Get Rich Quick

Congratulations, you have stumbled a blog that will tell you the secret to getting rich quickly, starting today. You may not believe how simple it is to make a fortune in a short amount of time, but follow this one simple step and you will be swimming in a sea of money, Scrooge McDuck style, in no time at all.

The secret? Buy stock in Advil. Lots of it.

If you have read my blog before, you know that I recently started running. I have run over 20 miles since I began my running adventure. And while I know that's what some people run in a day, I am just proud of the fact that I have run that distance in about 3 weeks. Due to purple and swollen toe nails, I had to take a few extra days off and wait for the skin on my toenails to disconnect entirely before I could pick up running again. (Why am I so gross?). And while I accepted the fact that I would be losing toenails, I did not expect that I would lose my kneecaps as well. This is where the Advil comes in.

My left knee started bothering me about 2 weeks ago, but I figured it was just a reaction from all the exercising I was forcing my unwilling body to do. I thought it would get better once my legs realized I was determined to keep this up. My solution? Pop a few Advil after each run... and the next day too. I kept giving myself more challenges....beat my own time running a 5K.... run up the very steep hill where I was vacationing.... walk without a limp. Before long, it resulted in two knees that were crying out for mercy, with only the swelling around them to stifle the screams. My solution? Start taking Advil regularly, with an extra dose after running, combined with icing frequently. And I got professionally fitted for new running shoes. (Which is an interesting experience on its own. Not that I didn't enjoy being videotaped while I ran in front of people in a shore wearing jeans and the flowy top I wore to the office in an effort to have the most physically fit person to ever live tell me why I suck at running and what shoes I need to even begin to run like a human being. But I digress.)

So, a few more days off. Armed with new running shoes, a knee brace, and a fresh bottle of Advil, it's time to hit the gym again. RUNNING! For a mile. Then I had to hit the brakes and try walking. Only to find out that my knees were so jacked that walking actually hurt more. The result? Going only about a mile and a half before having to limp home near tears. Tears that can only be soothed by even more Advil. (Ok, and pillows to elevate both legs, and a significant amount of ice to battle the significant amount of swelling).

Unfortunately, I think the only step I have left is to see a doctor. But what doctor would recommend against Advil? And since I plan to keep up with my running as long as I physically have knees to do it with, now is the perfect time for you to buy your stock. When those Advil stocks begin to skyrocket from the sudden spike in sales, you can thank me by paying for my medical bills. And a nice steak dinner.

I really like steak.

Who saw this coming?

I worked out 5 times last week. FIVE.

And I ran 5K!!! Not a 5K race, as in against other people, but I have been hitting the treadmill hard lately, and I ran 5K on Friday night! Super proud of myself. Through all of my excitement, I barely noticed that the room was spinning.

Unfortunately, what I did notice were my toes... which don't like to run. After pulling the shoes off my aching feet, I found that the second toe on each foot was badly bruised and swelling. (Gross alert). They were starting to hurt so bad that I actually had to puncture the nail on each foot to leach the blood out and relieve the pressure. The rest of the weekend was spent heating up needles to take care of the blisters that were causing my toenails to lift off my foot. Nice, huh? Aren't you glad I shared it with the world?

I am shockingly unphased by this "injury", even though for the first time in my life, I have a real excuse to avoid exercise. (Andy tells me that "The Golden Girls is just starting" doesn't count as a real excuse). I think it is because I finally feel like I am getting somewhere, and I am pumped to keep going and in a few week, sign up for a 5K race and check that off my 101 list.

Naturally, I have to balance all this workout out with some down time... like reading. Which I have been doing quite a bit. Reading the Bible, specifically the Old Testament. Another one on the 101 list. I have read parts of the Bible before, but never all the way through. I was actually surprised to find how many generations of Adam I still had memorized from who knows when I even learned them. I was more surprised to find out how much sex is in this book. Dang, yo!

I will admit that it is a bit of a tough read, so I am going to be taking it in stages. Read Genesis - Exodus, take a break and read something a little less steeped in history and repetitive phrasing. Then return to the Good Book again before firing up the next read in the cue on the old Kindle.

Started exercising furiously and reading the Bible in the same week. Who saw that coming?

