What a week! Also, I think I’m a little out of order in terms of photos. Meh.
We played some mud volleyball! If you’ve been following RoF for any length of time, you may remember my summer lack-of-success stories with attempting to form (or join) a mud volleyball team. This year my losing streak ended! Minus our team losing streak.
Mini had a photo shoot with cows – seriously – and did all the girly, outdoor things her little heart desired. She’s now a professional chicken wrangler, too.
Alas, my summer is also winding down. If only the heat would wind itself down, too. Ugh. It’s 80° at 0330. Send help. And a zookeeper because mini is out of control with this animal farm stuff.
__________________________
I ask you –
Have you ever played mud volleyball? Sand volleyball?
Mini has now taken her traveling show on the road by returning to Tennessee for the week. Post recital, she vacated her mother’s side in favor of extended family and more summer adventures. I’m not dramatic.
Recital 2023
My southern roots are showing. But only when it comes to food. Tennessee green tomatoes!
The remainder of the week consisted of our final volleyball session, excessive heat warnings, a few runs (before sun-up), and preparations for mud volleyball. More on that next week!
Finally: my apologies to the classmates I made fun of and (possibly) ridiculed for the atrocious discussion posts they have submitted. It’s my turn. Recently I posted the biggest load of garbage that has ever escaped my fingertips. All 1100 words of it. I genuinely had no idea what I was writing and it sounded stupid even as I did. So, please accept this piece of humble pie as a token of my respect. You were probably just muddling through. Because…same.
__________________________
I ask you –
Have you ever had a taste of humble pie?
Do you like fried green tomatoes?
Rumor has it there will be a photo shoot with mini and cows!
Short of 2 instances where I cycled off keto, for me, it has been the best decision. I’ve lost weight, reduced fatigue, and – the main point – decreased migraines from several a week to roughly one per month. I know diet is a polarizing topic and keto is decidedly not for everyone but it’s where I’m at right now.
Back story – I’ve flirted with keto for many years and staying true to it is difficult. It’s restrictive. It requires a level of discipline I haven’t always taken seriously. The past 2 times I cycled off keto, ahem, crashed, was in March for my birthday and mid-May for a long weekend. At this point, I have no reason to say yes to carbs or sugar. Every day that is pain-free is a reminder of the brain fog and sheer pain of navigating the migraine cycle. So if being pain-free means not imbibing in the things I thought I couldn’t live without, then I’m ok with my decisions. It is tough sometimes saying no or modifying a restaurant order – hamburger, no bun, please – but I feel a million times better than I ever have. It’s not to say this is a forever decision; however, I can’t see it not being one either.
Sometimes I wonder what I’ll do with my life when I don’t write papers day and night? When my time isn’t dictated by the magical dissertation? What do I want to be when I grow up?
Training cycle has wrapped up. And even if it hadn’t then my running outdoor days have most definitely. 100°+ in the shade is a hard pass. Alas, I managed a 12 week plan culminating in hundreds of miles, stride workouts, and some quality time in the outdoors. I was careful to stay hydrated throughout the entirety but it is mid-June and it’s time to move on to something else. And that’s a good thing.
___________________
I ask you –
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Do you excel at running when the temperature rises?
Tell me something you plan to do this summer! Survive.
By the time you’re reading this, mini will be but a few days from my arms. Missing her is hard. Technology helps.
She ate snowcones and messed around, in true summer fashion. As she should!
Me? Well, I spent some of the week busy, accomplishing lots of things I can’t remember now. The other half? I was grumpy and had to be talked off the ledge a few times.
I spent most of my days like this (and I let the four letter words fly) –
Sometimes we let the less-than-best sides of our emotions get in the way; other times, life runs smoothly. I did retrieve mini’s recital costumes and was able to play 1 volleyball game. Due to player illness, we didn’t make it to the second opportunity but it’s probably for the best since my knees still look and feel like I’ve spent too much time on them.
Alas, it also looks like the triple digit temperatures are here to stay so that means an end to running outside. Good thing I just completed the training plan. Ugh.
Cheers to a better week!
__________________________
I ask you –
Have you ever had a taste of humble pie?
Do you like fried green tomatoes?
Rumor has it there will be a photo shoot with mini and cows!
Have you had a snow cone lately? What flavor is your favorite?
When was the last time you flew off the handle?
