Catching up

My favorite of the recent snap shots I've taken

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since my last, ahem, rant.  Monday.  THIS Monday, we FINALLY got the truck registered.  In CA, if you own a pickup, it's considered a commercial vehicle, which means you have to go to a certified scale and have it weighed.  Yes, really.  So, it's official.  Both vehicles now have CA plates, so we're here!

I've been a little quiet on the job front.  I tell ya ... there's NOTHING that will make you feel more worthless than job hunting.  I thought I had a job all lined up upon arrival ... at Target.  Turns out, I just got put off and put off until I finally quit pursuing it.  They never said we're NOT hiring you ... just, "You'll hear from us".  Yeah.  So David and i have just been sitting around, praying for work.  I can't TELL you  how many apps both of us have filled out.  Sadly, we've reached that point where we can't afford to sit here any more, we need the first thing that comes along ... it's been like 8 weeks.  Up until this week, all those apps haven't resulted in ANYTHING.  No phone interviews, no actual interviews, nothing.  Finally, this week, we've both had a little action.

I had an interview Monday, another one yesterday, and one tomorrow.  David also has one tomorrow, but his is technically the 2nd one since this same company already went through the phone interview process, and now it's an in person interview.  So, high hopes!  Fingers crossed!  I'm tired of feeling like the last 15 years of my life have been a waste, job market wise.  I knew I wouldn't just instantly get the first position I applied for, but I did NOT realize I would submit my resume upwards of 20 times and get nothing from it.

Same thing with regards to Kody.  I kind of thought he would get picked up by an agent pretty quickly, but turns out not so much.  I'm resubmitting his pictures to the company I had picked out back in GA as the agent I want him with, as what I sent them a month ago obviously wasn't what they were looking for.  What's frustrating to me is I'm not looking for him to do prints stuff.  I'm trying to get commercial acting stuff.  Why is it that they decide who to speak with based on pictures?  They don't want a video example of the kids's stage presence, they want snap shots and clothes measurements.  So maybe I just need better pictures, I don't know.  Photography isn't exactly my strong suit.

Swimming has been going well.  Even though I'm not angling for speed, I feel like I'm turning over the laps a little quicker.  Did 12 miles on the stationary bike the other day; wow, my butt was sore at the end of that lol!  Can't wait to actually have a REAL bike to log some actual miles on.  2015 is closer than you think!  I will start to push my distance a little more there soon; right now I'm SUPER happy about 750 yards, but really I'm only swimming for maybe ... 1/2 an hour or so?  I don't know, I don't wear a watch in the pool.  I will be logging some laps tomorrow in lieu of running, so maybe I will set the timer for 45 minutes and just see how far I get.

Today, I ran 8 miles, then walked an additional mile picking Kody up from school.  I am SO proud!  My time wasn't super fast because I alternated walk a mile, run a mile, walk a mile, run a mile, etc.  That being said, I'm happy with my time because the FIRST time I went 6 miles (as a run/walk) I could BARELY manage the 2 1/2 miles total I ran mixed in with 3 1/2 miles of walking, AND it took me over 2 hours to complete.  Today, I walked 4 miles, ran 4 miles, and even with waiting to cross streets finished in a hair over 2 hours.  I couldn't have done it without my new shoes; no rubbing/blister/pain at ALL!  I will definitely never buy running shoes not from a running store ever again.  Best investment in my fitness I've made:)  I have 2 long term goals; do the 2015 Lava man Tri in Hawaii with my sister.  The other is to run a marathon with my aunt and uncle.  I don't have a specific date goal for the marathon, but I DO know that if it's ever going to happen, I have to start upping my miles and doing a long day at least once a week.  I know I'm not ready to hit 15 or more miles yet, but I do think 10-11 is doable right now, especially considering I felt good at the end of my 8, not "dead" at all.

That's all I've got for right now!  Prayers for some money would be good right about now, lol. So, if you feel like lifting us up for any reason, finances are the major concern at the moment.  I know the jobs will come, and the money will come, but the immediate is what I'm worried about.  Oh well, hard times build character, right?  Until next time!

