Vacation time

This week seems to be dragging. It feels that way because next week I'm on vacation. Its been a while since my last, which was in March. I know I need it. I'm a bit worn down.

I don't have big plans for this vacation. My husband and I are going on a day trip to Cedar Point, maybe to the Toledo Zoo and a Toledo Mud Hens game. Nothing fancy. The fancy trips are coming up in a couple of months. We will be going to New York City and Mackinac Island.

My husband and I spent the majority of yesterday afternoon booking our plans. To save some money, we will be staying with family in New Jersey for most of the week. For one night, we will be staying in the city near Times Square at Hotel Mela. For the entertainment that evening, my husband and I will be going to the Gershwin Theater to see the musical Wicked. After the show we plan on eating dinner at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants, Mesa Grill. Those plans might have to change. We might have to eat before the show since the restaurant stays open until 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

The next morning we will be meeting a photographer to take a tour of the city. As an anniversary gift, I booked a professional photographer to photograph us around NYC. Being a photographer I always take photos on vacation. The problem is my husband and I are never in photos together. I would never hand over my expensive camera to someone on the sidewalk to take our photo and I don't like bothering people to ask them to take our photo. With this photo tour, the camera is in someone else's hand. My husband and I show up and they do the work.

The rest of the time, we will be experiencing most of the attractions of the city through the New York Pass. We will be visiting places that we didn't see on our photography tour.

The second trip of the year will be to Mackinac Island. My husband is attending a 4-day conference and I am going along for the ride. I'll keep myself busy with sightseeing, eating and running around the 8 mile island. I'm not sure what the plans of the week are. We have to wait until it gets closer to find that information out.

I look forward to my upcoming vacations. They should be nice and relaxing.

Books read in 2008

A Simple Act of Murder: November 22, 1963, Mark Fuhrman
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, David Talbot
Sons and Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Richard D. Mahoney
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, Donald Spoto
True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess, Wendy Leigh
Final Disclosure, David W. Belin
John Wayne: My Life with the Duke, Pilar Wayne
Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, David Stenn
The Lost Life of Eva Braun, Angela Lambert
Harlow: An Intimate Biography, Irving Shulman
His Way, Kitty Kelley
Natalie, Lana Wood
Rita Hayworth, John Kobal
The Fatal Friendship: Marie Antoinette, Count Fersen and the Flight to Varennes, Stanley Loomis
The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Michael Munn
Robert Kennedy: His Life, Evan Thomas
Grace of Monaco, Steven Englund
Nemesis, Peter Evans
A Royal Duty, Paul Burrell
The Search for Amelia Earhart, Fred Goerner
Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon, Jerry Oppenheimer
The Day John Died, Christopher Andersen
As Time Goes By: The Life of Ingrid Bergman, Laurence Leamer
Diana's Boys, Christopher Andersen

Currently Reading: The Family, Kitty Kelley
Up Next: Library trip

Weekend Update

Standing in a dugout with the sun beating down on you for two plus hours isn't good. Friday afternoon, I photographed an American Legion district tournament baseball game. I stood on the stairs and leaned against a support beam for a nine inning game. I thought the game was only going to be seven innings. After the sunny game, I noticed that my legs were sunburned from just above my kneecaps down to my socks and only on the left side. Stylish look.

At the 5K on Saturday, I was talking to a girl who I photographed running cross country and track in high school and now college. She was pinning her bib to the front of her shirt. On her bib, someone wrote "Happy 20th Birthday!" I asked her when her birthday was. She said it was today (July 26). I said that today was my birthday too. I thought it was great. What are the odds of having two runners with red hair sharing a birthday at the same 5K race? We were the only red heads in the entire field.

During the run, I was following a girl that was about 15 years old. She would be running, then just stop and walk. As soon as I would catch her, she would start running again. Around mile 2, she cut the course twice. I so wanted to yell "cheater" to her and tell the race officials. But I didn't.

After the race, I overheard some older ladies saying they cut the course as well. When I was finishing the race, I saw the older women on the course to my left. At that point, I knew that those ladies still had a half mile or less to go. I handed in my card and walked over to grab some Gatorade. I took a drink and turned around. Those two ladies that I passed were standing behind me. They were talking to a friend and said that last year they got lost and took a wrong turn. This year, they said they were following the arrows and cut the course. I have run and photographed cross country events on this course for years. It is not hard to follow. The course was properly marked. How can people not follow arrows?

