I’m a Forgetter

Long live volleyball! I just wish I didn’t hurt myself so easily. Yes, I own knee pads. Several pairs. But did I remember to bring them and put them on? Clearly not.

My kind doctor said I had 6 months to fix my high cholesterol levels. In his defense, he’s given me 3 yrs thus far. The good stuff is getting better but it’s still overall too high for comfort. I blame my parents. In the meantime, I’ve made some easy switches – less fat, more good stuff. Turns out turkey bacon is really good, and I definitely enjoy balsamic vinegar on my salad. More avocado, less fried stuff. We’ll see what happens. I’m always up for an experiment!

Me: I know it’s Saturday morning at 0500, nearing FY end, so let me check my email and really test these new anxiety meds. My brain: Dondnekndicngmeixnwkffiend🤯. Long story short – now I will worry and feel ill the remainder of the day for forgetting for 4 months! to order something I agreed to.

Volunteers, team of 2

Definitely needed a run to clear my head from that disaster. Later in the day, I saw the victim of my forgetfulness and apologized profusely. She didn’t seem to mind much, which was a big change from my anxious brain telling me to escape. Ugh, such a liar.

_________________

I ask you –

Do you enjoy any healthy alternatives to your favorite foods?

What is your go-to activity to clear your head?

Tell me about forgetting something important!

(The post I’m a Forgetter first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

The Waiting

It’s frustrating when I’ve requested an article or document from a particular author who wants to charge for said document. Granted, I understand their time is money and knowledge; however, the sites I use are reputable and notable academia journals so they must understand students are typically the ones searching for materials here. Yet, I fill out a giant form indicating why and how I need access to said article with often little or zero response. Undoubtedly, countless requests just from me for articles sit in a queue somewhere, forever in a holding pattern. It’s not like I have forgotten; instead, I wait and wait and wait without response.

A few nights ago, my chair and I had a brief conversation, with me mainly insisting I’m attempting to be patient in the waiting for committee response and her insisting all is well. As she’s the expert, I defer to her in nearly every way. But if I had known. I could have made a training plan for a half marathon. I could have done something else with my time. But, life is funny like that. Surely, I needed an unstructured break. Surely.

Parts invited her boss – something I could never do

I also attended a comedy show, titled Moms Unhinged. It started at 7pm, practically the middle of the night, but it was fun and the jokes were great! I’ve watched football. Cowboys, wth. I’ve developed a new outline for a different research interest. Yeah, Kel, that’s exactly what you needed. I’ve begun watching a new television series, Brilliant Minds. Fantastic, btw. I’ve sat on my couch with mini, or read trashy novels for hours on end.

But, at the end of the night, I’m still waiting.

_____________________

I ask you –

How long is too long to wait? Does it depend?

Who is your favorite comedian?

Tell me your bedtime.

(The post The Waiting first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

I Have (even more) Questions

Do football players wear underroos? I had a mosquito bite on my butt and nearly caused a scene. I can’t imagine having to dig my underroos out of my ass during a 3 hr football game.

Blue Bell, why do you tempt me so? Chocolate brownie truffle sounds like heaven on earth. How much cholesterol is in it? Does it have good fats?

Finally, I suppose this isn’t a question at all, more of an observation. Let me start with my level of dumbness. It’s high. Possibly off the charts. I sort of (absolutely did) move away from strength training in favor of running. This happens regularly, where I forgo balance and hyper focus on one thing. Totally normal.

The more I ran, the more my body hurt in more places than just my feet. My shoulders, my biceps, my knees. You get the idea. So when I got tired of hurting and switched my focus back to strength training, I wasn’t motivated because I thought I had injured myself doing something else, probably at work.

All this to say it was mostly because I wasn’t strength training that everything was hurting. I’ve been back to regular training for several weeks now and my shoulders, triceps, etc feel a thousand times better, nearly zero pain. I didn’t need a break! I needed to focus on making these areas stronger.

Late to the party, but always on my way there.

_________________

I ask you –

Do they…wear underroos?

How often are you doing one thing, forgetting about another?

Tell me your thoughts on the newest Blue Bell flavor!

(The post I Have ( even more) Questions first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Patience, my child

Mini has an opportunity to try out for UIL events and my little heart exploded with pride and memories. Except for chess, I excelled at these events. Storytelling was my breakthrough – shocking, most definitely – into a world of possibilities for competitive scholastic events.

Many years ago I made a keto carrot cheesecake that was sublime. Really. It was incredible. I haven’t baked in a lonnnnnng while and now I have some free time. You know. While I wait. Anyway, I wanted to bring a family dessert to game night, to impress my friends. And that’s where it ended. The photo below doesn’t look too horrible. But the taste? Let’s just say something went awfully wrong with the carrot cake layer on bottom. It was gloopy, gross, and inedible. The cheesecake layer wasn’t bad, had it not been on top of the carrot disaster. Needless to say, I did not take it anywhere except to the garbage can.

As my brain functions in some sort of random, non-linear, jumbled mess, I can appreciate life’s linearity. One would think dissertation work is linear. Oh, but you (I) would be so wrong. I do the things, then wait. I do other things, then wait. My frustrations are apparent as I check and double check my email waiting for a notification of scheduled defense proposal. I complete the IRB documents, then wait. Turns out IRB approval can take up to 2 months. Although I despise speaking this fear into existence, I’m not sure if I’ll begin the research portion this fall. No approvals = no research. I will have spent nearly the entirety of a very expensive semester awaiting approval. Sigh.

Patience is not my strongest virtue.

