Slopes and Sundance

Second year in a row we went skiing during Sundance week in Park City, Utah. It's awesome, the slopes are empty and the sidewalks are packed with celebs, posers, film geeks and video crews. It makes me happy on many levels. This year we took in some of the Sundance events as well as skiing and despite cutting into my nap time, it was really cool.

We went to a taping of the NPR show "Says You" and that was great fun - such a clever group of people having a great time with language and lore. The two Sundance films were a hit - Clubland - and a miss - Year of the Dog (I couldn't disagree more with the review linked here - it wasn't charming or comedic, no one is treated kindly in this film and it was painful to watch). Clubland is an Australian film featuring a love triangle between a boy, his lover and his mom. Mom is an entertainer who wants to keep her boy to herself. The movie was funny, touching and all around wonderful. After the screening, the director, producer, writer and several of the actors answered questions and talked about the film. It was the positive end of the spectrum of movie going/festival experience. Year of the Dog, not so much. The best thing I can say about it was the theater was stunningly beautiful. The cast - Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Laura Dern, etc - was top notch, but the story was painful. If you see Clubland at a multiplex near you, GO, GO, GO. They did get a distribution deal, so be on the lookout.

Our only celeb sighting was Richard Dean Anderson (I think) heading to the slopes. I got busted on last year that our only celeb was Rosie O'Donnell, but look what a good year it was for her. It sure looked like MacGyver was about to hit the slopes, but I didn't have Little Willy with me to yell out his name and make a positive id so I could be wrong. Either way, I clearly suck at celeb stalking, but I can report that last year's must have accessory of a little dog in your coat is totally out in '07. No little dogs to be seen. Lots of fur on hats, coats, boots, etc but none of it on actual animals... yuck. The other thing that was out this year was free street schwag. Mr. Redford reportedly objected to how commercialized the festival had become and was urging everyone to "Focus on Film." But, but, but I LIKE free stuff... I'm a total schwag ho and I'm very disappointed by this artsy, high brow attitude. Just kidding Mr. Redford...

Please, Call Me Princess

... And don't speak to me of hard labor. After a weekend of roofing and running, I've decided a (another) life change is in order. I am a princess, how could you even think I could help with something like roofing?!? This new leaf is not going over well with my manservant, err husband, I mean Prince. I may have to wait for my next life time to implement this, but I'm planning ahead.

In THIS life, just about every part of my body hurts, and I am so thankful that my office doesn't get MLK day off. Thank god I'm safely at work, behind my desk, sitting, quietly and I'm clean. Life is good.

FG drug me along for 5.5 fun miles of training yesterday. I'm really questioning the viability of the 1/2 marathon in 10 more weeks goal. A Princess shouldn't sweat so... :-)

Beep, Beep, Beep Your Heart is About to Explode

Last night FG made me run with my heart rate monitor on and boy does that tell you what lousy shape you are in. As we had to practically crawl up hills to stop the danger, danger beeping I felt like I hadn't made much progress in this running thing.

I guess the only solution is to keep putting the miles in (17.5 ish so far this month) and give it time to get easier/better. I do FEEL better and that's what really counts! Woohoo, between the running, drinking boatloads of water and eating better, I'm on the road to healthy living... kinda makes you want a Snickers and Diet D.P. to celebrate doesn't it!?!

Stop Poking Me Already

I can't believe it's only Wednesday; this week has been eternally long already. Monday started at 6:00 a.m. with a barium cocktail, Yum-O - NOT, followed by a CAT Scan on my innards. As if that weren't a lovely enough start to the week, it took me an hour and half to get to work (normally 25 minutes tops) thanks to a horrible accident on the interstate. It was interesting to get turned around and go the wrong way on 285 to backtrack to a detour. One of the rare occasions where I'll say I think the GA DOT had it going on to clear us out as quickly as they did.

Yesterday I had a late afternoon appointment at the dentist for crown prep. This is a PSA on the importance of flossing, brushing and not grinding your teeth like crazy all night long. Getting a crown sucks both pain-wise and pocket-wise. There better not be any further attempts on my person by medical professionals this week, I've had enough thank you very much.