Tell me something amazing you have going on this weekend!
Therefore, on the day of our fearless unit leader returning to his rightful throne, aka big messy desk, I thought it fitting to mark his homecoming with a post. After all, he did hire me, unbeknownst to his well-being.
Fortunately for you all this post really isn’t about him. Exhale.
It’s about all the cool things I’ve done lately, you know, with all my spare time and non-demanding job requirements. Right. Those things.
Returned to my first sport love: volleyball! I voluntold my coworkers that we were playing and they indulged me. This is fun! Note: a well developed running base sure does make volleyball a lot easier. What doesn’t make volleyball fun? A bandaged toe from racing a General (he didn’t know we were racing but of course we were) and the oft overlooked but no less important underboob. Well, the chafing of the underboob was the problem. Anyway, if you’re still reading after the mention of underboob – said three times now – then welcome to Running on Fumes, where we (and by we I mean I) type the ridiculous things that come to mind.
maximum, for sure
Fairly sure there was a point to this post.
Oh. Right. Cool things. I did stand out in the blazing heat giving out tickets to a drawing held by Spare Parts and the team of fabulous marketing folks who make all my wildest creative dreams come true. Mostly posters and schedules because I’m not creative at all. Also, I packed up an entire event’s worth of stuff in about 6 mins flat at the mention of severe thunderstorm, lightning, and hail. Did I already state it was hotter than jalapeno cornbread? They supplied me with multiple bottles of cold water, I worked for free. Until next year.
______________________
I ask you –
What’s your favorite sport? I particularly like curling.
Is it still cool where you live or getting hot?
Tell me your thoughts on cornbread! Yuck. Not a fan.
It takes a lot but occasionally I’m genuinely surprised at someone or something. Most recently, it was both. A woman whom I know from several joint interests told me she reads my blog. Fan girl moment. I was actually shocked. You wouldn’t know it by my kind smile and charming wit though. haHA! Of all the things this woman could read, she chooses to read my silliness. For real, I’m a complete fruitcake, a whackadoo, a few crayons short of a poster, or however that saying goes. Keep up here. AND she said she enjoyed it. I’m hyperventilating right now.
While I’m on an off-season training cycle (for 2 more years, but who’s counting), I decided to play around with different training styles, i.e. heart rate training, etc. I’ve never put much stock into HR training but why not. Turns out it’s difficult to slow down and run in the “easy” HR category. Not sure how my watch picked this for me.
Seriously. It’s like 2 mins slower than my slowest pace. Is that right? I read somewhere you should be able to converse when running easy. I could definitely do that. In fact, I could’ve made dinner and probably tap danced during it. S.L.O.W. But I guess we’ll try this for awhile to see what happens.
You know what irritates me? So glad you asked. The presumptuousness of weather people. And I quote… “The last of the nice days is today. This weekend it will be unseasonably cooler with highs in the 60s and considerably cloudier.” Listen, buddy with your fancy meteorologist degree, how dare you assume the 60s are not nice and that I don’t like cloudy days. Maybe this is my idea of nice. Just because it wasn’t 90° in late April doesn’t mean I’m unhappy. Personally, I’d like to skip the Satan’s skillet portion of the year. I’m truly happy you asked.
___________________
I ask you –
Have you ever practiced heart rate training? If so, do you have any pointers?
Going from 2 classes to 1 has been an eye-opener. I’m not stressing completing papers or posts; I have more time to research and find what I’m searching for. This is the life.
I’ve known it was time to increase the weight on my strength training program. No excuse; I’m lazy. So when I did…everything hurts so good. Except when my back itched. I needed help.
Anyone else still struggling with time change? This sucks. My routine has not changed but my sleep quality surely has.
Nothing like some friendly competition to get me back into a running routine. It doesn’t matter if they know/don’t know we’re in a competition. We absolutely are.
I saw a hummingbird!!! All the beautiful flowers make me happy. It’s time to plant them. And watch them die in 2 months when Texas mimics the fires of hell.
At the time of posting, we may have had at least one 90° day. My body is in no way ready for this.
________________________________
I ask you –
How much do you enjoy research?
Have you seen any hummingbirds yet?
Tell me who you are in competition with! Self definitely counts.
“Your expectations lead to your disappointment.” At least, that’s what I heard right before my phone started ringing one early morning with work issues.
