Missing In Action

Where have I been? Um, mostly at home or at work, but I've been doing other things and haven't had (made?) the opportunity to sit down at a computer and write (or read for that matter). I feel totally out of the loop. It's already Tuesday and I have no idea what most of my friends did over the weekend. I feel so lazy and self-absorbed  lately, and my running blog is turning into a football blog. I need a good smack upside the head (figuratively, not literally).

So I left off talking about the planned football game last Thursday night. Whoah! It was wild, crazy, stressful and so much fun. The score was close most of the game, and toward the end of the fourth quarter Oregon State scored a touchdown to bring the score from 21-20 to 28-20 (with us behind). So with a little over 2 minutes left, we got the ball. To be able to tie the game (at the very minimum) we would have to get a touchdown and a 2-point conversion- a tall order in 2 minutes. Somehow, the team that hadn't done much in the whole second half, all of the sudden brought their A-game and scored a touchdown within less than a minute (what the?). And, we scored the needed 2 points afterward.

I was resigned that the game would go into overtime, so I was just hoping that when we could keep them from scoring. Well, they crapped it up, and went 3-and-out, and we got the ball right back. I was still thinking the game would go to OT, and I hoped that we wouldn't fumble the ball, or they would intercept or something else horrible. Luckily, there was still some gas left in the tank, and my team got the ball far enough down the field to be in field goal range (our kicker is really good, and he's been the conference player of the week several times). With about 30 seconds left, they let the clock run down before they called a timeout. I was getting nervous as it ticked down, 5-4-3-2 (hello? somebody call time!!). Whew- just barely made it. So with 2 seconds on the clock they line up to kick the field goal (at this point I was thinking we could actually win instead of tie). However, they were clear over to the right side of the field (not centered) and the wind had been blowing. But like I said, we have an awesome kicker, and the ball went through the uprights- wahoo! We won the game 31-28!!! We're 6-0 baby!!

Here I am after the game. You can see a bunch of people rushing the field- you'd think we won the Conference Championship or a bowl game or something really important. Maybe it looked cool on TV- I don't know.

The game started at 7:00, and the second half started around 9:00. By the time we got out of the stadium and to the parking lot, and out of the parking and then home, it was after 11:00 p.m. (I'm used to going to bed around 10). The next morning I was totally beat, and it was a super-busy day at work, so I didn't have time to do much of anything (i.e. blogging). When I got home Friday the Hubs decided we would go to the amusement park where we have season passes, since they're now open Friday nights (along with Sat and Sun) and they're doing their Halloween haunted houses and stuff. We made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, then headed out. We rode a few rides, including the train, which goes through the zoo (yes, there is a small zoo with a few random animals- cougars, a bear (that I've never seen), donkeys, zebras, llamas, camels, deer, javelinas, some elk, some muntjacs, a couple of ostriches and emus, an addax, and 2 kangaroos- oh, and a bunch of geese).

Saturday and Sunday I pretty much lounged in front of the TV. The weather on Saturday was really crappy- it finally turned cold, and it was rainy. Since it was General Conference (for my church), I spent most of my time watching that. Sunday was still cooler, but at least it was sunny. I spent more time watching conference, and in the afternoon, the Hubs and I went for a drive up in the hills. We were going to drive up a canyon nearby, but I didn't know you had to pay to go in, so we turned around and drive through the neighborhoods with giant houses. It was nice just to spend time together enjoying the scenery. He said we would have to drive up a different canyon (one that we know is free) another day, and then I can take some pictures to post.

Yesterday was the first day of my earlier schedule. It wasn't too bad getting up (it's only 45 minutes earlier anyway), and I stayed busy all day so time went by really fast. Since we were going somewhere to watch the Monday Night Football game, I went to shop for a birthday present for my sister-in-law (one that we don't hang out with as often) until it was time to pick up the Hubs. Then we went to Iggy's Sports Grill (I guess it's not really a "sports bar"). It's the same restaurant where my other MNF picture was taken (in the sidebar), but they have since moved locations. The new location is bigger and really nice. They're building one right by our house, but it doesn't open until next month.

