A Good Book...A Bad Movie

In case you hadn't realized it yet, I am an avid book reader. I LOVE books! There is nothing that a book lover hates more than to see Hollywood screw up a book with a horrible film adaptation. I am dedicating this post to those instances, starting with the most recent one to me: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

I was SO certain that the film adaptation of the novel would be absolutely amazing. I was so disappointed that I never got the chance to see it on the big screen and I was really happy to see it come out in the Redbox. I have patiently waited nearly two weeks for it to not be "sold out." Finally, I found it in stock and I seized the opportunity. What. A. Waste. Of. Money!

I don't think I was blogging back when I read this book. It was a pretty good read. One of the best things about it was that it actually told the story of Abraham Lincoln, only with a supernatural twist. The history in it was pretty accurate and delivery was as such that it did not bore the way non-fiction can. The only flaw with the story was that it starts out with a narrator and at the end of the novel, it never tells the reader what happens with/to that narrator. Otherwise, great read!!

On to the movie. Right from the beginning they changed the story. I'm actually not SO picky that I can't handle a little bit of change. However, they started picking and choosing the history aspects to leave in the story or scrap all together and THAT started getting to me. When an author tells a story, each bit of the story builds up to the moments that follow. When you start leaving out those bits, it brings down the quality of the story. This is the very reason I stopped watching the Harry Potter movies at the third one. You CANNOT leave out important plot points and still expect the same impact! Just don't do it!!!!!!

Hollywood: please come up with fresh ideas of your own and quit butchering the written word!

Unexpected Visit

Today was a typical Saturday afternoon for our family. Well, one that I didn't have to work (which is always nice). We were out running errands and eating lunch when I received a text from my husband's favorite cousin saying hello and that they were in the area (they live in Florida). Well, my hubby called him back immediately and invited both he and his mother to come and visit us. They said they'd be at our house in a couple of hours.

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but my house is generally "well lived in," meaning that it isn't dirty, per se, but it isn't MY idea of clean. So, we had to finish up our errands very quickly and head home for a cleaning frenzy! I started tackling the guest bathroom, which is also the kid's bathroom. I had been meaning to clean it this weekend, but it was going to happen later that night and Shane started picking up the random toys and such on the floor and vacuuming the carpets. We finished just in the nick of time.

They brought us and the kids some gifts, which was wonderful. We had pizza for dinner and pumpkin pie for dessert. I think they really enjoyed it and I know we did! It seemed like they were barely here for long before they had to hit the road to finish going home. While they were here, though, they helped us decorate the house for Christmas (we had been promising Gabriel that we would) and we watched some holiday movie favorites.

Here is our Little People Nativity set on the mantle. You can also see the garland!

Unexpected visits from long distant loved ones are always great! The kids had a great time and we enjoyed catching up.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, if it is a holiday that you celebrate. We have a pretty small family, so we don't really make a big deal out of the day. Also, the kids are still small and picky eaters, so I really don't go to the hassle of cooking up a storm just to have to a) throw everything away or b) feel compelled to eat the leftovers myself. Therefore, we went out for a late lunch/early dinner at Cracker Barrel. They had a Thanksgiving dinner plate at a reasonable price and it even came with bread AND dessert!! Annnnnd, the portions were just right. Annnnnnddddd, there were no leftovers!!!

After lunch, we took the kids to run off some energy at the park and then cruised Wal Mart to scope out the Black Friday items. We were there around 4pm and there were already lines forming around the pallets they had roped off. Shane is planning on going back at 5am to try and get a TV. We're probably some of the few people left in the US without a HDTV. In fact, we don't get TV reception at all! (Sad, right?) Sometimes I think it's better that we don't. There is a lot of unnecessary garbage on TV and I don't want to waste my time on it.

If you use Swagbucks (and I sincerely hope you do), I leave you with some Black Friday specials that they have going on tomorrow:

Swagbucks has some great deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday - first, all of the Jewelry in the Swag Store will be on Sale starting Friday and going all the way through Monday. If that wasn't good enough, you get double Swag Bucks for any purchase made on Shop & Earn on Black Friday and Cyber Monday! For an added bonus, from 6am-9am PT on Cyber Monday, you'll get TRIPLE Swag Bucks for your Shop and Earn Purchases!

