Happy Halloween!
This weekend, Brian and I were doing our usual Saturday thing...very little...and the doorbell rang. We immediately looked at each other in horror. Who could it be? We weren't expecting anyone. Were we in trouble? Had something gone wrong...or, oh no, it couldn't be...does one of our neighbors want to TALK to us? (I promise this story has to do with Halloween, sit tight)
I peeked out from the top of the stairs as quickly as I could so that I wouldn't be seen, therefore having an obligation to answer the door. It was a little boy, selling something I assumed. So I went back to whatever it was I was doing and Brian said "who was it" and I just said "fundraiser" non-chalantly. Brian responded by looking at me in horror, and all of a sudden I felt like the most horrible person on earth. It was like 30 degrees with a significant windchill and after this puzzling interaction between Brian and I, the kid was still standing at the door. Then I was horrified because I realized that my overall selfishness and general dislike towards children (both of which I deceive myself into thinking Brian has not discovered in 3+ years of marriage) had been unearthed through my response.
So I ran down the stairs planning to tell the kid I had no money. Unfortunately, while this would usually be true, it would have been a blatant lie. Not only did I have cash, I had change. I was his jackpot for the day. I opened the door and he just stared up and mumbled something about the boy scouts and popcorn, and my swift, stealth response was..."let me go get my purse." Then I realized that not only was the kid cold, the cold air was quickly filling my foyer since he had shimmied himself into position propping the storm door open, so I told him he could come in. Apparently that's like the worst thing you can do when a kid is fundraising. Although I could see his parent standing at the end of the driveway (and he could see me) the well trained boy scout responded very matter of factly "I'm not allowed." Oops, strike one. I better order a lot of popcorn.
So although I had change I didn't have the RIGHT change so I ended up paying more than the grossly inflated fundraising price for my little tin of unpopped kernels. I noticed he had been staring at something in my foyer while I was filling out the form, and I thought, "oh, how cute, the cold boy scout likes the lamp and painting of Venice I bought at Marshalls." No, no, he was staring at the large mound of Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups on the table just about 10 feet from where he was standing...10 feet into the forbidden territory of the neighbor's house. So before he left (although questioning the rules about boy scouts taking candy from strangers) I offered him one and he, again in a monotone voice, responded "yes please" without so much as looking up.
Much to my surprise, the second he turned around, he made eye contact with his dad at the end of the street and, while he ran, held over his head his victorious prize...no, not the $10, but the Reeses' Peanut Butter Cup. I will not head into a discourse of a child's economy, but let's just say he valued the 5 seconds of enjoyment he would get from eating it much more than the victory of the successful sales pitch (and what a pitch it was).
All that to say this: I am so, so excited for Halloween tonight! I know that this will get old and I will probably sit at home as still as possible in the dark next year (and possibly disconnect my doorbell) but this is our first year having trick or treaters! Since I made the mistake of putting the candy out this past weekend (and it mysteriously disappeared), I just picked up about 5 bags worth of pure sugar to lure greedy children with. I can see it now, Brian and I open the door all anxious and both hand them candy, asking each one who they are, how they made their costume, and telling them how scary/pretty/cool/strong/spiderman-like their costumes are...and then their parents hurrying them away saying something about the "wierd new people" on the block. Aaaaaaaaaah...it will be beautiful!
Sweet Success
I have been up early 3 out of the last 4 work days...considering that it is 12:02 right now, I highly doubt this trend will continue. However, I will continue to pursue this pipe dream of relaxed, enjoyable mornings, when I walk downstairs lured by the smell of my coffee, then sit and read while I enjoy it, eventually getting ready for work and arriving cool, calm and collected, and 3 minutes early...
Daylight savings helped a little (totally forgot about that by the way) but I must say I was very depressed when I left work at 5 and found that the sunlight was rapidly fading. Of course, I turned to the receptionist as I left and gave her a puzzled look and a disappointing sigh. Why do we do that in the NorthEast? Like it was her fault that the sun was setting! And why are we always surprised when we go outside and it is cold? I have lived in the Northeast my entire life, and I still get goosebumps if the wind blows when its under 30. I also refuse to wear a warm jacket until it is below 10 degrees. I will wear my light fall jacket because it is cuter, and my stupidity masquerading as resilience will make me feel like a seasoned New Yorker, for whom wind chill is no factor. Lies. All lies.
Seriously, the whole "it's so cold" thing is getting old, even to me, and I am the one doing it. It is cold here. We should move. Not just talk about it every time we get back from vacation...we should actually move. But we won't, because for some reason we like the pain and sorrow that accompanies our frigid 6+ months per year. We will continue to complain about outrageous heating bills, chapped lips, dry skin, snowstorms, wind chill, days with barely 8 hours of sunlight, static cling, Seasonal Affective Disorder, snow tires, and general COLDNESS because we are New Yorkers, and that is what we do...I heart NY.
