is my schedule flipping back?

I can't sleep.
I can't wake up in the morning.

I just may be reverting to my old ways now that I'm not getting up for tons of 5am shifts.

Half Marathon training commences

Just over 3 months until the Big Woods Half Marathon. To many people that means I have plenty of time to start, but I know better. My plan requires 3 months, so that means as of Monday, I'm a lean mean, half marathon training machine.

I'm doing the intermediate level of hal higdon's plan. His plans are a bit intense (6 days of training a week) but I'm determined to maximize the training this time and get my speed down. Goal for this next trail half marathon: sub-2hr30min. That means knocking over 6 minutes off my overall time. Less walking would accomplish that. It's a trail run so I think that's do-able. If I were doing a road race, I'd be setting a much more aggressive goal (probably sub 2h20min) but  anyone who runs knows that a trail race is drastically different. I will even potentially be buying some trail running shoes for this event instead of my shiny new mizuno babies.....


Well enough talking, more doing... time to get out for my inagural 3 miles.

Live long, run hard.

more options

http://www.cce.umn.edu/Master-of-Biological-Science/index.html

I registered for an informational session on this program. I may be too far out of the lab to do this, but it would be a great way to get a masters, get my lab skills current and stand a chance of re-entering the lab field.

http://www.nursing.umn.edu/MN/home.html#info

Bachelors to Masters of Nursing (not the same as a MSN -master of science in nursing for advanced practicioners) program geared towards taking a bachelors degree (not in nursing) to nurse. I would have to take a couple classes to strengthen my application. 


And the last option I'm pondering is the 14 month CLS program through the U of M to get me back in the lab.....

Either way I think I better take a couple classes this fall at the community college.... in my brief search, I found a Human physiology class that would fit in with my work schedule.

The only thing that bothers me is that this doesn't fix my current situation. How will I survive the next 3 years?  How do I work on changing my future and change my current life at the same time?
ugh. this makes my head hurt.

And now for some bitter ranting:

Sometimes I feel like Ripon was a big waste of my time. I know it wasn't but I feel like my degree was a complete waste. this is why they are getting 0$ from me and probably will not get any from me ever again. Anything I will accomplish from here on out is despite my education there. It is my own doing.  I look at what skills I should have learned in my science classes there  and realize just how outdated the program was. When your senior seminar professor won't let you use power point for your presentation because she feels its a crutch and everyone should still be able to present via transparencies, you know you're behind the times....

Yes I accept that most aspects of my life turned out pretty awesome. Its just frustrating to be so stalled professionally and looking at starting over.....

progress

I've never really done a before and after shot. I didn't ever think I'd lose weight so I never did a full length official before shot so while looking through old vacation photos and suffering from major wanderlust I decided this is the closest I can get to a before/after analysis of my progress. 

2007 the cookie monster shirt ... in Greece (approx 142-144 lbs) -- for the longest time, these photos are where I felt the "smallest" and best about myself.

Toronto/New York Road Trip 2009 (approx 152-155lbs) - I had just found out I was losing my job. 

I only have a handful of pictures of myself from this trip and most are from the shoulders up 

because I felt that bad about myself. 

Fast Forward 2.5 years, many miles logged and 25 lbs less, the Cookie Monster Shirt reappears in Miami
 Approx. weight: 127-130.

Key West

 And yes... I wore a 2 piece! I may be pale and still a bit soft, but I was brave. And now I'm being brave and posting this photo!

Happy Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!

This is actually a photo I took back in 2010 while I was participating in a photo-a-day project. I was looking back over those photos and this is still one of my favorite photos I took during that project.

If you're lucky enough to have the day off from work (I managed to be double lucky and have the day off of BOTH jobs!) enjoy this midweek break and just think, you only have to survive 2 more days before being rewarded with a weekend (once again, if you're lucky enough to have a M-F job).

chocolate chip cookies

Because I keep forgetting the recipe my mom uses and then end up taking a recipe a trying to merge it with what I remember from my mom's.

This time I think I finally nailed her recipe and my cookies turned out the best they have in a while:

3/4 c sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 c butter flavored crisco
1/3 c softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground flax seed (this is a new addition to her recipe. Trying to sneak in good for you things too!)
2 c flour
Chocolate chips, m&m's... whatever you decide

Oven preheated to 350 degrees

Bake 9 minutes

I had received a silicone baking mat for a gift and had been trying to use that on my air bake cookie sheet. I decided this time it was hindering the cookies from baking properly so I skipped it this time. Perfection!

mm.... cookies

A project

So about a month and a half ago, I got the urge to clean out my drawers. I wound up with a pile of 27 tshirts I do not wear from the many races, volunteer events and sorority bid days I went through in my adult life. These tshirts have moved from college to Minneapolis to Rochester and back to Minneapolis with me. I couldn't part with these due to sentimental value, but I didn't exactly wear them either. Does anyone really need to see me walking around as an advertisement for a blood center or know that I was in Delta Psi as part of the 2002 bid day? No, probably not. Will anyone ever even buy those shirts at a thrift store?? Of course not! Do I want to be that obnoxious person who always wears shirts from the races she's participated in? Oh heck no. So they sat in the drawer, taking up more and more room.... that is until this year. Being done with the clutter, I decided it was high time to turn them into the t-shirt throw I've been wanting to make for ages. I decided to go with a double sided quilt with 9 blocks on each side. I decided to start with the philanthropy/running/blood center tshirts for this quilt. Here is my pile of tshirts:

I did much research online about what I would need in order to turn this pile of tshirts into something resembling a quilt. I found out I should get a fusible fabric interface. A cutting mat and cutting wheel would be helpful too. Not wanting to buy these, I sent out a message to my womens group looking for anyone who had these supplies. For the fusible fabric, I went to the fabric store and just asked for some guidance. That's what the employees are there for and I got a lot of helpful advice from the lady who cut my fabric for me.

I started by separating the front of the t-shirt from the back (see above)  The first side was a lot of trial and error for me to get the right system down for cutting the tshirts and fabric to the right size. Repeatedly, I mis-measured my blocks to be 13" instead of 14"x14". Whoops.

My first block (EEEE!!!):

And the reverse side of the block, fused to the interface. This interface keeps the t-shirt from stretching, rolling and warping like t-shirt/jersey material is prone to do. This stuff would be great if I ever have to hem my dear husband's workout pants again....

The first half took me over 4 hours of cutting, fusing and sewing blocks together. I learned the hard way to sew three rows and then sew those rows together. Lesson learned during the first side was applied to the 2nd side and it went way better! I laid my blocks out to get the optimal color coordination. The cat was soooo helpful......

The finished first side:

Its not perfect by any means, but I think it turned out pretty cool! It took almost a month, but I finally resumed the process for the 2nd side. This is where I figured out the system:

1) cut apart tshirts

2) cut  interface  to about 14" wide x whatever width the interface came in (about 2') x 9

3) fuse interface to backside of t-shirt on all shirts

4) cut all blocks to 14" x 14". The first cut was done with the shirt design side up so I could center it before cutting. This time I only screwed up 1 block by making it only 13" wide

5) layout blocks to get proper ideal order 

6) sew top 3 together, repeat next two rows

7) sew rows together.

The end result of side 2:

And here are side 1 and 2 together:

Because sides 1 and 2 should eventually line up in order to tie them together, I used side 1 as a template to help sew together side 2. 

Next up in the process, I need to buy some batting for between the two layers. Then I will tie them together at each corner. The final step will be binding them together around the outside with fabric. Stay tuned for those steps. I may just have a nice little lap throw just in time for fall!