I've been feeling pretty un-creative lately, sorry.
Work has been crazy. We're in the throes of tax time and everyone is calling for tax forms and distributions from their retirement plans, not to mention those who need reassurance about the roller coaster swings of the stock market lately.
Let's see...oh yeah, I'm getting ready to travel again for work. This time, I'm going to Phoenix for a two-day conference at Charles Schwab. My company is putting me up at the Ritz-Carlton in the apparently swanky area of Phoenix called Camelback. Not too bad, eh?
I'm totally looking forward to it. I'll get to see my cousin who relocated to Phx last year, plus I'll have a chance to pal around with a couple Schwabbies who I'm very friendly with.
Even better, The Huz and I are spending a few extra days out there after the conference ends. We're going to rent a car and drive to Sedona, and then up to Flagstaff and catch a van tour to the Grand Canyon for a day. He's never been to either place, and I can't wait for him to see the Canyon. Also, I'll be taking the Nikon with us, so I'm hoping for some great photos from all our travels.
So that's it, really.
Oh yeah...I finally broke down and bought an ovulation test kit at Target last week. So we'll see...
Insert Witty Title HereFriday, February 22, 2008
Posted by Lori at 9:32 AM
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We just got home from the Foo Fighters concert, and I was so lucky to get many, many pictures tonight.
But it's late and I'm exhausted, plus I'm still toying with the idea of going in to work tomorrow, so I will leave you with just a few right now.
The show was excellent, as always. Opening acts were Against Me! and Serj Tankian (formerly of System of a Down). Both were surprisingly better than I'd expected.
And I managed to sneak my Nikon into the show! Whew!
Be back later tomorrow with many more photos...
But it's late and I'm exhausted, plus I'm still toying with the idea of going in to work tomorrow, so I will leave you with just a few right now.
The show was excellent, as always. Opening acts were Against Me! and Serj Tankian (formerly of System of a Down). Both were surprisingly better than I'd expected.
And I managed to sneak my Nikon into the show! Whew!
Be back later tomorrow with many more photos...
Labels: concerts, Foo Fighters, good news, music, Philadelphia, pictures
Posted by Lori at 12:53 AM
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Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tomorrow night can't get here soon enough.
The Huz and I are going to see FOO FIGHTERS at the Spectrum!!!! I am beyond excited...I feel like a kid on the last day of school before summer vacation.
As planned, I am going to attempt to sneak the Nikon in with me, but will be bringing my little Panasonic point & shoot too, just in case I get busted and am asked to put the Nikon away.
Keep your fingers crossed for me. And check back in a few days for some (hopefully great) pictures!
In honor of the concert, I'm reposting a couple pictures I took with my little Panasonic from the show at the Borgata in AC in October 2007.
The Huz and I are going to see FOO FIGHTERS at the Spectrum!!!! I am beyond excited...I feel like a kid on the last day of school before summer vacation.
As planned, I am going to attempt to sneak the Nikon in with me, but will be bringing my little Panasonic point & shoot too, just in case I get busted and am asked to put the Nikon away.
Keep your fingers crossed for me. And check back in a few days for some (hopefully great) pictures!
In honor of the concert, I'm reposting a couple pictures I took with my little Panasonic from the show at the Borgata in AC in October 2007.
Labels: concerts, Foo Fighters, good news, memories, music, Philadelphia
Posted by Lori at 1:54 PM
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Friday, February 15, 2008
Sounds like a lot of fun, eh?
Being the wonderfully compliant (except for right now) patient that I am, I will be following my doctor's orders to stay off the computer for the remainder of the weekend.
I started developing a wicked pain under my right scapula on Wednesday at work. Those familiar with me might remember that I get little knots in that area from either bad stress or just plain old overusage of my mouse/computer...or lately, the way work has been...BOTH.
I went for a massage after work on Wednesday, hoping it would help. It didn't. Actually, it made it worse. By the time I got home at 8 p.m., I couldn't move my head at all without a searing pain shooting up my back and into my neck.
I took a Flexeril and went to bed. Of course, didn't help that The Huz had been on a business trip in Kentucky since Sunday. I was all alone, in so much pain. Sniff, sniff.
I woke up yesterday and still couldn't move; in fact could barely get out of bed. I called out of work but still spent 75 minutes on the phone with our assistant, helping her handle some of my workload. Is that dedication or just insanity?
