Is It Too Late to Start Running?

Do you run?? I wanna run. I wanna go and go and go. That's what I love about biking. When I bike, the more effort I put into it, the more return I get. I feel running is that way. If I put more effort into it I can just keep going. I run a bit here and there, but nothing I can really couldn't as running. I have a fantasy that I could do a 5 k…then maybe a 10 K and eventually walk/ run a half marathon. Awkkkk   Two months ago I ran 1/2 mile and did something painful to my knee. I thought that I was done in the running department, but now that the pain is gone, maybe I can try again???? Maybe this time I can start slower. Help. I wanna run. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm gonna try.
 Walk/run/walk/run. Slow and steady.

I'm pretty sure this is how I'll look running. Yes, that was 40 lbs ago,
but I still have a big behind not to mention BB's. Ha Ha 

Happy Thanksgiving!

My momma cooking 

Today we celebrated with a traditional Thanksgiving meal. The only difference was it was just the three of us. We didn't spend it with any siblings. It was nice and quiet. Just what I wanted and needed. It's also the first time I cooked everything without the help of my mom or anyone else. I am thankful she write down her recipes for giblet gravy and dressing. I have never made gravy in my life, much less giblet. It was ok. My dressing was dry. I'll hopefully remember next time to add more broth. This picture is at my old house and also her last Thanksgiving.  I am feeling so melancholy today. The smells bring back memories. Even as I napped today I found myself waking up in a different time period..I was home. However I am so Thankful for all I have and all I have the ability to do. In this moment and on this day I'm so grateful and thankful for my life. 

Last Night

Juniors in high school. Where will they end up?? 

So Parker didn't go off to college after all. He decided at the last minute to stay home. I'm not sure if he really wasn't ready or if having a newly acquired girlfriend had anything to do with it. I suspect both. We have a great university, UTSA, within a couple of miles of our house and he has chosen to start there and end up in Austin at UT~ that's his current plan anyway. I'm happy knowing where he is and what he is doing.

But having a kid in college whether he is home or away is different. They come and go. He works and goes to school. Days go by and I barely see him- our schedules are so different.  It's good though. I don't have the same worries about grades I had in high school nor do I feel the need to monitor his comings and goings. He's figuring it out.

Last night his best friend from college, who did decide to go away, came by for a visit. Then another friend showed up. We plied them with questions and Parker got to hear what he was missing out on. But then they left to go eat. When they got home and hubby and I were tucked away in bed. I could hear them.  I  heard laughter and conversations. I head the stampede of feet going up and down stairs.  I heard the fridge open and shut. It felt like when they were little. It felt good. Like old times. I hope that never goes away. I hope at least for the next few years they can meet up and laugh and act like the little kids they used to be. Growing up and growing apart is natural, but it's nice to laugh and remember. 

Writer's Workshop~ PROM? Scary?

This post is inspired by Mama Kat's Writing Workshop.

     Watching your 17 year son old go on a prom date. Now that is scary!!! 

     I'd have to say my scariest moments of late have involve this new sport I've picked up: mountain biking. But not as scary as watching your kid grow into a man and grow away from you. 

     

      Mountain biking is scary and that's why I like it. There is a thrill riding down a steep hill into a dry rocky river bed, up a hill and then down, around and around again. And while it's scary,  it's also a huge adrenaline rush. So the element of being scared is overrun by the rush you get from it. It's a mental and physical thing blended together wonderfully. 

      

    My riding partner is my son, Parker, who is now an 18 year old muscly young man and doesn't mind riding with his 50 year old mom.  He is very athletic, funny, hardworking and one of the shyest kids I know. He's just like his dad. They don't talk unless they are in their comfort zone and then they don't shut up.  Besides the sixth grade, which really doesn't count, Parker has never had a girlfriend."Girls are stupid"(His words). All those years of playing club and high school basketball didn't leave much time for anything else. His interests totally revolved around sports. When he decided not to play basketball his senior year, he got a job and got into mountain biking and road biking.He stayed as busy as ever.No girls ever were mentioned and I felt lucky we missed the drama of high school romance. 

     That is~ we missed it until the end of his senior year,which was just a couple of months ago. Sure enough I start noticing a trend of him going to the mall with "friends" who just happen to be girls. Going to eat. Weird. Extremely unusual~ even though his friend, who always has girl friends, would go too;I thought it weird."Just a friend Mom"  Haha…yeah I'm not dumb, I teach high schoolers.  Oh and all the texting. Um hum. Anyway, I come home one day and am greeted with the biggest smile in the world. "Mom. Guess what? I'm going to prom!" HUH? What the? Really? (A month earlier the mention of prom produced  huge eye rolls and Are you stupid? looks) 

 But...Yep. He did. And not only that~ he picked out his own tux, flowers, took care of the limo, everything with HER in tow.  And had a blast. In fact….prom turned into ….well….a relationship with a girl???!!!!! What a ride!! 

