It's Called Managing Expectations

The day was going so well, right up until 10:30, the time my boss usually shows up for work. 

One of the first things he did was give me a lecture about "dreaming big." Here's what happened. I told him I was nominating a project for an award. He asked if we had a chance. I said maybe we could get an honorable mention but probably not the big prize and began to describe the type of institution that usually wins. He cut me off (per usual) and told me I needed to dream bigger. At which point I punched him in the face* and pointed out that he's the one who asked about our chances and that I was--after all--doing the work of nominating. Then he asked me if we were going to apply for an award from *this* organization. He had to rifle through a stack of papers to show me which organization he was talking about because he doesn't actually know the name of it. I said that their awards don't happen until Fall, but, of course it was on my radar. Then I escaped with only one name having been dropped.**

Later this day, (yes, all of this before noon) he gave me a compli-plaint (a compliment coupled with a sneaky criticism or complaint; different than a back-handed compliment) and then he reminded me with annoying meddling why I don't tell him about the things I'm working on.

*Punching did not actually occur.

** I think my new way of marking the length of our conversations will be counting the number of names he drops.

Running Recap: Overdue

It's been way too long since my last running recap. Here are some boring details:

Miles run: 15.25
Runs skipped: 4 -- 10.5 miles total
Reasons for skipping: back pain, travel, being mad
Fastest run: 2 mile loop in 19:29
Travel workouts: 2 bouts of 4.25 miles on the hotel treadmill
Longest run: 3 miles
New milestone song: "Who wouldn't wanna be me" by Keith Urban
Bouts of intestinal distress:  1 -- but I ran through the threat
Most memorable runs:

While traveling for my work conference, I really pushed my pace on the treadmill. I always feel so awkward when running on the treadmill. I also fiddle with the speed a lot. I kept cycling up and down from 5.5 mph to 6.5 mph, trying to stay under a 10 minute mile, which I did on both runs.

My first run back home after traveling, I also pushed the pace. This resulted in my fastest run but also it was difficult to catch my breath when I finished.

For my three-miler yesterday, I stupidly chose the hilly route. My legs felt heavy as soon as I started so I kept my pace slow, which might have affected my stride. My calves felt like they were going to cramp as I was struggling up the hills. It hurt. This is also my first run struggling with intestinal distress and mucous choking. This is the glamorous side of running, folks.

And speaking of glamorous running, here's what I've learned from the various and usual gross things that happen when I'm running:

Intestinal distress: I'm not running hard enough. Typically I feel like I'm going to poop my pants only when I'm running downhill or on a flat stretch after jugging up a hill. Picking up the pace or heading uphill makes the pressure go away. If it doesn't, I'll likely stop running and quickly walk to the nearest bathroom. I've never had a real pooping emergency while running and I don't intend to, either.

Side-stitches: Breathe, dummy. And pay attention to what I eat before I run.

Mucous Choking: This means I should have carried water or some fruit snacks with me. Those things usually help. If I don't have them, it's time to spit all the way home and hope I don't start heaving. That's the worst. I've also never thrown up while running. I remember two times where I've gotten close. One was from mucous choking while on my way to go vote (I ran to the polls) and the other was after my 5K PR. I held it together, but in retrospect it would have made that PR much more epic. How many people can say they've thrown up on the field of a major league baseball stadium?

Money Matters

These past few days have been really stressful finance-wise. While I was away at a conference, Tim discovered an area of mold in our drywall. A few days later he learned the source. A big rain revealed a leak in the roof and multiple leaks in the basement. As of that wasn't fun enough, when I got back to work, I learned my insurance premium was doubling. On top of that we have new braces payments starting for the girl, have to get health insurance for the husband, the girl's birthday, my brother's 40th birthday, a marked increase in the water/sewer bill (rates are insanely higher compared to just a year ago) and Christmas is coming. And while I'm piling it on, I might as well mention that the girl's gymnastics went up $3 a month and we're back in competition season, too.

It's a bit scary to be on this side of the checkbook, right now. 

There are a few good things, finance-wise, going for us, though. 

