back dated

i missed posting for several weeks. family, busy schedules, lot of things going on. so, im back dating 2 weeks of wednesdays to keep them in the right places. i am weighing, i have even squeezed in a couple workouts. i just havent posted. so, january 25 i weighed 162.4 pounds.

georgie loves the play center

jason had a hectic night tonight and wont be home in time for me to go to the gym. we made some plans last night and decided i could just take georgie to the play center after i drop off emma at preschool. perfect. i did my 3 miles and it was fine. (i dont want to talk about the irritating man in yellow who ALWAYS passed me on the left, no matter what lane i was in or if i was running or walking, or if there were two full open lanes on my right and how i opted for a half mile on the treadmill because if his sweaty shirt flicked at me ONE MORE TIME i might loose it.) and i finished with 5 minutes on the stairs. done.

then when i went to pick up georgie, he didnt even want to talk to me. hed found cars and a train and i didnt exist.

tonight i had a bunny

i set up to do my three miles around the track at the rec again tonight, and as i rounded to first corner and passed a few walkers i found another runner. a hispanic man, late fifties, holding a 9:45 pace. i considered passing him, but decided to hang back and i am so glad i did! he was my bunny tonight. i chased him for an extra half mile before i slowed to walk because i had so much fun. i wanted to thank him for pacing me, but in the next 4 laps i didnt see him. i thought maybe he had peeled off when i was on the other side. but i caught him! just shy of 3 miles i caught up to him walking and took a deep breath to get up some nerve.

you guys know, im not a fan of strangers. or even non strangers. i talk to close friends. im just a bit timid. but i pulled out my ear bud and said excuse me. i was greeted with a thick accent. i hope he understood. i told him i had been following him, and thanked him for keeping a pace, that because of him i was able to run a little farther than i have in a while. he grinned and said something about its okay, and just have fun! im so glad i caught up to him again.

i also finished my three miles six seconds faster than i did on tuesday. i ended with 3.5 miles on the track and 7:30 on the stair machine for a full five points tonight. i wanted to make jason proud.

i had a good time at the gym tonight, and i have a bunny to thank for it.

James, Mercy Triumphs, Beth Moore

this is the study we are doing at church right now. ive always been fond of james blunt writings. i know its early church context, but it feels easily applicable now. that appeals to me. beth digs when she teaches bible study, and gives home work. one of the questions asked last week was in the context of paul and james. they were called to bring the gospel to what seemed to be opposite ends of the world, james to the jews and paul to the gentiles. they had different views about the jewish law and how it ought to be kept (see acts 15) and the teachings focused in different areas. with that in mind, how do you think they got along? how do we get along with believers that dont share our every opinion? do we think the work of God is only accomplished when we are working with people who see it our way? we have all fallen and failed, we are all graced and forgiven.

i can think of several friends who belong to different denominations than i do, and who believe different details. it came up the night before i did this homework assignment in conversation with jason even. he and a coworker who is also a good friend were out on a run and talking about revelation and the rapture. his friend believes strongly that a pre-tribulation rapture ought to be taught even though we dont have scripture that tells us any detail about the rapture. his reasons are good too- no excuses from people who want to wait to change their hearts and lives until they "see it coming" from all the end times signs. its a good point, but i disagree. i think we ought to teach what the bible tells us and leave it at that. i think there is evidence that we may be called up before things get really rough here on earth, but im also not sure that we would really be aware that end times events were happening. our human nature is weak. we are so caught up in our own lives, even when those lives are serving God, that i think its possible we may overlook the larger significance of the destruction and plauges and distress that is prophesied. we give little thought to these things now, so i wouldnt be surprised if we miss the big ones later.

