It’s Game Time

I have been working out and preparing for this triathalon. Well, the official training program is 13 weeks long and it’s where I have to adhere to a strict workout schedule until the day of the race. The first day of training is Monday.

I have spent the last couple of months trying to get myself to where I could start this schedule and already be pretty used to the demands of the workout. I wanted to be comfortable in the water. I wanted to be ready to bike and run.  It’s game time and I think I have done a good job getting ready for the training. Come Monday, I will be getting it in!

I can’t lie, it’s exciting but scary. Last night, I had a dream that I was swimming in the water and all I could hear was my swim coach yelling “high elbows”! *sigh* I keep telling myself to work through the fear.

I took a long look at myself in the full length mirror at the gym today. My body shape has changed but the best part? Not getting skinny….it’s all about getting stronger. Mentally and physically. I love taking on a challenge and working towards a personal goal. I love pushing myself.  You can only fail when you try.

Changes

Alot has happened in the past week. A job became available in my company doing exactly what I do now but focused on selling a different territory. Currently, my efforts are focused on accounts based in the Philadelphia suburbs, up through Allentown, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, PA. This new territory would cover the large corporate accounts focused in Center City Philadelphia.

I was approached to post for the job and after considering it…I decided to go for it. It would be the exact same job just changing where my accounts are (translation=less driving and a 15 minute commute downtown). Same job, more money (due to the accounts being downtown) and less driving/flying to see my clients.

After a crazy week of posting on Friday, an interview on Monday…I was told on Wednesday that the job was mine.

I am excited because I will be primarily downtown. Love the suburbs but I missed being in the city. I missed being near the restaurants, my friends, stores, people…..LOL. I am also representing the hotels where I worked for the last 8 years. All of the GM’s have been emailing me and they are so excited that I will be out there pushing accounts to their properties like in the old days. It’s like returning home except I still work from home Best of both worlds.

I woke up that morning ready to just go to work. I wasn’t expecting to get a phone call but when my opportunity came knocking, I was ready. I start next week and it’s gonna be a doozy of a transition. My current accounts are going to have a heart attack when they hear I am moving.

I do have to say, this job is coming around and I really enjoy what I do. I love the freedom to plan my days. It’s a lot of work and I stay busy but it gives me the time to incorporate school trip chaperoning, training for races and balancing my home life. This change has been scary but I am starting to see the light at the end  of the tunnel and starting next week, my tunnel leads back to the city.

St. Patrick’s Day-Wu Tang Style

The Wu Tang house still has their Christmas lights up. They aren’t on, but they’re still up. The ones on their hedges look crazy since they have been out there over two blizzards and more than a few rainstorms.  Mr. 1969 and I shake our heads everytime we look over there.

This morning, I returned from the gym only to notice all of the lights on the hedges were gone. (The ones on the house are still up).

Me: Babe, the Wu Tangs finally took the Christmas lights down just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.

Mr. 1969: No they didn’t.

Me: They did. Look out the window! See, the one’s on the bushes are gone.

Mr. 1969: I know. I took them down.

Me: What?

Mr. 1969: I took them down. I got tired of looking at that sh*t and I went out there last night, took them down and put them in a trash bag and left them on their steps.

Me: *crickets*

Mr. 1969: Top O the morning to you. Now take your sh*t and put it away.

From our house to yours……………….enjoy the St. Patty’s Day festivities and toast a green beer in honor of my hubby and his ongoing battle with the Wu’s.

Bearclaws

We had one of our friend’s sons spend the night with us last night. He is a fun nine year old and he and my boys were having an awesome time. Mr. 1969 had all three boys for most of the day as I spent Saturday in NYC with my brother and Mama 1969 celebrating her birthday.

Mr. 1969 picked me up from downtown Philly and as we were driving home, all three boys were laughing and playing in the backseat. I started talking to Mr. 1969 and we filled each other in on our day. The music was playing and it seemed that everyone in the car was talking at the same time. All of a sudden my acute mother hearing (2nd only to doberman pinchers and creatures in the Amazon rainforest) heard the following “if a girl has her period, she can get pregnant” and it didn’t come from either of my boys.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH. Party done.

