AVanBoeningMHT...No More! (#305 and #306 on the life list:)

Hello, internet.  Its me, Allison.  Remember me?


Yep.  You recognize me with a martini, right?  Well, I have a lot of words for you.  Its my last night of being an employee of the hospital.  My last night of being someone else's employee, period!  I'm kind of a mess.  Let me elaborate, as you must be bored, if you are reading my blog.  First of all, I'm downright sad to be leaving the hospital.  Much as I can't stand the way our program is being run these days, I have always had such good, close friendships with a good chunk of my coworkers.  I'm not sure if its the fact that we work in mental health and therefor have similar personalities or sense of humors or what but I have formed some really great friendships here.  This has been my employment home since I graduated from college.  Eleven years.  That's one third of my life thus far.  For about 8 of those years, I came here for more than 40 hours a week.  I got attached.

Aside from missing my current coworkers, I'm really going to miss the kids.  Its a pretty rare opportunity that we have in our program, to spend time with kids who are in crisis.  Since I started working mostly night shifts, I haven't spent a ton of time with the kids and I miss them.  It will be so strange not to have that connection to youth any longer.  I have to say also, that doing this job felt sometimes like I was actually making a difference.  Obviously I got paid, its not like I was volunteering.  And more often than not, the kids don't seem to visibly take much stock in what we say, but there were those rare moments that I saw kids improve and learn and smile and laugh because of something that our team of people did and that just kind of gives a different meaning to a job than just being the place that signs your paychecks.  Our cleaning job is hugely rewarding as well, but its for much different reasons.

And the biggest question of the night...AM I MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE?!?  I think I've said before how much I hate grown up stuff, like retirement funds, insurance anythings, blah blah blah.  I might be the most immature 33 year old that exists.  But when you work for a company big enough to take care of most of those things for you, it doesn't really matter how immature you are.  When you ARE the business owner, you have to start figuring those things out.  You have to learn about IRAs and mutual funds and The Affordable Care Act and, like, budgeting.  GROSS!!!  Can we please just go drink martinis???  Somewhere in my brain, I just always assumed I would have the hospital job to fall back on, if cleaning didn't work out or didn't quite pay the bills.  Or heaven forbid, I get injured.  I mean, my business largely depends on my physical health!  Poop!

Now that I have deep breathed my way through my 43rd panic attack of the last 24 hours, maybe I should focus on what is good here...I will have more time for my family and friends.  There will be no more scheduling around my night shifts for a family or social life.  Or holidays.  I have worked at jobs since about 1997  that have required me to work holidays.  It will be so awesome not to have to miss out on festivities because of work any more.
I will have more weekdays on which to clean.  I am freeing up 6 weekdays per month for cleaning and that is pretty huge, considering how much Tosha and I can get done in a day.  Hopefully more time for us to work on the side of our business that we currently neglect like marketing, paperwork, other grown up things.  I think I am rubbing off on her in the area of immaturity:)
I can sleep like a normal person.  The girls that I work nights with and I have had many a conversation about how NO MATTER WHAT, your sleep is never good enough when you work nights.  And most of the time, you only allow yourself a few hours of the crappy sleep and that is just so bad for your health.  So bad.  I am certain that an improved level of health and energy will come along with my new schedule, which leads to so many other positive changes like more exercise, more cooking, less snaking on junk food just to stay awake.

While I know that this is a very good decision and the natural progression of things for my business/career, I am nervous about the next few months.  I need to buy a new car and its been years since I have had a car payment.  I have never before had to make health insurance payments.  Its the winter months, so Brad's paychecks are leaner than they are when the weather is nice.  I may have to drink fewer martinis.  They are expensive.  But I am thankful.  I also need to thank my little family for allowing me to participate in my own little experiment of being solely a business owner.  Well, I go back and forth between wanting to thank them, and wanting to take Brad by the shoulders and shake him really hard and scream, "Don't trust me to do this!  We will be homeless by June! Who allows their wife to quit her job when they need a new roof???"  If I did, I'm sure he would just calmly tell me, as usual, that it will all figure itself out and be fine.  

Brad and I had dinner at Jack and June a few weeks ago before we went to Catching Fire (which was an AWESOME movie).  This is my food.  Maybe its lame to take pictures of your food, but this was a caramelized onion grilled cheese and roasted Brussels sprouts and soft pretzels with blue cheese dipping sauce.  So there.

  In case you're curious about how "Obamacare" is affecting my insurance shopping experience (and since I can't ever resist giving my completely uninformed political opinions), I will say that it seemed shaky at first.  There was not a singe insurance agent who could give us any information for a few months.  And the quotes I got seemed high with very high deductibles.  It was frustrating, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be left at that.  And low and behold, I spoke with my agent just the other day and she said we needed to meet asap, as provisions were being made, policies were getting cheaper, deductibles lower and so on and so forth.  I also had to remind myself that up to this point in my life, my insurance has always just seemed free to me.  It comes out of my paycheck before it ever reaches my pocket and in my limited little brain, that means its free.  I am very confident that The Affordable Care Act will undergo enough revision and tweaking that it will do what it was intended to do, and have little more than the normal rate increase impact on folks who already have insurance by the time all is said and done.  I will be the first to admit it if I'm wrong though.  I do really think we need to give it a year or so and see how things are in 2015.  Rome wasn't built in a day, kids.

