Monday, May 31, 2010

Nike +

I love three day weekends. They are amazing. So much can be accomplished yet you still have time to hang with your friends and have a little fun too. I vot for all weekends to be three day. Seriously I would gladly work 4 ten hour days and have 3 days off. I'm just sayin', think about it.

Anywho, back to point, operation 5k is underway. I joggled everyday this weekend except Saturday because I was digging so I felt that 4 hours of digging totally gave me a pass. And it does because I say so, no arguing. Start your own blog. I am averaging between 1.5 and 2 miles. I have a ways to go yet.

I bought a Nike + as was suggested by Kim. This device connects to your i-pod. It is like a poedometer on steriods. It tells you the distance, time, calories burned, and average speed. Needless to say I already cannot remember what I did before I had this. I was living in the dark and the Nike + flipped on the light. I am so going to use the crap out of this!

Friday, May 28, 2010

The Dog Days Are Over

5k's have been on the brain. Ever since Devin and I spoke about trying to run one, I have been thinking of little else. We have recruited several more people into our first 5k effort. I think I even have a running group now. The pressure is on. Yikes!

Actually, it is great motivation and I am sure I will need a lot more in the coming months. I found a 12 week training program to start in July, that means I have to be in good enough shape to start said program by July. Holy moley!

Wish me luck and energy!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Where has Liz gone?

Since I have started drinking green monsters I have recruited others. I don't see why I should be the only person enjoying drinking spinach. Everyone should. My most recent recruitee (I know that isn't a work spell check but you aren't offering any helpful advice. Recrudesce, really?) is trying her first one today. I hope she likes them!

Anyway Devin, aka recruitee, has also agreed to start running as well. We decided we would both run our very first 5k this fall (October). I never actually thought I would want to run a 5k but I do. It is good motivation to keep working out. So far I have run 1.3-1.5 miles every night for a week. Yep I'm just starting. I need lots more work to get to where I need to be to run a 5k but I have 5 months and determination. Let's hope it lasts.

Life is what you make of it and I want to make a healthy, happy life so this, my friends, is only the beginning.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Life is Strange

So I am one week into drinking green monsters in the morning for breakfast. I think back to a time when I drank vodka instead of spinach and wonder how I have gotten to this place in my life. I think it has something to do with turning 30. Had you asked 12 year old me if I would ever drink spinach I would have rolled my eyes and given you attitude because I was 12 and that's what 12 year old do (not to imply I was drinking vodka at 12 either).
I can tell that I have more energy. I have trouble assigning the energy increase solely to the green monster I will have to wait and see if it maintains. My skin is noticeably healthier, but I totally didn't make it out of bed early to run this morning like I wanted. Apparently green monsters do not cure laziness. FAIL! Oh well running after work will have to do.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Green Monster part 2

This morning GM is the best one so far. I put flax seed, spinach (raw instead of cooked this time), banana, strawberry, vanilla yogurt, and anti-oxidant almond milk tea. Success!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Green Monsters

So a while back my bff, Kim, started telling be about green monsters. Now she is not a foil hat wearing sky watcher, so I had to assume she was not referring to our maybe friendly universe neighbors. Green monsters are smoothies which the core ingredient is spinach or kale. Kim sang the benefits and wonders of green monster. I thought to myself "Self, you should try this sometime.", but I ran into a couple problems.

1. I am lazy. I do not get up early in the morning so finding time to make breakfast generally doesn't happen. I normally have to prepare something the night before so I can grab it and go. That is just how I am.

2. I have been, at least at the time she told me about the green monster, a faithful organic food eater so I didn't break from my steel cut oatmeal in the morning.

So it went on for a couple months with me intending to try it and never actually trying. Finally, I decided this week was the week. I revisited the Web site to happily discover reason # 2 is void since the smoothie is made with organic products. Bonus!

The first excuse still applies as I am still lazy, but I have gotten up early twice this week to make myself a smoothie.

First attempt- Not too bad. Basically it has flax seed, spinach, banana, blueberries, strawberries, milk, and ice. I enjoyed it. Couldn't taste the spinach at all. I felt good drinking it.

Second attempt- I managed to turn my green monster purple. I ran out of fresh blueberries and was forced to use frozen blueberries in replace of ice. The result still taste good, but I missed the green. I also made a slight adjustment this morning by trying Vanilla Almond Milk, instead of my normal skim milk. It gave it a creaminess I didn't have before. I also added Wheat Germ to it because I can.

I can see how one would become addicted to these because you can literally put anything into them. I have been thinking this morning about all the different things I could try. I think next I will try to make one with green tea or with pomegranate juice. I am not sure which one yet, you will have to stay tuned to find out.

I encourage everyone to give it a try even if you don't like spinach. You will never know it is there and you cannot beat the vitamins you are getting. Check out the Green Monster Movement Web site.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Untitled Short

Lightning split the sky, providing an instant of light that allowed the minister to see through the wall of rain that separated him from the man in a trench coat across the street. The man appeared to be watching him even though the only light that could penetrate the swirling fog and relentless rain was that of the occasional flash from the heavens. But even those were getting even fewer and further between as the storm moved past. The minister stood in his house with the lights off trying to watch the man across the street. He didn't appear to have an umbrella yet stood, rigid on the other side of the street as the storm raged on in the distance.

