Can't Train Yourself? Train Your Dog Instead

Perhaps since I am a bit useless, I can devote my energy to training Wrigley instead of training myself? This past Saturday (6/28) about 60 canines competed for medals (and barking rights!) at the 3rd annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition in Imperial Beach, CA. Prizes included a pet vacation at the resort and a feature in Modern Dog Magazine.

The winner in the "large surf dogs 41 pounds and over" was a Black Lab! Wrigley, weighing in at a hefty 72 lbs, definitely falls into that category. Perhaps if we train from now until next year she has a chance at winning her own magazine feature :) I have a feeling my chances are better at winning this than my previous idea of getting her to "dance" in a talent competition.

I think I have to buy a surf board and bring it to the doggie beach...


Pictured: TJ, a Spanish Spaniel
Winner of the small surf dogs 40 pounds and under

Another Thing I Need Before I Try A Tri :)

First, I definitely am gonna need the bike. But now it looks like there is a new wetsuit I just wont be competitive without. Speedo's new LZR swimsuit supposedly can make you faster than your peers. The hype is believed enough that its making a huge splash at this years US Olympic trials. Speedo claims it has less drag, is better in oxygen efficiency and is faster than competitors. Speedo is giving them away to athletes at the Trials and the Summer Olympics ... but the rest of us are going to have to shell out about $550 for it. It looks like a space-suit, and all of the Olympians are wearing it, so I think that means its a "must have" for any of you competitors :) That means before I train for a tri I need about 16K for the bike, and $550 for the suit. As soon as I have 16,550 laying around I will be ready to take on my next "marathon leap".

A "Healthy" Taste of Chicago

The Taste of Chicago is a pretty major summer event, with concerts, activities ... and most importantly, FOOD! I devotedly attended this event every year, but as I got older I just didnt appreciate the crowds and heat anymore, and the food seems pretty much the same each year. One thing is for sure, if you are watching your diet (like, perhaps, training for a marathon!) the Taste of Chicago might not be for you. If I could think of one word to describe the event I would have to pick "gluttony". Each booth seems to try to top the other with the most ridiculous items possible. One of the historically famous items at the taste is the two-pound BBQ turkey leg. Does that sound like a dieters dream or what? Last year (2007), festival goers consumed 127,360 ears of corn, 165,000 lbs of turkey legs, 293,600 slices of pizza - and more than 430,000 glasses of Budweiser products. But maybe those who want to enjoy the Taste but still keep their training schedules have a chance. New this year the City is requiring each vendor to offer a "healthy choice". On the other hand, don't start getting all confident that you can now successfully navigate this monstrous event and still be able to do your 20-miler the next morning. In typical Chicago style, there appears to be a great deal of leniency when it comes to what a "healthy choice" item is. Participating eateries were asked to nominate at least one healthier menu item and submit nutritional facts, such as fat and sugar content as well as total calorie count. The information was used to pull together a list of the healthiest choices. Taste attendees will be able to get a free copy of this list (available at the Human Senior Dining Pavilion and Humana's booth on Columbus Drive) along with a map showing where they will be offered. Not all restaurants made the list - though each is claiming to offer a "healthy choice" item on their list. Some of those that were submitted? Potato chips from Billy Goat's Tavern, apple pie with ice cream from JR Dessert Bakery and plain cheesecake from Eli's. Now thats MY idea of healthy food ... but is it really appropriate? So if you decide to tell your healthy lifestyle to "screw it" and head down to the Taste of Chicago, here is some info you will need: Where: Grant Park -- north/south between Monroe Avenue and Balbo Drive, east/west between Michigan Avenue and Lake Shore Drive. When: June 27 through July 6, 2008 Hours: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (the festival closes at 10:00 p.m. on July 3, 6:00 p.m. on July 6) Admission: Admission and events are free, but you need to pay for food and drinks with tickets. Tickets are sold in strips of 12 for $8. Large items are generally 9-10 tickets, side portions 6-7 tickets, soft drinks 4 tickets. All daily restaurants offer a small "Taste" portion for 2-3 tickets -- a great way to sample a large variety of all the food available. Calendar of Events

Email Round-Up

I get a lot of promotional emails each day - I am on lots of lists cuz I like to know whats going on, whats new ... and most importantly if there is any cool stuff out there I just "need". There were a couple of emails I got today that sparked my interest and I thought I would share a bit :)

I Think I Am In Love
Today I got an email from Coach about a new line of purses coming out and I think this is just the most beautiful thing I have ever seen: According to the email, today is an online "sneak peak" as the purses wont be in stores until Friday. I think I might just have to pop in on Friday so I can take a look at this beauty, and maybe drool a bit. I am trying to think of a reason why I deserve it but just cant. I have to try to do something real special so that I can suddenly become worthy.

