General sucks.

Is it time for my vacation yet? Amy and I have been planning it for quite some time. It seems like it's never gonna get here and I feel like I've earned it like I've never ever earned a vacation before. Work has me all kinds of stressed out, y'all. 5 1/2 more weeks and it's mine...

The term general manager...let's take a look at it, shall we?

To quote Wikipedia.org, "A General Manager has broad, overall responsibility for a business or organization. Whereas a manager may be responsible for one functional area, the General Manager is responsible for all areas." Yep, that there is my problem. It's the umbrella of EVERYTHING that is so very overwhelming. General sucks.

I mean, I am responsible for 21 drivers, 23 helpers, a warehouse manager, a surveyor, and an office admin. While managing that workforce, I am also trying to add on a minimum of 2 more drivers and at least 6 more helpers. This means I am placing Craig's List Ads, scanning through applications, interviewing, badgering my HR department on status updates for the applicants, processing new hire paperwork, and all that jazz. General sucks.

In addition to this, I have to deal with the maintenance department, the safety department, the move coordinators, the operations department, the claims department, the payroll department, the billing & invoicing department, the customers, the vendors, and anyone and everyone else who wants a piece of me. General sucks.

On top of all that, I have a 1-800 # tagged to my cell and everyone in the company has access to it and can call me 24/7. I get calls during the work day, which I don't mind, sure enough. It's the calls when I'm at home during the evenings and on the weekends that drive me bonkers especially considering most of them are not even necessary calls. What's worse is when I go home thinking everything is settled and established...that everyone knows where they are supposed to be and everyone will be there just for it all to blow up in my face. It's a never ending wicked web of cuckoo crazy malarkey. General sucks.

On Monday night, I got awakened about an hour after I had gone to bed by an Ohio driver wanting to know the gate code to our Dallas warehouse. Why he hadn't called earlier in the day to ask is beyond me. Why he hadn't called the Dallas manager to ask him is beyond me, as well. On Tuesday morning, before my alarm went off, I got awakened by a Georgia driver wanting to know the gate code to my warehouse. He was supposed to be in San Antonio. Frustration, frustration, frustration....there is not enough Calgon boxes on the shelf at any given store to take it all away. I am, however, convinced that 5 days and 4 nights in tropical paradise in Playa del Carmen with no cell phone will help to calm the beast raging inside me....even if temporarily.

Do you know what it's like for a girl with A.D.D. to never get anything done? I mean as soon as I start one project, I am being interrupted with another. While getting acclimated onto that new project, still fretting about not finishing the first, a third task appears, etc.... It's like that all day long every day. Just once I would like to know what it feels like to finish something I've started....to have that sense of...fulfillment versus chaos. The sad thing here is that summer is my busy season and I'm already feeling stressed out, beat up, and spit on and out. How am I ever going to make it through the end of August?

So...yeah...general totally sucks. I'd much rather be a specific manager over a specific something...anything...ugh.

Deep breaths...running...vacation...music...massages...and I guess Calgon, too....TAKE ME AWAY!

7 Miles Successful and other News

So, attempt #1 at 7 miles was a fail. I was quite disappointed. I mean I felt mentally prepared for the challenge. Previously, my furthest mileage had been 6.35, so 7 was completely do-able, without a question. Around mile 2, I noticed my left knee started bothering me. Around mile 4, it was bothering me pretty badly. At mile 4.5, I decided to be a grown-up and call it quits. You see, I have had ACL surgery on both knees and something I promised myself when I first started this running journey was that I would not push knee pain unless I was in a race (think half or full marathon).

I know I did the right thing. I listened to my body. BUT still...I wanted that 7 miles under my belt. So what did I do? I iced both knees. I Bio-Freezed them. I Tiger Balm menthol patched them. I rested them and tried again on Sunday. This time I added Linda, my younger sister to the mix. Linda, as you may recall, ran the Houston Half Marathon in January. She is awesome! She is faster than me, but told me she would run with me because while I needed to get the distance down, she just wanted to put in the exercise. It worked out quite well. Might I also add what a gorgeous day it was?!