The minister first saw this strange man in a trench coat when he arrived home from dinner. The storm was quickly moving in and the minister was worried he wouldn't make it inside before the rain started. The sky was rippled with ominous black clouds outlined in pink, the air sparked with electricity and the leg he broke as a child ached deep in the bone. The ministers rushed towards his door, clinging onto his big umbrella against the swift attempts by the wind to relieve him of its burden. The rain was starting to spit out of the sky as he fumbled with his keys outside of his old townhouse. He dropped the keys as the wind once again tried to rip the umbrella from his grasp. Bending over to pick them up he noticed someone walking on the other side of the street. The minister glanced over at the person giving a sheepish smile.

The man on the other side of the street didn't return his smile instead he stopped halfway between the two lamp post and directly across from the minister's door. The rain began coming down harder, the wind blowing it underneath the ministers umbrella. The minister pushed the door to his house open and rushed inside. Leaving the wet umbrella in the entrance way the minister shook the water from his closely cropped hair as he walked into the living room. Flipping on the light by habit as he walked to the window to look for the man. The rain was coming down so hard now, surely the man had moved on, he rationalized. The rain was thick as flour, he could see the street let alone across the street.

The minister assured himself the man had indeed moved on. He made himself a cup of tea and settled in to watch some television. Halfway through some innocuous sitcom the lights flickered, then second later shut off completely. "Great." he muttered to himself. The minister stood up, stretching his back. The storm raged outside the house. He looked out the window the rain poured, the wind bent the small tree outside nearly to the ground. The lightning flashed every few second like God was taking pictures. It was then the minister saw the man was still standing outside his house across the street. Had the minister not been sure it was impossible he would say the man had not even moved an inch. What was the man doing over there? Why was he watching his house?

The minister stood watching him as the man in the trench coat watched him. This man sent chills down the minister's spine. The hair on his arms and neck stood and fear knotted his stomach. Who was this man? What did he want? Lightning flashed again. The minister stumbled back a step. Was the man smiling? A scream lodged in the minister's throat. He stumbled towards the phone to call the police.

"Da... Da... Da" three notes rang out from his electric keyboard. This was impossible, the electricity is off, the minister internal voice screeched in his head. Instead of feeling his way to the phone the minister felt his way to the stairs running up them two at a time. Someone was in the house he knew it. The minister locked himself into his bedroom. He listened to the slow methodical steps climbing the stairs. How did the man get into the house?

"What do you want!" he scream, crumpling in the corner, covering his ears from a possible answer with his hands.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Sounded through the house like a sonic boom. The door shaking with the force of the knock causing the minister to cower even deeper.

"Stop!" his voice becoming higher with desperation.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The next morning the minister's housekeeper arrived bright and early. She loved when it rained and the smell of new life and growth hung in the air. She let herself in and made a large breakfast like the minister liked. The housekeeper looked at her watch, it wasn't like the minister to sleep this late. She walked up the old wooden stairs to his room and lightly knocks on the door. Receiving no reply she slowly opens the door. The light from the hallway cut through the darkness to find no minister and the room in perfect order. The housekeeper stifled the disappointment at his having left so early in the morning and went about her duties as normal.

The minister was never found.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

The end is nigh

Once upon a time there was a girl, whose name was Liz. Liz was mostly a normal-ish sort of person. She may have been slightly random at times but mostly she tried to keep things in perspective. She often attracted attention from the rare and unusual but handled it well and politely. There were, however, a handful of things Liz had trouble keeping proportional in her mind.

The first was spiders. Liz found spiders to be completely terrifying. Even the tiniest of the nasty little insect made her skin crawl and the fear choke out her screams. The mere mention of one could cause nightmare and restless sleep. Liz was often told that the vile arachnids were more afraid of her than she was of them but she highly doubted it since then ran to her not away from her in fear as she would do to them. It was the highest form of science.

Her next irrationality was books. She had a certain way she read that could not be deviated from. She felt she must read the end of the book first so she could emotionally prepare for the book. Liz became so vested in the books she loved that she nearly felt her character's pain and anguish. If the book ended poorly and she was unprepared it could leave her a broken shell of a person. Many tried to talk her out of this habit but Liz knew that as much as knowing the end could ruin the book it was better the book be ruined than her life.

Liz also had a strong irrational dislike of certain movies she had never seen. She was never certain when or where the root of these dislikes took place but she could and would never watch the movies she felt in the pit of her stomach she disliked. Time and time again people tried to change this in her, but while people would come and go the deep seeded dislike would last an eternity.

Her final idiosyncrasy was the most unusual of them all as it went against the grain of her character the very most. This was the unconditional love she saved for her family, good friends, and pets being extended to include the little tv show that could. If she allowed it to happen the at times obsession with the show could occupy every thought and cloud all other matters. She knew one day the show would end and that was ok. What was not ok was the waiting from week to week for the next installment of the show that so dearly touched her heart. All she wanted was to know the end. Yet it was the ended that constantly alluded her. Finally on the very day that the end would be revealed Liz realized she had made plans in error for this very day. What was she to do? She must follow through with these plans and wait to see she show but she wasn't at all certain she could. She started her count down 12 hours away from the show. Hours 12-5 went by with obsessive thought about what would happen the scouring of the internet for some clue mixed in with the equally obsessive talk about it, only feeding her desire to know. That day Liz was the seeker of truth in the interweb of lies. Finally as the hour approached and she knew she would not be able to watch her head exploded thus ending her life and the chance that she would ever find out the ending to the story she had devoted so many hours.

The end, literally.
 
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