Shortly afterwards, I was ruing every small step toward agreeing to be a supervisor. It will be fun, they said. You have so much experience, they also said. It’s not that hard. Right. Where is this fun I was promised? Excuse me, I’m ready for the fun part. Maybe fun isn’t the most accurate depiction of what I’m looking for. But I don’t really know.
flower time!
Unrelated: Is “foot stomp” a redundancy? Because stomping implies using the feet. During a training session last week, I guess to reiterate the material, the speaker said “foot stomp” at least 3 times. Now I can’t help but to wonder if it’s another one of those buzzwords the military and society in general likes to use. Excessively.
This is the final week of classes. A glorious 10 days of no school work awaits me. My hope is by the time this post is published I will have submitted the final discussion post replies and put away all my textbooks. Except for the one I have to return. Note to self: figure that part out pronto. I’m escaping reality for a few short days and then I shall return refreshed for another 8 weeks of papers.
Barring how many telephone calls I receive for advice and complaints. Join the club. Somebody has to do it.
___________________________
I ask you –
Do your expectations actually lead to your disappointments?
Only in Texas in December has it been so dry we still have leaves on the trees. But they finally changed colors in preparation for a good windstorm to blow them away. Minus the tornado/severe storm watch mid-month. Someone else said hang on to your stockings.
In related news, or maybe not, we didn’t have internet for about 24 hrs so my paper writing was a little delayed. The final one of the semester. Good thing I took off a half day just to write. And attend school Christmas parties. And attend Christmas dance performances. Then…Rest. Yeah right. I chugged some coffee and went back to work – figuratively.
The training bases within the Air Force practice (celebrate?) a time of year titled Exodus. As a Biblical term, it means exactly what it sounds like…the great Exodus of many technical training students during the holidays. Widely celebrated by most activities on base, Exodus is a time of liberal leave and a general relaxation as there are not as many people to serve. Lucky for my crew it means a prolonged period of clean up and clean out! In fact, while our activity is shut due to low volume, I’m ramping up the schedule and completing all types of staff training there’s never enough time for. It’s gonna be fun! By the time everyone returns, the staff will be happy to be back to regular work.
My hope is to have a post-Christmas and pre-New Year celebration with the staff. Hence, all the food!
Truffle Time!
2022 is down to the wire. For many, it’s probably cause for celebration. Not sure exactly how I feel about it yet but time doesn’t standstill for me. Back to the drawing board.
_________________
I ask you –
Has your weather been average or just plain wild?
Do you experience a lull in business or work during the holidays?
Tell me something you have going on in the lead up to 2023! Reading books!
(The post Down to the Wire first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)
Back to South Padre Island we went! It’s sad I had to go to the beach to see any measurable rain. Speaking of rain, all of Texas is so dry. We encountered no less than a dozen burnt patches of land between N. TX and the island. Also a full-blown fire in progress. Send rain.
We spent a lot of time at the pool and a similar amount of time in the ocean. 7 bottles of sunscreen later…
Landshark is my go-to. No idea why I like it but I only drink it at the beach. South Padre’s proximity to Mexico is an invitation for the spiciest, most authentic tacos in the world. And since I can’t resist cilantro, I purchased some Cilantro Sauce at the local Farmer’s Market then proceeded to eat it at every meal. I’m on vacation.
Speaking of food, I also ate my weight in fish and limes. Oh, and gelato. I ate a lot of that, too. Really I only ate a lot of gelato because I was the designated driver on vacation and responsible for picking up our meals. So when asked to deliver gelato, I charged adequate tax on my Uber eats-esque services. One bite for me, one bite for you. Fair is fair. It was 90°, as well, so there’s that.
When in Rome… seeing as how it was quite cooler than North Texas, I took everyone’s advice and brought my running shoes! Somehow I only had to look at the sand and suddenly it was inside my socks. Magic. Between early morning runs and coffee 2-3x a day, I’m the most relaxed I’ve been all year.
I would share more, but there’s a stack of laundry to be done and I still have to de-sand our beach accessories. I feel a procrastinap coming on.
_____________________________________
I ask you –
Did you vacation this year? Where?
Have you encountered an extra dry season?
Tell me how much laundry you do when you return from a trip. Avg 3 loads.
Running on Fumes 
You must be logged in to post a comment.