Laid Out

Last week I started to wonder if I was getting sick.  I didn't really have any symptoms, but I was SO tired.  It wasn't just that I was waking up at 4:30 every morning or working until 10:00 at night.  My tiredness was a bone-weary exhaustion.  At night I couldn't seem to function, and working during the day was practically painful.

When I awoke Saturday morning, though, I felt great.  I was a little worried Friday night, because Saturday I was scheduled to run a half marathon.  I had one goal in mind: beat my time from last year, but if I was still so tired I didn't know if I'd be able to do it.  Well, I felt great, and my time reflected that.  I was able to push a little harder, the weather was great, and I clocked a time that was 5 minutes faster than last year.  Huzzah!!!

So, I thought I was doing well.  I was very tired afterwards, but that's kind of to be expected.  I went home, showered, and slept for a few hours.  It was beautiful.

Sunday I was still really tired, but I had stayed out late the night before (a night at the theatre and driving a friend home), and I figured my body was still worn out from running 13.1 miles.  I went to work, I napped when I could, and I was fine.  Things went well for Monday and most of Tuesday.

By Tuesday evening, though, I could feel that something was different.  My head hurt, my legs ached, and all I wanted to do was sleep.  When I woke up Wednesday morning, it was official.  I was sick.  My throat hurt, my ears hurt, my nose hurt, my eyes hurt.  I took the majority of the day off from work to recuperate.

Today I'm back at work, but I can't say I'm feeling much better.  All I really want to do is sleep.  The worst part is, I know this isn't even close to the worst cold I've had.  It actually isn't all that bad except for the bone-weary tiredness.  So, this tells me something.  I need to sleep.  I need to sleep a lot.  It's obvious that's what my body's craving is rest.  I've been pushing hard for a while now, and I'm simply exhausted.  This is made obvious when I go to bed at 9:00 pm, wake up at 7:00 a.m. and am still exhausted.

So, I skipped my runs this week (I hate doing that).  I'm sleeping more.  I'm eating much better.  Hopefully, by treating my body with a little more care, it will care for me back.

Fingers crossed!

I'm Still Here!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I last wrote something.  Life has been C-R-A-Z-Y!  Apparently, somewhere, along the way, I kind of forgot I needed to update my blog.  I also think I forgot how long it had been since I actually wrote something.  So, here's a little update.

A few weeks ago we went through some staff changes at the kennel.  This meant I ended up picking up a few more shifts to fill in holes, and there was a lot of training to be done.  Honestly, though, I could not be happier with the way things have turned out.  My new staff is wonderful, and I was also able to see my current staff shine as they trained the new ones in.  As the new gals are becoming more comfortable, I'm able to breathe a little easier.  I know that I will soon be comfortable taking a day or more off (maybe even an entire weekend), and I can't wait for that.

Marathon training is filling in all of my free time.  I had a horrible 12 mile run two weeks ago, a great 10 mile run last week, and I'm running a half marathon this Saturday.  I'm hoping it stays cool and cloudy like it was last week, but so far all signs point to warm and sunny.  Oh well!  My biggest goal is to finish with a faster time than I did last year, even if it's only by a second.  We'll see how it goes!

Last week, my laptop died.  :'(  This is good in that it's has taken me away from the electronics a little and has encouraged me to read more (something I'd been slacking on), but otherwise it kind of sucks.  I love my laptop, and I really don't want to have to spend money on a new one.  For now, I'll do my best without one, but I'll probably be purchasing something new in a month or so.

Did I tell you Hans got a new truck?  We are now a 2 car family!!!  I cannot even begin to explain how much easier this has made things.  We chose to get a truck over a smaller vehicle because he needed it for his work, and we needed it for the kennel.  We were looking at used car lots when my dad mentioned there was a county auction coming up.  We thought, "What the heck!  We'll give it a shot."  Hans ended up getting a '94 GMC Sierra with 84,000 miles on it.  It's nothing super special, but it runs well and it's a great work truck.  I love it.


Lastly, the thing that's been eating up most of my time has been Woof, Romp, & Roll.  Last year we held this event as our Grand Opening, but this year we decided to do it as an open house / fundraiser for Henrico Humane Society.  So, there was a ton of planning and preparation to do.  I'm happy to report it was a smash hit!  We raised a good deal of money for HHS, we had a few vendors, and we had lots of people who really seemed to enjoy it.  I'm happy it's over, but I also can't wait to do it again next year.  I'm also busy thinking of other things we can do throughout the year (pictures with Santa, Haunted House, etc).  Do you have any ideas?

Well, that about wraps things up here.  Things are going well, and I'm staying busy.  Hopefully I won't take as long to post something new, and maybe things will settle down a little.

The Man I Could Have Married

I could have married a doctor.  He'd be a surgeon.  He'd have rich, chestnut hair and abs of steel.  I'd never have to worry about money because he'd provide.  I could spend my days lunching with the girls and shopping...and sleeping.  I would smile because life would be easy.  
     I'd visit him at lunch and I'd pretend to not notice how the nurses look at him.  I'd keep his dinner warm when he was late coming home, and I'd save it for later when he didn't come home at all.  I'd reason that all I got from him was worth being ignored or forgotten.

I could have married a high-profile businessman.  He'd be driven and hard working.  He'd wake every morning at 4:00 a.m. to go to the gym and get his training in.  People would look at us in awe at dinner parties and social events simply because of the power we radiated.
     I'd pretend not to care that he refused to workout with me because it messed up his mojo.  I wouldn't let my feelings get hurt when he'd mention what part of my body needed tightening or suggested I spend another day with my trainer.  I'd learn to keep my mouth shut when discussing business, because my husband would obviously be the smarter man, and I wouldn't want to embarrass him.  I would convince myself I deserved it when his harsh words turned into sharp blows.  I should have done something better.

I could have married an adventure traveler.  Our adventures would lead us to places like Bali, Indonesia, and Peru.  We'd tell our friends amazing stories about tiny villages and how we were welcomed into peoples' homes.  We'd be fun and eccentric, and all of our friends would be a little jealous at all the fun we had together.  Our blogs and photos would look like something out of an adventure magazine.
     I would convince myself that settling down wasn't important to me.  I would tell others how much kids would just get in the way, and how I love my life of freedom.  I would pretend I wasn't upset when my husband told me that dogs just weren't a good fit in our life.

Obviously, none of those men are the man I married.

The man I married is hard working.  What he can't provide financially, he makes up for in labor and love.  The man I married wakes at 4:30, not so he can get his gym time in, but rather so I can get mine.  He works a full day of hard work, and then he comes to the kennel to help me run it, or he goes home to clean.  He takes care of me when I'm sick, and he soothes me when I'm upset.  While he may not always fully understand my love of dogs, he accepts it and supports it.

There are a lot of different men I could have married, but I only married one.  And that man is the right one for me.