Updates needed terribly

So busy. No time to update lately. But that doesn't mean I haven't been cranking out items on my list! The brief version, with more details to follow:

DONE:

#8 - Read another book that was totally out of the range of books I would normally go for - actually, started reading the whole series, but that only counts as 1 for me (even though I am on book #3 in the series)
#16 - I went to see an opera! I saw Seance on a Wet Afternoon at NYC Opera. It was FANTASTIC. Originally, I put "the Met" in the list, but it was because I sort of forgot NYC Opera existed and just wanted to clarify that I meant a REAL opera... not the "Phantom of the.." type. :)
#30 - I took myself on a date by myself. It was the day I saw the opera! I dressed up, got my ticket to the show, took myself out to a really nice dinner, ordered wine, saw the opera, and then treated myself to a cab ride home. No kissing myself after the date was done, though. I am no hussy, and I have 2 more solo dates to go before I can check this off.
#83 - I went to a spa when I was hosting a girl's weekend, reuniting friends from high school, college, and former workplaces. (Wait, does this count for #5??) Melissa and I went to the spa and ... it was an experience. We've had lots of first-time adventures together, some of which are either silly or painful - first time dying our hair, getting belly buttons pierced, and now this. Let's just say it fell into the painful category, but I get to check off #83!


WORKIN' ON IT

#3 - I am signed up the Warrior Dash in August with my older brother Michael. We entered the same heat so that we will be able to run together. I will keep up with him for as long as I can, but I just hope he greets me at the finish line with a beer when I finally make it there. :)
#7 - Trying desperately to plan a trip to see Jodi and Oscar in Barcelona. Let's keep our fingers crossed for early spring!
#14 - I picked up a sketchbook and some watercolors recently! Nothing I am happy with yet, or that is even finished, but it is the first time my art supplies have come out from under the bed in about 4 years.
#19 - Saw 2 more Broadway shows! Just adding to the count!
#53 - The flower pots I planted outside my window are starting to sprout! I can't wait for the blooms to start to make an appearance. But this one won't be checked off until the end of the season if I can keep them alive that long.
#55 - I cooked for an entire passover seder! None of the cooking was terribly difficult as I had feared, but I appreciated the process, and love that everything represents something. A fact I know because of...
#67! Hosting passover as a shiksa with an incomplete haggadah meant a little extra studying for me. But I even did the opening prayer for the candle lighting in Hebrew! Broken Hebrew, but I am an Irish Catholic girl, what do you want? And I think I did a decent job explaining the meal, the stories, and as many of the traditions as I could to a passover-first-timer. You're all invited next year!


More updates and photos and fleshed out accountings of all these actions to follow. It's just been nagging me that I have not had time to update, so I wanted to at least write down a list!

Totally true, I swear.

Ladies and gentlemen, I've done the impossible. Ok, not impossible, but the "not likely" for me.

I have worked out for the past two days. In a row.


I am a warrior.

Sloth Battle 2011

Still battling the dreaded sloth monster, though it seems to be getting harder and harder to maintain my energy for this type of warfare when real life is always getting in the way. But I battle on.

In the battle of Sloth vs. Maureen, Sloth: 1, Maureen: 6

Maureen's wins

• I launched a full scale battle against pink eye. It lasted for TEN DAYS, but ultimately, I came out the victor. (This one doesn't really count, I just thought I should update).
• I hung shelves in the apartment. Nice way to display extra trinkets and things that seem to be EVERYWHERE.
• I filled every picture frame in the house, which included ordering prints. Then RE-ordering prints when the sizes weren't right, AND doing some matting. Now I don't feel like such a jerk for a) having empty picture frames on display, and b) not having any wedding pictures in the apartment nine months after the wedding.
• I ordered extra photos as gifts for a few folks and sent them out. Just cause.
• I added supports to the sides of my book shelves so I could cram more books in there. And then rearranged it slightly to change up the space in the living room. Andy isn't crazy about the new look, so I might change it back, but at least I did it in the first place!
• I finally got around to installing a handle on the cabinet below the sink in my kitchen.
• I installed a flower pot outside my kitchen window. We'll see how my little plants do, but I am currently waiting to see sprouts from two different pots of beautiful flowers, and a pot of sweet basil that I can hopefully use for cooking. (And if I am successful, check off #53 on my list!)
  

Sloth wins:

• Had a hard time getting my butt in gear to go to the gym recently. After a particularly shameful moment of sloth this weekend, where I couldn't pull myself together to go to the gym, I tried to redeem myself by going for a 4 mile walk in the park with Andy, but that's not really the point of this goal.

Sloth-Maureen tie

• I reached out to several organization that look for volunteers to do their charity work. Definitely a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the only ones I actually heard back from didn't need help in some of the locations that they has listed, and needed folks for either middle-of-the-day shifts, or at locations that would be next to impossible for me to get to. Frustrating. Who would think volunteering would be so hard?
  

Just got keep on keepin' on. And doing it without coffee. Today marks 30 days since my last cup of coffee. Originally, my goal was just not to BUY any, but coffee I made for myself at work or at home would be ok, but that didn't seem like enough of a challenge, so I went cold turkey to hit goal #58. That's all there is to it!