#232 Matt Frazier stopped in Lincoln!

On my List of 1,001 Awesome Things To Do Before....list, #232 is to attend a book tour/signing by an author that I love.  I did that!  I intend to do it any time I get the chance, but I think this is the first.  No, not true.  I met Isa Moskowitz at a bake sale in Omaha and she signed my Vegan Cookies cookbook, but that was a few years back, way before I had The List.  Plus, its on the list to meet her again (maybe when she gets her vegan restaurant open?!?)

Matt Frazier writes a blog that I read regularly called The No Meat Athlete and his book, Run on Plants and Discover Your Fittest, Fastest, Happiest Self just came out a few weeks ago.  On his book tour, he made a stop at the Lincoln Running Company and Willa and I made sure we could make it!  Matt is an ultramarathon runner who just happens also to be vegan.  He spoke about his training, what he eats, what he wears, goal setting, strength training...all kinds of good stuff!  He was very informative.  I haven't read the whole book yet, but I did just try out one of his recipes (for buffalo hummus) and it was so good.  I don't know why I hadn't thought to put buffalo sauce in hummus before but it was genius.  I am very excited to try the rest of the recipes.  Aside from recipes, there are also training plans for various distances in the book.  A great read for anyone who is thinking of getting into distance running or anyone looking to replace some meat with some healthier options in their diets.  He doesn't get in your face at all about the ethics of a vegan diet, as some vegan writers do.  He makes some good points, for sure, but he also acknowledges that even just a reduction in red meat consumption can make huge positive impacts on your health and your training.  If you're curious, you should check it out!  I'll loan my copy out after I try a few more recipes:)

#280 and #93 Progress, people.

My box:)

I realize that my original list of Awesome Things To Do In Life didn't go as far as #280, but I have a little notebook that I carry around with me that I add to pretty frequently and it has a #280 which is: Find a line of grown-up skin care that I like.  In other words, stop just using whatever happens to be on sale at Target and do something really good for my skin!  And #93 involved pinning down a good shade of lipstick for myself.  I am happy to report that I am working on both of these things.  I recently purchased the anti-aging line of skin care from a good friend who is a representative for Rodan and Fields, and have also tried a few of their other products and am really liking them.  If you are in the market for any type of skin care, I would definitely recommend them and put you in touch with Tiffany.  She knows her stuff.  I can't wait to be able to purchase the machine that sucks the dead skin off your face.  (Really do talk to Tiff.  She doesn't say things like "suck the dead skin off your face."  She knows words like "exfoliate" and "peptides")

As for the lipstick situation, I've not actually found IT yet.  But, I have found a really super fun little service that sends samples of high end skin care/cosmetics/hair care/etc to your home every month for $10.  I'm in love with it and I've only gotten one!  Its called Birchbox and I think they should be paying me to say nice things about them, as I've managed to work them into 98% of my conversations since I received my first box.  If you're curious, my first box contained, I believe, 5 different items (a mineral foundation, organic sunscreen, self tanning towelettes, lip cream, and leave-in conditioner for sun damaged hair.)  All of these things were great!  I can't wait till I get a box with lipstick.  Or perfume.  Or really anything.  I just love getting stuff in the mail.  If you want to make my day, put all your old bread sack twisty ties in a tiny box and mail them to me.  That's how easy I am to please.  But in all seriousness, if you are in the market for anything for your skin or just to treat yourself to something fun, check out Rodan and Fields and Birchbox.  You won't be sorry:)

Berry Pickin' (#190)

Willa and I visited Martin's Apple Orchard this past week, to pick some strawberries!  We had gone in the fall for apples, and they were the best apples I had ever tasted, so I had high hopes for the berries.  We were not disappointed!  And, it was so much fun to look for them and pick them all by ourselves!  We filled one of those white buckets nearly full, for under $3.  Can't beat that.  That evening, we made strawberry shortcake for ourselves and for my mom.  Such a perfect summer food.

42 inches of heaven (#80. For now)

I really didn't know, until very recently, that I cared about tvs.  At all.  The tv that Brad and I had in our living room, as our main tv (really our only tv, aside from the one in the basement that I use if I'm going to be on the treadmill for more than half an hour), was purchased at the Conestoga Mall, at Sears, back when I worked at Vanity.  We're talkin, 1999.  I got a mall Friends and Family discount.  I think it still cost like $800 or something crazy like that, but when you are selling $39 jeans at 2% commission, you are living large.  It was a beast of a tv and nearly threw out the backs of anyone who ever helped me move.  But it was something of a family member by the time it gave out on us a few months ago.  I was sad.  I also didn't think I cared enough about tv watching to spend much money to replace it.  So, we brought up the treadmill tv, which is the one you see pictured above. It might by 13 inches.  Maybe 18.  I'm not sure because I was too embarrassed to measure it. Watching it sucked and strained our eyes.  As the days wore on, we all became more and more eager to get something new.  So, we made a plan to purchase a new tv sometime during the week before Father's Day, hoping maybe there would be some good sales.  As soon as Sunday rolled around and the sale fliers were distributed, we found ourselves back at Sears.  The circle of life.  This probably won't be the very nicest tv we ever own, but OH MY GOD, we are enjoying it.  And, 42 inches doesn't seem all that big in the store, when it is displayed next to the 70 inchers, but in our living room it seems gigantor.   Love it.

