read my fortune cookie or occasionally look at my horoscope, but nothing really gets to me. Mike is afraid to say anything out loud for fear “karma” will come back to bite him in the behind. I don’t blame him sometimes. It seems like bad luck is out to get him.

A few weeks ago Mike got a new road bike and put a picture of it on Facebook. He said something to the extent of the “many miles” he would ride on it. The next day. It broke. Poor guy. Thankfully, it ended up working out that it was under warranty and here is his new bike. So again, do you blame him?

I can say I have bad luck sometimes too. Let’s just say the cheese grater won.

I was feeling really guilty today because I feel like my days are wasted unless I have some big project accomplished. I got really jittery and needed to get out of the house and at least go to the gym. I think it comes with working all year and then I start going through withdrawal. I really would love to find some kind of job, but I am struggling with what could work with considering my schedule is a little busy the next couple of weeks. I feel so useless though.

I pretty much looked like this all week. Stuck in front of the compter. Bun in hair. UNLV shirt on. No makeup. I know I need to enjoy this while I don’t have any kids around, but it still is a little embarrassing.

Thankfully this week will pick up. I have volleyball, interviews, a curriculum meeting, and then off to Vegas!

Question: Have you ever had time off and felt guilt about it? Also, do you have any superstitions? If so, why?

A Change In The Weather

Posted on June 16, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Ever since we came back from San Diego, this has been Barney’s permanent spot. He somehow became even more obsessed with playing frisbee in the backyard. If we even say the word “play” or “frisbee” in totally normal voices, he’ll immediately run to the door and look out.

He is extra annoyed in this picture because I refuse to keep on going out. He would run his legs to bloody stumps if he could. I told Mike when we are rich, that I am investing in a frisbee thrower. (If they even have one.)

I am really excited to have my sister here in a couple of weeks so I can take her here to Pro Ranch Market. I guess it’s always been a huge deal in New Mexico, but I had never even heard of it. Basically, it’s really cheap. And they play a lot of authentic Mexican music inside. I actually feel like I am at EPCOT at Walt Disney World when I go in there for some reason.

Their produce is so cheap and very fresh! I walked off with a basket load of cucumbers, onions, lettuce, apples, limes, green chiles, and carrots for around ten bucks!

After a workout at the gym this morning, where I ran into one of my students (which was embarrassing and happens a lot), I took care of some projects and then got ready for a ride. Yes, I found my other pink sock. It has been missing since San Diego. Where did we find it? It had mysteriously slipped INTO one of Mike’s jersey pockets…how does that happen?

Anyway, as we were driving to the OCHO coarse in Picacho Hills, I noticed the sky looking a little green towards El Paso. Then I got a notice on my phone for a sever thunderstorm warning producing 60 mph winds and hail.

I am showing the comparison of west versus east. Notice the left hand side of the screen is super dark…yet it was so nice out towards the west. Anyway, it made me a little nervous….but we rode anyway. (I’ve had to pick up Mike in lightning storms where he refused to give up a ride. Most of my close calls with lightning involve biking and the husband telling me not to be a wuss. 🙂 )

We ended up being ok, but cut the ride short mainly because of the wind. And nothing happened. So weird. I like the change in weather though. This usually happens in July, but we need it. The last rainstorm we had was back in the beginning of May.

It was home to another night of Chicken Lettuce Wraps and then off to watch my shows. Teaching rocks.

P.S. Coconut Lifewater is awesome.

Question: Have you had any close calls with lightning?

Barney and I got stuck in a lightning storm by ourselves in Cloudcroft when we got separated from Mike. We ended up running/biking back five miles to the car in the soaking rain. Good times.

Late Night Inspiration

Posted on June 14, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

So I am a HUGE fraidy-cat of the dark. Lately, I can hardly sleep at night because I feel like our neighborhood sounds are extra loud at night. Of course, the husband has to make fun of me about that, but it has caused me to sleep a little during the day, since I’m pretty much up awake during the night reading “how-to” books or brainstorming career changes or huge projects around the house. The nice thing is that Barney is pretty good about being my companion.

I love this picture of Barney from the river a few days ago. He has this crazed look on his face as he came running towards us. Just so you know, he would not go near the other side of the flag for fear it was going to wave and attack him. He has the same reaction to trash bags and random treats brought home to him. He has his mom’s courage.

