Running thru life.. Update on spring cleaning

With it raining and being cold- I have no desire to go outside.  

I dislike being cold and wet.

So this spring I have been doing A LOT of Spring cleaning.  

Cleaning out closets, drawers, the kitchen, the basement, etc.

It has been all and all a good experience.  

I was finally able to get rid of our computer desk thru craigslist.  

Joe and I both found clothes that we no longer wear to get rid of.

This year I came up with a system and stuck to it.

I made a list of every room/place that needed spring cleaning in the since of organizing and decluttering.

Kitchen- this included the pantry, all kitchen items, the drawers, under the sink with the cleaning products.  Took me about 1 hr on a raining day.

The dinning and living room- I just went thru our bar and organized our liquoir and wine.  Cleaned out our linen pantry, etc.  This took me less than 20 minutes.

Basement- this has been a work in progress for months because of getting rid of the bookshelf, the desk, etc.  I will be making our back room into a gym where I can put my treadmill, another small tv, a couch for me to sit on and read, etc.  I cleaned a lot of the junk out however, it is still a working progress. 

Closets in our rooms-  this probably took the longest because on one rainy day both Joe and I cleaned our closets out.  I basically emptied my closet out and went thru everything.  Getting rid of old clothes, shoes, and organizing for spring.  This took me about 2 hours.  (Including under the bed and our dressers)

Bathrooms- I spent some time organizing under all of the bathroom sinks in the house.  This did not take a long time at all but just was annoying.  My husbands under sink was a mess!!!  It only took me about 20 minutes total and most of that was on my husbands.

Cleaning out our guest room.  Right now our guest room serves as a guest room (aka Clemson's Bed) and Joe's study room because that is where he has his desk.  Therefore it is noramlly a mess and it drives me insane which is why I just keep the door closed.  I did go thru some of the drawers and do some re-organizing.  

So this morning I sat down with my excel spreadsheet and made a list of everything we are giving to Salvation Army.  I will call them next week and arrange a pick up.  Which is very convenient for me so I do not have to go Manassass which is their closest stores to drop stuff off.  

4 full bags of clothes, kitchen stuff, a laundry basket (which I hate) and a shower caddie.  

Happy Spring Cleaning. 

Running thru life... Just say no!

Today's post is a reflection of a previous post by a blogger who I love to follow:

Literally Organized

I love this blog for many reasons!

A couple days ago this blogger posted "Tip 70- Just Say No."

Her blog goes on to explain that as organized people (and I think of myself as organized) we are often asked to take on more or people think we can handle more. 

Totally agree with this. 
That being said her blog highlights that because of this we are taken advantage of. 

For this reason we need to learn to just say: NO!

This has come into play alot in my life the last couple of months with my hubby in PHD school (Yeap I am going to keep calling it PHD school just for you A!), having a puppy who has more energy than life, taking on more leadership responsibilites at my job, then there is running, and just general life stuff like keeping up with friends and family.  It can be overwhelming even when you are organized!

More often lately I am hearing myself say... No I just can not do that right now.

No I can not meet you Saturday morning for coffee because I that is when I am doing my run.

No I can not go out Friday night.

No I can not take on two midwife students at once.

No I can not add on any more patients to my schedule.

Because as Literally Organized points out you need ME time. 

I love my ME time!!!  It is so precious. 

So in a society where we are trained to be "Yes" people...

We need to be "No" people every now and then for our own sanity. 

Running thru life... Sciatica Pain

I now have a new fun medical issue to deal with when it comes to running

Sciatica Pain. 

Sciatica refers to pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling in the leg.

My just happens to be in my right!

It is caused by injury to or compression of the sciatic nerve.

Symptoms

Sciatica pain can vary widely.

It may feel like a mild tingling, dull ache, or a burning sensation.

The pain most often occurs on one side.

. The affected leg may feel weak.

The pain often starts slowly.

Sciatica pain may get worse:

• After standing or sitting
• At night
• When sneezing, coughing, or laughing
• When bending backwards or walking more than a few yards

Treatment

In some cases, no treatment is required and recovery occurs on its own.

Conservative treatment is best in many cases.

Your doctor may recommend the following steps to calm your symptoms and reduce inflammation.

• Apply heat or ice to the painful area. Try ice for the first 48 - 72 hours, then use heat after that.
• Take over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen .
• While sleeping, try lying in a curled-up, fetal position with a pillow between your legs. If you usually sleep on your back, place a pillow or rolled towel under your knees to relieve pressure.

Prevention

Prevention varies depending on the cause of the nerve damage.

Avoid prolonged sitting or lying with pressure on the buttocks.

Fun fun fun.... =0)
So last night after my 5 mile run (which I am up .8 regarding my speed- which is awesome!) I applied heat and have tried to change my sleeping position.  I am fortunate that it seems to only hit me the morning after long runs and rarely acts up with I am running.  On the whole it is not bad just something new and fun to deal with. 
Happy Running... 

Running thru life... Chuckit

Last weekend Clemson had a playdate with his friend HP.  

