Category Archives: Family

July 13, 2012 · 6:08 am

5 weeks

It has been 5 weeks and 3 days since I have run. Not that I’m really keeping track or anything. I have not worn the boot since early this week. I have been trying to at least wear running shoes vs sandals for a little extra support. My foot is slowly improving. Sloooowwwwwwllllllyyyyyyyy…. It still feels tight on the bottom, especially at the end of the day. Fun side note: on Tuesday I looked in the mirror and noticed that my hips were way off. Now they are usually off, but I am talking right hip two full inches higher than the left and also rotated forward. I speculate it is from wearing the boot. Since it is so thick on the bottom, it jacked my entire right side up and out of whack. Thank goodness I work at PT clinic where people know how to put me back together and get my body lined up correctly.

I feel like I am watching racing season slowly slip out of my grasp. I was really hoping to be able to run the 50k at the North Face Endurance Challenge, but at this point I will be happy if I can run the half marathon. Let’s face it, at this point I would be happy to run at all. Period.

Ok, on to happier things. Like pink hair!

See? This is the kind of thing that happens when you take running away from me. I kind of love it.

I got to spend lots of time with my family over the holiday week.

As well as experiencing the most hysterical tube ride of my life. Seriously. I was crying from laughing so hard and had a sore throat from screaming so loud.

And because they tend to make everything better, kittens!

My cousins have two. Lilo & Stitch.

I want one.

1 Comment

Filed under Family, Fun, Races, The run

Tagged as Boating, North Face Endurance Challenge, Summer

July 1, 2012 · 8:20 pm

The good, the bad

The good: My foot is feeling somewhat better. I have been going mostly without the boot since Wednesday, and it has definitely improved from when I first went to the doc.

The bad: It doesn’t feel like it’s anywhere close to running. It is making me crazy and sad. I still have pain especially on the bottom of my foot and it feels like it would flair up in two seconds if I tried running. I see the doc again tomorrow morning so we’ll see what he says.

The good: Summerfest. I got to go two nights in a row on Thursday and Friday, and saw some really good concerts.

Silversun Pickups:

The Foo Fighters:

Kelly Clarkson:

Train:

So much fun!

The bad: I had to wear the boot to both concerts, and it was approximately 124 degrees inside that thing. Yuck.

The good: Summer. Boating. Outdoor activities in the sweltering heat.

The bad: The sweltering heat. I don’t even know when the last time was that it rained. Our grass is brown, along with the entire state of Wisconsin.

The good: My brother and his wife are coming into town tomorrow and staying for a week. This makes me very happy and excited.

The bad: none.

1 Comment

Filed under Family, Friends, Fun

Tagged as Boating, Summer, Summerfest

May 28, 2012 · 8:21 pm

The best season

Things that are finally in season:

Parties

Boat rides

Water balloons for little kids and big kids alike

Berries

Patriotic desserts

And spending the day on the water

This season could last forever, and all would be right with the world.

Windy city

I cannot believe how windy it has been here the past few days. I thought it was windy while we were biking, but that was nothing. The last couple of days it has been impossible to run on the beach (or walk or stand really) without getting pelted by blowing sand.

We took a trip to the Hatteras Lighthouse, but weren’t able to climb to the top. The balcony wasn’t open because of, you guessed it, high winds. We walked around and took some photos at least.

The whole group:

And the ladies:

After the lighthouse we stopped for a beverage at Dirty Dick’s Crab House.

The souvenir cups say “I got my crabs from Dirty Dick’s Crab House.” Classy.

On Wednesday night Steve and I made pizzas for dinner for the whole group. For dessert, we carried over the pizza theme and made a giant cookie “pizza.”

We sliced that baby up and made cookie sundaes with chocolate pretzel covered ice cream (!!!) and whipped cream. Best decision of the week.

I have consumed so much sugar this week that I had a headache all day yesterday. I’m pretty sure it was worth it though.

The trip would not have been complete without the girls buying matching outfits and having a photo session on the beach.

We let the guys in for a few photos as well.