Anyway, I usually spend the evening watching all my DVR shows, including my favorite So You Think You Can Dance. When I am done with my shows, I usually flip over to HGTV or Food Network. I especially like this one show called “Restaurant Impossible”. The host Robert Irvine is a great chef, who goes into restaurants and tries to save them from losing money. He is pretty hard on them and usually ends up with people either really mad at him or crying as he has broken them down. I especially like it when he inspects the place and tells them how terrible it is.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurant-impossible/index.html

Yesterday’s episode was the White House Episode where first lady Michelle Obama put him to a test on a community center that needed a transformation. She also challenged him to make a garden for the community so that the kids can pick and eat the vegetables. No joke, after that episode, I was online for two hours looking up gardening tips.

This morning I got up and cleared out some weeds and now I am brainstorming how to make planters with these wooden boards we have in our garage. I am trying to get this accomplished in the next two days. I’ll keep you posted.

I do this all the time though, where something will trigger an idea in my mind and I sit for hours at night thinking about it. Thankfully this occurred on a non-work night. I’ve had nights where I have three hours left before getting up for work and I can’t shut off my brain!

So yes, I want a garden and I am going to try to keep it simple. Happy gardening!

Question: Any suggestions for a new gardener? Have you ever had a “late night” inspiration?

Facing Your Fears

Posted on June 8, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

My last two days back from vacation have been pretty much getting organized and turning things around after a very hectic school year. After my ten years of teaching, this year felt like my hardest and I am hoping that things will turn around for the best this next year. I feel like they will.

The days consist of to do lists that are lying around the house. I have post-its, three or four calendars, as well as two different planners. I consolidate all of them into one big list of the day. I don’t mind having lists because they help me remember. A lot of people feel like it’s just one more thing to nag them, but I feel quite the contrary. I tend to worry less knowing I wrote down the things I wanted to get done.

P.S. One of my compression socks from www.zensah.com went missing! Don’t you hate it when you put socks in the washer and then they mysteriously disappear? We have lost so many mountain bike socks that way! Of all the things, you guys know how much I love these!

Back to the point of my blog post today, I am reading the book “Quickie Chicks Cheat Sheet to Life, Love, Food, Fitness, Fashion and Finance” by Laurel House. I am really into “How To” books lately. I am learning “how to” build a deck, “how to” organize finances, and “how to” eat right through all the books I am reading right now. I love them. My Kindle is blowing up with all this stuff right now.

Anyway, in the first part of the book she starts off with facing your fears and what exactly are you afraid of. I have a professional problem this last year that I have been fearful of and have been thinking about a lot lately and this is perfect for me to address. So here is what Laurel has to say about that. She asks you to write down your fears and think of people whose careers you admire. I personally have two people whose careers I am insanely jealous of. Laurel asks you why you are intimidated my them. To me, it is all about confidence. The plan is to then try to think of ways to lessen your fears and then list the steps of how to make it happen. Love it.

So many times I have opted out of something because of intimidation, but why? I really am thinking about that a lot especially since I read this post by Julie from the blog Peanut Butter Fingers. You guys need to read this post: http://www.pbfingers.com/2012/05/31/changing-yes-but-to-yes-and/

So to recap, here are the four things to ask yourself:

1. What are you really afraid of?

2. Who do you know that you admire? What intimidates you about them?

3. How are you going to lessen your fears?

4. What steps will you take to make it happen?

Question: How do you conquer your fears? What advice would you give someone who wants to switch careers but is afraid?

Clouds, Cold….San Diego?

Posted on June 5, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Sunday. Day two of our trip. This was the day I really regretted not doing what I originally planned to do. I decided way back in March that I really wanted to complete the Rock and Roll San Diego Half Marathon. I even planned out the whole vacation around it. Then when it was time to sign up for it, it was so expensive and I didn’t feel at all ready for it.

When we got to the hotel, everyone was here for the race and one of the guys suggested I “ghost run” the marathon. I guess a lot of people jump in on these huge marathons without paying for it. Have any of you done that before?

I ended up not doing it. But it was very intriguing. O.K. enough regretting and on to the day we had. 🙂

BREAKFAST

We’ve had a little bad luck this trip when it comes to the weather. It’s been very cloudy and overcast which makes us a little depressed. So we decided to find a gym and workout while we waited for the sun to come out on our BEACH day. We headed to the local Starbucks and had some apple juice (no straw included) and some perfect oatmeal.

I’ve talked about this before when it comes to breakfast how the oatmeal is a perfect pre-race meal, but it’s also so inexpensive. Yes, I know I just mentioned something inexpensive at Starbucks when a lot of people complain about how expensive they are. We were able to get all of this for about ten dollars.

WORKOUT

Mike and I found a local fitness club that let us pay for a day pass. We both headed to the elliptical and were excited to get going. We have never sweat so much in our life! I am attributing it to the humidity, but it was awesome! It really made you feel like you were doing a great workout. We then took an hour on weights.

