Another Biggest Loser Grrr Moment

The "Biggest Loser" contestant, Dane, who got voted off of last week's show, was taped "at home" completing a marathon with his wife in under four hours, impressive for anyone in my book, much less a first time marathoner! Well, it's been revealed since the airing of the show that they didn't actually run the whole marathon, but were picked up like three miles back and brought closer to the finish line to be taped running across the line and past the clock! Gosh, what a loser thing to do! I think I read it had something to do with needing to finish taping his marathon "journey," but that's not what he ended up running after being PICKED UP! They should've called it what it was, 23 miles of a marathon, instead of leading the viewers to believe he'd completed the whole thing. It's just another frustration to add to this past week's episode. Grrr!

Update: I read another online post about this issue and learned that something was wrong with the finish clock's lightbulbs, and Dane's finishing time was actually 5:53 instead of 3:53, and with a 6-hour time limit on the marathon course, the field producer wanted to tape Dane and family crossing the finish line while the (malfunctioning) clock was still up and running. Uh, so? Read more here.

Losing Weight, Gaining Perspective

George and I watched the show, "The Biggest Loser," tonight. First, we watched what we'd taped from last night, and followed it with tonight's part 2. We agree that it's probably our favorite season yet, but I'm still starting to wiggle a bit about watching it. It some respects, it inspires me to see people successful at losing weight. I also enjoy watching some of the workouts for ideas of things to do in the gym.

On the other hand, the contestants are taking time off from work, family, and extracurricular responsibilities to exercise several hours a day and be around others 24/7 who have the same goals. And they're dissappointed with weight losses of 5 lbs. or less in a week! I was also ticked this week because the teams got shifted this week, and a lot of air time was given to trainer Bob and his team getting really emotional about it all, when they were STILL on the show, STILL getting to work out with a trainer and each other, with the same medical and nutritional supervision. Golly, where's the perspective?! It just got on my nerves a little tonight! Maybe I'm not enjoying the show as much as I used to.

Another Race Under My Belt

I've posted my race report for today's Coach Bubba 20K on my other blog! Check it out here. Afterward, George and I had a yummy lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. It had been ages since I'd had pizza, so it was fun to have the treat AND sit down for a while!

Happy President's Day

Although not an official holiday at Duke, I decided to take it as a vacation day. George was off, so I decided it would be a good day to take off as well. We've spent some time together, but we've also had some alone time; both have been refreshing.

I've gotten some reading and genealogy done since this morning's gym workout. I'm also trying to get my main Yahoo inbox down to zero, one of the Lifehacker tips I've been hearing about and finally decided to work on. My main Yahoo inbox currently has over 5000 emails in it, but I've moved or deleted about 200 emails already, and have worked my way back to November.. It's going to take me a while, I know, but I'm not giving up yet.

Dinner at the Ronald McDonald House

This evening, I joined several other Junior League members at the Ronald McDonald House of Durham for our Extra Hands event, a short community service project that everyone in our Junior League chapter is required to do at some point throughout the year. This was my turn.

We had assignments to bring a crockpot of chili or baked potatoes to cook there. While the potatoes were cooking, the night manager showed us a short video about Durham's Ronald McDonald House, and afterward took us on a tour. I was so impressed, yet saddened to hear how many families they have to turn away every year. They're trying to raise $15 million to build a new facility in Durham that will be three times the size (much needed) of the current house, but the economic troubles of the nation have hit the Ronald McDonald House's fundraising efforts as well. This has really made an impression on me, because children just don't stop being sick with serious conditions that require hospitalization, and in some cases, longer term treatment.

After the tour, we joined the families in the dining room for dinner. Jenny and I sat with a little boy named Michael and his mother from Florida. I don't know what the boy's condition was (we enjoyed talking about other things--basketball, the weather), but after supper I saw him again with a face mask on. Another tug on the heart strings.

I wonder how I could help them. One thing I'm thinking about is using one of my races as a fundraiser, setting up an account through Firstgiving. Hmmm. I'll have to give some more thought to my big fall race this year.

Time Flies!

I've been much more aware of time lately, and it quickly it's going. At work, there are less than 5 months left in the fiscal year, so my group is starting to gear up for that.

