Winter

 Well, I haven't posted in a month.  I have thought about it a few times and just didn't have anything to say.  During that month I have finished my classes for my master's degree and found a place to do my practicum (or as the rest of the world calls it, an internship).  I will be working part-time, for free, at Compass Health, which is where I worked before my current job, however, this time I will be working with at-risk kids.  I'm super excited about it, and a lot nervous.  Counseling was never a job I wanted, I see myself as a social worker (which is different and the same as a counselor).  Social workers tend to do more case management type stuff than counseling.  But I always thought, if I was going to be a counselor, I wanted to counsel kids, so I'm excited to be going that direction.  My first social services job was as a residential counselor (just a glorified babysitter) in a group home for foster kids, ages 6-12.  I loved working with kids, then I did case management for teenagers and young adults before losing my job and taking the first one open to me, with adults.  I've now been working with adults for 10 years, and it's really hard to go back into the kid world when you've been out for so long.  

I am still running.  I am on day 782 (well, 783 after I run today) of at least one mile a day.  My ankle is actually doing very good, but I haven't been very motivated to run much.  That week before Thanksgiving (the last time I posted) was my highest mileage week at 13 miles, and then I got lazy and went back to only 1 mile almost every day.  Most weeks I've been running 3 miles on Saturday and Sunday, but running inside on my treadmill, while boring, has spoiled me.  I have always been an outside runner, and always after work.  Well, working from home makes it so I can run whenever I want, and since I've been babying my ankle, running on my treadmill means I haven't acclimated myself to winter running outside (granted western WA is mild winter, but still very wet).  And the thought of running in the dark . . . well, I'm not excited about that this year.  

I was pretty disappointed with my trainer, and a few weeks ago actually told her I didn't want to continue. I had lost nothing, was not liking the workouts, and wasn't getting the help I needed.  I told her I didn't think it was her, I just wasn't feeling it.  I felt the workouts were very basic, and rather boring.  I was finding harder, more interesting things on youtube.  I even told her I didn't expect a refund, I just didn't feel like wasting hers or my time.  She asked me to wait, she'd change up my workouts so they were more challenging and interesting. So she did, and I agree.  They are more interesting, and challenging.  But I still don't feel a lot of support from her in regards to eating, and that was one thing I told her I really wanted.  The last couple weeks I really tightened up my eating and felt really good last week.  The scale went down 3 lbs, and I felt good.  

Part of my "plan" is that I am allowed to eat more on the weekends, so I do.  Yesterday I still was good eating, but I did drink more wine than I have been allowing myself on the weekdays, so today I'm not feeling as comfortable (skinny) as I was last week.  But I think if I tighten it up this week I'll be okay.  

Ha! who am I kidding, this week is Christmas.  I love egg nog.  I love fudge, peanut brittle, cookies . . . . (I need to make all that 😳).  So I don't know if I will lose anything, or even break even this week.  I guess, I just need to be good where I can.  

Last night we had a surprise snow "storm."  It rained hard all day and then in the evening when it got colder it started to snow.  It wasn't sticking at all at first (rain will do that) but then it started staying on the grass and other cold areas.  Maddox went outside and played in it awhile and I made a mini snowman, there wasn't enough to make a bigger one.  I love the snow, so it was nice.  And it was nice for the first day of winter.  This morning it is all gone.  😔  That is the way it is here, and it always makes me sad.  When Damian was little (and now with Maddox) I always woke (wake) them up if it snows at night (and I'm awake) to go for a walk in it.  I know that if I don't, they'll miss it.  (I was much more of a night owl when Damian was little, so it was a lot more common for him because I'd be awake and see it, now I don't always see it and so I don't always wake up Maddox.)  

My snow man with the glow in the dark "rocks" and Maddox made a little one behind mine.

Sorry it's late

I started this a few days ago and at this "late" hour of 9pm on Sunday, I'm deciding to post it as is . . . because I don't post often enough.  :-) 

 

I cannot believe there is only one week left of November (well, one week and a half a handful of days).  We are not going anywhere for Thanksgiving.  We normally go to my sister's house, but not this year.  I actually see my sister regularly, so I'm not too bummed. We did a lot of outside socializing this summer, and just did pedicures last weekend.  

