Wordless Wednesday: Jack, the jog dog

the all inclusive jogging update

Meet Charlie. He's one of the best dogs in the world. such a sweet sweet baby. We found him a little over two years ago dirty, skinny, covered in fleas and trying to get into our garbage can. We convinced him to stay long enough to get a bath, a meal and to meet Jack, our dog we found at the Horton Mill Covered Bridge the year before. The two dogs hit it off, so when we couldn't find anyone to claim Charlie we weren't too upset about it because he was already a member of the family.
One of Charlie's favorite things to do (beside sit in your lap) is just to trot around. He likes going on walks. Friday night I took him with me on my jog around downtown. Jack went on Wednesday, so I figured it was Charlie's turn. Charlie is a bad jogging companion. He does the usual dog stuff like wanting to stop and sniff, but he also likes to zig zag in front of you. No matter how little slack I gave him on his leash he still wanted to trot all around me.

About mile 1 into my jog, Charlie, darts in front of me while a car and its headlights come glaring down on us. I tripped over Charlie and fell into the bright light. Luckily, I was not hit by the car. my knee was throbbing and tingly, so I hobbled home with my trot dog.

4 days later, the scab is much smaller and the two bruises are much larger and darker. lovely, huh? I had to take a day off, but now there's only the occasional tenderness when I hit or brush up against something with my knee. And that's my first jogging injury, brought to you by the cuddly Charlie Dog.

Another possible obstacle to my first 5k race was my iPod and iTunes. I created a new superb 5k play list. All the songs were 135-145 beats per minute, keeping me at a nice steady pace. I had about half of the songs already on iTunes and bought the rest. I made the play list almost a month ago, but I rarely sync my iPod these days, so the old play list was still on Fergus (yes, that's the name of my iPod). Monday, I downloaded the latest version of iTunes then tried to sync my iPod.

no dice. it just charged. so then I go through all the Help advice. restart computer, in disk mode, won't come out of disk mode, not showing up in My Computer, USB cord works. blah. I definitely did not want to uninstall itunes and reinstall. I was starting to have mini panic attacks about how this would ruin my race mojo and other none sense thoughts. finally, yesterday I was able to successfully put Fergus in disk mode and take it out and BINGO sync. glory, glory. I was giddy. now that's one less thing I have to worry about.

Sunday night, I completed the first day of week 8. I had a 5 minute warm up walk and then jogged for 27 minutes. and I did it. I jogged for 27 minutes (with Jack, as Charlie has been banned from all future jogs). When I jogged up to the porch, I announced I was back from my jog and I finally feel like a runner. I finally feel like I'm not just "training" but I am actually "a runner" wow. it was liberating. I really feel accomplished. For someone who in the past has never run more than a mile, so feel like "a runner" is amazing.

Tonight I'm going to try out said play list and see how it goes. The HYT 5k is this Saturday. I'm excited. trying to plan what to wear that will be most conducive to jogging with regards to the weather and time of day. making sure Fergus is completely charged. I'm ready. almost. I know I'm going to be super nervous/anxious/excited come Saturday morning. Bring it.

wordless wednesday: it's fun to be Daughter

the first tomato is (hopefully) not our best tomato

really, aside from the title and the picture what else do you need to know about our sad, sad first tomato? well, how about Husband put it in the fridge even though I told him I would, under no circumstances, feed it to my family.

I should have thrown it in The Tumbleweed as soon as he picked it!

tooth, already.

Son is barely 5 months old and already has one tooth. as in has busted through the gums and shining white in all its glory.

really. already.

Daughter didn't get her first tooth until a month or two later. and she got her first two at the same time.

it still blows my mind that these two kids, who come from the same mother and father look and act nothing alike.

as soon as I can manage a picture, I'll post it.

Daughter Loves Ball

football.

baseball.

soccer.

tennis.

golf.

basketball.

pool.

rugby.

and all other ball sports I didn't list.

Daughter loves all sports involving a ball. and especially ESPECIALLY football. for the main reason that she watched it even before she was born. and has watched it with Husband ever since.

when she spots team logos she always shouts, "BAAAAALLLLLL." always.

she loves watching it on television, but we have a rule that she can't watch television by herself, so this greatly limits her viewing pleasure bc I can only watch the 1992 Sugar Bowl so many times a week. (we have it on dvd)

Daughter and Husband watching football during the 2007 season.

now tonight, after a bath, watching the Clemson/Georgia Tech game. She's wearing one of her ball caps.

my first 5k is coming up.

my first 5k is coming up. October 3. AND it's in my hometown! Two college friends are running too. it's the first 5k for each of us. my brother is considering entering too. I think he should. he's always been a runner - for exercise.

I pulled up the race route online (and unless you know HYT, you have no idea that the first half a mile of the course is a pretty big hill - up) I used to ride my bicycle all over that area when I was in middle school, but I definitely never jogged it.

I'm pretty excited about it.

I'm pretty nervous about it.

both. yes.

I'm still doing interval training. I'm on week 5 of a 9 week program. I should've actually finished it on July 4 if I'd stuck to it as intended. yet, here it is, early September and here I am, week 5.

on week 5, I do a 5 minute warm up walk, a 7.5 minute jog, a 5 minute walk and another 7.5 minute jog. so I can jog 7.5 minutes at one time. and that's about it. bluh.