My husband surprised me with a gift card to Aeropostale for my birthday. I spent that gift card in ten minutes. I picked up six polo's, two t-shirts and a pair of cargo shorts. All of the items were on sale. I love sales!

While driving home today I saw three friends on the sidewalk together. Two of the friends looked like they were waiting on the other person. I slowed my car down to see what was going on. The three person was throwing up all over the sidewalk. One of the friends turned their back while the other friend watched. There was plenty of grass around. Why throw up in a high foot traffic area? GROSS!

Birthday plans

Last week, I had solid plans for my upcoming birthday. (My 29th birthday is Saturday, July 26.) The plan I had set for the day was to run a 5K on one of the toughest cross country courses in the county at 8:30 a.m. The 5K that I'm running is the birthday gift I give to myself every year. Drive home to shower, eat lunch, relax, go to church then have dinner with my husband at a fancy restaurant later in the evening. Those plans changed earlier this week.

My husband informed me that his schedule changed at work. Originally he was supposed to work overtime Saturday night from 10 pm-2 am. Now my husband has to work overtime 2 pm-2 am. There goes his time that he can spend with me on my birthday. He will spend about an hour and half or less with me Saturday. On Friday night he is also working overtime from 6 pm to 2 am. That means he will go to bed around 4 or 5 am and he won't wake up until 12 pm or 12:30 pm Saturday. By 1:40 pm he will be going into work.

I tried to make the best of it and said that we could go eat at the fancy restaurant Sunday. This morning at work, I went to the restaurant's website to browse the menu. I already picked out I want: Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Jerusalem Artichoke and White Cheddar Gratin, Morel Mushrooms, and Cabernet Natural Reduction. For some reason I went to their hours of operation and saw that they are closed on Sundays and Mondays. Now I have to wait until Wednesday before I can get my birthday dinner. Can't go Monday because they are closed. Can't go Tuesday because my husband has to work. That is really putting a dark cloud over my birthday.

Now my Saturday evening looks to be free. Instead of enjoying a nice dinner with my husband, I think I will now be sitting at my computer working. Maybe my family will surprise me and have some dinner plans. If not, looks like the computer and I will be hanging out.

Sunflower - Adrian, MI

Random things

Over the weekend, I traveled to the Detroit area to photograph a wedding. A couple of things that I noticed on my drive there and back: They don't stop for red lights. I noticed at many lights I would stop for the yellow light, other drivers didn't. Drivers in the other lane kept going, even if the light already turned red. I have to admit while following the groom and groomsmen in their party bus limo, I happened to be in the middle of the intersection when the lights changed to red. I felt bad, but I was following the party bus to our different shooting locations. I needed to stay right behind them.

The second thing I noticed is their use of lanes. On the five lane I-696, I was driving in the second lane from the left. A car in the first lane on my left sped past me and crossed over four lanes of traffic to get to an exit ramp. I image the drive does that quite frequently because he did it with such ease.

On July 8, my treadmill belt rolled up on itself. Since then I have been running on the streets or the local high school and college track. I have to say the new Adrian College track is one of the nicest tracks I have ever run on. I have battled the awful heat and humidity during these runs. Now I don't have to battle the elements anymore. My husband and I picked out our new treadmill Thursday and he put it together for me on Sunday. Today I had my first run on our brand new treadmill, the NordicTrack A2550.

The run was a little difficult. I haven't been on a treadmill since July 8 and I was really tired. I wanted to run 6 miles, but I couldn't. My legs were beat. I know I have to take my time and build my mileage back up. I hope by next week, I can run 6 miles again without problems. Tuesday I will be back on my treadmill, hopefully for a 4 or 5 mile run.

In speaking of the treadmill, it was like a slice of heaven. The treadmill is so quiet which is a nice bonus. My last treadmill was so noisy that when running I had to turn the TV volume up to its max to hear anything. Today, the TV was at a normal volume. The treadmill has an extra wide belt. Which is good because I tend not to run in a straight line and go from side to side. The deck is adjustable. I can go from soft surface, like running outside on the grass, to a firm surface, like running on the streets. Today I started at 5, which is firm. During the run, I made an adjustment to 3. It also has a fitness age center. You do a eight minute test and it calculates your actual fitness age. My fitness age is 18. And lastly, it has a iPod dock. This is the best treadmill I have ever run on and it total kicks my last treadmill's ass!