WA is under new restrictions, mostly just restaurants and bars and gyms closed again, but they are strongly advising us not to get together for Thanksgiving.  When I was younger, Thanksgiving was a big holiday.  We lived only a few miles from my grandma, but we'd still spend the day there eating.  When I moved to western WA I quit going over there (I did one year and was stuck in traffic forever), and then my Grandma died and my Mom got tired of being the only  one to cook (and clean) so my family started going out on Thanksgiving and it's just not fun doing it that way.  There were a couple years that we had some young people living with us (they were a brother and sister that were homeless) and we started doing big Thanksgiving dinners with them and inviting their friends, but when they moved out they gradually quit talking to us.  Now we rarely see them, which is sad, because they had become part of our family.  

I am still running.  My ankle is feeling good, and I am on track to run more miles this week more than any week since August.  Maddox has been going to the Boys and Girls Club for remote learning, but this week an employee tested positive so they closed it all.  I think it's strange since I thought they were in "pods" in case someone tested positive and only that pod would be quarantined.  According to the letter sent home, Maddox was not in direct contact and we don't have to quarantine, but they are all closed.  So we did some P.E. by doing a 2 mile run/bike ride.

Do some research

 Well, I have not been very impressed with my personal trainer.  I told her that my key problem was accountability with food, and I've had zero support from her on this.  I did ask her about macros and such, she had originally told me to eat 80% protein, which I have been trying, but myfitnesspal breaks it down to fats, protein, and carbs, and my fats have been a huge percentage, but most of them are coming from the protein I'm eating.  So I asked her about that, and she thought what I was eating was fine, but it's so hard to know.  The workouts are super easy, and not very challenging.  Last week I was a little sore, but not bad.  And she said that these are the workouts (exactly the same) that I'll be doing for the next 4 weeks.

I did lose weight last week, but I would not attribute it to her.  I do not think that she has done enough for the money I've paid her.  I am not great at advocating for myself, so the idea of talking to her about my unhappiness with her program is very, very uncomfortable to me.  I keep thinking that maybe I'll just do this thing and use the money as motivation even if she is not actually helpful.  

I don't know if it's because I've been doing this whole lose weight/exercise thing for a long time.  I know what I'm supposed to eat, I know how many calories I should be eating, and I've been exercising for a long time.  Hell, I have a 2+ year runstreak, so obviously I'm disciplined to a point. I think she is geared towards newbies, people that don't know what they're doing, and don't know what to eat.  

It often takes me a long time to decide to do something.  I think about it a lot.  And then I decide to do it, but I don't do much research on my options.  I did this with my graduate program.  I decided to go to school, and chose the easiest, most convenient school, and I've regretted it.  Same with this, I've been thinking about finding a personal trainer, but didn't know where to find one.  So this one sort of fell into my lap, and I jumped at it.  I should have researched it further.

This last weekend on Saturday, I ran 3 miles, the longest run since Sept. 27 (a 3 mile run).  I then went and ran 2 miles on Sunday.  I was a little worried about my foot, but it is fine.  I haven't had any issues with it at all.  

2 years

 Is anyone else done watching the news?  I feel burned out on it, but at the same time, can't seem to stay away.  Since our election was 2 days ago, it's been a shit show here in America.  I can't imagine things getting better before the end of the year.  (I think I have one person from outside of the US that reads this, so even though we voted this week, the next president [or current one if he wins again] doesn't take office until Jan. 20.)  I don't see any relief from this stupid political crap before than.  We don't even know who is going to be president, and we likely won't know until December.  It's ridiculous.  As I type I have the Today Show on my TV watching them speculate on the election, even though they know nothing more than they did yesterday.  🤦‍♀️

Anyway, I have big news.  I reached 2 years of running at least a mile a day on October 31st.  

Saturday was such a pretty day.  I was so happy to have such a nice day to do 2 miles outside.  I wished I could have run 7.31 miles (for 731 days) or even spelled out 731, but because of my ankle I've only been running 1 mile, and there's no way I could have run that far.  But I did run my favorite areas, along the river, and then on the trail that always has really glorious fall leaves on it (a paved trail).  Fall running is my favorite type of running.  The weather is often nice (unless it's raining, and it does rain), and the leaves and feel of the air, just make it my favorite time to run.  And of course, I'm stuck on the treadmill.  

With my ankle, I had been planning on stopping on November 1st, but I just couldn't do it.  I know it's so silly to only be running one mile a day on my treadmill, but my ankle has been doing better, it's definitely not worse, and I'm not ready to stop.  So today (after I run) will be day 736.  