A Little Something For My Sister
My sister lives in DC and can definitely get swept up in the current politics...she was all for the idea of our first woman president (but now I think is riding the Obama bandwagon). Today I got my weekly email from someecards.com, which just highlights some of the new cards they have on the site. One of them I just had to post, in honor of my sister. I dont know if she donated any $$$ ... but I guarantee if she did she is wishing righ tnow she had it back :)

Bit O' News
I also get daily updates from the Tribune Company, who featured an article about Chicago-style pizzas headed to troops in Iraq. Its actually a great story! One guy, Retired Air Force Sgt. Mark Evans, has arranged for thousands of pizzas to be frozen, packed in dry ice and shipped to the Middle East in time for the Fourth of July. The idea was originated by his 16-year-old son, Kent. Pizzas are coming from Lou Malnati's Pizzeria (which offered a discount).
Anyone interested in contributing to the "Pizzas 4 Patriots" project can write Evans at sgtevans@sbcglobal.net.

Free Online Training Log!

For those of you in midst of training for an event, or who simply want to keep track of your workouts, check out the Running Training Log at Runner's World.com. This thing is pretty sweet, and would have come in handy when I was training. I actually just used my blog as my record, but could never find a tool that did all of the things I wanted it to do. This one appears to have it all!

The log lets you enter runs, cycling, swimming, and other cross-training activities. For each workout you keep track of your time and distance, route, workout type, race placement, heart rate, weight, calories burned, shoe mileage, quality and effort, interval times and distances, weather, and personal notes.

With what you enter in the log, you can see a monthly calendar in addition to weekly and monthly totals. And for those of you who like pretty pictures (like I do), then you can chart those totals!
I always used favoriterun to map my routes - but the Runners World tool has a route planner that enables you to both create and share your running routes. It looks like a pretty sweet tool!

Welcome To My Pity Party

If you arent interested in hearing me whine about my sad life, you might want to skip this post :)

This weekend I had breakfast with Kevin, Beca & Bradley after their run. All of them are so excited and beginning to get into the double digits on their way to the Chicago Marathon. It seems they are all doing better this year than last, which makes sense because its the 2nd go-around for all of them. As they talked about their training, the upcoming race, and even their race apparel, I just found myself feeling jealous of them and sorry for myself. Its hard to have all of your friends be a part of something that you simply cannot do :)

Bradley & Beca
This year Bradley and Beca decided to try something new and are training through Chicago Endurance Sports (versus Team In Training). They both love the program and have actually switched to a run-walk versus straight run. Both were plagued with injuries last year and CES suggested they try something new this go-around. So far they are both ecstatic and have said that they feel great after each run and have had little worries about their old injuries flaring up, or new ones coming along.

Kevin
In midst of our training last year Kevin got offered a transfer to Tulsa...which he eventually accepted. He is now living in Tulsa and still getting used to the scene. Like everyone else he felt the need to "avenge Chicago" and couldnt figure out how to train by himself out there and get back here to run in October. He ended up going back to Team in Training, who has a Tulsa group, as a mentor. This means that he basically volunteers his time to help the other runners with things like fundraising (for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society) and providing a lot of emotional support for new runners. His runs also appear to be going well, though he is having to deal with the heat, humidity, and hilly terrain. Though his training might be a bit rougher...I bet Chicago is a dream to run after training out there ;)

Cara & Patti
Cara & Patti both stayed with the Chicago group of Team in Training, and are also mentors (like Kevin).


Cara appears to be doing great with her training (just like everyone else) and seems to enjoy being a mentor. Rumor is there might be a new man in her life, but she is keeping mum about the whole situation ;)




In addition to training for Chicago, Patti has been doing a bit of additional training. She continued while lots of us took a break, and completed the Big Foot Triathlon yesterday! I am so excited for her - she is the first (and maybe only?) of us to venture into the world of the triathlon. I havent gotten a full race-report from her yet and am really excited to hear about her experience.

Running While Pregnant
I am due 10/8 and the Chicago Marathon is 10/12. I knew from day one it wasnt going to happen, but I did intend on keeping up my fitness level throughout pregnancy. I even thought I would be able to run with my friends early in their training season. Boy was I wrong. In the first three months I was so tired I could barely walk up stairs. It was during this time I did the Wacky 5K run. Not only was the 3 miles challenging, but my body just felt funny. I ran a couple of other times with my friends, but each time had to walk a bit. Much of this, I believe, was due to the fact that I tried to keep up with my old pacing...which just wasnt possible. And since none of them knew I was pregnant at the time, I felt dumb asking them to slow down. So I tried to keep it up and just couldnt, and this made me feel pretty crummy.

