10, X, Ten

Ten is just a crazy number. Sometimes it's perfection. Ten fingers, ten toes, she's a 10. It's also the date that we leave for Mexico. It isn't really ten days until the wedding though. Unless you count today also, then I guess it works.

I went and picked up my dress yesterday and I am happy with how it looks once it's on. There might be one thing that I would've changed, but it's so small that I'm probably the only one that would ever even notice it. Let it slide. Woosa.

Today, after purchasing a new keyboard...for my laptop...I await the arrival of the Sears delivery men. Since my efforts in fixing the dryer were thwarted by a basic lack of knowledge and the fear of electrocution, we broke down after about four days and ordered a new washer and dryer. One trip to the laundromat was really more than enough for me. It isn't terrible. I can go and read, but it's just kind of a pain. Lazy American!

Dear self: those favors really aren't going to put themselves together so you might wanna get on that also.

I was asked very recently if I was excited for the wedding/Cancun/moving. Oddly enough, not yet. Somewhere along the line, I think I broke my excited bone (hahahaha, yeah, add your own joke here) and it never got repaired. Maybe it's some sort of self-defense mechanism. If I'm not excited, I won't be let down when I actually get to do things. Maybe I'm just a little bit nutty. Yeah, probably that. I think that the last time I was excited about an event was in January when we went to the Steelers game.

I'm considering heading over to Tumblr for my various rants. Apparently it's easier to do music and photos there. But, seeing as I have a hard time just blogging daily, I don't know. Although, it might be that much easier to do Tumblr. We'll see.

Thanks for putting up with this ridiculous brain emptying as I work on actually preparing myself to write something meaningful. Hang in there! I'll get interesting yet!

The Post Where We're Almost Halfway Through January Already

Oh yeah, that's right. I said it. And it's true. In a few short days, we'll be halfway through the first month of the new year. I gave up on resolutions since I typically fail at those in an epic manner. Countdowns, however, I am fantastic at those. Basically because they take care of themselves. I've also got some plans for the next two months, but I'm trying not to go out any further than that for now, but of course some plans extend past that.

Countdowns first:

• 5 days until I get back into the Pole Fitness studio. I don't know if I'll do many actual pole classes, but the conditioning and stretching and the cabaret classes are SO. ON. I'm hoping the cabaret class takes care of my desire to relive my Club Med days of being on stage.
  
• 11 more days of doing Zumba every mornings preparation for going to get the certification. Now that's more my speed. I need to be out and about with the people.
  
• OMG! OMG! OMG!!! There are only 26 days left until graduation!! It seems like we've been trying to get this degree forever but we finally have the end in our sights. See previous bullet and know that I probably will not use said degree.
• 27 days until I can focus on getting my group fitness certification. (See a trend here?) Yeah, I already have my business card pictured in my head. I know I can do this and I'll be great at it. For Pete's sake, if I can teach people to do the flying trapeze, I can teach them to exercise on the ground.
• 48 days until I can (hopefully!) liberate myself from these handcuffs, even though they pay the bills.
  
• 108 days is the target to actually have that certification. Sooner would be better, of course, but I gotta just make some goals here.
• 151 days until I'm officially off the market. (I mean, I've been off the market since 3/4 through 2005, but 151 days till it's all legal and junk.)
• Somewhere around the 170 day mark, we should have everything together to get the hell out of dodge. By dodge I mean Miami. I don't think that there are words to describe how much I'm looking forward to leaving the concrete jungle behind. Hello trees and grass and open spaces!

Wow. There's a lot going on in my life. Funny that I don't even realize that until I write it down.

Also in the plan is trying to finagle my way into a job that doesn't currently exist but I'm trying to talk my future boss into it. Who can resist a well-written proposal?!?! I'm torn between wanting to do this (because it's closer to home, less stress, so freeing) and not (feeling bad because future boss may be somewhat of a pushover, I've seen it, and even though I know this person needs my help, I just feel bad. I'm a weirdo.).