Also, I decided to hire a personal trainer.  I have been getting no where with my weight loss, still holding onto 15 lbs over my ideal weight (10 since COVID).  I was thinking about what would motivate me . . . 

My sister did 30/10, and paid $3000 to starve, but she got down to 126 (I would love that, but I'm not going to get that low, I won't give up wine completely).  She talked about the money, and how she wasn't going to waste $3000, and because of that, she's kept it off almost 2 years. (She gained a little, she's probably in the low 130's, but that's still amazing.)  I don't have $3000, and don't want to starve, so decided I can't do that one.

Then I heard about the controversy about All In by Teddi.  Teddi is a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills (or was until this controversy came out and she was fired, besides she was boring) and is the daughter of John Mellencamp.  I watch the Real Housewives of everywhere (it's stupid, I know, I still love Bravo [the channel]).  So All In by Teddi is a weight loss/accountability program but this summer/fall it came out that #1 it's very expensive and #2 it's abusive.  The people have an accountability coach, and they have to text pictures of what they're about to eat and get permission for it.  They are required to do intensive exercise for an hour every day, and text their coach the proof.  And if they don't lose weight they have to pay the program because they (the person, not the program) failed for that week.  Also, the reports were that the "coaches" were untrained, and very abusive.  Also, people reported that they were only allowed to eat about 900 calories a day, and even after complaining they were starving, the "coaches" would tell them to drink more water with lemon.  

Alright, so I wasn't interested in All In, I didn't want to pay money if I didn't succeed, but I liked the idea of accountability.  So I started taking pictures of everything I ate, even though I track, I was still wondering if that would be useful (it wasn't).  I also started taking regular "progress" pictures (one a week), that was also not useful.

So, what motivates me?  When I was marathon training it was the idea of going farther than I've ever gone before on my long runs.  And the fact that I heard a lot of people gain weight when they marathon train, so I decided I can't eat a lot, I don't want to gain weight.  And I lost weight.  But I can't marathon train right now, and I have already hit all those miles anyway.  

So I thought that money might motivate me.  If I am paying someone to help me, do I want to screw off and give up?  Not really.  And then a random person requested to friend me on Facebook, and I was looking at her profile and she is a personal trainer, so I messaged her.  After some talking about it, I decided to hire her.  This is my first week.  She's in Nebraska (I'm in Washington) so it's all virtual, and so far . . . ehhh.  I told her multiple times that what I'm really looking for is accountability, but I haven't really received support for that this week.  We met for one session online, she gave me 2 strength training workouts for the rest of the week, and that's all I've had from her.  Oh, I guess she gave me some recipes, but nothing I would eat. So I don't know.  But I paid her.  We shall see.

I knew last week that I was starting with her this week, so I ate.  I had the mindset that I'm starting next week so why not?  It's so silly.  I am of the mind that you don't have to start on Monday, on the first day of the month, on Jan. 1st, start where you are.  But I easily went into the mode of "I start on Monday."  My motivation right now is that I paid money to lose weight, so I better damn lose weight, and that's on me, not her.  

not a lot to say

Wow, I haven't posted in a month. I started this post but didn't finish it. 

Doing better

 After last week of being so stressed out and not doing remote learning (aka homeschool) for Maddox well, and not doing work well, this week has been better, although with different worries.  We decided, for my sanity, and so that Maddox and I don't end every day in tears, that he would go to the Boys and Girls Club every day to do remote learning there.  He has two people in his room to help with the school work for 8 kids, and while that isn't as good as one on one, at least their job is to help, and they aren't trying to do a job while helping.  So that has made my life easier at home during the day.  

BUT Maddox has a learning disability and his stuff for his IEP (Individualized Education Plan) isn't set up yet, plus I worry he's missing stuff because there isn't a person standing right there with him all the time helping him getting into his meetings.  Plus, he doesn't want to go, and every night he is upset because he can't stay with me.  

I think I'm overthinking it.  I'm not sleeping very well.  Yesterday I woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep because I was thinking too much.  This is a relatively new (in my life of almost 44 years) thing, when I get too stressed, I can't sleep.  It happened in 2014 as well when I lost my job and we had to move and couldn't afford life.  I slept a few hours every night and felt awful all the time.  Last night I slept pretty good, so that was nice.

