I don’t like Mondays.

I’ve just completed today’s run and it really was a bit of a struggle. One of my feet hurt, I couldn’t breathe right (hay fever) and in the end I wasn’t able to complete the whole run (missed the last 30 seconds). It’s the same story every Monday. I’ve even started to dislike the runs on Monday a bit because they always seem to be quite a lot harder then the other two (on Wednesday and Friday). Maybe it’s the weekend. I am not supposed to train on those two days and I am starting to feel that instead of skipping two days I should only skip one, so my new schedule would look something like this: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday and so on. That would mean I’d to run 7 times in 14 days instead of 6 in 14 days. It would also mean that I am ignoring all the great advice like “don’t overdo it and take time to rest” and that would be really stupid now wouldn’t it? Hmmz… guess I am going to stick with the original programme for now. Maybe it’s just a temporary thing. Maybe the Mondays will get better eventually. Let’s just wait and see. Anyway, I am not ready to give up yet!

And now I am off doing a typical Dutch thing, I am going to celebrate Koninginnedag! I am going to visit the local ‘freemarket’, in other words look at a lot of junk, and watch some local bands perform.

Have a great Monday everyone :)

I need to find me a Pinky ;-)

I saw this test on Qaminante’s blog some time ago.

You Are a Ring Finger

You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything. You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word. Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world. You get along well with: The Pinky Stay away from: The Index Finger

What Finger Are You?

So, who is The Pinky?

Mom News.

Yesterday I was visiting my Mom and all of a sudden I realised I had forgot to post about the recent developments here. First of all, my Mom is doing fine! Last week she went to hospital to see her dermatologist for the skin biopsy. Much to my Mom’s surprise (and mine) they didn’t do the second biopsy, no…. they just removed her whole nose!
Kidding…….. but it felt like that to my Mom.
Instead of doing the biopsy, the dermatologist decided to remove the malignant and suspicious skin and then removed some skin from behind the ear so she could transplant it to my Mom’s nose. They stitched her up, put a nice band-aid on and sent her home. Tomorrow they will remove the stitches and my Mom is a bit worried about how it will look (almost 75 and still vain ;)), but I took a sneak preview and I think it looks just fine. It’s like they say “Time heals all wounds”

Some other Mom news! A bit of sad news actually :( The Peregrine Falcon Mom has been chased away by another Peregrine Falcon called S2. The observers are not sure what happened to Mom, she might be dead or injured, or she might be still around. Anyway, Dad is trying to do the best he can but it’s hard. Every time Dad tries to feed the little ones, S2 comes in to steal the prey. I hope Dad can find enough food to keep the chicks going and growing. If not, they are going to die (the observers are not going to interfere because the Peregrine falcon is on the endangered species list). I hope this story is going to have a happy ending too.

Cartoon Tuesday: Spring!

An absolute beginner.

In last Friday’s post I told you all that I had changed my exercise routine around and added something new. Oh my, how exciting, I can almost hear you think but, it’s not that exciting. At least, not to most of you. For me however it’s quite a challenge and a new experience, because it’s actually something I cannot do. I know, because I’ve tried it in the past. So what am I doing? RUNNING!(three times a week.)

I actually started to RUN and I am in my third week now! Okay, I’ll admit it, at first the whole running thing looked more like jogging, but according to all the sites I’ve consulted (Libras love a bit of research) that’s how most of the runners start out. They say the first step (and stepping outside in your running gear)

(a picture of my actual first step)

is the hardest, but I’ve discovered that the ones that follow that initial step aren’t a walk in the park either.

Of course I did make all the beginners mistakes: started out too fast - so I was exhausted after just a few minutes, used my old shoes which I had been using for walking, had the wrong socks, used the wrong schedule and so on and so on. So, you can most likely imagine that first week was a real hell, but then I decided to spend some money on good equipment. *sigh*

I always thought that running was one of the less expensive sports, but boy was I wrong. A pair of decent running shoes will set you back at least a 110 euros. Luckily I was able to find a runners shop with a sale on; all last year’s models with a 50% off. Hooray! Who cares if they aren’t fashionable (are running shoes ever?)! I also invested in Coolmax socks, which work wonders for my feet, and then al that was left was a different schedule.

At first I was using a podcast, according to the description very suitable for beginners. I’m not sure what kind of beginners they were thinking about, because I just couldn’t complete the whole first run. After my opening run I felt really depressed and I thought to myself ‘Man, if I can’t even complete this one I am never going to succeed’. The rest of the day I spend sulking, not really sure what to do next, but then it hit me, there just had to be some other schedule that I could follow. So, I went online and there it was, the “from couch to 5K” schedule :) a programme in which you alternate running and walking.

The first week: I ran 10 and walked 40 minutes
The second week: I ran 18 and walked 52 minutes
And this week: I already ran 14 and walked 35 minutes and there is still one more run to complete this week, so I think I am seeing some progress here. Huzzah! For now, I am sticking with this schedule and, who knows, maybe later I'll change back again to the Start to Run podcasts. I am one happy chica (oh my…..lady, I mean) right now. And you know the weirdest thing happened the other day…..: I discovered that I am actually enjoying this whole running, or should I say starting to run, experience :)
Who would have thought? As a kid I never liked sports (I always managed to get out of PE) but I’ve been working out these last couple of years and now I am even starting to enjoy running. Age comes with strange new habits ;)

Oh and I did discover an interesting site Gmap Pedometer: a little hack that uses Google's mapping application to help record distances travelled during a running or walking workout (but you probably already know about that).