As my pregnancy progressed I became more uncomfortable, and heavier! Running is not even appealing, and when I try it it feels awkward. I know many women do it - in fact Paula Radcliffe (who is obviously a super-hero and I am not comparing myself directly to her) ran until the day before she gave birth and was at it again just two weeks after her daughter was born! I know there is a huge mental element to all of this, and for the most part it was something I just quickly gave up on. My ultimate goal this year is to go out and cheer on my friends at the Chicago Marathon - with a baby due 4 days before I think this is a pretty good goal to stick to. So as long as the baby comes earlier or later than 10/12 ... I am going to do my darndest to be there to support my friends as they finally beat the monster-of-a-marathon. And after that I can start convincing them to think about next year, when I can join the fun again ;)

Sunday Funday

Wrigley is a dog of many habits and patterns. She believes in routine and repetition...like eating at the same time every day, going out at the same time every day, etc. Jeff and I realized that she also created some sort of routine for herself on Sundays ... for some reason she believes its a day especially for her. She always wakes up early - and wakes up excited. First thing in the morning she jumps on us and runs around trying to get us up way before we want to (it always works). During the day she consistently grabs her toys and tries to get us to play with them, and seems to expect (demand) a session of ball throwing or two. It was due to her attitude on Sundays that we have started calling them "Sunday Funday" (always with a hint of sarcasm behind the term).

For the past two weeks she has been sick with kennel cough / canine influenza. The poor dog has just been miserable. Sundays have come and gone and she hasnt even noticed, and we have missed our usually spunky dog. She didnt know it, but we had already planned on taking her to the beach as soon as she was recovered ... and today was the day. She was so thrilled to have her first outing at the beach, she started crying and panicking in the car when we were still about 1/2 mile away. We assume that this was not due to psychic powers, but instead she must have been able to smell the lake ... triggering her assumption that she would eventually be heading there. So we spent a good amount of time there, joined by our friend and his dog Brady. We now have a happy dog, and a happy dog makes a happy family :)

Friday Funnies

Its been a while since I posted my "Friday Funnies" and thats partly because its difficult to find funny things that are running and/or fitness related. My sister sent me something today that actually tickled my funny bone. In fact, enough to post the thing in its entirety!

I'm Training To Ruin A Marathon
Source: The Onion
By: Paul Consella

When I set my mind to something, there's no turning back, no slowing down, and no excuses. So when I heard about the upcoming 17th Annual Richland County Marathon, I started training immediately. For the last four months, I have been pushing myself to the brink of exhaustion to prepare my mind and body for the ultimate physical challenge: ruining a marathon.

I'm going to ruin the whole thing.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Sure, everyone would like to ruin a marathon, but who among us has the discipline and energy to get up at the crack of dawn morning after morning, through rain, sleet, and snow, and practice handing out cups of vinegar to the frontrunners? Me, that's who. Yes, there are some mornings when it's darn near impossible to keep going—when you feel like you just can't chip one more pothole in the course with a pickax. But endurance ruining is all about pushing through the pain. And when the big day comes, and you make it over that final hurdle, dodge the cops, and shove an old guy into the bushes, you'll know all that training was worth it.

Granted, I've never taken on anything of this magnitude before. Oh, I used to ruin cross-country meets back in high school. And there was that father-son fun ruin I did back in '06, of course, but that was just for charity. If I'm going to needlessly sabotage a full 26.2 miles of road, I have to make sure I'm at the top of my game. No ifs, ands, or buts.

That's why I like to start off my training day bright and early with a full breakfast of espresso, some diet pills, and a small bag of rock candy. It keeps me edgy and volatile when I'm in the thick of disrupting a tight race. Also—and I can't stress this enough—it's very important to stretch properly before and after yelling derogatory remarks at Kenyans. You don't want your legs cramping up on the way to the escape route.

Training rituals like this may seem tiresome and pointless now, but trust me: When you're two hours into terrorizing a highly anticipated marathon, they make all the difference in the world.

After you've been ruining a marathon for a couple hours, your body will just take over and you won't even realize that you're spoiling the day for everyone. I call that getting in the "ruiner's zone." It's like my arms and legs could just keep dumping buckets of cooking oil off a highway overpass forever. When you get there, more than ever, it's important to keep focused and not let your mind wander. You've got a lot of race to wreck, and you've got to keep your mind sharp for what's coming up ahead.

It's good to make a checklist in my mind, so I don't get distracted on race day. Are there any cables or streamers around that I can use as trip wires? Is this a good time to call the fire department to report a massive four-alarm blaze at the 12-mile mark? Do I hip-check the guy in front of me or stop abruptly and trip up the three people behind?

If I make all the right decisions, and really push myself, I could ruin this marathon in record time.

The biggest thing I've learned about training to thwart a marathon is that you have to set small, manageable goals for yourself, and then gradually work up to bigger, more challenging goals. Try starting off with something simple, like printing out "Marathon Continues to the Right" signs and pasting them up by the on-ramp to the interstate. Once you're comfortable with that, you can work your way up to a larger goal, like breaking beer bottles into a sack and dumping them out in front of the wheelchair racers, or loading up on carbs and dairy so you can vomit all over the finish line.