Books read in 2008

A Simple Act of Murder: November 22, 1963, Mark Fuhrman
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, David Talbot
Sons and Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Richard D. Mahoney
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, Donald Spoto
True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess, Wendy Leigh
Final Disclosure, David W. Belin
John Wayne: My Life with the Duke, Pilar Wayne
Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, David Stenn
The Lost Life of Eva Braun, Angela Lambert
Harlow: An Intimate Biography, Irving Shulman
His Way, Kitty Kelley
Natalie, Lana Wood
Rita Hayworth, John Kobal
The Fatal Friendship: Marie Antoinette, Count Fersen and the Flight to Varennes, Stanley Loomis
The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Michael Munn
Robert Kennedy: His Life, Evan Thomas
Grace of Monaco, Steven Englund
Nemesis, Peter Evans
A Royal Duty, Paul Burrell
The Search for Amelia Earhart, Fred Goerner
Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon, Jerry Oppenheimer
The Day John Died, Christopher Andersen
As Time Goes By: The Life of Ingrid Bergman, Laurence Leamer

Currently Reading: Diana's Boys, Christopher Andersen
Up Next: The Family, Kitty Kelley

Treadmill talk

While running and sweating to death yesterday evening, I couldn't wait for the repair to come and fix my treadmill today. I was thinking how nice it would be to run inside, with a fan and a TV. That dream might have to wait until the weekend. I will be forced to run in the blazing heat and humidity again today.

The repairman came this afternoon to give the treadmill CPR. The repairman took a look at the treadmill and said there was no way to fix it. One of the metal bars that helps stabilize the treadmill underneath broke at a joint. He told my husband that is why the belt bunched up. The repairman said he would call headquarters to see if we would have to send it in for repairs or we just get a new one.

My husband had to go to work for a while and said the repairman was going to call him. About ten minutes after my husband left, I received a phone call from the repairman. He dialed my number instead of my husband's. He told me that headquarters said that our treadmill is not fixable. That means that we get a brand new treadmill. A new treadmill! That will be sweet!

This weekend we need to go to the store and pick out another for free. I love warranties! I only have to endure a couple more days of heat and humidity. By Sunday I hope to be running on my brand new treadmill. Happy early birthday to me.

Miles run in 2008

Another week began without my beloved treadmill. I have been alternating my runs between the lovely city streets to the local high school track for a change. At the track, I don't have to watch out for cars, listen to rude people or really think. My GPS adds up the mileage and I just have to run in a circle. On the streets, I do get different scenery to look at and the runs seem to go faster.

My goal last week was to get in a couple of 6 mile runs. I always fell short. The first time was because of heavy rain. The second day was due to lack of time. My afternoon was clear yesterday and I wanted to get in a 6 mile run at the track. My run started off fine. Once I reached 3 miles, my legs were really tired. I stopped, grabbed my water bottle and walked. After the first walking lap, I mixed it up and ran some intervals. The second lap, I did one 100 meter sprint. The third lap, I threw in two 100 meters. The last lap I jogged. I did reach 4 miles. But that wasn't the way I wanted to reach it.

It seems like every time I step onto the track, I mentally can't go the entire 24 laps. If I was running on my treadmill or on the streets, I could do it with no problems. Maybe I can't handle running in a circle 24 times? I don't know what my problem is. Wednesday, I would like to run 6 miles. I don't know if that will happen. It is supposed to be very hot tomorrow. I'm unsure if it will be humid as well. I will just take a run on the streets and see how far I can go.

Thursday is a day of interest. The treadmill repair guy is supposed to come over. I know the treadmill needs to be repaired. I just want the repair guy to pull the belt out straight so I can run inside on the hot, humid days that will be here at the end of the week. I really don't want to kill myself outside in that weather.

2004: 170.8
2005: 212.2
2006: 270.6
2007: 276.0
2008: 560. 3

Sun through the leaves - Adrian, MI

Running woes

I was running on my not so well functioning treadmill Tuesday. I wanted to get in an easy four miles before my shooting a baseball game.

After two miles, I felt my left foot start to brush something. I looked down and the treadmill belt is gradually folding over itself. I stopped the treadmill and looked at the belt. I couldn't believe the belt got a crease in it and started bunching up. I got out the tools to tighten/loosen the belt. I made a couple of twists on both sides and started the treadmill up again. I thought the belt would loosen and straighten out. It didn't. It did the opposite. It started to fold over and bunch more. I finally gave up and decided that there was nothing I could do to help it. By the time I got done fiddling with the treadmill, it was too late to continue my run outside before going to my assignment. I was a bit upset.

