Blog name change

I've decided to update the title of my blog, partly on a whim (is that a good idea?!)! One of the new tunes I've added to my iPod is "The Time of Your Life," sung by Randy Newman, from the movie "A Bug's Life." It's a charming song for a cute movie, and the song's chorus is sort of a new mantra for me, a reminder to continue on my path to treat my body and soul better, to remember that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and to continue to connect with friends and family.

It's the time of your life
So live it well
It's the time of your life
So live it well
We may only go 'round one time
As far as I can tell
It's the time of your life
It's the time of your life
It's the time of your life
So live it well

Date Night

George and I had an inpromptu date night last night, went to see the movie "Premonition," with Sandra Bullock. Reviews were mediorce, but it was a decent movie to see on a Thursday night. There were only 6 people (including us) in the movie theater, so it was relaxing and kinda nice, almost felt like a private showing. Mainly, it was nice to have a night out with George. We've just been so busy lately!

Beautiful Weekend!

It's been a beautiful weekend, weather-wise, here in Durham. The temperatures have been mild, the humidity relatively low. Ahhh! I think I'll open up my windows this evening--why has it taken me all weekend to think of that?!

George and I participated in the community walk portion of the Great Human Race 5K in Durham yesterday. It was nice to get out and walk together outside in the great weather yesterday. I was glad I decided not to run the 5K, just wasn't ready after last weekend's breakthrough (for me) run in Raleigh.

This morning at ERUUF, the new class of us Pastoral Listeners was installed. I'm looking forward to being part of that program. I've gotten to know a number of people better already through it.

After my Sunday afternoon nap, I started working on cleaning out my dresser drawers. Feels good to be making progress on clearing out and getting better organized.

Run for the Oaks 5K

The Run for the Oaks 5K road race in Raleigh was a surprising success for me, as I was able to run (ok, jog!) the whole thing--and felt fairly strong at the end, to boot! I was excited to break 50 minutes as well, which has been a goal of mine for several months now. Finally completing a 5K race at a jog has opened my eyes to the possibilities of doing 10Ks and beyond again. It's been a dream of mine to run a marathon, but now it seems to be a little more of a reality. :-)

I'm still waiting for the chip results to be posted at runnc.com, but best I could tell, I finished in about 46 and a half minutes!

ADDENDUM: My chip time was 46 minutes, 30 seconds! Yay!

My Apartment

It dawned on me over the weekend that part of my stress about moving this summer is that I haven't spent the time I need to to get my apartment cleaner and more organized. Part of the stress, too, is that moving will fall at the end of the fiscal year at work! Yikes! But there are many things I can do now to get ready for moving AND the end of the fiscal year, SOOOO time to get going! I made good progress on my apartment yesterday afternoon, which felt good. The I met George at the laundromat to visit for a bit while he did his laundry, and we ended up meeting anc chatting with a nice couple. That was a pleasant surprise. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday!

Getting involved

Last night was my last training class for Pastoral Listening at ERUUF. It was a good session, and I was a little sad to see the training come to an end. On the other hand, I'm excited about this new way to be involved at church.

The Run for the Oaks 5K is coming around on Saturday. I'm excited about that, and hope my finish time is faster than my last 5K in December. Actually, I'm hoping to break 50 minutes.

What's By My Bed

I picked up The Devil in the White City (by Erik Larson) recently at Barnes and Noble as a reward to myself gor hitting a particular weight loss goal, and though I'm not very far into it, it's an intriguing read, one of the best books I've picked up in a while. It's about the creation of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the architects who planned and built it, and a serial killer who's working his destruction in Chicago at the same time. It's all quite interesting, and it makes me want to go back to Chicago for a visit!

Weekend Update

I had a pretty busy Saturday, which included going to the H&R Block in Cary and using the lady George goes to to do my taxes. When I did this year's federal taxes on my own, I came out owing $1200+! Yikes! When she did them, I only owed about $50 federal and about $25 for state taxes. No fancy deductions or anything were added, I just did the math wrong. That's a load off!

After that appointment, we went to visit George's parents, grandparents, and brother and sister-in-law. His mom wasn't home, but we got to see everyone else at their respective homes. It was good to see everyone. George came with me to supper at the Rice House afterward. We were pretty pooped after all that, so we stayed in Saturday night.

Saturday morning I got up early as usual and went to the cross country trail through the woods and around the Duke golf course. It felt great to be outside in the fresh air for exercise.

Yesterday was a little strange with Daylight Saving Time going into effect several weeks early. We made it to church at ERUUF okay, but the rest of the day was spent taking it easy. I watched part of the ACC basketball finals between UNC and NC State, but fell asleep for a good nap. I did a little cleaning, but otherwise just puttered around and took it easy. I didn't even make it to the gym. It was very refreshing to have some down time!

Another week down

It's been a busy week on this end, with something going on every night. Three nights this week I got home around 10 PM after leaving home around 8 AM for good. (This after getting up at 5:00 to go work out, then back home to get ready for work and the Rice House!) The pace has been a little troubling to me on a number of levels. I'm tired and feeling a little burned out, and I haven't been able to accomplish verymany things on the homefront lately.

I hope the weekend brings some rest and healing of body and spirits, as well as some time to get things done and feel more accomplished at home.

Bar Mitzvah Trip

George and I had a good trip to Atlanta this weekend for Jake's Bar Mitzvah. It was a jam-packed weekend of time with his family, all a good time. The food was good, but I was careful and actually lost a tenth of a pound. It felt great to get away for a change of scenery and routine, but it wasn't the relaxing weekend that George and I are used to when we get away. The intovert in me missed the time to recharge at some point over the course of the weekend, so I was relieved on some level to get home.

The hotel we stayed in was very nice, and had the best gym set-up I've ever seen. The cardio equipment had screens big enough to show live feeds of various TV channels, and head sets were provided. The equipment was clean, to boot. They provided both regular towels and face towels on ice, which felt heavenly on my face in the steam room. The locker rooms had neat amenities as well, all sorts of lotions, soap gels, shampoo & conditioner, deodorant, Q-tips, mouthwash, hair dryer, both sauna and steam room. It felt like a luxurious treat!

George's mom paid for our rooms so that we could stay in the same (nice!) hotel with most of the festivities, and that helped a lot. It was really nice of her.

I would love to return to Atlanta and see the Georgia Aquarium sometime.