As the day of the marathon approaches, it's easy to psych yourself out by thinking of all the tiny things that could go wrong. The hornets could all die en route to the starting line, or I might forget to slash the tires of the first-aid trucks that follow the runners. But when you're ruining a marathon, you have to push all those little what-ifs out of your head and just go out there and try your hardest.

Sure, you might not end up ruining every inch of the marathon, but just imagine the looks on their faces when 300-plus people fail to cross that finish line.

Race day's tomorrow. No more excuses. No more letting my own fears, or my wife's sobbing pleas, or the combined efforts of city and state law enforcement agencies get in the way of me accomplishing my goal. No, sir. Not this time.

I've trained too hard for that.

AMP Energy Commercial
Ok, this has to do with the "walk of shame" and not anything at all related to fitness, but its too funny not to post. Seriously.

Its "Take Your Dog To Work Day"!

First celebrated in 1999, Take Your Dog To Work Day was created to celebrate the great companions dogs make and to encourage their adoption from humane societies, animal shelters and breed rescue clubs. Held annually, this holiday is meant to encourage employers to experience the value of pets in their workplace in addition to promoting adoptions.




Top 10 Things to Say to Convince Your Boss to Take Part in TYDTWDay
Courtesy of www.takeyourdog.com
10. The squirrels in the neighborhood deserve a break.
9. Wagging tails work great when the a/c is on the fritz.
8. With a dog as your passenger, you’ll be able to use the car pool lane.
7. It’s a great way to lick the work day blahs!
6. My dog thinks you’re grrrrrrreat!
5. Meetings end as soon as Rover starts staring at the conference room door.
4. You can blame those missing reports on one of your employees’ dogs.
3. It’s the leash you can do.
2. Finally, someone at your office will actually be working like a dog.
AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON TO TAKE YOUR DOG TO WORK…
1. Friday, June 20, is Take Your Dog To Work Day®!

Free Stuff on Saturday!!!

I used to go into Caribou Coffee all the time when we lived in our old neighborhood and I was still actively taking classes. Although their coffee is not my favorite, they had free wi-fi and pretty good food. Eventually they changed their wi-fi policy (still free, but limitation) and we moved out of the neighborhood.

The new yoga class I am taking is right by another Caribou, so I ventured back in the other day. Thank goodness I did, cuz they are offering free stuff on Saturday!

CoolFest 2008
According to the site, you can get a free 12oz Fruit & Tea from 3-4 at participating locations. (Find a location near you)

Not only that, but my birthday is this month and they just emailed me a coupon for a free beverage of my choice on my actual birthday. Looks like I will be heading to Caribou at least two days this month :)

Get Yourself a Bird Poo Facial

Guess the new hot thing is coating your face in bird poop (specifically "powdered nightingale droppings") in order to make yourself more beautiful. Shizuka Day Spa in NY offers this special Geisha Facial in case you are considering jumping on the bandwagon. I have to say, regardless of the skin issues I may have ... I will not willingly put poop on my face. Thats not to say I am completely aware of all of the ingredients Genevieve (my esthetician) uses on my face when I go to her salon (Avieve), but I generally trust that she does not use any type of excrement.

Check out the video if you are interested:

Prego Yoga: Round 2

I have been doing yoga once-a-week since May 14. That means today was my 6th class. Unfortunately, thats really all I have been doing. Yeah, I suck. Bloom, the studio I go to, is actually quite awesome...but the prenatal yoga class schedule is not perfect for me. I take a class on Wednesdays from 11:15 - 12:45, but the others they offer tend to be inconvenient. On Saturday and Sunday they have them in the middle of the day, at 12:00. Generally I am out running errands or working on something around the house - and taking a two hour break right in the middle of the day just screws me up. They also have a class on Monday nights. If I am not working, I am not going to spend my dinner time doing yoga. I am going to spend it eating dinner :)

I decided I needed to find another yoga class that met during the day, and actually found this to be quite a struggle. Finally I found one at the local YMCA that started yesterday. So starting yesterday I now do my yoga thing twice a week.

I learned today in my yoga class that beginning in July the Sunday yoga class at Bloom is moving to 10:45. Thats much better than noon, and I plan on incorporating that class too ... which should put me up to yoga three days a week (if my expanding belly and cankles can handle it).

