Going Postal, Medals and Punctuation

Hello Blog World! I've missed you! I don't even have a set topic, but I just missed writing, so here I am!

First off, I'm about to go postal at work. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to work with a robot that seriously needs to be on medication and/or retire. I'm hoping for retirement, but I honestly believe I will retire before this woman does -- and she's been here 32 years! Pretty sure she'll just die in her chair and we'll watch her get wheeled out, then continue on with our day. If you're my fb friend, she's the one that leaves the 1 square of toilet paper behind... but the record shows one time it was 1/2 of a strip. Half! Anyway.....

And her shirt looks like a table cloth today. 

Okay, so yeah.....

My long run didn't happen this weekend. I was walking the golf course on Saturday and things were fine. Then I had to go down the hill on the 8th hole and my knee froze again. We still has 10 holes to go! Don't worry ... the vodka and the rum helped to soothe away the pain. My mom and I are such twins, we both spent the last 9 holes with the same exact limp. I had intended to run 7 miles on Sunday, but Coach Lesley said to take a break. It is driving me nuts to not run. I haven't gone since my 2 miles on Friday night. Did I even blog that run? OMG, I'm behind! Okay - that will be next. Oopsies! Tonight I resume. I might just go for a 5K again, and see how my knee feels. If all goes well, I'll increase to a 5 mile run on Thursday night.

Last night I began working on my race bib scrapbook. I have had my race box going for a year and a half now. I put my bibs in there (with labels on the back showing the race, date, location and stats - I'm not anal at all!) as well as any little souvenirs and race programs I've accumulated. I was sad just having all of my memories in a box, so I decided to make a scrapbook of my adventure. I say adventure because that is what running is for me. Sure, I've been running for a year and a half now, but at the same time, I've ONLY been running for a year and a half. In comparison to most people, I AM still a newbie.

As I was getting out paper and scrappy supplies I had to pull my medals out and set them aside. For the first page of my book I found a page that seemed very appropriate. I stopped, looked at my medals and read the words on the paper. I've been so hard on myself, so I think it was good to just reflect and see that I did a lot of work to get to where I am. I'm so much better than I ever imagined, yet I have so much more improving to do. Last night I just focused on the past. Where I started, as a girl not able to even run around the block, to where I currently am - training for my 4th half marathon and a non-stop racing schedule going into 2012.

More than some. A lot less than others. I look at this and see it as achieving what I always thought was the impossible. I can't even pick a favorite medal. The Princess & the Frog was my first medal, so obviously it is special to me. Next came the Jingle Bells Run medal ... which is different from the rest in that I earned that by getting first in my age group. Then we have Beauty & the Beast which is my first race with my mom.... awww.  Followed by the Princess Half. Obviously that is a beauty! And a HUGE accomplishment. I love that medal! After that we have the Shamrock 15K bottle opener, which is my first race with a Meniere's attack. So I see that one and see struggle and success! Next up is the Corvallis Half Marathon - the inaugural race, which makes it special to me, especially since it is was in my college town. And then there's the biggie! The Eugene Half Marathon. The medal is heavy and awesome, but the experience was even more so! And the final one for this collection is the Hippie Chick, which was a first quarter marathon for me, and a good mental success!

I guess I should periodically look back and just remember all of these things. This doesn't even count the huge stack of bibs that don't have medals to go with them. I get so busy looking toward the future that I forget that just a short while ago I was picking out my first 5K to race and starting the C25K program.  I guess I really have done a lot of work and I should be proud of that! I can't wait for my photos to come in the mail because I am ready to get to work on my book!

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And now I'd like to leave you with a snippet from my work life. This is an e-mail I received in March from the person referenced at the start of this post. I saved it for a rainy day because it is just so brilliantly terrible. I am NOT editing this in any way. This is a simple copy/paste job for your viewing pleasure. Perhaps this can help explain why I feel like I want to work in a plastic bubble some days!

This Thursday and Friday would you please be able to to afternoon break and mail on Friday because Theresa will gone at 2 on Friday

And would you be able to either do switchboard or take water call  on Friday from 2 on

And would you be able to do mail on Thursday

Karen said she could if you could help her on Friday afternoon

Thank you

Linda

**She did NOT get the time off. Was it because she can't form a complete sentence with proper punctuation? Maybe not solely that, but this didn't win her any points!**