Random sidebar: Do you know this guy? Today's his birthday. Look him up on Facebook and wish him a happy birthday. Tell him Sunshine sent you, lol.

Have you ever shopped for a wedding dress? It's a pain in the ass. I finally picked it out though and now I just have to order it and hope against hope that it won't need alterations. Not because of the cost, just the inconvenience. Golly, I'd have to get in the car and drive like 5 minutes to the store. Ugh! Yes, I'm lazy. I'm all about the party but not so much about the prep. Wait, but I already know what I'm gonna do with my hair. Ha!

Random sidebar #2: "My Maria" by Brooks and Dunn just came on my iPod. It really reminds me of some kickass times that our Don Pablo's crew used to have. Annie, Carrie, Nestor, George, Chris, Lori, Gerth, Mel (!), and all the rest of the crew that followed me "home" all the time, I miss you guys!!

I am convinced that my life story would make either a great book or a great thesis for an up and coming psychiatrist. Maybe I should get to writing down some of my better adventures. You might not believe them even if I told you, lol. Perhaps in another post. Till then...

We can rebuild her, we have the technology

Well hello there! Haven't seen you in a few days. How have you been? Good, bad, indifferent? I can only quote Mr. Tupac Shakur here and say "Keep ya' head up."

QUESTION?

Me? I've been keeping fairly busy doing nothing. Not that I don't have anything to do, but I seem to have misplaced all of my "hey I wanna get up and do stuff". I kinda feel like Bitch Shyner (see Family Guy) and the normal me went on vacation or something. The only thing that stays on schedule right now is my thrice weekly run. There are, after all, less than ten days left until I push out this 5K then rush back home to go to bed.

I've been told that I try to do too much. This may be true. While I like to have a lot to do, I tend to try to take on too much and then get overwhelmed by it. Yeah, I'll just keep doing it though.

INTERJECTION!

I am not a bandwagon fan. I love my black and gold always, through good times and bad, and this past Sunday was definitely bad. This week, I'll still be yelling at my TV, wishing the boys all the luck in the world and watching them take it to the Chiefs in their house.

The remainder of this post may jump around a lot, so if you're not up for the Blair Witch of blogging, you might want to just quit reading here.

Begin brain dump...

I have four more practice runs before the race. As long as I don't falter during the second mile and save a little oomph for the end, I should be able to break 27 minutes. Woo! I'm fast! Yes, I know, not so much.

Fairly certain that all clothing items that were needed for the upcoming snowboarding trip have been purchased. All that remain are lift tickets and lessons. Do you have any idea how wonderful Colorado is? Wonderful.

Only another class and 3/5 to get through until I'm done with this degree, thank you Jeebus. I will officially be one of the many to have gotten that paper. I'll also likely be one of the many to not do much of anything with said piece of paper.

Certification information arrived so I need to make time to start reading it. 12 week program to ready myself for the test.

Deposit made. Dress selected. Save the dates ordered. Favors pretty much figured out. Am I done with the planning for this yet?

*Lyricist says: There's some stuff you're gonna see that's gonna make it hard to smile in the future. But whatever you see, through all the rain and the pain, you gotta keep your sense of humor. You gotta be able to smile through all this bullshit. Remember that. *

Other things still to do: paint pretty much the entire house, Saturday lawn, clean the corner shelf (OMG, you should see THAT mess), figure out what to do with this whole social networking concept that isn't for me.

...End dump

You do realize that I give you all of these things to think about so I can stop thinking about them and actually get some stuff done, right? I know, I'm terrible, but once again, I think Tupac said it best when he said "Only God can judge me. All you other motherfuckers get out my business." No, not really. Well, not the second sentence at least. If I didn't want you in my business, I wouldn't tell it to you.

I wanted to give you a fun video here, but it doesn't seem to be working. You might be able to see it over on my other home.

Later!

ROCO Friday - Very Superstitious

Yeah, go ahead and click that and start jammin'.

GO AHEAD! (The sermon can't start without the music.)

Good day to the congregation. Today, the Reverend MiamiShyner is in somewhat of a p-funky mood. You know, that's better than just regular funky.

