Curiosity Didn't Kill the Cat . . .

Not much to talk about today. It's Friday, and it's Labor Day weekend. I pretty much have no plans aside from hopefully making my poor little car a little better. Oh and homework. You know, regular holiday stuff.

And now for your Midwest Hurricane Report:
Currently, it looks windy outside. It sprinkled a little rain on my way to work. Pretty sure the concrete barely got wet. On the one hand, I want a storm. Just for the hell of it. On the other hand, I don't want to drive two hours in rain tonight. Whatever. Weather people are predicting thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. My unofficial prediction? Rain. Maybe.

In other news:

Ashamed kitten 

You've heard the old saying "curiosity killed the cat"? Well this little curious kitten is not dead, but would love to have her eyes poked out. Occasionally I check my blog "stats." This tells me all sorts of stuff like how many people have viewed my blog today, from which countries they are viewing it, and from what websites people are coming from to get to my blog. I was looking at the sites, and some of them I had never heard of. Let me give you this advice: NEVER click on websites you've never heard of. Never ever. Two of the sites turned out to be porn. Oh dear god I thought I was gonna die. Highly embarrassing. Obviously the site names were not something that would clearly make me think "hmmm, this could be porn, let's not click on that." They were just oddly-named sites.

So the moral of the story here is:
1. Weather people don't know what they're talking about (probably).
2. Don't click on sites with strange names you've never heard of.
3. Curiosity might not kill you, but you will be ashamed.
4. Perverts like running too? I'm not really sure.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! :)

Delicious Chobani!

Cutest little apple! 

Overall, today was a pretty good day. I was busy reading submissions at work all day (most of them were not very good) and I had a nice lunch. I started with the most adorable tiny apple. Unfortunately, they taste so good, I wish it was bigger :(

Yummy blueberry Chobani!

I also tried Chobani Greek Yogurt for the first time. I've had a couple other brands of Greek yogurt and I can't say that I liked them. Chobani was delicious though. I tried the blueberry. And I have another one that's strawberry banana. I can't wait to try that one. And the cups are so big! I couldn't believe that entire thing was ONE serving!

I had planned on making my way over to the gym after work so I could get a quick workout in before my lit class. But I wasn't sure if I could get in for free, and I'm super lazy and didn't want to drive all the way over there without knowing. Plus Kirsten is a bad influence and said she'd buy me Chick-Fil-A and there was just no way I could turn that down. Nuggets and waffle fries sounded so good! (I'm really a fat kid at heart.) After dinner I headed to class.

First of all, we got out almost an hour and a half early, so that was awesome. Also I was apparently the only one to finish the book, so go me! The discussion was really interesting though and I enjoyed it. We'll be reading 9 or so novels over the course of the semester, but we only have to write papers on 3 of them. And then we have a research paper for a final. I think that's great, and gives more time to write quality papers rather than 9 really short, crappy ones.

As far as the way things have been going for me lately, today was the best one I've had in a couple weeks. :)

2 Miles, Unplugged

Capris: Target, $24
Socks: Target, $8

Yup, I ran 2 miles (without stopping) with zero technology. No phone. No watch (not that I have one to use). No iPod. Okay, so the reason I didn't bring my iPod is because it's in my car and I was too lazy to go get it. Whatever.

I did run a pretty slow pace. And by that, I mean I'm not even sure you could call it "running." I don't care. I did two miles nonstop. It was pretty difficult to breathe, but I somehow pushed myself through that. And my ankle was hurting toward the end, and hurts now, but the pain was worth getting it done.

