Generic post about going for a run

I dragged these photos into a post and then had to groan at myself a little. Gratuitous self photo? Picture of my shoes? Random shot of the scenery? Oh, well. I suppose we all get to be a little cliché sometimes. (Fun fact: I kept an online journal for almost ten years on livejournal under the user ID ‘cliched.’)

Anyways. What I wanted to say about these photos is this:

Through the magic of the Colorado sun, it is totally warm enough to go for a run in a tank top when it is 39 degrees outside. My hands were a little cold, but seriously it was totally fine. Which is great because this green tank top is my favorite workout shirt and I never want to live anywhere where I have to put it away for a few months at a time.

The sidewalks are still a mess from the snow from last Wednesday, though. For as long as I’ve lived in Colorado, icy sidewalks have given me rage. Hey, neighbor. If you don’t want to shovel your sidewalk, you can pay someone else to do it for you. Because if you don’t, when everyone else’s icy remnants have been melted by the sun, your little section remains a sucky danger trap.

Luckily I got some Yaktrax for Christmas! And wow I am in love. I felt so confident running over patches like this (though I admit I kind of missed the built in walk breaks). They were a little loud, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I was worried they would feel strange on my feet or throw off my gait, but they felt awesome. I found myself running on the snow and ice even when there was clear sidewalk available, just because I could.

Somehow I haven’t gone for a run in six weeks. I did three miles today, and the whole last mile I was kind of dying. I have walked and biked to work, gone to yoga a few times, but nothing really strenuous for the last month. I did the same thing last year, so I guess December is just really my off season.

Work stuff, holiday stuff, family stuff. It’s just a busy month, and I was due for some time off. But in the words of Jed Bartlett, “Break’s over. What’s next?”

Blog posts I haven’t written

Oh hi.

I’ve been wondering about you who have time to document your lives on the internet. I miss it. Lately, if I’ve got the time I don’t have energy left. Blah blah so busy.

Things I have mentally started to compose blog posts about:

 

Why I’m considering not commuting by bicycle this winter after doing so the last two (and bragging about how easy it is).

Refinancing our mortgage and how so far it’s been pretty simple but I’m afraid it’s going to get somehow complicated and annoying before we close on Tuesday.

 

 

That I tried on a bunch of dresses to find a birthday dress (Oh yeah, I turned 30) and the Gap has so many frigging cute things right now. Also how my hair is getting so long and it’s bringing me such joy I’m kind of embarrassed about how much. Also also, the Gap dressing rooms have a little buzzer so you can call someone to get you a size AND the lights behind the mirror are dimmable in case they are ruining the iPhone camera photos you want to post on the internet.

Thanksgiving in Alabama and why this gear was required. Check out those forehead wrinkles. (See: 30th birthday.)

 

My volunteering with the library. I’m excited to start working with them long term, and if you see me in real life please please ask me about volunteering at the book sale. It’s the funniest happened-to-me story I’ve got.

 

That there are legit like 25 packages that have arrived at my house because we’re doing Christmas here and everyone’s shipping their presents. This was taken a week ago; it’s not even half. I have lots of fun ideas for what to do with my family while they’re here, and I hope I’m a good hostess.

 

 

How my holiday party was the funnest. Highlight: Chris spending ten minutes talking to a new coworker about beards, receding hairlines, and body hair. (To be fair, I had my own long convo with a colleague’s wife who has thick eyebrows like mine.) Second highlight: They gave everyone football or basketball jerseys for the team you root for. Since I’m not into sports I got a cycling jersey! Third highlight: dancing until the whole thing was over and then hugging the guys in the band and then pouring myself into an Uber home.

 

How much  I cannot stand when people who live in a duplex cannot get their act together to coordinate on holiday decor. Symmetry, people. I know we all know our neighbors less than ever, but you’re borderline roommates. Come on. This looks so tacky.

 

Why you need to be using a humidifier.

Why you need to use alba body oil if you live in Colorado.

Why our vet is the best (because he comes to your house).

The super cute things Harper has been doing lately.

How awesome iPhoto is for making Christmas cards.

Pictures of all our cute decorations.

What you all think I should do about my tan lines from doing my 70.3, still visible three months later.

 

Oh, email

Something that’s become part of my Sunday night routine is triaging my company’s customer service inbox. We generally have a few hundred emails from over the weekend. Many are out-of-office messages or others that can just be deleted. I sort and categorize and try to set my team up for a smoother Monday morning.

I had to pause when I go to this OOO message from Saturday:

Thank you for contacting me, my work week is complete. I will respond as soon as I can on Monday.

This strikes me as such a bold choice. At first I was like, wow that’s awesome! You are clearly defining your working hours and being authentic about what people can expect from you. As someone who has work email on my phone, and as someone who is literally reading this gal’s email in a work related way on a Sunday night, I was struck.

On the other hand, it’s a little in your face, right? Like, most people would probably not expect her to answer anything until Monday. I send emails at off-hours sometimes. I fire off something to my boss while I’m thinking about it late at night or on the weekend; I don’t expect her to take action on it until the next business day.

I still can’t decide if I like this or not, but it got me thinking.

Saturday morning

There were sheets in the dryer, and I thought to myself, I should make the bed with the new sheets.

I need to take the other sheets off the bed. Uff, why do we have like seven blankets on this bed? Right, because Harper chewed a hole in the comforter.

We need a new comforter. I should put on on my Christmas list. Fire up amazon app, look at a few, add one to my wish list.

I need more things on my wish list so my family knows what I want for Christmas.

I can’t think of anything else I want. Which is weird because I know I always want a lot of things when I go shopping.

Maybe something running related? My mom got me a garmin last year and some really nice running tights.

I should go for a run today. It’s so pretty out.

Where’s my garmin? Does it need to be charged?

Oh, it’s over on the shelf under the coffee table. Turn it on, so it can go through the locating satellites process.

Sit on the couch. Oops, it still smells vaguely like that cleaning solution we used on it last week. I should spritz it with water to see if that helps.

Back to the kitchen to get the spray bottle. Oh, the washer isn’t started. Walk into the bathroom to get clothes from the hamper to start a load.

Did I brush my teeth today? I can’t remember. I’ll just do it in case I didn’t already.

Holy crap, how is it almost 11 am? Why don’t I ever get anything done on Saturdays? This is ridiculous. I’m going to write this down.