My favorite:

Today we plan to get packed up, go out to breakfast, and hit the road for the long drive home. Bye bye beach!

1 Comment

Filed under Dessert, Family, Food, Fun, Travel

Tagged as Beach, Outer Banks

April 12, 2012 · 2:27 pm

Costco Ice Cream Bar

Back in February my mom and Joe embarked on a three week trip to Hawaii. I talked to her several times while she was off aloha-ing and luau-ing around the islands. Perhaps the most exciting discovery of their trip was the Costco Hand-Dipped Ice Cream Bar. Yes, they frequented Costco while on vacation, as some of the places they stayed had a kitchen where they could eat some of their meals. As she described the bar in luscious detail over the phone, I excitedly wondered if said ice cream bar existed at our very own Costco here in Wisconsin. As excited as I was, I was also baffled that I was not aware of the existence of this mother of all ice cream bars. I drooled as she mentioned the vanilla ice cream, the thick layer of hand-dipped chocolate, and…wait for it…the thick coating of chopped almonds. Add the fact that the treat rings up for $1.50 and it seemed too good to be true.

Fast forward to after their trip. I got a call from my mom that she went to Costco and they did indeed have the ice cream bar. Oh joyous day! We made plans to meet there on a Friday after work, but our plans were foiled by a rogue snow storm. Before we had a chance to reschedule our outing, my mom went and did something very silly. She Googled the ice cream bar and found out that it clocks in at a whopping 870 calories. Eighthundredandseventycalories. Oh my. Could an ice cream treat possibly be worth half of a day’s worth of calories? I tried to put it out of my mind.

Fast forward to yesterday. After completing some yard work at our house, my mom and I headed out to do some shopping at Costco. We consumed a fair amount of samples, as we had not eaten a proper lunch. After we checked out, I suggested possibly ordering a frozen yogurt. As we debated the Very Berry Sundae or the simple Twist cup, my mom didn’t seem to thrilled. She finally declared that we should get the ice cream bar to share. Who am I to argue with my mom? I watched from afar as our bar was dipped in rich luscious chocolate and generously rolled in chopped almonds. My mouth watered as my mom placed the bar on the table and handed me a spoon.

We gobbled up the entire bar, that as evidenced in the above photo, was as big as my mom’s head. It was spectacular. Once the bar was gone, the stray almonds picked off of the foil, and the stick licked clean, my mom looked at me and said,

“It was worth it.”

1 Comment

Filed under Dessert, Family, Food

Tagged as Costco, Ice Cream

October 31, 2011 · 9:25 pm

The house

I don’t think I mentioned it on the blog, but Steve and I closed on a house last week. Yep, we are officially moving out of the city and into the suburbs. Finding a house in our desired area and within our budget was a bit of a challenge. Most of the homes we looked at were either

1) Super old. Like over 100 years old, which could be ok for some people, but we didn’t want to deal with oil burning heat tanks and all of the problems and work that come with a house that old.

2) Complete gut jobs. We are willing to do some work (as you will see), but some of the houses were complete remodel jobs which we had neither the time or money to tackle.

3) Plain weird. We saw some crazy things during our house hunt, such as a master bedroom with a master bath attached, but no door. And nowhere to put a door. Um, I don’t want to hear someone using the facility just on the other side of a half wall while I am sleeping. We also saw some amazingly gaudy fixtures, interesting DIY repairs, and many more things that made us scratch our heads.

Or some combination of all three of those things.

We were starting to worry that we would never find the perfect house to meet our needs. On our wish list included three bedrooms, a two-car garage, a place to park the boat, a decent layout, and a small manageable yard. It doesn’t seem like that much to ask for, right? Well, after much searching, we finally found our house.

It needs work, but it’s mostly cosmetic. We are knocking out half of a wall to open up the kitchen, installing all new flooring, and painting the entire house. A ton of work was completed over this past weekend thanks to the help of my awesome family, so everything already looks quite different than the pictures in this post. I am still going to show the “before” pics here though, so that I can show the updates as they happen.

