On the Run

Today, after months upon months of--let's admit it--extreme inactivity, I decided it would be a brilliant idea to run. The first day back running is truly a misery.

I feel like half a person--like half of me is still out there running scuttling down that sidewalk, knuckles dragging on the concrete, eyes bulging and lungs heaving from the exertion.

I ran just over 1.5 miles (in 15 minutes) and walked 15 minutes back home. You'd have thought I had just finished a marathon as I collapsed, noodle-legged on the floor and sucked back a tall glass of water. By the way, my face was purple. And splotchy. No wonder people were avoiding making eye contact with me as I ungracefully bounded, lead-footed past them.

Pathetic.

After finally catching my breath and regaining 30% of feeling to my extremities, I had to shower quickly and run off to work. This meant I spent most of the morning sweating through my work clothes as my body had still yet to cool down. I think my face was a light purple, attempting violet at this point. The splotches remained, red and angry below my eyes. I'm sure I looked lovely.

Now, I am sitting at work, ignoring the intense flu-like symptoms that tend to result from the first day back at not leading a sedentary life.

I will keep you all updated on my progress. (That is a very optimistic statement.)

So, how do I all of a sudden have all of this time to actually exercise?

Its called two-car freedom, baby!

We brought back my brother's jeep (since he has sold his soul to the US Army and won't be needing it). I am now able to set my own schedule.

WOW.

I almost don't know what to do with myself. I mean, I actually get to do what I want, when I want. NOVEL concept.

This means no more getting to work at 7:45am and not leaving until 5:30pm. Freedom, I say!

W is now in his Emergency Med rotation (8:30am to 8:30pm), which unfortunately takes place at a hospital literally in the middle of nowhere, 30 minutes west of downtown. During his Family Med rotation, he was at this same location, but the hours were a bit more doable, 8:30 to 5:00. However, I was still stranded and miserable sharing the car.

Now, I'm living the high life.

For instance, yesterday, I came into work at 9am. It felt like vacation at work.

Then, I left at 4:30 and went to the Farmer's Market. On a weekday. Crazy. Then, I went grocery shopping. On a weekday. And before 8pm. Again, crazy.

W's new schedule is an interesting change of routine for us both. It is also a nice trial period for what residency will be like.

Coming home yesterday afternoon had a very different feel to it. The empty hours stretched out before me. It was just me and the kittens. I felt refreshed. Not lonely. Not sad. I finally had time to do the things I usually put off to the weekends. I also had time to unwind from work and do things at my own pace. Now, I love W to death and would never want to spend my life without him, but his need for structure and routine and his constantly growling stomach tend to have an adverse effect on me. The push and pull of his needs/wants make me want to do the exact opposite. REBEL.

Examples:

W: "Babe, I'm kind of hungry."
Me: "YEAH, WELL, WHERE ON ME DOES IT SAY, COOK?!?!"

OR

W: "What's for dinner?"
Me: Silence.

So, in my true ironic fashion, with W miles away and hours from coming home, I decided to cook a stew! Since W works through lunch and dinner, he plans on bringing both meals instead of eating hospital food. I really don't blame him for that. I decided that I should continue cooking large meals even though I would be eating alone, so that he would have dinner to take.

Since I don't own a single cookbook and don't subscribe to every food magazine out there (MOM), I have found a very useful way to find the perfect recipe for the ingredients I have on hand.

I Google-d, "chicken breast, leeks, recipe."

This chicken stew by Jamie Oliver was the first hit and the winner. I was missing a few ingredients. My thyme plant bit the dust a month ago when I stopped watering my plants........ I have homicidal tendencies when it comes to green things that regularly require water for survival. I also didn't have mushrooms. Much to my deep disappointment, W despises the fungi. I would literally eat mushrooms whenever, however. I love them.

I decided to substitute peas for the mushrooms. I did not substitute anything for the thyme. I roasted some potatoes that were getting a little too soft and made white rice. It was delicious.

PROOF:

From my awesome weekend:

Hung out with the nephew!

 

Here is my nephew telling us the tale of Sleeping Beauty, his favorite princess by the way.

Hung out with my parents at their jungle house (my mom assures me that she was once as bad with plants as me--there's hope!), ran from their killer cat, and bought and framed two awesome Audubon prints for the living room.

-b