My Life, As Told Between (Baby Cakes') Naps

T:  Babe, you look super pregnant with your cardigan buttoned like that.

Me:  What do you mean?  I was thinking it hides my belly more.

T:  Not when you can only button one of the buttons and that button is clearly clinging on to dear life.

Me:  So you’re saying this clever disguise does not hide my stomach?

Me:  *Getting out of bed this morning, arms slightly flailing*

T:  *Laughing softly*

Me:  Why are you laughing?

T:  You’re starting to move like a pregnant woman.

Me:  What do you mean?

T:  Well, just now, you looked a little like a turtle flipped over on its shell.

Me:  Just wait.  I hear that in a few months, I may need you to lend me a hand flipping me over.

Remember how I mentioned that the LA Marathon this year was the first one I’d ever felt like giving up on?  And that I had to take two bathroom breaks? Also, I didn’t write about it, but it was the first marathon where I felt like crying half-way through and just quitting. 

Turns out the likely explanation for all of the above is that I was pregnant.  =)  Probably only by a couple of weeks, but enough for my hormones to wreck havoc during the race.  In fact, it was my unusual moodiness that prompted T to claim that I was pregnant several weeks later.  I refused to believe him at first, but seven pregnancy tests (could you tell I had a hard time believing him?) and three ultrasounds later and I have to admit, he seems to have a point.  =)  It turns out we’re expecting a baby boy in early December!

So far so good, but I’m constantly worried something is wrong or could go wrong.  Being an (almost) parent is nerve-wracking.  Um, being an actual parent is totally easier, right?

Message left by T on my phone after picking up Alfie from the groomer’s today:  “The dog formerly known as Stinky is safely back at home.”

Me:  I love how Alfie’s always ready to go for a walk.  It’s so cute how excited he gets.

T:  Yeah.  The getting-ready heirarchy at our house definitely goes – Alfie, me, you.  Alfie’s always got his coat on and is halfway out the door.

Me:  I think I get ready to go pretty quickly.  I’d say it’s Alfie, me, then you.

T:  Well, you have perfected the no-makeup, couldn’t care less look, but I still think I get ready faster.

Me:  “No-makeup, couldn’t care less look?”  You do still want to be married, right?

T:  No, no, it’s a compliment.  I said you perfected it!

So Italy was both fabulous and exhausting.  We spent 3 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence, 2 days in Venice, and 1/2 a day in Verona on the way to Milan, where we caught our flight home. 

Rome was beautiful, but we walked for days and days and days.  I’d forgotten how huge the City is.  It was a little overwhelming to start our trip there, although perhaps it was for the best since we (well, the me part of we anyways) ran out of steam towards the end of our trip.  We stayed in a lovely hotel next to the Colosseum.  The hotel was tucked on top of a hill, which we resented when forced to climb it at the end of the day but appreciated when we arrived since it was quiet and smelled like orange blossoms.

Our favorite city was Florence however.  Smaller and easier to navigate, with beautiful buildings and artwork.  We walked all over Florence, but since our hotel was in the middle, we got to stop in and take breaks throughout the day.  It was soooo nice!

Venice was interesting and the canals were novel, but overall, we found the city a bit boring.  Maybe it was the area we stayed in – St. Marco’s Square – but it felt like a big outdoor mall.  Lots and lots of designer stores.  Not much else.

On the way to Milan to catch our flight, T. convinced me to stop by Verona, of Romeo and Juliet fame.  I’m glad we did.  It was charming.

We’ve been back for two weeks and I think the only thing we regretted was not buying anything while we were there!  He’d wanted a wallet and I’d wanted a purse, but we were so intent on site seeing we didn’t do nearly enough shopping.  Maybe next time.  We’d both tossed a coin in the Trevi Fountain, so I think that totally ensures that we return.  =)

Me (to cashier):  I’ll have the soup and sandwich combo with the mediterranean sandwich and the broccoli cheese soup.  Oh, and can I have a small order of mac and cheese?  And a mango smoothie?

T (to cashier):…and everything else on the top shelf?

