as many of you know, i have a weak bone in my body for steep&cheap so when the furry north face gloves were on sale for $10 there was no possible way i could really say no. i really like them a lot. they are warm and fuzzy but it was really bothering me to wear them because they looked so familiar and i couldn't remember where i've seen them before.

then it dawned on me.......
yes, i have accidentally bought sully gloves

last night ezra got to go on a walk twice the length he normally goes on. our dog is such an out of shape weenie that by the time i got home at 9 he was already in bed.

since ez was no where to be seen, little william really hammed it up to get as much attention as possible. it's hard to catch on camera but we definitely got the "puss in boots" eyes last night.

our new goal in the house is to teach ezra how to "pick up his toys." i realize that this is going to be an extreme up-hill battle but the dog is smart enough to learn it if he doesn't have selective hearing. since he hasn't learned this yet, i still have to do it for him. today i realized, that under all of the stuffed animals, lies the craziest thing i've ever seen. yes, you really need to count all of them.

none of these are good enough for ez since he has punctured a hole in each and every single one of them. (24 if you count).

gotta give the guy props....

last thrus after my ochem test i was fried. when i got home dallas had a beautiful vase full of flowers waiting for me because "he thought i might need them"



good job dallas! thank you!!

ugh and the snow keeps coming....
and coming...
and running in it well, pretty much is impossible.

so... instead we're still working on the laundry room. maybe i should be more specific with this....dallas is working on the laundry room. electrical is about done and we can start the sheetrock soon!

lately william has been developing an affinity for ezra's dog food. no joke---in the morning when we get ez's food out the little fat furry one runs over and starts eating it. at first ez was pretty passive with this but now, with a little encouragement, he is more aggressive and starts growling, which works most of the time.
the faceoff:when ez gets all tuckered out he starts snoring, which we find amusing (or maybe that yes, we are just THAT bored)

dallas and i have a symbiotic relationship.
you ask...how so?
i want a room re-done
he wants to get a new MAN tool.
things work out well

after we decided to start doing the laundry room he decided that his new MAN tool "need" (actually i really think he needs it for this one) would be a sawsall.... however you spell it. he quickly perused ebay and found a cordless one at a phenomenal price. today was a "special day (for him)" as his MAN tool came in the mail

man and his MAN tool....
what a proud moment (or something like that)

i wish i had something really exciting to say but it's been pretty dull here.

laundry room: on hold. our GC isn't feeling so hot tonight

ochem update: i hate cis & trans. ugh. test tomorrow with lab immediately following. it will be a very long night

running: I REGISTERED TODAY!!! the money is in... it's official. june 5 we're headed up and possibly staying longer to see the seattle fish market....and if we're really proactive getting passports soon we'll hit BC for a day or so. anyone know of any good things to do up there?

Remodel Mistake #1

preoccupied assistant sets plumbing primer down on uneven surface, leaving a tattoo on the washer as a permanent reminder that yes, we really did a remodel!

(ok really, can you blame me for being preoccupied!? plumbing is boring to start out with, being the glue holder = more boring + PLUS PLUS it stinks like something crazy awful and the entire time you are thinking about how badly you are going to need all the brain cells that are being killed off in the millions (because they don't regenerate) for your test on thurs. instead, they are being evaporated at the rate of 1,000/second....then you stop thinking because you're so high)

good thing it's getting covered.
whoopsie

dog biscuits

ez got a dog biscuit book for christmas (compliments of aunt beezer schnitzel). here are his valentine give-aways (which if you use the apples with the peels then they're real pretty). ezra drools over these and i'm sure your pooch would love them too. are they healthy? very. almost to a fault. they're actually more healthy than what we humans would consider for ourselves. and yes.... you can eat them too
(cats like william... don't like them so much.)

1. place 1 c rolled oats & 3.5 c whole wheat flower in a (rather large) bowl and mix.

2. add 1/2 c peanut butter & 3/4 lb minced raw apples. or you could be like me and just throw 3-4 apples in and call it good. don't forget, you're making this for a DOG. as human as you to perceive them to be, at the end of the day they're still a DOG.