There she is, in all her Bob's Burgers glory.

And here is a chair that I found at Cool and Collected this weekend, that I think I would enjoy watching the new tv from.  Someone buy it for me?!?

#107

That's my blood, in a bag.  I took several pictures, as Willa was super confused about the whole process of donating blood.  She may need to have another conversation with her Auntie brooke about the wonders of platelets and stuff.

Willa's last day of (her first year of) preschool. And, #219.

I am such a good photographer.  Here is Willa, covering most of her face and probably 5 minutes late for her last day of preschool!  She will go to Dimensions again next year, as she will only be 4 and not quite ready for kindergarden.  She was the youngest in her class by several months this year, and her teacher said that at the start of the year, all the other kids kind of wanted to "baby" her, but by the end of the year, they had learned better:)  She had such a good experience this year and is already missing her new friends and excited to return to school in August.  And, she is like, 3 feet taller than she was at the beginning of the year!

Note, if you will, the Popples sleeping bag.  Nice.

That evening, we had a picnic in the yard followed by a movie night/slumber party.  We watched Rise of the Guardians and ate popcorn and Kit Kats until the wee hours of the evening.  I will admit, we didn't actually sleep on the floor.  That would have been insanely uncomfortable.  I could barely move all my bones after laying on the floor for the 2 hour movie.  Oh, the trials of getting old.

#217 Have an outdoor meditation area

Kind of a weird thing to choose as my first to complete, but I have an outdoor meditation area!! Brad (and of course Willa, with all her disposable income) gave me this hanging chair for Mother's Day.  Now, before you start thinking, "Whoa, Brad has amazing taste and really understands what his wife was looking for in #217 Outdoor Meditation Area", this chair was heavily hinted at.  As in, I handed him the cb2 catalogue and said "Buy this chair."  He does get some mad points for the gift he had in mind, which was a spa day, which is also on the list, but that just wasn't the thing I wanted to cross off the list yet.  That felt a little too self-indulgent for a lady who still owes some major 2012 taxes.  I think I would have sat there during my pedicure or massage and stressed myself out even more about that fact.  Apparently, I felt the money would be better applied to my new favorite chair, where I have gone about half of the mornings that I've had it, to sit and drink my warm lemon water and listen to bird sounds and think happy thoughts.  And then I let myself sit and think the stressful thoughts if I need to.  In addition to the chair, I also have some fun plants and my herb pot nearby and a really nice view.  I couldn't ask for a nicer outdoor meditation area.  And this wasn't on the list, but maybe should have been...when I tweeted the instagrammed picture of my chair and hash tagged it with the designers name, she favorited my tweet!  And, that may have been the most ridiculous sentence I have ever typed.

A million and one things I want to do before...

I'm going to blame my new obsession with all things "Bucket Listy" on the other fun blogs that I read.  (Like Amy's 1,000 things to do this year, and brooke's 101 Goals in 1,001 Days)  But maybe, deep down, I feel a clock ticking.  I want to do big, big things.  Things that will take time to work up to, to train for, to save for, to build...And now, after Grandpa's death, its just about all I can think of.  My Grandpa had such a full life!  He did so many different jobs, met so many people, traveled the world.  So I am going to start keeping a list of all the stuff I'd like to accomplish, and then maybe talk about each one, as I do them.  Some of the things are just normal, everyday things but maybe its important to me to do them a whole bunch.  Some of the things are huge and expensive and will take a long time to accomplish.  I hesitate to call this a goal list, as I don't really have a timeline in mind.  Its more just a list of stuff that I think is neat and I really, really have a desire to do.  Since I started writing things down a few weeks ago in a special little notebook, I think I have added a few things nearly every day, as they have popped into my head.  I am going to share them all with you, in the hopes of being accountable to my list, and also just in case someone wants to help me out with any of them!  You know, like "donating" a trip to Holland?  Or maybe just making a date to donate blood together and then have coffee:)

Bare with my list.  It started out in catagories, but my brain and my fingers both started working fast and the catagories got lost.  Also, it is just implied that I want to do these things with my family, unless otherwise stated.