I was never 'unathletic' but definitely wasn't the organized sports training girl. I was on dance line in high school and I think we might've run a mile a couple of times in practice, but mainly we just sat around and gossiped (oh the joys of high school). so this is my first taste of distance running. and I love it! I just have to keep building my endurance.

My goal for my first 5k is to not walk. just not walk. I'm counting on race day adrenaline to help out with that a little. make up for what I couldn't in training. I'll be more than proud of myself if I just don't walk.

The only downside to the race is the date of it. Husband made plans months ago for us to be almost 3 hours away just 4 hours after the race. it stinks that I won't be able to stay long and visit with friends or even just bask in my after race glow. I'll have to change clothes and hit the road! (at least this time will be in a car!)

Husband is going to have the kids in the double stroller. And I have friends who live right at the end of the race route, so I hope he goes over there to give Daughter something to do in the 30+ minutes I'll be racing. (yes, I think it'll definitely be over 30 minutes)

and yes, I've already thought about what I'll wear. man, I'm such a girl.

wordless wednesday: Greensboro fun

Aldi strikes again - Spirits Sunday

Landshut 2007 Riesling

We got this bottle from Aldi for $3.99! yes. and it's great. and with summer drawing to an end, the end of Riesling season is also drawing nigh. our nights of sitting on the porch in the warm night, sipping Riesling are numbered for 2009.

Landshut 2007 Riesling is from Germany. this is the website but I still haven't been able to get it to load.

This is probably the sweetest Riesling we can remember having this summer. Husband noticed more of an apricot smell and taste. I found it to be more peachy. I think we drank it one night after dinner. meal wise, I think it'd be good with a light meal of bread, pasta and pesto. and maybe some light colored flowers in a vase on the table. (I'll tell you right now, I've thought about this too much) :-)

the alcohol content is 9.5% and it had a natural cork. The bottle is blue. I may be keeping it out of the recycling bin and adding it to my collection of glass bottles that I like but haven't thought of anything fun to do with yet.

enjoy.

food day friday - tzatziki

When Tina's family visited this summer, Husband and I decided to serve Greek burgers, tzatziki and hummus. the only problem with that was I'd never made tzatziki before (but man, did I love to eat it). so I googled about 4 basic yet different recipes and went to the grocery store to start experimenting. this recipe is what I came up with and I love it. I brought it last night when I got together with some of my Judson friends and left some behind for Husband and Daughter to eat. all parties were satisfied.

What you need:

Sorry. This shit ain't free. 

note: to dry the grated cucumber I add salt and put it in a colander in the fridge for as long as I can stand to wait.

also note: if you can't find plain Greek yogurt, you can use plain yogurt. to thicken it up (like Greek yogurt) line a colander with cheesecloth, add the yogurt, place in fridge and let it drain.

the ring mystery unravels.

Remember this ring? Remember when I thought I was a wedding ring?
well, it's not. Husband, with his excellent vision and determination to figure out what the inscription said, solved the mystery. and figured out who it belonged to. this man:

not only did he own the ring, but we think he also built our house. see that Mason symbol. JMS was a Mason. and the ring I found wasn't his wedding ring, it's his Mason ring. James worked for the railroad as a line foreman and he rented his home until the mid 1920's when ours was built. AND we did find the ring in our yard. We still have to prove that 1+1=2. right now we're just assuming he's the one who built our home.

This is his wife, buried beside him.

They had two kids. Richard A. Stewart, whereabouts unknown and his older sister, Minnie.

Whereabouts, here:

Minnie's husband was in the Army and she lived with her parents and her three living children, according to the 1930 Census.

Minnie's husband

one of the Davidson's precious children. James, the first born.

Minnie had at least three living children. James was named after Minnie's father - the ring owner. the oldest surviving child, Stewart, was given her surname. The middle child, Katheryn, was named after her paternal aunt (Catherine Davidson Roebuck). The third living child was named Robert.

All we know about JMS's son, Richard is what we found in the 1930 Census. At the time he was 21, lived at home with his parents and was a car salesman.

We did find a Richard A Stewart that was born on March 2, 1911 and died July 1, 1999 in a town an hour+ away from us. He's our best guess, but until we can dig up his obituary can't be sure it's him.

Right now we're looking for Richard, any sons he may have had and Minnie's sons to pass the ring down to. We have a friend who is a Mason and he's wearing a ring that was worn by three masons before him. So if these sons or grandsons or even great grandsons are Masons I'm sure this will mean a lot to them.

So how did Husband figure out that it was a masonic ring?

I'm getting there. I'm getting there.

First, he was able to read the name and the date: James M. Stewart 1919. (we took that information along with our city and neighborhood to ancestory.com to piece together the Stewart family tree. and it was by complete luck/fortune/fate/divine intervention that Husband found the graves while we were in the cemetery doing 5k training. I jog right by them three times a week!)

Second, he became fixated on a symbol that is inscribed on the inside. After we found JMS's grave, he realized the symbol was Masonic.

Third, he started googling Masonic rings, symbols, and phrases.

• He found this page that shows much more intricate rings, but very similar symbols.
• He found an article about a woman finding a ring in rocks. the ring looks almost identical to ours.
• Then he found this phrase Virtus Junxit Mors Non Separabit and we both realized that's why the words were so hard to make out. it was Latin. not English.

So we solved the what of the ring, the who of the ring and now we're looking for the who NOW of the ring.

truly exciting.

wordless wednesday: the holding award