I was tagged!

Not once, but twice! Thanks Heather and Lauren. Here we go.

The Rules:
1-Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4- Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.


1. I never thought I would become a runner. Never in a million years. Now that I have started I LOVE IT!!! I love how it makes me look and feel.
2. I was in Girl Guides for about 12 years. I am thinking of going back as a leader.
3. I don't have a favorit season, I love them all, for different reasons. Summer I can spend the whole day outside in the sun. Fall I enjoy watching the leaves change color. Winter I love playing in the snow and going snowboarding. Spring everything smells great and it's perfect for running.
4. Even thought I have "fat days", I am pretty happy with what I see in the mirror on a daily basis. That's not to say I wouldn't mind getting rid of these extra pounds I'm carrying, but I am content with how I look now.
5. I became "friends" with my grade 1 teacher. She would come over and swim at Gramma's house sometimes.
6. In my first year of high school, I was supposed to be in the remedial program, but I just made it into the main stream. By my second year, I was in the advanced program.
7. I always complain that I am so busy, but the reality of it is I wouldn't have it any other way. I hate having nothing to do.

So there you have it. Facts about me! I think everyone has been tagged, but if you haven't and want to be, consider it done!

Weekend to End Breast Cancer

As some of you may already know, I am planning on walking in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer in Ottawa, June 2008. We have all been affected by breast cancer either directly or indirectly. We need to fight together to find a cure. In order for me to walk, I need to raise $2000. To help me raise the money, I am making and selling necklaces and pins. I am asking for your help. Below you will find some pictures of the necklaces and pins I have made. Each one is listed with a price. Please keep in mind that all of the money I get from the necklaces is going to Breat Cancer Research

The pictures are of necklaces I have made right now, and becasue alot of them are one of a kind, you may not be able to get the exact one shown. I am constantly making new and different ones. So if you let me know what colors and lengths you like, I am sure I can find something that will work for you.

When you do find the one you like, I will mail it to you, probably via Canada Post. As for payment, I will be collecting money through the Weekend to End Breast Cancer site. That way, you are sure that the money is going to Breast Cancer research!

Lastly, please remember that I am doing this for charity, so I am also accepting donations. If you would like to donate please visite: http://www.endcancer.ca/goto/angelafurniss

So buy necklaces for yourself, buy them for friends and family (for christmas!) and help support a great cause!

If you have any questions, either e-mail me or leave me a comment.

These are some of the different colors I have for the multi-strand necklace. Price: $10


Price: $10 each


This is a close up of the center part of the necklace. Price: $10


These are some of the colors for pins I have. If you want a specific color, let me know. Price: $3



These are some of the pendants that have yet to be made into necklaces.

Monday Update

Court: Waste of my time. I sat around for 45 minutes, only to be told I wasn't needed and I could go home. So why did I show up in the first place?? The up side, I took the rest of the day off and got caught up on some house work and stuff that needed doing.

Running: I only go 3/5 runs in last week. I really need to be more dedicated and really get out. I have an excuse, but it's not really a good one, so I'm not even goig to post it.

Cookies: My roommate made cookies this weekend. I hate it when she does this. Her cookies are soooo good! I had 4 (yes, 4!) while playing cards on Saturday night and another 2 on Sunday! Once the overflow is off the counter and all the cookies are in the cookie jar, it will be alot easier to avoid them.

Sunday breakfast: I went to McDonalds. I wanted something more, but I couldn't find anything else open after my long run! 17 for breakfast. Not great, but not the end of the world.

Weekend to End Breast Cancer: I have finally gotten around to taking pictures of the necklaces I am selling. I will posting them in a new thread on here very soon (sometime this afternoon) will all the details.

Oops!

Sorry for the lack of postage, things have been really stressful at home this past week. Hopefully, things are starting to get better.

I don't have a whole lot to say today, so I will keep it breif.

I joined a challenge on the WW boards, and it seems to be doing some good. I have had a really good week so far. Hopefully it keeps up and I will make my mini-goal of below 200lbs by Christmas.

Halloween was good. I didn't by any candy to had out, so I have no leftovers. One guy at work was handing out goodies, but it's a small bag of cookies, that are 2pts for the bag I think. So far I have tossed it in my bag and am trying to forget about it. I might eat them later, I haven't decided.

Running is going well, I am still struggling to get my 5 runs a week in though. There seems to always be something else that needs doing.

Wish me luck, tomorrow I'm in court to do with the fire at my place. I have no clue what to expect!

Finally Friday!

Hurray for fridays! Another week over!