On Sunday when I was "buying groceries" at Target, I also got a few other things. Like more Disney movies (you can NEVER have enough!) and I bought a pair of capris to run in and some new running socks. It may have been a little too hot to run in capris today instead of shorts. But they're new! I had to. Aside from being hot, I love them. The socks were, well, socks. My only issue is that on the tag, it says fits size "5-9." That's a pretty big range there. So basically anytime I buy socks that are almost "one-size-fits-all" they are generally too big. I have tiny baby feet. Okay, they aren't really that small. I wear anywhere between a 6 and a 7 and a half. depending on the shoe. But these socks are big on me still. I have too much extra fabric. I can't imagine someone who wears a size 5 being able to make these work.

Oh well. They are cute and even have an "L" and an "R" on them for "left foot" and "right foot," which is kind of perfect for my sometimes OCDish ways.

I went to Plaza Tire after work, and the guy was super nice about everything and is more than willing to refund my money (yes I said "is" and not "was"). Unfortunately, I can't get my money back until I have my new debit card. Thankfully, he said once I get my card I can just come back up there and he'll take care of it for me. Gotta admit, I was really hoping he'd just give me cash so I'd have some money I could actually use if I needed it, but I'm not going to complain. I'll be getting my money back soon, and that's all that matters.

For the rest of my night, I will be doing some of my freelance work, finding something to eat for dinner, and cutting/filing all my nails because they're too long and driving me crazy. And I might possibly be icing my ankle at some point. Boo.

Dove Chocolate

Take a deep breath and exhale.

I got zero exercise yesterday. And probably had more chocolate than I should have. But my Dove chocolate wrapper said "Take a deep breath and exhale." Which is what I really needed right then. I was in the process of dealing with my bank and filling out fraud forms and stuff since some jerk somehow got my information and spent money at a Walmart in Yuma, AZ and a food mart in Austin, TX. After dealing with all the stuff with my car and everything, this was the last thing I needed.

The girl I spoke with said it will take 10-15 days to get my money back, and at least a week before I'll get my new debit card. Thankfully I filled up my car with gas and got groceries Sunday evening before they blocked my card. So I at least have what I need to get me through the week and get me to St. Louis Friday evening after work.

Today after work, instead of going home and immediately going for a run, I get to go to Plaza Tire and try to get my money back. I'm hoping they don't argue about it or anything and just give me my money back so I can go home and run. Unfortunately, I'm more worried about how they'll give me my money back since I don't have my debit card (which is what I paid with). Some places will only put money back on a card and won't give you cash. Some places are even worse and will only put the money back on the card that was used. Either way, I don't have the card I used, or any other debit card. So if they won't give me cash, I don't know what I'll do.

After that, I'm going for a run. Then I will have some dinner and try to get some work done. I'm doing some freelance editing right now, which is awesome and I love doing it, but haven't had much time to get it done with all the other crises going on. But tonight, I have no homework (at least none that's due this week), and no other plans besides my run. So I'll at least get a good start on it. I wish I had more time to do more freelance work. Actually, I probably would if all these other problems went away and all I had to do was homework and blog. I'm more than willing to do more work if there aren't super strict deadlines involved. Over the summer I could get stuff done within a few hours. Now it's taking me days to finish because of work and school.

Look for another post tonight to see how things go with Plaza Tire. Boo. And my run! Going for another two miles today without stopping. Let's hope my allergies and asthma cut me some slack and let me do it.

Lunch Break Post: I'm Beyond My Breaking Point

This weekend was about as good as my past two weekends. And by that, I mean it sucked. Okay, okay, it didn't all suck. But the fact that I've spent half of my paycheck on my car really sucks.

I was up at 6am Saturday morning. I had a little breakfast and hit the road, trying to make it to St. Louis by 9ish to have my car worked on. Surprise, surprise, I didn't even make it to the highway. My tire blew. So I pull over to the side of the road, called my dad (and I'm pretty sure I woke him up--oh well), and then I called my lovely roommate who had told me the night before if I had car trouble and wasn't over an hour away, she'd come get me. Lucky for her, I don't think I was even ten miles away. Unlucky for her, it was 6:45 am. But she's awesome and said she'd come pick me up and we'd try to find a tow company or whatever to get my car.

