So, What's Happening?

That's a very good question.  To be honest, not much.  I wish I could say something exciting was happening.  Heck, it would give me something to post about.  But I just don't have anything big to talk about.

I am back over at The Disney Blog again doing recaps for Once Upon a Time and Castle.

I made my goal.  I ran six miles last night.  I wanted to do that before the end of the month.  Now, if I can keep that up for the next couple of months, I will have a decent base for building toward Tough Mudder and the Half Marathon.

And I'm still looking for someone to run Tough Mudder with me.  Anyone?

One of my co-workers retired and today was her last day.

Other than that, it's been a very quiet week.

The weekend was difficult.  I took some news I got on Friday harder than I really should, and that depressed me.  Then Sunday playing ultimate I felt like I was on the outside of the group because some people are doing things without me.  I thought I would be included in both of them, but obviously not.  It's never a good feeling to not be included.

However, Sunday night the core group was all back together for geek night.  It was so great to hang out with everyone again.  It made my weekend end on a happy note.

And right now?  I'm taking tomorrow off for the race, and I can hardly concentrate on anything.  Is it time to go grab dinner yet?

Word Association for January 25h

Looks like today is the day to do word association.  It's right there in the title of this blog post.

1. Rivals :: Romance
2. Automatically :: Correct
3. Bathroom :: Humor
4. Jerk :: Not nice
5. Preference :: Choice
6. Parenting :: Kids
7. Helmet :: Bike
8. Wave :: Hello
9. Judo :: Mat
10. Flat tire :: Jack

What's on My Nightstand - January 2012

I can't remember the last time I participated on What's on My Nightstand as hosted by 5 Minutes for Books.  I'm not sure exactly why I stopped; it just dropped off my radar.  So let's fix that, starting this month.

What am I currently reading?  Mr. Monk on Patrol by Lee Goldberg.  Set after the TV series ends, the book finds Monk and Natalie visiting Disher and Sharona in New Jersey trying to hold solve a string of robberies.  It's a hoot, but I figured it would be.

Next up will be Stay at Home Dead by Jeffrey Allen.  It's a cozy starring a stay at home dad.  Since it's rare to find cozies written by men or with men as the main character, I do try to support those when I can.  I've been hearing great things about it, so I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

Weekly TV Recap for January 21st

Once Upon a Time - You know, I wasn't that impressed with this episode, probably because it felt like filler.  Maybe that's why I was most interested in the fairytale story, it really played with the familiar story and turned it on its ear.  I loved how they changed why Hansel and Gretel were in the forest and made the Evil Queen even more evil.  That was interesting.  But those last few minutes?  Who is that stranger and what is he doing in town?  I can't wait to find out next week.

Castle - And a much more serious one.  The case itself was good and I loved how they solved it.  But I'm left wondering who is the guy who called Castle?  What is his stake in all this?  It seems he wants Beckett alive for some greater purpose instead of just trying to save his own hide.  I'm intrigued, but as I write this I'm also a little worried that the conspiracy part of the show might be too great and ruin what is essentially a fun show.  Honestly, I'll keep watching anyway because I find the show fun week in and week out.

White Collar - I've always said this show was well acted but WOW!  Tim DeKay's performance tonight was outstanding.  His obvious concern, so close to losing it for most of the hour, always right under the surface.  I hope the Emmys were watching because I doubt you'll find a better performance anything.  The rest of the episode?  Very well done.  Didn't see the twist coming about Neal potentially being free so soon.  Does that mean by the end of the season?  I wonder how they will play the fall out from this secret coming out now.  And where is Sarah in all this?  So many great places to go from here, and I can't wait to see it.

Royal Pains - Again, they didn't wrap up things all in one episode but are planning to carry the storylines out over several.  I'm glad to see that even if I like resolution.  However, I do feel like something happened with Paige's dad that must have been cut.  I really would like to know what it was.  And I really wasn't a fan of the divorce party, I mean it was a clever joke on weddings, but since it's so serious, that isn't something that should be joked about.

Wipeout - All I have to say is after they were the only ones to finish round three, it would have been wrong for the Winter Brothers not to get all the money.  I'm so glad they won.