It's Friday the 13th! No ladders, no mirrors, no cats. Or no seeds, no stems, no sticks depending on how you run your game. Not legal but I ain't hatin on ya. Seen the green do too much good.

Speaking of doing good, know that the Reverend MS practices what she preaches. There was a guy on the street this morning asking for help to get some food. Honestly, he didn't look homeless but that doesn't mean he wasn't hungry. I got him a sandwich cuz I'm nice like that. It's payday, I can blow a couple bucks putting out some good karma. ROCO!

Let us not forget our countdowns. 13 days, under 2 weeks left until I chug out this 5K. I have no idea why I'm even worried about it as I run it three times a week. Could be the same reason that I would get nervous before shows even though we had done them 20 times before. :-) I'm still a slow 27 minutes and change but I'm just concentrating on finishing. 43 (Troy!), 86 (Hines!), 212 (20 Sepulvedas + 2 Batches) till vacation, graduation, destination. Steelers on the brain much?

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!

Very exciting, for me at least, is that my information arrived this morning for my group fitness certification. I really enjoy torturing myself by having too much on my plate at all times. I also believe that I'll be a kick-ass fitness instructor. I'll work my way up to personal trainer after that. My plan is to have experience in a couple things before we move so I can be ready for anything.

Yesterday, I tried an apple cider vinegar rinse on my hair. It does remove a lot of buildup and residue but good gravy it stinks. After rinsing with hot water forever and then another shampoo, I think my hair still smells a tiny bit like vinegar. I'll have to try another shampoo this evening but it was totally worth it. Likely not noticable to anyone but me but it looks cleaner and healthier now than it did before.

My congregation, go out into the world and spread the good ROCO word. People need to know about this! Just imagine if everyone was this happy every ROCO Friday. It might lead to ROCO Thursdays and who knows after that! We could all be happy! Let's get on it. :-)

Have a great day, a great weekend, and most of all, have a ROCO Friday!

Sometimes, the days just sneak away...

Wow, its been a few days, huh?

I suppose that's just fine and dandy as I never promised I would write daily, at least I didn't promise it to you guys. I only promised myself that I would try to write more often if for nothing else than to try to keep my sanity. So here I am. Hi! *waving*

At times, these things are likely boring to you, but I need to keep track of them and I like to look back at my blog down the road to see what was going on back in the day. :-)

With their fifth consecutive win, the Pittsburgh Steelers take the Denver Broncos....and stuff them mile high. Great game. Thank you, gentlemen.

The countdown continues. It's a mere 16 days until my first 5K. I already did my registration and everything. I just have to pick up my packet in a couple of weeks. I am hoping against all hope that Ida will be long gone tomorrow morning. She caused a little havoc yesterday morning as I TRIED to run. But, when the wind is blowing at about 15mph with gusts up to 30, it's a little tough.

Next on the agenda is vacation! I can't believe there are only 45 more days! We have most of the big stuff handled like flights, house, and equipment so now we only have lessons, food choices and the ever-important spa day for scheduling. I picked up some sweet Under Armour that I really hope does a good job. I hate being all bulky on the mountain!

Holy smokes, shortly after vacation finishes, 36 days to be exact, is graduation! It took me a while, but I'm proud to say I'm finally getting that paper. The question becomes what will I do with this elusive piece of paper and will it mean anything to anyone of importance? These answers and many more on the next episode of Soap.

Do you think that's enough to worry about? You're right, it probably is, but I'm not being me if I'm not overloading my plate with things to do. As such, the short list of the rest of it is below. The first bullet deserves its own paragraph or entire post, but that's for a later date.

• Hi, wedding. I guess you're not gonna plan yourself although I have thankfully little to do to plan you. But every time I think about it, I remember something else. Aargh.
  
