Dress Shopping--Where Have All The Dresses Gone?

My niece's wedding is next weekend, and after trying on the two dresses I have (haven't worn a dress since the last family wedding two years ago), I realized they just didn't fit.  Either my boobs got bigger, or really, I just gained more weight.  Or both.  So, off to the mall to find a new dress.  This is what I found when I could locate a dress section in a store:

Too matronly--I am not feeling it!

Over the Top

Quite frankly, I was astounded at the lack of decent dresses available.   I did try on a few, but nothing looked good on me at all!  I must confess, I am not in the know when it comes to dress fashion, but really, it seems they are either too tight and short, or made for retirees.  Where are the dresses for women in the middle?  Women who don't have a perfectly thin figure, have boobs, and a bit of a tummy?  I'd love to wow Bud, but I'm having a hard time finding anything that will "wow" me.  

This is what I'm looking for:

Talking to Bud last night, he also is having a wardrobe issue--this is a man who lives and works in jeans and dark blue t-shirts.  He hasn't worn anything requiring a tie for years.  I think  a trip to the bigger mall down the interstate may be required.  I did find a grey skirt that I liked, and I bought it, thinking I have to go back and find a cute top to wear, and black heeled boots to wear with it.  My idea of spending money only on a new pair of heels (no, I don't even have a pair of heels)  has disappeared, as I realize I will have to go new head to toe!

It is my luck that I met and fell in love with a man who prefers me dressed in casual gear, not dripping in perfume, and says I look more beautiful without makeup than other women who slather it on.  But I still want to look like a woman who made an attempt to look feminine for once.  I can't wear running shorts and sneakers!  Wish me luck in the great dress hunt.

Hey! Hamstring Still Hurts! A Craptastic Attempt To Run

I'm normally a middle of the road person--optimistic sometimes, pessimistic others.  Not really leaning towards one or the other.  I'm beginning to think the positive thinking thing is working against me, dammit!  I had silly "positive reinforcement" images in my head all morning, as I looked outside at the beautiful morning and planned on giving running another try.  It's been a week, and the leg feels better, but not 100%.

I drove to the park, and walked about 3/10 of a mile, hoping to warm up my legs.  Then I began to jog.  Bad idea.  The leg immediately seized up, and memories of the half marathon pain came flooding back.  But, I wasn't ready to quit.  I started walking again, stopped to stretch my legs, and kept trying to run a bit.  I looked like a lumbering gimpy cow!  The only positive things were  the warm weather and listening to my Ipod tunes that I haven't listened to for the past week.  I was pissed.  So, I kept walking and attempting to run short distances, thinking "surely this will get better!"

I made it three miles before I realized the hamstring wasn't going to stretch out and be comfy, and quite frankly, I was tired of the pain in my leg.  I would have liked to continue, cause I was hitting all my favorite songs on the Ipod, and I didn't want to stop listening.    But,  I stopped, called Bud, and reported my results.  I'm going to wait another week to try running again, and hope it's healed by then.  I will go to the gym and try the elliptical, and ride my bike.  We'll see how it goes.  I can't just not do any exercise; I already feel like a schlump.  I think my cravings for Ho-Ho's and no exercise are directly related.  The less I exercise, the more I want those delicious little treats.  And I know where to get them at about 5 different locations within moments of my house.

I did come home and spend about 15  minutes pulling weeds and picking up sticks in my back yard, so that helped with the angst and I got some tasks done.  When I mow, I won't have to spend any time before hand picking up the yard.  There are still lots of weeds, but not as many as before!  And, tomato  plants are now in the Yardy, ready to become compost.  I picked quite a few seeds off my Morning Glory vines, and bagged them up to try planting next year.  I'm going to be very unforgiving and mow down most of the garden, too.   A hot summer, a back yard full of construction, and no time from me made this year's garden my most disappointing.  I will sing songs to the plants and apologize profusely as I whack 'em down.  I promise next year to do better, and I'm already thinking about what I want to plant next spring.  Does Hostess sell Ho-Ho plants?

My Plans for the Week Ahead--Probably Won't Stay This Way!

Flowers from my garden taken through a kaleidoscope 

Well, C-Joy in all her motherhood "got it togetherness" has already begun getting organized for the holidays.  Alas, with no child, or husband, I find my getting organized for the upcoming holidays less stressful than she has it.    Although, as one of those lucky retail managers C-Joy mentions, it means working 6 days a week and being exhausted and decidedly non-holidayish.  But, her blog has started me thinking about what I can do now, before the craziness begins, to keep the house and yard from becoming a ginormous mess.  It's amazing what one person can do to a house!