3. blend everything together and add up to 1c water. add slowly until you get a thick batter (that your dog will like to eat. ya know, like eating cookie dough)

4. put on floured counter and roll into a 1/2" thick slab. cut out shapes (kitty cat, fire hydrant, dog house, bone....... the exact replica of your favorite sock that your dog ate.... anything works).

5. bake for 20min at 375deg, or until they're crisp. of course in our house we like the "small cake" variety so we purposely didn't bake until they were crispy. remember, your DOG probably doesn't care and just wants a break from its normal dog food. this yields quite a few, and if you make them smaller than what ez got then you have enough for all the dogs on the block

dear_____
will you be my valentine?
love ezra

ez has a couple girlfriends and so this year we made homemade healthy doggie biscuits, bone shaped, of course, with little valentine notes.
a dog can never have too many doggie valentines.

what have we got ourselves into?

under normal circumstances i would never, ever, in a million years show these pictures, but you have to see what we're starting with to eventually appreciate where we are going. it is time for the 2nd major burnum house re-do project: the laundry room

although not as fun as the media room, it needs done. here is why:
we are starting with this:
(see those white ceiling pipes? yes, they're already re-routed thanks for my handy dallas. open shelves: going going gone! green color? it's leaving too!)
we also have lovely "accent" features such as (i'm sure yo'ull be jealous).... sponge painted hot water heater. no, not so hot after all. (i just realized this picture is upside down, sorry. but all in all it doesn't really make much difference. ugly is ugly)and gross utility sink.... that will be replaced with something so much better. promise.

so, what better time to start this project? (when my stomach is still in knots and i have a major ochem test thurs....don't worry, i've been studying!) the 1st wall is out, and i can only imagine how our trashman will love the sheetrock.
to come: backsplash tiling, built in counter top and enclosed shelves, new paint color, built in ironing board.... oh yeah. good stuff

sick day

yesterday i think i came down with a "little" case of food poisoning. so today i stayed home from work, and school, and wasted an entire day of my life.

i must say, ezra is a pretty good nurse and if he had thumbs he would be that much better. ...until i came up from my shower to find my spot had been taken by my nurse...pillow and all.

spoiled animal update

many of you are asking,
how is the tempermental kitty cat?
take a look.....and blood work confirms.....
a kitty with big-spender tastes for whisker likens, fondness for taking all day naps, no ambition for personal hygiene and an irritable personality with absolutely nothing physically wrong with him.
all back to normal.
thank you for all your concern for the little guy. looks like everything (except the bank acct) will turn out being ok in the end!

with Ochem test rapidly approaching ezra gets very agitated with my lack of enthusiasm and movement from the kitchen table.
position 1 (he held onto this for quite some time)
position 2 (notice he's on the boobie trapped chair)

snowicides

yes, as in running suicides in the snow...

i know that i had previously posted that i would not be taking any pictures of myself running but with today's run i was ok with the amount of flesh being exposed.it snowed 6" today and i freaked when i realized that today was a 50 min day. many people on fb reminded me that rocky trained in the snow and i'm like "YEAH! i can do that!" so i waited to do my workout until tonight, when the only person i knew that was dumb enough to agree to do this with me would get home from work.

so tonight, dallas and i bundled up (too much) and took our snowshoes out to the dirt track behind the house and we were going to RUN! .....which lasted for like 1-2 laps until our sides hurt so bad we almost threw our dinners up. previously today i was talking to sandy (who is also training for a long distance running event) about how to increase running speeds....so i thought all the way back to high school track where mr terry would torture us with "sprint the straights, walk the curves." so that's what we did....for 50 min. i would consider these to be more snowicides and really don't know why we did them but they HURT. very bad like. now i'm praying that they snowplow the bike path by wednesday because i never, ever, want to do this again. it was such an anaerobic effort. painful, yet sadly addicting.