It is so awesome having my Garmin Forerunner, too. I am able to explore areas beyond the normal 1.27 path I have been running for the past 2 months now. I discovered a pond and that lengthened the path to 1.91 miles. Linda and I met an older gentleman who had just completed 9 miles when we were finishing our last 1.4 miles and he told us about an extension off the pond that would lead us to some softball fields and some good running over in that area. We decided to check that out next week.

Also, I checked my watch right when I had completed 6.2 miles (a 10K) and was delighted to discover I had taken 5 minutes off the time I clocked in the H.E.B. Bayou City Classic 10K just 2 weeks ago. My hip is doing that much better!

Oh...and I have officially graduated from 3/1s to 4/1s as Linda and I maintained 4/1s the entire 7 mile distance.

And then in other news...I passed the 90 lb weight loss mark!!! Since January, my weight loss has slowed dramatically. I blame the running. It's like my body was all, "Whoa...what are you doing to me? I'm not sure I like this...I'm checking out and I'll get back to you later." I had some weeks with no weight loss. I had other weeks with under a pound and a few scattered in there with slightly over a pound. It has been very frustrating because I (obviously) increased the intensity of my workouts (running) and I am very careful with my diet. The only thing I changed was adding more whole grain carbs in because my body needed the added fuel for the running. This should have been more than okay given the exercise regimen.

Something must have clicked last week because out of nowhere, BAM!, a 3 lb. weight loss and that was with eating out all week long in celebration of my birthday. Then this past week, BAM!, a 5.6 lb. weight loss. This is exciting because only 9.6 more pounds until I reach an even 100. I would really like to hit this milestone before I leave for my vacation on May 8th.

Lessons learned - patience is a virtue and hard work pays off (eventually).

meet my new friend, Meineke.

I came home from a date (yes, I actually had a date) on Sunday, stopped in my driveway to retrieve Saturday's mail, and noticed an awful rat-a-tat-tat-tat noise coming from beneath my beloved Gideon (Tahoe). Oh no! This meant he would need to go to the dealership on Monday for a check-up and consequently...an oil change since I get $9.95 life time oil changes and he was past due.

On Monday, I got crazy busy and time escaped me. I didn't even get a chance to call Lonestar Chevy until after lunch to try to make an appointment. My regular service guy, Mike, told me it would be best to bring it in on Tuesday morning and that as long as the "check engine light" didn't come on, it should be okay until then.

On Tuesday, I had one of my employees follow me over to Lonestar and I bade Gideon farewell. Later that afternoon, good ol' Mike called me to tell me the oil change was done and that the noise was because the catalytic converter was coming apart and that it needed to be replaced. He told me that I had two options. I could have them replace it with the manufacturer's catalytic converter which would run me $1085 PLUS tax (holy rusted metal, Batman). I quickly asked what might be my second option. He said I could take it to someplace like Meineke and that they would use a generic catalytic converter, cut it to fit my vehicle, and charge me about half the price. Um....so let me get this straight...you have possession of a vehicle needing to be fixed. You have a willing/paying customer. You don't want to try to make the sale. Do I have this right?! This goes against everything I know about business. I was sooooo confused. I kinda still am, for that matter. I had one of my employees take me back over there to pick up poor Gideon and decided I would take care of him the next day. Why can't anything just be easy???

So, once I got back to work, I made a couple of phone calls and I was told approximately $800 to $1000 by a couple of other places. I finally called Meineke and nice guy Bill told me $275 or something like that. I thought he meant for the part plus labor and tax. It still sounded a whole heck of a lot better than Lonestar's price, so I asked if I could bring it to them in the morning and he said sure!

Wednesday morning, I brought Gideon to Meineke. I called to check on him around 3pm and they told me he was good as new. Went to pay my bill and it was $287.30. Whoa! Are you freakin' kidding me?! That's like 1/4 of the price of the dealership. So was Mike at Lonestar just being nice in telling me to take it to Meineke? Well...regardless, I am thankful and I totally made a new friend this week, and its name is Meineke.