I am already finding some things hard to plan for, since Bud has begun his deer hunting season, and my schedule at work now includes working mid-shifts.  Both can play havoc with planning dinner, a night with friends, time with Bud,  or even my beloved and oh-so-necessary reading time.  Did I mention running?  Still have that half-marathon yet to go in October, and a family wedding weekend at the end of this month.

So starting tomorrow (working 11-7:30 today-uggh), I am making a list of must do this week stuff.  Top of the list:  mowing the yard.  I think it's been two weeks.  Luckily, the cooler weather has slowed down the rate of growth for the grass.  I'm also going to tackle some yard clean up--cutting down dead flowers and attempting to clean up the garage.  I think a bike ride will be in order, too.  And, dare I say, a trial run?  The leg still twinges, so I'm going to take it slow and with no hills.  Having fellow co-workers who also run, but have not this past week, has kinda made me forget a bit about it.  I think that's probably a good thing for my mental game!  Still working on getting all the books in my house up and on bookshelves.  It's harder than I thought.  And maybe, just maybe, a trial run at a cheese souffle this week.

Have a grand week everyone!

Mother Nature's Sleeping Pill

I have books jumping through my head

It appears we went directly from the unbearable heat and humidity to perfectly warm days and cool nights.  These cool nights are wonderful!  I found myself falling asleep at 8:30 last night, and just couldn't get myself off the couch and into bed--my bed being about 10 feet from my living room couch.  It was just too darn far; I was all comfy sitting on the couch wrapped up in a quilt.  Knowing bed would be much more comfortable wasn't motivation enough for a good long time. 


After coaxing myself into bed, I settled down to read.  I think I made it two pages in, before I realized I was holding the book and not reading it, but closing my eyes and making up the story in my head.  Ok, ok.  Go to sleep.  This does play havoc with my reading schedule.  It's taking me longer to read, since I fall asleep much quicker than usual.  Making up the story in my head as I fall asleep doesn't count.


I love this time of year.  I really do get the best sleep of the year for a few short months.  The only problem is, waking up in the morning.  Mother Nature's sleeping pill works so wonderfully well, I can't get up when I have to.  More coffee!!


How about you?  The days are getting shorter, and the nights are cooler.  I think our Fall will be short-lived.  Time to get out the sweatshirts and jeans.  I'm already thinking about making pumpkin bread, soup, and lasagna.  Get out the cookbooks now and start marking pages.  I feel a comfort food craving comin' on!

Mental and Physical Update!

It's been a few days since my disastrous half-marathon, and today's another day off.  Yesterday I made it through about 2 hours of work before I threw in the towel and came home.  We have a large store, and for the first hour, I was "on duty", which meant every five minutes I was being paged to the cashwrap.  It played havoc with my leg, and limping around was making it worse.  It didn't help that the only ibuprofen I have at home expired last September--oops.   I took some anyway yesterday morning, and I'm still alive, so phew.  But it proved highly ineffective, so I stopped and got some that wasn't expired and came home to my purple couch island, coffee, and sweatpants.   


First order of business:  Ice pack on the back leg.  It felt soooo good.  Next:  food and ibuprofen.  After that:  reading a book, and finally taking a nap to make up for the sleepless night I had before.  I was on my couch island for pretty much the rest of the day and night.  My leg was continuing to give me occasional charlie horse twitches, but the ibuprofen certainly took the edge off of it.  I don't know how runners put up with these injuries all the time.  They are just downright irritating!  Oh grasshopper, you must have patience.  


Last night I finally slept most of the night!  Although I did wake up at 4 AM  (this seems to be a pattern lately).  I keep expecting to see some strange phenomenon standing at the edge of my bed (shades of Amityville Horror!) so I read some more.  Hey, I'm getting my reading done!


I felt better this morning; my hamstring is still sore, but much improved over yesterday.  As long as I don't make any sudden movements, I can hobble around more gracefully than yesterday.  It's a beautiful day, although a bit windy.  I would love to mow my yard, but the sidewalk dudes are in my  back yard (yes, it's STILL not done) and I am not up to being stared at whilst I mow.  I did wash and scrub my front porch free of all the dust and muck from my sanding project last month.  It looks so pretty now!  I will have to add repainting my railings to my spring to do list.  For now, I'm just glad my house doesn't look like a roadside disaster anymore.  At least from the front! Kinda like a mullet--business up front, party in the back!  Yard work and cutting down the dead stuff is on the list for next week.


Anyway, thanks to those who have talked to me and left comments about Sunday.  Love to you all!  I'm taking the week off from any exercise (does Sunday count?  It didn't seem like exercise, just a living nightmare :P ) and getting my leg and brain back in a happy place.  The weather calls out for comfort food, so it's enchiladas tonight with gobs of sour cream.  I could and do eat sour cream by the spoonful.  The enchiladas are just an excuse to eat sour cream.  Is that wrong?  I don't think so.  Damn tasty.

