“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
--Epicurus

 

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7:05 AM: My legs are tired. Heavy and tired. They don't HURT though... so that's different. All season long my legs and joints were so painful, I couldn't tell if they were tired or not. Today, my legs just feel tired. I'm going to do some light PT.

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3:44 PM: Signed up for the Mile High Turkey Trot in Denver on Thanksgiving Day. Yay!

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The club of sleep deprived losers that swims at 5:30 AM? Come right along. All are welcome!

Or how about the club of people that sleep til 7? Even bigger losers, methinks.

*Yawn*

6:02 AM: Going to PT. More later.

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8:30AM: Home! Got a load of laundry in the washing machine and a load of dishes in the dishwasher. Having a cup of coffee before I fire up the computer and start working.

In an effort to cut some calories, I'm putting fat free half & half in my coffee and I'm trying to embrace Splenda. I'm not doing so well with the Splenda. It's very light weight and artificial seeming to me. So, I've mixed it with regular sugar to cut down on the weirdness. I figure sugar + some Splenda is better than ALL sugar. Right? I'm actually not finding coffee to be as enjoyable anymore. All this fat free cream and fake sugar has ruined it for me. I like HEAVY CREAM and full octane sugar in my coffee. Nom nom nom!

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12:23 PM: My cat Quentin is having his daily energy burst/freakout session. He's running around like a lunatic making weird staccato meowing noises... His tail is all puffed up and his eyes are wild. Oh what fun it is to be me. (Actually at this point, it seems as though it would be more fun to be HIM!)

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8:42 PM: I just ate a huge spinach salad. It was delightful. Packing my bag for tomorrow cuz I'm schwimmin in the morning! w00t! My legs... are tiiiiired.

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The PHOTO FLIPPER is random, and today proves it!
Me and my barefoot (?) friend Kim. This was her OKTOBERFEST party, 2001. Kim is half Japanese (Goggs!) and half German. Her Father was from Hawaii and she had family out there, so most of their family vacations (even when she was a kid) were to Hawaii. That's not so bad, huh? Better than having family in say... Iowa. Or... North Dakota. Hawaii rules. I'd like to get out there eventually. (!)  

Do you love my black (tapered leg) jeans? I thought so.

6:34 AM: OK, I'm up for a little Q1 trainer ride action. It's pathetic, but I'm having a REALLY HARD TIME fitting in 4 trainer rides a week... amidst all of my other... nothingness. So the plan for today is to get on the trainer now, do the Q1 workout, shower, go to work, and do a BODY SCULPTING class @ X-Sport after work. I'll go there with the intention of doing the class... we'll see if I actually do it or if I just choose to lift on my own. I haven't taken ANY sort of class in... years. I used to be a total fitness class addict. Now I find the schedules and the groups too... confining.

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11:32 AM: Meh. I'm going to run at lunchtime and lift. That keeps my evening free. I have PT in the AM and I don't want to make myself all sore tonight just to have to turn it around in the AM. So a lifty + run at lunch. That's the new plan. I'm so...wishy washy. (!)

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And check this out... the photo flipper picture today... classic.

Dumpster and jowisc. At IMWI 2008. It was rainy and chilly and Jonathan was feeling... Yoda-like?

 

8:22 AM: So I had a glass of wine last night while I was relaxing on the couch and I woke up feeling HUNGOVER. Canceled PT and went back to bed. Nice. It's been very dry around here lately and I think it's dehydrating me quicker than usual. (I'm on a diuretic for my BP, and I get dehydrated easily.)

Anyway, I need to be @ my Mom's house by 12:15. So right now I'm going to do an extended PT routine and then hop on the trainer and get Q1 in. Jeez. I feel like I've been hit by a truck, though.

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10:08 AM: Not enough time to do Q1. So instead I'm going to go out for a little run walk. That won't take as long... and I'll still be getting something accomplished. 

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6:48 PM: EPIC EPIC FAIL! I got nothing workout wise accomplished aside from PT. Dressed myself all up in my "running" gear and looked at the clock and determined I didn't have enough time to even go 2 stupid slow miles + shower. So, I cleaned the downstairs bathroom instead. And scooped the litterbox. Go me. 