I did cut back on my drinking.  I didn't quit completely, but cut back, and I am okay with it.  I feel good that I am not drinking crazily still.  I am also doing an extra exercise 3 or four times a week.  I actually haven't kept track of how many times.  I know I didn't do it Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this week.  I did today and yesterday.  I was going to say I did 3 times last week, but I might have done 4.  It's kind of a combination of some yoga poses and some butt and ab workouts with pushups.  It's not much, about 20 min at a time.  But it's something.  

I'm also eating very well within my calories.  I weighed myself today and from the first of the month I am down a little over 2 lbs, and a little over 1 lb from last Friday.  When you say it "out loud" it "sounds" like so little.  2.2 lbs isn't much.  1.2 lbs is less. And it sucks.  But it's better than staying where I was or going up.  

I was keeping track of my weight on my bathroom mirror, but a few months ago I decided it looked terrible, and if people used that bathroom (it's the one in my bedroom, but still, if the main one is in use, people use it) than they can see my weight.  So I wrote all down in a notebook and am keeping track there now.  I was looking at it today and realized I have not been lower than 153 all of 2020, and I'd say my average is 155.  That's terrible.

I guess I'll keep trekking onward.

Stressed

 Well, I did yoga for 2 days.  And I enjoyed it, but my head always says that it's too much time.  So what if I can run for over an hour? 20 min is a long time . . . so of course I can't do 20 min of yoga!  So silly.  

I will tell you what I did instead, I'm working on cutting back on my drinking.  It is no secret that I love wine.  But my daily glass or two started being a whole bottle.  And then I was noticing that I was finishing the bottle and wasn't done, so I would have a vodka soda, or open another bottle.  Seriously, one night I had 2 bottles of wine.  That is not healthy.  It is very, very unhealthy.  

This started when everything shut down.  Suddenly I was at home all the time (still am) and 3pm would roll around and I'd be ready for a glass of wine (I don't get off work until 4:30, but who would know?)  Well, when you start early and you drink until you go to bed, then you drink more.  Plus, I joined a facebook page called Lushy Wino and while I love this group and I've never interacted more in a group than I do with this one (even my own running page), it definitely normalizes drinking a lot, and makes me feel like I should have another glass.  

So last week I decided to cut back, and I mean not drink at all.  I did end up drinking on Wednesday because I had a hair appt and I always drink wine with my hairdresser.  I also drank on Friday, because. . . well, Friday.  So I guess I drank 2 out of 5 days I wasn't going to.  But that is significantly less than I had been.  Anyway, I will be continuing this.  I think it's important to cut back, and I don't need to be drinking so much ever.  Plus, it's bad for my weight.  😉

I am running one mile a day, usually on my treadmill.  I did run 3 miles a week ago on Sunday, and again on Thursday, and my ankle seemed to be doing great.  I also added some walking in the evening because I miss getting out for my run, so I did that . . . huh . . . well, after looking, I only did it on Monday and Tuesday, I thought I had done it more.  Anyway, it still bothers me some, but not like it was at the beginning of August.  However, I went for a 3 mile walk with my sister on Saturday and on Sunday and again today it's bothering me more.  So much so that I did not run 3 miles yesterday like I planned, only 1 mile.  

School for Maddox starts on Wednesday and I'm stressing out a little.  I will be working from home (mostly, I do go to my office occasionally), going to school for myself, and "teaching" home school (which isn't really teaching, but making sure Maddox stays on track).  I'm the slightest bit stressed . . .

The worst part about being so stressed out, is that I can't go for a run.  That has been my stress reliever for 8 years now.  And I miss it.

To challenge or not to challenge

I ran today for 3 miles and it didn't feel awful.  Actually, I enjoyed it, other than the drama that I have going on with my family that happened in the middle of my run, but it went well.  My foot doesn't hurt more than it did this morning before my run, so that's good.  I did take some Aleve this morning, so the test might be once it wears off.  

I don't do challenges.  I don't follow through with them.  But I want to do something for the next 5 days.  Five days doesn't seem to be very long.  But I'm trying to decide what, and I want to start tomorrow.  😳  I want to either do 5 days of yoga, or 5 days of a different kind of exercise (not running, although I would keep my one mile a day streak going).  I think 5 days of yoga would be good, 30 min a day, it's no different than running at least 3 miles for 5 days (which has been my norm).  

I definitely am not going to run more than one mile 5 days a week.  But a few times a week if my ankle feels okay in the morning, and never two days in a row.  

