Happy Birthday Mr. Robert Allen Zimmerman!

 

                                                                     Source here

Happy 70th Bob! 

In '06 my mom and I got to see him live in Philly. Besides seeing the NKOTB live, I would have given anything to see him live. It was a dream come true. We were way up in the nose bleed section but that didn't matter! Bob still can rock! It was an unbelievable show- made my top 5. 

Two hours of pure heart, soul and DANCING!! 

God bless Bob!

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom and I before the Whidbey Tri we rocked together!

The family my mom supports and loves unconditionally

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO MY MOM 

AND ALL OTHER MOM'S

Crossing KY off the list

Good riddance to KY! 

This last weekend there was a 'Spring Training' of sort for the full/half Ironman trainees iin Eddyville, KY. If you've heard about the flooding in the midwest recently Eddyville is in the middle of it. So the training became focused on biking and running, with swimming cut do to murky/possibly disease infested waters. We rode 56 miles the first bike. My first ride with the new bike. We started on a hill and I just took off! I love the Schwinn but man, the Scott just flies. Such a graceful ride. There are quite a few differences between KY and Chicago. The most obvious, besides the accents, are the hills. They have hills! And hills that build on top of hills through farmland. I started out with the Ironman group who had crazy fast pace! At mile 25 my legs said no more and just turned it into a joy ride. It reminded me of the old days riding up in Anacortes, WA through the farms. We even rode through little towns that were quaint and cute. Not sure the locals knew what to do with us. They were all incredibly nice and patient drivers. No yelling or honking of the horns. It was a great place to ride. 

The second day we went for a true joy ride for 20 miles. It was humid but was really nice riding weather. After the ride, my coach didn't want me to run too much because a race this weekend. So instead of a 10 mile run we went for a 4 mile death run. It was pretty downhill but she pushed us to a 7:40 minute average! Fastest I've ever gone for that long of a distance. My internal organs were shutting done but we did it. Overall, I'm glad that I get to cross KY off my life. It was beautiful but would be a little hesitant to say I would want to stay in KY longer than the 3 days we were there.

I mentioned the race this weekend. Many of us from running club are running the Wisconsin Half Marathon Saturday morning in Kenosha, WI. This is the first race I am going into know that I can finish it and am running for a time. It will be interesting how it goes. I ended up coming down with a cold from this weekend and have been blasting my body with vitamin d3 in hopes to kill it off. And yesterday, I became an official biker. More on that later but I'll mention it involved blood, lots of ice and ibuprofen. Two days to go and despite the potential challenges on Saturday I'm looking forward to it. 

Growing up in eastern Kentucky like I did, I'm used to having a few guns around to protect me. -Loretta Lynn

 

I'm a faker

I'm not sure if it's been the intense cabin fever that this year's Chicago winter has brought or my obsession to use 'faux' whenever possible the last month but I have felt that I have been going through the motions of life and kind of faking everything I do. That is, until recently when the sun came out and the weather warmed up and saw many crocus blooming. My favorite part of the spring is seeing the first signs of color and life brought by crocus even when snow is still on the ground. This year was no exception.

Last night we went to Lou Malnati's for dinner. It was stemmed from my friend wanting to relive life back at a Pizza Hut in 1987. Booths to sit in and pizza with LOTS of grease. I have only had Lou Malnati's take out which I learned has only been a small fraction of a true experience of eating at Lou Malnati's. First off, this particular location attracts women who have been under the tanning lamps for far too many hours and too many years. Their hair is teased out a minimum of four inches from their heads. And they provide endless entertainment with their conversation for those outside of their 'elite' circle. (Paul B, I know that these are your people and please take no offense. They were all really nice.) In addition to the lovely ladies, the walls are lined with wood panels, booths to eat in, and have Bears paraphernalia from years past. To complete the experience the is carpet is a plaid green. It was fantastic. 

