Here's some things that some people might find helpful...
The plan itself - http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
Couch to 5k podcasts - http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/
Online community of fellow C25K runners - http://community.livejournal.com/couch_to_5k
Blogs discussing other people's experience w/C25K - http://wordpress.com/tag/couch-to-5k/
Jog mapping tool - http://www.mapmyrun.com/
I like live performances a lot especially if they are highly produced, theatrical type performances (Michael Jackson concert was my favorite of all time - not only was he very talented but the production was top notch) so I was really looking forward to the Kanye West concert w/Kami on 4/29. N.E.R.D. and Rihanna were openers for Kanye and I like them all so it was pretty much guaranteed to be good.
Before driving to Oklahoma City for the concert, I had read lots of reviews beforehand and expected it to be one of the best concerts I'd ever seen.
It was good but not that good.
First of all, N.E.R.D. was on and Pharrell Williams drove me nuts. He has aged a lot since I last saw him (he's only 35) and looked more like Russell Simmons than himself. He kept repeatedly yelling "OKLAHOMA CITY IS THE BEST CITY IN THE WOOORLD!" and "FORGET ABOUT MIAMI, LA, NEW YORK CITY...THIS IS THE BEST CITY IN THE WOOORLD!"
Dude, seriously, you don't have to try so hard. Frankly, we'd probably rather be in those cities than in OKC anyway. He was a good performer and the whole crew was full of energy and fun but he came off as a complete tool.
Rihanna was next. She's so young and beautiful and recently popular that I kind of thought she might be big enough to headline her own tour. Except she didn't sound that great. Kami commented that it's hard for pop stars who are heavily produced to sound good live and she's right. Rihanna looked good but seemed disconnected, tried too hard to be sexy and on most songs, didn't sound all that good. I was hoping she'd bring Chris Brown on stage because I'm SURE he would have been awesome.
Last but not least - Kanye. First of all, his set is pretty large and appears to have a lunar/sand dune type of surface to it. Along the back wall of the set, there's a huge screen that displays various spacey images and a smaller screen comes down in the middle where he stands. He's the only one on stage the whole time, the band is in the pit and Kanye never really took a break (except for a random spot where he sat down and drank some water and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" played while he sat...huh?).
The premise was that Kanye was on a spaceship that has crashed and he is trying to figure out how to get home. He talks to the smaller screen (which has an avionics type display on it) and calls his spaceship "Jane" and asks how to get home. He proceeds to go through most of his recent songs and performs very well. He had on a sweatshirt and also had a sweatshirt tied around his waist. He was pouring in sweat just a few songs in and I'm not sure why he had to wear 2 sweatshirts.
Throughout the concert he's talking to the spaceship ("Jane") and it's silly but his performances are very good. At the end of the concert, the spaceship finally is able to make it back because it's determined that Kanye is the biggest star in the universe and by his starpower, they are able to come back. Gag.
I'm all about entertainers having a little ego but I think he just went over the top with his cheesy scripted ego stroke. It's too bad though because he's such a good performer in between the cheese.
With all of the work craziness, I realized I had gained a lot of weight over the last 6 months and needed to change some things. About a month ago, we started working out again and I've decided to follow the Couch to 5K running program. Most of you know that I have had asthma my whole life but last fall discovered that I could actually RUN (or at least jog). This program has been really good for me because it increases gradually and I'm amazed that I can even do it. I'm currently on week 4 and have done 2 days of that. Week 4 is very hard for me so I'm going to repeat it again next week to make it a wee bit easier before continuing to week 5. The thought that I could run a 5k is mind boggling. I keep saying that it's like telling an amputee that they have limbs now....when you've lived your whole life one way and then it changes drastically, it takes a while to get used to but I'm not taking it for granted and hope to train to get better and better.
Along with the exercise, I've also been doing Weight Watchers Online. The thought of going to meetings didn't really appeal to me but the site has been great. Their online tools and info are right up my alley. I've already lost some weight after using it for just a short time and I really like it.
Incidentally, the running/Weight Watchers combo is what Kami started doing about 3 years ago and she's really stuck with it and looks great and continues to take part in various lengths of runs. She was originally inspired by my weight loss to get started and now I'm inspired right back!
At the YMCA where we workout a few days a week...
Me: "Is the running track here 1/8 mile?"
Girl at front desk: "I have no idea but I do know that 9 laps makes a mile."
With work slowing down finally and the dreadfully long winter going away, I'm finally ready to post to the blog again. Here's what we've been up to...
Andy
Keeping busy with work and getting ready to transfer to a new work location across town next week. He's been looking into getting one of the fancy RC airplanes and earlier this year, he mentioned that he was going to take advantage of the flight lessons that Cessna will partially pay for. He's also recently been helping Payton with her tennis practice and trying to workout more.
Me
A few months ago, this happened to my car:
Blake and I were on our way to his daycare when I slid on ice right through a stop sign into oncoming traffic. I had some minor neck issues that lasted a few days and the car was totaled. We're buying Andy's dad's 2nd car that he had to take the place of my car.
Work has been good but intense. I hired a new guy which has helped take some of the burden off of me. I'll probably be hiring somebody else w/in the next few months to help even more.
I continue to plan trips for us and we'll make it to Colorado later this month (Casey, be ready for us!), Mexico in July for our 10th anniversary and back to Disney World in September.
Payton
Friends, friends, friends. She's always doing something with friends whether it's walking to the movie theater to meet for a movie, taking a walk or having sleepovers, the friends are pretty much what she does. She's also continuing to do quite well in school and will be put in some advanced placement classes next year in the 8th grade.
I've signed Payton up for several things this summer (with her approval of course) including tennis lessons. Since she's a teenager now, she's in the category with all teenagers including 18 year olds which has Andy kind of nervous. Andy and Payton play tennis a few days a week to practice before her lessons begin in June.
The only way to capture Payton on film - from far away when she's not looking.
Blake
Blake has changed the most of anybody in our house recently. Not only has he grown 2 shoe sizes, 1 clothing size and lost 2 teeth but he's also grown increasingly independent. He learned to ride his bike recently without training wheels (2 weeks ago he was on training wheels and now he's so good, we're going to take him on bike rides through the neighborhood). He's also signed up for baseball this summer (on the same team as Mia) and we've been practicing with him a few days a week. He's a good hitter, a fast runner and is doing better on catching the ball.
Blake's also finishing up kindergarten and just had his music program yesterday. The nerdy boy who has an easy time in school is a HUGE fan of his music class. When we were buying some clothes for summer, his only request was that he have a shirt that says "I love music."
Blake at his kindergarten music program (he was very serious!)...
A random recent pic - notice the two bottom teeth. The permanent ones are half way in.
We have other things going on that I'll post about soon but this should get us caught up from last time!
