Silly England Pictures

After my triumph on Saturday night, the last few days have been a whirlwind as I headed to England! I will have to write more later as it is approaching midnight here, but I thought perhaps the best way to summarize things was with a few pictures from our trip to Warwick Castle today. They say each one is worth a thousand words...

29:06

I did it!! I ran the entire 5K... and in 29 minutes, 6 seconds! #25 in my age group (insane!) and # 339 out of 811 runners. I am ecstatic beyond words! I would write lots more about this amazing experience, but I gotta get packing for my trip. All I have to say is that it was awesome. And I had the best running companion, a friend who encouraged me every time someone passed us, and reminded me the whole time that I was finally accomplishing something that I had wanted so badly. There is no one else I would have rather run the race with! :)

A couple quick pics:

Pre-race Starbucks... hey, it's Seattle! :)

(This is actually the finish line for the 8K, because they took down the sign too quick from the 5K! And it makes a much better picture. :) )

Race Day!

Today's the day... the SeaFair Torchlight 5K! I'm excited but a little nervous, too, since I'm not sure what to expect (besides lots of people downtown!). The race starts at 6:40 pm and is followed by the Torchlight Parade. I think it should be fun... I am just hoping that it doesn't rain! This being Seattle, however-- it is always a possibilty! :)

So I have all day to prepare mentally for it, as well as run some errands before my trip tomorrow. I think I might make some pancakes this morning. You know, carb load before the big race and all. Hahaha! :)

Saw "Dark Knight" last night. I really enjoyed it, although there are parts that are pretty, well, dark! The best part, however, is a scene that takes place in a hospital... I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it yet, but all I have to say is... even the Joker gels in and gels out!! :) Gotta love it. Although I have to say that he may have set back the public perception of nurses a bit!

OK, time to get started on those pancakes. :)

Search Me

So I'm busy doing stuff on my computer this morning, and am listening to my one of my favorite podcasts, This Week in Tech (TWIT)... currently listening to #152. Anyway, Leo just mentioned the website SearchMe.com, which I've heard mentioned before but never tried out. I have to admit, it was pretty disappointing using my name. However, I tried with my Dad, and came up with some cool websites!! It's a bizarre mix of legit sites (Haverford, genetics conferences, baseball websites, etc) and things about Meneely bells... and some not-so-Meneely bells. The Wikipedia site for the Liberty Bell popped up! Hahaha. :) Here are a couple of links:

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/LSD-worm-meiosis.html

http://administration.academickeys.com/whoswho.php?dothis=display&folk[IDX]=515695

and this is the BEST one that I found... previously undiscovered via Google, I think! If you only click one link, let this be it!!

http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/02/punxsutawney-phil.html

I will write more later, but wanted to share these pictures I took this morning:

I got this card in the mail yesterday from my aunt and cousin in MN... wishing me luck in my first 5K!! How awesome is that! :)

I discovered the other day that there were not only climbing roses on the side of my house (where I NEVER walk past... no reason to!) but that they were gorgeous and in bloom!! I cut a few for my table... they smell amazing. :)

My fuschia is starting its second round of blooming! It will probably burst out in color when I am away, but even now it is beautiful!

I planted these seeds this spring, and now they are blooming! (Of course, I forget what kind of flowers they are!! Hahaha!)

My tomato plant has had these green tomatoes for like a month. It has been the worst summer in Seattle for tomatoes! Even more so than usual, my coworkers have told me. I am hoping that I might have a red tomato or two by my birthday!

That'll do.

I've been meaning to write for a couple of days, but somehow blogging often gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list! I'm in the middle of a big stretch of days working... I did 2 twelves over the weekend, then had today off. I'm working 32 hours over the next three days... but then... I'm on vacation!! 15 days off from work. In a row. Wow. I am thrilled! Of course, I am using 72 hours of vacation/holiday time to do that, but it will be worth it. (Now I need to do the math and figure out how much vacation time I have left! And whether there is any holiday time left... because they pay out any remaining time in September. Which could mean an extra little bonus in my paycheck!)

So I'm trying to focus on the time off coming up, rather than how I am not quite halfway through a stretch of working 56 hrs in 5 days! And thinking about how a week from now, I'll be in the UK with my family!

