Weekend Things...

On heels of maybe the most hellish work week in awhile (not to mention the running schedule), all I really wanted to do was bury myself in fluffy blankets and sleep through the last three days.  Of course, I am incapable of slowing down for even a nano second lately so this weekend was full of activities - naturally.

First up on Saturday I trekked out to Anniston with the Resolute Running Team for the Woodstock 5K.  This is also the RRCA National Championship race - meaning there are some really fast mother truckers out there.  Not the least of whom are 100% of the people that I was there with.  We were entered in the co-ed team competition where the top 5 fastest scores are averaged from each team to determine the winner.  Though I had absolutely no part in contributing to the top times, it was still great to be on the winning team.  If you know me at all, you know I am also gung-ho about signing up for everything and then the closer the day is to arriving, the more I want to back out of things.  I am trying to get better at that - I think I am getting better at that.  Waking up at 4am on a Saturday should be a sign that I am turning a corner, maybe?

I had an ok race.  It was hot and I was really, really tired form a long week at work and sore from Friday's personal training session.  The course had more hills than I thought it would, and I let my already tired body and mind convince me to walk a couple of times.  I know. I don't know what happened.  Regardless, I still shaved 4 minutes off my last 5K time.  Even better than that, I was able to keep the goal pace set for me, which is basically an accomplishment all it's own for me these days. On a better day, with a less tired body I may have had a PR.  Here is a look at what #1 looks like:

Bunch of goofballs. Very fast goofballs.

I was back home by about  10:30 and walked in to find O taping off the stairwell and prepping it for paint. Oh boy. When we first bought this house, we knew we would have some small projects on our hands.  Admittedly, the stairs have been neglected for two years.  Whoever lived here previously either had a destructive and disgusting child or was destructive and disgusting themselves.  But you know how it is - time passes, big projects take priority and the barely lived in upstairs step-child remains neglected.  O said he walked upstairs that morning and decided he just couldn't take it anymore and so, today, we are painting.  I really, really, really need to mentally prepare for these types of projects.  I am a terrible painter - meaning, I hate painting.  Needless to say, I was not the happiest camper about this unplanned Saturday plan.  

We trekked to Home Depot for paint and supplies and I knew things would be done faster if I pitched in.  Not to mention how guilty I would feel just sitting there reading my book while O slaved away in the hallway.  It was on, and I was in.  We were actually able to get things done pretty quickly, and semi-neatly.  The major success of the day was that O did not die or break his face falling off the crazy stair ladder he bought to reach the impossibly high ceilings.  By about 4pm though I was cashed in, done.  The week had taken it's toll on both my mind and my body and all I wanted to do was get off my aching feet and drink a beer.  Here is sort of a look at the finished product:

In addition, Sunday lunch  took us fortuitously by World Market.  I love going in to browse, but I'll be damned if they don't try to make me leave with something every time.  We saw a great desk on sale for under $200 and, with a shared look between O and I, we agreed it was going home with us.  The other step-child has been the "cat room" / my "office".  It's basically the place where everything landed that kind of sort of didn't have a home.  It always looks like a disaster and it is not the least bit appealing to work in.  I generally work from my reclining chair - which I'm sure is fantastic for the lower back and hip problems I already have.  I really, really, really need to be sitting in a real chair with good posture when I work from home.  I am already wrecked from spending countless hours in the car traveling. Also unplanned, we ended up cleaning this whole room and setting up a real workspace with a real desk and a real chair. I promised O that he would find me here everyday from here on out working - with good posture no less: 

In a sort of brilliant, last minute idea we also set him up a "man" space in the giant closet of the guest room/game room.  He has lots of computer "toys" and things that I didn't really want cluttering my new zen space. I think he likes it because while I was setting up a few last things, I found him blasting music from his new hidey-hole: 

So, this week/weekend officially kicked my ass in an unexpected and productive way.  I'm nowhere near ready to be taking off for work this week, but I'm hoping that I can at least be rejuvenated. Only 5 more weeks until beach vacay.  But who's counting?