Thankful, Day 29

I'm thankful for Fitocracy. Oh, you haven't heard of it before? It's a website which has turned working out into a video-game. What? Yeah, you do physical activity to level up. *it starts to sink in. Yeah, it's brilliant. It's changed people's lives - big time. The Fitocracy Team sends out short success stories of folks who've lost hundreds of pounds because Fitocracy helped them make working out fun again. It's a game!

http://www.fitocracy.com

Let me know if you want an invitation and I can figure out how to do that for ya.

Game on.

Thankful, Day 28

Today I'm thankful that I had the pleasure of joining my leadership development program managers and a few other program participants at Gators Dockside for lunch today. I had a delicious reuben on swirled rye and some potato salad.

Thankful, Day 27

I posted this on Facebook in the wee hours last night:

Day 27. I'm thankful for my mom and my daddy. And how much they love each other. They are my heroes in a million ways.

December Running Challenge

I've challenged myself to run every day of December 2011. Hello, guilt-free consumption of holiday goodies!

I've decided that if I succeed in running every day in December I will treat myself to a visit to the spa.

The idea to do this spurred from my back injury earlier this month (November 2011). I need to get back into shape and I want to sculpt my core. Note that I'm NOT going for this:

But rather something sculpted but not heavily defined, like this:

To help me stay on track and set up for success I'm going to come up with a daily motivator, be it an inspirational phrase on a stickie note posted on my bathroom mirror or a reminder of what I want to indulge in at holiday parties or a reminder of how I want to look and feel come New Year's Eve.

If you want to do this challenge with me, please let me know! I'd love to cheer you on!

Thankful, Day 26

I'm thankful to have a wonderful friend named Sam who is joining me to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in a few weeks! What? You don't know who the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is? They play classical-metal music. I know, kinda interesting, huh? Here's a snippet of some of their holiday work:

Thankful, Days 22-25

Day 22 - Today I'm thankful for my Christmas budget. I've been saving towards it since February and it's been a delight not having to fret about having to forgo gifts I'd like to give. Tonight I knocked out a good chunk of my Christmas shopping. Most of what remains now are gifts I'll be making by hand. Must get on that soon!

Day 23 - I'm thankful for the up-coming long holiday weekend and the light day at work!

Day 24 - Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful to have family, though distant, nearby such that I can join them in a family-style dinner. I'm also thankful to have had my college buddy, Josh, join us for dinner (he won the ping-pong tournament!). And, finally, I'm thankful for my girl, Heidi - she turned TWO today! Happy birthday, Heidi-Hoo!

Lori's Thanksgiving Dinner Party

My Great Aunt Joan & I

Josh & I

Heidi looking very excited about her birthday bone (she was yawning, haha)

Heidi posing very nicely with her birthday bone

Day 25 - Heidi didn't let me sleep in today, but I took the day off from work and used it to put away the fall decor and bring out the Christmas decor! I'm thankful for the holiday season and all the fun decorations!

Thankful, Days 17-21

Day 17 - I'm thankful for my roommate, Melyssa, with whom I saw a 1 AM showing of Twilight's Breaking Dawn, Part 1. We had a great time together!

Day 18 - I'm thankful for Friday. Not a bad week, but glad to see the weekend. Also got to have dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings with my good friend, Sam!

Day 19 - I'm thankful for all of my Orlando friends who joined me at my 3rd annual dinner party!

Day 20 - I'm thankful for my dog park friend, Chuck, who was kind enough to share his afternoon with me and Heidi to take some photos with the Avalon Park Christmas Tree for a Christmas Card photo!

Day 21 - I'm thankful for lunch breaks. I'm using mine today to restore my iPhone (hopefully it resolves my synchronization issues) and take Heidi for an afternoon stroll.

Thankful, Day 16

Today I am thankful for lunch breaks. On mine today I was able to hit the bank, library and pick up lunch: a delicious sausage, egg and cheese sandwich on a toasted blueberry bagel from Dunkin Donuts. Delicious.

Thankful, Day 15

Oh. My. Gosh.