My ankle is the biggest reason why I'm thinking yoga for 5 days in a row instead of something harder.

Vacation 2020

  Last week we went on vacation on a Lake in eastern WA.  (I capitalize Lake because that is how I grew up saying it, "the Lake," "we're going to the Lake," "how was your trip to the Lake?" it is Deer Lake, near Spokane, WA.)  We have been going to "the Lake" for five years now.  I don't remember why we decided to start going, prior to 2015 it felt like we weren't wanted because of one of my aunts.  That year, I thought the house was going to be cluttered and terrible, but Chris really wanted to go.  We usually went camping on San Juan Island for a week, maybe that year we didn't have a lot of money, I don't really remember, but we went.  And we LOVED it.  It was a little cluttered (hello, family of hoarders) but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  That year we actually wished that we had more time there.  

Last year we were only able to go for a long weekend.  We went on Labor Day weekend because our normal week there, the first or second week in August, we were on a cruise to Alaska (remember when that was a thing, and we didn't have to worry about it?)  Well, this year we've officially been there 3 times this summer.  We went in May, right before Chris went back to work after being furloughed for 2 1/2 months.  Then we went again in June when our camping trip got canceled because everything is closed.  It was a great week.  I forgot how much I loved the Lake while it's quiet.  Last year we were there on Labor Day, an automatic busy weekend, and the year before we were there on the 4th of July, another busy time, and the whole week was busy.  We never really saw the same amount of people, which I was surprised about on the weekend.

The first evening we were there.

My first morning in my favorite spot

Maddox and his friend, who came with us, built an island on the beach.

Diving off the dock.

Sunsets there are always beautiful (unless you can't see it).

Paddleboarding

My Dad came up for a day

The next day my sister came with her son and our niece. 

My last sunset for the week.  :-(

A group picture right before we left.

We really are very lucky to have this house to go to every year, especially this year while things are so crazy.  My oldest son, Damian, was supposed to come as well with his son, but sadly the house wasn't done with it's construction/facelift, and taking a 10 month old to a house with plywood floors and debris everywhere, just isn't a good idea.  I was pretty bummed they couldn't join us this time.  Maybe next year . . .

Still running

I was going to write about our trip last week but I'm not able to get my photos to upload, so I'll try again tomorrow or Friday.  😊

Before we went on vacation my ankle started bothering me a lot.  It started on the arch of my foot, moved to the outside, and then settled in the inside of my ankle, although occasionally it still bothers me in the other two spots as well.  I talked about it in my last post, but I decided to only run one mile, and go back to my old shoes (I bought new ones, but didn't get them before my vacation).  While on vacation I decided to get a Ace bandage, and wrapped my ankle for the entire morning, including during my morning run.  It bothered me A LOT on vacation while I was running, but since I've been home I've been running on my treadmill, only one mile, with my new shoes (they finally came), while wrapped, and I've noticed it doesn't hurt nearly as bad.  At least not while I am not running.  (Yesterday it hurt more than it has this whole time during my run, but I think it was because I used a different wrap and wrapped too tight. Today it didn't hurt that much and I ran for almost 2 miles.)

The reason I ran 2 miles today?  Well, I didn't know my new Garmin would want to calibrate a treadmill run.  My last Garmin didn't do that, so when I was done with my first treadmill run with my new Garmin it asked to calibrate, and I didn't know what it was doing.  Well, I hit that I ran 2 miles instead of 1, and I couldn't get it to go back to 1 mile.  I thought, oh well, it can't be that big of a deal.  Well, then yesterday, my 1 mile run on the treadmill registered as only a half mile on my Garmin, so I looked up how to recalibrate it.  The answer was I had to run at least a mile and it would give me the option to calibrate again.  But because I had set it to register 1 mile as a half mile, I had to run 2 miles in order to get it to read 1 mile.  So today I decided even if I had to walk, I was going to go 2 miles so I could recalibrate it.  I actually ended up running less than 2 miles because I pumped my arm for a while because I was worried about my ankle.  

It worked out okay . . . so I'm happy to get it configured correctly, and it didn't bother my ankle more than my one mile runs have.  Which I'm very happy about.  I've now run 16 days of "only" one mile (well, other than today).  But I can say that my run streak is intact.  I am on day 658 days, which means I'm 73 days away from 2 years.