On the running end of things, I can now say that my next big race, the Coach Bubba 20K, is next week, though it's a week and a half away, on Feb. 21. I'm not sure if I'm ready, but I'm going to go out and just do it! I have a good running base now, I think, and although I haven't run that distance since my half marathon, I've been close several times.

I continue to enjoy reading more these days, and wish I had more time for that. Sleep, work, time with George, and at least an hour of exercise every day. These things take time too. Who knew?!

Small World

This afternoon, I attended the retirement party of a coworker in the library. She'd worked her for 31 years, which amazes me! She was a hard worker and a dear lady, and I'll miss her. We worked in different departments and buildings, so I didn't see her everyday, but I always enjoyed talking to her.

I got to meet one of her sisters today, and that was a surprise as well as a highlight! This sister of the retiree is a nurse in Chapel Hill. As it happens, my father was referred to a physician in Chapel Hill, and this lady is one of several nurses who work for that doctor. She happened to be the one who helped my dad that day, so she met my mom as well. Well, my parents are very outgoing, and my mom is especially good at making connections with people, so it wasn't long before they all realized that the nurse's sister and I both worked for the same library, but in different departments! When Mom and Dad related this to me, they talked about how professional and nice this nurse was, and what good care she provided! I loved relating these good words about her sister to Onie the next day at work, and today I got to meet that nurse in person! It was a treat to thank her personally for taking such good care of my dad. :)

Close to Home

The current economic awfulness is hitting closer and closer to home! Of course, it's already home, with food costs, gas prices--which are a bit better now, and other increases along the way. Now I'm learning of more and more people getting layed off from their jobs, people I know. That's making it all a lot more real for me. It's scary, to be sure. I am hopeful, though. I usully feel optimistic when a new administration starts. It'll be interesting to see how things go. Meanwhile, I hope job hunts go well, especially for the folks I know.

Last Sunday, George and I took a day trip to Emerald Isle, to see the new beach home of my sister and her husband. It's a beautiful home, which will be used as a rental property! I was so impressed by it! I took lots of pictures, but now the pictures won't export from my digital camera memory card to my laptop, and I'm not sure why. I've tried inserting the card several times (it'll only fit in one way), and tried restarting my computer and inserting the memory card again. No luck yet! Any advice would be appreciated! I hope to post pictures soon. It turned out to be a wonderful family gathering!

Snow Day!

I woke up to snow this morning! It's so pretty, and really refreshing to see.

I made it to the gym this morning to get my workout in, and it was fairly deserted. It reminded me of the Frozen 5K I ran on Saturday, when the temps were in the teens. Deteremined people there, both times.




George has decided to take a snow day, but I'm going to try to make it in. Part of me would love to stay home and watch Obama's Inauguration, but they're going to have it on there anyway. I'll catch bits and pieces. Work calls.

Wish me luck on the roads!

Addicted to Books

Last evening, after work, I went to another used bookstore, Nice Price Books on Broad St. in Durham. I've gotten several recommendations for it recently, including a couple of shout outs in the North Carolina group on Goodreads.com. (I'd posted a discussion on the boards there, asking people about their favorite NC bookstores, and Nice Price Books came up a few times.) So, I had to go and check it out.

I enjoyed the browsing experience there, and managed to walk away with just one book, a light mystery, this time. I went to two other used bookstores just this past weekend, Edward McKay's and the Readers Corner, both in Raleigh, and came away with eight books between the two stores.

You'd think I didn't have anything to read at home, huh?! Well, I happen to have plenty, so I don't know WHY I'm shopping for more books! Yikes!

Over the holidays, I decided to sign up for Amazon Prime, which offers free 2-day shipping for most items for an annual fee. Well, I did a ton of holiday shopping using that, and then I started ordering presents for myself! (Perhaps vacation meant a little too much free time on my hands!)

I did come to my senses a little bit, though, and decided to check the local public library to see if they had some of the titles on my growing Amazon Wishlist. I was in luck, and decided I'd start borrowing some books from the public library rather then buying everything I want to read! I got overzealous, though, and have ended up with a stack of library books with due dates! Ha! Nothing like a deadline to make me read, though, right? What I don't get to soon, I'll renew or turn back in. The most interesting ones will rise to the surface, and the rest can wait or just go back to the library.

MEANWHILE, I also have a slew of books from the library where I work, all of which came through my department and looked so interesting I decided to check them out too! They have a due date of the end of the year (unless they get recalled by another patron, or have a 4-week "New and Noteworthy" status). I have so many great books to read, and so little time! What's a girl to do?

