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By kilax, March 20, 2018 6:12 am

When Data was at the vet last week, a veterinarian walked by and asked me “Is that the 910?”

It took me a second, but I realized he was talking about my Garmin watch, which I wear all the time. “It’s the 920!” I said.

Then we talked shop for a bit, which was enjoyable. He does triathlons and trains with a well-known club in town.

Later, when I was talking to Steven about it, he said he was super confused at first. “He asked you if it was 9:10, and you said 9:20, but I looked at the clock and it was 9:23!” Ha! Ha ha ha.

Data was at the vet for his annual appointment. It’s usually in April but we moved it up a month because he’s been losing weight. He’s older (15) so the weight loss is typical, but we wanted to have his blood work done and make sure he’s okay. He’s also been a bit needy over the last month, which he tends to be when he’s not feeling well, so we wanted to check on that, too. (Otherwise his behavior has been completely normal.)

That’s one way to hide from the vet

His bloodwork came back fine! He is still in the “gray zone” for thyroid issues, and the vet recommended we check his blood again in six months. But yay, my old man cat is healthy.

According to the app I use at the vet, yesterday, March 19th, was Data’s birthday (no idea how they came up with this date, ha – I had never seen it until I got the app a year ago). Happy Birthday, Data!

The vet sent Data an animated card with all of these cats showing up at the door then having a party for Data. Awwwwwww. It was so cute and cheesy, I teared up a bit, watching it. 

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By kilax, March 19, 2018 6:23 am

Creative title, right? Gosh, March sure is long!

I had a short, but blissful, weekend!

Steven got a hankering for a homemade cookie on Saturday, so he made some Sunday evening!

On Friday afternoon I got a sports massage, then went to Aldi (my first trip of two there this weekend, grrr). That night, I saw Bobbi’s daughter’s play. I was impressed! To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from a middle school play, but I am pretty sure their acting, costumes, lighting, and stage surpassed anything I did in high school theater.

The play was Cobweb Dreams, which was a take on a portion of A Midsummer’s Night Dream (which I wasn’t familiar with but read about after the show). The story was about the faeries that live in the enchanted forest; particularly, about the fairy Cobweb, who felt like she didn’t belong in her group of faeries (lady-in-waiting faeries, I think), and wondered if she belonged in any of the other fairy groups in her tribe (woodland faeries, water faeries, flower faeries, etc.). She was thinking about leaving them all to join a different tribe all together.

The story had great themes: self acceptance, sense of belonging, group dynamics (how to get along with everyone even if they aren’t your best friend), and appropriate and NOT appropriate pranks/teasing. I thought those were great lessons for this age group (and let’s be real, every age). I’m glad I went! Like I said, I was impressed and entertained. Now I want to see A Midsummer’s Night Dream!

I ran Saturday morning, then Jen, Troy, and Declan came over so we could go to HuHot! Oh, HuHot, how I love thee. I had been thinking about what I was going to put in my stir fry all week and it did not disappoint!

Not sure why I took a photo of my food hanging OFF the table, wtf, Kim

I wore green to make sure I didn’t get pinched, but that was the extent of my St. Patrick’s Day celebrating!

Looks like the “hanging things off a ledge” photo trend lasted all day, wtf…

We hung out with Jen, Troy, and Declan a bit at our house after lunch, then I finished The Wild Truth and took a short nap.

Saturday night was chill. We considered watching The Shape of Water to continue our Oscar-nominated movie watching spree (we’ve recently watched Darkest Hour, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and I, Tonya. Get Out and Icarus were the only we had seen pre-Oscars!), but ended up watching Battlestar Galatica. 

On Sunday I ran (surprise surprise), then did errands after lunch. I missed a few things at Aldi, hence trip #2. Eyeroll – I hate being inefficient. I also went to another store, and to the library to return a few things. I completely forgot the library isn’t open on Sundays, and was disappointed I didn’t get to look for something new to read! Wah!

After errands, I took the cats out on the balcony,

took a short nap, went on a walk with Steven, then he made cookies and dinner (I sous chefed),

and… we watched more Battlestar Gallactica!

It’s obvious I need other hobbies beyond exercising, reading, and watching movies/shows. But the fact that I am feeling more social is good! Long-time readers will recall I get the “spring blues” – I struggle when it gets warmer and the days get longer. It makes me moody. I can feel that seeping in, especially on Sunday, when it was so warm out. I know it’s odd, and I fight it every year. Fingers crossed this is one of the better years (last year surprisingly was because we had no winter – so I didn’t have a winter to mourn ending).