The Huz got home late morning and I was able to get in to see my doctor. He told me I'm having trapezius spasms and that I need to give my right arm complete rest from anything strenuous or repetitive for the next few days. He wrote me a note for work, explaining that I can't return until Monday. Then he gave me some scripts for an anti-inflammatory and a painkiller (Ultram, not Darvocet, dammit).
So I just wanted to give my cyberbuddies an update, and an explanation as to why I'll be scarce in the next few days.
PS - The good care and loving attention I received yesterday from The Huz was definitely the nicest Valentine's gift I could ever get. Thanks honey!
Being the wonderfully compliant (except for right now) patient that I am, I will be following my doctor's orders to stay off the computer for the remainder of the weekend.
I started developing a wicked pain under my right scapula on Wednesday at work. Those familiar with me might remember that I get little knots in that area from either bad stress or just plain old overusage of my mouse/computer...or lately, the way work has been...BOTH.
I went for a massage after work on Wednesday, hoping it would help. It didn't. Actually, it made it worse. By the time I got home at 8 p.m., I couldn't move my head at all without a searing pain shooting up my back and into my neck.
I took a Flexeril and went to bed. Of course, didn't help that The Huz had been on a business trip in Kentucky since Sunday. I was all alone, in so much pain. Sniff, sniff.
I woke up yesterday and still couldn't move; in fact could barely get out of bed. I called out of work but still spent 75 minutes on the phone with our assistant, helping her handle some of my workload. Is that dedication or just insanity?
The Huz got home late morning and I was able to get in to see my doctor. He told me I'm having trapezius spasms and that I need to give my right arm complete rest from anything strenuous or repetitive for the next few days. He wrote me a note for work, explaining that I can't return until Monday. Then he gave me some scripts for an anti-inflammatory and a painkiller (Ultram, not Darvocet, dammit).
So I just wanted to give my cyberbuddies an update, and an explanation as to why I'll be scarce in the next few days.
PS - The good care and loving attention I received yesterday from The Huz was definitely the nicest Valentine's gift I could ever get. Thanks honey!
Posted by Lori at 8:32 AM
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008
It’s a damn good thing that I don’t carry a gun while I’m in the car. You guys would wind up hearing or reading about me on the news, mowing down a bunch of incompetent drivers.
I find it very easy to slip into “road-rage” mode. It’s something I have to consciously work at preventing most of the time when I drive, which is a shame, because I love to drive—even when I have no particular destination. I’ve always loved the feeling of freedom I get while zipping down the road with my music blasting in my ears.
But there are SO MANY bad drivers out there with me. Women in huge-ass SUVs and have absolutely no idea to maneuver them--sorry, ladies, but it's true.
People who talk incessantly on their cellphones or Bluetooths while they’re driving.
People who don’t use turn signals (oh, that’s right—I’m clairvoyant!).
Perhaps the most teeth-grindingly irritating people I encounter regularly on the roads are the sheep drivers. That term (coined by me at this very moment!) refers to people who just drive blindly, following everyone else without thinking or questioning, and who lack any sort of common sense.
There were a bunch of them on the road just this morning, in fact. Today, the weather in the Philly area is pretty crappy; we’ve gotten battered for the past twenty-four hours first by snow, then freezing rain, then rain. The temperatures have been low, so all of the precipitation has frozen on the streets. Consequently, most schools in my area were closed for the day. If you were to turn on the TV or radio even for a minute this morning, every local media outlet trumpeted the school closings.
But the flashing yellow school-zone lights outside the schools were running anyway, since they are on a timer during the morning rush-hour.
For my non-American readers, those flashing lights mean that drivers must slow their speed to 15 mph in a designated area along a road in front of a school. There’s also usually an adult who volunteers as a crossing-guard in the general vicinity, giving all drivers the old stink-eye if they don’t comply with the speed limit. Some of the crossing guards even hold a pad of paper and pen to take down the license plate numbers of those drivers who fail to slow down.
Anyway, the whole school-zone speed limit thing is a totally pointless law in my mind, since most children in the suburbs take buses to school and are dropped off right at the doors of the building. It’s not like there are ever any children frolicking about on the sidewalk next to the road. When I drive past those schools in the morning, I never even lay eyes on a single child! But I digress…that’s another rant of mine for another post.
