Running and Fandoms

Time to confess. Linking up with ALL THE PEOPLE this week, hashtag style.

Turkey Day Confessions

I love that the humpday confessions are back (and that I'm totally late in realizing that) so it's time for some Turkey Day Confessions !

Is Netflix-ing a job ?

Yay Wednesdays ! Yay Confession time ! Boo I have no one to link up to for these anymore. Oh well.  I have random thoughts that only do well during these confession posts, so here you are !

// I want someone to pay me to watch Netflix and hang out on the internet all day.  How does one make this happen ?

// I know the week is half over, but I seriously wish it was Friday already.

// My dogs are spoiled.  And I do nothing to stop it. I no longer make my bed because this happens as soon as I get up:

// I was at Krispy Kreme with B the other day, pointing out all the donuts I wanted (even though I always get original glazed) and I turned to him and said, "That's how rich I want to be.  I want to be able to walk into a donut shop and say to the guy, 'I'll take them all.'" For the record, I don't have a donuts addiction, I can stop anytime I want.

What donuts ? I didn't eat them all if that's what you're asking.

// Netflix put up the final season of White Collar, so naturally I have to watch the whole thing from the beginning and there goes my life.  Also, Doctor Who Series 8 will make an appearance in August. Goodbye any free time I've ever had.

Since I really don't want to do much of anything today, I'll leave you with some White Collar bloopers for when you randomly need a laugh (and no, you don't need to know anything about the show to watch people mess up !)

Leave some random confessions in the comments so I don't feel so alone :P

What's Wrong With You ?

It's Wednesday, people of blogland ! I love confession days because it allows me to get my rage out.  A day to get out all the wonderful things I want to say so desperately, but don't due to political correctness, professionalism, or just not wanting to be a rude, raging bitch. WHOO ! This weeks confession theme is brought to you by: my office.  Or offices in general.  Or any type of job that requires you to interact with people.  Let's begin.

// My office is my space. Not the place for emo bands, more like my personal bubble.  DO NOT COME BEHIND MY DESK.  I don't walk into your office and start touching your stuff, do I ? Exactly.

// What is it about an office environment that automatically makes everyone SLOBS ? I have called the exterminator 4 times in the past 2 weeks because my office seems to have an infestation of ants.  Where ? Oh, around the chips on the floor.  And the rouge M&M chilling over here by the window.  Wait, why are these things over here ? Are you, a bunch of 30 something and up adults, throwing junk food at each other ? And then not cleaning it up ? And then wonder why you have ants ?

// Speed Racer in the parking lot. Stop it. Let people cross the cross walk.  It's not going to kill you. And when you speed to only pull up in front of the building to park in a spot that you know you're not supposed to park (because it's a walkway and NOT a place for you to chill) - you look like the douche bag you really are. Knock it off.

// To the people that ask my boss a question, then come and ask me the same question, hoping for a different answer: We are not your parents.  If mommy says no, and you ask daddy, the answer will be "What did mommy say?" Grow up.

// Meetings.  I waste an hour of my day every Wednesday to put together a list that tells someone how to do their job.  Because otherwise they don't do it.  First, I have to have a meeting with my boss to talk about all the things we need to address...I HAVE TO HAVE A MEETING ABOUT THE MEETING WE'RE GOING TO HAVE. And then I sit through the actual meeting of telling this person what to do - basically reading off the list I made in the first meeting.  And the whole time, they sit there, listing all the excuses of why they haven't done it, can't do it, didn't know they were supposed to do it.  Why are you still employed ?!

All the office rage at stupid people.

Do you have people like this where you work ?

The List You Won't see on Buzzfeed

I need some major humpday confessionage today because sometimes you just have to let everything out in a no holds barred, balls to the walls, brutally honest way.

// My stress level is insane. It's getting a little ridiculous and out of control and I really wish it would stop.