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By kilax, March 17, 2018 7:45 am

He actually asked me two weeks ago, so you’re probably surprised this post isn’t me introducing the newest member of our family to you!

I’m surprised too. And I was surprised when Steven asked. He’s never had a kitten, and thought it would be fun. I bet it would be fun too. AND CRAZY.

Everyone I tell this to immediately says “YES OMG GET A KITTEN RIGHT MEOW OMG YASSSSSSSS!!!!”

Except when I told Rachel. Who recently adopted a young cat. She said “how much do you like your furniture?” Hmm, or did she ask me “How much do you like your things not being destroyed?” Ha. Same difference!

So we’re thinking about it. We’d adopt (from the vet/shelter/a rescue, etc.). I told the vet to let us know when they get their annual spring kittens brought in from the farms.

This is horrible (but true), but since Snow passed, it’s been much easier to take care of two indoor cats, compared to two indoor and one outdoor. Obviously, this new kitten would live inside, but I do wonder about the extra “work.” And of course, what Data and Khali would think!

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By kilax, March 12, 2018 6:06 am

Despite this post making it seem that way!

I’m just in tune with when I need more quiet time than social time, and that’s how this month has started, and I’m feeling good, because of it!

So, yeah – another (mostly) quiet weekend!

Friday got off to an awesome start when I checked the mail and the newest Runner’s World had my favorite runner – Shalane Flanagan!!! – on the cover!

I had to immediately text fellow Shalane-lover, xaarlin, about the cover

Updated April 3rd – link to article here

I’ve followed her career for a long time and love that she’s been in the news so much after winning the New York City Marathon. And I especially love her platform of encouraging and supporting her fellow women training partners to be their best and how that also makes her her best. <—Said poorly (what a surprise!), so read more about that here (pdf version here).

Side note: the state of the magazine industry makes me sad. Each issue of Runner’s World seems thinner than the previous one. This issue has a printed article of something I read online from them in August (the article is slightly different). It also has an  announcement that this is the editor-in-chief’s last issue (I think she was the editor-in-chief for a year or less?). Despite my complaints about Runner’s World I do still read it, and prefer to read magazines in print, but it doesn’t feel like I will be doing that much longer, with most of their content being online now. Who knows.

Back to Friday – I had dinner with Steven and Troy, then they went to a concert. I enjoyed visiting with them when they got back.

On Saturday I ran with Rachel! Then ran an errand and spent some much needed downtime with Steven – we hadn’t seen each other much all week. I took a nap (woot!) while Steven worked then we went out for dinner and picked up Murder on the Orient Express to watch.

This Mexican restaurant near us added a completely vegan menu a couple of months ago!

Steven had an early meeting on Sunday, and I am hoping us getting up early, and going to bed early Sunday night helps us fight the usual horrible feelings that come from switching to DST! (I still felt hella confused when it was so dark out when I got up this morning, hmm.)

Sunday was more working out, and errands. The exciting part of errands was when I randomly stopped at the Bath & Body Works outlet to see if they still had my second favorite winter candle scent on sale AND THEY HAPPENED TO HAVE MY FIRST FAVORITE SCENT OMFG (and my second one!)!!! I thought I wouldn’t get that scent again until November!!! <— very exciting moment for me (sad, I know).

I have a candle going most of the time I work from home, so I go through these kind of fast!  

And my Sunday was über exciting after that – chores and chilling with Steven. Ha. Yeah, I’m ready to reintegrate with society!

I’ve noticed me feeling the need for quiet coincided directly with going back to my old position at work. That’s because I’m frustrated almost every day by the work I do, and it makes me want to be alone after work. Conversely, It’s also because I am physically alone, working from home by myself a lot of the time. That makes me feel anti-social, which is odd, because I know what I need to help with that is meaningful connections.

So I need connections to feel better, but am so frustrated I feel like I shouldn’t be around people. Eek.

