December 2008 Archives

Now that my fantastically fulfilling Christmas has come and gone (thanks to my mother for watching Ash so I could sleep sleep sleep and sleep some more!), it's time to focus on the new year.

I'm not one for resolutions; however, this presents a great time for reflection and goal-setting.

2009 Big Goals:
- lose 15 pounds
- eat healthier (more fruits/veggies, less fats)
- tone abs, arms
- get better at soccer (specifically, dribbling the ball)
- get faster at running

Ways to obtain Big Goals:
- keep a food log
- purchase healthier foods
- develop (and utilize!) list of "substitution foods" (healthier foods I can reach for when I'm feeling a certain way or wanting a certain food)
- develop strength training plan, attend gym 2-3x/wk to implement
- continue playing soccer once/week, add one more practice per week (by myself? with friends? not sure...)
- average 15-20 mpw running (use Jan-Mar as basebuilding, develop plan for speedwork to be implemented starting in Apr)
- schedule all running, soccer, gym work on calendar and keep log

What are your goals for next year? Do you have any tips, tricks or suggestions for me to help me reach my goals?

It's been two-and-a-half weeks since I last posted: busy, busy, busy! I tend to keep both twitter and facebook much more updated than the blog (search for onepinkfuzzy and add me if you haven't already!).

Ash turned six and lost his first tooth (on his birthday!). We had an overwhelming but very fun birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's with his entire family: mom, dad, step-mom, mom's family, dad's family, step-mom's family. We all came together for Ash; he truly enjoyed and it and it was so wonderful.

Ash and I are doing homemade holidays this year. We've made all our gifts and have had so much fun doing so! I have to say that although it's been a little stressful, it has been one of the most fulfilling holiday seasons I've had in years. Even with the kittens jumping on and smooshing the artificial tree until it looks like a pole rather than a tree :)

Not much running going on; I'm recovering from a cold. I'm still playing soccer and loving it. I'm looking forward to getting healthy next year! I also can't wait to start school!

Here's the holiday letter Ash & I sent out this year, followed by snippets of our holiday season. Happy everything!

Dear two-legged creatures,

It's been a great year! We both love living with our family. As kittens, we like the excitement and activity they provide us! They pet us all the time and feed us well. The littlest one likes to hug us; we aren't really sure how we feel about that. They definitely don't like us climbing the Christmas tree...they've started shooting water at us! The horror!

The littlest two-legged creature in our family turned SIX this year. (We think that's something like 42 in cat years...but we aren't sure. Grooming ourselves is way more important than thinking of age.) He likes to spend time kicking around a white ball with black spots. We aren't sure what's so appealing about a sport that doesn't allow you to
use your arms AND legs. Or mouth, for that matter. That's our favorite way to carry our favorite toys. He also talks a lot about Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo and R2D2, whoever they are.

The bigger two-legged creature trained for and ran a 50k trail race this year and injured her knee doing so. Really, what does she expect, running that far?! We know way better than to do that. Spending time lounging in the sun is the way to go, trust us. She's
still at the same company she's worked for over the last five years and seems pretty content with it, although we've heard her say that she's decided that being a single mom won't keep her from pursuing her dream of going to school and obtaining a degree. She's starting school next month with the goal of graduating as a
Geologist.

She and another big two-legged creature took the little one on an epic trip this summer in northern Arizona and eastern New Mexico. They camped in the rain and explored a river and hiked the Catwalk and saw an entire herd of elk!

We all hope everyone has happy holidays and a beautiful new year.
Love,
Fuzzy & Pi

(I'm quite proud of the stockings I made! Embellishments will come over the years...this year, it was enough to have them cut out and sewn!)

Okay, after reviewing the lingering pain in my knee, I've decided to suspend any plans for a long-distance race for 2009. Instead, I will focus on getting healthy and fit. I'd like to lose 15 pounds, get trim and lean, create beautiful arms, build my core strength and get a little faster at running. I figure 12 months is plenty of time to do this with no pressure. I'll start outlining my plan in the next couple of weeks. 12 months is too long to be vague, so I need to set mini-goals along the way. I will continue to "race" smaller distances (5k, 10k) with our local running club.

I've started playing soccer. I'm not sure how good of an idea this is for me knee, but I'm taking it easy and stopping when the knee starts twinging (but before it starts hurting). I'm really enjoying this; it's fun, I get to hang out with friends and it's speedwork! It works muscles I didn't know I had - that's a cool thing.

Ash and I are doing a "buy-nothing Christmas" this year. I'm looking forward to creating presents with Ash for our large family. It's fun to think outside the box!