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Heh. And in the PHOTO FLIPPER we have MORE COLLEGE! Oh yes. Look at all the HAIR! I will confess to you that I know and remember the distinct stew of aromas that made up an evening out... It was a combination of Genji (Whitney's perfume) Paris (Durannie's perfume... back row, far right) and whatever perfume I was wearing... plus a little bit of Salon Selectives hairspray, Aussie Sprunch Spray, and cigarette smoke. (the three girls in the back row smoked...) And that was before we even left our rooms. Ah, those were the days.

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7:18 AM: PT this morning... and a massage tonight. (I hope I can get an appointment!) I realized I have 3 massages left over @ X-Sport from IMWI. I also have a massage (a more fancy one) @ Asha. I have 4 pre-paid/free massages! I shall start using them tonight!

As far as the crock pot goes... the recipe turned out better than the last time I attempted it, but the chicken was still a little dry. We determined it was because I can't stop stirring and peeking and mixing things up in the crock pot. One of the points of the crock pot is to dump in the ingredients and leave them. I'm incapable of doing that. It requires restraint! I have too much curiosity!

If you are interested, here's the recipe. It was pretty good, and if you leave the chicken UNDERNEATH the rice and all of the liquid, it will turn out better for you. And DON'T PEEK! Plus, it's pretty light. Give it a try and let me know if you can get it to work for you:

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

Recipe courtesy Kathleen Daelemans
Show:	Cooking Thin
Episode:	Single in the City

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, lightly pounded (3 to 4 ounces meat per person)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup wild rice blend
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 1/4 cups water
10 fresh parsley sprigs

Season the chicken breasts generously with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the garlic and rice. Add the lemon juice to the water and stir. Pour this mixture over the rice and chicken. (AND LEAVE IT THERE!)  Place the lid on the slow cooker and set on low for 8 hours. (DO NOT PEEK!) To plate, place a serving of the rice on each plate and top with 1 chicken breast. Garnish with fresh parsley sprigs.

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10:28 AM: No massage appointments for today. Booooo. Maybe I will make one in advance for NEXT Monday.

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12:08 PM: Wow. My knee pops A LOT lately.  It's not swollen at all after yesterday's slowish 6 miler though, so... YAY!

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9:42 PM: Watching Hoarders and sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and my Quentin. Took tomorrow as a vacation day so I could go down to Lombard and see my Mom. We're going to go to a movie and have a late lunchie. Maybe a little shopping... but most likely not. No more PT today. Office PT in the AM. And maybe the Q1 trainer ride tomorrow before I shoot down to my Mom's.

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Now look at this! June, 2007, Hangloose's backyard and swingset:

What we have right here is the very first time any of us met mr2tony. (Our pal, AKA Goggs). We hung out in Hangloose's kitchen and we chatted and schemed and ultimately devised the aerobong. Heh. We are still waiting for that to arrive in a Triathlon Store near you. The people in this picture... from L-R: Schmize on the trapeze, jowisc, jschmitchicago, me, behind me, Goggs, Dumpster, and Hangloose.

We miss Hangloose.

Oh my. I'm wearing the same shirt in this photo as I was in the LAST photo flipper photo I posted. (See Nov 12.) How weeeeeeeeeeeird is that??? Like I don't have 7 million other shirts? Apparently I only wear.... One.

So, Chris and I spent last night celebrating KTpitbull's birthday with her and Po, her dogs, and some other friends while we watched the REPLACEMENTS. We also drank some beers & had pizza. I was convinced I'd never seen the REPLACEMENTS before, but it started to seem familiar fairly early on. Maybe I just never saw the beginning of it. (!) A pretty good movie, I must say.

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10:49 AM: Going to give EPIC CROCK POT FAILURE #2 another try today. (I've been frightened to attempt it again... the last time I tried was March 2008...)  I know where I went wrong last time, so I know where to make the corrections today. There are only a couple of ingredients, so it's really not that hard... it's just that RICE PILAF (from a box) is not the same as WILD RICE. My culinary inexperience led me astray...

Anyway, I've purchased actual WILD RICE this time, so I'm hopeful I will not be treated to a mushy pile of garlic infused mashed potato-like rice and hockey puck chicken breasts after 8 hours of crock potting. I'll keep you posted. If it turns out well, I'll post the recipe again. If not, it's Subway tonight. (!)