Happy New Year! Happy Rosh Hashanah!

I don't know much about Rosh Hashanah, but my understanding is that this is a very important Holy Day. So I would like to wish my Jewish friends a Happy New Year on their very special Holy Day!

4 hours of vacuuming!

Saturday, was my cleaning day. Mostly, I needed to clean the floors. As I was vacuuming our small home, I noticed the the vacuum was actually spitting the dirt it picked up back out. So I stopped, turned off the vacuum, and took a look at the vacuum. I checked the vacuum bag and it was full. It was totally packed. So mystery solved. But I did not have any vacuum bags to replace the full bag and now I had a big pile of dirt on the carpet. Ugh!

So, I got my little sweeper but it wasn't working. I knew why it wasn't working, my long hair was caught in the rollers. So I decided that I would take it apart and clean out my hair to fix it. As I was attempting to be handy and fix the sweeper vacuum in the garage, my father-in-law walks in to see what I am up to. We finally take it apart and clean it up. But then we could not get it to work again after putting it back together. Ugh!

It was cheap little sweeper anyways, so in the trash it went. I went back in the house and there was still a pile of dirt on my floor. I stared at it for a while and decide to ignore it and take a shower. Well, when I got out of the shower and dressed, it was still there. I had hoped that it would magically disappear. So I got the dustbuster out and started to pick some of it up, but then the dustbuster died. It had been off the charger for the last few days and needed to be recharged. Ugh!

Finally, I got in my car and went to Target to get some vacuum bags. This is probably what I should have done hours ago. But I was stubborn. I should have sucked it up and I would have been done hours ago. I bought the vacuum bags, went back home, put a bag in the vacuum, and vacuumed away the dirt. Success! Or so I thought. Something told me to check the bag and when I did, the vacuum bag was not put all the way in and there was a mess. Ugh!

I put another bag in and tested to make sure I did it right and cleaned up the new carpet mess. After 3 vacuums, 3 vacuum bags, and 4 hours later, the rugs were finally cleaned. The sad thing is that we have hard wood floors and only 2 really large area rugs along with a couple of smaller area rugs. I never did get to moping the hard wood floors. After 4 hours of trying to vacuum those area rugs, I didn't care and was over cleaning any more floors.

A good man is hard to find

And I was lucky enough to have found one. The saying goes that women marry men who are like their fathers. My daddy is an intelligent, kind, and caring man. He is the best daddy ever and I am totally daddy's girl. Even as a married woman, I will always be daddy's girl. That is why when my daddy really wanted a Wii that it was so important for me to find it for him. My daddy and Mr. Bear have different personalities. However, my daddy is very conservative and reserved. Mr. Bear is outgoing and anything but conservative and reserved. However, Mr. Bear is an intelligent, kind, and caring man. So I found a man who shares the best qualities with my daddy.

The other day, Mr. Bear went for some beers after work at a local bar/restaurant. He noticed this group of elderly people (he said they were in their 80's or so) who were themselves having dinner and drinks and enjoying themselves. He liked the fact that they were enjoying themselves on a nice Friday afternoon, so he decided to pick up their tab. They came up to him and thanked him. It turned out they were from the local senior citizens center and every Friday evening, they all pick a place to go out to dinner. They were so thankful for him paying for their tab. They told him that they would put the money they would have used to pay for dinner back into the collection pool for their next dinner outing. Mr. Bear really enjoyed his interaction with them and he hopes to make it to his 80's and be able to go out and enjoy himself with friends.

I thought that was such a great story and it reminded me how wonderful and kind-hearted Mr. Bear really is. I love Mr. Bear and I love what a good person he truly is. I am lucky to have such a good man.

Mental Health Day

Yesterday, I took a mental health day. I have been so busy at work and training for the relay tri that I needed a day just to catch up with life. It would have been nice to rest and do absolutely nothing, but the reality was that I had a ton of errands to do and many things to take care of. I worked one weekend this month and I just never seemed to catch up from that day. Plus, sometimes the weekends are just not enough. I feel that I have been neglecting my blog. I hope that now that I am a little more caught up that I can get back into the groove.

Regardless of having to run errands, it was definitely a good day. I didn't have to really be accountable to anyone yesterday. It was nice not to be bogged down by work and to take care of things on my own schedule. I slept in and got to spend some time with the Chase Monster. Yes, it would have been nice to have the entire day to relax but knowing that I accomplished the many things that I had not been able to take care of in weeks was a nice feeling.

It is just after working all day, trying to fit in training and working out, and doing a few household chores, there is no time for anything else in the day and at the end of the day I am just too exhausted to do anything else. I think what I really need is a mental health week. Now that sounds like a great idea!