Summer Running Recap

I think my summer running ended yesterday, with the Bo-Fest Half Marathon.  I thought I was prepared, and certainly was excited to run it!  But, I ended up walking pretty much the entire route.  I don't know what happened-- I wasn't prepared well enough, or I had an anxiety attack.  I think it was both.  All I know is that I could not run without having difficulty catching my breath and having my heart race way faster than it should have been.  It was very frustrating for both Bud and I.  Bud was with me most of the way, and suggested that I pull out, but I didn't want to, although it was really close a couple of times.  I finally finished at 3:14.  I am very disappointed, and it has made me think about why I run.  

I realized this summer has been a very hard one for me running wise.  I wasn't running as well as I know I can, and that was something I just didn't want to face.  I lost my joy for running--it became a chore, and thinking about where I was going to run, when I was going to run, and how far I was going to run were the only thoughts in my head.  I was thinking yesterday during my "walk", about my first half-marathon 4 years ago.  I was so excited and happy to run that race; I took in all the sights, talked to fellow runners, and had a smile on my face the whole time.  That hasn't happened in a long time, so it leads me to believe that while I feel better physically after running however far, I don't enjoy it.  It's become stressful.  I started running about 7 years ago because I didn't want to walk--it took too long!  I remember being thrilled when I could run a continuous mile.  Yesterday, I felt like I had never run in my life.  I was shocked that my mind and my body were working against each other so vigorously.  My mind was definitely angel on one side, devil on the other.  As Bud says, and as I very well know, running is 90% mental, and my mental game was shut out completely.  I guess this race was my "come to Jesus" moment.

So after a sleepless night, in which just thinking about running again made my heart race--I think anxiety--what about you--I still don't know what I'm going to do.  I have signed up for the Des Moines Half-Marathon which takes place on October 17th.  My friend C-Joy is walking her first half-marathon, and I am debating switching to walking it.  I know I'll be there to cheer her on, that's for sure.    I did something to my left hamstring yesterday, and it really is painful!  Even if I wanted to run, I don't think I could  or should until I can walk without limping, and bend over without pain.  I'm afraid it's too close to the half-marathon to be able to run it without having problems.  Maybe I'm being forced to stop, and regroup.  And, I am sure walking it with C-Joy would be a lot of fun,  and the first and only time I have participated in a race with a friend next to me the whole way.  Usually, I go it alone.  Or, Kelly kicks butt and races far far ahead of me! :)

Anyway, I think I will stop running for awhile, whatever I do in Des Moines next month.  Bud and I discussed some other options, and I think I will take the fall and winter to try some new classes at the Y, ride my bike before the snow flies, and we'll see in the spring.  I'm pretty sure I won't be doing any more long mileage runs.  Whatever I do, I will keep exercising somehow!  Here's to a new chapter.

Pizza Pizza! Cooking Bucket List #3

I haven't forgotten my Cooking Bucket List from July, and last night I finally made homemade grilled pizza.  I used the Williams-Sonoma Pizza cookbook, which my brother Dan swears by, for my recipe.  Unfortunately, it's out of print, but you can get used copies online.  


I made the standard pizza dough recipe the night before, and let it sit in the fridge overnight until the next afternoon, when I could let it sit out and "rest".  It looked the same to me after a few hours sitting on the counter, so the test would be in the actual grilling.  I warned Bud that it may not turn out, and our back up plan (getting take out) was in place.  We both know I can either cook brilliantly, or suck at it.  I was leaning towards the "suck at it" side.  


I managed to make my pizzas look rustic without trying, because I'm incapable of making a decent circle or rectangle:

Pizza: phase one 

After browning on one side, we took them off, flipped them, and added our ingredients.  For us, it's black olives, fresh basil, tomato sauce, and canadian bacon.  It's important not to overload your pizza with sauce or topping, cause these are thin crusts, and the toppings won't cook before the crust burns.

A very proud Bud showing his pizza before the final grill

Finally, we put them back on the grill for a quick 1-2 minutes to cook the other side and melt the cheese.  The grilling part was really fast!  What took some time was making sure the ingredients were all ready to go--just like making chinese food at home.  Be ready to work quickly.

The finished pizzas

We ate both pizzas with some cold beer and a good movie.  Bud said they were great, and I am happy we finally made some pizzas!  I am interested in making one my brother made years ago when I made a trip to New Mexico:  a corn meal crust, with green chiles and ham.  It was delicious.  I think I may have to get a pizza stone to make them inside during the winter months, and have a few days of concocting pizza dough recipes I can stick in the freezer for future use.  And don't feel bad about eating a whole pizza.  The crust was very thin, so really, you don't feel one bit guilty wolfing down a whole pizza.  I didn't even feel very full afterwards.  So I had another beer!  Cheers.