Motivation

Last night, George and I finally watched the season premiere of "The Biggest Loser," which we taped last Tuesday night. We decided during last season of "The Biggest Loser" (which ended just a few weeks ago, actually) that committing two hours to television on a weekday night was a bit much for us, so we started taping the new season and saving it for weekend viewing. We were rather dismayed by the last season, thanks to a particular contestant and her conniving tactics to win the game (which she didn't), so I wasn't as excited about the new season as I'd been for previous seasons--and neither was George.

Well, the episode we watched last night, which introduced the newest contestants, was interesting! Not only do they have the heaviest female, the heaviest person (a man) on the show this go-around, they also have the oldest contestants this season, a married couple who are grandparents! There was an unexpected twist to the show, announced at the weigh-in. Every couple, except for the challenge winners and the weigh-in winners (two different couples), had to send one person in each couples team home! The other part of this interesting twist is that each person who got sent home will be able to return to the show in 30 days IF the other half of their couples team is still part of the show (hasn't been sent home from the game after a weekly weigh-in).

I think this is a fascinating and good turn of events for the show, and shoule serve as a great motivator for the contestants still playing the game! Wow!

I've been looking for some weight loss motivation of my own lately, which is part of why last night's "The Biggest Loser" episode really spoke to me. I've recently bought a couple of books on that very topic, and will be starting them soon. More later!

10 on Tuesday: 10 Things I Want to Do in 2009

It's been a while since I've done one of the "10 on Tuesday" memes. This seems like a good one to do.

1) Run another half marathon.
2) Read more books.
3) Travel to more counties in North Carolina for my "North Carolina Odyssey Project" to visit and blog about all 100 counties in NC.
4) Run 1000 miles.
5) Take more pictures.
6) Watch less TV.
7) Cook at least 10 new recipes.
8) Research martial arts and decide which one, if any, I'd like to learn.
9) Take a yoga class.
10) Lose more weight.

Back to Work Tomorrow

It's back to work tomorrow, after a nice break. I didn't get everything on my to-do list done, but I made progress. I must admit, I am looking forward to returning to a routine. It's time.

Besides, I'm looking forward to catching up with my coworkers! It seems like it's been a while since I've seen the whole group. These days, I feel fortunate to have a job, and to have one that I like, with co-workers I enjoy.....

Bring Monday on! :)

Highlights of 2008

I've decided to give some thought to the highlights of the past year, since I'm thinking about my 2009 goals in the mean time. Here are some that come to mind....

1) I trained for and finished my first half marathon, the City of Oaks Half Marathon on November 2. To do this, I signed up to train with the Raleigh Galloway group, which turned out to be a huge plus. I met a lot of new people with a common interest in running, and that was a lot of fun and very motivating.

2) Although I missed a few road races to early-year injuries and longer-distance training for the half, I did do new (for me) distance races in the 1-mile and 4-mile.

3) I branched out, Web 2.0-wise, and have made some new acquaintances there. In addition to Facebook and BuckeyeOutdoors.com, which I believe I joined last year, I'm now on Twitter, Goodreads, Athlinks, DailyMile, RunningAhead, and LinkedIn. Facebook and Twitter have allowed me to learn a bit more about my co-workers, fellow Junior Leaguers, and other runners, and that's been fun. Goodreads has been the latest social community I've joined, and it's inspired me to take the time to read more. In the mean time, a few co-workers are on Goodreads now too. Since we work with books, it's nice to learn about what books they like to read as well.

4) My department at work moved to a different building. It was an interesting process, moving to a place where I'm working for a library, but not in a library. I'd been looking forward to the move, but I've been more pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy the new location. It's a nice building, and although I'm not on the main campus anymore, I really like the location. I get to take periodic walks in a neat Durham neighborhood, and I've gotten to try several restaurants I've never been to before for lunch during the week. Amazing what a change of scenery with a coworker for lunch can do to refresh the brain! It's been nice!

5) I finished up my time on the Rice Diet Program back in January. While I've struggled a little bit with the weight since then, I've managed to keep most of it off, and have also stayed off of diabetes and high blood pressure meds since then, which has been a big plus.