Not much going on this weekend. I have decided that I haven't seen my friends in WAY too long so I'm having some people over this weekend for a card party. Should be a blast! Probably not going to drink too much, so I should be good on the WW front. Plus people aren't coming over until after dinner.

Bad news, my wrists and elbows hurt. It's probably from (a) spending so much time on a computer, and (b) making all those breast cancer pins. Sigh. Hopfully it will go away soon!

In other news, I have been doing pretty good at staying on track all week. Except for the minor slip up called Chinese Food. We ordered out last night. Pizza I can deal with, Chinese, apparently not! Oh well, I drank tons of water today, and I plan on going running tonight. Nothing much (3km), but at least I will be geting out.

I signed up for the Hypo Half in January today. Registration started this week and it's already at over 100 people. It's capped at 300!!! I'm glad I got signed up before it was full! I would have been pretty upset if I couldn't do the half after having trained for it all through December!! On a similar note, I should sign up for the resolution run before it fills up too!

Well, I'm off to finish up at work, before heading out a little early! Have a great weekend!

ENOUGH!!!!!

I am sick and tired of this rollercoaster of a ride I am on. I want to get off! It's a horribly visous cycle! I don't loose, so I don't track, so I don't loose. I have had enough! I'm not loosing, I'm not tracking, and I'm not eating right! If I plan on getting below 200 by christmas, this has to stop, and it has to stop NOW!

The only thing I am doing right, is running. And even then I'm struggling to get out regularly. According to the Running Room schedule, I should be doing 5 runs a week. I'm averging 4. Not too bad, but still not great. I'm paying for the gym, and I haven't been there in about a month now. I hate wasting money like that...

What happend to my motivation? I NEED it back, and fast.

I'm going to take it one day at a time. I will track one day at a time. When I get through today, I will worry about tomorrow. Hopefully this will get me back on track. I don't know what else to do.

On a different note, I have decided to cut WAY back on the amount of pop I drink. I'm going down to when I'm out, or special occations. I'm going to drink more water, and probably some crystal light. So far so good. I'm on day 2 without any pop.

You know your a real runner when...

You actually look forward to a run in the rain.

I just got back from a nice run out in the rain. Ran alot faster then usual too! It was a good run..

Now, off to dinner.

What a weekend

I'm pretty happy with my time at the Zoo run. Not a PR, bit then again, they can't all be PR's! I do want to say Way to Go to my Uncle who did get a PR (56min!!) and DBF who finished his first timed 5km! You guys rock!

I spent the day Sunday vegging on the couch, watching movies. It was great to have a relaxing day. Plus I got some beading done.

My pet peeve of the day: people who show up to a training class, but spend the whole time checking their blackberry. If you have better things to do, don't waiste my time. Grrrr...

Whats new with me...

Not much. I started selling a few of my necklaces at work, and I think I did pretty well for my first day, $45! And a bunch of people saying they would love to see more. So I'm pretty happy about that!

I got rear-ended on wednesday night, while driving home. Nothing overly serious, but it still sucks. It's gonna cost almost $700 to fix the back bumper, and it will take 2 days. At least the guy that hit me realises that it is his fault and has agreed to pay for the damages. So thats good too.

I'm heading to Toronto tonight to go and run the Zoo Run 10km. I'm looking forward to that, it sounds like something a little different in terms of races.

Well, that's pretty much all that's new with me! What's new with you?

So close, but...

Still so far! I almost made it in to the Running Room for the Sunday group run. However, around 8:30, when I woke up, I realised that I wasn't going. Oh well, maybe next time. I did get up and do an 8km run though, so that was good!

Thanks for giving your thoughts on the business cards. I ended up going with some bright colored cards. I have hot pink, line green, bright blue, yellow and red. I decided to go with the colored cards, that way, if people get them mixed in with other papers and other cards, mine will stand out much more then a white card. Here's an example:


Well, I suppose I should get back to work. Hurray for 4 day work weeks!

This weeks WI!

Yahoo!! I'm down 3.5lbs. That puts a good dent in the 7lbs I want to loose by christmas!

My treat this week: A bottle of Cream Soda, and two cookies.
(Every week after WI, I allow myself to have something "not WW". Sometimes it's pizza, or fries) I fought off the craving I've been having for chip wagon fries, and bought 2 cookies at a bake sale for United Way. MUCH better then the greasy fries!

I gotta get my act together for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer stuff. I've been telling people at work about it and a bunch of people have already said they will support me! I plan on getting my personal webpage set up and ready for donations this weekend, allong with the "business cards" that I will be handing out. What do you think, should I print them on bright pink paper, or on white with a picture of a pink ribbon? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Have a great turkey day!