// Thanks to stress, my sleeping has become basically non-existent. What I wouldn't give for a whole night of sleeping and not waking up once. I genuinely can't remember the last time that happened, it's been that long.

// My life has so many really cool things going on right now but stress is getting in the way of me enjoying a lot of it.  See the theme ? I WANT MY STRESS TO GO AWAY PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

// I'm not above asking for help.  But if I ask for help, you say yes, and then don't actually help...I won't ask you again. This infuriates me to no end.

// Right now, I want a running buddy more than anything in this world.  I want someone to do run/walk with me for the measly 2 miles my lungs can manage currently.  I want it so badly, I've actually cried about it.  Not like every run, every day, kind of running buddy, but someone that knows a good place to run and will keep me company, push me a little, and be the encouragement I so badly need right now.

// I want to be healthy but I have no idea where to start.  Internet research makes my head spin and I'm too broke to hire a nutritionist/trainer.  I had a personal trainer for a year (a giant waste) and learned maybe 2 things.  One of which is that I am not allowed to be left alone with weights.  The other is that I hate people (okay, I already knew that one, the gym just kind of reinforces it.)

// I have to go to the dentist today and I may or may not have cried at least once today from fear.  And it's only a cleaning.  Yay laughing gas !

// I want a work schedule that is more conducive to being outside and reading.  More sun = happy Lisa.

I know these feelings of rage and wanting to cry constantly will pass, and I will be back to being mildly optimistic and happy, but the past few weeks I have been more frustrated, upset, and angry than I have been in awhile. I would very much like to scream and punch things.  This in no way invalidates the above feelings because I feel them regardless of my emotional state...I've just gotten to the point where I can't keep the filter on any longer.

Linking up with Melissa this week.

What do you need to get out ? 

I'm Not Dead

Hi. Remember me ? I'm not dead [yet]. I just tend to fall off the face of social media for an extended amount of time. Especially one that requires thought and planning and effort and it's not that I don't love you guys but honestly

Story of my life for the past 2 months. Which I feel SUPER bad about and will probably apologize for over the next million blog posts.

Especially when the creation of this blog was to track my progress for a certain half marathon that, oh yeah, I KILLED in 2:14:14.

So would it be okay that even though I haven't been around in almost 2 months, I got a little braggy ? I mean, you do come here to read about me, right ?

Oh good.  Want some pictures ? Of course you do. And I just happen to have some right here:

(Finish line pic - Sweatband dude is my FAVORITE)

(YAY for this guy. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for him)

(Let's talk about the unnecessarily GIANT finishers medal, shall we ?!)

And you'll never guess who I ran into (no not literally, she was TOTALLY done before me) ?! The super awesome Tracy !

It was one of those fun moments of "Hey ! I'm so excited to actually meet you and I smell and you're here with your family and I'm awkward and I really want coffee but high fives for awesomeness and I'm gonna go die now, kbye !" I only hope that one day I can run a sub 2:00 half like this girl. Damn !

THEN, I ran the Santa Paws 5K which was my first ever 5K last year. The course was in a different place than last year, I got lazy and hadn't run since the half and holy hills batman did that course hurt. But I still PR-ed with a 29:01 !

(Again, This guy ? Best. Ever.)

And lastly...I ran my first Turkey Trot 8K on Thanksgiving. That however, was not a fun run for me as my lungs have decided to suck A LOT. I still managed to do it in 51:58 but I walked WAY more than I wanted to.  Shout out to Big Mike for running and walking with me the whole time while I was pretty sure I was dying. [Asthma that has been dormant for about 15 years has decided to rear its ugly head again in the form of exercise induced asthma.  Currently on a steroid inhaler to kickstart my lungs so cross your fingers they stop sucking - metaphorically of course - and breathing becomes not so brutal.]

Otherwise I've just been relaxing and having awesome adventures (pictures to come once I get them all off my phone, obviously): Front row seats to a Hurricanes hockey game, fun trips to the zoo, Dracula the ballet, and lots of other fun things. I can honestly say for the first time in a VERY long time, I am so insanely happy with my life. Now if I could just get a job that doesn't make me grumpy...

