My dogs hate you too.

[Warning: Rant ensuing.  If you're a people person or anti-dog. Don't keep reading.  Come back tomorrow or go read last week's confession. This weeks post is 100 % from my perspective and my opinion alone.  Thanks !]

Confession: I hate people.  I used to say things like "I hate people that do X" or "I hate when people..." and then I just stopped listing reasons because well - people.

I generally just try to avoid them.  Headphones, book, phone, resting bitch face, on purpose bitch face...all ways that let people know, "Hey ! I'm not a people person and I'm probably not the best person to talk to." Yet people do it anyway.

I try and be nice to them.  Depending on the situation, it's usually not entirely unpleasant and I can deal (sometimes get a good story out of it) and move on with life.  And then you get the people that try and start small talk with backhanded compliments.  These people need to be thrown in front of a bus.  The thing that makes me hate people more than ANYTHING though, is when it comes to my dogs. 

People are idiots.  I won't go on a long rant about the ignorance towards dogs in general, certain breeds, and rescues in general.  What I will go on about though is when people make assumptions about my dogs (and me) based on the 2 second interaction you have with us.  


  

In November of this year, Ryker and I will be celebrating the 4 year anniversary of the day he picked me. Sadie and I just celebrated 3 years together in May. That means that I have had almost 4 years with my dogs every day.  I know them better than they know themselves.  I know that because Ryker is a Beagle/Heeler mix, his bark is obnoxious and honestly I would love it if it were about 2 octaves lower.  I know the difference between his stress bark, his "you're not paying enough attention to me bark" and his excited bark.  He's a vocal player.  I try to minimize it where I can but guess what ? HE'S A DOG AND DOGS BARK.    Don't tell me to get a muzzle for my dog because I will suggest the same for you.

  


Also, DO NOT ASSUME YOU CAN JUST TOUCH MY DOGS !! Let say that again: DO NOT TOUCH MY DOGS.  My dogs are both rescues that had a hell of a life before they got to me.  This is something I know a lot about (because I adopted them and live with them) and why you should just use the simple phrase "Can I pet your dog ?" 

Do you know those 5 words are the best things ever to a dog parent ? Here's why:

• That pause allows me to asses my dogs' behavior.
• Depending on who you are, I can determine if you can safely touch one or both of my dogs. [Sadie DOES NOT like strangers, especially men. Ryker gets too excited and I will not let him around children]
• If I decide (because they're my dogs) that you can pet one or both, I can hold them properly on the leash as to have the most control over the situation.
• This allows me to say things like "You can pet Ryker, but please pet his shoulder or his butt as he doesn't like having his head touched." or "Sadie doesn't like strangers but she seems to want to say hi, so why don't you stay there and let her come to you."

If you choose not to ask and just assume you can touch my dogs, charge at them and/or approach them in a way that makes them feel freaked out, prepare for an unpleasant experience and DO NOT YELL AT ME FOR NOT BEING A RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER.  You're the moron; not me.

Some other things to note:

• If I make an effort to walk AWAY  from you and your dogs, do not follow us.
• Don't try and talk over me and to my dogs while I'm trying to give them commands.  I'm telling them to sit or leave it for your benefit, not mine.
• When my dog behaves in a way that is not favorable and I apologize - accept the apology ! Don't roll your eyes or make ignorant comments about me or my dogs.

I'm fully aware that there are millions of dogs out there that are great with everyone and everything and are all around perfect.  I get it.  But dogs are like people not everyone likes everyone and everyone reacts to different people/things/situations differently.  Same goes for my fur babies.

I could seriously go on forever.  Short of wearing a sign that say "DO NOT APPROACH" I don't know how to get people to leave us alone on walks/at the dog park.  I just want to give my dogs the exercise they need, let them do their business and play with the dogs/people that we have worked very hard on building a relationship with without the comments and eye rolls and judging.

In conclusion, people: I hate you.  And my dogs hate you too.

I didn't die

I know, I know....I'm a day late.  But better late than pregnant never, right ?! [For those of you who missed the golden girls reference, please leave this post, go here, watch the episode and then maybe I can forgive you.]

Let's get right down to it: my 5K on Saturday.