1.  See Mt. Rushmore and camp in South Dakota
2.  Hike in Rocky Mountain National Park
3. Take a wine tasting trip to No. California with girlfriends/girl cousins
4. Visit Washington D.C.
5-7.  Visit 3 West Coast beaches
8-10. Visit 3 East Coast beaches
11-13  Visit New York City 3 times: Once to run the marathon, once with family, and once on an artsy girly trip
14. Visit Connecticut
15. Go to another Hawaiian Island
16. Italy
17. Bali
18. the Maldives- or somewhere that has those huts on the water
19. Thailand
20. Canada
21. See the tulips in Amsterdam
22. Hike in the Swiss Alps
23. New Zealand
24. See the Grand Canyon
25-27. Take 3 spontaneous trips with others
28. Trip with my entire family to Estes Park, all together in a big cabin
29. Camp at the Great Lakes
30. Run the full Lincoln Marathon
31. Run the Chicago Marathon
32. Run the NY Marathon
33. Qualify for the Boston Marathon
34. Run the Boston Marathon
35. Run an Ultra Marathon
36. Have visible abs
37. Do a pull-up
38. Get into a regular yoga practice, at a studio
39. Master inversion poses
40. Meditate daily
41. Be capable of at least 25 military-style push ups with good form
42. Spend an entire day running/walking, for fun
43. Try a massage
44. Pet dolphins with Willa
45. Ride in a hot air balloon
46. Go ice skating
47-51. Have family pictures taken (professionally?)
52. Hold a scavenger hunt for someone
53, 54 Go on a missions trip for church (US and international)
55. Watch sea turtles hatch
56. Make almond milk
57. Cook all the way through a vegan cookbook
58. Visit a cave
59. Have another baby (try to do it naturally, again.)
60. Own a very large dog
61, 62. Read through the entire Bible, twice
63. Own my own Bible
64. Skinny dip
65. Write something that someone else wants to read
66. Own a very small dog
67. Have a large garden
68. Can something from my garden
69. Freeze something from my garden
70. Be completely debt free (including house payment)
71. Volunteer for the Humane Society
72. Work at the polls for a presidential election
73-75. Pay for the next person's coffee
76-78. Take a class on gardening, plants, etc.
79. Own a really nice camera
80. Own a really nice tv
81. Go snowmobiling again
82. Try accupunture
83. Go to an NFL game
84. Go to an NBA game
85. Stand under a waterfall
86. Go canoeing
87. Go tanking with friends
88. See whales in the ocean
89-91. Visit another (big) city's farmers market
92. Wear heels in public
93. Find the perfect lipstick shade (for me)
94. Be blonde again
95. Keep a journal of Willa's childhood
96. Keep a journal of Next Baby's childhood
97. Go on a 10 year anniversary trip with Brad
98. See a gymnastics event
99. Dye a streak of my hair a fun color
100. Learn how to make my blog pretty
101. Visit a well known vegan bakery and try 3 things
102-104. Leave a $100 tip at a restaruant on Christmas Eve
105. Pet an elephant
106. Pet a baby cow
107-157. Donate blood 50 times
158. Do paper mache with Willa
159. Take photos in a photo booth
160. Make (and master) vegan, gluten-free donuts
161. Learn to braid
162-164. Have a spa day
165. Have my palm read
166. Go on a yoga retreat vacation
167. Wear fake eyelashes
168. Have hair extensions
169. Spend a night in a very fancy hotel
170. Stay at a bed and breakfast
171. Stay in a house right on a beach
172. Drink wine that costs more than $50/bottle
173. Order room service
174. Make a pie from scratch
175. Wear a formal gown
176. Own a little black dress
177. Be in the audience of a tv show (like Ellen or Kelly or David Letterman)
178. Go to a movie by myself
179. See a "cirque" show
180. See NOFX again
181-183. Spend at least $100 on a piece of art
184. Try hot yoga
185. Own a motorcycle
186. Visit the capitol building
187. Visit a rain forest in Costa Rica
188. Rent bicycles for a day on a vacation
189. Eat at a really good seafood place
190. Go berry picking
191-193. Visit 3 different apple orchards
194. Go on a well planned picnic
195. Visit Yosemite National Park
196. Be a part of something that raises at least $1,000 for a cause
197. Use solar energy at home
198. Use wind energy at home
199. Own a car that is very fuel efficient
200. Set up an organized recycling center at home
201. Shake the hand of a US president
202. Own a really nice, classic winter coat
203. Own a good pair of snow boots
204. Meet Isa Chandra Moskowitz again
205. Reread the "Anne" series
206. Run a race with Willa
207. Visit the Jocelyn Art Museum
208. Run a race with Brad
209. Hold a really big snake
210-212. Rescue 3 dogs
213. Drink a $50+ bottle of champagne
214. Work with a personal trainer to be comfortable in the weight room of a gym
215. Pay cash to build an addition to our house
216. Pay for and take a trip with my mom
217. Have an outdoor meditation area
218. Have an indoor meditation area
219-221. Have 3 at home slumber parties with Brad and the kid(s) in a fort with movies and junk food
222. Make friendship bracelets with Willa
223-227. Have 5 or more 200+ mile months of running
228. Build up a well organized colleciton of pretty, high quality cards/wrapping paper supplies
229. Set up an allowance system for Willa
230. Build an "Easter" flower bed with tulips, daffodils, hyacinth
231. Makeover front of the house complete with new door, front porch, flower beds
232. Go to a book tour/book signing of an author I love
233-243. Go on 10 litter walks with Willa
244. Grow wild flowers along 14th Street
245-255. Volunteer at Matt Talbot
256. Take Willa to Branced Oak to walk and explore on a mom/Willa day
257. Go to Oregon
258. Place in the top 10 in my age group in the Lincoln Half Marathon (1:35 or under)
259. Visit the Tate Modern
260. Go to a fashion show
261. For one Christmas, shop only local or handmade
262. Join a small group or bible study at church
263. Make towers out of marshmellows and spaghetti
264. Go to the State Fair
265-267. Tour a few Frank Lloyd Wright homes
268. Design/build a plant stand
269. Design/build a coat rack
270. Go one full year without any soda
271. For one full year, run at least one mile every day
272. Have a healthy, productive strawberry patch
273. Research bird feeder/seed types and have feeders to attract cerain birds
274. Build a cute little trailer camper
275. Visit a Farm Sanctuary
276. Start making my own spaghetti sauce
277. Meet The Bloggess

So.  That's what I have so far.  I'm sure I will add to this list frequently.  I'm already working on a few of them, I'm excited to share! I have discovered in the process of sharing my list, that I REALLY have a thing for reading other people's lists.  Maybe that should be number 278.  Spend a day reading other people's dream lists...A whole day.