What does the future have in store ? Once I can get my breathing under control, I plan on training for a TBD spring half marathon. Only this time ? NO WALKING. Now that I know I can complete one, I want to run the whole thing. And I also want to nail some PR's in the process.

I guess the only thing left is...are you guys going to hang out and see how it all unfolds ?!

My Laptop Hates Me.

Bless me Blogland, for I have sinned.  It's been 2 weeks (!!) since my last confession.  Or blog post. Or any semblance of online blog presence.

It wasn't my fault though ! My MacBook decided that it didn't like its hard drive anymore and decided I needed to drop unnecessary monies into getting it a new one. So I want you to know that I still love all of you, I'm back, and the insanity that is my life can continue for all of the internets to see.  And what better way to start up again than with a confession post ?!

// In trying to look at the bright side of my computer failure (no really...it said "FAILURE" in HUGE letters) I've realized I can now start from scratch.  I'll still have everything backed up, but it's a fresh start in a sense. It's always good when you can just get rid of stuff you don't need anymore without having to sort through EVERYTHING !

// I REALLY don't want to hear about how it's automatically fall because September happened. STOP TRYING TO TAKE MY SUMMER AWAY FROM ME I FEEL LIKE IT JUST GOT HERE.

No, I am not getting my sweaters & hoodies & scarves & boots & insanity out of my closet and drink pumpkin things.  It is still summer until midnight on September 22nd.  And I will wear my flip flops and drink my iced things and drag out this summer for as long as I can.

// I want summer to stick around because training in this weather is the weirdest best motivator ever. I look at my times on my long runs and the fact that I'm running longer and farther, EVEN in this humidity and heat just makes me so excited for how I'll run when fall eventually graces us with its presence. Hopefully I'll see some crazy good improvements.  Just have to keep it up !

//  I want September to go by super slowly because I have so many awesome things to look forward to in October that I'm worried it will all go by too quickly ! I feel like I went to bed last night and it was July.

//  My last confession is also a promise that I'll be by your blogs sometime this week to play catch up and I'll make sure to update on my training.  City of Oaks is only 2 months away (as of yesterday) !!

Dead And Worth It.

I'm running on 4 hours of sleep (maybe ?).  My legs are KILLING me.  The last thing I wanted to do was get in my car this morning. I'm pretty sure the only reason I'm functioning currently has something to do with the unknown number of espresso shots in my coffee. Why ? Because I got home from Charlotte at 4AM last night from one of the most epic live shows I've seen in a while.

Confession: I'm getting too old for this shit.

Confession: I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

I want to tell you all about it.  However, 1. My brain can't function above keeping my eyes open and B. Words cannot do justice to seeing AFI, 30 Seconds to Mars, and Linkin Park all in one night.

Confession: That was my 7th time seeing 30 Seconds to Mars live.

Confession: I was never a huge Linkin Park "fan" until last night.

I had listened to their music and hell yeah did I know (and rock out to) some of the more popular songs.  But last night blew my fucking mind.  That is a band that KNOWS how to put on a show.  I have no shame in telling all of you in blog-land that I am revisiting everything they've recorded and giving it a fresh listen because DAMN IT WAS THAT GOOD !

So I leave with you with a bunch of pictures and some video clips from last night. Enjoy !

Because I'm a moron and can't read the tickets right, we missed alot of AFI and I was sad.

30 Seconds to Mars !  As always, I loved their set, but was slightly disappointed they didn't play anything (besides part of "The Kill") from albums before than This is War. 

The weather was supposed to be horrible and possibly monsoon on us.  The weather was PERFECT !

I didn't take many pictures of Linkin Park because I was too busy having my mind blown. Sorry, not sorry.

Also:

(The "after the epic night" mocha "merkshake")

Linking up for Humpday Confessions ! 

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.