The Big Bang Theory - I saw some articles talking about the "twist" to this episode, so I was expecting it to all be hypothesis, as the title suggests.  Still, it was fun, although I may never play Catan the same way again.  I'm curious where they go with it next week or if they ignore it.  Oh, and I know there were supposed to be all kinds of references to the pilot, but I didn't catch any of them, probably because I have only seen it once or twice and that's been over a year now.

Chuck - I liked this one better than last week's episode, although that cliffhanger makes me wonder why I am running a race next Friday night instead of staying home to watch Chuck.  I mean really, what was I thinking?  And you know what my favorite part was?  Jeff and Lester, the guys I used to hate.  The scene where they saved the day was absolutely hysterical.  I hope I like how they end things next week.  I really, truly do.

You are What You Bowl

That's been my taunt to those I am bowling with on Wednesday nights as they go for a turkey.  Of course, I then congradulate them if they get it.  Well guess what?

I bowled my first turkey on Wednesday night.

I'm sure it was at least partially mental.  I would get two strikes in a row and then miss horribly when going for the third.  But this time, I walked up there and bowled it.  I was extactic.  Even more so when I managed to take first in that game by less than 10 points at the end.

It was a good night overall with my high being 171 in the fourth game.  Yes, that's the game where I bowled the turkey.  My average for the night was 131, so as you can see, I had a couple games where I barely made 100.  I haven't been quite as on as I was last year, but I'm still having fun and beating everyone overall at the end of the night, so I'm happy with that.

Oh yeah, and I bowled a turkey finally!!!!

Signing up for Two Races in Two Days

Well, I've made two of my races for 2012 official in the last two days.  Yesterday, I signed up for the Neverland 5K at Disneyland in a week and a half.  Today, I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon in September.  And my pocketbook hates me.

Neither of these races is cheap, especially the 5K.  It does include a "Twilight Ticket" to Disneyland (good after 4PM), so that's half the price, but still, it's going to be a big shock to the system when the credit card bill comes.

But those are races off my schedule and days that should be pretty fun.  I'll be seeing some friends at both races, and running the half with two friends.  Okay, so "with" probably isn't quite true since I'm assuming we'll go our own pace, but that's pretty awesome.

Yep, I'm using the rest of my Christmas money on these races.  So thanks to my uncle and aunt for them.

Now, to be trained for the half.  I plan to be six miles once a week between now and the end of March and start increasing my miles after that with my goal of Tough Mudder's 10 miles in July and then the half in September.  It seems doable.  Hopefully I'm still thinking that during the summer.  After all, I'll have to work my runs around ultimate Frisbee.

Word Association for Jan 17th

Here's this week's word association.

1. Red tape :: Complications
2. Crush :: Puppy love
3. Magical :: Romantic
4. Sticky :: Situation
5. Tile :: Bathroom
6. Doubt :: Worry
7. Inconsistent :: Behavior
8. Kiss :: Wedding
9. Inspiration :: Struck
10. Thanks :: You're Welcome

Weekly TV Recap for January 14th

Once Upon a Time - It was so good to have this show back.  I've really missed it.  I thought I'd be intrigued to find out Rumplestilskin's back story, but actually I was less intrigued after the first flashback.  I wasn't to know what was going on in Storybrooke.  But at least they've given him one.  So, who is the editor of the paper really?  And the Storybrooke Daily Mirror?  How perfect is that.  I had the episode pegged until Mr. Gold walked in at the end and said he'd planned the entire thing.  Interesting twist.  And I'm wondering if he's going to be friend or foe in the end.

Castle - Very fun episode.  I expected Ryan's reaction to Jenny's secret.  He did look so happy at the wedding (and how cool is it that Jenny is Ryan's wife in real life?)  Plus they actually had groomsmen and bridesmaids that weren't part of the regular cast.  Novel idea.  As for the murder, again it wound up no where near what I was expecting, but it was a very fun ride.  Some week, however, I'd love for them to have the killer be someone we've seen for more than two minutes.  That would be a twist I wouldn't see coming at this point.

Wipeout - True confession time, I semi-watched the episode and didn't blog about it right away, so my thoughts will be short.  Wonder Woman has always been my favorite superhero, so I was rooting for her briefly.  She made it further than I thought she would.

The Big Bang Theory - Both storylines were so funny.  Yes, I love Shamy, so I enjoyed that one more, but I do like Bernadette, so I enjoyed that story as well.  But the best scene?  Sheldon and Leonard talking while Sheldon was walking through the video game.  So many classic lines, although my favorite was Leonard turning down the virtual drink because he was going to play Grand Theft Auto later.

