Football & Family

My weekend was so busy that I have spent the better part of the day trying to recover and not being productive. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Why don’t you get your act together and do some work then Lazy Layne?” And to that I would reply, “Thank you for your concern, but writing a blog post actually is my to-do list, so I don’t feel guilty about taking a few moments to share all of the fun I had. Thanks.”

My family came to visit me, which meant I spent the better part of the day on Friday in a cleaning frenzy. I swept, vacuumed, windexed. It was intense.

Then they arrived, and immediately whisked me away for a delicious dinner (don’t you love that about parents) and margaritas. My siblings stayed at my house, so we were up pretty late Friday night chatting. They stayed up way later than me- you know I have grandma tendencies.

Saturday we had a cookout and several of the people in my program came over for the pre-football festivities. I was thrilled to prove to my mother that I do in fact have friends (maybe that’s a joke, but maybe not). My kitchen is still stocked with party food (stuff I won’t eat), and enough alcohol to last a month.

We walked to the game. The stadium is about a mile from my house, so it wasn’t bad at all. Walking was much easier than dealing with the hassle of parking, and manipulating crowds.

Here we are at the game!

I have not made it to a football game since the season before last, so I was pumped! Maybe this is lame, but my favorite part is when the band plays the fight song at the very beginning, and the team runs out. It’s so exciting!

Unfortunately, in the second quarter the stadium had to be evacuated due to severe thunderstorms.

Once we were confident that we were not going to be hit by lightning we went home. Call us fair weather fans if you must, but we were drenched, cold, hungry, and tired.

They took off this morning. Something about my sister being a dancing superstar… usually I get upset when our visits end, but I am actually headed home for fall break next week, so I’m doing a pretty good job of holding it together emotionally.

Thankful Things Thursday

Well Thursday is almost over, but I haven’t done a Thankful Things Thursday post in way too long, so here is some last minute gratitude!

• My family is coming to town this weekend! I am totally PUMPED! We are going to tailgate in my yard and walk to the football game. It is going to be a freaking BLAST. I foresee veggie burgers and Michelob Ultras in the near future!
• Coupons are baller. I am not one of those crazy grocery store coupon ladies, but pretty much anytime I make a major purchase I use one. I have saved a lot of money recently by pulling up coupons on my phone in the store.
• I thought I was getting sick yesterday, but I may have dodged it. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I am sooooo thankful that I am feeling better than yesterday. Gah! I hope I continue feeling well.
• I love things that smell good. I recently purchased some new candles and body wash and I am all about it. (I used the previously mentioned coupon.)
• I am currently planning on running in some cool races in the upcoming weeks. I’m thankful for races. I’m thankful for having free weekends to run races. I’m thankful that I am capable of running races. I’m thankful for RUNNING!!!

Happy Weekend!

The Great Cat Saga of 2012

This has absolutely nothing to do with running, or working out, or healthy living, or sparkles, or anything related to the regular content of this blog, but it’s too funny and dramatic not to share.

Last Friday, I went to Starbucks to reward myself after a long week with a skinny caramel latte made with soy milk. I intended to do some reading, and it was a gorgeous day, so I decided to spend my morning on the patio.

I was just sitting there minding my own business when this adorable kitty jumped into my lap. Now, I am the kind of person who thinks that when a stray animal comes your way, you help it out. I brought the cat home and my roommate (who I hadn’t been getting along with anyways was LIVID). I tried to assure her that I had no intentions of keeping the cat, but she was more interested in yelling.

I went to class and told everyone about the stray cat that was currently in my room. Everyone agreed that I am a sucker. Later that afternoon I posted the cat on Craig’s List, called four different no kill feline adoption agencies, had my sorority e-mailed to see if anyone wanted her, and I posted her to facebook. I did not get a single response… for a week.

On Saturday, I decided that obviously this cat wasn’t going anywhere and I had better take her to the vet. At this point my roommate has not spoken to me for a week, and I was scared that the cat had worms.

The vet tells me that the cat does not have worms; she is pregnant. I start crying. Hysterically. In the vet’s office. I cannot even find a home for one cat. What am I going to do with a whole litter of cats? I leave the office $112 poorer still crying. The receptionist calls me as I’m driving home. She has the contact information for a lady who works with all these adoption agencies who is willing to help me.