Me (to T):  You’re not funny.

Just got back from the sixth annual Quad trip.  This year we went to Sedona. I had a fabulous time as always, although, sadly, I, as usual, was the last to arrive.   Having just gottten back from vacation, I couldn’t take any more days off, so I flew into Phoenix on Friday night.  The two hour drive to Sedona was a pain – I didn’t get in until midnight – but well worth it to spend time with my bestest and oldest friends. 

Saturday morning we had a fabulous breakfast at our hotel (where we were shhh’d by an old lady for laughing too loudly!), went for a scenic trolley ride and explored Sedona.  After a relaxing lunch at a yummy local vegan restaurant, we went for a short hike, where we took tons of pictures and I was poked by a cactus.  Then we headed back to our hotel for our spa treatments (I had a fantastic massage), dinner, and a movie in our room.  Which I totally slept through. 

Sunday, we grabbed another breakfast…or two…at our hotel before heading out to take more pictures.  Be warned, this year’s picture silliness reached all new heights!  The weekend ended all too soon.

Heading to Italy tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed we’ll make it there…and back…successfully!

these are your favorite shoes:

These wedges, while a little ugly, are so, so comfortable I have to resist wearing them every day.  They’re tall enough so that my pants don’t drag the floor, but seriously feel like I’m walking on a cloud.  Or fluffy sheep.  Or a cloud of fluffy sheep.

I couldn’t resist and bought a pair in brown suede when then went on sale recently.  And I’ve just realized they come in grey leather…

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the LA marathon and the start of a new course.  The course traditionally starts downtown and runs in a loop, ending back downtown.  (In 2007, they tried something new and started the course at Universal Studios and ended it downtown, but it wasn’t very popular, so they reverted to the old course last year.)  The operating rights to the marathon were purchased by the owner of the Dodger’s recently and the course was drastically revised  this year.  It started at Dodger Stadium, ran through downtown, Hollywood, Century City, Beverly Hills and West LA before ending in Santa Monica.  I enjoyed the new course, but I wish I’d felt better during the run!   

Sunday morning found me, T and Alfie in the car by 5:40am heading to Dodger Stadium for the 7:20am start time.  We got caught in bumper to bumper traffic once we reached downtown and only made it on time thanks to T’s navigational brilliance and knowledge of secret streets in LA.  Unfortunately, many other people weren’t as lucky, so the marathon organizers ended up delaying the start time by 30 minutes to allow other people to get there …even then, I’m not sure they all did.  Traffic was a nightmare.

With 25,000 runners, the start line was chaos, but my friends and I managed to find each other and start the race together.  Unfortunately, I’d hydrated too well before the race, didn’t get there early enough to wait in the long bathroom lines, and had to take a bathroom break at mile 10 (and again at mile 18).  I never did catch up to them again. 

Encouraged by friends who are just faster than me, I did the first 10 miles too fast and was tired too early.  I started slowing down by mile 15, at which time it occurred to me that I wasn’t going to make my 4:30 goal time, which I’d been on pace to do.  Miles 15 through 20 were painful.  I’d never wanted to give up on a marathon before, but I came close during this one.  I had newish shoes that were giving me blisters, my knee hurt, my toes were sore from the impact of a largely downhill course, etc.  I barely noticed the scenic course as I focused on just fininshing.  On the upside, the weather was pretty nice for running.  It could have been cooler, but it was more than I could have asked for in LA.  Although Saturday was warm, Sunday remained lightly overcast all day.

The mental fog lifted after mile 20, when I cleared the Veterans’ Administration and finally got onto San Vicente.  I regularly run the stretch from San Vicente to Ocean, so the last six miles were nice and familiar.  That gave me the boost I need to get across the finish line in 4:45:50.  I didn’t meet my goal, but I did set a personal record so I was pretty happy…and thrilled to be done running!

