Hobble Creek Half Marathon- SIGN UP TOMORROW!

For anyone who has ever thought of running a half marathon, this race is by far my favorite (and many of my elite runner friends' favorite as well.) The course is gradual down hill, coming out of the Hobble Creek Canyon. It's a beautiful course and I can promise, you won't be disappointed. The race is Saturday, August 21st @ 7:30am and registration opens tomorrow, May 1st. It will likely fill up within 24 hours so you need to act fast. The official website is HERE and you can register HERE. Registration is $42. Hope to see you there!!

Pain... it's all mental, right??

WRONG! Since my little leg problem I've started low impact exercises, as prescribed by my dr. I went to my first spin class a week ago and LOVED it! I was drenched with sweat 15 minutes into the workout and knew this was something that could help keep my cardio up while I was recovering from my tibia injury. Well, the day after my first class I felt pretty raw from the bike seat. I ordered some padded shorts from Amazon and hoped that would solve the problem. I went a few days later and again, great workout, and I wasn't too sore after. Score. Fast-forward to this morning, well... I guess more like last night. My cough kept me up pretty late, then woke me up two or three times. So needless to say when my alarm woke me up at 5am for my 5:30am spin class, I really wanted to hit the snooze. I knew my good friend, Meighan, was coming though so I pulled myself out of bed and got dressed and headed out the door at 5:15am. We walked into the gym with a minute or two to spare and I realized I had left my water bottle in the car. Meighan went ahead and saved a bike for me while I got my water. All the bikes had already been saved except one, so I got the last bike in the room, the one in the very corner. Not a big deal. Well, there is a reason why it is the last bike chosen. The seat was about the size of my fist, very small, not even big enough for my 2 year old's butt. And it was hard. Very hard. I could have just rode a big metal rod for an hour and it would have felt the exact same, or maybe even a tad more comfortable. To make matters worse, the dial to crank up the resistance made a high-pitch squealing sound when I turned it to the medium to medium-hard range. So I had two options, easy or hard, because I didn't want to make a dying calf sound the entire hour workout, annoying not only me, but the 25 people in the room around me. 2 minutes on my steel-plated saddle and I was swearing in my head. Each time the instructor would tell us to stand up and then sit back down I would make grunting and groaning sounds that were not human. The hardcore roadie next to me probably thought I was really enjoying the class. Little did he know I was about to scream out in excruciating pain, wondering each second if I could actually cause myself to bleed down there if I continued. And yes... I did continue. How could I get off 10 minutes into the class and walk out? I'm not a weenie. I'm a warrior... and that's what I tell myself now as I ice myself in various regions that should never have to be iced. UGH. Next class we will be 10 minutes early so we get the bikes with bigger, padded seats that don't make dying cow noises when you ride them!

It's Official... I'm Getting Old

I zonked out before 9pm last night. Jake and I were watching one of the episodes of Life, a new series on the Discover Channel. I just couldn't keep my eyes open for the entire hour. I woke up around 9:30pm and knew it was time to turn in. I was out again 5 minutes later. What the heck? I remember the days as a young and spry college kid when it was normal for me to go to bed at midnight every night. Now, you may ask, are you getting enough sleep? Yes, I'm getting enough (usually 8 hours, a little less or more somedays.) Then you might ask if I have some sort of hormone imbalance? Nope, my thyroid has been regulated for nearly 6 months, thanks to my daily .75 mcg of levothyroxine. And of course the final question. And the answer is, No, I'm not pregnant (you know you were thinking it, weren't you?!)

I guess I'm just getting old.

POL Register up to 156

(I'm stealing this from another future FSO spouse's blog because she says it so much better than I could. I changed it up to make sense for our situation, though.)

So the "register" is the list of people who have successfully passed all the tests and essays and medical invasions and security scrutiny and are deemed "OK" to be hired by the Dept. of State as a Foreign Service Officer. They aren't "in" yet. They are waiting to be invited. They are people who have invested a good deal of time into this process. And lots of energy. And thought. We are in that boat.
We = they.