6) I've visited several more North Carolina counties for the North Carolina Odyssey Project, the name for my mission to visit, photograph, and blog about all 100 counties in North Carolina. It's been fun seeing and learning more about this state I live in.

7) George and I celebrated 6 years together with a trip to western North Carolina. It was a fun trip, one of the best we've taken. Here's to many more years together!

Shaking My Family Tree

Earlier today I drove over the Clinton to do some genealogy research at the public library there. They have a quaint little local history room, which shelves and shelves of books, as well as a cabinet of microfilm, which I have yet to explore like I should. I took my laptop with me, and it was fun to be able to look up people in my database, to see whether or not I had information on them, and to add information right into the computer. I felt very "green" doing that too. I used to go home after a genealogical research trip with copies galore from books I'd found, and sometimes it was hit or miss as to whether or not the information would be useful. Some of the information I found today was a little iffy---I wasn't sure if some of the families I found were related to me, but I suspect that they are. I was able to go ahead and plug the info into my database, ready for when I DO find the missing links! So much fun! One of the things I love about genealogy is gathering the puzzle pieces, then seeing how they fit together!

I've been thinking for years that it would be fun to become a professional genealogist, even as a sideline. It would probably take a while to get the certification and such, though. Even still, with the internet and all the great genealogy websites out there, who hires a professional genealogist these days? So lately, I've been wondering if there's a market for a "genealogy tutor," someone who shows people how to start climbing their own family tree. With so many genealogy programs and websites out there, I wonder if there are people out there who want to do some family history research, but don't know where to start. If so, maybe I could help fill that niche. Food for thought.

More Holiday R & R

I've really enjoyed the first week of my vacation. I've gotten a lot of time with family, some with mine and a lot with George's, and that's been nice.

One of the odd things that's come from the time together, though, is that my being a vegetarian has come to the surface during three different meals with George's family, and the comments have been against my shying away from red meat and chicken. Part of what's so odd to me about the issue coming up this week, is that I've been a vegetarian for over two years now, and I've never gotten any "feedback" from them until this week. I need to think carefully about how to respond the next time it comes up, because I don't want to come across as contentious, angry, or finger pointing at them about eating meat. I became a vegetarian for health reasons, and have lost 100 lbs and all my diabetes and blood pressure medications, thanks to the vegetarian diet. His whole family has witnessed my transformation, which is part of why I'm baffled by this sudden "interest," more like concern, in my giving up meat. I've always tried to work my diet around whatevers being served at their home or available on the menu of whatever restaurant the family has gone to, and I've never complained about the food choices. I've enjoyed their company along the way, and have been appreciative when veggies have been available. I hope the comments will pass soon. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can handle this and keep the family peace?

Another "odd" thing that's come from the past week is that George, his brothers, and first cousin have taught me how to play a game called Star Munchkin. It's a fun game that involves strategy, and interaction with the other players, sometimes helping--but sometimes ganging up on opponents too. So far, each game we've played has been pretty lengthy. Over the weekend, it's been a pretty good investment of time. There's another round of the game on tap for today; as much as I've enjoyed learning the game, I may just let the guys go at it this afternoon! :)

I've also been reading a lot the past week, and have finished a few books so far. I may finish another this afternoon, especially if I don't get sucked into Star Munchkin again! I've gotten some good ideas for reading material from Goodreads.com, and have gotten back into the habit of utilizing the local public library. I've ordered a few books from Amazon.com over the holidays, but mainly I've been putting books on hold through the library's online catalog, and having them routed to the library branch closest to me. Problem is, I've seen so many things I want to read, and put holds on them, that I've got a pretty sizeable stack of books from the public library to work through. That normally wouldn't be a "problem," except that I've done the same thing at the university library I work for! In a nutshell, I'm realizing I may have a book addiction! I love having books around! At least I don't feel like I have to OWN a lot of books, though I have quite a few. I do enjoy having a lot of books around to choose from when I finish one book and need a new one to start. I also like having several books going at one time, usually a variety of fiction and non-fiction, so that I can pick up whatever I'm in the mood to read at the moment. I didn't always read that way; I used to finish one book before I started a new one. Now, I love the variety...though sometimes I'll get on a kick to finish more than one book before I add to the "in-progress" pile.

I've also gotten a good bit of running in over the holidays, including a 7.15 miler at the American Tobacco Trail yesterday. My running goal for December was to run 100 miles, and it looks like I'm going to break that mark soon--a good thing since the month is coming to a close soon!