but thats not my point. my point is, jasons coworker and i dont see eye to eye. but i am SO thankful for him as a man of God to come alongside my husband in his day to day life and offer fellowship, accountability, and support through prayer. he is a precious jewel to me because of his heart for God. we do not have to agree on every point in our theology in order to function as a larger body of Christ. we do to need agree that our salvation comes from Him and not of our own doing, and have a yearning for the truth of the scripture and God will provide the rest. (matthew 7:7-8, james 1:5)

my insecurities wants to clarify all the above saying i hope its clear enough, or makes sense, or im sure many others could have said it better, but my homework from last week taught me comparisons like that are not a good use of my time and instead i ought to simply live my life in the spirit and do my part "in love and humility, variety and diversity." (mercy triumphs pg30)

a whole week in one post

i have clearly been busy. or just distracted.

monday jason was off work, i convinced him to use a rec pass even though he cant swim. we put georgie in the play center for the first time and just hung out together. i ended up with 30 minutes on the eliptical, 4 miles on the bike, and a half mile jog.

tuesday was the first day of classes. jason came home in time for me to go straight to the gym. i actually wanted to run. (that hasnt happened for a while. a long while.) i did 3 miles on the track in 33 minutes. i can tell its been a while since i ran, but it felt good and i enjoyed my work out so thats a win all around.

this morning, snow provided my work out. i spent 20 minutes shoveling the driveway clear before it started to melt in time to refreeze on a layer of ice. fun, but a lot of work.

and its wednesday. this morning i weigh 161.4 pounds. a LOSS of 2 pounds this week. thats pretty encouraging.

more tomorrow on how bible study is going. i enjoy it, but dont speak up often. thats just me. i do have some things to say though, so im going to chat about it a bit here.

stairs

fifteen more minutes on the stairs this evening. jason begged me to do them with him, so i did. now im finally getting around to recording all my points for the year to see where im at. im keeping track with him at work using their system.

(would have spent some time at the gym tonight, but some one decided to use a knife blade to pry with tonight, and sliced his thumb open. 5 stitches later, there wasnt time to go. dont worry about him, hes totally fine.)

feeling better

(this is a day late. i am blaming jason. :) we had church last night, then finished up his five points of stairs and went straight to bed. so, no time to write.)

yesterday morning i weighed 163.4 pounds. boy am i good at maintaining! with my health on an upswing right now i am looking forward to a good work out, and eating more than whatever warm liquid doesnt hurt my throat.

i did get in all 25 minutes of stairs yesterday, ten in the afternoon and fifteen in the evening. jason has to meet with his group again tonight, so tomorrow will be my day back at the gym.

still feeling awful

but i did ten minutes on the stairs. because its just 10 minutes, and its just the stairs.

its january, that means im sick.

wednesday morning and afternoon i worked on tidying up the sewing room for my soon arriving company. i came down stairs around 2 or 3 for lunch and noticed i had a temperature. everything went down hill pretty quickly after that.

i spent the evening under layers on the couch, then a restless night waking every hour or so and up from 2-5am browsing the wonders of the early morning internet. thursday was worse. higher temp (hovering just over 102 despite constant medication and lots of fluids) and it was work to make sandwiches and change diapers. emma ran wild. georgie tolerated his crib an hour longer than usual after nap (he always has a little alone play after nap, i think its good for him to learn to keep himself entertained.)

jason came home an hour early so that i could go to the doctor. nothing definite, but odds are sinus infection, possible strep, could be flu. we couldnt get my prescription filled last night because the walmart pharmacy was running so far behind.

another feverish night (and another set of sheets to wash, i hate sleeping with fevers) and i saw my throat has now broken into lots of white spots. so, looks like sinus infection and strep wins for the magic makes-sarah-misserable combination. ten days of antibiotics and i should be back to myself. but, im contagious for 24 hours, so no gym today, and possibly not tomorrow as well. i was off to such a great start too.

a run and the sauna

new years resolutions are in full swing at the rec center. it was PACKED last night. i was glad to have just charged my ipod so i could snag my old favorite treadmill on the outside edges of the track and stare at my reflection in the window while i ran.