Part of a marathon, 2013

Geez.  The marathon is already old news, but I suppose I could share a few pictures anyway.  As bummed as I was about not running the whole 26.2 miles, I did at least beat the time that I was hoping for, which was just to be under 2 hours.  I came in at 1:58:58.  Before this year, my best time was 2:09.  I felt like I could have maybe even done a bit better, but I also felt really good when it was over, so maybe I'm glad I didn't push it too much.  There is still a lot of room for improvement, I've set a few running-related goals for myself recently, as you will soon see.  Turns out that for a normally 100% NOT competitive person, I do want to run faster than most people.  Definitely faster than the person I was the day before. Thanks to everyone who was out on that cold Sunday morning to support all of us goofy runners! And also to everyone who helped me out by drinking margaritas with me all day afterwards:)

Bummered. Big time.

Willa started playing soccer and it is hilarious.  There is always at least one kid on the ground, one kid picking their nose, 4 kids running the wrong direction, someone crying, and 2 kids refusing to play.  So entertaining.  At home, she seems to understand the basic idea of soccer, and of competing with the other team, but as soon as she gets on the field, she kind of just runs around, kicking the ball when it has accidentally been placed right in front of her.  Oh, well.  At this point, I'm just glad she is willing to go!

The thing I am bummed about isn't related to soccer really.  Its just that I emailed the Lincoln Track Club to change my registration from the full marathon to the half.  I was doing pretty well with the training up until I needed to do an 18 and 20 mile run.  And I didn't do them.  I could give you a list of reasons why, but they would sound whiny and generic and make me feel more pathetic than I kind of do right now.  So I won't.  I AM very excited about the half, though.  I think I can shoot for a pretty decent time, maybe taking 10 minutes or so off of my half PR. which is 2:08:40.  I think I am making a smart decision.  I still plan to run the full marathon, for sure.  If I wait for Lincoln, maybe in 2 years.  I spent my night shift last night writing out a sort of "bucket list" for myself, and qualifying for Boston may or may not have been (but probably was) on it.  So I guess it would be best not to butcher my first marathon the way I did my 16 mile run:)  So, if you plan to be a spectator at the marathon on Sunday, look for me in the first 13 miles.  And then look for me later to be drinking margaritas, as Sunday is also Cinco de Mayo.  And, tequila does NOT contain gluten.  But that's a fun story for another day!

Why? Why do I kill plants?

One of the mini-goals that I set for myself in 2013 was to keep a house plant alive.  Sort of as a pretest to myself for gardening this year.  If you will remember, I tried to garden last year and pretty much failed.  Brad keeps saying I can blame "The Drought" and blame him for not helping, but I really think I am cursed when it comes to growing plants.  And its such a shame, since they are my favorite things to eat.  I have read a few books all about families who grow their food for the year in their own yards and these people amaze me (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The Quarter Acre Farm).  I could totally eat the food they eat and be perfectly happy, I just suck at growing stuff.  

So, it delighted me when all the fun design blogs and modern home furnishing stores were pushing succulents this year.  I mean, they are related to cactuses and cactuses have got to be hard to kill, right?  Plus, I just think they all have such a unique look to them.  I had a gift card to Campbell's from my loving brother and the adorable hanging pot from Valentine's Day, so I set out to meet my mini-goal.  Once at Campbells, it was very hard to choose a plant.  They were just adorable and tiny and they each seemed to have a personality.  Weird, I know.  So instead I picked 4.  I put one in the hanging planter and three in this cute little bowl.  And I was in love.  I have been giving them a little water every week or week and a half.  They seemed happy.  Then today, I noticed that the tiny guy in the front was looking all wilty and squishy and weird so I kind of played around with him and he just mushed right off of his roots. Casualty number one, and just a few weeks in.  I really don't want to lose the rest of my new friends so I have been doing a little research and the problem is either over-watering (I kinda doubt that one) or improper drainage.  So I think I will look for a new home for the remaining 2 friends and resume eating cereal out of this bowl.  Maybe put him in more direct sunlight as well.  Fingers crossed that I can salvage the other 2.  The one in the hanging pot in the bathroom seems to be ok so far, but I probably just jinxed him...