I woke up at the most insane hour of 6AM.  Thankfully I set up everything the night before because I knew I would be in zombie mode.  I dragged my feet to my car and drove to the boys place so we could take one car and also because I hate driving/parking in downtown and honestly, I don't function before 9AM.  I then spent the next hour trying to come up with every excuse in the book to NOT run.

(Sorry for the feels Dr. Who fans)

Once I got over my anxiety (and by "got over" I mean I could hold a conversation with friends without wanting to burst into tears), it was okay.  We took some fun pictures and they laughed at my shirt.  Don't hate me, but I don't actually have a good picture of it.  I was slightly worried about not coming in last in front of all my friends ! Oops !

(My eyes are closed but oh well !)

(at the starting line before I hid myself in the anonymity of the crowd)

I adore these people.  I only get as nervous as I do running around them because they are just hands down some of THE most awesome people I have ever met.  But back to my story.

Here's a quick rundown of what happened after that picture:

• Can't get a GPS signal on my watch.
• And they're off !
• "Shoot, Guess I'll just run until it picks up." (I should mention that my watch times my 3:30 run/1:00 walk intervals which it can't do when I'm trying to get the GPS to work)
• Running
• Feeling awesome !
• Nice view of downtown !
• Watch still hasn't picked up GPS
• "How long have I been running ?"
• Get GPS signal
• Start running 3:30 interval.
• "Pretty sure I'm gonna regret this when I'm done."
• "Oh, some uphill, no big - OW !"
• "Am I ever going to go downhill ?!"
• "Thank you directing traffic person !"
• My IT bands just noped the fuck out
• "I'll take 'What is Breathing' for One Million Alex."
• A montage of pain and confusion but I'm walking it off.

• "I have to be done soon"
• Brian comes backtracking and finds me.  I must have had an epic look of relief on my face because he started laughing.
• Meghan and Rita and Matt and all the awesome people show up to run with me.
• Less laughing/talking, more running.
• More Ow.
• Meghan teaches me how to breathe: instant relief
• Running fast !
• Yelling !
• Finish line !
• Run Walk quickly away from people and try not to throw up.
• Drink water and become normal again.

So in summary, I ran longer than I have in about 5 months, it hurt like hell (but I recovered almost instantly which was cool) and I finished sub 30.  When I looked at my watch it only tracked 2.6 miles which makes me figure I ran for about 8 minutes between a 9-9:30 pace before I took a walk break.  Bonus points for being able to go that long, but I feel like it would have made the whole thing easier overall if I had stuck to the original plan.

(The results)

I'm currently trying to figure out my next few races.  I've got just about 3 months to get ready for City of Oaks.  Let's do this !

Other noteworthy things of the weekend:

• Had my chiro appointment for my IT bands after the 5K - ice has been my best friend for 3 days
• Did a lot of laying around with the monsters. Mostly because I couldn't sit/stand/move without pain (BTW - so worth it)
• Finally saw Jaws for the first time ever.  Didn't freak out or have nightmares.  Major points for me.

There you have it ! I'm excited to run again tonight after taking yesterday and Sunday off to give my legs some time to recover.  Based on the 8:30 minutes I actually ran without stopping on Saturday, I'm going to see what I can actually do.  Time to start pushing my limits a little bit !

Hope everyone had a good weekend  (and a good Monday !)

Merry Christmas !

It's Christmas in July !  I love celebrating Christmas in July because 1. It's an excuse to yell "Happy Birthday !" at people (I direct you here if you have no idea what I'm talking about).

 and 2. Giving presents !  I decided that next year I'm totally putting together a secret santa.  Who doesn't love that ?!  Also, I was so excited that I bugged Brian probably about 15 times to open his presents last night.  But he made me wait until this morning. Yes, HE made ME wait to open HIS presents.  I have zero patience.

And yes, I do enjoy getting presents myself (who doesn't) and I was (still am) super pumped.  He never ceases to amaze me.  I'm pretty freaking excited to say the least.

Plus it's Fusion Friday at my coffee shop so there's just a whole lot of winning happening today !  How about some more favorites ?

Favorite Song:

"Take it Off" by The Donnas.  It's about 5 years old but I don't care. I still dig it.  