Things you don't want to read in the newspaper about your employer
The long version(s):
Thomson to sell education division - MSNBC
Thomson to sell textbook unit, could fetch US$6B - National Post
Thomson undergoes major revamp as Q3 profit rises 35% to US$419M - Canadian Press
The short version:
My Company (capital "C") is selling my company (lowercase "c") to the highest bidder. Sweet.
CP here we come.
Here's a sneak preview of Northway Church's new campus. Renovations just got started. Only a few weeks left until we launch :) Much more on the church's site and blogs, both on my list of links.
Sleep Surrender
Why am I incapable of waking up before 7am? Honestly, every day for the past 3 years I have been running late in the morning. I love mornings. I love being up in the morning, but the act of actually getting up out of bed is another story.
A while back, when I realized that my small bedside alarm wasn't cutting it b/c I would just use it to continuously hit snooze until I would inevitably be late for work, I asked everyone on my Christmas list to get me a new alarm clock, one that would get me out of bed. Brian got me a super expensive CD-radio-everything else combo that had all the bells and whistles, and assured that one of it's many features would lure me from my pillow every morning. My mom got me a minimalistic but very trendy looking alarm clock from Target that had 2 settings, alarm on, and alarm off. She said "put it on the other side of the room and by the time you walk over to hit snooze, you will be awake."
It worked.
For a week. That was almost 2 years ago. And still, I set my alarm (on a clock that is 20 minutes fast) for 6:35 every day, and every day I stand up (in my sleep) find the alarm clock, turn it off, and get back in bed. Then I wake up at 7. And I'm late...for everything...again. Any suggestions before I give up?
Ovo-lacto-pesco-vegetarianism
This past summer, Brian and I decided to dabble in vegetarianism. It was kind of one of those crazy, not thoroughly thought out decisions...I will compare it to an impulse buy. You see it, you consider the advantages and what a positive impact it will have on your life, and you buy...before considering the cost.
Many of our dear friends have asked what brought this on, and I simply answer "Colleen." Yes, Colleen and I have been friends since that early-nineties era in which each of us were too awkward to make other friends (I had buckteeth and was Pakistani, she had red-hair...enough said). We were a match made in awkward pre-teen heaven. Ok not really, we had other friends, but let's just say Colleen and I had reeeeeally good personalities b/c we were flat out funny looking.
Anyways, in college, Colleen became a vegan. I think I made fun of her for it, but my much nicer friend Kelly (Colleen's bff since childhood) was much kinder and found a little eclectic vegan restaurant we could take Colleen to when she visited us in Ohio. They had brochures of inhumane animal practices (I'm putting it very nicely) on the tables; it was incredibly appetizing.
In addition to setting the mood, it also made for good conversation. Colleen would try to explain to us why she was vegan and I just couldn't stop thinking about how bad I wished there was cheese on my food, and how much I , in general, love chicken. End of discussion.
So a few months ago, my 3 best friends in all the world
came to visit me in Albany. Colleen still has a lot of the same beliefs but for various reasons, including her health and her carnivorous husband, she is no longer vegan. She does practice her beliefs by rarely eating meat and choosing free range meat when she does. She brought up some excellent points we just couldn't ignore. I have always believed God put people "over" animals on earth, and that it was ok for them to die so we could eat (sidebar: I won't lie, I've always had a hard time understanding how people can kill other people but think it's "inhumane" to eat little chickens). Colleen agreed. It's not that she thinks eating meat is bad in and of itself. She did get the wheels in my head turning, however, when she brought up some other excellent points. Like how our culture grossly overconsumes meat, and how as a result it has become an industry in which productivity and gross margin are valued above all else.
Like I said, I don't think its wrong to kill animals, but as it turns out, the more Colleen told me, I have a huge problem with torture and blatant disregard for living things. I won't go into details, but you have probably seen the headlines. Ever read about puppy mills? You know, the places mall pet stores get their dogs from? Well they're breeding puppies that will actually LIVE when they're sold, and those practices would make you cringe. Imagine what they do with animals that will be dead when they're sold. Not to mention the issues of hormones and whatever else they do to tamper with them.
So anyways, I found myself extremely disturbed and strangely convicted, as did Brian. So we gave it a go. Much to our surprise, it was not nearly as much of an inconvenience as we'd anticipated, and it was a great boost to the healthy eating habits we always had trouble sticking to. Now it's been almost 3 months and, with the exception of the 100% angus beef burger I had at Ruby Tuesdays on day 41 (and became violently ill from), we have been happy without meat the entire time (R.I.P. Libby's monthly cheeseburger).
