The Beautiful People Club

Last night I partied with a "beautiful people" club. It was one of JP's friend's birthday and so we went to the bar to celebrate with her. I hadn't met these friends yet, so I was looking forward to it. I tease JP that he's a part of the "beautiful people" club. Most of his friends are very attractive and what I would consider out of my league. (At least they're the nice beautiful people instead of the snobby beautiful people.) As we're approaching the bar, he slides in that I'm going to think these are the BPC. Great. Now I'm a little nervous. I'm a pretty confident person, but I never want to be the couple that people look at and think, "Really? He's with her?" We had a great time and it was the perfect summer night to be at a patio bar. Everyone was so nice, I met some really great people and fit in well.



Well, the birthday girl had a bit too much to drink and needed someone to drive her home. Since she doesn't live too far away from us, we volunteered. I was going to drive her car and JP was going to follow behind. We went to valet to get our cars and hers pulled up first. Yeah... it was a $100,000+ BWM. So, not only was I with the "beautiful people" group, I was with the "rich, beautiful people group." JP's BWM pulled up behind and, as much as he loves his car, he was SO jealous that I was driving this one! His friend and I gabbed the whole way home and she's such a sweet girl. We're traded phone numbers and we planned on setting up a driving range date sometime soon. Not sure how drunk she was, or if she'll remember, but nonetheless, I drove a $100,000 car. It was a good night. :)

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Getting ready to go to the thing most women dread throughout their adult lives -- a wedding shower. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my dear college friend, but no matter how much you adore the bride-to-be, showers suck. I'm going to guess this, "Garden Party" won't have those stupid games, but keep your fingers crossed. Nothing like ooohing and aahhing about what a great set of bowls she registered for...

My commute home

Since I've been on this assignment with weird hours, I don't check the traffic report before I leave - no rush hour traffic at 2:30 p.m. Apparently I should check it. Yesterday afternoon, around noon, a water main pipe broke and flooded one of the major expressways. Nearly 4 feet of water! Of course, it was the expressway that I take home. Traffic was re-routed and it took about 1 1/2 hours to go 30 miles. Thankfully no one was hurt!

Complete Waste of Time

Let me start this blog entry by saying that I am in full support of those that need a psychologist and the psychologists that are able to help them. That said, the psych eval that I went to yesterday was A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME.

When I arrived, I was taken into a small room with a desk to take a questionnaire. A 576-true/false questionnaire. Going in with an open mind, I tried to over look that this was going to take me forever. Some of the questions I could completely see being a part of the evaluation. Questions related to alcohol use, if I've considered harming myself, etc. Some of the CRAZY questions include, "I think someone is trying to take control of my mind", "I see people or animals that no one else can see", "I have a fear of dirt." Yes. Those were really on the form. (I started thinking though. If I really did see people that weren't there, would I actually admit it on a true or false scantron?)

Then my psychologist came in the room. I thought he would be friendly, try to build a repoire with me, etc. Nope. He came in with a legal pad and started with a constant stream of questions. He asked the typical questions - relationship with family, friends, boyfriend; how I liked high school and college; how I like work; etc.

He got to the question of when the pain started. I replied it started 2 years ago. He asked if I've had any medical problems within the two years. Okay. Did you not read my file. Yes, I had my freaking abdomen sliced open. He asked for a few details, and I said that I had went to the ER in the middle of the night and had to have surgery that day. Now, I'm no expert but if there was something in my past that could be causing me stress couldn't it be the fact that I had a pretty tramatic heath issue? Apparently not because he barely flinched and went back to asking me questions about my relationship with my parents. Were their expectations to high? I guess it's more likely that I'm in pain because my parents were mean to me when I was 6-years-old instead of having a major surgery.

In what I thought was the middle of our conversation, he suggested I go to a few sessions with someone, "because it can help to talk to someone about life and what's on my mind." Yeah. I'm thinking no.

After pressing him for more details (like why he thinks this is the course to go), he said that he can usually tell right away what is bothering someone but couldn't with me. Hmmm, maybe because it isn't in my head. He basicaly said that he thinks it is good to be driven, but that I may be a perfectionist and putting too much stress on myself. Of course I'm driven, I call that being successful. I have a good job, I'm good at what I do, I have a strong support system and I work hard to be physically pit. Of course, marathon runners are their own kind that non-runners don't always understand, but that doesn't mean that I'm a perfectionist.

I have another doctor's appointment (like a real medical doctor) next week, so we'll see how that goes.