Since my treadmill is unusable until it gets fixed next Thursday, I decided to go to the local high school track to run. I picked the high school because no one would be yelling stupid comments to me, it is nice and smooth and I wanted to run on a track again. I get to the track and I looked up at the clouds. Storm clouds were moving in. The weather report said there was a 30% chance of rain. It looked about certain it was going to storm. I got on the track and started running. During my run, it got really dark, windy and started to thunder. It looked like it was going to blow over, so I continued running.

During the third mile it started to sprinkle. I absolutely hate running with wet shoes and socks, but this was hardly a soaking rain so I kept going. As I was running, the rain was changing to a harder rain. At almost four miles, I was getting drenched because it was raining so hard. I finished lap 16 (4 miles) and stopped. I walked to my car to wait out the downpour. Twenty minutes later it was still pouring. I wanted the rain to stop because I really wanted to run two more miles to reach 6 miles for the day. But it wasn't meant to be. I went home. After taking a shower and sitting down at my computer to do work is when the rain stopped and the sun came out. Just my luck.

This afternoon I went back to the track to run some more. I wanted to run 6 miles, but I wasn't so sure I would make it. The sun was out, it was very humid and my calves were tight. I ran 3.5 miles. I'm sure if I would have ran slower I could have gotten in 4 miles but I didn't want to kill my legs. On days like this, I would have been in the basement running on my treadmill.

Books read in 2008

I hopped into bed last night and planned on reading a few pages before going to sleep. I was hoping the book would make me tired. It didn't. I continued reading after ten pages. I was so close to the end of the book, that I wanted to stay awake and finish. And that is what I did. I went to sleep almost an hour and half later then I should have.

A Simple Act of Murder: November 22, 1963, Mark Fuhrman
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, David Talbot
Sons and Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Richard D. Mahoney
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, Donald Spoto
True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess, Wendy Leigh
Final Disclosure, David W. Belin
John Wayne: My Life with the Duke, Pilar Wayne
Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, David Stenn
The Lost Life of Eva Braun, Angela Lambert
Harlow: An Intimate Biography, Irving Shulman
His Way, Kitty Kelley
Natalie, Lana Wood
Rita Hayworth, John Kobal
The Fatal Friendship: Marie Antoinette, Count Fersen and the Flight to Varennes, Stanley Loomis
The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Michael Munn
Robert Kennedy: His Life, Evan Thomas
Grace of Monaco, Steven Englund
Nemesis, Peter Evans
A Royal Duty, Paul Burrell
The Search for Amelia Earhart, Fred Goerner
Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon, Jerry Oppenheimer
The Day John Died, Christopher Andersen

Currently Reading: As Time Goes By: The Life of Ingrid Bergman, Laurence Leamer
Up Next: Diana's Boys, Christopher Andersen

What's new pussycat?

I saw the neighbor's cat Harley in my driveway while looking out my kitchen windows. Harley is a nice kitty cat. A slender, short haired, white and yellow cat. He is mainly an indoor cat, but they do let him out for some fresh air and to do whatever it is that cats do. If I'm outside when Harley is, I'll stop over and visit him.

I went out the front door to meet Harley. Harley was cooling off in the shade under some plants. I called his name a couple times and he ran over to me. I pet him on the head and rubbed my hand down his back. I did this a couple of times and he liked it. Harley then laid down on my sidewalk and started to roll around. I pet his back leg. He didn't like that. He swatted at me with his left declawed front paw. He then started rolling around again. I then pet his front leg. Again, he didn't like that. I got another front paw swat. He rolled around again and I did nothing.

He got up and started for home. Harley then trip over a long plastic strip from the roof lying in our flower bed. He must of thought I was trying to grab him. He hissed and continued walking home. Odd.

Shadows - Tecumseh, MI

Books read in 2008

I didn't do much over the holiday weekend because my husband was away at work. I relaxed mainly. I enjoyed staying up late and sleeping in. I was a protector of my dogs when fireworks or firecrackers were heard in the neighborhood. I ran, napped, watched Olympic trials, read two books in two days and it was great.