Then, something amazing happened. A guy pulled over to the side of the road, asked if I needed help, and then proceeded to change my tire so I could drive to Plaza Tire (more on them in a bit). I have never been so thankful for a stranger in my entire life. As he was changing my tire, Kirsten got there. After he finished and I thanked him profusely, Kirsten and I turned around and she followed me to Plaza Tire. By now it was 7:15ish and they didn't open until 7:30, so we hung out in her car for a bit.

I went inside and told them I needed a new tire because the rear right tire blew and I had a spare on it now. For whatever reason, these guys never seem to think I know what I'm talking about, so they go out and look at my car anyway. Whatever. I also told them to change the oil because I was well overdue for that also.

Kirsten and I left and made our way over to Bread Co. where I bought her some breakfast for being such a good friend and roommate. After we finished there, we decided to head over to Starbucks across the street for some coffee. It was a nice day, so we sat outside drinking our skinny mochas (I think they have less than 150 calories?). About an hour or two later, I decided I needed more coffee. I got a phone call from Plaza Tire, and I excitedly thought my car was done. It wasn't. The guy said that the belt was almost broken and needed to be replaced and he asked if I wanted them to do it. Well, duh. I don't want to break down again.

Those of you who have been reading for the last few weeks know that I just had a belt replaced two weeks ago. But as much as I hate to admit it, I don't know very much about cars (although thanks to all this nonsense, I'm learning) and because the guy referred to the belt as something different than what someone called it the last time I had it fixed, I assumed there were two different belts.

There are not. So they replaced the exact same belt they had replaced two weeks ago. My total cost for a new tire, oil change, and a new belt (plus labor, tax, etc) was $216. I get to St. Louis and my dad is looking at my car, seeing what they did and everything. He informs me that they replaced the same belt again. Well of course they did--because I can afford things like that and I have time to go argue with them. Blah. After that, I go to my cousin's house to have him look at it and figure out what was wrong that would make them replace it twice.

The balancer is messed up. When they changed the belt the first time, I asked them to look at all that stuff to make sure it's all working properly since the belt was less than a year old. Apparently they didn't, and so it was on the verge of breaking again two weeks later when my tire blew. Now, I have to go back there sometime this week and get my money back for charging me for something they screwed up.

In addition to all that nonsense, someone somehow got a hold of my debit card number and has been charging stuff from a Walmart in Arizona, and a Foodmart in Texas. Now I have to wait for a new debit card, and in the meantime can't buy anything online. And I can't buy anything anywhere else unless I write a check or pay with cash.

Sorry I didn't take any awesome pictures of my blown tire or anything. I really gotta work on that.

Head over to www.facebook.com/RunChata and show me some love! I could use it! :)

Feeling a Smidge Better

After moping around at work and my apartment since Wednesday, I finally went for a two-mile run after work today. It sucked. Hard. I had to stop more than once because I couldn't breathe. On the positive side, my ankle/leg didn't hurt too bad. So I guess there's some improvement there. I was not a happy camper earlier though. I was ready to scream and cry and just act like a 6 year old having a tantrum.

I didn't though. Instead, I came home, stretched, drank lots of water and decided to cook dinner. I made ground turkey with Italian seasoning and garlic and I cooked a spaghetti squash (and by "cooked" I mean microwaved). I added some pasta sauce to the meat and mixed in the squash and the roomie and I had a nice healthy dinner. Oh, we had salad too. Which I haven't had enough of lately, so it was amazing. Best meal I've had in a while. And I cooked it. Kind of makes me feel good that I'm capable of cooking something that tastes good and is healthy. I would have taken a picture, but it wasn't as pretty as the last time I made spaghetti squash since I had so many pretty vegetables in that.