Marathon training update

Yes, that is a picture of Willa demonstrating how best to use a blood pressure thingy.  No, it has nothing to do with me running.  I think my ADD is getting worse as I get older.  And also, I don't take pictures of myself running.  (And as a side note: do you guys have the Vine app yet?  Because the video I posted on there of Willa playing doctor that day makes me almost pee my pants every time I watch it.  And she gets so mad...Did she swallow the giant marshmallow?  She needs to barf it...I even laugh when I type it:)  

Back to running.  Let me start by telling you that I am still very much looking forward to the marathon and am still planning to run the full thing.  That being said, I was very mistaken about how exactly that happens.  What I mean is, I really thought in my mind that a person could just run and run and run for any amount of time, but they would just feel tired or slow down significantly.  This is the belief I had after running a few half marathons in the past, and doing a few training runs that were in the 10-13 mile range.  Last weekend, I had a good chunk of time and the schedule called for a 16 mile run.  The weather was perfect.  Cool and a little rainy.  Just right for a few hours worth of running.  The first 10 miles were awesome.  10-13 were very, very slow.  At around 14, my body stopped moving forward.  I stretched a lot and made it go to about 15, and then I walked half a mile.  Then I resumed running till I got back to my car, but I'm pretty sure that "running" was actually slower than the walking.  It hadn't occurred to me that my body could just decide it wouldn't run anymore.  I had made a few vital mistakes.  I think the most major of mistakes was not having anything along on the run to eat or drink.  When I left my house, I hadn't intended to do the full 16 miles, so I didn't take any portable snacks with me, and all I had was a big cup of water.  It would have been really inconvenient to run with a cup and straw.  Duh, Allison.  Pretty sure you are supposed to replenish carbs and electrolytes AT LEAST every 60 minutes during a long run like that.  My second major mistake is that I just plain haven't been running enough.  I have been hitting almost all of the long runs, but almost none of the midweek, shorter runs.  I think that would really help.  So, from here on out, I am going to make sure to run at least 4 times a week, hit the long runs, take along one of the many gu packets I stocked up on and maybe some dates, and ideally have a buddy who will ride a bike to carry my water.  And a banana. And me, when my legs stop working.  

There were a few other minor issues with my 16 mile run.  The first is that I ran on the Mopac Trail, which takes you almost immediately out of town, but you only come across one porta-potty on the trail and it is about 3 miles in.  Whattayado when your big cup of water attacks your bladder half a mile in?  Well, you could tiptoe into a cornfield, only to realize that on the other side of the cornfield is a country club.  Or you could keep on running until you come to a horse trail that is pretty tree-lined and just stop caring what other people think.  The second issue was a tiny spot of underarm chafing.  I wondered just how necessary runner's lube would be.  I got my answer.

And then I went running

Inspirational graffiti on my run:)

I had made a little note to myself in my planner at the beginning of November that if I was going to run the full marathon, I needed to make a training plan.  When I saw that a few weeks ago, I ignored it.  I was "too busy, too tired, too out of shape, too slow, too old".  Some combination of those excuses.  But then this weekend I had some time to myself and a beautiful day, so I decided to go for a run, to assess the situation.  And here is what I have decided...........I am going to register for the full marathon in December when registration opens.  What?!?  Something is wrong with me.  I am suuuuper nervous but at the same time, pretty excited.  Its not like I went out and ran 15 miles this weekend.  I did 6.  At well over 9 minute miles.  The thing that made me decide to take the plunge was how good it felt.  If I hadn't wanted to see the second half of the Husker football game, I could have easily done 10 miles.  And its only November!  Here's the deal with me and running.  Or me and sports for that matter.  I am not coordinated.  I am not competitive.  I am not fast.  Therefore, team sports and I do not mix.  I gave it a shot.  I played softball, soccer, volleyball, and basketball all at some point in my youth.  And I apologize to anyone who had to be on a team with me:) I was told by our family physician when I was young that I had bad knees and would never be a runner.  So I guess I never even really considered sports that I actually may have been able to do, like cross country or track.  I mean, I would not have been good at them, but I could have participated.  But I never even tried.  Then I became a grown up, I guess and needed a stress relieving hobby so I started running.  Its a very cheap hobby, thank goodness!  And I'm also kind of a stubborn grown up, so when I started thinking back about that doctor (maybe some of you remember him.  He had all those marathon posters in his office?) I thought, "I'll show him."  So I ran the Lincoln Half Marathon in 2008 and then again in 2011.  But what I really want to do?  The full marathon.  And then, if my body isn't destroyed by that, someday I would like to do an ultramarathon.  And a trail marathon.  And travel around the country doing marathons.  Ok, I might be getting a little carried away, but you get the idea.
So, I am sharing this on my blog in hopes of giving myself some major accountability.  Like, if you are watching at mile 20 on May 5th and you have waited for over 4 hours and you don't see me, you should give me a major guilt trip.  I am really going to need help from my family if I'm going to do this right.  Like, lots of time to run.  Lots of support to eat as healthy as possible and get as much rest as possible.  We will revisit this topic in a few months, I would suppose.  But for now, I better get to meal and workout planning!

32 is definitely older than 31.

I just had one of the loveliest birthday weekends.  Seriously.  There was really nothing loud or exciting about it, I just kind of did what I wanted to do all weekend long and it was fantastic.  And by "doing what I wanted to do" I am staying within a very modest budget and time frame:)  On Friday, Tosha and I ended up having a very short cleaning day, so we were able to sit and have a nice lunch, at which she presented me with the above bottle of Jack Daniels Honey.  If you haven't tried it yet, it is stupendilicious.  Just pour it over some ice and try your hardest not to drink the whole bottle.  We had intended to have a few happy hour drinks later on that day, but that darn girl keeps trying to die on me, so I made her go to the emergency room instead.  It turned out to be a false alarm but always better safe than sorry.  In which sorry means blood clot to the ole' melon.

