The Weekend

It was a good weekend. A busy weekend, and a good weekend.

Saturday we were supposed to go to D&D, but the person running it hasn't caught our attention in his game at all, so we opted to call in and get some work around the house done. On and off during the day, I worked at my regular job, finishing an extra 600 records for the week, all while I wasn't helping Maria with other projects around the house.

We also went out to eat. A Vietnamese restaurant that serves some amazing soups (called "Pho") was lunch, and in Maria's case also dinner. She ordered a "Pho To Go" (which rhymes, so now you know how to pronounce Pho). I had Chinese for dinner.

We picked up seeds, peat moss, and vermiculite, all the things I needed for the garden that I'd end up planting on Sunday. Maria helped me cut the benches off our old picnic table that would end up making the frame for said garden. We also grabbed mulch for the front lawn.

This is what the front lawn looked like after we had our sewer line replaced.  The guys who did the sewer line, unlike most companies, said that they "aren't lawn maintenance guys," so they felt it wasn't their job to make the front lawn look how it did before they started.  They also didn't want to fix the sidewalk that they had to bust through.  This was all okay, in that we have a friend who could (and did) fix the sidewalk for the cost of the cement only, and that we don't mind doing landscaping, but it would have been nicer if they had just done it all themselves, of course.

But, what can you do?  Their prices were reasonable for the services they performed.






And this is what it looks like now, after we fixed it up a little.  We're still missing a rose bush that we want to put in the middle of the mulch, so it doesn't look as barren, but the ground cover should grow in well, and that bush in the very front there?  Yeah, that can grow as big as 15' tall.  Crazy!

I'm looking at this now, realizing I should probably sweep the sidewalk and driveway.  Mulch gets messy.










So that was Saturday.  Saturday was a good day, and Maria thanked me at the end of it for being so awesome.  She likes it when I'm productive, or something.  Weird lady, you know?  But hey, if it takes me doing a little manual labor to keep her happy, I'm not above shoveling some mulch now and then.

It's only fair, after all.  On Sunday she helped me shovel compost for my garden, which is heavier, and has horse shit in it.

Jogging

So I'm trying to become a runner. Not really a runner, but instead, somebody who is actually capable of running. As of right now, my run is much closer to a jog. I'd like to change this.

Today, in this quest, I did Week 2, Day 1 of the Couch to 5k plan. I had to slow down by half a mile an hour, the pace I set myself last week being too much for me to do this week. I'm still within the range of what I'd consider running/fast jogging, so that's okay.

But despite slowing down, I felt like I wasn't going to make it through the simple workout. By the end, my legs felt like jellyfish tentacles, limp and going in every direction but where I wanted them. I was breathing heavily, but smiling, because I had finished day one. I honestly wasn't sure I would be able to, even with the slower pace.

I stretched out, and my legs are feeling good. The only problem is that I've had a knot in my left calf muscle since yesterday when I stepped wrong in the grocery store. It feels like a tight muscle that just doesn't want to loosen. To get rid of that do I want to use ice, or heat?

I'm sticking with this plan, but might not finish it in 9 weeks like one should. For being a "From the Couch" kind of workout, these first two weeks are really kicking my ass. I might have to repeat week two, or week three. I'm not going to repeat week one, because that feels like giving up, but after that all's fair.

But maybe I won't have to repeat any weeks. Maybe I'll find my stride. I don't know. I just hope.