I have some part-time work thanks to my awesome friend. I remembered a couple of things I have that could go on eBay. Tim is making a concerted effort to get more stuff on eBay as well. The weather is cooling down so we can turn off the air conditioner. I've already purchased the components of my brother's birthday present; I just have to put it together. It's getting to be garage sale weather. I've also started thinking about some ideas for an Etsy store (two stores, really, Buttons Up and a as-yet-to-be-developed store).

I don't know if the credits and cut-backs will keep us ahead of the debits, but we're working on it. 

It always feels so gloomy to talk about the sad state of my finances. However, most of us are so much bigger than our money matters. When you talk to folks who lived through the depression as young adults ( or perhaps I should say "talked to folks;" sadly there aren't many of those people left) few of them point to the hardships or deprivations. It's not that they didn't feel the depression keenly, it's that people's lives are larger than their economic woes. Jokes, hugs, and personal triumphs can't be bought. We find these moments even when our wallets are at their thinnest. This is where life happens, not while checking our bank account balances online. 

And just to show you how schizophrenic our financial situation is, I wrote this post in the morning before I left for work and when I got back from a lunch meeting my boss told me that "funny story, your insurance isn't doubling after all...it's going down." Whoever is responsible for that c-f owes me a gallon of wine. 

Good Eats: Fall Banana Skillet

I can't remember where I first encountered this recipe (somewhere on the Internet) but it was probably around 4 years ago and I have to admit, I was skeptical. Besides banana bread, I'd never eaten hot bananas. (Since then, I've taken to putting 1/2 a banana and a scoop of peanut butter into my plain oatmeal. So good.) But, I had some leftover cooked sweet potatoes that needed to be eaten so I gave the recipe a try.

I told my great aunt Dorothy about this recipe and she, too, thought it sounded a little odd. So did my mom. I couldn't make believers out of them, seeing as how they must've shared some recessive anti-hot-banana gene, but I just cooked  this recipe for the second time for breakfast so at least I convinced myself. I didn't have the recipe in front if me but its such an easy concept even I could wing it. 

This dish is a quick, tasty, belly-warming breakfast when you have geriatric bananas on your counter and cooked orange fall vegetables. It's a good alternative for when I get tired of eating oatmeal every day. It might also be good stirred into oatmeal, other cooked grains, creamy polenta, or grits. I've used baked sweet potatoes and baked butternut squash leftovers, but pumpkin or another winter squash would probably work well, too.

Fall Banana Skillet

1. Make your pan non-sticky. Teflon, cooking spray, oil, butter--whatever you choose will work. I use a small skillet because I just make one serving. 

2. Heat up the pan to around medium while you peel your banana and slice it in half and lengthwise. 

3. Arrange banana and cooked sweet potato/orange squash in pan. I put the banana around the edges and fill the middle with sweet potato/squash. 

4. Let it cook, about two minutes per side. 

5. Season with anything from the pumpkin pie spice family, if you want. I don't think I used any spice last time but this time I used cinnamon and ginger because that's what's in my spice drawer. 

6. Eat. I like mine with some hot black tea, spiked with a scoop of Russian Tea mix. My mom makes us our Russian Tea mix, but it's basically instant lemon flavored sweet tea, Tang, sugar and some spices. 

Running Recap: Longer, Smarter, Faster

Total mileage this week: about six (Two miles on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday)

I feel pretty good about this week of running because I adapted. Sunday I was at the Lake with Tim's family but I ran anyway. Tuesday I felt worn down, achy, and generally off my game so I skipped my run. But instead of skipping it all together and the tempting thought of doing it a tomorrow that never comes, I ran Wednesday and Friday. I think my motivation has a lot to do with my COA goal of running 37 miles in September. I did skip a strength session, though. 

Longer: I didn't have a route mapped to go exactly 2 miles at the Lake on Sunday, so I just planned to go by time. I ran longer than I have since I started to try to make sure I got in a full 2 miles. 

Smarter: On my Wednesday afternoon run, I came up with an idea to support my community and promote the nonprofit that I work for. I love it when running sparks a creative solution to something. 

Faster: I ran my fastest two mile loop this morning without even trying. It was much cooler so that helped. I'm still slow but I'm getting quicker.