My husband is on the Political register, ranked #56. That register now has 156 people on it. The top 18-20 people get invited off the register every couple of months to come to DC for training, and eventually get assigned to their first post. Which makes you think, "Okay, just wait a few months and then his score will be called." Except that people keep getting added to the register. All the time. With good scores and skills in Arabic. So they get bumped to the top. Our morale took a nose dive yesterday when we learned the POL register has replenished very quickly this past month, with most of the scores being higher than Jake's. What's more frustrating is that if Jake had been on the register in January when calls went out for March, he would have been invited. (They dipped into the 5.5s for that class, and Jake has a 5.57.) Jake was added to the register in March, though, and so no such luck. We both thought it possible he could get called for May. Nope. Then we thought June. Nope. Not that one either. So now we have to think about August, September, or October. My guess is October, if it happens at all this year. My reason, the register will again replenish this summer and DNCs will be few (compared to what it was at the beginning of the year.) With three classes in a row, hopefully that last class in October will dip low, like it did in March (that class was also the end of a 3 class-stint.) So, just my guess. Who knows, though. For awhile there we were living like this was going to happen. Now we're living like it's not. We'll just have to wait and see... again, something I'm so NOT good at.

Couldn't Last Forever

I knew my running was going too well. It seems I can't just have a good couple 'healthy' months. It's just too much to ask. On the 3rd I ran 10 miles and felt great. I was on the verge of signing up for the Deseret News Marathon. After having pneumonia in November and struggling with that for 3 1/2 months, I was finally feeling good. In March I felt incredible. Then on Monday the 5th I ran sprints, then did a Body Combat class and that night my leg didn't feel right. I took Tuesday off. Ran 3 miles Wednesday and my leg still didn't feel good. Thursday I did another Body Combat class and more shooting pain. I took Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off and the pain was getting worse, and happening even when I walked (not just during exercise.) I did low impact stuff yesterday, elliptical and bike. Not loving it. In fact, it took everything in me not to tear up as I walked past the Body Combat class going on and all the treadmills. I decided this morning enough was enough and went to see a Sports Medicine dr. He thinks it's either a stress fracture or the beginning of one in the middle of my right tibia (shin bone.) I'm supposed to take 3 weeks off of running and classes (can still do low impact) and then gradually try to add running in. If I feel pain, back off and try again a few days later. He said patients can recover in as early as 3 weeks or as much as 3 months, just depends. Nice. So... I'm officially injured, and it sucks. My mom is planning on doing the Helvetia Half Marathon in 2 months, and my sister and dad are doing the 10K and I was going to travel to Oregon to race with them. Now, I'm not so sure. Just got to wait it out, I guess. Which if you remember from my last post, waiting and having patience is not something I do very well. Argh.

My Slight OCD Tendencies

Jake has pointed out over the years that I have some little 'quirks' that could be defined as OCD, slightly, and I've come to the realization that he is right. Here are just a few of those Jamie-isms that Jake is so lucky to have to deal with:

* I have a thing about colors needing to match. Jake asked the other day where our Paris picture went that was hanging in the dining room. I took it down. Why? Because we replaced the gold chandelier with a brushed nickel one, and the Paris picture had a gold frame. I don't want it in the dining room until I've changed the frame to silver. I like things to match. Take our annual family pictures, for instance. HERE. HERE. And HERE. See, the colors coordinate. And last but not least, the reason I started this post: changing my blog background. Why did I do it? Because the green I changed it to a few days ago was bothering me. It didn't really match with the family pictures on the right. So, I found one with some reds and yellows. Yes, I know I'm a little 'different.' Please tell me I'm not the only one! ;)

* When I make chocolate chip cookies (which tends to be quite a bit per Jake's request) I line up the cookies on a paper towel when they come out of the oven, and let them cool. If someone takes one, I immediately take the last one on the bottom and move it to the empty spot. I do this for two reasons. 1. I don't like seeing a gap in a line of cookies. 2. When the new batch comes out and I add them to the paper towel, I know they are the 'hotter' batch, being at the end of the line. I don't want them getting mixed in with the cooler batch up top. Makes sense, right?!

