Bruce

Bruce is the name I gave my right big toe back in my college days. Believe it or not, I dare say I was sober when I named him! I can't remember the reason why, but it seemed (and still seems) fun at the time. *teehee*

Bruce is broken.

This past Sunday I tripped on the curb while taking the garbage out in the dark. (Smart, I know!) I would have taken a major faceplant had I not caught my balance, but it didn't register that Bruce might actually be broken until Wednesday night. I honestly thought the puffiness/discomfort was from the fact that I wore heels for the first time in forever for my show last week. I worked out on Monday, but then took the rest of the week off because it was so painful and finally called the doctor on Thursday.

Max passed the time away by flirting with all of the nurses on the floor. He (willingly) went to the nurse who checked me in and they left the room to visit the others while I waited for my doctor. That kid is shameless! After the initial exam, I was sent upstairs to get x-rayed. And yes, Max flirted with MORE nurses while I was in the x-ray room! (I'll admit, he *was* pretty adorable in his Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls and Penn State sweatshirt.)

Long story short, Bruce is 'mildly' broken. Had the impact been thismuch harder I would have fractured him and had to have worn a cast & boot, so if there's any kind of broken toe to have, this is the one. I'll have it taped for 2-3 weeks and have instructions for no running. I'm to use 'good judgement' on walking workouts, but was gently reminded that the more I push the longer it'll take to heal. So I guess I'm more or less back on the 'couch' part of the Couch To 5K plan. ;) For now anyway.

Perhaps you're all thinking it's weird that my toe (and only this particular one) has a name? Yes, I'll admit it- it's definitely weird. Or 'quirky' as I prefer to call it. This whole broken toe thing amuses me even more BECAUSE it has a name! My college roommates are probably the only people who truly understand because they were there when I went looney tunes and named it. They sent very thoughtful texts and voicemails yesterday (to him) as I waited for my appointment. They care about poor ol' Brucie like he's family. HAHA!

And as for my husband, bless him for 'playing along' with me...

Me: "Bruce doesn't look so good tonight"
Michael: "No, he sure doesn't"

See? LOVE that he totally goes with me on it and refers to Bruce by his correct gender. :) Again, not sure why he has a name OR a gender.

Not sure how I made it 33 years without a broken bone either! Victory?!

18 Month Check-Up

Max had his year and a half wellness check-up this morning. Little Dude now weighs in at 21 lbs, 4 oz and is 32.5" tall. I was concerned that he'd only gained a half pound since his last check-up, but his pediatrician wasn't worried and even suggested that he 'just might be destined to be slender'. Is it wrong that I laughed? :) In any case, all looks great in Max Land and his future's so bright he's gotta wear shades!

In other news, Michael had his three month CT scan on Monday... and all is clear! BOO-YA!

Today is both of my brother's birthdays! Happy Birthday, Guys! We love you!

Cheap Thrills

Tonight (well, last night) was dress rehearsal for my show. I found a fantastic deal on a sassy black dress at Kohl's the other day ($60 marked down to $15- hello?!) and wore it to rehearsal.

As I was walking from the parking garage to the theatre, a 20-something dude yelled "Sweet legs!". I turned around and he said "Yours!" and pointed at me. I'm sure the look on my face was priceless, as I was sure he was talking to someone else and it was going to be one of those embarrassing moments where you wave back to someone only to find out that they're waving to the person *directly behind you*. The insecure side of me was also ready with a comeback of "Why are you making fun of me, you little punk? I'm someone's MOTHER!"

On the flip side, had I not been the happily married lady that I am, I would have wanted to french kiss him and thank him for noticing how hard I've been working at the gym. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Engaged!

My baby brother proposed to his wonderful girlfriend of almost 7 years while on the beach in the Dominican Republic on spring break last week. THRILLING! (He will *always* be my baby brother though!)

The Great? Outdoors

Well, I went for it. Early this morning I did my very first walk/run outside. It was not perhaps the best day weather-wise to move out of my comfort zone of a gym treadmill, but it was an eye-opener to say the very least!

A couple of days ago a new runner friend (Stephan) told me about the Budd Coates 5K Program. It's basically the Couch To 5K deal, only you train for four days of the week instead of three. Some may think me crazy, but I actually prefer doing four days. I'm just anal enough that I feel 'lazy' if I'm doing a three day week and take more days 'off' than what I'm working out.

So I decided to start over at the very beginning. (A very good place to start, so sayeth Maria VonTrapp! *Haha! Groan*) I probably could have skipped to the 2nd week, but when it's all said and done, I want to be able to say that I've finished a 'full' program. I had originally planned to do my regular treadmill thing and was actually looking forward to it, but couldn't sleep this morning, so I decided to go for it- new program, new environment.

This morning was 40 degrees, drizzly and kinda windy. (Yup. Real smart, newbie.) I suited up in sweats and mittens and headed out as soon as it was light. After a five minute walking warm-up, I moved into the intervals of Week 1: 2 min running followed by 4 min of walking (repeated 5x). To say I had somehow not prepared myself mentally for the change in terrain and weather would be an understatement. The first two minutes of running were brutal with a capital bru! My mind: "I have four MORE of these to go?! Man, it's cold out here! This wind stuff hurts my lungs! Whoa, that worm was HUGE, it looks like a family of worms glued themselves together and said "Come on gang, let's slither to town as a team!""

Well, all drama aside, I managed to get through all five intervals. I won't lie, I strategically maneuvered myself to level streets during the running and I was by no means fast. (Not that it was the goal or anything!) And though it wasn't, a lot of the running felt like it was *this shy* of being considered walking. At one particular point when I thought I was going to keel over, my music switched to an awesome techno version of 'O Fortuna' from Carmina Burana. I normally love this track because it's placed in my mix at a point where I'm usually feeling really strong. (Ahem, when I'm on a treadmill.) Today it just mocked me, as did Michael Jackson. "You wanna be startin' something? You got to be startin' something! You wanna be? You gotta be!" etc etc etc.