In case anyone’s still reading at this point, for a great – and much less self-absorbed – recap of the race, the crowd support, and the course itself, check out this entry.  Also, this entry has a neat photo recap of the course and crowd.  Lastly, this super cool site lets you see how I did compared to everyone else.  Because why bother doing anything unless you can do it better than someone else.  Right?  =)

Ran the Pasadena Marathon yesterday!  There were only 5,600 participants (including the half marathon, 5k, etc.), about 1,000 of whom ran the full marathon (compared with the 25,000 expected to run the full LA Marathon next month).  It was a good run overall, although I hit the wall at mile 18 so the last 8.2 miles was a struggle.  I finished in 04:50:45, which is approximately an 11 minute/mile pace.  It’s a minute slower than my training runs and my goal pace for the LA Marathon, although it’s as fast as I’ve ever run a marathon.  (Hmm, may have to adjust goal pace…)

The course was hillier than I expected – with an especially brutal 300 foot incline stretching from miles 13-15 and a shorter 100 foot incline at mile 20.  On the other hand, the weather was perfect!  Not too hot nor too cold.  We were especially lucky in that we caught a break in the rain.  It rained the night before and the morning of the marathon, cleared up during the race, and only started raining again after the marathon ended.   

My favorite thing about the Pasadena Marathon may have been seeing T pop up frequently along the course however.  Given how small the marathon was, and how sparse the “crowd” was along the route, it was like an easy game of “Where is Waldo?”  =)  Since T and I had to pick up my race registration stuff and attend a housewarming party in Pasadena the night before, we decided to get a hotel room in Pasadena and luckily pricelined a hotel within the marathon loop, which made it even easier for him to meet up with me and cheer me on during the course.  Since he’s the world’s best husband, he also met me at the end of the race with a beautiful bouquet of roses.  =)

T surprised me with flowers yesterday and my favorite cupcake today (red velvet from Yummy Cupcakes) to celebrate the four year anniversary of our first date.  I was going to write a post about how absolutely amazing T is and how he makes each day better than the last, but he’s so much better at expressing things like that than I am, so instead, I’ll just direct you to this awesome post I stumbled across that sums it up perfectly.

I don’t really make resolutions, but each year I tell myself I’m going to be better about dieting and exercising.  Sadly, eating better becomes more important each year as my metabolism slows down and I’m no longer able to eat an entire box of See’s candy with impunity, no matter how much I exercise.  =(

Eating better is more complicated with T in the mix since I try to prepare foods he would like as well.  I could eat the same thing for a week and not get bored, but he generally needs more variety.  Between the lack of time and the inability to decide what to cook, we end up eating out a lot.  This year, I’m going to try to cook healthier meals at home at least twice a week. 

On that note, I made mushroom risotto and scallops (not super healthy but better than what we’d eat in a restaurant) and salmon with rice and broccoli earlier this week.  The risotto and scallops were yummy.  The salmon was solely for T as I hate salmon.  I had a store bought roasted chicken instead.

Inspired by my friend S, I made quinoa last night.  It turned out to be super easy and was pretty good.  T was out late bowling and I was too lazy to make a main dish, so I just had it with the roasted chicken I’d bought earlier in the week.  This apparently wasn’t appealing enough, so T opted for a sandwhich when he got home.  Today, I think I’ll use the rest of the quinoa and chicken in a stir fry.  Hopefully that will tempt him to try some. 

During my trip to Trader Joe’s yesterday, I also picked up some steel cut oats, almond butter, pumpkin butter, flax seed meal, and polenta (again inspired by S and several food blogs I read).  I had the steel cut oats this morning with 1/2 banana, a bit of almond butter, flax seed meal and a smidge of brown sugar.  It was super filling.  Not quite as good as rolled oats, but I feel fuller (may be the flax seed).  We’ll see if this lasts ’til lunch!

As for the exercise part, so far, so good.  I’ve been half-heartedly training for the LA Marathon up until this point – and have felt it on the longer runs – but I need to start getting serious about it.  With a 22 mile run looming this Saturday, I tried to be especially good this week so I biked Sunday, ran 40 minutes Tuesday, did 30 minutes of elliptical and 10 minutes of weights on Wednesday, and ran 40 minutes today.