Plodding along through the week

It's almost the weekend and I've run twice this week so far. Yesterday I made it back into the 13-minute range for ONE mile.

I almost hate to even post my runs on Instagram because I see most people are in the 8-9 minute paces for miles and miles and miles. Here I am with my tortoise-in-the-shell runs.

I post my runs for two reasons: 1) It's the easiest way I've found to look back on my runs to see if I'm progressing at all (I'm too lazy to actually log my times, but I'm planning on changing this bad habit) 2) I know for me, personally, I love seeing the "slower" runners progress. It gives me HOPE! Maybe somebody who wants to give up on running will see there are other runners out there outside the 8-9 minute pace range. Maybe it will encourage them. Or maybe we will all say 'darn it' and move on with our lives.

Since my last post, I've run...

The first run was with my daughter. My newly-turned-7-year-old daughter. She wanted to see if she could run a mile. She totally could complete it if it weren't for me being slow. It was HOT. She'd walk and whine, then would speed up and pass me up. That kid. It was a lot of fun, but we were both utterly happy when we were done. 15:26 for one mile.

The next run was in the afternoon. I need to start getting up before everyone else and run for the cooler temps. But, I'm trying to take advantage of the afternoon runs while I can. I love running in the daylight. In the past I've been an early-morning runner in the dark.

The run yesterday was around 9 a.m. The temperature was 10 degrees cooler than normal. But, this tiny one mile beat my ass into the ground. I didn't hydrate enough and today I've got day two of an exercise-induced headache. Those are the worst! I need to drink more water before runs and after runs. One day I'll learn my lesson.

Seeing that 9-minute "max" range felt really good. It's a good confidence boost I needed. Now, that was probably for only a few seconds, but to see a single digit was cool.

I have lost one pound so far this week, but I'm hoping for another pound before my next weigh-in.

Right now I'm at 167.

How are your runs? Is it super hot where you are yet?

I Probably Should Give Up

Hello! Yes, I probably should give up on this blog. It's the blog that's nonexistent for the most part. It's been a busy month and a half since I last posted. I always think I'll have time to post and I end up shortchanged each day with time. It's probably a matter of time management.

So to get caught up - I've got a new job! Ahhhh, it's at LSU and so far I'm loving it. I'm still freelancing and I've really enjoyed that. The money is also good for the amount of time I put into it.

I had posted about a Twitter contest in which you tweeted the summary of your novel (you've wrote) and if agents "liked" it, you send them your written summary and however many pages they wanted. I had TWO like my summary.

That sounds disappointing, but there were thousands of entries, so yay for two!

It's not great, but wow, I needed that validation that my story has something to it. One agent did pass on my novel. The other agent, who is also a co-owner of a publishing company, read ten pages, then asked me to send in the entire manuscript.

She read through it and emailed me back with a ton of notes. You guys, tears. She did say I needed to change the setting, fix a couple of things and I can resubmit it.

This was such a big help and gave me confidence to keep going and not give up!

I also had one of my friend's read it and give me her thoughts. This was huge for me because she has her OWN book coming out in June. She knows the industry and gave me helpful advice.

She's been fantastic during all this and encouraging me every step of the way.

I have received 9 rejections so far from agents. I still have 14 out. In a month I'm going to revise that manuscript, then start agent shopping again. This is a long process to become published. Long.

We are officially moved into our house. It's about 60 percent decorated. We have almost all the furniture except for a dresser for E.

This has taken forever and I feel like I walk around the house in circles.

I love it so far. This house is an upgrade from what we had that was flooded. I'm not used to all the space. The outside is amazing and landscaped. This week I'll do a post with pics of my "trees" I planted. I also planted a weird tiny garden. People may scoff at the photos, but I wanted to try out my green thumb before spending a lot of money.

Have I ever mentioned I'm cheap? I'm cheap.

Running - I have not run nearly as much as I had planned in my head. I've run a few times and I'm getting back into a routine of running, then weights on days I don't run.

Here are some of my runs:

Those are all one-mile runs. I've been running in the afternoon and it's hot. That last one was with E riding her scooter. Maybe not the best idea since I had to yell at her to stay on the left side of the road.