Image Info:Mamá Yoga
Courtesy of Gisela Bohórquez

When Desperate Times = Advantagous Situations

As many people begin to panic about the status of our airlines, with the combination of fuel prices, route cancellations, security issues, etc., Jeff and I were thinking about Southwest Airlines. American Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways have all announced plans to begin charging for checked bags. United is pulling the plug on its low-fare carrier, TED and is cutting 17% of its domestic seat capacity. US Airways is going to charge $2 for a soda. ATA, an airline my sister and I used for low-cost flight from Chicago to DC, went kaput in April. The network airlines (Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways) reportedly have posted a collective operating loss of more than $1.32 billion in the first quarter of 2008, compared with an operating profit of $559 million in the same quarter of 2007. So its obvious, airlines are tanking ... and we are all screwed.

But What About Southwest Airlines?
Southwest has still managed to be the only profitable airline and is currently ranked as the top U.S. airline in a major customer satisfaction survey. As Jeff and I kept hearing about all of the airlines desperate attempts to stay afloat, we wondered if this kind of environment actually was beneficial to good-old Southwest. Next thing you know I see this in the paper:

As a PhD student in Marketing, this type of stuff interests me. Sometimes negative situations for many create opportunities for others ... and Southwest is like a hawk swooping down on its prey. By pointing out its lack of fees it clearly demonstrates how ridiculous this situation really is and all the other airlines can do is just act like the sitting ducks they are and wait it out.

Happy Eat Your Vegetables Day!

Today is Eat Your Vegetables Day. You know what that means ... you gotta eat the green stuff. I regretfully admit that I am not a big fan of the vegetable world. I love fruit and think I more than consume the recommended amount per day ... but I can easily go a day (or two, or three) without consuming a single vegetable. Thats not good for someone who tries to lead a healthy lifestyles or aspires to be a runner, and its really not good for a big-fat-pregnant-lady (thank goodness for prenatal vitamins). I am going to take this wonderful holiday to heart and promise to actually eat a vegetable today. In fact, I may eat more than one.

Morning Breakfast Routine

Wrigley and I have developed a new routine over the past week or so. Every morning when I get up, I make my breakfast and bring it out to the backyard. While I eat and surf the internet, she checks out all the smells and eats ants. Today she added a new trick to our morning routine: digging. She isnt a digger by nature, so I am not sure what came over her. Maybe there was a wicked pile of ants under the tree? I admit, I wasnt paying attention to her. Instead I was surfing around some of the blogs I found listed at Chicago's Best Blogs. Here are a few I found particularly interesting ... in case you also are looking for a way to waste your day :)

Starbucks Gossip
Second City Cop
Chicago: A Daily Photo Blog

Love Your Foam Roller

I was reading about Amanda's knee pains on run to finish and it made me think of all of the knee stuff I had to endure during my training last year. All everyone told me to do was to "get a foam roller" and so I suggested the same to Amanda. Since the topic was fresh in my mind I did a quick search and found this Runners World article: "Foam Rolling For Runners".

This is about the time I bet a lot of people training are having some early signs that will turn into later injuries and I thought I might be a good time to post this! If anyone needs a foam roller, I have one collecting dust in my basement :)

Warning! Spirit Crushing Information Ahead

Many of us enjoy heading out to the movies now and then. Jeff and I used to go weekly when a local theater had a great Tuesday night deal, and though we dont go that often, we do definitely hit up the movies when we can. Sure, nowadays we cant guarantee our $10 ticket is going to buy us anything close to entertainment as the majority of movies out there are pretty close to a waste-of-time, but we often go for more of the "experience". Its a night out for two people that dont head out a whole lot ... and now that I am pregnant the list of things we can do actually shrinks even more.

So we head to the movies as our big night out. We often skip dinner and fill up on popcorn and soda (its all part of the experience) and we sit by the aisle so I can go to the restroom as often as necessary during that 2.5 hour flick. I'm completely aware that "dinner at the movies" is not an appropriate meal. And I know that the candy I eat and pop I chug is just a bunch of empty calories that makes my (unborn) baby go into a kicking sugar frenzy ... followed quickly by a sugar coma. But I prefer not to think about all of that junk and just enjoy my night out.

Someone has always got to come along and ruin my fun ... and this article did just that. If you dont want a rundown of the horrors of movie-theater concessions, I suggest you stop reading now.

Large Popcorn
1,283 calories
78 g fat (49 g saturated)
1,850 mg sodium
This assumes you soak your popcorn in butter ... which unfortunatly Jeff wont let me do :(

Large Nachos with Cheese (40 chips, 4 oz.)
1,101 calories
59 g fat (18.5 g saturated)
1,580 mg sodium
Articles notes that this more calories than two large orders of McDonald’s French fries and that you’d still be saving fat and calories if you smuggled in two Quarter Pounders with Cheese instead. See? All of my McDonalds eating is better than eating nachos! That says something, right?

