what. a. day.

9 a.m. Wake up, still with a throbbing migraine, meaning I can't help my friends move. I am simultaneously disappointed and relieved, because it's too painful to open my eyes beyond a slit, which means closing my eyes is best. Back to sleep I go.

11:45 a.m. Wake up, headache is gone. Throw on some sweatpants, eat some cereal and out the door to the move. I move boxes and try not to dirty the white carpet.

2:30 p.m. Really hungry, so I eat a delicious turkey sub from Zero's. Looking back, this was the highlight of the day.

3:40 p.m.-12:45 a.m. Make several hundred copies of papers for hand-outs for a Monday meeting. Collate and get paper cuts. Give up on collating and stapling halfway through, decide everyone can staple for themselves. The rest of work includes majorly reworking a graphic, an Oscars ceremony that runs 50 minutes late, forgetting to do the weather page until an hour and 10 minutes past its deadline, tempers, miscommunications and a fellow employee uttering the phrase "do we have to ask about it?" when I ask a valid - but pretty simple - question.

1 a.m.-2 a.m. Walk Gracie, eat chips and vent with Lauren. We watch Rainn Wilson on SNL.

2 a.m.-3 a.m. Read blogs, look at more red-carpet photos while thinking good thoughts about tomorrow being a fresh start, a good day for a run, a day that does not involve Oscars, etc.

3:09 a.m. I settle into bed with a sigh, close my eyes and realize I smell urine. Sure enough, a spot six inches from my head is slightly wet, but just wet enough to have permeated through my top sheet, bottom sheet and foam pad. I clean my mattress just in case. Lucky for me, my comforter is unscathed.

3:31 a.m. After copious cleaning and loud laundry, an e-mail arrives. My best friend's grandmother has died. There's nothing I can say except "I love you" and realize my day is really not so bad.

EDIT 6:15 a.m. I roll over to the other side of the bed and discover that Gracie has had not one but TWO ACCIDENTS on my bed in a span of hours. Time to take this set of sheets off and start washing my comforter/looking for a creative way to make my bed when basically all my linens are in the wash. It's a ridiculous reason to cry, but I will anyway.

growing a proverbial pair

I am never one of those people who stands up to a stranger in public. You know the inconsiderate person who blocks the entire aisle with their cart while wandering out of sight? I either wait or politely push it aside three inches so I can squeeze through.

But in light of last night's episode of "The Office" with a new, honest Pam, well, I guess I was inspired today. I ate lunch at Panera during the noon rush and was at the front of the line when the bakery cashier called me over. As I approached the register, an old woman at the end of the line (which was closer to the bakery register) stepped over, saw me approaching from my rightful place in line, decided to disregard me and go ahead with her order. I interrupted her firmly and said, "I'm sorry, I was at the front of the line. I'm next to order." She gave me a dirty look, but I ignored it. Instead of getting back in line like she should have, she stood off to the side and waited for me to be done. Not my problem anymore.

Then I went to Wal-Mart. With my cart full of things like a drum of detergent and 900 rolls of toilet paper, I got in line behind a woman whose cart was nearly empty. I put the divider bar at the very back of the conveyer belt, waited for space to open up, and started unloading my groceries. I guess the woman in front of me had a few things left in her cart, because she started handing things out of it to the cashier as my purchases scooted to the front. The woman turned to me and (rather condescendingly) said, "Well, you could have waited for me to be done!" I retorted, "Actually, I did wait and put the divider bar at the very back of the belt. You had the entire thing available when I got in line." I guess I put her in her place because she turned around again without a word.

If anyone dare whisper through "Volver" tonight, they best prepare for an ass-kicking.

11 miles!

I did it! I know the gorgeous weather gave me a boost (it was 65 out). I ate a Gu after mile 6. Man, I don't know if I'll ever get used to that stuff. It's the consistency (and color - slightly yellow) of mucus. At least the flavor isn't half bad. I set a new personal distance AND learned it's possible to do multiple 6 mile loops without giving up. I am strong. I can do this race.

Today decided it, I want to do my long runs on my days off work from now on. I like being able to wait until midday to run (granted, I can't do that in summer when it's 80 degrees by 10 a.m.), I love being able to nap afterward. The bad side is, after you burn 1700 calories, you are hungry, and when you are at home, you want to eat everything in sight. Lucky for me, I resisted the urge to eat anything super substantial until dinner. Colley Cantina had mailed a flyer about a three-course meal for $14.99. So Josh and I walked over, and I had crab imperial nachos (sooo great ... each of the five nachos had a ton of crab meat on it), blackened chicken angelhair pasta (it was eh - the sauce was a little too creamy for my liking, I barely ate half of it), and apple cobbler a la mode (I am obsessed with the crust of desserts and this was delicious).

