This post has no point

So guess where I'll be for the next few days.

It's totally a designerd thing, so unless you are one, you probably have never heard of it. Literally it's like the holy grail for designers. I'm pretty excited to be in Boston (I've never been) and also to be able to go to the conference.

I'm pretty not excited (unexcited? ill-excited?) about the flight. I don't like flying. I'd probably like it a lot more if I was literally flying (like had wings, could poop on people, flying).

That's more lessons than training a dog to not be a turd.

My latest Netflix obsession show is Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. No, I'm not kidding. If you've never seen it, you really need to. It's hi-larious. I wake Pippi up laughing while I'm watching it. Seriously.

...and a couple of them aren't bad looking either.

Yesterday I received my first HOA bill. It was addressed to "Mr. And Mrs. Hinkle". That pissed me off more than the fact that they included a delinquent fee even though I never received a first bill. Today I called the company to get it worked out and the lady did a lot of "Umm.." "Hmm.." "Let me check". At least they had pretty decent hold music? Then I was talking with a couple coworkers because I needed to vent some more and it occurred to me that, for the "lower income"/itty bitty homes (with itty bitty "yards") and no trash pick-up or neighborhood pool, $161 a month is a bit steep. I then found out it's the same price everyone in the neighborhood pays, even those with bigger yards and two-car garages.

Don't worry, I'm on it. I've already e-mailed the property manager and I'm sure more e-mails to more people will follow. If, by some miracle, the fee is actually reduced (I like to dream), the drinks are on me, folks.

When I get back from Boston, the training for Hartford begins.

WEEEE!!!

Cha cha cha

In our house lately, we haven't been hearing, seeing, or speaking evil..

We've been smelling it!

I finally get Pippi's poop issues a bit more under control and yesterday morning as I'm blow-drying my hair getting ready to go to work, Rocco UNLOADS in my room. At least Pippi will whine and let me know she's got to go out RIGHT NOW, but no, not Rocco. At least babies wear diapers, so when they have these issues it's somewhat contained. I've really got to teach him to clean up his own diarrhea. I'm really really beginning to hate the smell of Resolve carpet cleaner.

When I got to work yesterday, however, things got awesome. Kari announced that she's going to be running the Hot Chocolate 15k in DC with Kara, Alyssa, and me! Oh, it's going to be epic. You'll see. And THEN a coworker brought me some leftover Halloween candy and wouldn't let me just take one. AND THEN I was actually able to run on the treadmill without my ankle hurting! (Kara, you will be glad to know that I had 'Crazy Bitch' on repeat for a couple of miles). It was a great day, indeed. Oh and I also added some awesome new patterns to the shop!

Since I didn't go to work on Halloween due to the doggie diarrhea issues, I decided to wear my "costume" to the gym yesterday.

At least I give people fun things to look at.

TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY! Submit your creative ideas for the name of my headbands for your chance to win two free bands! So far I only have five people in this competition. You have great odds!

Another one about poop

Momma, I'm embarrassed for you. Slacker.

First off, I confess. Last week was a running fail big time. It was supposed to be my first week of "official" half training; I was supposed to run two days. I ended up running...one day, and two miles at that. I'm embarrassed, and I don't really remember what happened. I did, however, get in two days of spinning. I'm pretty sure three workouts in a week is a new low for me. This week WILL be different! I mean geez, my training plan has me running THREE days a week, with the other days left for rest or cross-training. I can pound the pavement three days!

I've decided I'm going to call this week a step-down week since I never really took one when my plan called for one. It's definitely a weak excuse, but I'm using it.

WIN: You can't deny me a childish Nike shirt. I waited months for this to go on
sale and it finally did and it was the best day.

Speaking of shirts, I've made it my mission to "desensitize" Pippi to wearing shirts since she gets so cold and Winter's coming so I'd like to get her a sweater or something. I tried her out with one of my old shirts.

Ma, i think it's a little too large.

She actually kept it on for a while, which was shocking. And then while I was cleaning my room she disappeared for a few minutes, which is never a good thing. When I went to investigate, she had gotten it half off. I'll keep trying.