I call this cat lady, and she assures me that we will be able to find homes for the kittens. I make her PROMISE me that it won’t be a problem. She tells me all about what to expect with a litter of kittens, and gets me calmed down.

On Sunday, I go to the library and check out the entire section of cat books. if I am going to do this, then I want to be prepared.

TODAY, I receive an e-mail from someone responding to my Craig’s List post from a week and a half ago. I have their cat. They said that she has been missing for awhile, and they are completely relieved that she has been well cared for. I’m taking her home in the morning.

On the one hand,it’s a relief to not have to deal with all of this kitten business. On the other hand, I have gotten kind of attached to this cat, and I am not too happy about giving her back.

I kind of want a kitten…

GroupFit Galore

It’s not even ten o’ clock on a Friday night, and I am in bed wearing my pajamas (I have no desire to be anywhere else). Call me a grandma, but I am exhausted (in a fabulous way!) My windows are open, my fall scented candles are burning, and my furry friends are snuggled up with me- BLISS.

I woke up a little early this morning to briefly practice my group fitness class before I had to teach this afternoon. It only took about twenty minutes before I started POURING with sweat. Then I had an instructors meeting with everyone who teaches LPAF, and guess what we went over today…MORE GROUP FITNESS, but hey I am not complaining- It was great.

Later that afternoon I taught my HABIT class, and this time it went muccccchhhhh better. It was a very small class, but I know that those girls got a good workout, and I’m pretty certain that they had a good time.

I stuck around to participate in another class, Les Mills Sh’Bam. It is a recent addition to the classes offered at my school, and today was the first opportunity that I had to try it. I had a freaking ball! Dance type classes are not usually my favorite because they are mainly cardio and I feel like I get plenty of that when I run. I want the classes that I take to be a different type of workout. Although Sh’Bam was intense cardio I felt “the burn” a few times during the workout. At one point the instructor (who is my boss) pulled me up front. It was super unexpected, but of course I always love attention, so I was happy to oblige.

After multiple workouts, I am certain that I will be feeling it tomorrow, but it was worth it.

Thanks Mrs. Obama

Michelle Obama visited my school today! I am actually a huge fan of the first lady. She has done some great things in an effort to tackle childhood obesity (a topic I am passionate about), and is an awesome role model. Unfortunately, when I tried to get a ticket to see her speak there was a line that wrapped around the building. No offense to the first lady, but I did not have an hour to spend waiting in line (I had an exam to cram for and take). I have a sneaky suspicion that she wasn’t coming to talk about childhood obesity anyways.

Although I did not get to see her, she still positively impacted my day. My morning class was cancelled! I thoroughly enjoyed a nice leisurely morning. I drank a cup of coffee (or two) on my porch, and took in the fall weather. I decided that it was too perfect not to go for a run outside.

My shirt was longer than my shorts, and I did not match at all. I felt like I looked really foolish, but then I thought to myself, “Who the heck cares???”

I took Tinkerbell out for three easy miles, and we have both been in a great mood all day long!

 

Wonderful Weekend

When searching for the perfect adjective to describe this weekend, all that I could come up with was “decadent”. For the first time in I don’t know how long I had 2.5 days of zero obligations: no work, no school, no appointments. Just sixty hours of freedom.

I got caught up on sleep, lounged around with my favorite pooch, actually cleaned out my car and room, went to two group fitness classes and spent a ton of time on the phone with my BFF (who is now a million miles away). It was nice to be lazy, and get some things done that I’ve been putting off. But I’m actually excited for Monday! Isn’t that silly? I can get a little whiney about being too busy, but all that it took was one weekend for me to snap out of that funk.

I have my first grad school exam tomorrow. I am feeling uncharacteristically relaxed about it. I’ve been to every class, I’ve actively participated, and I have reviewed the study guide. I ought to be able to rock this thing (hopefully I’m not jinxing myself).

I spent a little time “race shopping” this weekend. I haven’t run in a race since the beginning of April and I am starting to get that itch. Now that I have my weekends off it should not be a problem finding time to train. I would really enjoy a Halloween event where people dress up, but I feel like I would need a running buddy to do it with me (and my number one sidekick is unavailable). I’ll keep ya posted.