* When I go grocery shopping, I have to make a list... well, two lists. First, I make a list of all the food I need to buy. Then I pull out another piece of paper and put the food in order of where it is in the store. I will go over this final list two or three times to make sure everything is in correct order, you know, so I don't have to back track.

* I don't like to see open closet doors. I will shut them. Or drawers.

* I like to pluck my eyebrows. I don't do it every day, but when I do I could spend quite awhile in front of the mirror doing it. I've had a little thing with hair-plucking for nearly 20 years. It's not as bad as it used to be, but I know I still do it enough for my kids to notice. I realized this the other day when I was going to the bathroom and Josh said "Don't worry, mom. I'll get it." Then he proceeded to hand me my tweezers. Nice.

* I love a good deal... like REALLY love it. The thought of buying something for 50%, 60%, 70% off of the regular price sends crazy adrenaline through my body. My heart skips a beat when I see an awesome garage sale, find a great treasure at DI, buy a 5 pc Gymboree outfit for $10, or realize I've walked into the 50%-75% off clearance sale at Old Navy. Black Fridays get pretty intense for me, too, as seen HERE. Oh... and HERE.

* I balance our checkbook every day, even if we didn't buy anything the day before. I like knowing exactly how much is in our checking account, to the last penny.

* I'm a slight perfectionist at times, especially when making cards. I've spent over 2 hours on making one card. I know it sounds a little crazy, but when I'm in the zone, I'm in the zone.

* I am bothered when I see things hanging and that are crooked (i.e. paintings, clocks, wreaths, etc.) I have a friend who lives a block or two away from me. Every single time I drive past her house I see her two wreaths and the left one is crooked, not lining up with the other one. It's the first thing I look at every time I drive by, and I will, one of these days, fix her wreath. (Sorry Selena. I know I have a problem. ;) )

* I'm Jake's anal personal secretary. Ever since he was in law school, I would help him edit his papers and especially his cover letters and resumes he sent out to prospective firms. There were times I was up until 2 or 3am, finishing up his cover letters, just because I couldn't sleep knowing they weren't done.

* I check my e-mail at least 10 times a day. Don't want to miss anything important... you know, like the latest Facebook wall update, or something.

* When I am in-charge of something, I usually take over. I like things done my way and have a hard time delegating. Something I know I could be better about. (Sorry high school leadership, 10-year reunion committee, RS presidency.)

* When I mow the lawn, I like to do it the exact same way every time. This irks Jake to no end. He says it's better for the lawn to mow it different each time. Well, not an option for me. I go all around the outside perimeter of the yard twice, then I go up and down from left to right. Jake will laugh at this one... hopefully.

* If I'm sending off an important e-mail I will read and re-read it 3, 4, 5 times, making sure it looks okay. Once I send it, I will go back into my sent folder and re-read the e-mail another 2 or 3 times. I don't know why I do this. Maybe to remind myself, yes, I did send it, and yes, it was adequate.

* I don't like the unknown. It freaks me out. I'm very much a planner. That's why this past year has been EXCRUCIATING for me. Where are we going to be in 6 months? I don't know. DC? Utah? Oregon? ARGH. That's why I'm grateful for Jake. He reels me in after my monthly freak out of "What are we doing?" "Where are we going?" "What's our plan?!" Doesn't mean I'm relieved or feel great about our uncertainties, just means he has a couple more weeks until the freak out comes again. Unfortunately for me, Foreign Service is all about the unknown, waiting, etc. All things I'm bad at. Sorry, babe. I promise I'll try to be a little more 'sane' tomorrow.