A Simple Act of Murder: November 22, 1963, Mark Fuhrman
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, David Talbot
Sons and Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Richard D. Mahoney
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, Donald Spoto
True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess, Wendy Leigh
Final Disclosure, David W. Belin
John Wayne: My Life with the Duke, Pilar Wayne
Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, David Stenn
The Lost Life of Eva Braun, Angela Lambert
Harlow: An Intimate Biography, Irving Shulman
His Way, Kitty Kelley
Natalie, Lana Wood
Rita Hayworth, John Kobal
The Fatal Friendship: Marie Antoinette, Count Fersen and the Flight to Varennes, Stanley Loomis
The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Michael Munn
Robert Kennedy: His Life, Evan Thomas
Grace of Monaco, Steven Englund
Nemesis, Peter Evans
A Royal Duty, Paul Burrell
The Search for Amelia Earhart, Fred Goerner
Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon, Jerry Oppenheimer

Currently Reading: The Day John Died, Christopher Andersen
Up Next: As Time Goes By: The Life of Ingrid Bergman, Laurence Leamer

A bump in the road

I was really happy yesterday afternoon. I was done with work and looking forward to a nice evening of running, reading, and Olympic Track and Field trials. All of that went south fairly quickly.

My afternoon collected dark clouds quickly and upset me the rest of the day. Sorry, no details on the first account. The second upsetting thing of the day was the lack of the treadmill repair man at my house. My husband and I waited all afternoon for the guy to show up. When I rescheduled the appointment last Wednesday, the operator on the line told me that my next appointment would be July 3 between the hours of 1-5 pm. Six o' clock came and went and no repairman.

My husband called the company to inquire about the missed appointment. The operator who helped me last week did not enter my reschedule appointment in the computer properly. My husband was told the earliest a repairman could get to our house is two weeks from now, July 17. That didn't make my husband or myself very happy.

To try to regain a normal day, I ran six miles on the unfixed treadmill while watching the movie Road House on TV. That movie can always cheer me up. It is so bad its funny. I think the best part of the movie is where Patrick Swayze's character Dalton rips out Jimmy's throat with his bare hand. (If you know the movie that I'm refering to, go here and read this. It had me laughing so hard.) After my run, I called my friend and talked to him about my day. It cheered me up. After my phone conversation I tried to get passed the bad part and enjoy the rest of my weekend.

I tried to stay awake until 11 pm EST to watch the Track and Field trials on TV. I only made it to 10:30 pm. I fell asleep watching the Detroit Tigers playing the Seattle Mariners. I woke up around 1 am on the couch. I missed the trials, but I did record it and watched it this morning.

Yesterday was a bad day. It wasn't the worst day of my life. I'm going to take that experience, learn from it and work harder at it next time.

Random things

After work I went to the bank to cash my check. As I was standing in line, an older gentleman brought his large dog inside the bank with him. The dog wasn't a leader dog or leader dog in training. The guy just brought him in with him. Have the rules on dogs inside a public place changed? Next time I go to the mall, the dogs are coming with me.

My treadmill has been sick for two weeks now. Last week, the company canceled on us. They said that no repairman was going to be in our area. That forced me to reschedule. And it didn't make me very happy. The repairman is coming this afternoon to fix it. The problems with the treadmill is the belt is loose on it and a part has to be replaced. Even though the belt is loose, I still have been running on it. The first few minutes on it are unstable, but once you get going its fine. Later today, I will have a long date with my treadmill. I plan on running six or seven miles.

I left work at 11:30 a.m. this morning. I am so excited to start a nice three day weekend! I was dying with anticipation waiting for the clock to tick down.

Books read in 2008

My book and iPod accompanied me yesterday during my wait at the Secretary of State. I waited about an hour and twenty minutes to renew my license, license plate, take an eye exam and get a new picture taken. I read about 50 pages and finished the book at home yesterday evening. Now I'm book less until tomorrow.


A Simple Act of Murder: November 22, 1963, Mark Fuhrman
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, David Talbot
Sons and Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Richard D. Mahoney
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, Donald Spoto
True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess, Wendy Leigh
Final Disclosure, David W. Belin
John Wayne: My Life with the Duke, Pilar Wayne
Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, David Stenn
The Lost Life of Eva Braun, Angela Lambert
Harlow: An Intimate Biography, Irving Shulman
His Way, Kitty Kelley
Natalie, Lana Wood
Rita Hayworth, John Kobal
The Fatal Friendship: Marie Antoinette, Count Fersen and the Flight to Varennes, Stanley Loomis
The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Michael Munn
Robert Kennedy: His Life, Evan Thomas
Grace of Monaco, Steven Englund
Nemesis, Peter Evans
A Royal Duty, Paul Burrell

Currently Reading:
Up Next: Library trip