Brain Dump

Good morning! I have 10,001 things to say this morning but none of them are especially revolutionary, so I think I'll just make a list:

• Monday. Ugh! I notice that on Monday mornings, I really gravitate to this long-sleeve hooded brown shirt Kim gave me last year. I remember the day she gave it to me, we agreed it was a little too tight to wear. It is not anymore. :) But it is warm and comfy and feels like wearing a hug.
• I have a HUGE break-up looming on the horizon. I'm dumping SBUX. I think the break-up date is 10/16 or 10/17. It's not them, it's me. I freely take advantage of the fact that I can buy one cup of tea in the morning for $2.24 and drink free tea and passion-tea lemonades all day long for free under the current free refill program + the generosity of the very best SBUX location ever. However, SBUX is changing this plan on 10/16 or 10/17 and the gravy train is ending. They sent me a "Dear John" letter last month warning it was coming. I drink so much Earl Grey tea, I just cannot even humor the idea of paying $6-8 a day for tea that I can just as easily make in my break room at work. Seriously - it's the same tea and soy milk I buy at the grocery store. I will miss them bitterly, but I admit I have been using them. Especially since they know on some Friday afternoons to make me a passion tea lemonade that I can take home and mix with vodka. It's "Julie's special drink," haha.
• My son Reid's allergy testing came back 100% allergy free for gluten, dairy and a host of foods. I am over the moon with happiness! Based on food sensitivity testing his dad had done on Reid last year, the daycare and school were adhering to a gluten/dairy free diet for Reid. I would not have issue with this except that Reid is a sneaky little character who was sneaking and trading food, etc. He doesn't like the GF/CF lunches we pack for him, so he goes hungry at school. Last year, they started making him eat lunch in the principal's office so he wouldn't mooch off other kids' lunches. It was creating so many more social issues for a kid who already has a lot of troubles at school, and I looked at the GF/CF diet as four more opportunities a day for him to get into trouble (snacks and lunch).
• Oops, I spoke too soon on the food allergy issue, because his dad is *livid* that I shared the results with the school. He called and threatened to sue me for custody, but I think I talked him off the ledge with that one. (My older two have been saying for a year that they do not want to go to their dad's, I pointed out to my X that we do not want to start dividing our children like eggs, and that they actually benefit from time with both of us.) Sigh. He's just angry - he wants an "answer" to our youngest's behavior problems. We'll sort through it. He hangs everything on the food issues, I say it is untreated ADHD compounded with a hectic transferring schedule and inconsistency between our houses. I would rather work on that, he would rather focus on the diet. We're a little stuck, but we'll muddle through it, we both love our boy. It is still very stressful.
• My 13yo, Alli, and I did the Issaquah 5K run yesterday with Jen from Runner Maybe. This was our third 5K together, but Alli was really struggling with cramping and girl-troubles and we pretty much walked the whole thing. Bummer. Jen is a better coach (and mother, haha!) than I am, because I am about to ditch my baby and start running these things by myself. Oh...not really. But I do long for the day when Alli and I can be at the same place fitness-wise, because I would *LOVE* to take her out on these long bike rides and such.



5K girls

• I got a new-to-me bike this weekend from craigslist! You can see it in the background on this picture from my Saturday morning ride. It is a very nice bike, but mostly the price was right and now it leaves all my peeps with our own bikes, so we can ride together. Lance Armstrong was really opposed to this bike purchase, saying I shouldn't get a mountain bike, I should get a road bike. Even the guy who sold me the bike said I should get a road bike, actually (I will not be mountain biking). My main man here (still, I can't remember what I call him on the blog - not my sugar daddy but my other fella) found this bike for me and says it will serve me well. At least it will work for me until I get more experienced with cycling and figure out what kind of bike *I* think I need.



Sweaty girl and my new bike.

• I was riding along on Saturday morning and I took what I thought was a very FUNNY picture. There was a banana peel in the middle of the bike lane. Who knows what tragedy would have befallen me if my bike had slipped on it? My facebook friends weren't as amused as I was, jeez. Well, I sent that picture to Lance Armstrong, forgetting that other people know lots of things I know nothing about, and his response was "Oh, you bought that bike" (subliminal: after I told you not to) You cannot seriously tell I bought that bike from this picture, I said. "of course I can." Wow. My MTB friend calls him "Lance Wristband," which I believe is meant to be a cut below what he had been calling him, "Lance Armband." Well, Lance Armstrong could help me find a bike, but seriously, I needed one now and he's all talk, anyway. I'm happy to look at it if he finds one.



Whew, that was close!!

• I need to start tracking my food. I'm not doing something right with all this exercise and eating. My weight is stable at 140, but I have been lightheaded. Coming up from the bus tunnel this morning I was feeling a little spacey again. I feel like I eat plenty, and I'm not losing weight (can't get it back below 140, actually - I was hovering at 138). I do believe that at this point it might be fair to say I'm gaining muscle weight, just because I can really see some muscle definition popping out, especially in my legs. I'm really just hungry for protein, and I think I'm eating plenty of it. Kim was right that I am struggling and stuck at the crossroads of former fat girl, girl trying to lose weight and now, athlete needing to feed the machine. I can't really walk around light-headed, I need to put a bit more thought into my eating.
• I saw the grandfathered in guy for a bit this weekend...he's cool. I've genuinely hit a point where I am more interested in my athletic pursuits than my romantic pursuits, haha. Whodda thunk? But he is cool and I will see him again. I think I've actually come full circle and all the men are starting to be the same guy, and this one is sort of a composite of all of them, haha. He's retired Navy, too, and I already told you he's an Oregon transplant who is now an electrician for the county and lives in Federal Way (those are all Greg-things). No kids, bought a very nice new construction home shortly after moving here. Motorcycle rider with lots of toys. I understand from my work-fella that this guy's motorcycle is a lot nicer and more spendy than Greg's motorcycle. So he said to have this guy take me on a ride by Greg's house to make him jealous...of the bike, not of me on the bike with him, haha. We had fun together but I have no investment in any of them at this point. :) I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike...
• I still struggle to let my brain catch up with my smaller body. Just last week I was telling a tiny coworker that I feel like a buffalo standing next to her. I do. And the guy, above, (oh heck, what shall we call him??) said something about how I am no bigger than a flea. Maybe not the most romantic, haha, but I get the sentiment. I am hopeful that with the upcoming plastic surgery, my brain catches up. It would be nice to just appreciate me for being me and where I'm at.
• Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments on my Crazy Lady Nekky Pictures post. You all had very thought-provoking things to say, and I am digesting. That "fund my project" concept is wild, too! I will look into it and I am thinking about everything you all said. xo