Uneventful

I'm still here. Life has just been uneventful.

I'm not sure if the world of blog readers cares to hear about the monotonous things I do from day to day, especially when they don't really involve anything pertaining to the mission statement of this blog. I could reference back to my blog post entitled, Things I Haven't Done and kinda do a repeat of that. I just haven't done much of anything lately to note.

Running: The last time I have run was at The Anything Is Possible 5K. That was 2 weeks ago. My body is going to SERIOUSLY hate me when I get back to it and I'm going to feel like a total novice again. Actually, speaking of novice, I was considering going back and trying out Hal Higdon's 5K training again. You know, actually do it and do it well. I'd really like to work on endurance. I know that most people want to work on speed after they have run as many races as I have, but I really just want to be able to run non-stop, without walking at all throughout the duration of a 5K. I think I may have to settle for treadmill runs until I get a grasp on the work and school schedules going on in this house!

Weight Loss: I have, yet again, stopped counting my calories. I will say that I have not been putting quite as much trash in my mouth, but that's not saying much. I really think that my weight loss was going better before I decided to become a "runner." I wouldn't take it back. I have really enjoyed the races and the fun that comes with them (except for the half). I am going to get it together, though.

Zumba: I really miss doing Zumba. It goes right up there with a lack of motivation and a serious case of the lazies. It's not like I have to go anywhere other than my own living room to do it. I have the DVD!!!

Plantar Faciitis: My foot still hurts. It hurts a lot. I can reference back to the blog post, Excuses and go on another pity fest. Psychologically, I think that my foot hurting has held me back from doing a lot of the things I am not doing. I'm afraid that I will hurt it more or that it will hurt forever. On the days that I tape it up, it feels worlds better, but after a few days, the constant taping starts to irritate the bottom of my foot and it gets sensitive and itchy. I know, I know...more excuses!!

Reading: I am in a reading funk. I finished up, Arch Enemy by Frank Beddor and just haven't picked anything else up. There are a couple of books out that I have really been anticipating and a few series I have been wanting to start, but I just haven't.

I think it all boils down to some serious "me" time. I have been diligently trying to juggle too many things. The dieting, the running, the work and school schedules, the reading and keeping the house clean, even the blogging. I think I may have tackled too much (I will NEVER admit it again) and I just had a huge burn-out. I think what I really need to do is slow things down a bit and take them on again slowly and gradually. I am too stubborn to give up, so please bear with me. I know that there will be days again when I don't blog, but I am still here and I don't have any plans on going anywhere.

P.S. Thanks for listening to what seems like my never-ending pity party and endless excuses! 

Running Through Time

Hopefully everyone remembered to "fall back" at 2am today. I was wide awake and embracing the time change. I ran a 5K last night this morning entitled, The Anything is Possible 5K. The race started at 1:50am (10 minutes before the time change), so when you finished, provided it was within an hour of starting, you finished before you even started, therefore giving you a negative time!!! Talk about a PR! I was really pleased with this race as it truly was "fast" and "flat." If you have ever run a race that claimed to be those things, you understand that it never truly is either of those terms. This race truly was. I did not PR, like I had hoped, but I did better than 2 weeks ago with The Spooktacular Chase (which did have a hill of death)!

I ran the race with three of my friends and we had a blast!

Here we are before the race!

I truly loved everything about this race. The ambiance was awesome, the music was great, the racers were all in good spirits and ready to have fun. Not to mention, instead of a shirt, everyone received Old Navy pajama pants!!

Excuses

Hi. My name is Brandy and I have a food addiction problem. That should be the first step to recovery, right? Well, I've known for a long, long time that I have this problem and it hasn't really helped me recover yet or even made me feel like I was a step closer to dealing with it. I. Love. Food. I can't help it. I love the way it tastes and I love that it comforts me when I am anxious, stressed and sad. A little over a year ago is when I fell off the wagon of my best attempt yet at weight loss. The pounds were dropping and I felt and looked a LOT better. What happened?? Well, a lot of things.

