Happy Fathers Day, Big Poppi

Dad,

 

I feel like I have so much to say to you, but the words just are not coming out right. I have tried to write this 3 times already, but the words never fully expressed what I am trying to say.

 

Simply put, I love you so much, and I am so thankful to you. I don't know how you did it all those years. Working 3 jobs, working 80 hour weeks, putting up with us. You really did lay down your life for us didn't you?

 

You were such a rock when we were growing up. I don't know how many times I walked into the garage to talk at night. You would be working or tinkering on something, and I would come sit on the counter and tell you about my day, my frustrations, or my dreams. I loved those times. You listened, talked, advised, and then gave me a hug and told me how proud you were of me. You said that all the time, and it was exactly what I needed to hear.

 

You also listened without judgment. I think that was why I was never scared to confide in you. I knew that if I told you something, you would never hold it over my head. You accepted me flaws and all.

 

Thank you for loving me Dad. Thank you for spending hours practice soccer with me in the back yard. Thank you for driving thousands of miles to watch every single game I played. Thank you for buying hundred of meals for me after games. Thank you for giving me away at our wedding. Thank you for being who you are and sacrificing your dreams, so that I could achieve mine.

 

I love you. Happy Fathers day.

 

 

 

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Friday Confessions: Running edition

Here are my weekly confessions from my running this week:

1. When running with my dog, I don't let him stop to sniff and pee. So he has gotten in the habit of peeing while running. I am a mean owner.

This would be my dogs urine trail while running. I would not let
him stop to pee, yet I allowed myself to stop and take the photo. 

2. Running gets the pipes going....internally. I was rushing back home one day after the run, and I needed to get to the restroom. I turned the corner and passed gas really loudly when I thought no one was around. Turns out, an entire family was on the side of the yard, and they clearly heard it. 

3. I ran in 95 degree heat. I told everyone, and basically made myself out to be a martyr for running in the heat. 

4. I trip on something nearly every time I run. This week, I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk in front of a group of teenagers. They all saw and laughed. I was embarrassed.

Fess up y'all. 

How Stella's getting her run back

Yea, I just called myself Stella.

Running these past 2 weeks have been amazing. Coincidentally, two weeks ago, I started using Castor oil on my foot. These past two weeks, the pain in my foot has subsided dramatically. The wart is still there, but I think its healing.

I have been running with purpose. For the past few months, my running has been lacking discipline, passion, and purpose. I came to realize that I was running just to check it off my to do list. I didn't really realize this on my own, this little gem of a revelation came from P. One day I was complaining about running to P, and he simply looked at me and said "You are only running to check it off your list. You don't really care about what you are doing." BOOM. There are so many times, that I get so lost in my own head, and when I talk about them to P, he tells me directly what I need to hear, whether I want to hear it or not. He is a straight shooter, and will tell me the truth, even at the risk of hurting my feelings. I  need that. A lot.

The Plan. I want to run a 24 minute 5K. My plan is to rebuild from the ground up. I am going to spend the summer doing more speed work and fewer junk miles. Every run, from speed work to recovery will have a purpose. The funny thing is, this is all the stuff I know, and I have done before, but I just was not putting it into practice. I got comfortable running at a slow pace, stopping whenever I felt like it, and I was comfortable not pushing myself.

Speaking of purpose, I have also been doing some speed miles. I mapped out a route around my neighborhood that is exactly one mile. Oddly enough, I don't do well when I don't have a specific route in mind. I actually ran my fastest marathon 2 year ago. At the time, the street in front of our apartment was exactly a mile, stop sign to stop sign. I did every single run on that sidewalk, even my long 20 milers. I found that I am motivated when I can see the end point, and I can tell myself I only need to run on the exact spot X amount of times again until I am done. Yea, I am nuts, I know.

I have a benchmark. A few weeks ago, I ran a 5K in 26 minutes. Not my fastest 5K ever, but that is where I am physically right now. I know I can beat that. On Monday afternoon, I ran 3 miles in 96 degree heat in 26 minutes.

I have been running in the 7:00's. I am super comfortable running between 8:15-8:30. When I start running faster, I panic, and force myself to slow down. I get scared and worried that I am going to fail.

A little evidence for you. That's 7:16. So what
if I only ran one mile, and wanted to pass out
afterwards. I still ran in the 7:00's. 

