Toasting With a Monk

The Dom is in the fridge and it is only 70 minutes until Dean turns 21. Wow. Sunrise, Sunset or what?! We have had a tradition for the last 12 years that when a monumental milestone in a life is achieved we buy a bottle of Dom Perignon and toast the success, blessing, and celebration of life with that person. Mainly it has been reserved for great achievement at work but we decided to signify the celebration of Dean's life with the special champagne tomorrow. I love relishing the moments of daily life because that is all we have....daily life. I can't afford to waste the daily moment by waiting for the "special moment"!

In preparing for the festivities tomorrow I once again forgot to eat after 10 am this morning. It was 8:00 pm when I was out running errands and realized I was famished. I didn't want to grab anything substandard through a drive-thru so waited until I got home to eat dinner at 9:20! I hardly think it matters if you eat something mediocre at 9:20 or garbage at 8:00. The outcome is the same: fat cells enlarge! FYI: I have gained 5 pounds. Double dang.

Well in the morning I will exercise and anticipate toasting with the monk, Dom Perignon.

Sad.

I am in Seattle at my parents home and in an hour we will have to leave for the memorial service. My friend of 41 years has lost her husband to pancreatic cancer. I awoke in the night and thought how hard it must be to have to prepare her two boys and herself for today. I prayed that somehow God would comfort her and see her through this. I don't especially like to cry in public but I know that there is no way out of this one. I just want to make it inside and sit down before I start to cry.

Under stress I can tend to turn to food so I have been very aware of that fact on this trip. I picked up a magazine in the airport with a couple really good articles in it on how to retrain your brain regarding food. I want to pick up the book and read more called, When Food Is Love by Geneen Roth. Maybe a needed, albeit vulnerable, book club book!

Moonwalk

I woke up today with renewed energy and ran down to Starbucks (well - walk/ran) to get a doppio and ran back before showering and heading to church. Whenever I run on the street I wonder what in the world is jiggling that I can't see. I don't want to be one of those women you see in the grocery store who have no true friend to tell them, "Oh Child, did you know that your bum looks like the face of the moon in those pants?!" Maybe I need to ask my BFF to drive behind me as I run just to make sure it is not an obscene sight! I can count on her. She would tell me Lawdy, Lawdy, Miss Claudy change your outfit!

It is only three weeks to my first 5K run (benefiting the Salvation Army Women's Shelter at Lodi Lake) and I am not ready. I will have to be diligent this week. I am meeting my friend (not Jack) at 6am to run in the morning. I know it is important especially on Mondays for me to workout before hitting the store since I really need to be present for those who need to talk with me.

Sundays are my free days to eat whatever I want. Today it was popcorn and white wine and cheescake. Yes, cheesecake. I even bought a bottle of Dom to share with Dean on his upcoming 21st birthday! I absolutely think it is the best champagne in the world and haven't bought it in years. Every month I walk by it in Costco and think how fun it would be to just drop it in the cart. Today I did!

Training like an Olympian

I hadn't realized it had been a week since my last blog. I'll blame work. What day is it? What time is it? Is that am or pm? Geez. I really ask those kind of questions! When 9am seems like 3pm and Thursday evening like Saturday afternoon I know its time to regroup. So I make dinner and work out while the chicken is in the oven and tell Jack not tonight. When life gets this topsy he can only join me on my Friday workout, which when one works split days off, can be twice a week! I met Jack when I was sixteen and he was so sweet. I was hooked. I turn up the music and keep lifting the weights and moving. Jack sits on the workbench waiting for my next break. He steeps in the sweet marriage of carbonation and pop and keeps me company. Yes, I enjoy Jack and diet pepsi during my workouts once in a while. Oh, PLEASE, as if you were so pure. I think I read somewhere that the Olympic athletes use Jack in their training routines. Yes, I'm sure of it. So far I am down 9 pounds. Jack says, "Go Tess!"

Things that talk back

My running partner has been gone this week and my tennis shoes stare up at me from the closet floor like two little dogs who never get walked. They have sad little eyes with their laces laying on the carpet floor and tongues hanging out. Even as I shut the closet door I can hear them whining. I've had it. I don't have to listen to this! So I tell them in a very stern voice, "It's raining! I gotta go to work! Don't you get it? I promise, we'll run tomorrow night after work, okay!?!?" Sheeze. Material things tend to take on a life of their own if one isn't careful. All I can say is my new running bra better just keep quiet.

Pruning my frame of mind

I just got home from church where I saw a friend who has lost 45 pounds. I was shocked. I was also motivated. I have been doing well exercising but the eating has gotten out of hand! It has been a pattern in my life to either do well with exercise or eating but not usually both at the same time. I am ready to change that cycle. I will surrender what I think I want at the moment and do the right thing instead. Period. What a great day to make a turn.

Yesterday Tim and I ran the lake loop which is nice because it is softer than the pavement and is much more scenic. Afterward I came home and started butchering my olive trees. That was a workout all by itself. We have a system: I prune and Tim picks up after me. I like that system. The fog is burning off and I am going to go put on my running shoes!

Run, Forrest, Run!

I can't believe it has been five days since my last blog! Lots of food has passed by this face in five days with the Superbowl last weekend. I ate some great food on Sunday watching the game but why am I surprised when I feel gross after eating that crap? Pizza, spinach dip, beer...the list is ugly. I only feel good that Tim and I have started training for 5k races. We run in the evening on a running plan that helps new (or new this year!) runners not get injured. He holds the stopwatch and we run 3 minutes walk 2 minutes, repeat, for 20 minutes. When he runs without me he runs 5 minutes and walks 2 minutes. Our first race is in March and the second in June. My district manager has run a marathon for which I hold her in high regard yet can safely say I will NEVER submit my soul to such gruel. I continue to lose a pound or two a week but tend to indulge in samples now that we are trying coffee three times a day at work. I was thinking tonight as I ran, "I may just have to run to The City and back to burn off my sampling today"! Double dang. Tomorrow is a 4am day and I will bring my yogurt, berries and acai juice for the blender come 4:15 am and stay away from the samples!!!!!!!!!!!!!!