boobie-trap monday

the war is on....
dallas vs. william

now while it may seem this isn't fair to the sick little kitty kat, it is highly entertaining for me to watch the dynamics of the battle so i let it slide. you see, william has had "his spot" on the top of the chair in the corner of the room for the past 3 years. it is finally starting to break the chair down and dallas is extremely ticked, especially after he cleaned it all up this weekend.

so yesterday dallas put a bottle of canned air in "the spot" to deter the williamator from sitting there. i could tell he was very pleased with himself for thinking of such a stealthy plan
this irritated william, but he just found a spot on a different chair.
this made dallas quite irritated.
today i walk upstairs and dallas quickly exclaims.... "HA! i boobie trapped it!" and by golly yes he had. now i can look at headphones AND canned air.
this makes william & i both irritated.
i mean, who doesn't want to look at this all day?
(tail has been angrily flopping like for the last 15 min)

many of you have asked how the normal-sized-healthy-weight cat is doing. the vet called saturday and half of his blood results were in and they were normal. i'm guessing we get the 2nd half today. his hair is still kinda gross but he appears to be doing fine. i'm assuming the next step would be a psych evaluation but he probably won't cooperate.

football question...

congrats to the saints!(dallas had to tell me. and he didn't watch it either)
my super bowl consisted of downward dogs and ethene.

there is one thing i don't get about professional football. if they're playing in the nfl (emphasize national), and not the ifl (international), how can they truly be world champions?

i don't get it.
can anyone explain this?

yes, i'm running a marathon

well not today, or tomorrow, but soon
today marks completion of week #2 of marathon training.
many of you are probably asking questions, like, why didn't i know about this?
i am about to answer these for you in my self interview.

why didn't i know about this?
well, i wanted to get a couple weeks in and make sure hamstring was going to be ok before i became totally devastated. also, because many of you who thought i had semi-mental problems before hand would write me off as totally losing it. earlier that would have crushed my ego but i am up and running again (literally) so i'm ok with it. call me crazy if you like.

i thought you were anti-running?
well technically yes. i was. but i think it was because i was scared of being hurt again. now that i have things figured out i'm ready to go. i don't know if i would call what i'm doing exactly running. it may be jogging.... or if the j is silent then yogging.

what happened to cycling?
this semester is too crazy to train on the bike. once i get on the bike i want to do well but i just don't have the time to train to get to fitness level i'll want to be at. i am looking forward to cross season though

is your cycling team ok with this?
yes our manager is awesome. she's supportive of everything. i'll occasionally go to spin classes and do cycling team things but my focus is going to be on running. this year i changed from the road team (like i was on last year) to the multi-sport category. this more encompasses cross season anyway. i was planning ahead for this marathon so long ago that when we ordered our team clothing back in november for the upcoming season i got a team sports bra racing thing that the tri-athletes wear. no, i'm am not doing a tri....but hopefully it will be warm enough to sport the team colors at the actual event!

what does dallas think about this?
i think he thinks i'm crazy. none the less it's a good excuse for him to get out of town (well someone is going to have to carry me from the finish line to the airport)

so you don't have time to train on the bike, but think you have time to train for a marathon?
yes, correct. i realize that a marathon is also a time suck but you get more aerobic bang for your buck running. example: i can run real hard for 35 min and get a good workout in. on the bike, 35 min will get me thru town and just barely getting warmed up. listen people, if i don't work out i'll go nuts. so either i do it and be happy and figure out how to work it into my schedule, or, i don't do it and be miserable. for those of you that know me, option b is a very, very bad choice

are you sure your hamstring injury is ready for this?
yes. i have talked this over extensively with my chiropractor (who just got done healing me). without hesitation he said yes. we are being proactive with recovery, diet, and stretching (85% of this is yoga related). it (hammie) gets tight on runs but it will get used to it sooner or later

when is this marathon?
june 6, newport oregon.