Anyway, they have big booths in front of the big screen TV's and it's pretty nice. There ended up being about 9 of us (although everyone didn't stay the whole time) so we had 2 booths. There were a ton of Minnesota fans, so that was fun, too. I'm always amazed at how the Monday night games bring them (us?) out of the woodwork. It's nice to know we're not such an anomaly in Utah. It was also fun because the Hubs' brother is a Saints fan (the one that did our painting), so there was a little rivalry and competition going. The game was great, and pretty exciting. I ended up sharing nachos with the Hubs (yikes), then ate a chicken sandwich (with only a few fries). I also downed a huge mug of homemade peach lemonade, and had a few bites of cheesecake. Here are a couple of pics (don't mind my beady red eyes- I'll have to fix them at home and re-post them).

We left at half-time to watch the rest of the game at home (we had it recording on the Tivo). Now that I have to leave for work around 6:30 a.m. I try to get in bed by 9:30, but since the game was so close (and super-exciting in the 4th quarter) I stayed up to watch the end- doh! Needless to say I was very tired this morning, but it was worth it since we won the game (with a field goal, imagine that- are you noticing a pattern with my teams?).

I am loving the "new" (old) schedule, but it's definitely weird to be driving to work in the dark again. Especially since it's about the same time that I would normally leave to go running. Speaking of which, I still haven't run yet. My leg was feeling a lot better, but then over the weekend it was hurting a bit. I don't really want to go to a doctor who's just going to tell me to rest it, so I've been trying to continue with the home remedies. I'm just not sure when the best time is to try again. But since I'm itching to get out and run, and the weather is so nice in the afternoons (although today will be a bit warm in the mid-70's), I think today is the day. I'll let you know how it goes. I also have a strength training workout planned for tonight while I watch the Biggest Loser! (yes, I'm an addict, I admit it).

I sort of fell off the gratitude wagon, but I would like to pick up where I left off and still try to do it for 30 days. My last post was Friday 9/26 (day 4), so today I'll write a big list of things (one for each day) in my Gratitude Journal, then post it here later (I've been thinking about it, just not writing it down, which is a half-@$$ effort). I'm determined to draw those positive vibes into my life. Not because things aren't good right now, but because it's so easy for me to get off track and head down that negative path.

I also acknowledge that I didn't post a Random Photo of the Week last week, so I will make up for that and try to find something funny for this week (probably tomorrow- otherwise, it will take a half hour to read this- he he).

Things with the food journal are going well. I've been pretty good about writing almost everything down, even if I don't have an exact calorie count for it- except on the weekends when I still slack. It's definitely helping me to be more aware of what and when I'm eating, and makes me think twice when I get "hungry". It helps me to realize whether I really am truly hungry or if I'm bored or stressed out. I'm trying to eat slower (this is a huge problem for me- I'm the queen of scarfing down my dinner), and it's really helping. Even though I haven't run since 9/26 (hmmm, another pattern), my weight has remained pretty steady. That's good because I was worried about gaining weight by "resting". Then again, maybe it's the strength training that's making the difference. Building muscle burns more calories, right?

Anyway, I'm once again playing catch-up with everyone's blogs, so don't hate me if I leave comments on posts that you wrote last week. Oh, and I'm really thinking that I want to try and run a half-marathon sometime soon. I received an email last week about a Nike+ Women's Half Marathon, but  it's Oct 19, and that doesn't give me near enough time to train (hello, do you think their marketing people could have given more notice? it's not even on the web site). It would be cool to do it, because it's only $45 and all finishers get a shirt, and a Tiffany key chain. Plus, I could run it where I'm at. But 2 1/2 weeks isn't enough time from where I'm at now. I'm almost toying with the idea of the Las Vegas half in December, but the registration is up to $95, plus the cost of gas and hotel and everything would be a little much. But I haven't completely ruled it out. We'll see. Anyone else know of any good half marathons in the next 6 months within 500 miles of SLC (or somewhere else that's cheap to get to)?