     So what is scary about that? 

     Well... what is scary is how the man he has a potential to be is starting to come out. The boy is diminishing. I see him using manners, being thoughtful and putting her feelings in front of his (Oh the horrors). I see him doing things like going to the mall, grocery store, boring errands, and trying new foods he hates ~with pleasure. I see him making sure to spend time at her house and at our house. He even bought me a Mother's Day gift with HIS own money. By golly the kid IS thoughtful. "She" of course has a lot to do with it. She is the perfect girlfriend a mom would like to see their son with. He picked a girl with strong values and morals and that even says a lot. Oh I know he's just beginning a relationship and not getting married or anything, but  I see him maturing and growing in ways that I know at some point will lead him away from me, from us. I know it's good, right and natural, but it's also scary. Some day, even these days…she is the center of his world and not me…not any more. 

     So it's kind like looking down a mountain and knowing that the only way down is to ride carefully using the breaks when necessary knowing it's the only way to get where you need to go.It's got to be done. It's waiting for the adrenaline to kick in and hide the "scary-ness." It's a mental and physical thing blended together wonderfully. 

     

Writer's Workshop: Ten Things I Get Angry About

This is inspired by Mama Kats Writing Workshop~ See Link on Side!!! 

 Well there are so many things…but these are the ones that just popped into my head this morning!!!! 

I GET ANGRY WHEN...

1. people are selfish. 

2. people don't spend time with their animals and just keep them in the back yard. Of course the abuse 

    animals endure makes me mad too. 

3. people have all these babies than don't parent them. As a teacher this is my number one gripe.

    I see so many parents that are tired of parenting by time their kids gets to HS and they have 

    done a terrible job so far so their kid is a mess and they are at a loss of what to do…so they 

   do nothing and I have to handle it on my own. I could go on and on. ( BTW MOST parents 

   do a GREAT job!! It's the slackers I get upset about)    

4. people  don't take care of this financial or personal business and then ask for money. 

5. people don't take pride or take care of their homes or vehicles and leave them trashed and unkept. 

    They are so unappreciative. 

6.  people sit back and let the world happen to them and then wonder why they are the way they are.

7. people dwell in self-pity. 

8.  no one truly understands what it's like to do my job except other HS English teachers. 

9. I think of the way I've neglected my body for so long. 

10. people are ungrateful!! 

Update

I've completed almost a week of being back on Weight Watchers. It's been great because I'm not having any internal guilt. Only lots of hunger! Hunger for me means I'm loosing weight. I'm back to under 190 which is good. I feel I can continue this way again. Just getting past the first couple of weeks is hard. I'm wanting to bump up my workouts. Riding the bike once a week or so isn't near enough. This week my biggest battle was the weather. When I rode on Thursday, the temps were hovering between 95-100. It just seems to zap my strength, however I did it. Lots of people were out there, so I'm not letting heat stop me anymore. Just need to get past the nausea I tend feel when it's that hot. Lots going on today…will write about it later….

I'm Back ….Again…...

Just a work in progress 

While I was gone from here being busy, I seemed to have picked up some bad habits. Mostly eating bad habits. The really bad kind. The kind that involve ---late night sneaking into the pantry--- kind of habit-- if you know what I mean. It's all associated with boredom and TV. So no more late night TV. I will read or do this…anything but sit in my comfy chair with a box of BIG CHEEZITS or ice cream or goldfish. ugh. 
 And tonight …. I was actually getting online to see if I had any skinny pictures to inspire me only to realize that my skinny pictures are really kind of still me being fat. When I lost my 50 lbs I felt so good and healthy. I even thought I looked good. People told me I did…..I felt good. But now that I've settled into this weight, I realize I'm still limited in my physical activity much the same as I was before, even though I've accomplished so much since the initial weight loss. While I can do a lot more physical activities, I'm no where near where I should be. So I'm hoping to get back into the swing of Weight Watcher points. 
Here is what I am doing right: 


Still walking at night although not as consistently. 
Riding my mountain bike 27+ miles weekly on pavement. 
Riding my real mountain bike 8+ miles on trails weekly. 
I haven't gotten into the habit of eating fast food at all. I don't drink cokes. I eat good stuff mostly. I just eat too much of it!! 


So onward I go…lots to catch up on! 

