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By kilax, February 29, 2012 7:46 am

The Fashion Fairy visited me and left me two skirts and some nail polish to try!

Actually, my favorite coworker has been losing weight and two of her fave skirts are too big for her now. I happen to be that size. Score for me! I hope she keeps losing weight and sends more clothes my way.

I just wonder – will our other coworkers notice I am wearing her old clothes? Ha ha ha.

We were talking this week and she mentioned she had some stuff that did not fit her and asked if I wanted to try it. Then she interrupted herself and said “I hate when people do that! I have some stuff that’s too big for me but might work for you.” Ha. Does not bother me. At. All.

Would you be offended if someone offered you their “too big for me now” clothing?

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By kilax, February 29, 2012 4:49 am

Check out Chez Julie’s interesting post that reminded me I wanted to write about this at all. 

A lot of my job responsibilities are in reviewing documents and drawings*. And that has seeped over in to my personal life. 

Let me warn you now – don’t ever send me anything** to review unless you are ready for suggestions and a lot of  “did you think about this?” questions.

I am… let me make up a word, commentative.

Pretending to review something on my netbook

My poor sister. She is searching for interior design internships and sends me all of her cover letters to review. And I always have to say something! I just can’t help it! I’m all, “I am not sure if the tone is appropriate here.” And she’s like “Kim. This is the same cover letter as last time, with the firm name and a few other details swapped out and you thought that was fine before.” Oops. Sorry, Chris. 

I just have to look for something to comment on, every time I am given something to review. I can’t help it. I think it makes the people I work with hate me. I like to think it makes me thorough. I secretly like reviewing things. Whether or not I know what I am doing (mostly not).

I have the same problem in meetings. If someone asks for an opinion I feel like I should come up with one. Why else would they ask, right? 

Yeah. That one has gotten me in trouble.

I like to think that people must really want my opinion if they are asking for it? Maybe? Maybe?

Maybe I need to learn to keep my mouth shut?

When someone asks you for your opinion on something, do you usually spend the time to thoroughly review whatever it is and give your honest opinion?

*for accuracy and compliance, not grammar/spelling/and so on.
**things people ask me to review: websites, forms, surveys, invitations, emails, cover letters, resumes, retirement letters (just teasin’ ya, Dad), photos

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By kilax, February 28, 2012 6:36 am

Yesterday I was showing someone pictures of my lunch (the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger from Native Foods, sub Chicken) and they very outrightly proclaimed how weird it was that I took pictures of my food.

Oh, honey. If you could only see all the weird things I take pictures of. Really. Wow.

Any good looking meal, I am going to take a picture so I can send it to Steven (or post it here!). If I see some random thing that strikes me as funny, I will take a picture. Fashion ideas on random people… yes (and yes, fashion faux pas, which I am very guilty of being one). Any injury, funny cut, bruise, gross blister… somewhere I still have a picture of when I had over 100 mosquito bites on me… mostly on my butt. I could name many more random things…

I don’t want to ever regret not taking a photo. And one of my biggest fears is losing my digital photos. So yes, the random photos are important to me too.

And now that I have a smart phone, and taking and sending (admittedly, lower quality) photos is even easier, I don’t think my habits will be changing anytime soon!

What are the random/odd things you are photographing? Or, are you more reserved with photography?

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By kilax, February 27, 2012 5:32 pm

Maybe I am an introvert after all. 

I joined a running club at the very end of December in 2010. I was uber involved with them from the get-go, almost always attending the winter weekend long runs and many of the midweek runs. I got faster. I made new friends. I helped with the website portion of the club 5K. But after the 5K in August, I kind of drifted off. 

And I haven’t made an effort to attend any runs since then! 

I am honestly surprised I am the only one who wore a tank and shorts for the race. Photo credit to a running club member. 

So yesterday I showed up for the 5K in my club jersey and most people say to me “Kim! I haven’t see you in forever!”

Yeah…

I feel bad because it’s not like I haven’t been running. I ran all my long runs this summer with Erin (and loved it), and I’ve just been doing my own thing since then. 

But… who joins a club and doesn’t participate much? Should I have even worn my jersey yesterday? (No one made me feel like I should not have – just typing out loud here – everyone in my club is super friendly). 

I bet a lot of people are gung-ho about a club when they first join then kind of drift off like me. There is a core group in my club, that shows up to most things. I was like that for awhile, and now I am not. 

I guess it doesn’t bother me, until everyone’s like “Where have you been?” and I am like… “Uh… I’ve been busy?”