We ordered The 'Lou' for the veggies and The 'Malnati Chicago Classic' for the meat eaters. The 'Lou' was delicious but the 'Malnati Chicago Classic' was covered with a thick delicious looking tomato sauce and looked irresistible. Now under all that delicious sauce was sausage. I have been a semi-vegetarian going on 5 years. Semi because I LOVE brats and a baseball game just would not be complete without a brat. Thinking that if I could eat a brat I could definitely handle a little sausage. Let's just say, last night I found out that I am officially a vegetarian. No longer can I cheat with meat. I can no longer fake being a vegetarian.

Today was supposed to be a long training run hosted by the Wisconsin Marathon for those running the 1/2 and whole marathon at the beginning of May. The Y Running Club is training for the 1/2 and we were all supposed to meet up in Kenosha, WI bright and early at 7am which meant leaving home a  little after 5am. For various reasons everyone decided not to make the trek up except me. The weather forecast was crap, rain, 40 degrees with sustained winds of 15-25 mph with gusts up to 35. To run in that and sacrifice a morning of sleep is just not my thing. Another run clubber suggested we run in the afternoon, closer to home. We ran in the Forest Preserves which I had not been to since last fall. It was fantastic! The weather cooperated. A bit windy and just a sprinkling of rain. It felt like we kept a good consistent pace throughout even with little inclines and the wind being all over the place. After 2 hours and 5 minutes of running and 13 miles come and gone I wanted to keep going. On the drive home I realized I am no longer a runner who runs to get her workout over and done with, but a runner who truly enjoys running. No longer can I say I'm a faux runner but I'm a runner.  

One thing I do not fake is being a procrastinator. I spent a good amount of time this afternoon looking at all these pretty pictures.

P.S. Do you think that now that I'm a vegetarian runner that I can get two beers at the end of the WI half instead of a beer and brat?

The List

Lists help me to not forget the hand soap when grocery shopping, make sure I pack my bathing suit for a trip, procrastinate when I don't want to do something, etc. I'm a lister and make multiple a day. Evidently there are lot of people who love lists too. On 12-16-2012 I will turn 30. I was inspired by my co-worker who made a list of 40 things she was going to do this last year when she turned 40. It is quite possible that jumping out of a plane with her was even more of a motivator to make a list so she can help me do something crazy. Anyways, if she could do 40 things in a year I figured I could at least do 30 things by my 30th. So here it is in no particular order:

1.      Run the Chicago Marathon

2.      Go to Iceland

3.      Do a half ironman signed up for Austin 70.3 on 10/23/11

4.      Make a fun party dress

5.      Visit at least 5 of the following states: Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Rhode Island, Maine

6.      Buy 3 spices I have never heard of and make a recipe with each of them

7.      Attend the Ground Hog’s Day celebration

8.      Send Mom and Dad on a trip for their 40th anniversary on 8-26-12

9.      Make and send cookies/gift/surprise to a friend or family each month for a year(0/12)

10.  Read Lord of the Rings then watch all of the Lord of the Rings

11.  Memorize and play AND sing a song on the guitar in front of people I know

12.  Get another tattoo

13.  Read 30 books: The Reliable Wife, Monique and the Mango Rains,

14.  Create a list of things that make me happy at least once a month (0/25)

15.  Splurge on a pair of boots or jeans

16.  Run in the snow12/5/2010 Cross Country Challenge (not only was it in snow but 7 degree windchill, that was my limit)

17.  Go on a food tour in Chicago

18.  Pretend to be a tourist once a month and visit a local attraction

19.  Go to the dentist-twice

20.  Donate blood

21.  Get at least 8 hours of sleep for a full 14 days

22.  Own up to my library fine and pay it off, then use it

23.  Throw 3 parties just for fun

24.  Make a quilt

25.  Eat 5 things I have never eaten before

26.  Create a picture, frame and hang it on the wall

27.  Work a week from 9-5

28.  Write a letter instead of calling 10 friends

29.  Eat at a restaurant alone

30.  Give $10 to charity for everything not completed

I'm not sure what shape this blog is going to take if any at all. I do hope to share the adventures, fun, and hysterical times of the final years of a twenty-something. Plus, if you have a follower before posting your first post you gotta at least write something.