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By kilax, February 8, 2018 6:20 am

• I’ve been writing a lot more weekend recaps than I used to. I like it! Thanks to Mica, with her “Last week, briefly” series, for the inspiration. We both recently discussed how we love having our blogs to document what we were up to at certain points in time (despite how cringe-worthy some of our earlier writing is!).
• Christina gave me this decorative box (what do you call these?!?) for Christmas, and of course, I had to cheese it up with some snister pics!

• I’m a fast talker, and am aware of it. I gave training twice this week and wanted to make sure I talked slow enough for people to understand, so I practiced at home (awkward) and brought this post it for my co-presenter to show me if I needed to slow down, ha! (He didn’t have to!) Also, I am so glad to have those done. I was dreading them (but we practiced a lot so they went well and we received compliments).

• On January 30th and 31st, I got an offer to review RunLites (from a different person/company each day) and responded to both immediately that I’d like to try them cause I’d use them! Then… crickets. Ha, I suppose that is what I get for writing this!
• I caught these two cuddling together again! Aww!

• Thank you all for continuing to be kind, supportive, and understanding, as I’ve been a bit mopey lately. It means a lot to me.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 166

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By kilax, February 7, 2018 6:25 am

I’m so glad I had this skein of yarn and new pattern with me on the train last night.

It sat in my bag, untouched, on the ride in, and most of the ride home. I was too tired to think about figuring out a new pattern.

But just short of two stops to mine, the conductor came on to announce our train was involved in an emergency incident, and to expect delays.

I immediately looked at the Metra site, which usually has the most current information, and saw that the train I was on had struck a pedestrian (pdf here). We were actually past the station, which makes me think it a suicide, and not an accident (but what do I know?). Ugh, that poor person.

The conductors didn’t have much info at first, but started sharing it as soon as they got it. We had to wait for the coroner and Metra police to arrive, and that would be at least an hour. Then they had to do a full investigation, which would take time. They expected a three hour delay, and couldn’t let us off, since we were between stops.

The Metra conductors were professional, courteous, extremely apologetic, and shared as much info as they had (and even offered bottled water). But I am not in the best emotional state these days* and felt like I was about to have a bit of a break down. Despite how great they were being. And despite the gravity of the situation (and trying to see the big picture).

So I brought out the knitting.

And focused on learning some new stitches.

And knitted for the two and a half hours we sat there (not three, yay!).

And saved my crying break down for the car drive home.

Yay, knitting to the rescue! It really is calming.

*Thinking about Snow, work issues, hormones, etc. I actually had a mopey post about Snow ready for today, but I’ll save it, and maybe not even post it. Writing about it definitely helps, and talking to people about it does too, but I am just not sure how much of my crummy emotional state I want to put on the blog.

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By kilax, February 6, 2018 7:00 am

Wow, it’s been two years (to this date!) since we moved in to our current home! I was talking to Steven about it, and we both agreed that it feels like less than two years. It must feel like that to other people too, because I still get lots of questions about the “new” house and what projects we’re working on <— Steven is team #projectsforlife so that question will always be appropriate!

Our sentiment toward our home is the same as when I wrote about it last year at this time – we love how peaceful and quiet it is (because we live on a short dead end street where everyone has five acres or more, and part of the street is surrounded by forest preserve), and don’t mind that it’s “far” away from things. Feeling relaxed and at ease AND HAPPY in our home is worth the distance from things. (And different things make different people happy! For us, we knew we needed space and land for our happy home – but I know some people would be much happier in an area more densely populated.)

Our only major current gripe is that we don’t have a workshop for Steven! He loves to build and create and our garage is not big enough to set up a shop. We’re hoping building something is in our near future!

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By kilax, February 5, 2018 6:24 am

Our weekend started off to a very exciting Friday night watching The Martian (a favorite of mine that I watch over and over), ordering new shoes for Steven, and finishing the wash cloths my mom ordered for her sister-in-law.

There’s three each of the patterned ones, and four of the turquoise. What’s next? Starting on a beautiful pattern and yarn that Mica gave me over a year ago!

On Saturday, I met Rachel to run in Burlington, Wisconsin, our go-to (somewhat) middle point between our homes. We ran on a new-to-us trail, and could smell the Nestle plant in town for a lot of our run! It was lovely to see Rachel and catch up.

While I was running errands on the way back home, my older brother text me and asked if I had lunch plans. He happened to be in the Chicagoland area, so we met him and his wife for a late lunch. What a wonderful surprise! It was nice to spend my morning with one of my best friends, and my afternoon with family.