why would you choose a marathon in oregon?
because i want a vacation after organic chem finals!!! we are going up to meet dallas' cousin in seattle and drive down to the marathon. plus, it is pretty flat, relatively small and at sea level. i'm hoping i feel like a rock star

you think you can get ready for this by then?
sure do. if the lady who wrote the book i'm taking the training schedule out of can do it in 5 mo from couch to finish line, i can totally do it. most people should be able to train for a marathon in 5-6 mo, assuming they take care of themselves and train right

so you think you are going to be able to do everything (school, work, training, house, dog..... and cookie making?)
no. i really have no idea if i can do it all. but i'll die trying. having too much free time tends to get me in trouble

what made you want to do this?
i've always wanted to run a marathon. training for one 6 years ago was how i hurt my hamstring in the first place. just running these last 2 weeks has been awesome. i've really really enjoyed every workout. maybe it was good for me to get off the bike a bit, pushing myself out of my comfort zone. i know i'll probably get competitive with myself on times....etc but its going to be awesome. and yes, i realize it's going to hurt (i hurt today after 7 mi.... that's less that 1/3 the actual distance) but eh.... maybe i'll get hooked to them and have all kinds of vacation options after this. never the less, i'll have a stellar aerobic base, be ready for the hiking season and then be ready to focus again on cross in the fall

are you documenting this by chance?
yes, i have an electronic journal type thing, but hopefully you'll never find it.

any pictures of this process?
absolutely not. i will not be posting any pictures of me running in tights anywhere. are you kidding? that would be like blackmailing myself. i will post one at the finish line though.

William goes to the vet....

....meow...
meow
meow
MEOW
MEOW
meow

was our car ride there....and back.
first off, you will never believe.... william is actually at a healthy weight for his size!
then the fur started coming off and i was glad i wore an extra shirt to take off after this whole process was done with

after paying a very hefty tab (but how often do we have to spend money on william?) we walked out of there knowing...
1) had a fever
2) was healthy enough to still hiss at the vet
3) had blood work done

i won't scare you with the possibilities of what she told me. we find out blood results tomorrow. right now he's pouting in the corner.

dear william lovers,

just wanted to let you know that you should probably start sending prayers up for him now. he has been acting funny lately (not ha ha funny)... and i finally put everything together today when i pet him and a couple clumps of hair out. other areas that worry me:

• excessive laziness (more than usual)
• gross greasy & semi stinky coat
• diarrhea
• not eating much
• isolating himself in darkness

we go in to see the vet friday.
in the meanwhile i'll continue to freak out

dear readers,
so sorry for the lack of excitement & pictures. you see, my camera was literally stolen out of my hands by this guy named dallas who took it to nm and PROMISED to take pictures for my blog. i'm very sorry to report that we have yet to receive pictures on this end...(or maybe yo'ure not sorry because i can't imagine there is anything really to look at in hobbs, nm)....

so instead.... you get to hear about organic chemistry! (now is about the time that you take your computer to bed with you so you can put yourself to sleep very quickly reading this). i first have to admit that i actually would like organic chemistry if we didn't literally fly over it and could spend more time in class learning it. but it is about 100000000x better than chem II because we get to draw pictures! yes! (and no graphing calculator required!)

ok. so tonight we learned things like, how to name compounds! we started off "easy" in the alkanes group, which means that everything is made of single bonds between C & H. other words for this are "saturated" and "sigma bonds". so by the time we were done with the night we were able to look at this GIANT string of (*cough* mumble jumbled crap all thrown together) and come out with something like: 2, 2dimethal, 4 ethalpentane
(check out the sigma bonds!)
i still need to learn the spelling, esp since little discrepancies such as -ane vs -ene make all the difference in the world. (tonight, at the end of my 15 hr day i really didn't care though.) but you get the just of it.

so what can you take home from this? notice the "saturated" above? yip! that's right, as in saturated or unsaturated fats that you consume (just as fyi, i figured this all out on my own and asked the teacher after class.... be impressed). so there are 2 types of bonds. pi and sigma. pi bonds are easier to break (these are either double or triple bonds and called unsaturated). so that is why unsaturated fats are better, since they are easier for your body to break down. saturated bonds are those sigma bonds and are much more difficult.

take home lesson: avoid saturated fats like the plague!