Poor Pippi has been sick for a couple of days. She acts fine, just a little sluggish, and let's just say her poop isn't...uhh....solid. I'll leave it at that. I didn't think we had any chicken or white rice, so I made her plain pasta and greek yogurt. And then, Sunday morning, I was informed we had chicken in the freezer. She's going to get really sick of plain, boiled chicken, but I'm determined to get her poo (and belly) back to normal. Ahhh...the things you worry about upon becoming a dog momma.

I felt so bad for her Sunday night that I sacrificed my blanket AND my side of the bed.

Pippi a.k.a. Spoiled Rotten

I found out this morning that it's possible she may have a parasite. Yes, a poop parasite. In order to find out, this entails me bringing in a sample of Pippi poop (tehe) to the vet. With every fiber of my being I don't want to touch her liquid leavings. But since I really want her to feel better, I guess I'll be doing just that. I'll let you know how that goes <whimper>.

Did you win anything in Kari's bake sale yesterday?? I was outbid early for the two things I really wanted, but since I'm not made of money, I chose to back down. This is difficult for me. Instead, I bid on and won some delicious-sounding cranberry walnut bread. I can't wait to get it and make it my breakfast. I'll be shipping out my two packages of cookies to the winners this morning. I may have to buy more ingredients and make another batch, though, because those suckers are delicious!

In closing, don't forget to submit to me your naming ideas for my etsy shop headbands for your chance to win TWO free bands! I've only got a few ideas so far. Keep 'em comin!

Not normal

I'm going crazy. No, seriously. I normally pack my outfit for the gym the night before, and I try to make sure it either matches or doesn't look too nutso, since I assume people at the gym already think I'm nutso. I must have been in crazy mode when I packed yesterday's outfit.

...and the socks are pink.

Apparently I thought the black sports bra, green shirt, blue shorts, red Aspaeris Pivot shorts, and pink socks combination wouldn't make me look like a clown. I was wrong.

So much color in one picture.

Also, after yesterday's post with the ridiculous looking dog in the pink tutu sweater (that still makes me laugh, by the way), Katie brought to my attention a very disturbing product called rear gear. Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, prepare yourselves, my friends. Innocent, it's not. What is this elusive product?

"Butt covers for your cat and dog"

No, I'm not joking.

Product description directly from the website:

Is your pet feeling left in the dirt because of his/her unsightly rear? I’ve got them covered... Rear Gear is handmade in Portland, OR and offers a cheerful solution to be-rid your favorite pet’s un-manicured back side.

So a dog is supposed to be embarrassed about its..uhh...rectum, but covering it with a ridiculous picture tied to its tail, isn't supposed to be embarrassing? Now, I'm thinking it's supposed to be a gag gift (gosh, I hope so!) but...seriously?? Would you buy one?

Ok, back to training talk. I took advice from the comments left on yesterday's post (thanks, everyone!) and set up a training plan based on a Furman First half marathon plan. The concept of these plans is "Run Less, Run Faster". Basically, it gives you three running days per week that you switch up with cross-training in between. This means you can choose which days to do each run. I *heart* this approach. I really wanted to start doing some interval training and speed work, and this plan has all that. Yeehaw! If you're interested in this approach, there are plans for all distances. The only problem is that all the distances are in km, so I still need to go through and translate things, but still...I have high hopes.



Is your pet embarrassed by the sight of their ...poop hole?

Do you mix cross-training in with your running training?

HALF crazy

Well, you guys, it's official. I'm registered! February 18, 2012 I will run my first half marathon in Myrtle Beach, SC, one of my most favorite places on the planet.

Apparently it was necessary to note the location of the ocean in really big letters.

I was looking at the maps for the other two races (full marathon and 5k) and found it funny that the word that came to my mind for the 5k route was "cute".

Don't you just want to snuggle it?

And now, because I'm a Pinterest addict, I want to share with you all probably the most epically awesome thing I've ever found on Pinterest. No surprise, the subject is POOP!

Click the image to make it larger and to get the full
effect of its awesomeness.

I'm still wrapping my head around the amount of training I'll be putting in the next four months to get up to 13 miles (and all the Winter running clothing I'll be needing). Let the fun begin!