Me, Steven, Alyssa, Chevy (the dog), and Nick. They were in town to pick up this ’41 Chevy (the car).

It’s not often we get to sit and chat without interruptions when we are with family, so it was great to truly catch up. We finally got to hear (from them) all about the surprise trip they took my nephews on to California in September.

After that Steven and I ran a few errands. We both need new phones, so we went to the store to look at them. I am going to stick with Apple, but he is jumping ship (ha) and was looking at Samsung and Google models (we’ll order them online later).

My big goal for Saturday night was to stay up to watch Saturday Night Live because Natalie Portman was hosting and she’s a favorite actress of mine.

I was successful and stayed up for the whole show (only because I napped from 9:45 until it started at 10:35, ha). Unfortunately the show was mostly meh! Oh well. At least we have an antenna now and can watch meh shows again!

We got a few inches of snow over Saturday night and during Sunday morning. The roads were dicey when I drove to teach fitness boxing at Efit. This winter seems odd, with how many times it’s snowed and melted completely.

I ran inside when I got back from teaching, and Steven was lifting, so it was fun to be working out at the same time! We went out to the shooting range after lunch.

I feel successful when I hit the target!

When we got back, it was time for errands (clearing that snow!) then pretending to watch the Super Bowl. We had it on in the living room while we made dinner and banana bread, and prepped all the produce for the week.

I needed more quiet time than I had this weekend. Both days I wanted to take a nap (and truthfully, mope about Snow) and didn’t. I have a hectic work week ahead where I am giving training, and taking training, and doing my normal work. I hope I can find some quiet moments in the week!

Comments (8)

By kilax, February 4, 2018 2:02 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running with Rachel!

Monday | January 29, 2018: 10 m ride + 7 m run + teaching strength class
Indoor Ride Time: 40:18, Pace: 14.9 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, sweaty
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 23°/21°, Time: 1:07:14, Pace: 9:36 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Strength: body bars, Difficulty: easy, except squats, Felt: slap happy, hungry
Tuesday | January 30, 2018: rest
Wednesday | January 31, 2018: 10 m run (incl. 12 hill repeats) + 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 32°/32°, Time: 1:39:39, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, held back by the wind
Loc: Lakefront Trail, Temp: 41°/41°, Time: 28:58, Pace: 9:38 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, annoyed with all the stops!
Thursday | February 1, 2018: 5 m run
Treadmill Time: 49:17, Pace: 9:51 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: surprisingly good on the treadmill!
Friday | February 2, 2018: teaching strength class + 1,302 yd swim + 4 m run + 15 m ride
Strength: body bars, Difficulty: easy (1/2 observing), Felt: good, happy for the distraction
Loc: FitNation, Time: 28:09 Pace: 2:10 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, wanted to keep going!
Loc: hood, Temp: 12°/12°, Time: 36:53, Pace: 9:12, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, glad for the sun
Indoor Ride Time: 56:37, Pace: 15.9 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | February 3, 2018: 10 m run (w/Rachel)
Loc: Burlington, Temp: 22°/22°, Time: 1:38:29, Pace: 9:51 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great!
Sunday | February 4, 2018: teaching fitness boxing + 4 m run (incl. 4×400)
Strength: boxing and core/cardio, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: good
Treadmill Time: 39:47, Pace: 9:56 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: fine

Notes:

• Pretty Little Liars was my go-to TV show for indoor cycling for the last year+ and I finished it Monday! It’s time to find a new show to watch!
• Wow, the squats in Monday night class killed my quads. My quads must have been sore from running right before class, or the tempo run the day before. (They’re all better now!)
• I ran a little more than I needed to this week because I was irritated and angry and trying to deal.
• I need to quit pushing my swimming ear buds in so far. I was freaked out Friday when one was stuck deep in my ear. I’m so glad Steven could get it out.
• It was so fun to meet Rachel for a long run and chat away! It’s awesome that our meeting town has so many trails. I hope we can meet again next month!
• I felt really good having my fitness boxing workout planned a week in advance, for once. But as I was teaching, I realized I should have reviewed it right before, and especially reviewed the playlist, since there were song cues. Lesson learned!
• I didn’t do my speedwork on Thursday because I didn’t have the emotional energy for it. I decided to save it for Sunday, then realized later I was supposed to do a tempo that day. Dammit, no tempo this week. Oh well! And I cut a lot of my speedwork out – four 400s instead of ten! Ha! Another lesson learned – avoid speedwork on the treadmill. I felt out of control, like I was going to fly off, and it scared me (which is funny – my Thursday treadmill run went so well). (I ran inside because it was snowing, and I didn’t want to run outside and slip, or drive to the track to run because the roads were bad. )
• It’s monthly recap time. In January I ran 181.8 miles (27 runs, more miles than any month last year), cycled 150.5 miles (11 indoor rides) and swam 4,704 yards (4 swims). My coldest run was 12°F and my warmest was 64°F. I did 5 hill sessions and 5 speed sessions. I ran one race – the Snowshoe Scurry 5K Race #2. I taught 7 strength classes, 2 fitness boxing classes, and 1 indoor cycling class. I did 2 strength workouts at home.

