Hello H2O, Goodbye Honey Child

It's a typical Wednesday morning; there is a strand of long black hair tangled around my left fingertips and a piece of wet toilet paper dancing circles in front of me, threatening to enter my mouth. Yup, just another 6AM on a Wednesday. I shouldn't complain, but swimming in public pools is really not enjoyable.

Sarah texted me last night: Hey, are you swimming tomorrow?

YES!!!

What time?

I looked at the time on my phone; it was already past nine and I was still downtown looking for God-knows-what who-knows-where.

...

7?

Ummm sure.

Yeah, she's not going to be there at 7. Sure enough, Darth Vador summoned me at 6:42AM. The text? I will not make it there by 7.

That was fine. It gave me a little extra time with the dogs I'm watching. I still beat Sarah to the pool, so I did some core work and cords. "My coach told me to," I explained to Sarah when she arrived to me doing plank on the water's edge.

We spent a good 15 minutes doing core and cords, waiting for a lane to open up. It seemed like everyone was circle swimming this morning. Finally, a lane opened up and we clumsily grabbed our goggles, threw off our sweats and dove in the chilly winter water (I don't care if it's indoors; it's still cold in there!). We looked like a comic strip, dust rising up from behind our feet, one flip-flop in the air as we pulled on our caps mid-run. But the lane was ours and only ours... for about 3 minutes. After changing lanes three times and circle swimming four times, I finished treading 3,300 yards of water.

I pulled my hair back into a ballerina bun and tossed a sweatshirt over my still-wet frame (for those of you who don't know, I don't use towels to dry off. It's weird, I know. Josh and Denise used to tease me all of the time--I get it. I'm weird). We walked over to Whole Foods with Jameisha and I ordered coffee and an apple. As we sat and enjoyed our breakfasts, we talked about lent and what we were giving up.

Most of you know that I LOVE lent. Any excuse to do something crazy and challenge myself- oh, I'm game. Last year, I gave up coffee (which didn't last too long. I think it only lasted as long as it did because I wanted to prove Ben wrong). I've also given up driving and spending money before, but mostly because I felt people were taking advantage of me and I wanted to have an excuse to cut them off without being a complete jerk. This year, I've decided to erase two things from my life as well as add one. I am not going to eat any processed foods (I think the only thing I'll struggle with are energy bars- they are so quick and easy!) and I'm not going to watch television (I spend more time watching Ted search for his future bride than I do cleaning my room. Things need to change). I'm also going to try to drink more water. I drink a lot as is, but not as much as I should, especially when I'm substituting it with coffee-- bad idea. They don't have quite the same affect on the body.

Let's think of all the things I will achieve from these changes in my life:

1. Get my six-pack back
2. Thrive in a clean room
3. Spend more time on the work website
4. Not get calf cramps during a run (let's hope)
5. Achieve optimal greatness and superiority to all non-water drinking, HIMYM watching, processed-food-eating fools.

Eh, sounds like a good plan to me.

Hello, Lent. Come on in to my life. Make yourself at home. Stay for a good forty days and if you like it here, feel free to move in. I might need to charge you some rent though...

Girl Got Swagger

My legs have always been my biggest insecurity. Attached to my big butt are these two stumps and I always have been so aware of their presence. When I was in middle school, I would wear board shorts at the beach to cover up their existence. In high school, I hated wearing shorts because I was worried about what other people would say amongst themselves (because we all know that everyone always talks about me and nothing else...). If I thought so poorly of my stumps, what would the popular girls think? College came and I still was pretty cautious when buying new clothing, especially when I knew my legs would be the focus of the outfit.

This past year, things have been morphing in my mind and body. Grylls told me he loved my legs in Wyoming, so I grew some confidence and began feeling comfortable in my short, pink Anthropologie shorts. Many people told me I had legs for days, so I felt a little bit better about myself, but the legs still were not my favorite part of my body.

A couple of weeks ago, an amazing thing happened. I was walking past the large windows at Whole Foods and I turned my head to check my reflection in the window (don't lie... you do it, too). What met my gaze was a beautiful woman in skin-tight running pants. Dang! She had some great hamstrings! I looked around me, making certain no one was standing next to me wearing the same outfit; I mean, it could have been an honest mistake. Indeed, it was I who had the lovely hamstrings whose strength showed through my running tights. Definition is threatening to take over and make my legs beautiful. My only problem is, I have no idea what produced these results!

Maybe it has something to do with the man who has taken over my body. What?

Allow me to explain. Yes, please do.

Calm down, Daddy.


I have noticed that when I finish a really hard workout, I carry myself like a man would. It's as if I am looking at the world and saying, "Yeah, I just got a great workout and my muscles are ripped. Now show me what you've got. Try to beat me." I was trying to explain this to Richard at the stadiums the other day. I could not find the word to describe what has happened to me. Suddenly, a man at the end of the bleacher turned to face us and he informed me, "You've got swagger."

Girl got swagger. The tall, poised woman in me has escaped. She ran away from the dude who wanted to come in and put some swag to my swing. And this is why I'm single. Well, dude, stay for awhile, but you best believe that graceful, beautiful woman is going to come back soon to take her rightful place back.

Alright, enough about my manly gait, let's talk about the important things in life... according to my coach, today is my rest day. Good thing, because I have a lot of packing to do before I go into work then head down to San Diego with Jameisha. While I pack, I will be listening to my rainy day mix. Want to join in? I knew you would... Here are a couple of songs to dance in your eardrums and resonate in your cochlea.

We shall start with Kings of Convenience and their song I'd Rather Dance With You, simply because I believe they are musical geniuses and this video is adorable.

Next, Feist will entertain you with Mushaboom because I think it's amazing that she can make even the imperfections in her voice sound melodic and unique.

I love, love, love this song by Snow Patrol and Martha Wainwright. It's just so powerful and I like their voices blended together in the chorus.