We are trying not to take the gloominess of the last few days as a sign or anything (because we may be a little superstitious), but come on! After talking to a guy at the hotel gym and a desk clerk, San Diego has a term called “June Gloom”. I guess this is pretty normal. Then again we usually come in May or July. We learned our lesson. No more June! If you have to wear shorts and a shirt to the beach and can’t lay out, there is no use going to the beach .:)

The husband found it very intriguing that the elevation was four feet. We are used to the 4000-6000 feet rides we do and love the fact that we ae at sea level. It feels good on the lungs.

He also managed to go in the freezing, cold water and body surf too. He said he found it “refreshing”. Nut.

I was more intrigued by the awesome seagulls walking around. Most people think of them as annoying creatures, but they are kind of funny to watch. They absolutely refuse to fly unless its their last resort. I found this out when this guy kept getting chased by a little girl and refused to take off and just kept running in circles.

DINNER

Dinner was amazing. We found a sushi place the last time we are here that was also a seafood buffet. I was partially through my plate when I took this picture, but you get the idea. It’s a little pricey, but the quality of food is excellent. You can find it in the Mission Valley Mall. It’s called the Onami Restaurant and Sushi Bar. Highly recommend it.

Not to mention, they had these bad boys. Does anyone have an easy recipe for Chocolate Covered Strawberries? I really want to learn how to make them without making a huge mess in my kitchen.

We Did It!!

Posted on June 1, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

We went up to Ruidoso for a 12 hour race. The night before, there was a massive storm so we were a little concerned. P.S. We did this race in early May, but I forgot to blog it!

Mike and I had to do the annual picture of riding past the Red Bull tent.

We are standing in the order we rode. All the boys did under an hour and I did exactly an hour on each lap. But we ended up getting first place!!!

This is at the cabin we stayed at the night before where we all got ready and prepared. What a fun race! We were very happy to get that first!

Memorial Weekend 2012

Posted on June 1, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

We had an awesome labor day weekend. We met with the brothers and started to ride the sport loop. It was super hot, but we were going to tackle the jeep road.

The brothers. Mike’s mom loves this shot.

Cool shot of Mike going down little Moab.

We went to the parent’s house for a picnic. Barney had to play some frisbee.

We ate some awesome ribs…

….and some homemade ice cream!

Trying to get an action shot of Barney!

We had a great time!

32nd Birthday!!

Posted on June 1, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Since we saited t go to San Diego for our anniversary, I decided to make the best of staying in town and make a list of things to do for my weekend extravaganza!

On my Friday list, I wanted to go on one last ride at the age of 31. Mike and I went and rode the jeep road so we could get some good exercise.

This is a picture of my list and Barney being part of things. 🙂

Saturday I wanted a date night at St. Claire’s Winery and Bistro. Loved it!

Mike got all dressed up and handsome.

My mom got me an awesome birthday card!

And Mike made this gift for me. So thoughtful!

I had a really fun birthday and I am so glad we got a lot of things done on my list!

Solar Eclipse

Posted on June 1, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

A few Sundays ago, we heard there was going to be a solar eclipse and the western part of the United States was going to have a pretty good show. We were told in Las Cruces that it would only be about 40 percent, but we took our chances anyway and went out to check it out. Mike rode his bike up to the top of A Mountain while I ran it. It’s so much harder to run it!

It was cool because the temperature changed so quickly and there was a haze around us. If you look at the picture with Mike, it almost looks like it is dark out.

We found out that the best thing to use besides the elementary school pinhole boxes is believe or not, old welding masks. A couple had some and shared with us and we were able to take a picture through it.

What a neat thing to witness! I’m so glad we did it!

Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on May 30, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Usually on a holiday weekend we will go to Cloudcroft or we just find a way to get all the brothers and family together to go ride something on the Dona Ana’s. I say “brothers” because usually its me…and then brothers. 🙂 I am happy to say that tomorrow I will officially have a girl family member join me! My niece Carolyn is coming down and we are going to give it a whirl!

I love to take a picture of the brothers. I knew the second I took this that Mike’s mom would want a picture. And she did. 🙂

We took the trail across the mountain behind them on some really rocky parts. I am really shady on technical and wasn’t in the mood to crash, so I opted to walk it, while EVERY SINGLE one of them rode it.

This is what it looks like. Can you see why I didn’t ride it?? I have to learn it by September for the local race because I know it’s costing me time! We ended up cutting it a little bit short after riding the jeep road because of how hot it was! I drank every drop of water I had with me!

We then went over to Mike’s parents house, which is always a favorite of Barney. He starts barking out the car window while we drive over. He gets so excited!

Here he is doing what he does….frisbee retrieving. It’s like he is a retriever or something.