On my daily commute, I have to (unfortunately) pass through three different school zones. And every single person in front of me this morning, WITHOUT FAIL, slowed down to 15 mph through all three zones, despite the fact that all three schools were clearly closed—no signs of human activity in any of the darkened buildings, not a single vehicle in any of the parking lots. But the yellow lights were a-flashin’, so. They. Must. Obey.
Sheep, I’m telling ya! No common sense or critical thinking skills whatsoever.
Damn, that pisses me off.
I find it very easy to slip into “road-rage” mode. It’s something I have to consciously work at preventing most of the time when I drive, which is a shame, because I love to drive—even when I have no particular destination. I’ve always loved the feeling of freedom I get while zipping down the road with my music blasting in my ears.
But there are SO MANY bad drivers out there with me. Women in huge-ass SUVs and have absolutely no idea to maneuver them--sorry, ladies, but it's true.
People who talk incessantly on their cellphones or Bluetooths while they’re driving.
People who don’t use turn signals (oh, that’s right—I’m clairvoyant!).
Perhaps the most teeth-grindingly irritating people I encounter regularly on the roads are the sheep drivers. That term (coined by me at this very moment!) refers to people who just drive blindly, following everyone else without thinking or questioning, and who lack any sort of common sense.
There were a bunch of them on the road just this morning, in fact. Today, the weather in the Philly area is pretty crappy; we’ve gotten battered for the past twenty-four hours first by snow, then freezing rain, then rain. The temperatures have been low, so all of the precipitation has frozen on the streets. Consequently, most schools in my area were closed for the day. If you were to turn on the TV or radio even for a minute this morning, every local media outlet trumpeted the school closings.
But the flashing yellow school-zone lights outside the schools were running anyway, since they are on a timer during the morning rush-hour.
For my non-American readers, those flashing lights mean that drivers must slow their speed to 15 mph in a designated area along a road in front of a school. There’s also usually an adult who volunteers as a crossing-guard in the general vicinity, giving all drivers the old stink-eye if they don’t comply with the speed limit. Some of the crossing guards even hold a pad of paper and pen to take down the license plate numbers of those drivers who fail to slow down.
Anyway, the whole school-zone speed limit thing is a totally pointless law in my mind, since most children in the suburbs take buses to school and are dropped off right at the doors of the building. It’s not like there are ever any children frolicking about on the sidewalk next to the road. When I drive past those schools in the morning, I never even lay eyes on a single child! But I digress…that’s another rant of mine for another post.
On my daily commute, I have to (unfortunately) pass through three different school zones. And every single person in front of me this morning, WITHOUT FAIL, slowed down to 15 mph through all three zones, despite the fact that all three schools were clearly closed—no signs of human activity in any of the darkened buildings, not a single vehicle in any of the parking lots. But the yellow lights were a-flashin’, so. They. Must. Obey.
Sheep, I’m telling ya! No common sense or critical thinking skills whatsoever.
Damn, that pisses me off.
Labels: bitching, opinions, Philly burbs, sheer idiocy, winter
Posted by Lori at 11:23 AM
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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
So.
I'm a big enough person to admit when I'm whipped. And W3D1 didn't just whip me...it kicked my frickin' ass!
It took five days for my right calf/ankle/shin to stop throbbing. I don't mind a little pain, but I was having difficulty just walking at a normal stroll after W3D1.
Therefore, I've decided two things:
One, I must invest in good running shoes. My little Nike crosstrainers just aren't cutting it anymore. I also think that I'm overcompensating on my right leg/foot due to the lymphedema in my left foot/lower leg. Hence, the aching right leg.
Sidenote: did I ever mention that I have a (very thankfully) mild form of LE? If you feel compelled to Google photos of LE, I must warn you, it's not for the faint of heart! Fortunately, my LE is nowhere near as bad as the pictures suggest. But it still has an effect on my daily life, including exercise.
Two, I'm going to have to slooooow down. The whole point of starting any kind of fitness routine is consistency. If I hurt myself to a degree that forces me to stop exercising for five to seven days, I'm either not doing it correctly or trying to move ahead too fast.
Last night, I did very well using a 2-min:2-min ratio of running and walking. I'm going to focus on doing that for the next two or three go-rounds and then, if I feel I can progress to 3:2, I will.