30 Days of Biking

So the first week of the 30 Days of Biking challenge has been a success for me!!! I have to admit Monday and Tuesday was shear torture because I was so sore from Sunday's long ride. But I did it. Here is the breakdown:
Sunday: Rode Trek Skye for 27 miles - Day 1 of 30 Day Challenge was awesome!!! 
Monday: Rode Trek Skye for 5.27 miles ~ neighborhood
Tuesday: Rode Trek Skye for 5.50 miles ~ neighborhood
Wednesday: Rode Trek Lush SL for 10.76 miles on the Leon Creek MTB trails with Parker
Thursday: Rode around the block! (.25) Hey I rode!
Friday: Rode Trek Skye for 6.25 miles….did the hills and got a little workout. I need to do more! It's a start though :)
Saturday- Rode Trek Skye for 27 miles- Leon Creek MTB trails with  Bubby- was nice I felt so strong. Biking every day is great for my muscles. 


So the first 7 days and I got 82 bike miles!!!!! 

Me and my Trek Lush 

First Ride of April

Beautiful Wildflowers 

Today was DAY ONE of the Thirty Days of Biking Challenge. Easy for me because we always ride on the weekend!!! It was nice and toasty. We left the house at about 10: 30 AM. Both Bubby and I worked up a good sweat. We rode 26.5 miles in just under 2 hours. 

Bubby coming down the trail @ Leon Creek

30 Days of Biking

When you put something out there …..it just seems to happen!

 I've been wanting and needing a jumpstart..I mean just look at the post before this. So what do I find, but a post about a challenge that starts ~ tomorrow! Thirty Days of Biking  I can do this. I'm going to add my own challenge to this: 

30 Days of Journaling and A lot of Days of writing in this Blog…..Happy Biking!!! 

Townie. She doesn't get used anymore, but she's cute!

My mountain bike: A Trek LUSH….she is a lush. She provides the most excitement in my life these days!!! 

Back to Jounaling

It's empty~ but not for long. 

I have lost a total of 50 to 54 lbs depending on the weight fluctuation I get. I weigh the same now as I did last year. The only difference now is that I have more muscle.  I thought I would be easily at my goal by now. Not so. I still have about 20-30 lbs to loose.  I'm bummed and need to do something~ change something up. So I'm starting with journaling again. I will post a picture weekly of what I'm doing..until it becomes a habit. I'm walking 2.5-3 miles nightly which I guess is now doing nothing for me…so frustrating. I bike ride 25 miles once to twice a week. I need to add more exercise and eat less I guess. So hard! 

Spring is in the Air

I admit I'm not much of a cold weather-stay inside- girl. I am meant to be out doors! I think that is why I like riding my bike so much.Being outside simply makes me happy. While I ride I take in the scenery and soon I'm lost in it all. This past Saturday we ride in the LBJ 100 Bike Ride. What I enjoyed most, besides the finish line, was all the beautiful Bluebonnets!

Ahhh spring! I love ya. 

Still Learning

Even after loosing 55 lbs. I still find myself using food as a crutch. This week I let go and ate what I wanted. I've been sitting here grading papers and thinking about why....I have two reasons. I think. One is I'm very stressed with school this year and this week and last have been riddled with headaches, so I let myself let the headaches take over. In the past year I refused to "EAT" them away. Not this week. I wanted to eat and eat I did. Sunday I rode my mountain bike some 30 miles. It was exhausting. I fell and busted up my knee. Monday morning the scale was high. I let go of reason( yes, my second reason) and got sad about it( I know better- muscle weighs more at first)...by Thursday the scale was way down. But in the meantime I had let myself eat and eat and eat. But you know, I can't just remember to not let the scale rule my life. All I can do is let tomorrow be better and learn from today. I'm still learning. 

2012 A New Year

Been slacking on the ole blog. Once again school - my job seems to zap the life out of me! That's ok- it's all  just very necessary as things have a way of falling into place. 

So many things are changing~Parker for one is really growing up. He's working and finishing his senior year and doing a lot of mountain biking. He's saving his money for a new bike and is excited about it. 

Husband and his work opened a new restaurant- a source of anxiety and problems! Me- I'm the same. I feel like I've never been a better teacher - but I'm really putting a lot of time into getting there. Been doing a lot of bike riding. That has become a small obsession. We did 2 long 65+ mile rides this year..a 25 mile ( which we raced the whole way) and on most weekends I've been doing a 25+ mile ride.  We went snow skiing and I skied with ease. So much easier when you don't weigh a ton!!!! But my weight hasn't changed in a long time so last week I recommitted to WW. It's hard as food still continues to comfort me. Now it's just healthy food that does! But it's a journey and what else have I got to do. My goal for 2012 is to continue to think positively, use gratitude as my guide and enjoy all aspects of life!!! 

After our 65 mile ride- we are holding metals. Look who is still the fattest. LOL