I am ready. I am ready to train, and train hard. I am ready to run again. Some days, I have even run twice, just for fun.

It feels good to be back. It's like reuniting with an old friend.

Help me stay inspired; How do you get out of a running rut? What keeps you inspired when you run? How do you stay motivated to train hard?

Holistic Healing

Remember my whore foot?

Yes, I know, its an attractive name for something so unattractive.

Basically, I have a huge wart on the ball of my right foot and it hurts like heck, all the time. Every time I step on my my right foot, it sent pain shooting through my foot.

I have had it cut out twice, but it keeps coming back.

Around 2 weeks ago, I called my friend who is  holistic, seeking help because what I had done in the past was not working. She suggesting using castor oil packs on my foot. I was a little skeptical at first, and even told her I did not believe her voodoo would work,but I would give it a try.

Dare I say, its working?

On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain has dropped from a 7, down to around a 3. It is crazy that this oil that cost 4.00 at Whole Foods is pulling this virus out of my foot. I spent hundreds of dollars at the doctor, and weeks on crutches each time I had it cut out. It took time, costs me and my insurance company money, and put me in a ton of pain. But for a few bucks, my foot is feeling better than it has in months.

I have been doing some research and I am more and more amazed by what castor oil can do. This stuff is awesome!!!

It can be used as an antiviral (which is how I am using it), relieves arthritis symptoms, can be used as antibacterial, and used to fight tumors, among many other things.

I can see each day how it is pulling the virus out of my body, and the pain continues to subside. Prior to using castor oil, I had been using Compound W, and it was tearing up the skin on my foot. The castor oil has also been healing the skin that surrounds the wart.

Overall, I am starting to find more uses for this oil, and I am starting to become more and more curious about holistic healing.

Friday confessions

1. I walked into the restroom at work, and said "eww" really loudly. Turns out, the person was still in the stall.

2. I've been watching old episodes of The Babysitters Club on Netflix.

3. I am reading a book meant for teenage girls.

4. the guy who checked me out at the store had an accent. So I spoke with an accent too.

 

Fess up y'all!

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Friday Confessions

1. I ate salad for breakfast

2. I cut my own bangs, and they look like crap.

3. I wore socks with open toed shoes to work

4. I wore bright pink socks with sandals to the store.

 

Fess up peeps.

 

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Natures Bounty

Having a black thumb is not a good thing, especially when you are married to a former farmer. P grew up on a farm, and can grow pretty much anything. Before getting married the only think I ever grew was leg hair. One guess as to who had the better skill set.

Since marrying P however, I have become quite the urban gardner. We decided to make this year's garden the tester. This is our first spring in our home, and we were not sure what the soil would be like, and how the plants would respond to this environment. So far, things have turned out really well.
We currently have squash, broccoli, spinach, bell peppers, jalapenos, several types of tomatoes, onions and tons of herbs growing.

This year's garden. We did a mix of mounds, a small raised bed, and rows.

This is the cauliflower. Its taken this guy a long time to grow, but he is lookin' yummy!

All the onions picked right out of the ground.

Onions after an extreme home makeover.

Lots of different kinds of tomatoes.

Lots of herbs. I cut them, gave 'um a rough chop, and the froze them in oil to have fresh herbs to use in our meals. Thank you Pinterest for the idea.

 

For such a small space, the garden is looking really good. We have been blessed with so much rain this year. We are in a major drought down here, so the rain is much needed and greatly appreciated. I think we have had more rain so far this year than we have had in the past 2 years combined. No joke on that one.

 

My mom told me El Nino moved or started dating La Nina or something. Sometimes she lies to get me off her back. Growing up, I found out about the starving kids in Africa, so I often offered to send them my left overs after dinner, usually when it was something I didn't like. She told me every night that she would pack it up and ship it off, though I don't recall a nightly visit from the UPS man. Strangely enough, I never realized I was eating the same meal 3 nights in a row either. I don't know which is worse, her lying, or my third grade self being super dumb. So you see why I am skeptical of her explanation.

 

Given the rain, our garden is looking great. I decided that I want to make tomato sauce and can it later this summer once the tomatoes are ready for picking. That could turn out really fun, or me sitting in the middle of the kitchen crying while P tries to salvage my project. He is pretty cool like that.

 

Talk to me: How does your garden grow, Mary?