Working in the Yard

We have a really big yard.

It feels bigger because it's been pretty much left to its own devices for the last few years. Once we get things a little more tamed, it won't be as difficult to maintain.

This used to be a huge, fenced in garden area. Now it's a big mess of weeds.

Tom mowed it the other day, but there was still a TON of dead grass and other plants. I have spent hours over the last two days raking the dead things up, and leaving piles everywhere that Tom later disappears into the brush. I've only made it about halfway, and it mostly just looks dead, but eventually it will look better.

This picture is obviously from a different angle, but you get the idea.

This tree has all kinds of problems. it apparently had a rough winter. 

After a lot of cutting and pruning, it finally looks like a tree again. 

There were a lot of dead branches, and there were tons of little shoots at the base of the tree that we cut back. Hopefully now it can focus its energy on growing up and filling out.

Can you see the broken part of our umbrella? It fell over in the wind during a thunderstorm the other day. It went through the screen door on its way down. If you look closely you can see our temporary duct tape patch. Very fancy.

Buddy has been supervising.

It's exhausting work.

I Almost Look Tan

Zappos is the best, isn't it? I ordered the correct size of the too small sports bra yesterday afternoon, and it was on our front porch when I got home from work today. So fast!

It was here in time for my afternoon run! Now, I know that afternoon is not the ideal time so be running when it's hot out, but there's no way I'm waking up even earlier to run and shower before work. I'm stubborn like that. And as for running later in the day, well, by then I have lost my motivation - and there are more bugs out.

Turns out I was totally spoiled by having my treadmill in the air conditioned basement. Right now it's out in the garage, so that would probably be even hotter than running outside. At least outside there's a breeze!

One of the things about running in a new area is that you never know what to expect when it comes to hills. There were a couple of seriously steep climbs during my 5 miles today, but what can you do? I'm just going to be a super-strong hill runner!

Both my new tank top and sports bra were great! The tank top is amazing, so light and no fuss - I didn't have to mess with it once. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a sale so I can buy other colors now. I can't very well get through an entire summer of marathon training with one lightweight tank top. At least that's what I'm telling myself!

Plus, I almost look tan in this color. It's an optical illusion.

I actually took water with me on my run. If you ask anyone who has ever run with me, you'll know that I never do that. I hate carrying things when I run. It's a good thing that I did, because I drank it all. It also gave me a chance to try out the new Plus for Nuun.

Some reviews I have read said that they wanted to add more water when they used this, but I couldn't even taste a difference (it's unflavored). I don't really know if it made a difference since I wasn't doing a long run, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have some extra electrolytes while I was running in the heat.

Buddy's Big Adventure and New Running Things

Buddy went on an adventure this afternoon. I had an order from Brooks (yay running stuff!), and when the FedEx man came to the door, Buddy bolted. He visited a couple of neighbor's houses and played keep away for a little while before Tom sat on the grass and Buddy came running over. Brat.

Needless to say, we need to work on his off-leash training.

I had my first official run as part of my marathon training plan today. It was only 3 miles, but in the 83 degree weather, that was fine by me. I just kept telling myself that these painful runs in the heat will make cooler weather running feel SO much easier.

This is my new tank top I bought from Brooks. It's super lightweight, and has a nice flowy fit. I'm excited to take it out for my run tomorrow.

I also ordered a new sports bra since mine are a little ancient, but I didn't read the reviews as well as I should have, and it doesn't fit. Boo.

We don't currently have a washer and dryer at the house (well, we have a washer, but we don't know if it works, and it's not super useful on its own), so I spent forever at the laundromat on Monday. Do you know how many quarters it takes to start a medium sized washing machine?

15.

You read that right, 15 quarters!

I'm pretty sure the last time I went to a laundromat it took maybe 5 or 6 quarters to do a load.

Some new goodies from Nuun arrived on Monday, I'm excited to try out the new Plus for Nuun - I'll have plenty of opportunities this training cycle!

Buddy is getting a little less freaked out when we leave the house, though he's still crying like we abandoned him.

He likes to keep us close.

A Humid Run and Yard Work

Holy cow it's been a busy few days, and we're just getting started!

I made it out for my first run in our new neighborhood yesterday. It was also the first run since the race last weekend - there have just been so many things going on!

It was a pretty warm and humid day, but I went out without a real plan, and ended up having a really good run! There are a lot of rolling hills around the house, but not much traffic, and plenty of shade. I ran just over 4 miles at 8:58 pace - and it didn't feel like I was killing myself.

Marathon training official starts on Monday - I took this week as a moving/rest week in between training cycles. Hopefully that means I'll be ready to go come Monday.

Tom has been having fun getting new things. He got this grill which took us far less than the estimated 4 hours to assemble. It's currently the only way we can cook anything - thank goodness it's summer!

And he got a fancy new lawn mower.

Tom would like me to point out that he is in fact wearing pants in that picture.

We have a lot of lawn to mow.

And that's not even all of it! The yard is looking much nicer though. We spent most of the day working on clearing out the overgrown garden areas and picking up trash and sticks.

For now, we're trying to find a balance between not feeling like we're camping (though we are sleeping on the mattress on the floor since our box spring didn't fit up the stairs), and not unpacking very many things. The work is going to start on the house fairly soon, so we don't want to unpack just to pack things up again.

We're all a little tired from all the changes.

The Last Few Days in Pictures

Tuesday after work I arrived at the new house to find the sellers hadn't gotten rid of their dumpster yet.

The closing took longer than expected, so I wandered around the yard for a while until Tom got there with the keys.

Then the tv/internet people and the movers came (and so did some rain).

I drove down to the vet to pick this guy up:

It was a stressful day for him, and he's still a little confused by the situation. He's a little clingier than usual and cries a lot when we leave him in the house.

But he seems to be settling in alright.

We are still figuring out where we put things (it's in that box with those other things, where did you put that?) and this house is going to be more than a little bit of a project, but it's exciting to finally move in! We'll get it all sorted out at some point.

Limbo

We're in a weird state of limbo right now. The movers came yesterday and packed up the house, and after much sweeping and vacuuming, we handed the keys over to the new owners. 

We spent the night at Tom's parent's house and Buddy spent the night boarded at the vet. Luckily he loves it there. 

Tom will be closing on the house while I'm at work this morning and then things will get a little crazy. We have 3 cars between us so getting them to the house  will take a couple of trips, I have to pick up the dog, the movers are delivering our stuff, and the internet people are coming to install our TV/phone/internet. 

It's going to be a long day. 

It's Happening

After talking about it for almost a year, it's finally happening - we're moving! The movers will be here in the morning and we're mostly ready for them.

Buddy does not like all the packing activity. Change is stressful.

So, the movers will be here in the morning to pick up our stuff, but we won't actually be able to move into our house until Tuesday. It's a whole thing. Buddy will be hanging out with his friends at the vet for a day so he's not underfoot and/or stressed while the movers are there. I'll pick him up on Tuesday to bring him to our new house!

He'll be more excited on Tuesday.

So that's the plan for the next couple days. Don't be surprised if you don't hear very much from me this week.