I did ask what else they do there and was told, by Bill, that they are a full service shop and can do anything. I feel like I'm spreading the word by blogging about it. If you need something done...you might just want to consider Meineke...friendly, fast service for a very fair price! =)

Hip Hip Hooray

So we all know I've been dealing with this wretched horrid tendonitis in my right hip since the end of January and that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. That 10K a couple of weeks ago caused my tendonitic (a word? sure, why not?!) hip great distress.

Here's what you don't know. I had the run of my life last Saturday. Well...you may know it if you read my Facebook status update, but whatever....humor me and pretend you didn't. Anyway, here's the deal...I set out to run 5 laps at Meyer Park which would be my 3rd and final week at mile 6 (6.35 miles, to be exact). It was a dark and dreary (HUMID) morning and I felt VERY unmotivated, but still my dedicated soul hit the pavement after my hearty South Beach pancake breakfast. For the first 2 1/2 miles, I did my usual 3/1 intervals - 3 minute runs / 1 minute walks. After that, something came over me....it was crazy...I ignored my watch and just ran. At first I told myself to try to do 1 mile without stopping as my previous best was 3/4 of a mile. After I passed the mile marker, I told myself to finish the lap. Once I finished lap #3, I still felt like I had more to give, so I told myself to continue onward for another 3/4 of a mile to make it an even 2. I just kept giving myself little mini goals to carry me through until the torrential storms poured down upon me at mile 6 forcing me to cut my run short (RAR) - after I had run 3 1/2 miles without walking a lick of it!

So...initial thoughts...dude...the area directly below my knee caps and my ankles hurt, but surprisingly...the hip just felt a bit strained. It was not nearly the pain I had felt just a week before. I went home and took an hour long Epsom salt bath (Amen!) and that helped the knee and ankle pain tremendously.

I had a follow-up Ortho appointment on Wednesday and it was such a wonderful feeling to walk in there one month later feeling infinitely better than my previous visit. The doctor told me to take one more month of the anti-inflammatory meds (Voltaren which make me think of the Volturi which makes me think of Twilight) and then refill the prescription and take them on an as needed basis there after. Once I'm done with the next 30 days of this medication, I want to start adding a mid-week timed run to my exercise regimen.

I'm told that tendonitis is one of the hardest things to cure unless the tendon has complete rest. Since we know that isn't going to happen with my training schedule, I will remain glass half-full hopeful that the pain remains at a minimal, manageable level and that I am able to continue to have awesome Saturday runs.

On tap for this Saturday...7 miles using my new Garmin Forerunner 305 - can't wait!!!

Birthday Week Summary

Ever since I was a wee little kid, I've always taken pride in the fact that I can manage to stretch my birthday across a week like no other! It all started when I went to school and realized my birthday was always going to fall during Spring Break which meant I was always going to get screwed out of getting the attention I deserved on my special day.

Yes, yes....I know I should just get over it like so many other grievances I have like the fact that my parents didn't love me enough to give me a middle name...like the fact that I have such a common first name...like the fact that I have SMCS (Severe Middle Child Syndrome)...I could go on and on, but I will stop the whining here.


Anyway, this year was no exception. On Tuesday night, I met my friend Kim for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Red Onion. It had somehow been six months since Kim and I had last seen each other which is WAY too long - especially for two friends who live in the same city!!! She was my first college friend and we shared our first apartment together with our other roomie and friend, Laura. This is a picture of my dinner. It was so delicious and it came with a cup of onion soup plus I added a side of refried black beans because how often do you see that at a restaurant?!

On Wednesday night, I met my friend Amy for dinner at Chili's. We had really crappy service from our server, but thankfully the company made the night awesome regardless! In case you don't know how I met Amy, well almost 2 years ago she answered a CL ad I posted looking for a workout buddy. Turns out we like to eat out together more than workout, but I made a life long friend!!!

On Monday, I did my morning meeting with my crews before sending them out on their respective jobs. I made mention of the fact that my birthday was the same day as the beginning of March Madness. One of my guys said, "oh yay...that means we get cake." I told him it was unlikely since I don't eat cake anymore, so I really don't see my mom doing that this year. I told my mom about it later that day and guess what?!?! On Thursday, she brought up a birthday cake (for the guys to eat), a fruit tray (for me) and some flowers. Then my parents took me out to eat for a great grilled chicken salad. I actually didn't have any plans on my actual birthday night with anyone, though I was invited to go to Greggy and Mellie-D's house to watch Flash Forward (yay). Unfortunately, I had to clean house because....

