I'm pathetic

I only managed to get one walk in over the weekend, because I forced myself too, and I bitched and moaned about having to do that much. Really, I've become very whiny and obnoxious about how badly I'm doing with my food and fitness program. So much so that I'm sick of thinking, worrying, complaining, avoiding and failing in this area. It's damn annoying.

And if I weren't feeling badly enough about it, I'm confronted with this article this morning. I'm only 38 and I doubt that I could run a 100 meters (without stopping) at all let alone in 22 seconds! And what further boggles my mind is this man set a new world record for the 95-99 age group. Are you kidding me? Enough of these really old people have run this distance that they have world records for their age bracket? I'm totally flabbergasted and totally impressed.

So the upshot of all this is, I need to get my ass in gear. Pronto.

I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I HATE going to the doctor. I haven't been in two years which is so bad, I know. However, you have no idea how much I loathe going. Yuk!

The Saint and I had a nice weekend. It was great to actually be home for most of it. We went out to eat with my mom and stepfather on Saturday night to celebrate Father's Day and surprisingly, had a good time. You never know with my mom. It can go either way. On Sunday we had The Saint's parents over for dinner and we always have a good time with them. They're leaving on Saturday for a Caribbean cruise to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary and I probably won't see them now until they get back.

And if they're going out of town that means Little Guy will be coming to stay. I love him but my household is always up for grabs for the first 2-3 days of his visit.

My White Sox had two awesome come-from-behind wins on Saturday and Sunday!

Good foot

I stepped on the scale this morning and realized I've gained back 9 of the 35 pounds I worked so hard to lose. I'm so pissed off with myself and all my excuses are just that: excuses. I've been working long hours and traveling and it's just been easier to eat whatever is handy instead of what's good for me. And exercise! HA! But I'm stopping the backsliding here and now. I refuse to go into a double digit gain!

So The Saint and I had a heart to heart last night while I was packing my breakfast and lunch for today. He's so supportive and absolutely willing to help out around the house so I have time to do what I need to do. Actually what he said is "What can I do to get you off on the good foot?"

What he meant, of course, was the "right foot" but he is the prince of malapropisms. He learned at the knee of the queen, my mother-in-law.

So I've recommitted, I'm not looking back and I will only move forward.

On an unrelated topic, we had a beautiful deer in our backyard last night and she freaked the hell out of my cats. I was in our bedroom trying to figure out what I could wear to work today since everything I own is dirty or at the cleaners, when Ronan came up the stairs. He was running very low to the ground, a sure sign something is up, and as he sprinted by me on the way into my bathroom, I noticed that the fur on his back was standing up, another sure sign something is amiss.

Bailey was right behind him and her tail was puffed up. And then Devlin sounded the alarm. He howls, sort of like a dog, in times of distress: when strange animals are in the yard, when his food dish is empty, when the doorbell rings, etc. The only one seemingly unaffected by a huge deer in the backyard was Riley and normally he is the biggest chicken and the first to hide.

So The Saint and I headed downstairs to see what was going on and there was the doe. She really was beautiful, standing there still and silent, checking out the neighborhood. She hung out in our backyard for about five mintues and then suddenly snorted, pawed the ground and took off.

Poor Ronan was freaked out all night. He refused to go anywhere near the side of the house that looks out on the backyard. It reminds me of when Bailey saw a coyote in our yard last year. Poor little girlie was a wreck for two days!

Avoidance

I don't feel like talking about how badly I'm doing with my food and fitness program so I won't. Instead I'm going to answer the questionnaire Mia posted on her site.

3 names I go by
1. Nichole
2. Nicky
3. Auntie Boo

3 screen names I've had
1.nanovak
2.Rioghan
3.