Snickers Popables (5 oz., 46 pieces)
692 calories
33 g fat (14.6 g saturated)
73 g sugars

Whoppers (5 oz. box)
676 calories
24 g fat (20.3 g saturated)
88 g sugars

44 oz. Cherry Coke
572 calories
0 g fat
154 g sugars

Large Soft Pretzel with 3 oz. Nacho Cheese
643 calories
14.5 g fat (3 g saturated, 4 g trans)
3,068 mg sodium









Friday Night
So its Friday. If we do go to see a movie we generally do it on Friday nights. We always eat out Friday nights, and often lump a movie/dinner together as our "big night out". There are actually quite a few good movies out, of which we have already seen a few. But this is opening weekend for The Incredible Hulk which is kindof calling out to me. Reviews of it are pretty decent, and a good action flick is always a nice way to start off a weekend. Now the real question is ... will the info above impact my selections at the movies? I bet not, but lets see if I actually have a conscience :)

Getting Serious About Alcohol Abuse

Tesco, a UK supermarket chain, is serious about the sale of alcohol. Recently, it stopped selling alcohol to individuals whose children are present ... in case they pass it on to the kids. I guess they figured that wasnt enough, because their next step was restricting the sale of BBQ sauce! It appears that Jack Daniels BBQ sauce has 2% alcohol, and when a woman who wanted to purchase it didnt have her ID ... they denied her! Her brother (age 27) who was with her at the time was also not allowed to purchase it, thinking that he might get his sister wasted by handing over the sauce. Thank goodness there are some people out there who truly understand the value of the laws we have in place. I think we should take all of the Jack Daniels BBQ sauces off the shelves so that they don't get into the hands of minors! Also, TGI Fridays better start carding those that order items off the Jack Daniel's menu :) Now I am wondering ... have I had any Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce recently? You know, pregnant people can't have alcohol. I hope that I wasnt inadvertently boozing it up while eating some grilled chicken.

What A Scam!

Jeff and I have been talking a lot about new cell phones lately. We werent too thrilled with our current provider before, but are even less thrilled now that we are in the new house and realize that our service has some serious glitches. I get "network" issues and failed calls all of the time at home ... and these issues werent even on the complaint list before. Our contract is up shortly and we think we are going to try someone new. Jeff has had his eye on the iPhone since it first came out (who hasn't???) and the release of the next generation of that phone seems to time pretty close to our contract expiration.

Then I read today that according to Yahoo! Tech, the new "half-price" iPhone3G half-price iPhone 3G will actually cost you more in the long-run. While Apple is dropping the price of the phone to $199 (they're currently $399), AT&T (the mobile service provider) is raising the plan fee $10. Thus if you have an iPhone now, your two-year total is $1,839. With the new iPhone your two-year total is $1,879!

Makes me wonder about the deal between these two companies. You know that AT&T isnt banking all the cash while Apple walks away with just the phone price. According to an article based on the price of the old package (phone & 2yr contract), Apple was making $432 off each iPhone sale. I would assume this deal hasnt changed more, and with the success of the phone for both parties its quite possile that Apple's deal is even sweeter this go-around.

The new phone does look pretty sweet though. NetworkWorld says that compared to the old model, the new Iphone:
- Is thinner & sleeker

- Downloads data up to 2.8 times faster

- Comes with built-in GPS

- Improves battery life: with 5 hour talk time, 300 hour stand-by time, 6 hour high-speed browsining time, and 20 hours audio & 7 hours video.

Clever Ways To Drink More Water

Hydration is important for everyone ... not just those training for marathons, triathlons, or other events. Its something I think I always struggle with, and I don't think I got any better during marathon training. Since I stopped training I have become less concsious about my fluid intake, but have seen a lot of info about the importance of water during a pregnancy.

According to ivillage, "the hormones of pregnancy change the way the body stores and uses fluids, making you salvage water and store it". Since the weather has kicked it up a notch in Chi-town, my hydration (or lack thereof) has come back into the spotlight. Today I got an email suggesting ways to keep yourself hydrated and thought I would share the tips:

• Kick-start your count early in the day by drinking a full glass right after you brush your teeth. Seven glasses to go. Make it routine so you do it every morning.
• Buy those price club-sized flats of bottled water and pop two in your bag before you leave the house. Make sure by time you get to work, you've downed one -- save the other one for the trip home.
• While you're at work put eight rubber bands around an 8-ounce glass (or four around a 16-ounce glass) and take one off every time you refill your glass. When all the rubber bands are gone, voila, you've filled your tank.
• If plain water just seems, well, plain, glam it up with a lemon, lime, cucumber, or orange slices.
• You can also munch on refreshing watermelon slices, which are 92 percent water, to help fill your quota

Writing this post has got me thinking ... and I am going to go have a glass of water right now :)

Training For A Cycling Event? You Need One of These...

A new bike, made by cycle maker Koga Miyata, has been built for Dutch track cyclist Theo Bos in hopes he brings home the gold medal from the Beijing Olympics. Bos just missed the gold middle in the Athens Olympics 4 years ago.