Since it has become a little bit more permanent we're trying to make sure that we're not
depriving our bodies of anything vital in the process. It isn't hard to find things to eat without meat, but it is a challenge to make sure you
still eat enough protein and all. So to allay all of your concerns, know that we're still eating fish and eggs and dairy. I'm a little bit anxious about what will happen on Thanksgiving, but as long as I don't find out that mashed potatoes and stuffing are being treated inhumanely, I think I'll get by.
Pics of the twins
My neices are more adorable than ever. Syracuse still stinks. Check out the
slideshow (of the twins, not Syracuse).
Fashionable Food
This is the most absurd thing I have seen in several days. A celebrity pastry chef treated his bride-to-be by making her a wedding dress out of cream puffs. Yup, read it again...cream puffs.
This absurdity caused a flurry of e-mails in my office. Here they are, starting with my initial message and continuing with the thought processes of 4 females shortly before lunch on a Friday morning...(names have been changed to protect identities)
From: Howe, Libby
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 11:16 AM
To: Phoebe; Monica; Rachel
Subject: Emailing:
What is the world coming to? Check this out: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061012/ap_on_fe_st/wedding_cake_bride
From: Rachel
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 11:18 AM
To: Howe, Libby; Phoebe; Monica
Subject: RE: Emailing:
She looks delicious. Sad, but true. I’m hungry.
From: Monica
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 11:19 AM
To: Phoebe; Howe, Libby; Rachel
Subject: RE: Emailing:
I have never wanted to eat someone’s dress before… until now. And I don’t even like cream puffs. I'm hungry too
From: Howe, Libby
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 11:20 AM
To: Phoebe; Rachel; Monica
Subject: RE: Emailing:
She is stupid. Or brilliant. I’m not sure which. I do know it would take a large dose of true love for me to wear something like that for 4 hours…and not eat any. (How) Did she sit down?
From: Monica
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 11:22 AM
To: Howe, Libby; Phoebe; Rachel
Subject: RE: Emailing:
I would like mine to be made of snickers, peanut m&ms, and chocolate munchkins from DD. And I would definitely eat some.
From: Howe, Libby
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 11:23 AM
To: Phoebe; Rachel; Monica
Subject: RE: Emailing:
Doritos. Mmmmmmmmm with trim made of cheetos and a pizza necklace
From: Phoebe
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 11:23 AM
To: Howe, Libby; Rachel; Monica
Subject: RE: Emailing:
Now THAT I’d take!!!
- Phoebe
Who says you can't go home...
I am going home this weekend! I get to see my mom! I get to see my sister! I get to see my gorgeous and nauseatingly adorable nieces! I hope to have (more) pictures of them to post when I get back.
Reasons I love going to Syracuse:
- Seeing my family
That's all I've got. I'm not gonna lie, Syracuse doesn't have a ton goin on right now. We have noticed this trend that every time we drive to Syracuse, we find ourselves entering into a gray, clouded area. Seriously, we're only 2 hours away, how can the weather be consistently that much worse there? I can't explain it, but it's true. I am loyal to the 'Cuse, I will always love the 'Cuse deep down in my heart. But if we're being honest here, the 'Cuse is kind of hurting. Fayetteville (suburb where the majority of my family lives) on the other hand continues to exceed my expectations.
Reasons I love going to Fayetteville:- King David's - has the best hummous and best falafel of any place in the world. No really, the world
- Wegman's - do I really need to explain?
- Cold Stone - yes, it's true, the 'ville has a Cold Stone
- Friendly's - not only is there a Friendly's in the 'ville, it is within running distance of my mom's house. AND it has held many precious memories...early morning breakfasts...late breakfasts that you manage to sneak in just before they switch to their lunch menu...and late night ice cream sundaes. Ahhh the good old days.
I just realized all of these reasons are food-related. You can make your own conclusions about that.
Things I Love and Hate Simultaneously
- School
Particularly at this moment...I love that I am in school, but I hate actually going to school. I hate driving 45 minutes to class and spending an evening there, but I sometimes love being in class. I hate school work. Hate it. Wish I were sleeping right now. But I love the idea of having a master's degree in a year... - Running
I hate and love it at the same time, in the same instant, while I'm actually running. Hate the fact that it's sometimes painful, hate the fact that my calves have felt like boulders for like 2 weeks now, hate knowing that I have 2 more loops when I pass my house the first time. LOVE the fact that I can actually run 3 miles in a row now. Love the feeling after I run (not including the first 2 minutes when I'm hot, out of breath and sometimes nauseous) and knowing that I did it. I crave it all day then sort of curse myself for the 30 minutes I'm actually in it. Oh the irony... - Sleep
It's never enough, it's always too much. You wake up and you want more, you lie down and you can't fall asleep. Love it, but often hate it. - Food
Just kidding! Do you know me at all? There is only love here.