This is nowhere close to my happy pace. I've gained like five pounds over the last couple of months. Which is terrible, but not surprising because food has been the last thing on my mind. Well, healthy food that is. :)

I have mapped out my spreadsheet that will take me to next January's half-marathon and next March's full-marathon. snort.

I'm also trying to keep certain weight loss goals. Double snort.

My daughter's birthday was on Easter and her party is this Saturday at our new house. I'm very excited and am doing my best to wrap up this house organization before then.

Happy running! (and writing!)

Perfect Storm Week nearing the end

What a week it has been! I skipped "weigh-in Wednesday" because I spent most of the day in the bathroom. The less you know, the better.

So, for the record I'm at 163.0. Buuuuuut, the last three days I've had the migraine/stomach virus/could it maybe be the flu nightmare happening up in the faux house!

This week was supposed to have been spent looking for a job (obviously), delivering Girl Scout cookies, packing and finishing up things for the writing contest I entered today.

Instead I've been laying down, barfing, so on and so on.

Hey, I was correct in my last post there would be no running! There has been no running!

However, I'm on the mend. I'm meeting my 2017 goals of trying new things and have run from my comfort zone.

I dragged myself out of bed this morning and entered #PitchMadness! The contest in which you ultimately (if you are one of 60 chosen) can grab publishing agents' attention with your first 250 words of your novel.

I could easily spend hours rewriting the entry, but I spent two hours and sent it off.

I'm nervous!

Time to get into moving to real house mode! Sunday we are going look at furniture. Monday is the walk-through. And if all goes well, Tuesday we close!

I have so many feelings I want to word vomit, but I won't. Fingers crossed and that's the best I can hope for.

Tomorrow I am heading to Lake Charles to visit my grandmother who is in the hospital. Any prayers you can offer are appreciated.

Enjoy Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday. I have Lent goals I'll share on the blog next week. I almost always fail with Lent, but this year, I'm going to try my best to make it 40 days. I definitely owe it to God for how much he has helped my little family the past six months.

Perfect Storm Week

I'm the queen of excuses. I'm telling you, I've come up with tons of excuses in the past to not workout, run, eat right, yada, yada, yada. I've got the most hilarious one of all time - The last few days I've completely forgotten to workout (run or weights). So many LOLZ, right?

But, it's the truth. I just plum forgot. Since my last post I've had job interviews, written two stories for my freelancing job, started packing to move to our real house, picked up and sorted almost 200 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. I haven't even had time to grocery shop.

Where the cookie magic happens ...
 

So, my whole fitness goal went out the window. And there is the underlying head mental thing going on with my nerves about the closing on the real house. So, YaY!

I like to keep things positive on the blog, but this week will be the perfect storm of more deadlines, the contest I want to enter for my book is later this week, delivering cookies, I'm hoping to help out a flooded couple build their house, more job interviews... #realtalk (I hate that hashtag btw) I probably won't be running this week.

So, bare with me one more week.

My little family is getting closer to putting the flood behind us, and I'm excited about what the future holds. PS: We also may adopt a dog.

Weigh-In Wednesday

It's the day after love and chocolates. Did I go overboard with food yesterday? Yes! We even went to Menchies - a fro yo place down the street from my faux house. Amazingly, we have not gone once all these months of living here. It was good, but I prefer chocolate milk. I'm addicted to chocolate milk like I am sodas. 

I've dubbed today's post "Weigh-In Wednesday" in hopes of helping keep me in check to weigh weekly. It's a way to hold me accountable.

Today's weight, ta-da-daaa: 166.6. 

So I've gained back some of the 20 pounds or so I lost last year. So, cheers to trying again.

I've cut way back on sodas and I'm missing them far too much. :)

I've cut back on portions as well, but I'm hoping once I'm in my very own kitchen I'll get back to my healthier foods.

Thanks to yesterday's blog post I went for another 1-mile run today. I honestly didn't want to get out in the "cold" and wind. However, because I said in yesterday's post I was running today, I made myself run.

People who live in Louisiana think 50 degrees is FREEZING. So to me, it was freezing. Not a problem because it helped keep my breathing in check. Surprisingly, my legs were not too tired, but my lungs had a tough time.