On a more normal note, I ran between 4-5 miles yesterday afternoon. The weather is actually the perfect temp and it was nice to be outside. Today I ended up working out with a trainer at the gym. I barely lasted 30 mintues before I thought I was going to pass out. I'm so not in shape yet. Gotta keep working to get back into it. Oh wait, is that me trying to be a perfectionist and reach unrealistic goals...? :)

Runners Legs

Yesterday after work all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap. BUT, I took my butt to the gym instead. When I walked in, one of the trainers called me over. His client was a no-show and since he was getting paid anyway, he said he may as well kick my butt for an hour instead of sit around. Sweet! He's a pretty good trainer and has been trying to recruit me since my previous trainer left. Unfortunately, when I came back out his client showed up. Bummer!

I thought I'd try out the bike since I've been toying with the idea of doing a tri for about two years now. Holy cow! My legs are not cycling legs! After 20 minutes on the spinning bike, I couldn't go on. I was sweating like mad and, had someone been next me, I definitely would have been the smelly girl on the bike! I'll tell you, in just 20 minutes my butt hurt. Those little seats are really not comfortable at all. If/when I start tri's, my first purchase is going to be one of those gel seats!

Trying to mix things up a bit to keep me interested in workout out, I decided to hit the Precor machine. (After trying to walk to it normally. I can totally see how that is a dificult transition.) Usually a "manual mode" girl (hmm... that doesn't sound right...), I opted for the programed glut workout. It was a good workout and I swear my butt's a little smaller already. :)

I decided to suck it up and go to my appointment today. Still a little reluctant to go and I'm not sure what to expect at all, but I'm sure it'll be interesting.

"The Zone"

Yesterday, I headed to the gym expecting to do some light cardio since I haven't been working out at all lately. Nothing fancy, just a little one-on-one time with the eliptical. Now, "The Zone" is something runners love and I haven't experienced in quite some time. Apparently, my body realized I was finally working out out again and thought it better slip into this phase and enjoy it while it could. Who knows when I'll work out again, right? :)

Since it was nearly 100* outside, plus all the stinking Michigan humidity, the air conditioned gym was packed. I jumped onto the eliptical and started my workout. I was really getting into it and was surprised when I had already chugged out 3 miles. Now, I know running 3 miles and getting 3 miles in on the elipitcal are completely different but, the fact is, I went 3 miles. Whoo Hoo. And, since I was feeling good (except for the smelly man next to me. We all sweat and stink, but this was extreme. Yuck!) I decided to see what I could do on the track.

Mile 1 - about 8:30 pace. Hmmm... not bad. Haven't done that in awhile. My mind starts to wander and I begin to think about everything that's been going on with my health. You see, at my last appointment at the pain clinic the doctor gave me two more options (the 3rd is surgery, but I refuse to do it). The first option is a psych evaluation to see if it's a "mind over matter" thing. I told him if this is all in my head, I'm fine with that. Let's just find out it is, and figure out how to get over it. If it's not, then we can cross off the list that I'm crazy. I'm suppose to go this week for my eval, but I'm having second thoughts. I'm not afraid to do it, nor am I ashamed of it but, I truly think it is something physically wrong with me. I understand that I can believe I'm in pain when there isn't really anything wrong, but I can't make myself swell, bleed, etc. Those are all physical things, not mental issues. (The second option was a drug that was accidentally discovered to treat chronic pelvic pain. If you're a little uneasy about the acidental finding get this, it hasn't been through enough clinical trials for ANY statistical data behind it. Right.... like I'm going to jump for that option.)

Mile 2 - about 8:15 pace. Hmmm... this isn't bad. Plus, I'm deep in thought by now. I start thinking about my great support system - friends, family, fellow bloggers. I especially thought about Tori's latest post and how determined she is after all the health issues she went though. I think about Mendy and David and what a great family they are and how encouraging they both have been to me -- a complete stranger.

Mile 3 - about 7:00 pace. By this time I'm completely in the zone, more determined than ever to run and I've got some kick butt music playing on my iPod. It felt so good to open up, stretch my legs and just ... go.

Still in this great mindframe, I thought I'd better milk it for all it's worth and hit some weights. I hadn't lifted in quite some time either and it felt good. I was making myself strong, little by little. After I was done lifting and stretching, I felt so accomplished. I was hurting (you can only block out knives stabbing and burning through your abdomen for so long), but I was so happy with myself that I seemed to bear it a little better.

So, to everyone that was with me during my run yesterday (there are LOTS of you)... thanks. I couldn't have done it without you.

Five whole days of fabulous vacation! It was so wonderful and I was so sad when the alarm went off at 5 a.m. today. I just wasn't ready to go back to work. Here's a quick look at my time off:

Days at the Pool: 1
I spent my first day off sitting by the pool for the day. Of couse, I had to call JP at work and tell him that I was enjoying the sunshine. This was the first time I've hit the pool at the new place and it was nice and empty. All the suckers were at work... :)

Movies Watched: 3
1. Tuesday night we went to see Transformers, which is a fun summer movie. Plus, iti s filled with the products that I work with everyday, so that was pretty cool. We've been talking about this movie for so long, it was nice to see it on the big screen... finally.