Procrastination and conflict avoidance runs in the family

I've had a pain in my foot and ankle for a couple weeks.  It started as a pain in my arch on my right foot, which I attributed to plantar faciits, however, I didn't do anything about it.  But it has moved, it was on the outside of my ankle and has now settled to the inside of my ankle.  I also have noticed that I have a little bit of swelling on the inside of my ankle.  I've been sorta ignoring it (I know, super unhealthy to do), but I'm at day 642 of my runstreak.  Two years is just around the corner, only 89 days left to go, and I really want to get there.  I'm afraid if I go to a dr. they will tell me I have to stop running for awhile, which is probably a good idea, but 89 days!  

It bothers me most at the beginning of my run, and then I get in the groove and forget about it until I get home.  I've been taking ibuprofen and have been rubbing CBD oil on it (that really seems to help) that I got for my arthritic hip (that sounds like I'm ancient).  I should start icing it regularly.  I've done it some, but not very often.  I haven't been doing any crazy distances.  My longest runs have been 6 miles lately, but most of them are 3 miles.  

Shut up and Run posted (for the first time since December, I've missed her) about some ankle pain she had recently and she self-diagnosed herself with peroneal tendonitis.  I read a little (very little) about it and it said that it can be more common in people who sprained their ankle and didn't let it heal properly.  Guess who sprained her right ankle and was in denial about it a few years ago?  

We are supposed to go back to the Lake next week.  This is our normally scheduled trip, the last 2 trips there this summer were sort of spur of the moment.  But the house isn't done.  Remember I told you that they are renovating (really just fixing the leak that happened, but having to replace almost everything downstairs because it's so old you can't find the stuff needed to make it look the same).  Well, they have been very lackadaisical about working on the house.  

My dad hired them in February.  Everything shut down in March, but then reopened (well construction did) in May.  Their original deadline was July 4th.  I don't think they were even in the house before July 4th.  We were there at the beginning of June and again two weeks ago (I just realized I didn't post about that). 

*back in time* 

We went to the Lake again in July.  We were supposed to go camping, but the campground only opened at 50% capacity and because we were in campsite 13 and 12 and 14 were open, 13 was not.  We had already asked for the time off, so we went to the Lake again for 4 days.  It was a really nice trip.  

When we got there, they had put sheetrock up, and there was a guy doing the mudding.  But it was the first round of mudding, and he didn't come back while we were there.  I walked away on Monday knowing the house wouldn't be done in time for our August trip. 

*Back to the future*

I talked to my Dad yesterday, who was there last Thursday and he said they look to be done with the mudding, and ready to paint, but nothing else has been done.  He had given them a second deadline of August 1st, but obviously they didn't make it.  He's pretty unhappy with them, but is such a conflict avoider that he doesn't do anything about it.  They are supposed to replace all of the downstairs floor, completely redo one bathroom (the one with the leak) and replace a shower stall in the small (only usable) bathroom.  It's not going to be done by this Saturday.  😌

I don't know if we'll be able to go.  Chris and I are pretty sure we want to, but if they tear out the small bathroom shower, and don't immediately replace it, we won't have anywhere to use the toilet.  I'm pretty frustrated by it, and at my Dad too.  If he was more forceful it would be done by now. 

As it is, Damian definitely can't come with Asher because there is no flooring, just plywood.  A 10 month old on plywood is not good.  

Random thoughts

I just realized I haven't posted since July 8, and that was just my short post about Katie from RunsforCookies commenting on my last post.  And guess what, she commented again.  😀  

Anyway, I have not been doing much lately.  I have thought about posting, but just haven't had anything to say.  I'm running.  Every day.  Today was day 640.  On Thursday I had to go to my office, so I got up early to run because I don't like running in the heat.  I was only doing a mile and my toe hit a curb and I fell.  It hurt, and I scraped up my hand pretty badly.  It hurts quite a lot just typing this.  

I also scraped my knee, but didn't realize it had broken the skin until I was home and blood was seeping through my leggings.  I'm glad I didn't rip them, as they are newish and I like them a lot.  

What else has been happening?  Well, my intermittent fasting didn't last (I could have sworn I typed a post about this).  I was doing okay on it, but I didn't like waiting until 11 to eat on days that I run in the morning . . . and every day this last week I ran before 11 because it's so warm out right now.  I had decided to not do the intermittent fasting on the weekend so that I could eat before I run, but now I want to run in the morning every day.  I did very well with losing weight on the fasting, but since I stopped, I haven't lost any weight.  