Sorry!

Sorry for the lack of postage ladies (and gents). Life has been busy. Work had me going all over the city putting out "fires" (not real ones!) I always say things are going to be settling down soon, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Oh well, I just roll with the flow!

WW is going ok. I'm hoping to stay the same this week, but if I'm really lucky, I might loose (given my food this week, I doubt it!) But I am proud to say that I am back at it and am tracking everything religiously again, and measuring food. This is good.

I am also back at running. Which is also good. So far I'm enjoying the 1/2 marathon clinic. Nice people, and the distance isn't too bad, yet.

I have also decided that I am going to walk in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer this year. So I am getting started on raising my money now! I am going to make beaded necklaces and sell them. As soon as I get a few things ready, I will be posting some pics here, so you can see them, and even buy some if you are interested! More info to come on that.

I'm looking forward to the long weekend, I need some time off! I'm going to try really hard to stay on track though. The last thing I need is another "event" to throw the whole WW thing off, again.

My next goal is to be below 200lbs for christmas. That's 7 lbs in 3 months. As long as I stay on track, it's do-able!

Back to normal?

Almost. I think that October is when it will really calm down. Things will get into a routine and I will be good to go.

I had a good weekend. There was a wedding. It was TONS OF FUN!!! I had an amasing time. WW-wise, kinda iffy, but hopefully I can get by with just staying the same. We'll have to see tomorrow. I am proud to say that I got out of bed early on saturday and went for a 5km run knowing that I would need the AP's. The bad part? I haven't tracked all week! My tracker is sitting on my dresser at home, just waiting to be writen in...Oh well. I am hopeing to not see a gain this week, but at least I know why if I do see one.

To answer your question Amy, yes, I am taking the clinic at Slater. I decided that since I am taking this clinic alone, I should go to the location that is closest to me. I was hoping that doing it close to home I would be less stressed about it then I am with the LTR I am doing now at Merivale. However, the clinic hasn't even started yet, and they already have me annoyed! (There was some "confusion" about wheather the clinic runs mondays or tuesdays, and then I got 2 conflicting e-mails about start times.) *Sigh* I am trying to not let it get to me and just go and enjoy the clinic.

Tonight is the last night of the LTR clinic. We are going for a run a then out to dinner. Should be a good time. I've had fun helping Mom with this clinic, but I am ready to move on. I'm finding it too much to go out to Merivale 2 nights a week to run, the commute takes longer then the actual run. But, if asked to, I would probably do it all again!

Well, they usually expect me to do some work while in the office, so I should get back at it...

I have missed you...

Today is the first day in a while that I have been able to get back into my old lunch time habbit. That of reading everyone's blog and then posting my own. And I admit, I have missed you. I have missed reading about what is going on with people, I have missed all the inspiration I get from you all, and I have missed posting. It helps to keep me accountable.

Life is starting to get back on track, I think. I'm hoping that as of next week, life will be somewhat normal, but that may be too much to hope for. Next monday I start the half clinic and I am so looking forward to it! I can't wait! This will be the first clinic that I do "by myself" and I am doing it much closer to home. This means I *might* even haul ass out of bed early to go for the sunday morning group runs, but I still think 8:30 is too early!

I am hoping that WW will fall back into place next week too. I have a wedding this weekend, so I am going to try and save my flex for that. I am thinking I might even get out of bed early and go for a run saturday morning, just so I have the extra points for the day. I will have to see how things go.

Have any of you seen the new "toy" on blogger? The one that lets you watch pictures as they are being posted? If not, check it out! (http://play.blogger.com/) It's really cool, and a great way to waste some time, I mean...pass the time. :)

Holy Stress Batman!

It has been a looooonnnnnnggggg week. I worked all week, but wasn't in the office at all. I have been running here and there to different clients. It was quite a week and I am so glad for the weekend to be here. One more week of insaneness before things calm back down and go back to normal. Then hopefully I will be able to concentrait more on WW. I also start my training for the half marathon on the 24th, so hopefully that will get me going again. I still have to build up to be able to start that. When things calm down, I should be able to be get back into blogging more often.

Have a great OP week!

Goals

I was at WW tonight and the topic was goals. How important they are, and how they help you get to where you want to go. It got me thinking, I haven't sat down and thought about my goals in a while. I decided that tonight was as good a time as any and that this was a great place to write them up. So here we go.