Instantly, I shut the music off, told Mr. 1969 to pause mid-sentence and turned all the way around and said ”Hey guys, I don’t think this is a conversation we need to be having right now in the car. What do we want for dinner?”.Hey, it was all I could think of on short notice without putting that kid out on the curb and banning him from ever seeing my kids again.  It worked and all talking turned to discussions of Chik-Fil A.

As I drove home, Mr. 1969 kept giving me the “don’t lose your cool eye” which could be confused with the evil eye or side eye since they all look the same when you’re angry. As the kids played Wii in the living room, we talked in the kitchen in hushed tones.

I was disturbed. Mr. 1969 was not. His argument was that the boy didn’t say anything that was wrong. What he said was factual. Now while I agreed that we should not make a big deal out of what he said or make the child feel uncomfortable, I admit that it bothered me. I am far from a prude and I am a huge advocate of giving your child the correct information about their bodies and well, life. We have a very open policy as far as this line of questioning goes. I would much rather my kid hear things from us than to learn about it in the back seat of a car streets.

However, like I said, my spidey senses were tingling until that boy walked out my front door this morning. He is the sweetest little kid and he was no trouble at all. However, I had my trained eye on him. He has three older brothers who range from college aged to 13 so I am sure he has been exposed to a few lively discussions. I understand, but my soon to be 9 year old is a kid in every sense of the word.

This morning when tv was on, our guest wanted to watch music videos….my son wanted to watch Pokemon or Young Justice. See what I’m saying? I know I can’t shelter my boys from everything but DAMN…..can a kid just enjoy being a kid for as long as possible? I know that all of this is inevitable and right around the corner but I sure as hell was not ready for it on Saturday night. Can’t I have until he’s at least 10? I am still picturing this:

Somebody pray for me. Cause between this and the Wu-Tangs purchasing a motorcycle and riding it up and down my street….I am going to need divine intervention.

When doubts creep in, drop kick them.

Triathalon update:

I was able to secure a great swim coach however, I can only meet her in a 7pm timeslot Monday through Friday.  I am one of those people that works out early in the am. If I am not done working out before 4pm, it usually won’t get done.  I like to be settled in my house once my boys are home and enjoy family time. I like to help with homework, make dinner and relax. I love my couch and I love useless tv at night. I can’t lie.

Now with this new coach, she is practically free (most coaches cost over $200 for lessons) and I get to work with her one on one for a straight hour (most lessons are 45 minutes). Again, the main drawback is that my time slot is at 7pm at night. I don’t get back home until around 8:30pm.  It’s still cold and dark. I’m leaving there wet and tired. Can you see how I may not always be motivated?

All day yesterday, I b*tched about having to go. I worked from home in the afternoon and whined to Mr. 1969 every fifteen minutes. I think I was hoping he would say “don’t go” so I would feel better and stay home.

Instead, my awesome husband told me he would go with me and swim with the boys while I practiced.  Instantly, I felt better. Despite having a friend doing the tri with me here in Philly, we live in different neighborhoods. She belongs to her gym and I belong to mine. She takes swim lessons at her gym and I go to my person. We try to take a spin class together every Saturday morning so we have at least one day of training together but training for this race is pretty much a solitary effort. I have to motivate myself. I would definitely recommend that anyone interested in doing one of these, signs up with a team. It is easier to get up and go when you have a team holding you accountable.

Most days, I stay motivated but I do have my moments when I am just tired. Thank God for Mr. 1969, my boys and all of my Facebook friends that sent me words of encouragement yesterday. As soon as I got in the water, I felt great. She also corrected so many mechanical issues I was having with my stroke and my breathing. By the end of the lesson, I had mastered breathing on every stroke and the breaststroke. All in an hour. Imagine what I will be able to do if I go on a regular basis, come race time.

(me, swimming in the lane…Coach D watching over me)

Training for this race is one of the most physically demanding things I have ever done. My body is always sore but I keep pushing myself. I know that this race is mental. I refuse to fall for the doubts in my mind. I can do this and I am so thankful for the support and inspiration that comes from the most unexpected sources.

I know that God is pushing me to do this race and I believe that I will finish. I can do this!

It’s Carnival Tuesday in Trinidad

Since I can’t be there, I will share some music and visuals of my home island with you all.

This is Machel Montano, winner of the Soca Monarch 2011 title (best stage performance and winner of the $2 million dollar prize). Enjoy and I send love to my Trinis around the world….