Headwinds!
 

Anyways, I did improve from yesterday, so can't complain!

From 14:45 to 14:07 today. 

Tomorrow's plan is either running or a weights/core workout. 

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day. The weekend is almost here. PS: My troop's Girl Scout Cookies arrive Sunday, so.... temptation, moderation!

Happy Valentine's Day

Look at this - two posts in consecutive days! What?? Happy Valentine's Day! Mine so far has been good and interesting. This morning we exchanged little presents. We got E a rainbow poop emoji pillow, which she thought was hilarious. I had also bought her candy and lip sticks. Rich gave me a Barnes & Noble card, and a candle that he broke first thing this morning. LOL!!! He says E gets her clumsiness from me, but hmmm, ok, whatever. I puffy heart him.

I dropped her off at school, which is btw, still a nearly two-hour commute, but hopefully it won't be for much longer! I came home and ran a mile.

Today is the six-month anniversary of the flood. I really just wanted to bury my head under the covers all day, but the tides are turning. I have to focus on the positive. I REALLY miss my old house. The new owners have been working on repairing it and I know it's going to give somebody a good home. But, I have to focus on finding a new house. Which, hopefully, we can move into one in a few weeks.

Still, it's hard to let go of the past and the memories from our first house.

Rich gave me good advice telling me to not think of all the bad things that have happened over the last six months, but the GOOD things. And there were a lot of good things. We've made it through a very difficult time as a family and we never gave up hope. It's definitely brought us closer, although I think we've gotten on each other's nerves a lot too. HAHAHAHA! I kid, I kid.

So, alas, I only ran a mile and my time was not that good. But, it's a work in progress. I will miss running in the faux house neighborhood. I have been going when it's later in the morning and it's pretty hot. But, eh, doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of running, am I right?

Rich surprised me by taking me to our favorite hibachi place for lunch. I basically have lunch for days upon days.

Miso soup that even Rich likes ...

Hibachi guy blowing a whistle during his "cooking" time. Yes, that's a Dr. Pepper. 😻

Way too many noodles for my liking, but I got a ton of veggies too. I told Rich, "Don't be jealous." He said, "I'm not." Hahah! The picture is blurry because of the steam from the grill.

My plan is to get back out there tomorrow for a 1-mile run again. I felt really good mentally after my run today and it will keep the nerves at bay. Hopefully.

I hope everyone has a great Valentine's night!

It's been a week already?

So, it's been a week since I last posted. WHERE does the time go? I feel like the weeks are flying by quickly. I'm in denial tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I don't think we will be doing anything romantic because we are 1) saving money for the new house (if it goes through) 2) I'm unemployed (so no money) 3) we are exhausted. LOL!!! I did get him a card and candy, but honestly, I feel like I've dropped the ball this year.

My Valentine's present from him was my signing up for the NOLA marathon. Oh, you know, the one that is in 2018. HA!

Father/Daughter Dance

But look at these two. My sweet Valentines. They are really all I need. It's hilarious Rich is a leprechaun because he looks like the Notre Dame mascot and he is not a fan of that school. More LOL!!! LOLZ for days!

Long story regarding my kiddo's hair/costume, so I'll spare you the details. I've decided to start using reverse psychology on her to get things accomplished.

Last week involved my freelance writing gig and more writing on my own novel to be prepared for a contest I'm entering later this month. I fully expect this to go nowhere, but 2017 is already forcing me to be out of my comfort zone, so why not enter? I NEVER thought we'd be able to sell our gutted, flooded house and we did.

My 330-page monstrosity. It's missing 100 pages of the 330 because my ink cartridge ran out. Oh noes!
 

Persistance can and will pay off (hmmm, using reverse psychology on myself).

Regarding running - I didn't run at all last week. I'm mapping out my running schedule for this week, but I'm also going to throw in weight routines. I think, at this point, I really need exercise to keep the nerves under control.

I forgot to weigh in this morning, but I did improve my diet slightly last week. I've cut way back on the cokes and I'm drinking coffee black.

Aside from packing to hopefully move soon, that was my week.

PS: Anybody out there who watches Supernatural? That show is incredible. I love every single episode.

Long time, no read!