(also, good for people watching, because i could see everyone as the rounded the corner and ran towards me.) i did 3.25 miles (with a cool down) in 43 minutes and enjoyed the run. i think thats what ill do tonight too. after my run i went down to the sauna for a few minutes and oh have i missed the WARMTH! i took my book in with me (even though jason said that was weird) and didnt get it soaked with sweat (ew) because i was careful how i held it. so yeah, a good night at the gym last night.

i admit, i was a little anxious about weighing this morning. ive put in a lot of work this week, but i havent been as watchful about my eating. the food has been good food, ive just had more than i need. this morning i weigh 163 pounds. thats down one more pound from last week. ill take it. also, my smallest size jeans fit again. so im feeling MUCH better about the situation.

the never ending stair case and bicycle that goes nowhere

i tried out some new machines at the gym yesterday afternoon. jason and i had talked about the stair machine. it wasnt too hard to use, but it was very weird to be on. i had a hard time not watching my feet or holding on the whole time, and i kept kicking the next step.

i also used a stationary bike. once i got the straps on my feet tight enough it wasnt bad. i think (after talking to jason) that i needed to adjust my seat height because after about 15 minutes i started to get an ache in my hip. i think i was sitting too low.

i finished with 5 minutes on the stairs and 30 minutes (just over 6 miles) on the bike.

the end and the beginning

to wrap up the year nicely, jason stayed home with the kids so that i could spend some last day of the year time at the gym. i did 4o minutes and 3.75 miles on the elliptical while reading grandpas book. i wish grandma had finished it before he died, because there are several things id like to ask him about. but, maybe thats why it wasnt. but that is a whole different story.

and now, its 2012. i smooched jason and we said our happy januarys to one another at 12 while the neighbors lit fireworks. i was determined that this year would have a good start, and i think so was he, we both made time at the gym during naps. i did 40 minutes, 3.75 miles (almost finished with the book now) and he did a mini tri to get in all 5 possible points for today. he came home in such a good mood, with a plan to use one rec center pass each weekend this month.

i make resolutions. i give up things for lent. i tell people about them, and i stay accountable. but, i tend to make then whenever the thought crosses my mind. works out well for me that i figured out a new plan just last week so that i can call it a new years' resolution. so here it is:

in this brand new year i have just a few goals and a calendar. i used to LOVE my calendar. i had a large desk calendar each year with all the important dates transferred from one to the next, appointments, classes, trips, everything. now my life is different and so is my calendar.

this one will have SCHEDULED workouts when i KNOW i will have time made for the gym. this will largely be made possible by jason working around the time i need, and using the day care for georgie while emma is at school (on days i dont have the boys) when i dont have another option.

also, meal planning and less grocery shopping. i tried it out last week, making a list of five or six meals that would provide leftovers and could be made from things i already had on hand, and i have SO enjoyed being able to just pick something off the list to make for the day. now, when i run out of things on the list, or a grocery staple like milk, flour, eggs, i will write a new list and go grocery shopping. im not sure how often i will need to go, because i dont know how long each list will take me. jason will sometimes be home for dinner, and sometimes be packing both lunch and dinner for school. i have a good start on frozen dinners for him after making two crock pot dinners of green enchilada soup and beef stew and because we ate just those two all week, i still have most of my list available.

im not sure that makes any sense at all. my point: i will make a list on the week end days of my large calendar of dinners. when i run out of dinners, i will begin a new list on the next available weekend day. i plan to grocery shop without children in the evenings or on the weekend. this should make evenings in our house much more manageable as i transition to single parenthood for 16 weeks. and once i have a spouse again, it will be nice to have an answer to "what are you making for dinner?"

and finally, i want to READ MORE books. i MISS reading. i havent made time for it, i havent purchased books, i just havent. but im going to. so, add to my list! what should i be reading?

good bye 2011, you were an interesting year. my first half marathon, my first time being sued, my first time wearing my red dickies since jason and i met 6 years and 2 children earlier. a whole year of healthy choices for our whole family.

2012, i have high expectations for you. you will be the last year jason is in school, and personally, i cant wait until youre over.