Despite all this I've been in an astonishingly good mood, go figure! Last night we had terrific seats at Cirque de Soleil and the performance was amazing. There was one section where a guy supports a woman twirling and whirling by holding the line only in his mouth, that I could only think that dude was gonna be seeing a lot of the dentist soon enough. We were close enough to see the strain and concentration on the performers' faces as they did things with their bodies that defied belief.

Resolution Update: Still no diet sodas consumed in '07. Also hitting the target on making 2 of 3 meals vegetarian-ish during the week. I'm far shakier on the first one than the second one thanks to Coke and Pepsi's dominance of the fast food world. Chick-fil-A is the only reliable source for good iced tea in a hurry, but I'm managing so far.

And on the 5th Day...

The cravings hit. Here I was cruising along without diet sodas thinking it was no big deal to cut them out of my diet. All was fine and dandy until I walked by my boss' office just as he tipped up Diet Mountain Dew. My knees went a little weak as I thought I really NEED some carbonation. Nope, nope, not gonna do it. I'm huddled in my office with a big cup of hot tea hoping the jones passes soon.

More importantly on the 5th day, my hubby celebrates his birthday! Happy Birthday Honey! Sorry your cake is so ugly... :-)

Gear Head

I may never be fond of exercise, but I sure do like the stuff. Today is grey and grim outside, but I can't wait to go home and run cuz it's the first time I'll be taking my iPod Shuffle out for a, well, shuffle. It's loaded with tunes and it's little bitty self is just waiting to be clipped on my shirt. Yippee!

Day 3, WTF?

The resolutions are going great, but let's hope Day 3 of '07 is no omen of things to come. It started with a trip to the dentist - ouch, my teeth are still angry at being poked. The fun isn't over though as I have two more dates with the dentist in the coming weeks to get a crown -- loverly.

Heading to the office, Svetlana - my car - blew a tire, on 285, in the far left lane. Thankfully it was a little after 9 and traffic had thinned and I was able to make it over the shoulder. My right rear tire was shredded and it was cold and being on the side of 285 scares me, so rather than try to attempt changing the tire myself, I availed myself of Volvo road side assistance. Their service ROCKED, but I'm growing ever more cheesed with my car. This is the 2nd time this relatively new (2004) car has left me stranded and waiting for help. I know tires are not technically a mechanical issue, but the low profile ones on this car are particularly easy to chew the sidewalls up on. One more strike and Svetlana joins Diet Dr. Pepper as being dead to me!

I've been car shopping on line already. How disappointing that I must file Svetlana under the heading of "be careful what you wish for cuz you might get it."

2nd Day of the New Year and 2nd Resolution

As if giving up my favorite beverage weren't torment enough, my 2nd resolution of 07 is to try (operative word) to make 2 of the 3 meals on the weekdays vegetarian-ish. Nothing like building in enough outs to make it bearable, eh?

Today was good. Breakfast was a no-brainer to keep meat-free. I was aiming to make lunch meat free, but the Frank and Marzita's dieter's chicken was calling my name. I'm not sure what about a chicken breast sauteed in butter is diet, but it sure is good. Dinner was couscous, green peas and black-eyed peas. Yum-O as Rachael Ray would say!

I'm not going to stress about this, but just try to be mindful and see if any health benefits transpire. I am a total carnivore so this is major, but I'm up for a challenge... or six.

New Year, New Me

Yeah, right. That's the promise every year isn't it? Last year I tried to better my language by removing the F-word -- didn't make it into the second week of January. This year my resolution is to give up diet sodas. I'm a serious Diet Dr. Pepper addict and I'm fairly sure that those things just can't be good for me, so now they are dead to me! Day One went pretty well. Hot tea is an acceptable substitute for the caffeine fix.

The other healthy start of the day/year was an 80 minute trail run (with lots of walking) in Amicalola State Park. Getting healthy may kill me -- my left knee and ankle are objecting to the new program -- but it does feel good to be outside and moving.