Can I just rant about the govt for a moment?

My boy officially became a 6th grader today:)

The DMV.  Oh, the glorious DMV.  What a pain in the A$$!!!!!!!!!!  And not just the CA DMV ... GA, SC, they're all pretty much crap.  OH!  And the office of vital records.  WHY is this crap not in a central database yet?  WHY???  Every other piece of pertinent information is available with the click of a mouse, why are titles/registration/birth certificates/marriage licenses not available?  And NO ONE has the resources to be helpful.  No one.  It has been 6 weeks ... my husband now has a CA driver's license.  Our car has CA plates.  I do not have a license, and the truck does not have plates.  REALLY?  What a pain in the A$$.  I'm so over it.  I do not ever want to move again, I will stay right here in this little apt. in Natomas until I die of old age.  Seriously!

Making plans

The little pond across from the apartment complex

Well.  As I've begun to really immerse myself in the triathlon world, I'm realizing it's just like the horse world.  Full of die hard fans, forums with lots of people, lots of flashy ads confusing you as to what you REALLY need, and an overwhelming amount of information.  I'm filing it all away, though.  I'm trying to take it all in just a little bit at the time.  I found this great site called www.beginnertriathlete.com that reminds me of the COTH horse forums.  It's been very helpful in giving me some idea of what's happening around me.  I've found that there's quite a lot of tris around the Sac area.  I'm not too keen on the idea of an open ocean swim for my first few sprint tris, so I'm looking for events with either lake or river swims.  So far so good!  The problem is I don't have a job which means I can't think about the purchase of a bike right now, or even the cost of an entry fee.  Tris are a popular thing I guess, and require entry pretty much months in advance, so for 2013 I'm afraid I'm pretty much locked out.  It seems that September here in Cali is about the cutoff month.  Nov-Feb events are few and far between, the numbers go back up in March.  So I guess I'll be looking for a March/April sprint tri to shoot for.  I'll start really looking around Thanksgiving, so I get in on the "early registration discount" thing. :)

In the mean time, I will continue to train and work on learning some discipline.  Right now, I'm kicking butt with motivating myself to work, but I'm doing it with a bit of a carefree attitude.  My body REALLY wants to be lazy ... I mean, it would LOVE to go back to it's volumious size 14, sit on the couch and veg state.  I really need to start the daunting task of finding a new chiro to make my back happy again; the pounding from running 6+ miles a week, and from sweating to death doing T25 is taking its toll on my lower back, but I'm determined not to let that deter me.  I've only run in my new shoes once, and it was amazing.  AMAZING.  My right foot has been rubbed every single run since I first got that nasty blister on it the first time I ran 6 miles at once ... and my body has been trained to look for that pain response about a mile into my run.  It was so cool to run a full 3 miles, and have NO foot pain at all.  No hot spots, no joint pain, I felt great when it was over.  My time wasn't awful; 41 minutes and change for a 3 mile walk/run.  That was even including my warm up/cool down, AND having to wait twice to cross the street.

I've been doing the T25 barefoot.  I don't want to do anything other than run in my new running shoes, and
Shaun T mentions that he actually does his own workouts barefoot when he's DOING them himself, so I've tried it.  So far so good, but I've noticed that I have a small amount of ankle pain a few hours upon completion.  I'm going to do this entire week barefoot again, and if the ankle pain is still there, try doing the workouts in my Ryka shoes (the ones that make my toe go numb.  Usually, the numbness only occurs when running).

Finally, I need to find me some waterproof ear plugs.  As  a kid, I suffered from "swimmer's ear", big time.  I had tubes in my ears as a kid, and suffered from frequent ear infections.  Doing all this freestyle swimming is doing a number on my right ear; I breathe under my right arm, so water is pouring into that ear.  Even though I'm cleaning it out with alcohol after each swim, I can still feel the pain deep in the ear canal from the water, so I need to head that off before it becomes a problem.  Le sigh.  My body is TRYING to make me quit, but I will whip it into shape.  Eventually, when my brain realizes I'm NOT going to be lazy, I think the "hurt" will start to dissipate.