But they are all excuses.

I chose to stop logging my calories because I knew I was going over the number and I was ashamed to face it. I chose to run a half marathon and then stop rigorously training for it halfway in, which I could attribute to Shane's changed work schedule (even though it's better for us in the long run). I chose to continue to eat all of those "running calories" that I was burning. I was under a lot of stress and I succumbed to my fall back addiction to food. The why's are all unimportant because they are all excuses. I did this to my self. I sabotaged my weight loss.

Now, I am sabotaging my fitness level. Yes, I am running all of these races, but I don't think I have to point out that my times are getting slower and slower. Why? Again, excuses, but here they are: I ran a half marathon with no water for the last 6 miles. Was that my fault? No. However, if I had continued my training and conditioning schedule, I could have run it at a faster pace and maybe gotten to the water stations before they ran out of water. I also really hurt my foot at the half. I have recently learned that I managed to develop plantar faciitis. Now that I (finally) know what it is, I have been icing and taping my foot pretty much non-stop. It's slowly getting better, but it has affected my walking AND running (and pretty much everything that involves standing on my feet). It also doesn't help that I stand on my feet at work all day, sometimes for 12 hours.

I'm not sure how I got to this point and I'm having a hard time pulling out of it. I haven't gained a lot of the weight back, but I have lost ALL of the muscle tone that I had developed. The worse it gets, the more I just want to quit and the thought of quitting makes me go for the only thing that makes me feel better...eating.

On a side note, if you are involved with Swagbucks (or even if you aren't), they are having a great deal for the holiday season!

Starting on November 1st, for the rest of the year the Swagbucks Swag Store will be bringing you lower prices and limitless rewards. To break it down for you, all $5 gift cards will now be 500 Swag Bucks, $10 gift cards will be 1000 Swag Bucks, $25 Gift Cards will be 2500 Swag Bucks and so on. This excludes the $5 Amazon.com, which remains the bargain price of 450 SB.            Now you get more bang for your (Swag) Bucks, and with your leftover Swag Bucks, you can now snag even more rewards, because our old monthly redemption limits (except the $5 Amazon.com Gift Card) will be gone. You’re still limited to 2 rewards per day, but you don’t have to worry about which prizes you’re redeeming, because Swagbucks just expanded your monthly SB budget!

http://www.swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-trk&t0=blgTrk&t1=5998522&t2=42

Halloween and the Next Race

Halloween was a busy day! I took the kids to school and dropped them off. They were having a fall festival which started at 10:30, so I had 2 hours to kill before returning for the fun. I spent those hours gathering up the necessary items for my Halloween costume. I had to scrap my original outfit due to non  fitting tights and the weather being colder than expected.

At 10:30, I went back to the school and enjoyed all of the kids in their costumes, playing games and collecting candy. Then, we had a pizza lunch and packed up to head home. 

Once home, we didn't have too much down time since I decided to take Gabriel to martial arts early. There are two classes daily and we usually go to the later class. He was very excited because he was cleared to test for his next (orange) belt!! We're so proud of him. He's been doing a really good job and I think it's been helping with his focus. He still has a long way to go, but it's movement in the right direction!

After martial arts we headed over to a friend's house for trick-or-treating. We also had a pizza dinner!! (gasp!) Trick-or-treating was a lot of fun for everyone. Well, except for my feet! All that walking around in boots will do it to ya!

We definitely have plenty of candy in the house now!

This is loot from school AND trick-or-treating.

My next race is coming up this weekend. It's going to be run when the time changes at 2am. Therefore, you finish the race with a negative time!! It's going to be cold, but fun!! I can't wait!

Also, here's a tidbit from Swagbucks:

Just in time for the holidays, Swagbucks has brought back Expedited Shipping on all of the Amazon Gift Cards in the Swag Store. Starting November 1st, all you have to do is order and verify your gift card by 2pm PT to get it the next business day, select the Expedited Shipping option and chip in an extra 50 Swag Bucks! It's super simple and if you haven't verified your account it can be done easily via cellphone.