Still No Praise for the MARC Train

Last night Dave was coming home from Philly, but I still wanted to get on the early train so I could get to BWI Amtrak station and then go home and take Romeo out. What was I thinking? The train started out on its usual run, got past Riverdale, College Park, and Greenbelt. Just outside Muirkirk here comes the dreaded announcement, We are following a freight train and have to go slowly, if not stop at some point. WHAT? Are these people insane?

So, onward we go chugging along until we get to Savage. After that we pick up speed and I get to Dorsey when? 6:30 p.m. when the LATER train is supposed to get there! Unbelievable. I'm tired of taking the early train and getting to my destination at or later than the later-scheduled train is supposed to get there. I'm ready to retire.

If only Baltimore salaries were comparable to DC's. Alas.....not going to happen.

Went to the gym this a.m. since I went out to lunch with a friend. I decided I wanted to do the exercise that would burn the most calories, and that was running. Started out with a 2-3 minute walk, ran at a 10:40 mile, kept bumping it up until I was at a 10:10 mile and then to a 10:00 mile. I did have to walk a little bit in between, but then I bumped the speed up to a 10-minute mile speed for the duration. It was hard, granted, but I need to push myself in order to burn more calories. Hitting the 60 mark has not been kind to me. It takes longer to burn few calories, so my plan is to run faster, use heavier weights and make the most of what I'm doing. It's the only way. Otherwise, it will be downhill fast.

Work has been a big run around and put out fires all day. I'm exhausted, and I'm not sure what I've actually accomplished except annoying myself.

Tomorrow Dave and I may venture in DC for the Japanese Celebration that is happening. I think the Cherry Blossom 10-mile race is tomorrow, too. Could be too many people to even try. That's the problem with going to events that the entire world comes too. Having to fight the crowds which makes the trip less than enjoyable.

Will This Week Ever End?

Saturday I'm going to a dressage show at Legacy Stables. At first another rider from the barn was going with me. She's a senior in high school, but was apparently goofing off too much this week, so she's not going with me. Another solo trip to a show. Rats! That also means I have to pay for trailering costs/coaching fee by myself. This is going to be an expensive show. I better get a ribbon - at this rate - any color will do!

The firm has an unofficial book club which is meeting today at noon. I forgot about it and did not go to the gym this morning. I was going to bit the bullet and let it be a rest day. Having said that, I realized I'm having pizza for dinner, so the gym it is! I can't eliminate the gym when I'm having Dave's Famous Pizza for dinner.

My menu for lunch/snacks: veg. chili, green peppers, tomatoes, orange, activia with wheat germ, banana (maybe) and popcorn (maybe). Dinner: Pizza!

I'm still working on my self-evaluation. It is a royal pain in the rear end, and what will it do for us? The firm is cutting back on everything, except partner bonuses, so no one is expecting any type of raises this year. Blah!

Official Countdown to Rolex: 27 days.

Self-Evaluation??? This is nuts.

On the work side of things: Once a year we are compelled to do a self-evaluation, then our bosses get to read it and tell us we don't actually walk on water! I despise doing these things, and I, basically, repeat the same crap I said last year. How does one expand on printing, stapling, hole punching and filing? There has to be a way to make this all sound very executive-like and nobody else in the world could possibly do this job. Granted, there is a bit more to the job, but......

On the exercise side of things I 'm still working on the elliptical waiting for my leg to be well enough to run. I might be doing a 5K on April 11, so I'm not doing any running until I know if I will actually be doing this.

On the knitting side of things, I re-started the sweater because it just didn't look big enough around the armholes. I'm at the armholes and still it looks small; could be the stitch holders since they don't stretch with the yarn. Anyway, I'm forging ahead with it. Needles: Size 15; Yarn: Crystal Palace, Kaya, a bulky yarn. Should go fast (at least I'm hoping so).

No other side of things to talk about right now.

It's Friday and Rain is Forecast for the Weekend! Bummer.