For dinner Friday night, we put on our fancy clothes and had sushi at Kinja.  Yum.  But it really bugs me that whenever I try to take a picture in a sushi restaurant, (or really, most restaurants) the color is always icky.  SO try to ignore the icky color.  We actually looked really cute.

After dinner, I made Willa stay up with me and eat cupcakes.  Then I made Brad stay up with me even later and watch the final movie in the Harry Potter series.  I still can't believe that it took me this long to see it!  I think I'm going to have to go back and read the final book again though, because I was left with a little confusion about Professor Snape.  Were we supposed to think that he was really Harry's father?  Or just a guy that was in love with Harry's mother?  Can't remember.

On Saturday, I slept in.  Like, didn't get out of bed till 9:00.  Ahhh.  Then Willa took me to our new favorite place to sit and chat, The Coffee House.  We shared a chocolate croissant and a soy coconut latte and called it lunch.  Yeah, Willa drinks lattes.  I try not to think about what its doing to her growth and development.  Its just so much fun to have a mini-me who likes coffee shops.

Then we took a trip to Target.  I won't bore you with details about the great sale on cat litter, but I did pick up this cute coffee mug.  And a dress.  And a testament to my ever increasing will power when it comes to saving money, I have been wanting this dress for months but I waited for it to go on clearance not once, but TWICE.  Take that, old me from 2003 who bought everything she ever wanted at full price!

When Brad got home from work and Willa and I woke up from our nap, we went to my parent's house for some of my dad's homemade rhubarb pie, and then we went for a bike ride and played at the park.

Then to round out my birthday weekend, on Sunday we went to the fair!  I was hoping for weather more like Saturday's but it was a tad bit warm.  Willa went on rides for the first time, and I think she really liked them! She was also fond of all the bunnies and goats in the animal buildings.  In keeping with the "doing whatever I want" theme, I ate a funnel cake.  I don't know what it is about those things, but I always want one if I'm at a fair.  I don't even think about them any other time of the year.  Sunday evening, my parents and brother came over for a yummy grilled supper and to watch Willa ride her bike.  And that is where my birthday weekend and doing whatever I want came to a screeching halt, as I had to be at work at 3 in the morning.  Which is where I am now, nearly in tears over the fact that my birthday weekend is over and its back to non-birthday life:)  

I think 32 will be a great year!  I'm definitely going to get a lot of bills payed off, go on a few trips, spruce up a few rooms in the house, maybe run my first marathon (yikes!), and give some serious thought to making Willa a sibling (triple YIKES!!)  Maybe I'll clean a few houses, too.  Yep, good year.  

Cakaroon??

It has already been so fun to watch what is blooming at our home this spring.  This EARLY spring!  What is with this beautiful weather?  Am I the only one who is afraid that we are going to get a nightmare of a blizzard in like, late April as punishment for this awesomeness?  Since we moved into our home the first of June, we kind of missed out on all the spring newness and blossoms.  Willa discovered this magnolia tree for me the other day.  We were working in one of the front flower beds and she took my hand and told me she was going to show me some other purple flowers.  Then she led me to this tree and it was so pretty I almost cried.  Wait, that may not have been the beauty of the tree but actually the horrible new birth control pill I am on.  But that's a whole different story all together.

Anywho...I don't know how many times I already mentioned this, but for the Lenten season, I gave up desserts and candy.  I'd say I gave up sugar, but that's a little too strict.  There were times that I had a muffin for breakfast, or put chocolate chips and syrup on the pancakes, or jelly on my almond butter and jelly sandwiches.  So no, I didn't give up sugar.  I hate to jump the gun too much here but I think I did pretty well!   I didn't have a single piece of Easter candy, I have had no cookies, donuts, cakes, pies, coconut M and M's...NOTHING of the sort.  The final test will be putting Willa's Easter basket together next weekend and taking her to the big Easter egg hunt on Saturday.  There is a bag of Just Red Starburst Jelly Beans in my closet that whisper sweet nothings to me every night but they are still unopened.  I actually kind of had fun challenging myself to avoid things that I normally love but that I know are slightly toxic to me, so I decided that I'm going to try to give something up every month this year.  I have a rough plan of what each month will be, but it might change so I won't set the full schedule down here.  I have decided that starting April 1 (in addition to one more week of no desserts) I will go a month without saying negative things about others, and without in general being a whiny person.  I sometimes get a little bit too much pleasure out of gossip, discussing things that may or may not be true.  And I also whine and complain too much.  So, none of that in April!!  I think the key here is to make sure that I am surrounded by positive people, maybe involve myself in a few new projects (gardening, biking, and running top this list), and get more sleep, to avoid being so grumpy.  So if you have the pleasure of seeing me this month and you hear me being a Betty Badmouther or a Negative Nelly, first of all slap me for using phrases like that and then kindly call me on my bad behavior.