I sort of have been busy. Busy being anti-social! But really, I have just not felt like making the effort lately. Maybe I should work on that? I still see some people every week at strength class. That counts, right? Right?

Are you a member of any clubs? How often do you attend meetings/events?

There is much more I would like to say, but I will leave it at this. 

Comments (47)

By kilax, February 26, 2012 6:14 pm

Today was the Round Lake Frosty Footrace 5K – the 5K I have been training for for 12 weeks with Britt. Britt came out to watch me run the race and run my warm-up with me. She was very in tune with my goal and we had good plans – run the first mile easy at 7:30, then 7:25 for the second and 7:15-7:10 for the last mile. 

I’ll cut to the chase – I did not make my goal or even PR. My finish time was 24:00, which got me 1st place in my age group and a new course record (1 minute off my time from last year).

There is a lot more I could say about what I did wrong, but I know what I need to work on. I think I am also realizing this hilly course (paired with 20 mph winds from the south) is not one to try to PR on. Oops. 

I feel disappointed I did not make my goal, but only because I felt like I was wasting Britt’s time having her coach me and come all the way out to watch me race! Of course, she did not feel that way AT ALL and told me so. It was just my initial gut feeling. 

So, maybe I will try the 5K again. Although, while I was running, I told myself I never would. Ha ha. 

HUGE thanks to Britt, Erin and Steven for being awesome spectators and standing in the cold and wind to watch me race! And of course, thanks to Britt for being an amazing, inspiring, encouraging coach!

Erin, me and Britt

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and well wishes on the race!

After the race we ate pizza and chatted at our house for a few hours. I like that part of racing!

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By kilax, February 26, 2012 5:21 pm

Day 855 | February 20, 2011: strength

I went to Brian’s for a one-on-one session in the afternoon. I didn’t think it felt too tough when I was there (a lot of free weights and a bit of exercise ball) but geesh, my hamstrings were killing me from all the deadlifts the next day!

Day 856 | February 21, 2011: 6 m run (4×2 minutes with 1.5 minute recovery)

Two mile warm-up, 4×2 minutes at race pace with 1.5 minute recoveries and two+ mile cool-down. Last speedwork before the race on Sunday! The idea was to get some muscle memory going with my pace (goal between 7:30-7:35). Seems I went a bit fast: 7:19, 7:30, 7:21, 7:07. I ran that cool-down really slow though. 

Distance: 6.0 | Start Temp: 36° | End Temp: 35° | Time: 57:07 | Avg Pace: 9:31

Day 857 | February 22, 2011: 5 m run (recovery)

Ugh. I CANNOT believe how tight my hamstrings were for this run. Maybe the fact that I was groaning in pain on the foam roller the night before should have given me a hint of what was to come. 

Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 30° | End Temp: 32° | Time: 49:38 | Avg Pace: 9:55

Day 858 | February 23, 2011: 5 m run (5 x 15 sec strides)

Another lead legs run (due to the hamstrings). Not very encouraging. 

Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 38° | End Temp: 38° | Time: 48:32 | Avg Pace: 9:42

Day 859 | February 24, 2011: 5 m run  + strength

I was worried this run would feel as crummy as the last, but it didn’t! And my speed started to pick up at the end. 

It’s funny – we got about 5-7 inches of snow the day before this run. But it was so warm out, the snow was really wet and left the streets clear… for running!

I have not made it out in my snowshoes ONCE this season! I must change that soon!

Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 33° | End Temp: 33° | Time: 46:13 | Avg Pace: 9:14

Right after my run, I went to Brian’s. Haven’t I told myself not to do this before? Ha ha (that was the only way to fit in the run due to the snow – I was not going to run in the early am in the dark with the snow!). We did boxing and kettlebells (which I LOVE!) and some BOSU assisted pullups. It was a really tough session that left me feeling very strong!

Day 860 | February 25, 2011: rest 

Day 861 | February 26, 2011: 1.9 m warm-up + Frosty Footrace 5K

Week Summary: 26.0 miles

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By kilax, February 25, 2012 9:38 pm

Tomorrow is my goal 5K. All along, I thought I would just use whatever music is on my old MP3 player, as I had not figured out how to put music on my iPhone yet. 

iTunes scares me

But! Today I was inspired! I decided I needed some good tunes to push me through the pain of a 5K!

I downloaded them on iTunes and got them on my phone all by myself. This means a lot for the girl who asks her husband for help* with everything.