Back to reality and back to work I go.

In-laws!!

I got an email from my mother-in-law the other day. She just sent me an email to tell me she was thinking of me, missed me, and loved me. How awesome is that! I am so lucky to have a wonderful mother-in-law.

You often hear horror stories about evil mother-in-laws, in fact they have websites devoted to these stories. I have no horror stories. I love mine and she is so kind and generous to me. When you marry someone, you not only marry that person, you also marry into a family. I have been fortunate to marry into a wonderful family. They have been nothing but accepting and loving. They welcomed me into their family with open arms and were so happy to have me become a part of their family. How lucky am I?

I love my in-laws. I am very lucky that they love me too.

Let's talk politics

I am not a very political person. I never talk politics. But I do find this election to be very fascinating. How can one not find it anything but fascinating? No matter what happens it is a historical election. What I find most interesting is that the majority of the election coverage has focused on Obama vs. Palin. I think people (or the media) has forgotten that Sarah Palin is not running for president, she is John McCain's running mate, i.e., she is running for VP. Although if something were to happen to McCain, she is next up.

On NPR last week, they were reporting on the election and they gave reports on the campaign trail from each side. The first story was about Palin and the second story was about Obama. I receive Newsweek every week, I have seen front page photos featuring Obama and his race to the presidency and also front page photos of Palin and who she is and what she brings to the table. Interestingly when I googled, I found many websites that compare the qualifications of Obama and Palin.

So who is really running for president on the republican ticket? Because for this everyday American girl, it looks like the race to the White House is between Obama and Palin. Fortunately, I am a smart girl and I realize that Palin is not running for president. But if I had no clue about anything or was a total outside I would have very little idea who McCain was. Let alone the fact that he running for president.

McCain, who?

Taper down for a busy, busy bear

That is me lately, a very busy bear. I am very glad that today is Friday, I am so looking forward to a restful weekend.

On top of work, I am training for the relay triathlon. My running partner and I decided that with the triathlon about 2 weeks away that we are going to start to taper off on our training. I feel like I have been going and going and I am absolutely exhausted. We won't stop running, but taper off the miles and I will cross train to allow our bodies to recuperate and recover for the big day. Many training schedules include a taper period. It is a very important part of your training. Here is an article that talks more about the importance along with a little research to back it up. There are many resources that reinforce the need to taper before the big event. Although it may sound counter-intuitive it actually makes you stronger.

According to the research Runner's World cites:

"The primary aim of the taper should be to minimize accumulated fatigue, rather than to attain additional physiological adaptations or fitness gains."

So the next two weeks will be time to taper my training. And I think my body is definitely telling me this. My legs are sore and I am tired. I am not marathon training, but I am running more that I have ever in my life and I am so much more prepared for this that I have been for any other race I've participated in. I am ready and by tapering my training, I will be well rested and prepared for race day!! Wohoo!

Hanna for Secretary!!

My little cousin is running for school secretary and she asked me for advice on writing her speech. Too cute and I feel so honored that she would come to me for advice. Last year, she had a class project in which she had to interview an adult and she chose me. I hope that I was able to give her the advice she needs to write a great speech. I know most high school elections end up being a popularity contest and I don't know what her status is in school. I hope that she wins based on her own merit. She called me telling me that she had several points in her speech and asked me what I thought.

Her points:

• Who she is?
• What is a secretary?
• Why vote for her?
  

Great points. It really gets at the basics for a speech. I helped her to flesh the points out a little more to give it more substance. I hope my advice was good. I guess we'll see in the next few weeks.

Vote Hanna for Secretary!!

The no longer elusive Wii

I found it!! I found a Wii! By chance I stopped by a Best Buy. I was on my way to Target and it was in the same shopping center. Low and behold, they not only had them in stock, but they had 4. Amazing! I had called a different Best Buy yesterday as well as several other local stores. All were out of Wii's. I figured this Best Buy would be out too, but I thought why not look since I was right there. I am so glad that I did. So, I immediately bought one and called me daddy. He was so excited that he came over to my house to pick it up. He too had been to a few places near his house today looking for one.

My parents rarely come to visit me, Mr. Bear and I usually go to visit them. They only live about 30-45 minutes away so they are not too far. My daddy was like a little boy. When he saw that it was indeed the Wii that he wanted, he had a big smile on his face. They stayed for a while and we went to dinner. It was nice to have some time with my parents. Thanks to Wii, I got to spend some quality time with my parents. Strange but true. I am glad I found it, the excitement and happiness it brought to my daddy was worth it all.