I am so thankful that Celestial Holiday teas are in season!!!!!! I am stocking up on Gingerbread Spice this season to last me the year! It's that delicious!

Thankful, Day 14

I'm thankful for getting a good night's rest. I was able to get into bed around 9 last night, read a little bit and relax before getting some shut-eye. I woke up feeling refreshed and in plenty of time before I need to leave for work.

My back is feeling much better today than yesterday, and I'm hoping to try an easy run tomorrow. This evening I'm going to do yoga, and I hope to alternate it with running throughout the week.

Thankful, Day 13

Today I'm thankful for the weekend. I appreciate the time to recuperate from the week. Here's what I did this weekend:

*took time off from running
*slept in to 9ish both yesterday and today
*got ahead on reading for a quiz in one of my classes
*wrote a letter to a friend
*took my pup and the pup I'm puppy-sitting to the dog park
*laid out by the pool for a couple of hours

What did you do this weekend?

Thankful, Days 11 & 12

Day 11

Thanks to health insurance and health funds I didn't have to pay a penny out of pocket when I went to the doctor for my back. So nice.

Day 12

Thankful for the opportunity to return a favor for a friend in watching their puppy, Angie.

Thankful, Days 9 and 10

Day 9

I pulled my back not last night but the night before last. I did something such that when it happened I couldn't fully stand up for about a minute. Scared me. It's also put a hold on my running, and I'm having to sit out the 10K race this Sunday, which I'm quite bummed about. I also had to skip out on a swing dance lesson last night. I'm hoping my back will permit me to take at least minimal part in the swing dance this Saturday, but we'll see. Anyway, I'm thankful that my roommate happened to have a heating pad that I could borrow. Thanks, Melyssa!!! That thing has helped SO much!

Day 10

Today I am thankful for advanced absence time at work. Without much trouble at all I'm able to go to the doctor this morning to have my back checked out, and then return to work afterwards.

Thankful, Days 7 & 8

Day 7

I picked up the Amelie soundtrack at the library yesterday. I'm thankful for Yann Tierson. His compositions are simply beautiful. They evoke emotion in me. Enjoy this sound bite of a song from Amelie:

Day 8:

After work today I picked up Heidi and went to the dog park. She was on good behavior and did quite a bit of running! I brought my book, Dracula, but didn't bother trying to read since I was so happy to chit chat with the other dog owners. Tony and Brian and Matt's wife (sorry, I didn't catch her name) and I talked about how our dogs could sense the time change and how they have interesting appetites and how they destroy screens from time to time. These friendly conversations are welcome and relaxing.

Thankful, Days 5 & 6

Day 5

I knocked out a lot of homework on Saturday for my master's program. I'm thankful that I am employed by a company who foots the bill for furthering education. = )

Day 6

Sunday I went to my swing dance class. We learned how to do lolly kicks! I'm thankful for those who prompted me to take the class. It's SO much fun! The lolly kicks lend themselves to something like this:

Thankful, Day 4

My friend, Kim Pike, shared this on Facebook (and I've seen several others passing it around, so that goes to show it's getting a little viral and that it's worth watching). It is a moving story, and made me thankful for a number of things:

a - my mental state of health

b - my physical athleticism

c - how amazing people can make others feel

d - inspirational sports stories (I'm a sucker for them, just like my folks)

e - inspiration, in general

I hope you enjoy this story, too.

PS - My family and I used to live in Rochester, New York. = )

Thankful, Day 3

Today I am thankful for Florida weather in November. Since I'm working from home during my training and get an hour for lunch, I intend to spend it by the pool.

Thankful, Day 2

Today I'm thankful for Nutella, the hazelnut spread that is oh-so delicious. I had some on toast this morning for breakfast. It made me happy.

Thankful, Day 1

Wow! It's already NOVEMBER!

Guys, put your razors and shavers away to support MOvember!

I am so excited for holiday season to roll around (only 23 more days until Christmas music)! To get in the spirit I thought I'd do some blogging this month about what I'm thankful for each day I can blog.

So, without further ado, on the first of November I am thankful to be working from home. I'm in Java training all week and can't be connected to the Intranet at work, so I have to work from home, hehe!