Merry Christmas!

Although I'm on vacation, I woke up over an hour ago, and couldn't get back to sleep! I guess that's a throwback to my childhood! I got up and stretched out on the couch to finish a book by Jeff Galloway about running half marathons, so the day's already off to a good start!

I'll go to the gym soon, while George continues to snooze! Later, we've got plans to eat at an Indian restaurant, and then it's off to Goldsboro to see my uncle. Dinner plans are with George's family in Cary.

Tuesday night, we celebrated Hanukkah with George's family, and last night we went to our church for the annual soup supper between Christmas Eve services. (I took a veggie chili that was almost eaten up!) Oddly enough, we decided not to stay for the second service, but came home instead and relaxed. We both enjoyed that.

I have presents to open from my sister and her California-based family, who shipped things to me ahead of their holiday trip to Fiji. I can't wait to see what the gifts are, but I love the anticipation of wondering here at Christmas. My parents and I will celebrate the holiday later, when they return to Durham in January.

Finally, the Finale

George and I watched the finale of "The Biggest Loser" last night, though we'd threatened not to. One contestant, Vicky, who I've posted about recently, but a big game player this season, but a big turn-off for us. Her game-player moves were not very entertaining, and ended up having plenty of watchers, it turns out, rooting against her. My main mission last night was to see that she didn't win the game. In the light of day (though the sun hasn't risen yet this morning!), that was a silly reason to waste two hours in front of the television. I was thinking all this when I got out of bed this morning, and George said to me, "I'm done watching "The Biggest Loser!" I could've been doing other things!" I totally agree! That's a huge chunk of time to give to a TV show, when there are many other things I want/need to be doing! Maybe I'll tape it next season and watch it some when it fits my schedule, but maybe I'll just let it slide. I'm tired of thinking about that show now, though, and I'm glad the seasons over. Time to go exercise, myself!

Late Birthday Celebration

Yesterday, George and I celebrated my birthday a little late, but we had a wonderful afternoon and evening!

We started with the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. It was a fascinating and well-done exhibit, and it was interesting to learn some of the Duke connections to it. (For instance, in/around 1950, they were on exhibit in Duke Chapel, and Duke had a chance to purchase them, but didn't.) Afterward, George and I had dinner at the Irregardless Cafe in Raleigh. We'd been there once before, for Sunday brunch, so it was nice to eat there for an evening meal. We both got the same veggie dish, which was yummy! Afterward, we went to Brier Creek to see the movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," which I really enjoyed! I'd read the book recently, in hopes of seeing the movie soon. Queen Latifah did a nice job in her role, as did Dakota Fanning. (Little Dakota is growing up!) All in all, a really fun day with George!

It's a busy weekend, overall! Friday night, George's family treated me to dinner at Lucy 32's as a late birthday present, and tonight we're going to the Raleigh Galloway running group's end-of-year party. Tomorrow night we're having a church group over, so we're cleaning and shopping for that this afternoon too.

Old Habits, New Habits

A few weeks ago, I started posting weekly goals here, and then reporting on my progress. I haven't done that in a while, but some of those weekly goals have continued to become habits. Some of the other items have fallen by the wayside, for some reason or another, so perhaps it's time to reassess.

On the plus side, I've continued to finish at least one book a week. If I push a little, I'll complete more than one. I've continued to have fun tracking my reads on the site Goodreads.com, which has helped me to keep on going with this goal. Since it's a social networking site as well as a book-tracking site, I've "friended" several friends on Goodreads, and it's been fun to see what they're reading as well. When I go to others' homes, I'm often drawn to their bookcases--to me, the books on someone's bookshelves tell me something about them.

I've also continued to increase my running mileage as I train for the Coach Bubba 20K in Durham in February.

I'm keeping up with my family tree data input on a weekly basis, even if it's just a few names a week. I know I'll never totally be done with my family tree, but making progress brings me satisfaction.

Meanwhile, my weight loss plans have plateaued, and I haven't kept up with trying a new dish (cooked by yours truly) each week. I've also unsubscribed from the FlyLady emails (for apartment cleaning), which got to be too much to keep up with. So, these are things I'd like to concentrate on in the future. Maybe the trick is to integrate things more slowly, or to try different approaches.