2. Friday night we saw Ocean's Thirteen. Not the best of the three - possibly tying with the 2nd one or just slightly better. This is a good rental movie, but I wouldn't recommend going to the theater to see it.

3. Last night we saw Die Hard. Completely unrealistic (even for a Die Hard movie, which is saying a lot) but again, a fun summer movie.

Veggie Burgers Consumed: 2
We went to a picnic at JP's sister's house for a BBQ. Pretty low-key, except for a rousing round of Sorry and Monopoly.

The next day, we went to my parent's house for a belated birthday dinner for JP. Complete with cake, ice cream and presents. I'm so glad that my parents and JP get along so well!

Baby Polar Bears Sighted: 3
On Saturday, we spent the day at the Toledo Zoo. We went with some friends who have a 3-year-old, so it was kinda fun seeing everything through a child's eyes again. The Toledo Zoo is a wonderful zoo (I've actually never been to the Detroit Zoo...) and the newest attactraction is the polar bear exhibit. There are three baby bears and they are SO cute. And, to feed into my panda bear obsession even more, JP got me a little stuffed one at the gift store. Instead of saying I'm spoiled, I prefer to say that I'm loved. :)

Miles Run: 0
Yes, I'm a complete slacker and the ambition of running a marathon this fall is slowly slipping away. Having some semi-serious medical issues right now (I need to call the doctor again today) and running isn't high on the priority list. I know I could still run if I wanted to by altering my training a bit, so that makes me feel a little better. I'm pretty sure I could bounce into it relatively quickly. I'm pretty torn right now about running and just not sure where I stand. My plan is to at least workout while I'm figuring things out, so at least I'm in some sort of decent shape.

Anyway, it's a hot one out there today (Yes, David, I should enjoy this warm weather before I'm shoveling snow that's up to my waist!). It's back to the real world, so I better get back to work. Happy Monday!

Is it Monday already?

The weekends just go to fast. It was a beautiful, sunny weekend and, like most, it wasn't long enough.

Friday, JP and I had an exciting night at Costco. I bought my tires there (GREAT deal!) and had to go back to see what the heck happened to mine. As they were working on it, we walked around and bought some things we didn't really need, but were such a great deal we couldn't pass it up. Really, we're not one of those couples that load several carts because you think buying in bulk is cheaper. But... when it's a good deal we take advantage of it. Oh, and what was wrong with the tire. Absolutely nothing. Really. I had these special caps on my tire stem that turn yellow when the tire pressure gets low. Apparently it randomly decided to break and it let all the air out of my tire. I was relieved I didn't have to drop a bunch of money on a stupid tire. JP just felt stupid for not catching it.

Saturday, I didn't do my long run (more on that later). Instead, I enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in and going out to breakfast. After running errands and "life" stuff, JP went to the bar with his buddies to celebrate his birthday. I declined an invite to go out with some friends, and went to bed instead. Ah yes, more sleep! At least for awhile...

I was in bed in a deep slumber, when my lovely boyfriend came home from the bar and decided to come visit. He wasn't drunk, which makes this even funnier. At 4:30 AM he comes in and wakes me up. And... like a little kid, he wants to open his birthday presents. Since it is, technically, his birthday I give in. I got out of bed, went into the closet where I had hidden his gifts and give him one of them. Thinking I'd be in the clear until morning, I soon learn that this only sparked the fire. Oh no. Now he wants to open all of his presents. So, at 5 a.m., he opens his birthday presents. I told him that if we ever have children it will be HIM that gets up with the kids on Christmas morning. :)

A few hours later, I took JP to a surprise brunch. I was SO excited to take him and not telling him where we were going about killed me. I'm not very good about keeping secrets. I made reservations at The Whitney -- on of the nicest places in Detroit. It's an old mansion that they turned into a resturant, and it's right downtown Detroit. It's one of those places that if ou live in the area, you have to go to at least once. We got dressed up and headed downtown. When we turned down the road it is on, he looked at me with a VERY surprised look on his face and said, "We're going to The Whitney!"

Brunch was amazing. Really though, how can a four course brunch not be amazing? It was the most I've ever paid for brunch, but I was okay with it since it was a special occassion. Afterwards, we walked around the mansion to explore and took some pictures. Absolutely beautiful.

Last night, we finished his big day with a big dinner with his family. We stuffed ourselves silly! More presents and finally I fall into bed exhausted around midnight. Thank goodness it's shutdown (auto companies always shut down for 2 weeks in the summer) so none of my clients were in the office today. Jeans and an early afternoon... sweet! Okay... time for a nap. Maybe the gym later...

P.S. If you're catching onto this... my marathon training isn't going so well... Not in the mood to talk about it now. Maybe later...