I'm also trying to remain optimistic about Saturday... yes, the Seafair Torchlight 5K is only 4 days away!! I went running today for the first time in more than a few days. I managed to complete 5K (3.1 miles) in 35 minutes! It's not Olympics-worthy (haha!) but it is my best time yet. Honestly, I've been so focused on being able to run that far that I haven't really worried about my times! But it would be nice not to be the last one. :) I'm trying to figure out logistics, including how I should train this week since I am working the next 3 days, and then am not sure if I should run the day before (maybe just a mile or two?). Also, the most important piece of all... the pasta party! I have heard of this runners' phenomenon for years... pasta party to carb load before a big race, and have always thought it sounded like a blast (only without the big race afterwards!). But since the 5K starts at 6 pm... do you carb load at breakfast? The night before seems too early. Anyway, these are the things that I worry about! :)

Aside from running, I didn't do much else exciting today. Lots of laundry and cleaning the house and stuff. I made lasanga from scratch and had a friend over for dinner, which was awesome. After dinner, we were randomly quoting from the book/ movie "Babe"... "That'll do, pig. That'll do." Hahaha! I don't know why that strikes me as so hilarious, but it does. :) Sometimes, silliness is exactly what the soul needs!

All in all, it was a good day.

~Alison

P.S. I opened my big mouth and blabbed this at work over the weekend, so I guess I better mention it here (for all my loyal readers, haha!). As of last week, I have officially lost 50 pounds! In less than 10 months. :) At this rate, it will only take me like 3 months more to lose the remaining 15... sigh. My goal is to have lost 65 lbs by my brother's wedding in December. (You may notice I have picked a very long time period, so as to give me some wiggle room. Haha!) Hopefully, I will be able to do it!!

Photo

I was looking through some pictures on my computer just now, and came across this one from July 4th. It made me laugh because I look so silly bundled up in a blanket, waiting for fireworks! Thought you might enjoy a giggle, too. :)

Random Updates

It's been like 5 days since I posted anything, so I better write something... even if it is just a quick one! I am off work today and just came inside after spending the afternoon on a blanket in my backyard, listening to podcasts and just relaxing in the sun. Lazy, I know. :) But I will vow to be more productive tomorrow!! In the interest of time, however, I will do the ever-popular bullet list blog post of what's new in my life. :)

* I am officially going down to 90% time at work, starting Sept 15. And I am so excited!! It means I will work 2 fewer 8 hr shifts a month (so not a huge change) but I'm told by my coworkers that it makes a big difference.

* The Seafair 5K is less than 2 weeks away. Yikes!

* Which also means that my vacation to England and Ireland is less than 2 weeks away!! I'm excited to see my family and visit some new places. Although it will likely be pretty exhausting!

*I have lost 49.5 lbs thus far. Who knew that 8 ounces could be so incredibly pesky?! Even though I ultimately want to lose about 15 more lbs, I REALLY want to be able to say I've lost over 50 lbs...

* I visited my old house last weekend on a random drive around Seattle. Got a full tour inside and everything. It is certainly different than when we lived there!! It was overall a good experience though... reinforced for me the importance of living in the present and future rather than getting hung up on the past and missing out on the now. :)

* This week I am looking forward to a couple of get-togethers with friends, which should be a lot of fun! Tomorrow with the Ericksons/ Steeles and Friday night movie night at the Lytles!

Um. What else is new? Not much. I apologize for the quick and random format, but maybe that's all you are interested in, anyway! I do have a couple of other subjects for potential blog posts floating around in my brain... like why moving to Seattle was the best thing I ever did, or how I have recently gotten back on a hummus kick, or my musings on the "100 Most Played" songs on my iPod, or why I love warehouse shopping even though I am living by myself (yes, I bought a gigantic watermelon at Costco last week. And a 3 lb jar of minced garlic. I love that store!). But instead, I will end here... for now. :)

Here's a random cell phone pic of the old house:

A few pictures

I don't really feel like writing an actual blog post this morning, but I thought I'd post a few pictures.

This is the gigantic spider that was hanging out by the ceiling in my living room this morning. Smokey was going crazy! I had to climb up on a chair to finally get it since she couldn't seem to reach that high. :)

I finished the quilt on Sunday night! Still need to wash it to get all the chalk off, and put a sleeve or something on the back to hang it with, but it's done! (I can't seem to get blogger to turn the picture the right direction... sorry!)

Smokey sleeping on the couch.

Smokes venturing outside in the garden.

Olive Juice

What a great weekend! Not only was it nice to have a break from work, but it was on an actual weekend... wow! :) It's tough to blog when I work a few shifts in a row, so I haven't written much this week. I did 3 twelve hour shifts in a row (Wed, Thu, Fri), which was intense as always but not too bad. It's strange to think about how I put in a whole "work week" in 3 days rather than 5, but it's a helpful illustration when I try to explain to people why I am so exhausted afterwards! And why I am pretty much incommunicado during that time... emails go unanswered, phone calls unreturned... but then eventually I have some time off and catch up!!

Since I worked on Friday, I didn't have any big plans for a BBQ or anything. But a friend convinced me to go to see some fireworks Friday night, even though I was so tired. I am really glad I ended up going, because it turned out to be a lot of fun. There are 2 fireworks displays in Seattle: one over Lake Union and the other over Elliott Bay. And if you position yourself just right (as we did), you can see both!! Pretty cool.