Celebration in order!

Do you run with or without music for a 5K?

I am pro-music for a 5K, especially, since my coach pointed out, it will block out those 20 mph winds. Yee haw!

*read, to do everything

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By kilax, February 24, 2012 8:18 am

Do you ever get so tired that you plan a “sleep in” day to try to catch up? Does it ever work for you?

I know you can’t “bank” your sleep to make up for lost sleep, but I have been planning on sleeping in tomorrow all week. I don’t have a long run, I don’t have any social plans, I don’t think we have any reason to leave the house other than to get groceries… it should be perfect, right?

Oh wait. There’s this guy:

Data insists on waking me up at my normal wake up time (4:30am) most days of the week, whether or not I need to get up. He wants to be fed. If I feed him, and go back to bed, he still bothers me. If I lock him out of the bedroom he bangs on the door handle.

So, my one goal for the day is to KEEP DATA UP all day long. Muah ha ha. I will wear him out and then he will sleep in. Let the games begin.

If that does not work, there will be a nap in my future.

(Yes, this is another reason I should never have kids, if I find my cat waking me up to be an annoyance)

This post sucks but it’s all I got right now. See here.

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By kilax, February 22, 2012 4:06 am

I am typically a very open, tell anyone anything sort of gal… until I find a reason not to be. And then I am quiet. And that is hard for me. 

Photo taken by Gina (editing my own)

But sometimes it’s necessary, especially when people:

1. don’t have your best interest in mind
2. aren’t listening anyway
3. use personal information you give them to make snarky comments

I guess it’s really the last one that gets to me. I know someone who, when I share personal information with them, sometimes makes inappropriate comments about my loved ones. 

I feel more and more guarded every time they ask “how was your weekend?” and “what’s new?” because I feel like anything I say will be held against me or turn in to a mean comment. I give as little detail as possible.

Kind of strange to think that I would not want to share my love for my friends with someone, but you never know what will come out of people’s mouths!

Luckily, I don’t have many people like this in my life. Because, ugh, wouldn’t that be a drag?

But it still sucks. 

I didn’t want to write about something so negative, but you know me – I figured maybe someone out there could relate.

Do you tend to be more reserved/guarded about your personal life with certain people?

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By kilax, February 21, 2012 4:47 am

Check out Gina’s awesomely hilarious recap of the Cherry Tree 10-Miler Relay.

Sometimes when Steven and I travel on social vacations* I feel like the whole trip has gone by and I haven’t spent much time talking to Steven – I will have been too busy talking to the people we were visiting. Steven and I get in the plane/car/whatever to go home and I’m like “Hey! How have you been these past few days?! What’s new with you?!!!”

Not to say we are ignoring each other or not talking to each other – we just aren’t having those one-on-one conversations I am so used to having every day. It’s a weird feeling – like we have been on a vacation together, but not entirely. There will be conversations he participated in/things he did that I missed and vice versa. And even if we spend the whole day together, we are around other people, so when we are alone at night, before we collapse in bed from exhaustion, I’m like “How are you?” Then I pass out before we even converse. 

Not saying it’s a bad thing at all, it’s just interesting. Steven left for NYC on Sunday morning (the 12th) and I arrived there late Wednesday night (the 15th). We just got back yesterday, so it feels like I have not seen him for awhile, even though we were together the last five days having a great time. 

Can anyone else relate to this nonsense?

In my mind, it’s just pointing out the different types of vacations Steven and I take. Most of them are social, like this, and we love it. We rarely do something just the two of us, although we would like to for our five-year anniversary in September!

Alright, so what did we do in NYC this time? There was LOTS of eating. 

Lots of Luca Snorgling.

Exotic Car Driving (first two photos by Gina)

General Touristy-ness

Lots of chillin’

Ha ha ha. 

It’s really hard for me to leave NYC, not knowing the next time we will see Gina, Steve and Luca. We all want to plan our next trip, but our schedules are too wonky to book tickets now. And I am such an impulse, instant-gratification, got to do it NOW sort of girl, it’s hard on me. But I know it will happen. Patience…

The good news is, this trip is EXACTLY what I needed (just like last year). I felt stress-free and happy the entire time. I forgot about the issues bothering me at work – I couldn’t even remember what they are. I hope that continues for awhile. I told Steven I am going to try a lot harder to leave work issues at work. I think I will even leave my work phone there and ignore it during non-work hours when I have to bring it home. 

*Going to see people, such as visiting my family or Gina & Steve.