Favorite "Aww" Picture:

(via Paislie Hadley @ bats.org.ua)

This is the face of happiness my friends. Just a bat and her nanner.  The story behind this picture: "This is my Pandora. She had a sore belly from barbed wire and she was being lazy and not using her feet so i challenged her with a massive chunk of banana. She thwarted my efforts by managing to eat a good chunk of it by smearing it all over her chest."

Flying foxes are pretty adorable.  Watch some YouTube videos and try not to fall in love. I dare you.

Favorite Random Funny Sh*t:

A friend of mine put this up in regards to what his son will be like at his birthday party on Saturday.  Dead.

I need the beach so badly right now that I would put up with this.

I made myself this shirt (original found here) to wear to the 5K tomorrow.  I'm pretty excited about it.

And speaking of my 5K...

Rusty just sent me my race bib ! Now I know everyone wants to run in Raleigh's Finest 5K tomorrow but don't steal my bib number.  Unless you can finish under 29 minutes.  Then steal away.  

If anyone needs me, I'll be hiding and anxiously awaiting the workday to be over.

Confessions - Disney Style

By now, you all know what day it is.  So let's get to it !

// I had one of my best runs ever last night.  Not like time wise or anything, but just overall awesome.  Basically it was this:

// I'm not even going to talk about my job.  Or how much I would rather be doing anything else.  Anyone really good at resumes and want to help a girl out ?!  I am THE worst. 

// I will procrastinate HARD just so I don't have to go to work.  This morning I sat down and watched a good 10 minutes of Phineas and Ferb.  I knew it was bad when they said "I know what we're going to do today !" and I went "Yay !...Oh.  I should leave now."

// I'm that girl belting out Disney songs while stuck in traffic. My favorite part is seeing peoples reactions to me singing (and gesturing).  Priceless.  Sorry you can't all be as cool as me.

// I've been obsessed with all things Disney since the womb.  When I was little younger, on one of my first (of 10 so far) trips to Disney World, I went through the entire park screaming the Mickey Mouse Club song.  Except I couldn't spell.  So at the top of my lungs, I'm screaming singing "M-I-C-K-E-Y M-S-O-U-E !"  Yes, I thought everyone was laughing and "aww-ing" because I was cute and adorable, not because I was a moron.

// I hate seeing all those "Disney gave me unrealistic expectation about boys/hair/life" quotes.  Disney never gave me unrealistic expectations about those things.  It did however, make me think that I could be a mermaid.  I still believe that it could happen.  Seriously, any day now.

//  I don't have to buy lunch today or eat goldfish because *someone* is super awesome and put a lunch together for me !  On the outside I was all like "Aw ! Thanks !" and on the inside I was all like "OMG HE'S THE BEST HUMAN EVER AND THIS IS AWESOME AND I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW AWESOME THIS IS AND I ACTUALLY HAVE FOOD AND NOT JUNK TO EAT !"  Sorry to brag but it's pretty much the best thing to happen ever.  Even though I really want M&M's still, I need to learn that they're a snack and not a meal. Le sigh.

//  All this Disney talk has made me want to plan another trip to Disney World.  Who wants to go !?!?!  Let's do this.  I'm serious.  Group trip to the happiest place on earth ? Yes please.

What're your confessions ? Tell me, tell me, tell me !

Running Randomness

At this point in my running career, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm going to hurt.  

I'm currently sitting here, typing this for all of you, trying to ignore my legs. Because we're currently not on speaking terms this morning. They woke up (late, I might add) and were all "We're sore ! We're gonna put this knot in your calf ! Hey, we're throwing some shin soreness in there but don't worry because your IT bands are still going to hurt like always ! Nah nah nah nah nah nah !" and I'm all like

and as soon as I'm done laying some fun random running updates on you, I'm making a date with the stick (That's what she said ! Ah !) and going to town with the RockTape.  Hopefully my legs appreciate the attention because they're going back to work tonight.  I found a 3.1 mile route that didn't murder me and I'd like to try that again tonight.  