_________________

I ask you –

What events did you participate in as a young person?

On a scale of 1 to me, how much patience do you have?

Tell me your worst cooking fail!

(The post Patience, my child first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Will I…

…finish writing my book, the one I started circa 2019? Considering a PhD is a nonfiction work of art, the answer remains to be seen.

…purchase my dream car? Maybe when mini graduates high school or I excel at a second job.

…volunteer to be room mom or the parent who channels their creativity to make school parties successful? Ha. Probably never. But I will be the cleanup crew. I can handle that.

…tune in to the upcoming presidential debates, tour stops, and all the related political rhetoric? You know, I really should. I should want to. But I just can’t stand to listen to either of the candidates speak. And my attention span? Yikes. I will instead concede to perusing non-partisan articles.

…what I thought was the beginning of Wk 3 in the review process is actually Wk 0. There was a miscommunication of email proportions and my manuscript wasn’t submitted yet. Alas, I am not a patient person but I guess this means I have more time for football?

_________________

I ask you –

What’s your dream car?

How long is your attention span?

Wk 0 – waiting for manuscript review. Tick tock, tick tock

(The post Will I… first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

A Tough One to Write

Last week’s September 11th memorials had me considering how it’s hard to believe 23 years have gone by. For the families and loved ones of those lost on that date, 23 years probably feels like yesterday. For mini, who honors the date with school functions, doesn’t have a memory of this event and most likely doesn’t understand the way the world changed that day – it can be difficult to grasp the significance, which got me thinking about the events our young people will remember as they age. For example, a string of recent school shootings. Although I rarely, if ever, speak of political things on RoF, it saddens me these are the memories and perhaps fears of our youth. Someone, somewhere, is remembering today (whatever day you read this) as the day they were rushed out of a school in the wake of some tragic circumstance. Someone, somewhere, is grieving their loved one who lost their life in a place they should have been the safest.

I don’t have the answer. I don’t proclaim to know what we should do to prevent senseless acts of violence. I do know firearm ownership is protected by the Constitution/Amendments. I also know many individuals do not have the mental or physical capability or capacity to competently exhibit those rights. And I absolutely do not wish to debate any of these points.

However, it’s a shame our society is punctuated with tragic, life-taking acts. It’s devastating. We should do better. We should want to do better, especially for our children.

So, today, hug your children, whatever age they are. Call them just to hear their voice. Never has anyone said “I wish I hadn’t held them”.

_________________

I ask you –

No questions today.

(The post A Tough One to Write first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Day in Photos, pt 90

I’m purchasing this headwear for use at an upcoming graduation. When I found out an ex-husband and a few old boyfriends would be in attendance, incognito is now the theme.

Credit: Amazon

New office furniture arrived. I’m so thankful for Parts. She loves to put stuff together. Me? Well, let’s just say it’s a disaster.

I love ice cream. Not surprisingly. And I still need to try this flavor!

I’ve waited forever for football! And since I have a little time to watch it – don’t call me, I’ll call you, ummm, never.

Credit: Google

_________________

I ask you –

What should I wear for further incognito-ness? All black? Black with red heels is my standard.

Are you a handy man/handy woman?

Tell me who your NFL team is!

(The post Day in Photos, pt 90 first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Just in Case

Performance Optimization

Believe it or not, there’s a lot I don’t mention on this blog but that I do talk a lot about in person. Such as performance optimization, specifically for women. What. Is. That?! So glad you asked. Essentially, it’s pairing exercise according to the menstrual cycle. While some women are textbook, 28-day cycle specimens, most women do not conform to the textbook and range from a 21-40 day cycle. This means many women are not training their body according to their cycle; instead, they’re probably winging a workout then wondering why today was so damn hard or, alternately, cheering themselves on for having a kickass run while failing to acknowledge the reasons why. Been there.

Let me tell you how. The first step is tracking your cycle. The problem is it depends on dozens of factors, such as hormonal birth control, which, no one wants to hear it, means you do not have a natural cycle at all. However, consistent tracking of a hormone birth control user can still result in a performance optimizing workout routine. So don’t knock it. Anyway…once we know some of the factors influencing our ability to have a stellar performance, life sort of gets easier. I jest.

All this to lead me here – I’ve had some pretty great runs and workouts lately. Despite the humidity and 100+ degrees, for the second year in a row, I’ve sustained a routine of running outdoors. It takes some creativity, some sacrifice, and sometimes even a little humility, but it can be done. Not to be dramatic, but my world did change in 2018 post-heat illness. I try not to give it too much power in my head. Alas, I maintain an awareness of being conscious of the limitations surrounding it. It is what it is.

_________________

I ask you –

For my lady friends, do you practice performance optimization?

Do you have other routines you follow?

Tell me how running and exercise have been going for you!

(The post Performance Optimization first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Torch Athena 2024 Recap

Torch Athena Rally was truly incredible. I laughed. Cried. And left feeling empowered and ready to push change, not only within my career but on the entire installation. What an opportunity!

A rare opportunity to walk/run the Riverwalk

Light the Path

Maybe I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. All I want is a voice at the table. Those were my words to my previous supervisor. He asked what I needed from him – I said “I just want a voice at the table.” Lately, I’ve been empowered to understand I’ve entered a new chapter in my life, most assuredly in my workplace. And, now, I’m the voice at the table. I no longer challenge someone else to speak for me. I speak for others under my purview.

_________________

I ask you –

Any other friends ever attended Torch Athena?

Have you visited the San Antonio Riverwalk?

Tell me the best advise you ever received.

(The post Torch Athena 2024 Recap first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)