Perishable.

A few months ago I wrote something about the new Dove campaign for real beauty because I think it’s really disturbing that the media is presenting us with images of female beauty that are unattainable. We are bombarded with messages about thinness, anti-wrinkle creams, youth, dieting and beauty on a daily basis and all these messages are telling us that “ordinary” women are always in need of some sort of adjustment, in short, the female body is an object that needs to be perfected. Why? Well, the answer is simple: big $$$. By presenting a model that isn’t realistic, difficult to achieve and let alone maintain, the diet and cosmetic industries are assured of growth and, not to mention, a lot of profits.

Just a few weeks ago I watched a real interesting documentary called Beperkt Houdbaar (in English: Perishable). In this documentary the 34 year old documentary maker, Sunny Bergman, goes on a quest to find out just how perishable she is/or has become. She shows us what the beauty industry is doing to women and their self-esteem and how women learn to compare themselves to other women, or in other words, compare and judge themselves by the beauty industry’s standards. A very insightful and interesting documentary, such a shame only a few of you can understand Dutch ;)

Anyway, just when I thought I had heard and seen it all, I was presented with something new, and apparently the next thing every woman has to get done, the next thing to add to the roster: the vaginal reconstruction, or vaginal rejuvenation or the designer vagina. I know some people really need this surgery because they had cancer but I am not talking about them here. Right now I am talking about women who need to look and feel younger. Women who have bought the new boobs, the bum-implants, a new wrinkle-less face, did the tummy tuck, the liposuction, etc etc. This is just one more procedure added to the list of ridiculous surgeries that is hurting the self esteem of women across the globe. Are women now supposed to be self conscious about their vagina? This one really made my jaw drop. Isn’t this almost the same as female genital mutilation? How on earth can it be trendy? This is horrific!

If you want, and can stomach it, you can watch this part of the documentary because it’s in English. Just go here, let the video load and then skip to 39:10 (warning: it’s graphic). Watch it if you want, don’t if you…..well, don’t want too.

In the end I don’t know what shocked me most, the fact that women are doing this to themselves or that there are moms out there who tell their normal daughters they have a medical condition? *speechless*

This has been on my mind for quite some time now and I am really flabbergasted by the fact that woman can be influenced that easily. Why do men seem to be immune for this type of media pressure because honestly, I’ve never heard men talk about a penile lift, a penis enhancement or a reverse circumcision, have you?

It’s a………. chick!

Great news people, one of the Peregrine falcon eggs has hatched! I haven’t seen the first hatchling live yet but it’s there alright. The other eggs will probably hatch soon too, so keep an eye on the live stream, this is fascinating stuff :)

Hello people, I am back (again)!

Well, sort of.
I’ve decided to not give up my blogging addiction ;) just yet! But….. yep, there is always a but, I am going to do things differently. From now on I am not going to post like clockwork anymore. So what does that mean? It means that some of the recurring elements (like the cartoon, the MBS-session, the weekly finds) will show up less frequently or might even disappear forever, but hey, you would still have me ;). It can also mean that I am going to post (even) less, because I am busy doing other things, but hey…..I (like you) have a life to live :)

Anyway, like I said before I am back with a recharged battery and tons of energy. Isn’t it funny how a life can start to change in just 14 days? Some of the highlights and low points.

I changed my exercise routine around. I've started doing something I actually can’t do, so it’s a bit of a challenge, but I guess everyone needs a bit of a challenge in his/her life. I’ll tell you all about it next week.

At the moment I am working on a freelance graphic assignment and it has been a steady strain on my time, but I’m not complaining, it actually has been great fun. The deadline is next Tuesday, so don’t expect a lot of blogging activity right away.

My counter crossed the 10000 page loads and I wasn’t even there to see it! Okay, not a real highlight but I never thought it would reach a 100 let alone 10000.

I also entered a photo contest, a “worst photo contest” to be precise. Who knows, I might even win first price – your worst photo ever on canvas! Okay, to be honest, I don’t think I am going to win but it’s like they say: nothing ventured, nothing gained ;) It’s just for fun!

I had to visit my dentist last week and I was not looking forward to it. I was sure there was something terribly wrong with one of my molars, but it was just a superficial thing. After a bit of sanding, grinding and polishing, the molar looked and felt like a million dollars again. Woohoo!

And then there was the low point. Last week my mum told me she might have skin cancer :( They had removed a bit of skin earlier for testing but apparently not enough. So they are going to do another skin biopsy next week. Hopefully they can tell us more after that.

Okay, that’s it for now! It’s nice to be back :)

Happy Easter!

Why did the Easter egg hide? He was a little chicken!

I just popped in to say hello and wish you all a Happy Easter! I am still enjoying my blog break and I can actually feel the energy flowing back into my body. Woohoo…..it feels great! Friday I’ll let you know what my plans are.

Have fun …….CU L@er!
xoxo