Did I miss anything?
I did it!
Me, my running mentor, and her running mentor
It's true, I did! And I didn't even come in last place, I came in
832nd out of 1394 women who ran. So it was just as I'd expected...slightly below average :) I couldn't be more pleased! In fact, I beat my time by almost a minute. And coming in within a few seconds of me were the two lovely ladies pictured above. Although they are both much faster than me and have been running much longer, they stayed with me the whole way, encouraging me as I went.
I kept telling them to run ahead, and they just said "we started together, we'll finish together!" Actually, I was out of breath and unable to speak, so I would just kind of gesture to them to go ahead, and they would momentarily stop the conversation they had been in for the last mile to give me big smiles and tell me how well I was doing. How do you talk and run at the same time? This is beyond me. Regardless of that, I am extremely appreciative that they stayed with me and cheered me on to accomplish my goal. I am also appreciative that they ate egg sandwiches and drank coffee with me after I accomplished my goal.
They weren't the only encouragers I encountered though. There were people along the way yelling to us as we went by "come on, the hill is almost over, one more mile, you're almost done, you're doing great." It was pretty cool, and it made me feel like a real runner. Since we were running through Washington Park, there were people looking down from their second floor apartments clapping and cheering. I keep telling myself this was a nice gesture even though in the back of my head I was thinking "easy for you to cheer, you're still in your pajamas drinking a cup of coffee and watching That's So Raven."
So anyways, I think I have caught some sort of runner's bug because I have had to force myself to stop and think about the fact that I accomplished this personal goal I made (which was really a stretch for me), but have found myself continuously thinking about keeping up with the training and beating my time when I run in my next race in less than 2 weeks. I must beat my time! I must keep running! Yup, I have the bug.
Mystery solved
It was quite simple, really. I was laying out my clothes for tomorrow morning and thinking, oddly enough, about my blog, and a previous post popped into my head...
Daddy's girl.
When my dad was sick (in an 18 month battle with a vicious form of pancreatic cancer), he was the ultimate fighter. He was on a strict health regimen to try to bolster his immune system. To get the most out of it, he insisted on spending time during the few hours he was awake each day walking laps around our basement. He always had his blue button up pajamas on, and all of us girls would walk with him, to support him...and sometimes to give him an arm to learn on. Usually, one of us would be carring a hymnal. My dad said those hymns were his fuel. His favorite was "The Love of God." He would close his eyes as he walked in circles, singing the verse and chorus over and over, like the very words were going to keep his muscles going, keep him walking, and give him the strength to keep fighting. His favorite verse was the last one...
Could we with ink the oceans fill
And were the skies of parchment made.
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade.
To write the love of God above
Would drain the oceans dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.
Oh love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song...
Last year for my birthday, Brian got me a pink T-shirt that said Daddy's girl on the front. I will be wearing it proudly tomorrow morning. I know that he wasn't a breast cancer victim, but he was a cancer victim, and I am running for him and for the 4 girls he left behind. I am running for a cure...in hopes that my mom, my sisters, my nieces and I will never need it.
T minus one day
Ok, so this whole race thing has plunged me into a completely unfamiliar world and I feel like I just moved to a new city and am starting my first day of junior high. I typically consider myself a pretty self-confident person. Not to say that I'm narcissistic or think I'm oh-so-fabulous, but I very rarely care what others' perceptions of me are. I used to think that was a good thing but now I'm starting to wonder if it's just a result of the fact that I'm usually in familiar settings with familiar people and don't have any reason to be self conscious. Let me explain.
As it turns out, finishing last is not my only fear for tomorrow morning. Yesterday, my running mentor informed me that it would be really chilly on Saturday morning, and that I should dress for rain, just in case. Dress for rain? I run on a treadmill at the Y. The temperature and, er, precipitation are pretty consistent in there (I think rain is bad for the flat screens). But I just said "oh yea, of course" and headed to Marshalls.
I've always avoided the "active" section of department stores. I just figured, why do I need to dress up to work out if I can wear my pajamas? And if I'm wearing my pajamas, why do I need to work out at all when they're so well-suited for laying on the couch? But in this section, they have an array of choices based on what types of workouts you do, what temperature it is, etc. There is this special stuff called "moisture-wicking" material that I have come to understand is a fancy way to say "wear this if you sweat profusely." I don't sweat profusely; in fact I hardly sweat at all, but I guess this moisture-whatever material is good for atmospheral moisture too. So I found some pants for a reasonable price and picked them up.