Riiiiiight, MJ.

Well, not yet anyway. :)

Random Thoughts

This morning Max and I headed to the gym to swim during the early morning open swim hours. We left the house at 8, arrived by 8:25, suited up and took a (cold) shower by 8:35 and walked out of the locker room to the pool... the pool that is currently closed during spring break for cleaning. Um, whoops. So we took a nice (warm) shower, got dressed and Max went to play in the daycare room while I worked out.

As we were *leaving* I noticed a big fat sign on the front door saying "Therapy pool closed this week for cleaning". For real. Not sure how I missed it on the way in?! What can I say? I walk with purpose. Perhaps we'll try the other branch for swimming this afternoon, but I think I'll call to make sure it's open first.

Last night I had a dream that my tour buddy Devin and I were on a gold medal winning Olympic hockey team. (I don't remember which country we were playing for.) We had rehearsal for a show that night (apparently after we'd won the medals), so we wore them to rehearsal. We were the most badass drummer & keyboardist EVER.

It actually feels like spring this week! Our trusty outdoor thermometer is currently showing 60 degrees and it's sunny and amazing. This makes me gleeful!

I love that Elmo's pet fish is named Dorothy. Cracks me up.

Two of my online 'Mom Friends' (Colleen & Meredith) are running a 15K this weekend. They're my heroes.

Elephunk's mini-me has been named Elephink. :)

My cousin Matt and his wife own a cupcake business in Brooklyn. Not sure why I torture myself (and you guys!), but here's some of their latest flavors:

'Chocolate Turtle': Chocolate cake w/salted caramel buttercream, candied pecans, ganache & caramel drizzle

'Butterbeer': Vanilla cake soaked w/homemade butterscotch, butterscotch buttercream & edible gold dust

'Chocolate Grasshopper': Mint chocolate-chocolate chip cake w/mint buttercream and crushed chocolate

Note: I feel like I should go work out again after just typing all of that!

Wordless Wednesday

Baby (Running) Steps

Last week I started (loosely) following the Couch To 5K running program. The goal of the program is to get anyone up and running a 5K (equivalent to 30 minutes) in 9 weeks.

I've never been an athlete, much less a runner. Since joining the Y a month ago, however, I've been making a concerted effort to get to the gym at least 4 days a week. Michael, Max and I passed around sickness for a week (this was two weeks ago) and I didn't get to the gym at all. I'd been on a pretty good 'roll' at that point and had a bit of trouble getting back into the swing of things after the sickness lifted. I think I more or less just tried to do too much too soon. My friend Anne recommended switching between 1 min of walking and 1 min of running and it was definitely the key! (I didn't know it at the time, but this routine was the first week of C25K.) The first day of it ended up being one of my best workouts ever. I felt so strong and didn't dread looking at the clock to switch to running anymore!

This week was the start of Week 2 of the program. Having asked some running friends (read: friends who can run waaay longer than I can!) for their advice, I decided to repeat the Week 1 because I was feeling so good about it. I won't be crying if I'm not running a 5K in 9 weeks and am not putting limitations on myself in that respect, so I didn't have any problems with repeating the 1 min run/walk intervals.

Tonight I realized that though I'd love to have a partner to work out with eventually, it's probably best that I do it on my own right now because I'm my own worst enemy. (This can be both good and bad) Only a couple minutes into my warm-up I thought "I don't know if I can do this today", but kept going because heck, I was already at the gym and ON the treadmill. I planned to do 30 min of 1min run/walk, but then started feeling guilty that I wasn't going to make any 'progress' this week unless I went either a) longer or b) faster. So I ended up doing 35min of 1:30min run and 1min walk. I always psych myself out, but then end up feeling really good by about 20 min. I almost went for 40min, but decided to not push the envelope.

So although I spend a lot of my workouts 'arguing' with myself, I'm also allowing myself to think happy thoughts! I'm proud that...

- I've been doing the equivalent of running at least 1 mile each day (+ walking) and that my legs are tightening up
- Even though it sometimes takes mentally beating myself up, that I haven't given up and gotten off the treadmill on the days I feel like I can't do it
- I can now run for the longest lengths of time in years, even if it's with a minute of walking in between

Next up: conquering my fear of running in the great outdoors and not having the clock on the treadmill to rely on!

Pinch Hitter

One of my college roommates, Calley, gave Max the big stuffed elephant (above) as a gift when he was born. 'Elephunk' has since become his comfort toy. One night a couple months ago we stayed at my brother-in-law's place, but forgot Elephunk at Nana's house an hour away. We tried to put Max down to bed (hoping he'd forget), but he wasn't having it. Not without my elephant! Michael finally ended up driving back to retrieve it and as soon as he walked back in the front door and picked Max up, he was asleep on his shoulder. Elephunk's selling point is that he has a tail that Max can hold as he sucks his thumb.

Shortly after that event, I broke down and asked Cal where she'd gotten the elephant in hopes of getting a 'back up'. Unfortunately, the store no longer sold them. Max & I were at Barnes & Noble this afternoon and found the smaller elephant above in the kids section. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw it, so I checked the texture (same as Elephunk's! And it has a tail!) and the rest was history. Little Dude was thrilled.

Finally! We have another elephant to keep Max distracted so we can wash Elephunk! Now we just need to name the little one... Phunkarella? Ella?

18 Months

Can it be that Mister Man is really a year and a half old today?! We're celebrating with homemade cheese muffins. :)