Hmm, I'm very lost on what to write about today.  Maybe I'll browse through my pictures and see what's been going on in my life. . . 

I got a hammock chair.  It's so comfortable, but it's also very warm on my front porch in the evening.  I sat in it almost all morning today, well, when I wasn't running and then shopping.  I did find some interesting pictures on my phone when I was just looking at them.  😆

My pool is finally up and running.  We got the replacement filter pump, and I'm so glad I have it right now.  Although, I know the majority of the US has had much higher temperatures than I have, it's still warm to this acclimated Pacific Northwest girl.  

Yes, this is a flamingo cup holder.  It's brilliant.  

Celebrity Sighting

I know, I just posted yesterday, but I got on to look to see if anyone commented on my post from yesterday.  (I used to get email notifications, but now I don't and don't know how to get them back.)  Anyway, I didn't really expect a comment, but if I had one it would have been from MaryFran because she's the one most likely to comment on my posts.

I was surprised to see a comment that wasn't from MaryFran. 

Katie is the author of RunsforCookies that I talk about all the time.  I know, I know, she's not a celebrity, but I have been reading her blog for 8 years and I really feel like we are best friends . . . she just doesn't know it.  😆 

I completely believe her reading my post from yesterday was a one time thing, which is fine.  I just am excited that she commented.  How silly is that?  I believe she's normal and not a celebrity and would probably be uncomfortable with this whole post, but I really am surprised that she commented on my post.

Intermittent Fasting, sort of

I started a modified version of intermittent fasting a few weeks ago.  I can't remember exactly when I started, to be honest.  I'm pretty sure this is my fourth week.  It is, I just checked. 

I listen to true crime podcasts (and Watch What Crappens, about Bravo TV shows).  One of my favorites, that I've listened to since the very beginning (only a year and a half ago), is Housewives of True Crime.  They do a lot of gossiping and are very cliche "California girls."  But I enjoy them. I follow them on Facebook and they started another page for the keto diet.  I don't do keto, I have tried to stay low carb, and  have cut way back since they started this group.  But someone in the group said they were doing keto and intermittent fasting.  And then a friend of mine said he lost 10lbs from intermittent fasting, so I decided to try. 

I am very, very loose with my IF.  I wanted to do something that I could do without cheating.  So I am only fasting for 15 hours, instead of 16.  I choose to eat between 11am and 8pm, this is because of coffee and wine.  And believe me, waiting for my coffee is difficult.  I know black coffee is allowed, but I don't drink black coffee, I think it's gross.  I have not been perfect with my timing, either.  In fact, just this morning I ate my avocado at 10:50 and had my coffee.  And last night my last glass of wine was finished at 8:08pm. 

The first couple days I had a headache in the morning because of lack of caffeine, but even though I'm looking at the time from 10am on, I am no longer getting a headache.  I did discover that I cannot run before eating.  I ran one day at 10:30 and it was terrible.  With the hot days coming (remember western WA summers don't start until July 5th, and we had one day of warm weather and today it's cool again) I'm not sure if I will be able to avoid eating because I will need to run before it gets too warm.  I have been running most often at 11:30, time for my coffee to get in me and some food, but then I also run into (literally) the problem of having to use the bathroom.  Sometimes so bad I can't wait.

Last Thursday I had to brave the hospital because it's on my route and I couldn't go any farther without using the bathroom.  The lady that screened me was really nice, but I don't really want to go into the hospital if I don't have to, and I was worried she wouldn't let me go.  I would have had an accident, so I'm glad she was nice.

I have decided that Saturday and Sunday I will not be waiting until 11am to eat.  I did the first 2 weekends and it just doesn't work with my weekend schedule (shopping and running).  But I also figure that it will change things up so my body doesn't get too used to a certain routine.

I think IF is supposed to make it so you eat less, but I really don't think I am.  I still keep track of all my food and my calories are still pretty high.  I did lose 7lbs the first week and a half I started IF, but then I gained 3 lbs back, and then my weigh in this morning (which is not official) I was back down another pound.  So I've lost 5lbs in 4 weeks, which is actually better than I've done in a long time.  I'm going to continue with it for now and see where it goes.  It does help me to quit snacking in the evening, and quit drinking wine.  So that's good. 