I have another 5K on Saturday ! I'm actually more nervous about this one than the last one.  Mostly because everyone I know will be running it.  I keep making jokes about how when they're all done, they can come back and get me.  It's funny but at the same time makes me pretty sad that I'm slow enough that all my friends will finish the race, probably walk around for a little bit and still be able to run back, get me and run probably another mile with me while I finish.  This will be the ultimate test of self confidence for me.  I just have to think about putting one foot in front of the other and finishing the race.  It's going to be hard to ignore how slow I'll feel, but the most important thing is that I finish.  I don't have a time goal or anything, I just want to feel like I did my best.  Or as best I can do with doing 3:1 run/walk anyway.  I could chance running the whole thing but I don't think that's my smartest move right now.

After this 5K it's time to buckle down and focus on preparing for the half marathon.  I need to focus on being consistent with how often I run, increase the mileage and avoid injury.  The biggest challenge for me is going to be my diet.

I eat like crap.  Chocolate is the main staple of my diet.  I survive on Goldfish and M&M's.  I'm lactose intolerant and despise fruit (bananas are okay).  I think it is absolutely okay to eat pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and I learned this weekend that it can also be dessert !) I don't know how to cook and am usually too lazy to go food shopping.  I don't know what food to eat to help with training.  I am THE pickiest eater you will ever meet. Also I'm lazy. If it takes more than 10 minutes to make and I have to use the oven or stove, well it's just not happening.  Cheap, easy, plain jane recipes (especially smoothies) are welcomed and encouraged if anyone has any !

I will leave you with this:  I should be getting my new shoes soon !  

I have been drooling over these babies for over a month now when I first got to try them.  And soon I will own them and it will be awesome and I'm so excited I can't even wait.

Can't wait to get back to Meredith College again tonight to run because last night's run went so well !  So there's your random running updates from me.  There will start to be more of these because, after all, I started blogging so I could share my progress.  As always, thanks for reading you guys !!

I'm Back !

My apologies for not informing you that I would not be blogging last week.

Well I'm back now ! And rather than just tell you what I've done the past two weekends, I'll show you !

I've been trying to have fun and relax and do normal summer things when I don't have to be at work. Like reading at the pool.

There was an awesome adventure to a coffee shop I'd never been to and adventures at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences downtown.  For those of you that have been keeping up with the news last week, no.  Brian and I did NOT steal the dinosaur from the museum.  But thanks for thinking of us !

Whenever I miss the city (New York)  I love going to downtown Raleigh.

That weekend ended pretty epically at Umstead.

The week was an interesting combination of stress and awesomeness. Let's just say I get to hang out with my best friend basically everyday and it's pretty much the best thing ever which negates any negative stuff I had to deal with.  Also, there was a showdown at the WeebleNugget corral over the last dog bone...it was intense:

And this past weekend was more fun adventures ! Took the dogs to Woof Gang bakery in North Hills where Sadie preceded to take it upon herself and show no self control whatsoever and cost me an extra $15 because she just HAD to eat the cookies they had out on the table (which means I also bought them some treats since they obviously liked them so much).  Ryker rode in his usual puppy co-pilot seat.

(Trying to catch him giving kisses NEVER happens...this is as close as I got)

I did something AWESOME to my hair on Saturday but I don't have any good pictures...once I do, prepare to be spammed because I'm in love.  

This past weekend also had a fun road trip ending up at the Cape Fear River.  I decided to climb out onto the rocks and felt it would be best to leave my phone on the shore.  Budget permitting, I'm getting a waterproof case soon so I can TAKE ALL THE PICTURES (aka I'm planning on going back so don't feel too bad about not getting a million pictures this time) !

(One I managed to get of the old bridge)

As if the weekend wasn't already awesome enough, I got to end it with a visit to one of my favorite places to eat:

(I'm pretty sure I died and went to tater tot heaven.)

And before I forget (because I've been doing that A LOT today) I'm linking up again:

And now it's back to reality (and the work week).  While I generally despise Mondays, it's usually only until 5 when I can unchain myself from my desk, lace up some running shoes, and head outside for some much needed fresh air...if the humidity decides to cooperate and not set my lungs on fire.  Come back tomorrow and see how my run went and for an update on how my training for my first half marathon EVER is going/what the game plan is.  I'm pretty excited about it !! Thanks for reading and I hope everyone had a great weekend !