Hello! I probably do not have any readers left (not sure I had any readers before, wink!), but I'm back. My last post in November I had a migraine. LOL!

Let me try to catch up what's happened since then. Spoiler alert: a lot.

We ended up having to sale our house "as is" - which means the house was gutted and cleaned. There were only half walls, no cabinets, no sinks, nothing. We had really come to a breaking point mentally. Let's just say we had to get out of the nightmare we were in for months.

Because this is intensely boring for those who weren't flooded, let's just say we searched for options. The chances were slim we'd find investors who would buy our house, but we had great realtors and we were able to sell the house.

We barely, and I mean barely, broke even. But, the house is in the past. I miss it intensely. I am starting to lose my memories of our years in the house. But, the new owners are giving it the love and care it deserves. They have been working on it and I know in the next few months, the house will be ready for a family to live in.

We are searching for a house right now to live in and we've got our eye on one. If it works out, I'll be writing about it. I'm so scared to jinx it I haven't even done any sort of furniture/appliance/decorating research. But I'm slowly trying to open my mind to the fact that we may not be in a faux house much longer.

In the midst of all that, I was laid off from my job. This was not a big surprise. I'd been hanging on to that job by a thread. Another thing I intensely miss. I was tired of the stress of WHEN would I be laid off, but I really, really loved my actual job.

So, I've been searching for a job for the past month and I've had several interviews. I've also started freelance writing again and this has really been enjoyable (the writing, not being laid off LOL!). I'm very excited and thankful to get back out there. The pieces I'm writing are fluff, but I'm very happy doing that. So far, I've written mostly about school events (not at my daughter's school) and I've really enjoyed it since I have a kiddo of my own. I love seeing how kids work on projects.

I've also been working on TWO novels of my own. One is an old one, that I'm currently editing and revising with the hopes of entering a few contests to have agents tell me what they think. The first contest is later this month and I'm scared shitless.

The second novel is one I wrote during the month of November. I participated and won the National Novel Writing Month. This little contest considers you a "winner" if you write 50,000 words in 30 days. I did it, but let's just say it's a super ugly first draft. I wrote that sucker in my gutted house every day while waiting to pick my daughter up from school. My house gave my plot lots of inspiration and I can't wait to see the finished product. Hopefully by summer, I'll have it complete.

I'm trying to turn these lemons into lemonade, and I think considering the circumstances the lemonade is pretty good. Not sour, but still not quite right.

Running - OK, the nitty gritty of the post right here - I have enjoyed my faux neighborhood specifically for the running. It's been great having the use of several streets with minimal traffic. I've really, really liked it. I'm hoping a new neighborhood will offer the same fun.

Long story short, I've lost 15 pounds, BUT I still need to lose about 30 more to get where I want to be with my happy pace.

I ran a 5K in January with my husband. I had "trained" for it, but because I spent all of November writing, the race seemed like I hadn't trained. LOL!!! And that's ok! I still had a lot of fun and me and Rich walked to the finish line together. It was very romantic. Ok, not really since I was really sweaty.

Loved everything about the race.
 

But, my time was around 52 minutes and for 3.1 miles, ehhhhhhh, not good.

My race plans for 2017-18:

5K in March - honestly, I'm not expecting this to amount to anything other than running/walking. I'm concentrating so much on finding a job and writing I'm not going to put more pressure on myself to run. And, hopefully, fingers and toes crossed, we will have a house soon, so we have to move. Fun fact: when you lose 90 percent of what you own in a flood, moving will be a breeze! :)

Going to try to run 5Ks before the half marathon in January 2018.

This one will be "free" sort of because I deferred this past January's 2017 to January 2018.

March 2018 - like an idiot, I mean like an optimist, I just signed up for the Rock N Roll New Orleans FULL marathon. The price was too good to pass up. It also will be the exact date of my cancer diagnosis 20 years ago....so it's a reason to celebrate my health!

I am unsure of how the next 13 months or so will pan out, but I'm super excited for positive things and positive changes. I am so completely out of my comfort zone right now. The last six months since the flood have been life-changing. Some good, a lot bad, but I am excited to see how all my little "goals" pan out.

I am off to a freelancing assignment right now, but I'll be posting regularly.