Then it dawned on me, they have shirts in this section too. Long sleeved, short sleeved, vests, jackets and tank tops. And they came in all of these different fancy materials too. And the questions started to bombard me...Do I need a special shirt too? What will all of the cool kids be wearing? Should I get long sleeved or short sleeved? What if I'm running and I get hot?What if I wear a dri-fit jacket but my number is on my stomach (as I was instructed it must be) and I can't unzip the dri-fit jacket to cool off and the excessive heat slows me down, AND I COME IN LAST PLACE?
Like I said, jr. high all over again. So here's the kicker. I grabbed like 12 items and headed for the dressing room (apparently you have to be in style to be a runner). As I put on the first pair of black moisture-wicking pants and accompanied them with a black dri-fit runners insulated long-sleeved shirt, I turned to look in the mirror and laughed out loud. It was like I was 13 again, playing dress up in the mirror, trying desperately to be someone I'm not (and, by the way, failing miserably). I should have taken a picture, because I looked hilarious.
I got the pants b/c they were actually quite nice. I got a jacket too but I will probably return it. I will probably wear a t-shirt. I have a lot of T-shirts which makes this option significantly less expensive than the $25 Nike dri-fit shirt. After much deliberation I don't think my choice of clothing will have a huge impact on my anticipated below-average finish tomorrow. I need to get back to basics and remember that the entire goal was to run the entire 5k without stopping to walk (a significant achievement for me!)...regardless of my time, regardless of coming in last, and regardless of whether I'm wearing cool runner's clothes or not.
Runnin', runnin', and runnin', runnin' and...
I've never really been what you might call "athletic." Sure, I played tennis in high school and I think we ran a little bit. I was always the badminton champion in gym class but I wouldn't really call that physical activity. I did join the JV lacrosse team in 8th grade but for some reason they made me the goalie and I quit after 2 weeks (me?? goalie??? I think they were
trying to get me to quit).
Now I'm an intermittent exerciser - I join the gym, I go to the gym, I stop going to the gym, I quit the gym, repeat. When at the gym, I try to distract myself from the fact that I am putting any kind of strain on my body. I go to the Y because they have flat screen TVs on every piece of cardio equipment and I can distract myself by watching the food channel. One show equals the recommended amount of daily exercise, 30 minutes. I always exercise in intervals (walk, run, walk, or high intensity, extremely low intensity, moderate intensity) so as not to overexert myself, and when I do exercise for an entire hour it is always in some kind of aerobics class (during which I spend the majority of the time looking at how funny "everyone else" looks in the mirrors, thus distracting myself from the pain and anguish of whatever it is they have me doing).
One thing I am definitely NOT is a runner. I have never been able to run more than like a mile (if that) and I absolutely detest it. Not to mention, I am painfully slow and running is pretty embarassing. It's ingrained in my head - I am not a runner. I do not like to run. I am not made for running. I can't run.
For some reason, this wave of ambition came over me a few weeks ago when I found out a good friend of mine (also previously "not a runner") had recently run a 5k. Ok, for all of you die-hard runners out there, I know that a 5k is no marathon, but for some of us, it's still a great accomplishment. So the day after I found out, I was at the gym and thought, what the heck, let's see how far I can run. To my surprise it was further than I thought. So in typical Libby overzealous fashion, I decided (just 12 days prior to an upcoming race) that I wanted to run a 5k. In typical Libby protect myself fashion, I told no one but my husband and my new running mentor, the inspiration for my new goal (just in case I changed my mine the next morning).
So over the last week and a half I've only had the chance to run about 4 times but I've run the 3.1 mile distance in what I think is a reasonable time frame. Actually what's been hilarious is that after making the decision to reach this personal goal of mine, which I previously thought I was incapable of doing, I was quickly overcome with very jr. high like fears...what if no one wants to be my friend in running-world? What will I wear to the race? And the greatest of all my fears...WHAT IF I COME IN LAST PLACE?
The first two don't concern me as much but the last one haunts me (no really, I'm terrified). So in a wave of panic, I checked out
coolrunning.com and found that you can see people's actual scores for races. Much to my relief, it looks like I'm in (or only slightly behind) the median range for a female. And I'm ok with being below average for now since I only became a "runner" (I use this term very loosely) ten days ago. So unless all of the slow people drop out, my greatest fear should not be realized this weekend (phew). Wish me luck on Saturday!