On Friday, I was having a small get together with some friends, my siblings, and their spouses at Los Cucos (we all know I have a slight obsession with them lately) and then I had invited everyone back to my house for dessert (sugar free cheesecake and sopapilla cheesecake).

Jay, Cathy, ME, Linda, and Craig

Meliska & Kimska

me and my Amy

Joe didn't do his famous dance for me - no fair!!!

Lauren!!!!

Sarah - friend AND massage therapist - doesn't get much better than that!

Vicki & Andrew - a treat to get them out on a Friday night!!! yay!!!

On Saturday, I got to choose a restaurant for my family to dine at in joint celebration of my 33rd and Craig's 32nd birthdays. I picked Pappas Grill Steakhouse and Craig was so okay with this! I love this place because your meal comes with the salad bar (and they have 3 huge blocks of cheese and we all know how much I HEART cheese). After dinner, we went back to my parent's house for dessert. My mom bought a cake from Rao's Bakery. I, of course, did not partake, but it looked REALLY good. I just ate another slice of my sugar free cheesecake instead. I also got to open up all my presents! Yay! The wish-list Nazi (otherwise known as Cathy) told me my list was no good - apparently she didn't approve of my mostly running-themed items (even though she did humor me). All in all, this ranks up there as one of my favorite birthdays to date! =)

Happy Birthday to ME as I turn 33!

You know what's really funny? It seems that the older you get, the more depressed you are supposed to be about aging - at least that's what society feeds us. I don't feel depressed. Then again...I've always kinda marched to the beat of my own drum.


I would also like to take note that I'm wearing 4 dress sizes smaller this birthday than I wore on my last birthday. Here's a picture from my 16 Candles x 2 celebration in 2009.

I'm actually excited about what 33 will bring me cuz I have big plans for it, y'all! For those of you not in the know, on Monday I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon. Ironically, it wasn't the one I've been talking about - The Houston Half which is on October 24th. Nope...it's the Rock 'n' Roll series Chicago 1/2 Marathon which is on August 1st.

So this is just one adventure in what I'm sure will be a year chalk full of many, so I say "Bring it!" to 33 with open arms and a big grin!

Pancakes: South Beach Style

As a South Beacher, I'm always looking for ways to keep my meals new and exciting so I don't get bored or too monotonous. I also think variety breeds better weight loss results because it jump starts your body instead of letting your body get too used to something - similarly if you always did the same workout every day without variation, your body gets too comfortable and you don't yield the same results after a while.

One of the things I've had to mentally deal with has been the fact that I have had to up my whole grain carbohydrate intake since I've upped my exercise intensity pretty dramatically. My body needs it's fuel. I've accepted this, though it's been difficult because I know this is one of the reasons why my weight loss has slowed.

I was talking to my good friend Vicki a couple of months ago about my need to increase my breakfast carbs on Saturday mornings for my long runs. She suggested I make a recipe for oatmeal pancakes that her mom has been making since she used to do South Beach back when the diet first came out on the market. She said it was a good balance of whole grain carbs and protein.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup whole grain rolled oats

1/4 cup reduced fat cottage cheese

4 egg whites (or I used 1/3 cup of all egg white Egg Beaters)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Here's how you make them:

Put all the ingredients in the blender. Blend until smooth. Spray cooking spray in a skillet. Heat your skillet on medium. Pour the batter into your skillet. Cook until the pancake is lightly browned on one side, then flip and do the same on the other side.

Use sugar free syrup and voila!

Nutritional Information (with Egg Beaters):

Calories 295

Fat 4g

Carbs 34g

Fiber 4g

Sugar 4g

Protein 31g

You can usually find a sugar free syrup for about 20 calories for 1/4 cup.

This is a good, hearty breakfast that sticks with you for several hours. It also freezes quite well. I usually make 4 at a time - one to eat and 3 to freeze for future use.