We went up to Bethesda and basically let the dogs run each other into the ground.

Our friends had this cool dog toy called a ChuckIt.

Basically it lets you throw a tennis ball alot further than you normally 

would and makes the dog have to run ... aka tiring them out.

When the dog brings it back it also lets you pick the ball up without 

getting your hands all dirty or covered with saliva.  

 

 

Last night I headed to Webers (a pet store near our house) to get a different kind of collar for walking Clemson based on trainers recommendation to make him stop pulling.
 He is not bad- but is still drive me insane!!!
When I walked into Webers, there is was a orange Chuckit. 
Clemson loves everything orange... it is his color!
It came home with me along with a new walking collar.
Last nightClemson and I played with this new toy
and Clemson got in bed at 9 pm and slept until 6:20am. 
Only because I woke him up to go to work.
(Yes I got to sleep in today- normally I am up at 5am)
AMAZING....

 Also to update everyone on Clemson training on the treadmill 

he is up to 30 minutes twice a day at a spead of 3.5. 
Which is not too bad!!!!

Running thru life.... Goodbye backyard mess

Our patio will be installed shortly... less than 1 week!!

I am very excited.

So this weekend I decided I needed to get the backyard cleaned out a little. 

It was a mess... I decided a long time ago it was pointless to spend any time on it because we were eventually going to be installing a patio.

So last Saturday after spending the afternoon with some friends and their dog and tiring out Clemson Puppy.

Joe came home to study and do homework and me to do yard work.

After speaking with the person who is doing our patio- we decided to only have two small areas with plants. 

The rest must go. It was a process....

This is how it went:

Saturday

1) Cut the branches off the trees and bushes

2) Cut down the tree...

yes I did this all by myself just for the record.  And I have blisters to show for it!

3) Picked up some trash/ weeds/leaves

Sunday

My husband helped me for 1 hr and helped to get the big tree stump out.

Whoever lived in the house before us and decided to put a huge tree in our tiny backyard was not smart!

1) The stump is out.

2) Moved everything to the curb for trash pickup

3) Went to Home Depot to get some dirt to fill in the large hole from the stump removal. 

A view from our window of all our lovely junk. 

Monday

I got home early so I decided that I would work on getting more stumps out of the ground. 

This was a big mistake.  It was hot outside and I underestimated the stumps. 

But after about 1 hour I was able to get all 3 smaller stumps out. 

What is left to do:

I have decided that I would like to try to transplant one of the trees. 

This sunday, I will be working on that.

But that is it!

Hopefully, after next week we will have a patio!!!

So excited.  Then we will just need some patio furniture and mojitos!

Running thru life... Waxing floors

Waxing floors is on my list of least favorite things to do.
When we first moved into our house I tried to do it every month- but now it is more like every 2-3 months.
Over the past two years I have found two products that I like.

1)OrangeGlo Hardwood Floor Cleaner (My mom bought this for me)
2)Swiffer Wetjet Hardwood floor Cleaner
( I bough this because it also comes with a everyday cleaner that I use for the bathroom floors)

Today I went to clean the floors and I had a little left of both.
So I decided to do a test- which one do I like the best.

So I did one level with OrangeGlo and the other with Swiffer Wetjet.

  

My overall review:

OrangeGlo

Pros:  

Nice Smell

Cleans Very well

Leaves a streak free finish.

Quick drying

Mop comes with a washable wipe (so you do not have to buy wipes all the time)

Cons:  

You have to spray it and then you a separate mop. 

Little bit harder on the back

Swiffer Wetjet

Pros

Very effiecient.  The spray connect to the mod and you just have to push a button to dispense it.

Streak free finish

Cons:

Longer drying

Have to buy the cleaning pads to go on a the mop (I use about two to three every time I mop.)

Ok smell

Ok Clean ( I had to go over some parts again)

This is a picture of the two mops/cleaning systems.

 After reflecting- I am an OrangeGlo fan.  

Goodbye swiffer.... 

Running thur life... Getting back on the saddle

After my 1/2 marathon- I took it a little easy and
then the following weekend I headed to New York for a girls weekend. 
While I did alot of walking in NYC I did not run. 
So this week I am forcing myself to get back on the treadmill and outside if the weather permits.

Yesterday, I did my first long run since my half marathon.
Mentally it was hard-  I was just not feeling it.
I had a new movie in, my water bottle ready- but my mind kept wandering.
So I ran for about 7 miles and said enough is enough.
All and All it was a good run- increasing my speed up to a total of .7 faster than what I was training at.

I sat down today and planned my running schedule this week to help me get back into a routine, along with our meal schedules, and our weekly update.
So this is what I am requiring of myself this week.
Monday- 5 miles
Tuesday- 3 miles Fast
Wednesday- 5 miles
Thursday- Off
Friday- 3 miles
Saturday- Off
Sunday- Pikes Peak 10 K

So this week is more about increasing speed with shorter distances.  We will see how I do.

With me luck