Chuck - I've got to confess I didn't particularly care for this episode.  The sub-plot of Morgan and Alex cheating when they were broken up wasn't that great.  And they cheated with Jeff and Lester just to drag that out another episode, although those moments were my favorite.  Yes, it did introduce the last big bad, but that's about all I can say for it.  Yes, I laughed some, but overall it was very disappointing.

Nikita - This show, on the other hand, was awesome!  So many plots moving forward.  Wait, I think I said that last week.  Well, it's true again this week.  How the writers can draw so many things together and make it so intriguing week after week just amazes me.  I did not like the cliffhanger, and I hate even more that I have to wait three weeks to see how it comes out.  But it gives me something to look forward to on Fridays once Chuck is over.

New TV on DVD Reviews:

Royal Pains - Season 3 Volume 1

Running in 2012

Once I got caught up on Christmas and New Years, I was going to blog about what I wanted to do in 2012 running wise.  And I almost forgot until Steve did that today.  (And can I say how happy I am that I'm not the only one just now doing this?)

I've been saying for at least a month that I was going to run a race in every month of 2012.  But as the year is starting, I'm thinking I will revise that to 12 races in 2012 spread out as much as possible.  No, these won't all be mud runs.

Why the change?  Because it is surprisingly hard to find races in my area.  The first one I have found is in March.  I'd be willing to travel, but when most of the races start at 8AM and are an hour away from me plus you need to arrive early and I hate getting up in the morning....  Yes, it's a bunch of excuses, but I'm using them.  Of course, my 2011 goal was 6 mud runs, and I did 9 plus three regular runs, so I think I'm safe here as long as I keep my eyes open and my schedule works out.

I do know of four races I am for sure doing in 2012, and I'm signed up for three of them.  Not surpringly, they are mud runs, which will probably be the majority of my runs this year since that's what I enjoy the most.

Up first is Irvine Lake Mud Run on 3/31.  This was the first mud run I ever did back in 2010, and I didn't race it at all in 2011, so I'm looking forward to getting back there.

Then on 6/9, I'm doing Camp Pendleton for the third year in a row.

As you can see from the side bar (I really need to get the other races added over there), I am signed up for Tough Mudder again.  This time, they'll be here in July (February, too, but I'm not stupid).  Hopefully, this means the weather will cooperate and I'll actually get to do it.  I wasn't going to sign up again, but I want to do a Tough Mudder once.  (Prices are too high to try for it every year.)

And the race I haven't signed up for yet?  That's the Disneyland half marathon.  Yes, you read that right.  I'm signing up for a half marathon after swearing I'd never do that.  Why?  Well, it's two months after Tough Mudder and only 3 miles longer, so it seems like if I were ever going to do it, now would be the year.  Plus my new friend Chris runs it every year, so I would definitely have someone else there, and he's really been encouraging me to do it.  Of course, he still hasn't signed up for a mud run like I want him to do....

It's looking like I'm doing a 5K at Disneyland in a couple of weeks (which is very expensive, but darn it I want to do it).  There are some other races I am thinking about, that would bring my total to 7 without trying that hard.  I'm sure I can get the other 5 in without too much trouble.

Other goals?  Well, I'd still like to get my sub hour 10K, and if I wind up doing a bunch of 5K's, a sub 30 5K would be nice.  Right now, I'm right about 11 minute miles, so I'll have to work toward that.  That means I need to do some runs that aren't mud runs since the obstacles really mess with your time, or at least they do mine.

And for the immediate future, I'd like to run six miles once by the end of the month and then make that distance weekly in February and March before building up to longer distances for Tough Mudder and the Half Marathon.  It would be nice slow training and hopefully make me a stronger runner, so I hope I actually do it.

Word Association for 1/11

Time for this week's word association.

1. Compute :: Calculate
2. Irristable :: Chocolate
3. Unacceptable :: Loss
4. Joy :: Happy
5. Noisy :: Crowd
6. Paid in full :: Bill
7. Desire :: Want
8. One word :: Happy
9. Huge :: Big
10. Motorcycle :: Horse

So I was just reading on a message board a poll on whether you'd ride a motorcycle or a horse.  And then there's this.