Thank you to everyone who left comments on how to find one.

The elusive Wii

Who knew that it would be so hard to find a video game console. My daddy came home from visiting my little brother in Seattle. While in Seattle, he discovered Wii. Now, my daddy really wants one and he can't seem to find it in his area. My daddy asked me to look online and call around in my area to see if it was available. My daddy never asks for anything and he has given me everything I have ever needed all my life. So for the first time my daddy actually wants something and I am determined to find a Wii console. I thought this would be a nice early Christmas/Birthday (his birthday is in December) gift for him. I've been searching online and it is sold out everywhere I look. There are a lot of Wii bundles for sale but my daddy just wants the console. I had no idea it would be so hard to find.

Anyone know where I can find a Wii console?

7 years ago

I will never forget where I was 7 years ago today. It was so unreal. Although I had the news on when it happened, I didn't register what was happening as real. It seemed like a movie. Unfortunately, it was not a movie; it really happened. Two airliners crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and we were attacked.

We can't deny that and I will not forget. I didn't know anyone who was killed in the attacks, but this day still evokes emotions in me. Just driving to work and listening to NPR's reports about memorials happening at ground zero and around the country makes me tear up and emotional.

Today is a day to remember those who lost their lives and the heroes.



Photo Source

It's official!

We are registered for the triathlon. I registered my relay team today so there are no refunds and no turning back. Wohoo!! Scary and exciting at the same time.

T-minus 25 days

My triathlon is in 25 days!! I can't believe that it is less than a month away. I am so excited about it. My triathlon relay team is organized and ready to go, we have all been training and we are ready to do our part. I have been a running fool and I feel ready to do the 10K run portion of the relay. I am fortunate to live close to the actual race site so that I can training on the actual terrain and path that I will be racing on. I have been training there at least once a week with my running partner (she is doing the entire triathlon, I am so proud of her). I am not the fastest runner, but I can definitely finish (pending no injuries). This is all about having fun and I can't wait. I hope to beat my last 10K time. I am stronger and I have been running more, so I think it is possible.

Since I have also started cycling more, I have been looking into doing some duathlons next. There are a couple next year that I am looking into. My bike is currently in the shop, I am having road tires put on my mountain bike. I haven't really been riding my mountain bike on rough terrain, rather I have been riding it mainly on the roads during my commute. So I figured it would be best to get some road tires; the road tires should speed me up and cut my bike commute time. Plus, since I am looking into duathlons I want to get my bike ready. I am not ready to spend the money on a new road bike yet; I want to see if I can get by with my mountain bike for now. If I get more into it, I will then save up and invest in a road bike. I can't wait to get my bike back and try it out.

So, I am running and riding. Next is swimming lessons. I need to learn how to not drown, LOL. Then I can eventually attempt and entire triathlon on my own. It will happen, it is a goal I am working on. One step at a time. First running, then add the cycling, and then swimming will come. Who would have thought I would be athletic. I was never the athlete type. But I am working on it.

Photo Source: Microsoft.com

Thoughtful Tuesday: Finish each day

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

My hitchhiker

We had a nice relaxing Labor Day weekend at the river. A nice way to end the summer. On our way there I picked up this guy (hmmm, he looks a lot like Mr. Bear).



Since it is monsoon season, we did experience some weather.



Despite the thunder and lightning, it was still warm and we had beautiful hot days to take some boats out and have fun under the sun.

Back to School

It's that time of year where the schools are buzzing. I was a total nerd growing up. Although I always looked forward to summer break, I also loved the beginning of the school year. There is something so exciting about the beginning of a new school year. You get to start fresh in your classes and see friends that you weren't able to see over the summer break. You get to go back to school shopping for clothes and supplies. I love new clothes and for some reason I also love shopping for school and office supplies. There is something about new pens, notebooks, and binders that appeals to me. I like to be organized and the beginning of a school year allows me to start fresh and be organized. Plus, I love any excuse to shop. I have to admit that I still do a little back to school shopping, but I work on a college campus so I operate on an academic calendar and I can still justify it (or at least I try to justify it in my on mind).

Although I do work all year, the campus I work at is very quiet in the summer time, which is often nice after a busy academic year. So when September rolls around, I get to enjoy the beginning of a new academic year. I love when the students return and the campus is buzzing. On the down side, I seem to get another year older whereas the students all seem to stay the same age. Different students but they are still in that 18-22 year old range. Despite that it is always nice to have the students to return and to see the influx of new freshman on campus. The excitement dies down after a week or two, but it is nice to have the academic year cycle.