I don't mind it raining today, but on Saturday AND Sunday? Sara and I have a riding lesson set up for tomorrow at 11:00. Rain forecast is 100%. It doesn't seem if it is a continual rain or if it's going to rain, quit, rain again. Not much we can do until we actually get up tomorrow morning. Ack! Then, Sunday is a St. Patrick's 5K that we signed up to attend. We might be able to tolerate mistiness, but if it's pouring down, then that's another story altogether.

After I did some ellipitcal exercising yesterday I was still wondering if my leg would hurt. For some bizarre reason (and I'm not knocking it), my leg is better. It didn't hurt at all last night, and this morning, it has a different feel to it, but stil a l ittle soreness to it. As a result, I am still not running until Sunday, the day of the 5K. I will get on the ellliptical so I can get cardio in (pizza for dinner) for the day.
Sometimes I look at the food I've "prepared" for the day and wonder if it is enough to get me through the day. Once I count all the points, I see that the points have added up fast. I guess looking at the food doesn't seem like much, but after eating it, I am quite full. I guess our eyes are always bigger than our stomachs.

The HR manager wants to have a St. Patrick's Cupcake Day next week! Ack! I guess these types of challenges will never end. Apparently, Georgetown Bakery (not sure of the name) makes the best cupcakes in the world, or so I'm told. They baked 15,000 cupcakes for Valentines' Day. How many cupcakes can one person eat? Anyway, I think they are on the smaller side, but still, sugar, butter, more sugar? It can't make for a really good choice. The HR Manager said everyone will be Irish that day; I said, can I wear my orange, anyway?

Another Day, Another Challenge

Good news! My new yarn arrived last night! I am so excited; going to make a sweater out of a bulky purple/green/blue variegated (how do you spell it?) yarn, along with some worsted weight in different plain colors for the sleeves, collar and button bands. Getting new yarn is always good news.

Dave made lamb shanks for dinner last night; I had steamed asparagus and broccoli to go with it. Oh, and a small amount of rice. Dave put too much rice on my plate, but I'm learning how to divide stuff up and push it away and then not eat it. Before I would have muddled through and eaten it all until I was really feeling stuffed! I definitely should pat myself on the back for that!

MARC Train: Today we arrived at Union Station 8 minutes ahead of schedule, which the conductor was sure to announce after yesterday's debacle.

Exercise today: I would like to go outside and run, but I want to save my leg for Sunday, so I will do cardio on the elliptical. Not the same, but at least I'm not pounding my leg into the cement for 30 minutes. I'm going to see if I can make it a bit longer than 30 minutes today. Want to be able to eat dinner tonight.

Work: Definitely a four-letter word. So far, it's been quiet. I do have to work on my training manual that I've been asked to put together to train secretaries in the firm how to file court pleadings, paper and e-filing, proper procedure, etc.

Tooosday

Knitting News: First mitten out of tan/chocolate is almost finished. 3/4 of the way on the thumb and done, done. Second mitten on its way.

Ordered some more yarn. What a surprise! I want to make a sweater out of bulky yarn, which has worsted weight yarn for the cuffs, collar and button bands. Hard to describe. I can scan a picture of it, I guess. I'll work on that later.

Health/Nutrition News: The weekend was a success. Hopped on the scale today and downto 145.5. Yesterday I was 147, so by sticking to my guns, things are working. The core work I've been doing is also paying off. I don't feel so flabby and my slacks/jeans are fitting me better. I refuse to be the the "old lady with the round waist".

Exercise: Yesterday was ellipitcal and core work. Today I am going to take a chance and go outside and see how my leg does. Why does everything take so long to heal? I swear, the older I get, the longer it takes to get better. Then, when one pain is recovered, another one takes its place. Kind of sounds like Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecelia". They say, "When I come back to bed, someone's taken my place." My version: "When I recuperate from one injury, another's taken its place."

Work: We have all been trained on a new E-Mail Filing process. I don't think it is really that difficult; it's just going to be time consuming. Getting the attorneys to do theirs will be a challenge, I'm sure. We've been given 6 months to complet the task and after that everyone's mail box will be limited to 2 gigs. For people who keep thousands of emails, this will be hard to deal with.

Mittens, Almost Complete!