And on a lighter note, Willa calls raccoons "cakaroons".  I think this is the cutest thing ever.  So try to encourage it.  Engage her in a conversation about cakaroons as often as possible.  I want her to go her whole young life calling them that.

Fun little pins

I like wishbone chairs.  I like shades of blue.  I like blingy light fixtures.

I made these guys the other day.  Well, I tweaked the recipe a bit.  Here's the deal.  I have given up desserts and candies for the duration of Lent.  Not really for any religious reason, mostly just to challenge myself.  I am kind of a sweets-junkie.  And I am obsessed with Easter candy.  This is gonna be tough.  Its been 5 days and most of those days have contained numerous opportunities for dessert and I have passed on all of them! I'm not going crazy and cutting out all sugar.  I put a few chocolate chips in the pancakes the other day.  And I used syrup.  And I made these guys.  Here's what I put in them:  oatmeal, dried cranberries, honey, agave, chia, hemp protein, flax, a handful of white chocolate chips, peanut butter, coconut oil and unsweetened coconut flakes.  They are dangerously close to being dessert.  I should mention that Brad and Tosha are doing the "no sweets" thing with me.  And last year, Tosha swore off meat during Lent.  Just for me, I like to pretend:)  Brad gave me permission to have the occasional muffin or scone for breakfast, I think just because he is afraid that I will become homicidal without them.  I am giving myself permission to buy a few bags of Easter candy and hide them in the back of the pantry for after Easter.  I'm halfway hoping that I won't even want them.  Even after 5 days, it kind of gave us stomach aches just sampling the energy ball dough!

Hello, there 2012. Nice to meet you.



Willa's Aunt Joy picks out some pretty amazing gifts.  Table tennis is a blast and with a glass table, even Stickers is entertained!

The New Year is upon us!  For some reason, I always get excited about New Years Eve.  Not necessarily about the parties (I worked this year, 3 nights in a row.  So I was no party animal.)  Mostly I enjoy the feelings I get of gratefulness for the previous year, I like to take some time to think over the things that have transpired.  2011 was a pretty big year for the Van Boening's!  We sold our first home, after making some renovations.  We moved to the country.  We grew a garden.  Our baby turned into a toddler (who thinks she is in high school.  She told me that today.)  We lost Luther.  We gained Stickers.  We took our first family vacation.  We (Brad) built a dirt bike track.  We (I) grew my cleaning business.  I ran the half marathon.  We did lots of fun stuff with friends.  We celebrated Brad's 30th birthday with a surprise party and a trip to St. Louis to see Travis Barker and Supercross.  All in all, it was a pretty great year.  Except for losing Lu.  I don't think I will ever get over that.
The other great part of the New Year is thinking about all the things I am looking forward to and all the things I want to work on in the coming 365 days.  I thought I might share a few things I'm thinking about.  Not because they are interesting or anyone will even care, but this way I can go back next year and see if I blogged about accomplishing any of the things I set out to accomplish.  Maybe I will set a goal to be more interesting so next year people will want to read my blog:)

I think the biggest area that I need to improve upon are our finances.  I won't go into any specifics of dollar amounts or anything weird like that, but I do have certain dates laid out that I would like to have certain debts payed off.  And dates by which I would like to have certain amounts in various savings accounts.  There are also several home improvement projects that I would like to fund this year, including (but not limited to) building a play structure, finishing off the fire pit, making over the flower beds to give them a more modern feel, replacing the mail box and landscaping that area, completely redoing the spare bedroom, and maybe replacing the flooring in Willa's room. 

In the area of health, I need to change my thought process on exercise.  See, a lot of the time I skip working out because I feel like I don't have a big enough chunk of time to devote to it.  Then it just doesn't happen at all.  I have started to do little mini-workouts (from Bodyrock.tv) and if I only get one in a day, that's fine.  I don't beat myself up over it.  If I have time later in the day, then I get some cardio in.  I think that will work out a lot better than trying to find an hour or more per day to work out.  That NEVER happens.  Ever.  The other big thing is making sure to have groceries on hand to pack a lunch on cleaning days.  That gets tricky because it has to be something that can be eaten easily, quickly, and without any warming or preparing.  And sandwiches, especially as a vegetarian, get old fast.

A few other things on the list...find an activity for Willa (swimming?  gymnastics?) to introduce her to the social world.  Not having ever gone to day care, I don't want to completely shock her when it gets to be preschool time!  Take another little family vacation.  Maybe even to Colorado again.  Go on a trip that requires a passport.  I have one in mind, but we'll have to see how that plays out:)  Hire more Purely Maid employees.  Which means we need to increase our client load by a few, also.  That never seems to be hard.  Find a new office space downtown.  Find something to do, within the year, to use one of my creative skills to make money.  How vague is that?  Gonna need to do some thinking on it.  Read more.  I think I say that every year.  Spend lots and lots of time with Baby P, starting by throwing him a rad baby shower.  More on that later this week!  Do a better job with my garden, composting and recycling.  There are more, but if you can believe it, most of them are even more boring than those were.  If I weren't at work right now, I would toast my goals with a little glass of wine or something.  Oh yeah, that was another one.  Drink more wine.  And champagne.  And whiskey.  From pretty glasses.