Luckily, I had and enjoyed meaningful conversations and connections with people this weekend! Now, to work on not feeling so angry during the work week that it seeps in to the rest of my life…

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By kilax, March 8, 2018 6:27 am

• I finished Into the Wild, then rewatched the movie version of it this week (I wrote about the movie when I first watched it – my thoughts in that post are still true!). I enjoyed the book, and took a quick break after reading it to read the fiction book Friendship, then started The Wild Truth last night. I can already tell The Wild Truth is going to give a lot more insight in to the McCandless childrens’ actual relationship with their parents.
• I did a quick day trip to Cincinnati yesterday, for work. I was with coworkers I like, but man, being around the same people all day and not getting any time to myself is VERY challenging for me. Situations like that don’t help this feeling! I found myself cherishing alone time in the bathroom, and being excited when they all went to the Pre✓ line in the airport and I stood in regular security “by myself.” I’ll be traveling more for work (my team now inspects some of the new furniture installations in our six state region, although, yesterday’s meeting was for a construction project) so I’ll likely get Pre✓ soon.
• I got myself a treat at the airport (and used a Starbucks giftcard from my snis)! I typically only get Starbucks mugs for places I’ve been to, and I’ve been to Kentucky so many times for work. It’s not a state in my region, but I’ve flown there to get to Indiana and Ohio, and spent time there.

• Ha. Xaarlin specifically wrote a comment on my Sunday training post to be careful NOT to give myself frostbite while icing my leg, and what did I do that exact night?! Doh.

• DST starts this Sunday! I wish we’d just stay on it the whole year. Losing that hour of sleep messes me up for more than a week to come! Prepare for more withdrawn, quiet Kim!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 170

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By kilax, March 5, 2018 6:13 am

February wore me out, and I took this first weekend of March to recharge. I was at the point where any social invitation got a “no” from me. I couldn’t imagine being social one week out, or months in the future. I was too worn out. Present Day Kim says no. Please try again later with Future Kim. Ha.

I did have ONE social obligation this weekend – teaching fitness boxing! But that almost always energizes me. So yay for that!

Otherwise my weekend consisted of lots of alone time working out, a nap, reading (I finished Into the Wild), getting my nails done (in this color!), errands and dinner out with Steven, and hanging with Steven (going on a walk, watching the newer Battlestar Gallactica, the newer Flatliners, and part of The Oscars).

We had pizza out! Totally unplanned, but we could smell the restaurant when we were walking to Target, and when we saw they had vegan cheese, it seemed like a sign to check it out!

Perfection.

And I feel a bit recharged.

But I still feel like saying “no” to most invites. Ha! I need more time!

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By kilax, March 1, 2018 6:23 am

• The Winter Olympics are over! I’m pleased with how much of them we got to watch, despite not being able to select what we were watching, and having to listen to annoying commentary. Ha. I wonder how much we’ll use the antenna now. Maybe for the Oscars this weekend? (We used to be super in to the Oscars and even had a viewing party once!)

Luca sent me these cute Team USA mittens!

• I booked my April trip to Dallas for Luca’s birthday! Yay! I love the tradition of seeing him for his birthday. I wonder if I will get to try a Texan vegan donut while I am there…?
• We both enjoyed Black Panther! (Although I still tend to get bored during the “three fights going on at once” scenes at Marvel movies.)
• (NOT AN AD) Have you seen these bracelet helpers before? When I wear a bracelet with a lobster clasp, I have to have Steven help me put it on, but sometimes it’s too early in the morning to ask for help before I catch the train, so I got this thing and… IT WORKS! Yay! (You use the helper to hold one end of the bracelet steady while you use your free hand to secure the clasp.)

You use your other hand to clasp it, but I was using that hand to take the photo!

• I had some funky website issues yesterday (that were likely ISP related) that made me want to throw the towel in on this thing. I don’t want to spend time figuring out code anymore. I just want stuff to work. But that’s not how it goes when I’m using an old wordpress theme and outdated plugins! I should look in to that at SOME point.
• Speaking of frivolous blog stuff, I had a lot of draft blog posts – over one hundred and fifty, and recently deleted ninety-seven of them. So many of them were about healthy eating and weight loss. Gawd. Some were almost 10 years old! Delete. Delete. Delete!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 169

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By kilax, February 28, 2018 6:08 am

February was BUSY and I hope March is QUIETER. Despite how it may seem, I don’t enjoy having a full calendar, but sometimes life is that way. My perfect weekend has one social activity, a few chores/errands, and A LOT of quiet time. Ha. Rarely happens. But maybe this month!

Here are a few things I am excited about in March:

• My final month of 5K training! I’m excited to run ALL the miles and NOT eat all the food.
• Teaching two fitness boxing classes, including a special Easter egg hunt themed one (so cheesy, but no shame).
• Meeting Rachel for a run.
• Dates with Steven.
• Seeing Anne when she comes for the Shamrock Shuffle.
• Finally starting that shawl from the kit and yarn Mica gave me!