• Group fitness instructor training - Yes, I ordered all your stuff today. I hope to be certified by the end of January. That's certified, not certifiable, which I already am.
• Social networking - It's more than just talking to you guys! :-D And I told my chiro that I'd see what I could do for him. Is it weird that I would only be able to do the whole social networking thing for someone I know/something I believe in?
• Business plan - So I've got this idea. I just need to gather materials, put in some labor, create a website, register a domain name. OMG I have a lot of crap to do! As I'm getting closer with this idea, I'll share. I promise.

I suppose that's enough brain dumping for now. Thanks for listening/reading. I may get back to normal blogging without countdowns soon!

Countdown, now with Mexico!

No, not Ron.

Did you miss me yesterday? Psh, now, don't tell fibs to spare my feelings. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

The good Reverend MiamiShyner is not in attendance today but she wishes you all a ROCO Friday nonetheless.

As we all may know, the countdown now stands at 20 days until I try to run this 5K. I have faith that I can do it. I'm training and I can do the distance. I'm just hoping that it's not excessively hot/cold/windy that morning.

Even though formerly Hurricane Ida, currently TD Ida and probably Hurricane Ida again in a few days is a ways away from us, we're still feeling some of her effects, namely wind. Due to the wind, I was surprised to have come in at under 28 minutes this morning. Not super quick by any means, but way better than I ever imagined I would be when I started the program 8 weeks ago.

You should stop reading here if you do not want to read my sappy relationship stuff.

Who has so many countdowns going on at once? No one in their right mind which means me. :-D

• Turkey Trot in 20 days
• Vacation in 48 days
• Graduation in 92 days
• And the latest addition to the list, 218 days until the wedding

As some of you may have known, Lovey and I had plans to make it official in the early summer of next year. I was super excited and ran through several location options before deciding on Vegas. Then I changed my mind. I'm a chick, I'm allowed.

Vegas seemed cool but it was also a little bit of a hassle. I'm not all for the details, I just want the end event to be nice (and I don't want to hire a wedding planner). Vegas fell by the wayside. I found a place closer to home. Literally 5 minutes away from our house. It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was.....$20K! WTF man. For one day! I am not ballin' like that.

At that time, I basically scrapped all wedding plans. I am just stubborn like that. I want it all or I don't want anything. I'm pretty sure that my mom was bummed about it but I was done. I figured that the money I was saving for a wedding could be used for several other things. I was a little sad but I've really never been the one for tradition.

Fast forward to yesterday. Whilst perusing the internet, I came across something that just blew my mind. I could have a ceremony that was far from traditional in a place that was far from home for a price that was far under the place that I had been so excited about. SCORE!

So now, it's back on. Mom's excited. Lovey's excited. Kiddo's excited (this will be her first time out of the country). I'm excited. I get to have a beautiful beach ceremony in the country I love most right under our own. Seriously, I love it so much that I feel like it's like going home. I get to spend 9 days being treated like a princess and I can't wait.

Now, to search for that perfect dres....remember, buck tradition!

Have a great weekend, folks! There's football to be watched. Let's go STEELERS!

22 days...tick, tock, tick, tock

Wow, you are going to get SO tired of hearing about this!
But you just can't stop reading. You think you might miss something cool or funny, don't you? Of course you do, so first, let me reward you with something I find highly amusing:

WE CAN LEVITATE!

Okay, I can't. I didn't get the Evite for training and whatnot. I would be nothing but trouble if I had a superpower like that. Oh, wait, I'm already nothing but trouble. Huh.

It's Wednesday and that means it's a circus kind of day. While I had gone back to flying, I'm now heading back to "under the tent" type activities. I realize that you may not know what the heck I'm talking about, but if you're interested, leave a comment and I'll explain. Otherwise I'm just talking to hear myself talk, or writing to see the paper fill up.

Somehow, I've just realized that I can take a yoga class and an under the tent once a week for the same price of flying once a week. You do the math.

This morning, I finished my run 16 seconds faster than yesterday's run. That isn't a lot, but it's a start.

.......by the way, I'm having my lunch right now and I am so, so disappointed with the plantain chips from the vending machine. I wanted salty and crunchy but got kinda stale and plain instead. Should've gotten the Sun Chips like the original plan.......