I'm a big enough person to admit when I'm whipped. And W3D1 didn't just whip me...it kicked my frickin' ass!
It took five days for my right calf/ankle/shin to stop throbbing. I don't mind a little pain, but I was having difficulty just walking at a normal stroll after W3D1.
Therefore, I've decided two things:
One, I must invest in good running shoes. My little Nike crosstrainers just aren't cutting it anymore. I also think that I'm overcompensating on my right leg/foot due to the lymphedema in my left foot/lower leg. Hence, the aching right leg.
Sidenote: did I ever mention that I have a (very thankfully) mild form of LE? If you feel compelled to Google photos of LE, I must warn you, it's not for the faint of heart! Fortunately, my LE is nowhere near as bad as the pictures suggest. But it still has an effect on my daily life, including exercise.
Two, I'm going to have to slooooow down. The whole point of starting any kind of fitness routine is consistency. If I hurt myself to a degree that forces me to stop exercising for five to seven days, I'm either not doing it correctly or trying to move ahead too fast.
Last night, I did very well using a 2-min:2-min ratio of running and walking. I'm going to focus on doing that for the next two or three go-rounds and then, if I feel I can progress to 3:2, I will.
Posted by Lori at 11:00 AM
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Friday, February 8, 2008
For this update, I think a picture will say much more than I can describe with words:
That is all.
That is all.
Labels: fitness, goals, sheer insanity
Posted by Lori at 9:30 AM
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Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Well, I fell behind on my running program, as I'd suspected I would during the quarterly statement production period at work at the end of January.
I'd gotten to Week 2, Day 1 of C25K before my little hiatus. In this week, you walk briskly for five minutes, then alternate 90 seconds of running with 120 seconds of jogging for twenty-five minutes.
I started Week 2 on Saturday, January 26, and developed SUCH a pounding headache during the run that I came home from the gym that afternoon and got into bed for the remainder of the day. I felt like shit and frankly, I was a little concerned about the headache. I'm in pretty good health but having a non-sinus-related headache of that intensity made me pretty nervous.
So with trepidation in my heart, I picked up again this past Friday night with W2D2.
The outcome? It was challenging but not impossible. The good news is I didn't have any further headaches from it.
Something new happened to me during this week of the program: shin splints! At worst, they bothered me just a bit...more an annoyance than seriously painful.
I did W2D3 last night and am wondering if I should repeat Week 2 again or if I should continue to Week 3 on Thursday. Week 3 encompasses two alternating cycles: the first cycle is 90 seconds each for running and recovery; the second cycle is running for 3 minutes (!) followed by a three-minute recovery walk. Repeat for twenty minutes. Yikes.
I think I'm ready for it. We'll see!
I'd gotten to Week 2, Day 1 of C25K before my little hiatus. In this week, you walk briskly for five minutes, then alternate 90 seconds of running with 120 seconds of jogging for twenty-five minutes.
I started Week 2 on Saturday, January 26, and developed SUCH a pounding headache during the run that I came home from the gym that afternoon and got into bed for the remainder of the day. I felt like shit and frankly, I was a little concerned about the headache. I'm in pretty good health but having a non-sinus-related headache of that intensity made me pretty nervous.
So with trepidation in my heart, I picked up again this past Friday night with W2D2.
The outcome? It was challenging but not impossible. The good news is I didn't have any further headaches from it.
Something new happened to me during this week of the program: shin splints! At worst, they bothered me just a bit...more an annoyance than seriously painful.
I did W2D3 last night and am wondering if I should repeat Week 2 again or if I should continue to Week 3 on Thursday. Week 3 encompasses two alternating cycles: the first cycle is 90 seconds each for running and recovery; the second cycle is running for 3 minutes (!) followed by a three-minute recovery walk. Repeat for twenty minutes. Yikes.
I think I'm ready for it. We'll see!
Posted by Lori at 1:21 PM
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Sunday, February 3, 2008
Things were dicey in the last two minutes of the game.
But then, with thirty-five seconds to go...TOUCHDOWN!!!!
The response of one of the two Patriot fans in the house with two seconds remaining.
But then, with thirty-five seconds to go...TOUCHDOWN!!!!
The response of one of the two Patriot fans in the house with two seconds remaining.
Posted by Lori at 11:06 PM
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