HOT TOPIC

photo courtesy of Dlisted*

Just saw this picture of four year old Suri Cruise and her pacifier. Can’t wait for folks to weigh in on this one.

In my opinion, four is too old for a pacifier. On a positive note, I am glad to see Suri in child appropriate footwear (no heels for once) and an actual coat. So I say kudos to the parents for that. LOL Baby steps people, baby steps.

What do you think about the pacifier?

 

The Weekend Recap

Last week was packed full of travel and meetings. We had lots of folks visiting from different hotels for the Philad.elphia Flow.er Sh.ow. In my old life, I would often do sales calls all over the East Coast with my counterparts from other Hotels in other cities. Those road shows were filled with shenanigans. Nothing like traveling sales people with an expense account. Ahhh the stories of unprofessionalism, drunkedness and tomfoolery I could tell.

Well, I got to see a lot of my buddies last Friday and shared a cocktail or two (shoutout to Coconut Ciroc and Pineapple juice). Good times. With the realignment of our sales force, so many folks didn’t make it through. It was good to see some familiar faces. No matter how much fun I had at that reception, I made sure to wake myself up and get to the gym at 7am for spin class.

Now let me explain the ordeal of spin class. Class starts at 8am. However, they allow you to sign in for class at 7:15am. If you are not stepping foot into the gym at 7am, chances are, you won’t catch a spot. Crazy right? On a Saturday morning, no less. You spinners are GANGSTA! *sidenote to Fresh….no, I do not have the spinning shoes. I am not that invested yet.*

So yeah, spinning after cocktails the night before = NOT A GOOD IDEA. Seriously. Not to mention, the 8am spin instructor gives NO BREAKS. Yeah…that water you brought? Sneak it in when you can. He goes straight through from start to finish. When spin class kicks off to the theme from Shaft, you already know what you are signing up for.

Either way, midway through, I thought I was either going to throw up or pass out. I was praying it wouldn’t be both. Despite my partying ways, I made it through to the end and back home to enjoy the rest of the day with my boys and Mr. 1969.

Later that evening I attended a farewell party for one of my sorors who is moving to another city. I stayed away from the beverages and feasted on fish, veggies (I love bok choy) and a great salad. I loved the buffet as they included healthier options.

Sunday morning….church-swimming-chapter meeting. The boys went swimming with me. All in all, it was a busy weekend.

I just logged in and found out I have to go to Chicago next week. Hmm…..looks like my week is going to be a doozy.

Reality TV

Last night, I watched the premiere episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. I have been a fan of his show for years. Anything combining my two loves, travel and food, is must see tv.

I remember I was reading Mr. Bourdain’s first book during a flight to St. Maarten with Mr. 1969. When we landed in the airport, Mr. 1969 said “There goes your boy.” I looked at him like he was crazy. “What are you talking about?” “Over there, look, it’s the dude on the back cover of your book.” Sure enough, there was my crusty, Tony Bourdain, rocking a pair of shorts and a shirt, chain smoking in the St. Maarten airport. I always regret not getting him to sign my book but my years of hotel training will not allow me to disturb anyone on vacation.  It’s rude! LOL

Last night’s episode took us to a post earthquake Haiti. The images of the devastation and poverty made me cry. In one scene, they stopped to sample a plate of food from a street vendor. The vendor was surrounded by hungry people and children hoping for a leftover meal. Bourdain and his crew couldn’t sit there and eat while all of the hungry children stood around them. They decided to purchase all of the food from the vendors in thehopes of feeding all of the children. Their good deed turned into a melee. As he said last night, you can’t be shocked when “hungry people act like hungry people”. The chaos that ensued as they all tried to make sure they got some food was heartbreaking.

The fact that I can walk into my kitchen and have food at my fingertips made me truly appreciate my blessings.

In addition, I had no idea that Sean Penn, the actor, was actually still in Haiti. He has been living surrounded by 50,000 displaced people in a tent city and working with them. He has been there for months. It’s one thing to write a check but he is there, living and working with the people with no fanfare.

I recommend watching this episode and seeing what is really going down in Haiti. The people are still fighting hard and have so much pride. They are trying to rebuild with no money, no food, no resources and no leadership. I know everyone has moved on to the next cause but there is so much work to do in this country and you will gain a better understanding of the situation.

Good job Bourdain.