So without further ado…

The kitchen:

Living room:

Family/dining room:

Master bedroom:

Guest room:

Bedroom three/office:

Full bath:

So as you can see, lots of cosmetic work to be done. I will be updating with before and after photos of the rooms as we work on them. As I said, everything already looks quite different.

I am managing to fit in some running here and there, but to be honest it is taking a back seat right now. We are in sort of a time crunch with the house because we hope to move in right before Thanksgiving. Please pardon my lack of blogging and running-related posts for the next few weeks, things are getting crazy up in here!

3 Comments

Filed under Family, House, Miscellany

August 14, 2011 · 4:22 pm

The unthinkable

Last Wednesday night, Steve was hit by a car while biking. He is ok, thank goodness. It seems like cyclists are getting hit left and right lately, so I want to use this post as a reminder to everyone to be safe out there.

Steve was riding south on a heavily-biked road in Milwaukee. A 16 year old male driver pulled out in front of him to turn north. There was a large road construction sign obstructing the driver’s view. Steve was probably going about 25 mph when they hit. He cannot remember anything, but we have been able to piece together what happened by talking to the police and one of the witnesses. Given the amount of damage to the car, Steve is incredibly lucky that he escaped with no major injuries. The windshield had a hole in it from his head, the driver’s side door was dented in, the hood was dented and the headlight was broken. He literally went flying.

I was not home when it happened, and I did not hear my phone ringing right away. When I talked to Steve he was getting a ride home with the police. His bike is totaled. I rushed home and when I got there he was pretty out of it. Pacing back and forth in our condo, repeating things over and over, etc. It took me an hour to get him to go to the hospital. We finally did, and thankfully the CT scan of his head came out ok.

If you are squeamish, probably stop reading now. I took some pictures of his injuries in the hospital.

His eye was all cut up, and he had a super-fat lip. His eye looks about 5 times worse than this right now, it’s all red, black, blue, and green.

His elbow was pretty cut up and bloody. This is what is giving him the most trouble because every time he bumps it against something it is really painful.

His thigh is cut up and really swollen. This also looks a lot worse now because it’s such a huge bruise. It’s turning all kinds of crazy colors. New little sore areas and cuts are popping up each day.

His left hand was swollen like a balloon, and the x-rays are showing a probable fracture in the wrist. He is scheduled for a CAT scan tomorrow to take a better look at it and see the extent of the fracture, because it wasn’t completely clear on the x-rays. Right now he is in a splint wrapped up with an ACE wrap to keep it immobile.

The worst part is that we are four weeks out from Ironman. A new bike has already been ordered, but the race will probably depend on weather he will have to wear a cast or not. He is determined to do everything he can to resume training and do the race, so we will have to see what happens. We were also supposed to leave on a family camping trip yesterday, which is on hold. We are hoping to possibly get up there for a few days on Tuesday.

Things could have turned out so much worse, and I am just so thankful that he is ok. Many people that are hit like this are not so lucky. He was wearing a helmet, which I am completely convinced saved his life. We will be getting him the same helmet again, and I am going to get a new one too. I learned that bike helmets should be replaced every 5 years, so I am overdue.

Please be careful and share the roads, weather you are a biker, runner, or driver. We all need to pay attention and follow the rules to keep everyone safe. End PSA.

7 Comments

Filed under Family, The bike

Tagged as accident

July 4, 2011 · 10:17 am

Happy 4th!

Last night Captain Steve took us (me, my mother-in-law, Steve’s brother and his date) out on the boat for the big fireworks display in downtown Milwaukee.

Milwaukee really is pretty from the water.

The fireworks lasted for a full hour, and I have to admit that I dosed off a few times. It’s because I am 80 years old.

There really is no better way to enjoy the fireworks than on the water. Best view ever, and the booming sounds echoing off of the water and the buildings is awesome.

Happy 4th of July!!

Ps. Get excited because I attended a Rockin’ 80’s party on Saturday night, and there are lots of pictures. Here’s a teaser:

1 Comment

Filed under Family, Fun, Holidays

Tagged as Boating

July 1, 2011 · 6:43 pm

Kanye

Training has taken a back seat this week to what I like to call summering. It was a “recovery week” on the schedule, which meant shorter workouts on most days, and a complete rest day today. I filled my extra free time with all things summery. My brother and sister-in-law are in town from Philly, so we have been hanging out and doing warm-weather activities.