It's already November 4, folks. Do you know how much of my NaNoWriMo project I have done? You guessed it, zero words. I don't know why I sign up for that torture every year. I have yet to complete it...or start it for that matter. Life keeps getting in the way. Shame too, because the story is rolling around up there just waiting to get out. Maybe one day, grasshopper, you will snatch the novel from my head.

Let me take a moment to thank you for stopping by and reading my extra grey matter. I'm going to keep writing it, so you can just keep reading it. :-)

Until tomorrow....

The Countdown Continues.... And VAMPIRES!

23 days to go and the training continues.

I can't run every day yet (and I'm not sure that daily running is a great idea) so for the morning workout, I alternate running and a yoga/pilates blend with a full-on yoga class on either Saturday or Sunday, depending on what time the Steelers play.

In case you are unaware, I am scared of needles. Not knitting needles, not sewing needles, but those hollow-tip mofos that burrow into my arm and try and steal my life sustenance. Why? Why do I have such an irrational fear particularly since I'm sporting three tattoos and four ear piercings along with previously having had my tongue and bellybutton pierced? Well, let me tell you.

WARNING! If you are squeamish or share my fear, you might want to skip ahead a couple paragraphs.

When I was but a young lass, I used to have the most horrendous headaches. Could this be before everyone knew what migraines were? Maybe. At any rate, my dutiful parents took me to the hospital because I swore up and down that my head would explode at any second although I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to complain. My mom tried to keep me awake on the way to the hospital but I still dozed off.

Upon arrival to the hospital, my mother gave the pertinent information and in we went. That's right, in we went. Do you remember those days? When you didn't have to wait 4 hours in the ER to be seen? Once inside, a nurse came over to draw blood. I am quite certain that it is with this wench that my fears began. Right now, at 35 years old, I have tiny veins that are quite difficult to see, (thankfully, phlebotomists have come a long way) so you can imagine how they would've looked about 25 years ago. She prepped me and then poked me. And missed. And pulled out. And poked me again. And missed. (geez, this sounds like a porn) Instead of pulling out the second time, she instead decided to just move the needle around in my arm until she struck red gold.

That. Shit. Hurts. Like. Hell.

That was it, I was traumatized. It never really got any better. My veins didn't get bigger and the skin on my arms didn't get any lighter which meant I dreaded any forced bloodletting. I have never donated blood in my life. It used to be that I didn't weigh enough and then when I did, I started getting inked and pierced annually so they wouldn't want my blood and I didn't have to feel bad about not donating.

Once, a phleb went in one arm, poked around, couldn't find anything, went in the other arm, still couldn't find anything, and then ended up having to go in the top of my hand. FYI, by the time she made it to top of the hand, my roommate was physically holding me down in the chair trying to get me to calm down. Probably didn't help that I was mildly hungover and super grumpy as I had just lost my, ahem, friend, at the time.

Back to current day, this morning to be precise. It was time for the annual bloodletting. I hate it, but if I'm paying out the nose for my insurance bi-weekly, I'm damn sure gonna use it for all it's worth. Fortunately, I had made an appointment because I might have gone ballistic if I had to sit in there with the oldies but moldies and no one to talk to.

I'm happy to report that this morning's phleb at least had full use of all ten of her fingers. I am NOT down on anyone with a disability, but it isn't comforting when you're already nervous for your phleb to have 3 out of 5 fingers fused together on one hand. With the nails painted. #truth

A testiment to the advancing knowledge of phlebs, she knew to use the butterfly before I had to ask for it. In her idle chatter to keep my mind off of things, she tells me how she doesn't really like using the butterfly because it makes the blood just. drip. out. BLORF! But hey! Not in my case! "The blood is just POURING out of you!" Double BLORF. 5 tubes later she was done minus the blood she dripped on my arm. Look, I know it's mine, but I still don't wanna see it.

And so, I survived another year. In another few days I can impress you all with the results of my bloodwork. I know you're on the edge of your seat......