Now I am impatiently waiting for the roomie to make banana bread. That may or may not be healthy, but it has bananas in it, so I'm just gonna go with it. In the mean time, I'm writing to you lovely people and I'm going to start on some homework when I'm done. Yuck. But we're also going to watch a movie I think (we went on a Disney movie shopping spree--and I have permission from my amazing boyfriend to go buy more, because I claimed it would "be for our new apartment" when we get one hehe). Good thing I can multitask and watch movies and read.

Unfortunately for me, I have to be up at 6am tomorrow so I can get to St. Louis early enough to have my oil changed and hopefully my cousin can fix my car. Ever since I had the belt replaced, my car has been shaking like it has Parkinson's. It was just a little at first. But the other day I was driving and seriously though my entire car was just going to fall apart. So fingers crossed, say a prayer, whatever, that it makes it to St. Louis in one piece. And that my cousin can fix it without costing me hundreds of dollars. :)

I hope the rest of you are enjoying your Friday evening and not doing homework like me!

Debbie-Downer

I've been quite a debbie-downer the past few days. It's just one of those times where you're stressed out and you start feeling like nothing is good enough. You get self-conscious about stuff. Like the way you look/dress, your weight, what you eat, what you buy, your work, school. Everything.

Obviously, I know I'm not really overweight or fat. But I am out of shape. And it gets discouraging when I can't run. And even though I was proud of myself for running two miles without stopping, it's still depressing. My goal when I started this blog was a half marathon. I have come no where close to that goal. The longest I've run all summer nonstop was 4 miles. And I only did that once. And I'm not eating healthy like I want to and should be doing.

The healthiest thing I ate yesterday was an "unwich" from Jimmy John's. But I also had chips and a Sprite with it. I know I don't eat like this constantly. But it feels that way sometimes. It's hard for someone who works 8-5 and then has class 6-9 to make healthy choices when it comes to food. I don't have the time or the energy to cook.

I'm not working as hard as I should be with my runs and workouts. It's hard to push myself through a run when it's hard to breathe. I don't like the way I look right now, and I don't like the way I feel. I'm not fishing for compliments here. But I can't be the only person who's ever felt this way. I don't feel good about myself right now and I'm not at the weight I would like to be. And I'm not in the kind of shape I would like to be. I want to be able to run that half marathon. It's hard to accept that I have to start out with one or two miles several times a week and keep working slowly toward that goal. It's extremely hard to accept that just a year ago, I was running 5ks with no problems. No stopping. And my longest time was around 36 minutes (which isn't super fast, but it's not bad either).

All of these thoughts and feelings are trickling into other areas of my life. School, work, friends, etc. I feel like nothing I do is good enough. I'm not working hard enough. I'm not doing my best. And when I feel like I did work really hard and did my best, it ends up terrible. I want to do well and I want to get A's in my graduate classes (yes, B's are devastating when you've tried your absolute hardest).

I know most of these things can be solved with simple changes. Like buying and eating healthier food. And getting out and running and walking as much as I can. Sometimes even the simplest of changes feels daunting and overwhelming. It's hard to tell myself that I'm going to go run 4 or 5 days next week when I don't know what my allergies or asthma will be like. Or what kind of headaches I'll get. It's hard to buy healthy food when I'm on a limited budget. It's hard to cook healthy food when I don't have the time it takes to prepare and cook it all. Time spent cooking is time I could be spending on homework. Or running. Or sleeping.

It's hard to force myself to start doing these things on a regular basis, but I know it needs to be done. I somehow need to get over my hatred of cooking. Because I need to eat healthy, home-cooked meals. I'm not going to run better or faster, or get in shape, or feel healthier if I don't start eating that way. I choose fast food or frozen foods because they're fast and easy. I don't have to waste time cooking or cleaning. I can eat and then get other stuff done.

I somehow need to feel better about myself, in every aspect. I need to have confidence in the way I look and the things I do. I need to learn to push myself to do my best. I need to stop caring so much about what other people think. I need to get myself out of this rut I've been in for the past few weeks.