Yesterday I mostly hung around the house after sleeping in. Ate an amazingly good steak cooked on my new grill. (I can't remember if I have blogged about the grill. Nothing fancy. Just a little cheap "tabletop" gas grill... but it gets the job done!)

Today was another wonderful day of relaxation. Slept in again. :) Sat out on my back deck this morning with my coffee, my Bible, and Smokey. Yes, Smokey. She has decided that she likes the outdoors after all and now goes out on the deck whenever I am out there. Today she got very bold and decided to not only walk through the flower bed, but to roll in the dirt and to eat some stems on the irises. She also ventured out into the grass... which makes me nervous as I really don't want her to get fleas!! But she is so cute rolling in the grass that I can't help but let her do it. Of course, then she brings half the backyard inside the house, thanks to her long fur! :)

Tonight at Hope we started a series on the book of Ruth. I really enjoyed the sermon tonight on the first chapter. As I was reading through some stuff this morning, I was thinking about bitterness, so it was interesting to think about Naomi and Ruth in that context. It's neat that we're spending some time on some strong women... too bad I am going to miss the rest of the series due to work and vacation. :( Maybe I can convince someone to take notes.

This evening I've been trying to prepare for the work week, cleaning up the house, folding clean laundry, etc. As well as trying to prepare mentally. Even though last week was not so bad at work, it is just a stressful job any way you put it. I've had some good experiences recently, though, that have served to build up my confidence in my abilities as a nurse, which is great. And I have wonderful support from a group of friends... sometimes that has made all the difference in the world!

You may wonder about the title of the blog... and if you are, I am guessing you maybe aren't a fan of the TV show "Family Guy". In recent months, I've started watching it on the recommendation of a friend (much to Andy's chagrin, who has been trying to get me to watch it for years!). While there are some highly inappropriate things about the show at times (pretty much any time the character Quagmire is present, for example!), there are some other things that are pretty hilarious. Last night I watched a classic, and oft-quoted, episode where Meg writes a letter to her boyfriend on the computer."Dear My Boyfriend..." Hahaha! Makes me laugh every time. Followed by the 2 guys in Starbucks... :-)

Well, time to go pack my lunch and set up the coffee pot before bed. Another 3 shifts to start off the week!

First July Post

I'm in sort of a strange mindset at the moment. I have a few hours left in the day, and I feel a bit at a loss... what should I do with myself? There's always something to clean, but I've done a bunch of house cleaning already today. I got some exercise earlier. I've even worked on the quilt a bit. I could watch TV but even that doesn't really appeal to me at the moment. Sigh.

I don't really know why I'm feeling discombobulated. Maybe I am subconsciously dreading working 36 hours in the next 3 days. It's not like a feeling of loneliness, per se... I've had some really good talks with friends lately and am not really lonely. Hm. Maybe it's just that feeling you get when you reach the end of some time off and you're looking ahead towards the workweek. It could be because I had an absolutely amazingly wonderful weekend and the reality of daily life just doesn't compare! :)

Today I walked around Green Lake and went to Starbucks with Sarah, and it was wonderful to spend some time with her and catch up. Of course, here I wanted to hear all about her time abroad and I spent much of the time talking her ear off! We never did get to talk about the UK. But we did have some really good discussions about stuff. Definitely something I needed. Making friends is not something I've ever been very good at, so I particularly appreciate it when I have that kind of good experience!

One of the things we talked about was priorities, and Sarah managed to ask me some really tough (but helpful) questions about my job. She pointed out that I was talking about dropping down my hours back before she went to England, and yet several months later, I am still full-time, and it is still stressing me out. I guess I have been talking about it for a while! With no action. So that's my goal for this week. I've been praying a lot about it lately. Mostly because I was trying to figure out if it was something I could do financially, and if not, what I needed to do in order to make it happen. Because honestly, my mental sanity is far more valuable than money in the bank. :)

After thinking and praying about it all weekend, discussing it with some friends over the weekend, and then talking to Sarah today, I came home and happened to log in to check something on my student loans from nursing school. And discovered that the interest rate on my rather substantial loans has dropped. And not just a little. Seriously, the rate is now half what it was 2 years ago, and dropped nearly 2% since just a few weeks ago. I realized right then and there that I was going to take that as a sign that things were falling into place so that I CAN afford to work less. I was on the fence about whether being part-time was something I could afford, and then I've had a few things happen lately that really have been encouraging me to go ahead and do it.

Anyway, this is a pretty boring blog. Seriously. Interest rates? Yikes. I am hitting the bottom here. :)