Since the Olympics started I received the new yarn for Sara's second mitten. Yarn Harlot had opened up a Knitting Olympics, and I had originally said I would attempt a lacy neckwarmer. I started to work on it, made a great headway and lo and behold! my yarn for Sara's mitten came in. Quickly, I changed my sport venue and started to work on the mitten. I'm happy to report that with the Olymics closing on Sunday, I may very well achieve my goal of finishing the mitten before Sunday evening.

Sara is going to Cancun on Saturday with some friends. Of course, we have snow forecast, and the last time she tried to go somewhere, the flight was canceled. She was to leave on December 19, but the snow was so much, the airports were closed; she couldn't get another flight for another 3 days. She ended up going to Georgia with her boyfriend. Dave and I had a very quiet Christmas day in the snow. The week after Christmas we did have our traditional Christmas dinner of Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, and Trifle for dessert. Not shabby at all!

Work has been nothing but travel arrangements, cancel travel arrangements, make new travel arrangements. Not so bad to make the arrangements, but all in one day? Come on; didn't "we" know that "we" wanted to go first-class in the beginning of all this? And didn't "we" know that "we" did not want to wait until 10:00 p.m. for the Red Eye before? Oh, well, I just work here.

With the weather as it has been, there's been very little riding lessons. Sara and I did go to Talbot Run and ride two of their horses. Sara rode Jake, a virtual push-button horse; I rode Louie, who for some reason, could only go to the left. He did go to the right, but it was almost as if he was going butt first! Dressage whips are wonderful!

Ordered some more yarn to make yet another pair of mittens. I found some variegated yarn and I plan to pair it with white! I think it will be a very stunning look.

I am still going to the gym; however, my intake has been more than outlay of calories. Sara is inspiring me, but when I get home, I seem to forget it all. I'm just sick and tired of this weather, sick and tired of work, and just sick and tired of being sick and tired. Hmmm, there is a trend here.

It's Friday, and Not Time To Go Home

Here I am, at work, again. Another week down the drain. The good news is I have accomplished quite a bit on my projects. My right-hand mitten is almost finished. It was a real learning experience, and I'm hoping the left-hand mitten will go more smoothly. I'm hoping I've figured out the tension when bringing the second color along and not pull so tightly. Fortunately, wool will stretch, and when I block the mitten, it will become the size it want it to be - at least I'm hoping it will.

If the weather isn't too bad, I'm going to Georgetown to the fabric store to get buttons for the jacket I made. I had all intentions of bringing it with me or at least a swatch of the fabric, but I forgot both. I'll have to wing it; if all else fails, I'll have lunch out.

Saturday right now doesn't have any earth shattering events. Sunday is a riding lesson, then I'm getting a massage. It will be interesting. I've never gone anywhere to have a massage. I'm just feeling sorry for the poor person who has to see me!

Need to take pics of my grey sweater, which is finished and has been worn several times already.

That's it for now. Just have to slug through the day.

Knitting Projects

OK, so I've gotten distracted from my mittens. I decided that I HAD, absolutely HAD, to knit a scarf with the leftover yarn from my grey sweater. Well, the real reason was I wanted something simple to do and the mittens were driving me nuts - even though I am enjoying working on them. Even the counted cross stitch Santa is very detailed oriented. I'm on my second skein of yarn with the scarf and depending on how long I really want it, I should be finished very soon - the end of the week, maybe? Then, it's back to the mitten because then I have to make a left-handed mitten. Why do I torture myself like this? No, no, don't answer that.

Work: I've been asked to put together a training program to train the secretaries in my office how to file court papers, either paper filing or e-filing, how to put together a pleadings file, costs of filing documents, the whole nine yards. Today is the "thinking how I'm going to actually do this" day; hopefully, tomorrow I can start putting things down on paper.

Oh, BTW, I got home on time last night! And a good thing, too, because it was the first American Idol show of the season! There are more disillusioned people out there than anyone can count. I can hardly believe it when the contestants say that everyone just loves their voices, and when they sing, they sound like cats being skinned! Yikes.

Ran 3.25 miles today on the TM; a very steady pace, slowing down only to get my iPod to the music that won't put me to sleep.