Not much else is planned! Like I said, I am planning for a quiet, under the radar month.

What’s on your list?

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By kilax, February 26, 2018 6:14 am

What a fun weekend we had!

Although, it didn’t quite start out that way for me. I was out of sorts Saturday morning since I wasn’t running long or teaching class (lack of endorphins!). I ran a few errands, and came back feeling dead tired (waking up for an hour in the middle of the night before probably didn’t help). I felt better after I took my planned nap but was still on edge, probably from 5K race nerves. I wasn’t very fun to be around most of Saturday. It was a funky day.

But Anne and Terry arrived early Saturday evening and the fun began! We hung out, then went out for dinner at TJI Fridays (FU Red Robin), where I got an adult beverage (a mojito with cotton candy in it!) that helped my funk. Then we came back and had s’mores and watched the bad movie I rented for us (The Snowman). Watching bad movies together was our thing when we all lived in Lake County (as was brainstorming plot lines for Kevin James movies). We’d get together once a month to do it (sometimes we’d watch a decent movie, ha).

Data and his new bestie

I woke up with a slight headache (oops) but we had plenty of time to sit around until it was time to leave for our 11:00 am 5K. Enough time to get rid of the headache, and have those 5K nerves come back in full force. Gah. Annoying.

But my nerves immediately went away when I started running. I felt in control and at ease, and enjoyed the race. Anne and I both had great races and appreciated the boys spectating,

and we ALL appreciated El Famous after. (Although I already had “post fast run upset stomach” and couldn’t eat much, wah.)

During lunch we decided to see if we could go to an escape room that night. All of us had heard of them, and were curious, but none of us had been. Terry found one in Zion (Edge of Escape), and we made a reservation to go in the early evening (after we finished The Snowman <— priorities).

The only thing I knew about escape rooms it that you have an hour to solve the clues and get out. I didn’t know that most have a maximum amount of people to go in the room, and that you might be “escaping” with people you don’t know (our room had a max of eight, but it was just the four of us). I didn’t know there were so many places, and plots (at some places) to choose from. I didn’t know it was kind of costly ($30 a person, we didn’t see any Groupons), but after going, I understand why. And I had heard how fun they were, but of course, didn’t get it until I did it!

Will we make it out?!

Edge of Escape was created by the same person who’s been running The Dungeon of Doom (an elaborate haunted house in Zion) for thirty-one years. I’ve never been to the haunted house, but now that I’ve seen how meticulously detailed and neat the escape room is, I want to go to the haunted house. I could not get over how cool everything was from the entrance,

to the waiting area, to, of course, the escape room itself.

Our “escape” was actually helping rescue someone who was stuck in time travel. His friend turned foe trapped him in the 1400s and we had to use clues to get a piece of equipment back to him to get home (and stop the foe from changing history as we know it!!!). When I imagined an escape room in my mind, I thought it would all be logic puzzle solving for some reason, but there was only a little of that. This room was set up so that there were a ton of real effects and different things you had to do and find. Lots of searching for stuff! (And we later found out there were a lot more “puzzles” in there that they do when they have more people in the room.)

We never would have gotten out in time without LOTS of clues from the owner over the microphone, ha! I thought it was challenging, but we enjoyed it, and the owner did an awesome job of maximizing our time in there, but also letting us “solve” it.

And I really thought it was cool that we got to go in the time machine and “travel” back in time and solve clues in another time period, too. It really felt like the time machine was moving, when we were in it (it was between the two rooms).

After we were done the owner showed us all around. We got to see the control room, the new escape rooms he’s building, and even behind the scenes stuff for the haunted house. You could tell he LOVED his job and is passionate about it, which I love seeing. And I was happy we could support a local business. I will definitely be back to try the new rooms when they open!

We had a healthy dinner planned after eating out for dinner and lunch – salads and this:

Ha. Steven’s been wanting to make this vegan pigs in a blanket with chili since he saw it in a Facebook video months ago and we finally did. And it was delicious.

After dinner we only had time to plan out three new Kevin James movie plot lines before calling it a night so Anne and Terry could get up early today to drive back to Cleveland. What a fun day and a half together though! I feel like we totally maximized it! And like we’ll all be tired this week, but what’s new there?

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By kilax, February 24, 2018 11:55 am

I finally did something I’ve been meaning to do since we moved to Zion two years ago…

I got a library card!

I’ve been reading more, and it doesn’t make sense for me to buy everything I want to read. To the library I go!