3 physical things I like about myself
1. Eyes
2. Hands
3. Lips

3 parts of my heritage
1. Irish
2. German
3. English

3 things I'm wearing right now
1. My great-grandmother's wedding ring
2. My ID badge for work
3. A really uncomfortable bra

3 favorite bands
1. Eagles
2. Tesla
3. Cross Canadian Ragweed

3 favorite songs
1. At Last-Etta James
2. Suspicious Minds-Elvis
3. Copa Cabana-Barry Manilow

3 things I want in a relationship
1. Laughter
2. Trust
3. Fidelity


3 physical things about the preferred sex that I like
1. Hands
2. Butt
3. Penis

3 favorite hobbies
1. Reading
2. Walking
3. Collecting Oscar Mayer Weinermobiles

3 things I want to do badly right now
1. Sleep
2. Take off this damn bra
3. Go home

3 things that scare me
1. Death of a family member
2. Death of one of my cats
3. Heights

3 of my everyday essentials
1. The Saint
2. My furbabies
3. A good spritz of Ellen Tracy by Ellen Tracy

3 careers you have/are considering
1. Lawyer
2. Writer
3. Museum curator

3 places you want to go on vacation
1. Ireland
2. Scotland
3. Italy

3 kids' names you like
1. Teagan
2. Aleith (my great-great grandmother's name)
3. Charlie (my grandfather's name)

3 things you want to do before you die
1. Lose weight
2. See my nieces and nephews grow up
3. Dye my hair red-well not RED red but more like auburn

3 ways I am stereotypically a boy
1. I love to watch sports on tv anytime, anywhere
2. I can burp and fart with the best of them!
3.

3 ways I am stereotypically a girl
1. I adore jewelry
2. I hate to be dirty and/or sweaty
3. I cry at the drop of a hat

3 celeb crushes
1. Clive Owen
2. Adrian Paul
3. Orlando Bloom
I think there's a theme here: tall, dark and British

Oh my aching back...

That's what I get for chasing two kids and five cats around all weekend! My house was a freakin' madhouse this weekend. We had my in-law's cat Little Guy, our 4 fur babies and our 4 year old nephew (AW) and two year old niece (RM) from Thursday until Sunday.

We had a lot of fun with the kids. They're at such a cute age and so funny. We took them to Blackberry Farm twice and Chuck E. Cheese. The Farm has a train ride, pony rides, a carousel and a lot of farm animals. RM immediately headed for the carousel squealing "Merry go round, ooh la la."

One thing I really noticed about the kids this weekend is that they are all about repetition. Either they ask or do the same things over and over or I'm saying the same things to them over and over. For example:

10-the number of times AW can ask "why" in one conversation
9-the number of times I had to tell RM on Sunday to "Leave the cats alone!"
8-the number of times we had to ride the train at Blackberry Farm
7-the number of times we had to listen to Willie Nelson's "Shotgun Willie" in the car-they absolutely adore that song! It drove The Saint nuts!
6-the number of times my sister-in-law called to see how the kids were doing
5-the number of times we had to ride the carousel
4-the number of times RM can say "Hey Auntie..." in a 10 minute span. For example, "Hey Auntie, watch me!" "Hey Auntie, can I have some milk?" "Hey Auntie, can I pet the cat?"
3-the number of times we had to watch The Incredibles
2-the number of blocks RM rode her "bike" before she decided she wanted me to carry her AND the bike. I carried the bike but I made her walk.
1-the number of cookies leftover after the kids went home

What I Should Be Doing Instead Of Writing This...

Did I mention that my June sucks big time in regards to work? I'm swamped but, am I taking advantage of the early morning quiet here to get some of this crap cleared off my desk? Of course not, I'm writing this. So here's what I should be doing:

-emailing faculty their library committee assignments-it was my bright idea to form these committees and so they put me in charge of recruiting for and organizing them. I really, really, really need to send those assignments today.

-collection development-it's so time consuming but I absolutely ADORE selecting books, magazines, DVDs, etc. for my libraries. LOVE IT!

-preprare documentation for our accreditation visit next week

-do more than scan the resumes of the people I have coming in today to interview for one of my open positions

If I wasn't walking at lunch, I'd be getting no exercise at all this week. I found a new place for lunch that's a few blocks away. It's on the lower level of an office building down here in the Loop and it's a food court that offers everything from sushi to burritos to salads to pasta. Very reasonably priced and yummy. I got a salad there yesterday that rocked!

I had planned to walk in an event June 18th but I think I'm going to back out. It's only a mile event (listen to me, only a mile!), it's Father's Day weekend and I may even have to work that day on top of having worked the weekend before. I'm taking tomorrow off but this weekend may be my last time off for 3 weeks. It's insane. What's even more insane is that I feel guilty not walking the event.

My boys lost last night. Bummer.