Running Goals

1. Dream Goal: Run a marathon, or even an ultra-marathon


2. Season Goal: Complete the half-marathon clinic and the associated race


3. September Goal: Build up my running so I can make it through the clinic. This means running 3 to 4 times per week.

Weight Loss Goals

1. Ultimate Goal: Make it to lifetime and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.


2. Christmas Goal: Be below 200 lbs once and for all before christmas


3. This weeks Goal: Have 7 completely OP days. Stay the same for my WI next week.

What a week

Sorry I haven't been posting, I've been really busy this past week. Work has been insane. I did and hour and half of overtime today! It's been nuts. But I did take the time this evening to get caught up on everybody's blog!

On the WW front, I have been OP since Wednesday. I have tracked and measured everything. And got most of my oils in. I'm feeling really good! I've been getting out and doing my activity too.

When I left work today, I felt the need to go running. I almost sprinted from the office to the bus stop, but decided against it. As soon as I got home, I changed into my running gear and went out for a nice 5km. I felt great.

I made what I call "Cheap Stir-fry". It involves taking the beef cubes from the freezer and adding some frozen veggies, oil and spices. yummy!

I did some baking tonight too. I made some more scones, some more oatmeal bars and some PB Fudge.

Alright, off to bed for me!

The weekend and such

Well, I made it throught my weekend ok. Saturday morning, I got up early and went to the gym for an hour before the wedding. For dinner I had a 1/2 pizza and salad. It was really good! I had a cookie for dessert. Thats about it. I didn't go overboard!

Sunday I got up and went for a run. I managed to do a 5km, but I was dragging along by km 3. Oh well, I finished it and that's what counts. I showed up early for the shower and asked if there was anything I could do to help. The girls organizing it asked if I would be ok with counting jelly beans, knowing that I couldn't guess how many there were. So I jumped at the chance, because I LOVE JELLY BEANS! I knew that if I sat there and counted them, I couldn't win the prize, and therefor couldn't leave with 629 jelly beans! So I counted away, and only ate 2! And the food that was put out was pretty healthy too: veggies, fruit, crackers, cheese, sausage bits, corn and tostitos. All in all, I think I did pretty well.

I am frustraited with WW right now, as you probably already know. So I have decided to go back to flex and make sure that I measure everything before I eat it! I'm hopefully going to get the new measuing spoons from WW, hopefully that will make a difference.

Well, time to get back to work!

Drag Queens and other stuff

I was at a comdey show at Yuk Yuk's yesterday, the third annual Laugh Out Proud show. It was awsome. One of the comedians came out dressed in drag and I realised how much respect I have for someone like that. Think about it. Think about how much confidence and self-estime you have to have to go out dressd in drag. You are going completely against what society deems to be "normal". I think it's great that they can go out and do that. And to take a phrase from the comic yesterday "You go girl!"

And now on to a slightly more regular post.

I was WAY off plan yesterday. We went out to lunch to celebrate the upcoming wedding of a co-worker. We went to a place called "Le Panacher" in Hull. They server traditional french cuisine. They had and "A La Carte" menu, and only had about 5 different meal options for lunch: Lamb (on the bone), Pork (agian with bone), Fish (which I don't like), Shrimp (which I also don't like) and then a pasta and chicken dish. So I had pasta. It was good, but the whole restaurent was not my thing. They also had unlimited fresh baked bread with herbs in it. Now THAT was awsome! Then for dinner, I was on the run and grabbed some potato wedges from Loblaws. I've been craving them for a while now, and sorta got into the mentality of "Oh well, the day is already bust". But on the bright side, I did go to the gym for an hour.

This weekend is going to be full of challenges. I have a wedding to go to tomorrow and a bridal shower on sunday (two different couples). The wedding shouldn't be too bad. We aren't invited to the dinner, a bunch of us are going out, so at least I can choose something WW friendly. And then I just have to stay away from the boose at the reception, but I have to drive, so I know I won't go too over. As for the shower, it's going to be trickier. I'll make sure to eat something before going, so that I won't be hungry. Then I'll just stay away from the food!

Here's to a great OP weekend!

Yesterday's Race

I did a 10km race yesterday. It went well. It was a hard course though. For those who know Ottawa at all, it was held at the Experimental Farm Arboritum. The route was half gravel, half pavement. And I'm not talking nice, hard packed gravel, it was loose and moved all around. I had tons of rocks in my shoes. Oh and did I mention there was a hill? A big hill? With a gravel path up it? That I had to run three times? So yeah, my hamstrings are killer today! Oh well. I think I will opt out of running tonight, maybe go for a bit of a walk instead (does shopping count as walking?).

On the bright side, I managed to cut about 15 seconds off my race time. Considering the course, that's pretty decent!