It took 3 1/2 years to develop this bike, which reportedly had an initial budget of $100,000. The final product cost a million dollars and comes without a brake, gears or lights. The bike, called "Kimera", reportedly has the lowest air resistance of any bike in the world.

After the Olympics, Koga plans to produce the bike (or a similar version) for the mass market, at a price of about 10,000 euros. I will start training for a triathlon as soon as I get one of these bikes :) Start saving your spare change and you too could be riding one of these in your next event ... if they dont get banned by then :)

Note: This video may look like it doesnt work, but seems to take a minute to load. If you want to check out this sweet bike, wait a sec to see the video :)

Dog Days Of Summer

It finally gets hot in Chicago ... And wouldnt you know it - our air conditioning doesnt work. Its been a rough couple of days and with today in the 90's both the dog and I are going a bit crazy. She is cooling off in her pool and feels a lot better!

Back To The Old Routine ... Well, Sort Of

This morning was like old times. I went out to breakfast with Patti and Cara after their run. They did 6 miles today, on their way to 26.2 in the 10.12.08 Chicago Marathon. I was never a huge fan of the whole running thing, but I totally enjoyed the camaraderie of it ... and really enjoyed the breakfasts after our runs! Sitting with them today made me realize even more how I miss it, and couldnt even be doing it if I wanted to. While they are running the marathon this year, I will either be hanging out with a newborn baby ... or cursing the gods for punishing me with an pregnancy longer than the (already long) 40 weeks. I look forward to seeing them occasionally after their runs this summer, to hear about the joys and triumphs (and pains and struggles) of training. If they want to hear about the wonderful world of pregnancy I am sure I can give them an ear full :)

Grass Watch

Our new grass is coming in ... its spotty and very fragile right now, but looks a heck of a lot better than the acid burn phase we were in a week ago :) looks like I have a bit of a green thumb after all (though the house plants disagree)!

National Donut Day?

My father-in-law was kind enough to point out to me that today is National Donut Day. I was wondering how the donut became special enough to deserve its own holiday and did some investigating. According to holidayinsights.com, "National Doughnut Day" is always the first friday in June, and honors the Salvation Army "lassies" of WWI. The holiday is often used as a fundraiser for the causes of the Salvation Army. I can't believe I have lived my whole life without celebrating this special holiday! It was established in 1938, so its not one of your new "halmark holidays" like good-old Sweetest Day.

So the holiday details claim that donut shops often give away donuts and simultaneously fundraise for the Salvation Army. Free stuff is always good and this peaked my interest. It seems like this might often be a "local donut shop" thing, so I looked at our most well-known donut shop: Dinkels. The website says nothing about Donut Day. I went to Dunkin Donuts...nothing there either. But on the Krispy Kreme site there is a little icon that mentions the holiday ... though you cant click on it and no more info is offered. A bit more research suggests that perhaps you can get a free donut at Krispy Kreme so you might want to go check it out :)

And if while you are eating your free donut you dont have the opportunity to give to the Salvation Army ... remember that they are the point of this holiday and check out how you can give to the organization.

Looking for an Interesting Scent?

How about Play-Doh perfume?. To celebrate it's 50th birthday you can bask yourself in an “eau de PLAY-DOH” aroma. According the the maker, the spray bottle fragrance is meant for "highly-creative people, who seek a whimsical scent reminiscent of their childhood."

Watching The Grass Grow

One of the benefits of our new house is a small back-yard. (This is a special thing in the city). Unfortunately, our precious dog has killer pee. She so much looks at the grass and thinks about peeing and she burns holes in our precious lawn. Here is a picture of her proudly sitting in the midst of some of her "artwork".

Note: we have more grass to the right of this...this area is just Wrigleys favorite spot to relieve herself :)

A few days ago I planted some grass seed, and have had lots of rain since then. Every day I check and there is no grass. But this morning I bent very low and saw a few pieces. Finally! I went and ran some errands and when I got home about 4 hours later there was a lot more than when I left a bit before. So I eagerly wait and watch my grass grow so I can see a pretty lawn again ... and Wrigley eagerly watches the baby grass hoping that it gets nice enough for her to kill again.

ACS : Grassroots Campaign Rolls Nationwide

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has launched a grassroots campaign this summer. You can catch the Fight Back Express in any one of the 48 continental US.

What's Happenin on the Bus?
Bus visitors can join the ACS grassroots movement by:

• Signing a petition calling for access to quality health care for all Americans.
• Sending e-mails to members of Congress asking them to support cancer-fighting laws and policies.
• Signing the bus itself as a show of support for making cancer a national priority.
• Sharing your cancer story. (The bus is specially equipped so visitors can share photos, reflections and cancer stories via the Web. The stories will be forwarded to lawmakers and candidates as part of ACS CAN's Picture A Cure initiative, helping document the impact of cancer on individual lives and communities.)
• Posting comments on the Fight Back Express blog, giving your own account of the tour as it visits parks, schools, college campuses and fairgrounds – even American Cancer Society Relay For Life® events.
• Buy miles to fuel the tour. (The Fight Back Express is funded by the contributions of millions of American Cancer Society and ACS CAN donors. Relay For Life volunteers have fueled the effort by purchasing bus miles at $10 each. You can support the tour, too – log on to buy miles.)