OK ... back to important things like catching up on TV shows, painting my toes and crocheting my basketweave scarf!

Like Dory says, just keep swimming

I haven't been writing much about running lately. That's because I haven't been running too often, despite the fact that my half-marathon is less than a month away now. The final leg of the Tidewater Distance Series was Saturday, and I ended up running a 10K instead of a 20K. I'm not too upset about it, it was a decent 10K, and it was about 26 degrees the whole time. I sat in my car with the heat on for 10 minutes before I could think about moving after the race ended.

That being said, I know I've got to tackle an 11- and 12-miler before the half marathon. And I'm taking on the first distance today. A few weeks ago, I ran a great 10-miler at First Landing. I'm going to try to run today in Norfolk because of my apprehension over this story.

Bottom line is, I just have to finish the half marathon. I'm not looking to place, or run a PR, I'm just looking to cover the 13.1 miles. And that is enough. I'll still get a finisher's medal if I end up walking a mile of it. I just need to realize that I'm too hard on myself sometimes.

Zer is problem wit dein cable.

I started and killed my first cable scarf EVER over the past 24 hours. Lauren got me this awesome book for my birthday, and the minute I saw the braided cable scarf, I knew I wanted to make it. It involved front post treble crochet (scarily abbreviated FPtrc) and BPtrc, which I've never done. Well, I got the stich down, but I'm afraid I was constructing the braids wrong. They looked a little off. So I frogged it, and I'm going to try a basketweave scarf from the same book.

As a side note, I've been reading this - "Knitting Rules" by Stephanie Pearl Mc-Phee. I also love her blog. She is an amazingly talented knitter (without ever playing the "I am one awesome knitter/look at me go" card). I love her self-deprecation. All knitters can be conquered by a project. I couldn't help but think of a section in "Knitting Rules" about finding friends who understand her knitting last night when Josh wanted to watch "The Science of Sleep" without any lights on. My immediate thought was "but then I can't crochet." I swallowed that thought and bravely watched it without any crochet. I liked what we saw of it - we stopped it about 30 minutes in because we were tired. Lame. I'm going to watch "Half Nelson" today/tonight. I love me some Ryan Gosling.

P.S. You get bonus points if you know the source of this post's subject.

two firsts today

1. I received flowers for the first time. Red roses and chocolates. It's a cliche, and I don't care. Flowers make anyone smile, even if they are toxic. I came home from work, eager to meet friends at the bar to celebrate their engagement. The flowers were hidden in the shadows of the front door, propped up next to a card and a heart-shaped box. My room smells lovely right now.

2. Kiss in the rain.

so busy

I had a birthday and took a roadtrip, but writing about that will have to wait. I'm busy trying to get myself back in "top running form" (that is a stretch of the English language, at least when it comes to me) because I've got a 20K (12.4 mile) race on Saturday and I've run three times in the last week and a half. I'm trying to make up for all the birthday eating and run Monday through Thursday this week. Off to the gym!

dried out

You don't know how much you appreciate water until your pipes freeze.

I discovered the problem five hours ago, but judging my crabbiness, you'd think it was five days. I brushed my teeth and washed my face with a bottle of Lauren's fina but that's not a shower. If it's not back tomorrow, I will either go to Josh's or go to the gym and shower. It's a utility problem, not a building problem, so I'm at the mercy of the city of Norfolk.

We can't flush our toilets, either, so I need to time my toilet use at work tonight (and possibly sleep elsewhere this evening). I hope the pipes unfreeze asap.

various thoughts

--I ran 10 miles today! I saw only three people in nearly three hours on the trails. It makes me want to switch my long runs to weekdays because I love being there by myself. I judge myself less when I'm all alone. It was rainy and muddy once I reached the visitors' center, and I had to take it a little slow, but I did six miles on the icky trails before my final two on the paved trail. I'm feeling sore, but good. I've got my feet up on the couch and I'm watching last night's "Letterman" - it was 25 years since he started with late-night TV, and Bill Murray's in a tux with a top hat. hee.

--The apartment smells divine ... I'm using the crock-pot as we speak!! I'm making an eye of the round roast with potatoes/carrots/celery. I'm hoping the vegetables stay not-mushy on the "warm" setting while I wait for Josh to get here.

-- I haven't posted about Saturday's race ... it went pretty well. The first six miles were very smooth; the last three were rougher. I ran the first hill completely, the other three halfway (followed by walking). I'm even looking forward to Friday's 10-mile run.

OK, nothin' else to say for now. Time to cuddle with my puppy.