Monday, August 27, 2007

It's my blog and I make the rules, right?

So, I think that I've decided I've finished another item on my List. It's #81: Commute to work by bicycle, foot or bus for one month. While I've not really kept official track, I think I've more than fulfilled this obligation.

Since Bike To Work day back in May, I have only had to pay for parking for my car twice, I think and I've only parked my motorcycle at a meter and paid probably 3 times. Other than that, I have either ridden my bicycle from Troy's house (a commute of about 1 1/2 miles) or he has driven me to work (about once per week). So, since this is my list and I get to say when an item gets to be crossed off, I am officially crossing this one off!

As an aside, the savings I've experienced since I've starting riding the bicycle have been really great! I've saved probably close to $200 this summer in parking fees! Woohoo!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Goodbye, my friend

It is with a very heavy heart that I type this today. Alas, my very good friend and companion, Sisko, has gone away. Although he wasn't really my dog, but Troy's instead, his passing will weigh on my spirit for a very long time. Over the past 3 1/2 years, I have come to love him as my own.

His excited greeting at the window before I even entered the door was always a delightful way to to be welcomed. His tail would wag and he would often bark a reprimand that it had taken me too long.

Although his vocabulary of understanding was small: outside, walk, ball, tug, farm, ride in the car, Heather, Troy; he always responded with genuine enthusiasm.

Early mornings with him were the best for me. When Troy and I would return from the gym, I would snuggle into Troy's bed to catch a few more zzzs while he was getting ready for work. Sisko would always hop on the bed, wait for me to lay down and then he would find the most comfortable spot for the two of us to snuggle together. His fuzzy muzzle would search for my hand and bump me to make sure I knew he was ready for some good pets. I'm not sure which of us looked forward to our little ritual more.

His sweet disposition made all who encountered him instantly fall in love with him. Who could resist those big brown eyes, that fuzzy face, the way he would lean in and lift his paw so that you could properly pet his belly? I know I couldn't.

While there may be other dogs, they will be hard-pressed to live up to the gold standard that is the Sisko-puppalupagus, Senor fuzzy britches, Mr. Stinky-pants.

I love you, and I will miss you, my friend. May we meet again some day.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Glockenspiel Madness!

Up, up and away!

Troy with a little bounce in his step!

100 workouts complete!!!!

Well, so far it hasn't been easy and sometimes it hasn't been fun, but I have successfully completed 100 of my 500 workouts! Because I love stats and numbers so much: A recap of my time spent sweating:

Modes of exercise:

Treadmill (Walking or running) 41 Times
Outside (Walking or running) 13 Times
Elliptical machine 16 Times
Stationary Bike 13 Times
Aerobic Step Class 16 Times
Taebo Workout tape 1 Time

Number of minutes spent working out: 3,708
Amount of real time spent working out: 61 Hours, 48 Minutes

Total # of calories burned: 38,336
Total # of pounds I should have lost: 10.95
Total # of pounds I've actually lost: I'm not actually sure, but I'm pretty sure it's NOT 11 pounds! (I'll find out for sure today at the nutritionist)

What 38,336 calories would get you:
Nearly 64 pieces of chocolate cake
31.5 8 oz bags of potato chips
348 cups of Kelloggs Red Berries cereal (a favorie of mine!)
1,420 cups of cherry tomatoes

That's a LOT of tomatoes!

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Harry Potter Insanity

Ok, so I know I'm a little late to consider this really news, but I had to share this experience anyway!

On Friday, July 20th, Troy and I joined a few hundred other crazy people for the release of the last book in the Harry Potter series. I've actually only read the first 2 1/2 books or so, but who knows when this kind of hooplah surrounding a book will happen again, so we decided to brave the downtown city streets of Indianapolis to see the show. The fans of Mr. Potter did NOT disappoint!

There were the young and old, men and women, the geeky and the slightly less geeky. I was really amazed to see how many parents had their very little kids out in all of the mayhem. (The book wasn't actually released until 12:01 AM on Saturday, July 21.)

Our timing was impeccable. We arrived just as the 10 second countdown to 12:01 AM started. We stood just inside the door and could feel the excitement build as the impending moment approached!


When the cheering had ceased, we noticed another countdown of sorts. Apparently those who had preordered the book or arrived MUCH earlier in the evening were given colored wristbands which denoted their order in line. Throughout the evening, a clerk would announce the next color of wristband to be checked out. In addition, within each color, it was broken down even further according to names of characters from the Harry Potter series. It was really quite a good way of organizing the massive crowd. Because Troy and I were Johnny-come-latelies, we knew we would be the last to be queued, so we decided to find a better place to wait and the balcony overlooking the crowd seemed a great place to relax and people-watch.


About 30 minutes into the wait (which ended up being about 2 hours long in total), we witnessed a very interesting transaction. We had just been commenting on a man who was probably in his mid-thirties who seemed quite out of place. He was wearing shorts, a tank top, flip-flops and more bling than I think I even own. He was accompanied by two 20-something barbie dolls who were apparently not please with their lot in life. They were wearing the dreaded purple wristbands, which meant they would be helped last, only shortly before those of us without any wristbands at all! OH MY! Well, obviously this could not be tolerated! There was a couple standing near him who had a blue wristband and they were just getting ready to call blue. The bling-man's solution? Whip out a $100 bill from his wad of money and offer it to the unsuspecting young couple. Well, they did what I would have done. They grabbed that $100 from the silly man with the big wallet and tiny..... and ran.


Of course, a couple of minutes later, apparently the girl said to her boyfriend something about not wanting to wait so long, so he had the clerk break the $100 bill and then he proceeded to pay someone else $20 for their pink wrist band, which was one step closer to checking out.


Ah, the insanity that is Harry Potter and the capitalist system!



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