Find the Fight Back Express, see photos and check out the blog here!
Or check out the promotional video...

The Joys of Pregnancy

I try not to whine and complain too much on here about my current situation ... but sometimes I am just overflowing and need to vent a bit. I have not had a "bad" pregnancy, but I am not really enjoying it either. There are women out there who just seem to radiate during pregnancy and can't stop talking about how wonderful it is. This seems to happen most often AFTER they deliver and the actual pregnancy part is over, but yet the phenomenon does exist. I think there are two reasons for this. 1) They are crazy and 2) some sort of memory-distortion or selective-retention. I am over 1/2 way into this process and have yet to experience the wonderful side of pregnancy. Again, I want to restate that things have not been horrible. I have not had any of of my symptoms that can occur be as horrible as they sometimes are (and that friends of mine have personally encountered). I have had a healthy pregnancy and so far everything is progressing as it should.

I dont want to talk about the weight gain or exhaustion, or the odd mood swings either. But I am recently experiencing something (I am currently attributing to pregnancy...but could just be going nuts) that is truly irritating. Memory loss.

About 6 weeks ago I told a colleague of mine I was pregnant, and he mentioned he worked with a woman who every morning when she would arrive to work could not remember the password to log onto her computer. It had to be reset every day. I laughed at his story and thought about how dumb that woman was. Now I am beginning to understand...
A few days ago I tried to log into one of my credit-card accounts to make a payment and couldnt get in. Its an account I dont use very often so forgetting my info is not that strange. But today I couldnt get into FOUR different accounts. I have spent the whole day on the phone with people trying to get things fixed and getting my information. At the same time, I am getting grilled on "secret questions" and "customer numbers" and various other stuff. Geez! If I cant remember my password how am I going to remember all of this other stuff? Basically, I worked myself up into a tizzy ... which only served to escalate the situation. This better be a symptom of pregnancy and not some sort of early slippage into Alzheimers :)

And just in case you are thinking I might actually be crazy, here is some info on the relationship between pregnancy and memory loss:
Study says: Pregnancy does cause memory loss
And the even better news? "In many cases, the forgetfulness can continue for a year after birth". Sweet! I have such great things to look forward to.

What A Little Clicking Will Get You

I was checking out the Drudge Report when I saw an article that sparked my intrest. A Las Vegas construction site had its 6th worker killed. I am a big fan of Vegas and that city is constantly under construction. Not only are they always building something ... but they are always building something massive and glorious. I was curious as to what building this was occuring with ... and even wondering if 6 deaths is a lot. How many fatalities do they have a year on their construction sites? Well, I never got the answer because another link a bit lower peaked my curiousity.

"Bush administration submits Nevada nuclear dump license application"

This article is about building a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The funny thing is, I thought they already did this. Many years ago a girl I worked with left our company to move with her husband to Nevada, because her spouse was an engineer and got a job related to the Yucca Mountain nuculear waste dump. I guess its just my ignorance thinking we were already dumping there ... and not ever thinking about it again. Wikipedia has a lot of information on the project, and is a good starting point for anyone wanting to know more.

On A Totally Different Note
I got my cupcakes! They actually arrived last Saturday, the same day as we celebrated Brads (my brother-in-law) birthday. Since cake was already on the menu for that evening, the cupcakes had to wait. I have eaten one (out of the 8 I ordered) and it was pretty darn good. Now I am testing the resiliancy of these cupcakes. You are supposed to be able to store them in the fridge for 7-10 days and in the freezer for 8 weeks. I put 1/2 in the fridge (well...3 of them, since I ate 1) and the other 1/2 in the freezer. The true test is how they taste after being stored for a bit :)

Dogs Deserve a Vacation Too!

The company that owns Wrigley's daycare (Best Friends Pet Care) is opening a Luxury Pet Resort at Walt Disney World Resort .

Looks like Jeff and I will be taking the new baby and our dog on vacation next year! According to Best Friends, "Pet guests will enjoy such amenities as luxury suites with television and raised bedding, activities such as nature walks and playgroups, and pampering services ranging from ice cream treats to bedtime stories." Don't try to book for this summer, the new facility located on Bonnett Creek Parkway in the Walt Disney World Resort is expected to open in mid-2009.

Don't forget that dogs like souveneirs too! You cant just take them on vacation with you ... everyone in the family deserves their own Disney apparel :)