Nothing says summer in Milwaukee more than Summerfest. In case you are unfamiliar, Summerfest is the world’s largest music festival spanning 10 days in late June/early July. It is also the world’s best place to people-watch. In my family we are spoiled by my aunt and uncle, Beth and Mike, who purchase season tickets to the main stage at Summerfest, which includes access to the “Captain’s Deck.” This is where I met up with Mike, Omoleye, and my cousin Kelly last night. I wasted no time in partaking in the free food and beer.

If you have been to Summerfest, you know how valuable the Captain’s Deck is. Normally you have to fight crowds, wait in long lines, and pay $6.50 for a Miller Lite. No thank you, I will enjoy my seat high above the crowds, my fried eggplant strips, pizza, and ice cream. Oh yes, free ice cream.

This year’s ice cream of choice was the double chocolate caramel Magnum Bar. Have you tried these yet? Worth the 330 calories for sure. We hung out for several hours, in which I had 3 beers. Then I got a red wine cooler to go. Um, let’s just say I am a lightweight who is not used to consuming more than 1-2 alcoholic beverages at a time.

The Captain’s Deck was a precursor to to the headline concert of the night, Kanye West. I will be the first to admit that I normally would not go out of my way to see Kanye, but I figured it would be a fun show. We snapped some pics as we walked to the amphitheater.

And one of my favorites ever:

We missed the opening act (on purpose), and we waited a good 45 minutes for Kanye to start. Typical. Did I mention we were in the 5th row?

Despite the fact that I only knew two songs the entire night, I still had a blast and danced my butt off.

White boy has moves:

It was a good show except for the parts when Kanye stopped rapping and started speaking. Could have done without that part.

Next up, Def Leppard on Tuesday night. Oh yeah!

What is the best concert you have ever seen?

I used to go to a ton of shows, and I don’t think anything can top Rusted Root back in their heyday.

2 Comments

Filed under Family, Food, Fun

Tagged as Concerts, Summer, Summerfest

June 19, 2011 · 12:33 pm

Father’s Day Fun

I don’t want to talk too much about Saturday morning’s bike ride because, frankly, it sucked. I think my hard ride Thursday night followed by a decent 25-miler Friday morning just caught up with my legs and they said enough already.

Interestingly, we did a short brick run after the bike ride and I felt fine. Good, as a matter of fact.

After the workout it was time for more important things. Like going to my Dad’s house to celebrate Father’s Day! On the way there we made a stop at Walgreens to pick up some cards, when this happened.

I split this little package of deliciousness with Steve. I think all of the candy companies are trying to kill me with the addition of coconut options lately, along with Starbucks and their evil coconut mocha frappacino.

We got to my dad’s house and dug into some snacks before heading out on the boat.

Steve is driving here because my dad decided to do a little water skiing. I believe he has now gone 6 years in a row getting up on skis on his first try.

I contemplated skiing, but decided that the water was a bit too chilly for me yet. So I just hung out on the boat and soaked up some sun.

When we got back to the house my dad fired up the grill, and again, I did what I do best.

And that would be lounge around and drink beer. I wish I took a picture of the lake from the deck, because it really is a great view. Eventually I wandered over to see what the grill master had cookin’.

Sea bass, asparagus, potatoes, and breadsticks. He also grilled a steak for Steve because he is crazy and doesn’t like fish.

This meal was so so good. I actually inhaled half of that potato before I remembered to snap a pic. I don’t think there is anything better than dinner off of the grill during summer. And grilled breadsticks = genius.

As if dinner wasn’t tasty enough, Steve and I had made a little stop at Milwaukee Cupcake Co for dessert.

I think my dad is going to start his own blog.

I had the s’more cupcake.

Other flavors included chocolate pb cup (still the best ever), strawberry, and chocolate on chocolate. Milwaukee Cupcake Co still reigns supreme in my book.