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