I would like to lose another 10lbs before going on vacation in August.  That is only 4 weeks away, so I think that's not going to happen.  If I lost 5lbs I'd be happier, but it would be better to lose 10 . . . I think I have to do better at eating less during my 9 hours of eating.

So we did a thing . . .

I love the summer.  I love the sun and the warmth, and the tan lines.  😀 (I always put on sunscreen, but I still tan.)  I have put out a "kiddie" pool for as long as I've had a house to put one up in. 

 This is from my parent's house, but I couldn't find a pool picture from my house.  This is 2012, Maddox was 1. 😊  It's kind of an ironic picture because the pool that I grew up with was between where the kiddie pool is and the chicken coop.  My parents took it out when my youngest sister went to college.

 This is from 2013 at my old house.  We put the pool in an indent from a tree we dug out of the yard, which was rather perfect.

This is from 2015 at my current house, which you can't see much but me in.  😂

And last year I decided to buy a "real" pool.  We half-assed the leveling of the area, but I loved the pool.  

So this year when I started thinking about the process of leveling again, I really didn't want to have to do it every single year.  Our neighbors put in tile brick for their (big) pool a few years ago, so I decided we should do that . . . so that was my brilliant idea for this weekend.

We spent 10 1/2 hours on Saturday getting the material and putting it together. 

And we were 14 bricks short.  😡  So we had to go back on Sunday and get more bricks.

But it really looks fabulous!  I was so excited to put up the pool, which we did . . . and now our filter isn't working. 

I've never had a pool so level before! But I can't even swim in it, because the filter isn't working.

Chris and I are sore!  I had so many spots that were sore that I've never felt before.  Most notably my right first finger, which I thought was strange, and my elbows.  When we did the last 14 bricks on Sunday, the action of trying to set them in place was painful, I could barely lift the bricks up.  Definitely don't wait to finish projects till the next day . . . the pain sets in and it is hard to do!  My thighs are still really sore, which is strange because I was kneeling and wasn't moving my legs much.  

"only 9 more days to 1000"

Everyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I read Runs for Cookies, it's the first blog I started reading before I started my own.  It's also one of the main blogs that helped me get started and keep running.  I probably would never have done any races, ever, if it wasn't for the blogs I follow (although most of the ones I followed when I started no longer post which is sad because when you read someone's thoughts for years and then they disappear, you wonder what happened to them).  Anyway, Katie and her family love squirrels, and she posts about the squirrels they have in their yard.  Plus, a person I worked with (for about 1 month) and am "friends" with on Facebook also posts about her squirrels, so I started watching the squirrels in my backyard.  They are hilarious in their attempts to get to the bird food.  I decided to put out their own food.  They come every morning and make a mess on my deck.  But they are extremely entertaining to watch.  If only I could get them to get a nut out of my hand. . . 

If I can keep the stellar jays away.

The last week or so has been pretty crazy, so there will be a lot of pictures in this post.  Last Thursday was Maddox's birthday.  My sister and her husband came up for dinner, and we hung out for awhile. 

 Maddox loves this costume.  He asked for one, so I thought that would be so perfect for him.  😂

My sister and her husband got Maddox a giant bag of popcorn, it's about halfway gone.

As you know, Father's Day was on Sunday and it also happened to be my parents anniversary, it would have been 51 years.  We didn't want my Dad to be alone, so we arranged to meet him at a rest area on the freeway about halfway between him and my sister and I.  My two sisters from eastern WA also joined us, and Damian was able to go with Asher.  It's the first my dad has seen Asher since February, so it was nice.

Last week Maddox made himself a hammock out of an old firewood carrier and I posted a picture of it on Facebook. 

Well, my Dad saw it and decided to buy Maddox a hammock for his birthday, so it got set up (with a lot of help from big brother) yesterday. 

Yesterday I was feeling ambitious and decided to ask Damian if he wanted to ride his bike while I ran.  Of course that meant that I had to push Asher in the stroller, which is always harder than I think, even on my relatively flat path.  But we did it.

Yesterday was my 600th day running at least one mile a day.  Funny story . . . on day 590 I realized I was close to a "milestone" so the next day when I was talking to a friend I said I was on day 591 and "only have 9 more days till 1000 days of running!"  He laughed at me and told me to check my math.  😂🤣  I've never claimed to be good with numbers.

Finally, I'll leave you with this adorable picture of Asher.  He is soooo stinkin' cute!