Link to Training Week 432

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By kilax, February 3, 2018 6:22 am

I started the week off feeling irritated and angry. And agitated. I actually made a list of things that were bothering me, and how I was feeling. And promised myself I would do something about it if things didn’t get better in a few weeks.

Then our week took a total turn for the worst.

Then the water stopped working at the house (it’s working now).

Then I was worried I’d have to go to urgent care to get an ear bud out (it was stuck deep in my ear for about thirty minutes, until I got home and Steven got it after a few minutes of work. I was freaked out.).

Then the vet called and said both cats have roundworm (which we can get from them… yay).

These two trouble makers

Then… I just had to laugh.

This week can just eff off!

There’s been recognizable and appreciated good, love, and joy in each day. I just need the percentage of that to be a little bit higher! Since I am not working today, and about to leave for a run with Rachel, it’s already headed in that direction! Yay!

A little Snow-morial in our foyer, featuring a plant my family sent

Comments (40)

By kilax, February 2, 2018 4:15 am

Snow wasn’t around for dinner Wednesday night or breakfast Thursday and I thought nothing of it – he usually goes exploring when we get warmer spells like we had on Wednesday.

So I was shocked Thursday morning when Steven called me shortly after leaving the house to ask if I’d seen Snow that morning, and to tell me he was pretty sure he found his body along the road just over a mile south of our house.

He wrapped him up in a blanket and brought him home. It was definitely him. I didn’t look at his face (the freezing temperatures really messed up his eyes and Steven advised I didn’t look) but I recognized his muscular body. I was glad to see it wasn’t mangled. I hope his death was instant and he didn’t suffer long. (And I’m extremely glad that Steven found Snow, and he didn’t just disappear with us wondering where he was forever.)

We buried him in the backyard. It was in the teens and super windy and the ground was frozen. But we started a fire to warm the ground and were able to dig a hole for him. I’m glad he’s close to home and I can visit him.

I’d like to write his name on the stone

Ugh.

I’m still in shock, when I think about how he won’t be living in his house anymore, or crying at the doors and windows of ours. Crying for attention and playing shy, then being a total lovebug as soon as he warmed up. I look outside and expect to see him. I keep thinking I hear him meowing at us.

Snow never wanted to live inside and we knew the risks of letting him be an outdoor cat. I just wish he hadn’t explored a road so far away from the home, where there’s a 55 mph speed limit.

But I’m glad for the short time we had with him. He showed up late September 2016 and was here until he passed away on February 1st, 2018. He was almost always around the house, and would come running and meowing if you opened any door to say hello. He let me hold him like a baby, and would purr like crazy. He loved his sister Khali, and liked Data too. A lot of our guests loved him because he was so sweet and friendly. He’ll be missed by many.

Baby Snow

I feel very matter of fact writing this, and like my emotion isn’t coming through. I’m horribly upset and look like crap from all my crying. I hate that our time together was cut short. I hate that animals get hit by cars. I hate that Snow won’t be visiting us inside anymore – that was new and becoming fun.

Ugh.

I’m very grateful to our supportive friends and family who’ve been consoling us. We feel comforted by them. Thank you!

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By kilax, February 1, 2018 6:23 am

• My mom knows the way to my heart. She’s planning a trip to Mount Rushmore in March and I told her I likely can’t go. Then she texts me out of the blue, “Oh, did you hear about this race in the area around the time we’re going?!” Tempting! I haven’t updated my states raced in/run in map in a while!
• I was on my blog Facebook page the other day and saw someone liked a post that I completely forgot subscribes to my blog. Oops. I forget about the readers who don’t comment! I hope I am not offending too many people.
• I told Steven about the custom notebook I ordered and he liked the idea so much he ordered notebooks for himself and his friends to take coffee notes in! (Steven is on a quest to brew the perfect cup.)

• Yay! My snis and Will and William are traveling to Iowa the same weekend we are in April! I can’t wait to see them!
• Data and Khali get along and (I think) like being around each other, but Tuesday was the first time since Khali moved in last February that I’ve seen them sleeping and cuddling together. Aww!!!!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 165