Don’t Let the Haters Stop You

So the last two posts have been all “rah-rah my life is bomb.com”, and that’s great and everything, but I need to be honest. While work and school and research are going super great, my living situation sucks eggs. My roommate and I just aren’t meshing and it’s becoming more and more clear that things are not going to be smooth and easy this year.

In all fairness, I don’t think that I would be happy living with anyone other than Kim right now. She was my best friend, personal shopping assistant, number one hang out buddy, and my emotional support for two years. She is my favorite person to commiserate with, and often times my voice of reason. That is a lot to compete with. I should have known that it wouldn’t be easy to adjust to living with someone new. I should have gotten my own place.

Point being, things have been rocky. There is a lot of tension, door slamming, and bad vibes. Honestly, I don’t see a resolution in the near future either.

I read a quote somewhere (which I now cannot find for the life of me) that said something similar to, “Any problem which cannot be solved on a long run does not have a solution.” I ran five miles tonight. In comparison to the runs I was doing this time last year, that’s nothing. But right now it’s long for me. Don’t judge.

What I came up with is these words of wisdom from Mean Girls’ Kevin G…

I can’t solve the issues that are going on around me, but I can do my best to not let things get to me. I have so many incredible opportunities right now it would be idiotic of me to be unhappy and not make the most of them. I need to focus on the relationships that bring positivity into my life (and probably buy a plane ticket to Connecticut.)

You Can Call Me “Instructor Layne”!!!

I’ve mentioned before how much I loooooooove group fitness, and how I was anticipating teaching some classes this year. Late last week, my boss e-mailed out the groupfit schedule, and guess whose name was on it… MINE. I almost peed my pants!

That’s me!!!!!

I choreographed my class last weekend, and that was a little overwhelming. Who knew that fifty minutes could feel so long? I practiced in the exercise studio at the rec center. When I started, there were four other people in the studio. Ten minutes later they had all cleared out… maybe because I kept playing the same cheesey song over and over. But I prefer to think that they were intimidated by my killer moves.

I had an instructor choice day with my Lifetime Physical Activity and Fitness class on Tuesday, so I practiced my groupfitness class on them. It went GREAT! They had a BALL! I had a blast too. They got super into the class, and gave me lots of positive feedback. I left class feeling confident about my skills as an instructor.

Yesterday, I taught my first class to a groupfitness saavy audience. I ended up feeling a little bummed. I think that my moves were too simple and repetitive. I know that they got a good workout, but I think that they were bored. Also I was suuuuuuper nervous and I am sure that they could sense it. I guess that part of the reason why I feel so disappointed is that I know I have the potential to do so much better (I felt like I had done a good job just the day before). I know that I will continue to learn, and improve, and tweak my classes. I just hope that people weren’t so turned off by my first class that they decide to never come back…

Here is my outfit! And obviously I need to get after my mirror with some heavy duty windex!

On a more positive note, I team taught an aquafitness class this evening, and I felt like it went great. The girl I taught with lead the first half of the class, and I lead the second half. This was nice because I was able to be up front withouth the pressure of teaching. When it was my turn to teach it wasn’t such a big deal. The customers seemed to really enjoy my workout, and they all told me afterwards that I did a great job. I really appreciated their compliments because I went into the class feeling pretty down on myself.

There were some highs and some lows, but that’s how it is with learning. I’m excited to make some adjustments and teach again.

I Could Float

School has been going great! I can hardly believe that it started  three whole weeks ago. It does NOT seem like that long at all. Teaching Lifetime Physical Activity and Fitness (LPAF) has been full of advantages. Not only am I getting the experience (and the pay), but it gave me a social group. The other graduate assistants are in many of my classes, and I always have someone to sit beside and chat with. It’s a cool feeling to be surrounded by so many people with similar interests and goals.

I’m really enjoying the classes that I am taking as well. It is a very different experience than undergrad classes. All of my professors know me by name, and do not hesitate to put people on the spot. I HAVE to be prepared for class every day.

I am teaching my first group fitness classes next week and I am freaking PUMPEDDDDD.

I am the busiest I have ever been, and things do get a little stressful, but I could not be happier. I am completely in love with my life right now. I could float away I have so many happy thoughts!