Caro’s Ramblings

12Aug
0

C25K Hiatus

Maybe you noticed that I haven’t been updating my C25K progress lately. And then today I took that page down. Why? Because I can’t run anymore.

Anymore = indefinitely.

I went to the foot doctor yesterday. Apparently my feet are “not anatomically designed for running”. What does that even mean? I have feet. They work (sort of). One in front of the other!

But apparently running is a problem. Something about everything in there being defective in some way, causing pressure in all the wrong places but especially on my nerve. So to avoid further nerve damage, I can’t run for the foreseeable future.

I like running though. And I certainly don’t like being told that I can’t do something. This might be a tough one for me. But I guess now is as good of a time as any to learn how to swim better. Or take my bike out. Pretty much anything that will give me exercise without another cortisone injection.

Posted by Caro in Fears, Health, Life, Rants and raves, Sports, Things to do
10Aug
0

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

And those that procrastinate do not get their Kindles.

I’ve been planning to buy a Kindle for a while now. It’s going to be my birthday present to myself. But I couldn’t justify buying it super far in advance, so I waited til last week (still a month early). Fortunately for me waiting was good; a new version of the Kindle came out. I decided to go with the new one because I might one day want the 3G, and because it has less glare. It’s the same price I was planning to pay anyway, so it’s fine.

TOO BAD THEY’RE SOLD OUT.

I ordered it and the expected ship date is no later than 9/4. Um, hi, that’s like 3 days before I return from my trip. That’s not helpful.

My fingers are crossed, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up. Maybe they’ll have more in stock before I go? I paid $19 more for overnight shipping. If it’s not ready within a few days of my trip I’ll just put it back to the slow/free method and shed a tear or two. And then steal my mom’s :)

Posted by Caro in Fears, Shopping, Travel
10Aug
0

New Phone

I’m officially eligible for an upgrade on my phone. I presently have the Blackberry Storm (1), and it sucks. Not that it was always a shitty phone, just that it’s not designed for the long haul. It’s basically crapped out on me.

I want a new phone. Not the iPhone

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg[/youtube]

I’m getting some sort of Android. It’s down to A) The Droid X or B) The Droid 2

Here’s the thing: I’m at a complete loss and hate making decisions about phones that I get stuck with for 2 years!

I leave for Italy in 2 weeks. The Droid X is sold out until I go. The Droid 2 should be released by the time I come back. So I can have either phone when I get back. No advantage to either.

The Droid X comes with OS 2.1, but you’ll be able to upgrade to 2.2 once that comes out. The Droid 2 will come out with 2.2. In my opinion, there’s still no advantage to either.

They have the same size memory. Still equal.

Here’s where I can’t find info. Droid X = 8 megapixel camera. I know it’s display size, battery length, etc. I haven’t yet found specs on the Droid 2. Anyone know that?

It might just come down to which has the better battery life. Is there a better way to pick a phone?

Advice please!

Posted by Caro in Shopping, Technology, Things to do, Videos
09Aug
0

I Suck @ This Right Now

Sorry for the epic neglect folks. Life is BUSY at the moment. Here’s a quick status update on a lot of miscellaneous fronts. And read all of them, cuz some are kind of exciting :)

1. Work: Same shit, different day. I’m still working 3 jobs. I still hate working 3 jobs. A major source of my blog neglect lately has come from one job in particular, wiping me out so I have NO energy to blog when I get home. I mean 4 grants + coordinating a scientific conference? I’m one person, and I work there 20 hours a week. Whew!

2. Marla: She hurts. I saw a neurologist and got an EMG and NCV on Friday. SO STRANGE. They put things on my foot then shocked me with a cattle-prod-thing. Get the results on Wednesday.

3. Italy: Um….I have done NOTHING Italy-related in a month. I’m starting to feel bad. But I have other things on my mind…..

4. Love Life: Well, I’m 7 years into my current relationship. We live together. AND WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

J took me on a weekend adventure, and wouldn’t tell me anything. I had a feeling, but then again, I’ve been waiting for a while for this and thought maybe I’d have to keep waiting (boys are kinda dense). But then he took me to Sea World, where we did a behind the scenes penguin encounter. Apparently everyone else on the tour knew but me. I have tons of pics and a video of me/us petting penguins. Then we went into the back of the exhibit, and magic happened :)

Basically you can go right up to the barrier that separates the staff and the penguins, but you can’t go onto the snow (oh yeah, it’s about 20 degrees in here!). J and I walked up to this barrier, and as luck would have it, a penguin was intrigued and waddled right over to us. The little guy came all the way to the barrier and stuck his beak through it. SO AWESOME. I think I squealed in delight, and then said (to the penguin) “I love you!”. J thought I was talking to him, so he said, “I love you too, (pulled out a ring) will you marry me?”

And so we’re engaged. And we’re 100% ecstatic about it. I feel lucky to have found the love of my life, who is also my best friend, and to know I will spend the rest of my life with him. I mean, he proposed with penguins. This is clearly the guy for me! And that brings me to #5…

5. Wedding Planning: I’ve been engaged for 9 days, and I think I have a venue set. We’ve come up with our first two choices for dates (2011) and are waiting to hear back from the event coordinator. I went out to dinner with some of my friends 2 days after the proposal and they had made a bet as to how many spreadsheets I had already created (2). A week later, I have 5 total. Although the big day is over a year away, I’m not wasting a minute. Planning a wedding is kind of fun (remind me I said that if I start getting stressed 10 months from now). J is totally wonderful too. He is totally interested in this, at least so far, and while I’m the lead on the wedding planning, he’s taking the reins on the honeymoon.

So yeah. I’ve been a busy bee. I really don’t want my blog to turn into a wedding planning frenzy, so I’ll do my best to keep variety. I’ll also do my best to keep up, rather than go for weeks with no posts. And on that note, I’m going to bed. Good night world! :)

Posted by Caro in Blogging, Health, Life, News, Things to do, Travel, Weddings, Work
21Jul
3

Teen Mom

I <3 this show and am totally stoked it’s back for a second season.

One thing I don’t understand: why are we still watching Catelynn? OK yeah she’s a mom without a baby, and that’s pretty rough. But it’s not what I signed up to see when I put on the show. I want to see train wrecks. And that’s what I see when I watch Amber or Farrah. Maci has it relatively together and it’s comforting to see that pulling it together against the odds is possible. But mostly, the train wreck scenarios is what keeps me coming back.

And children: use some birth control. As they say on commercial breaks, “pregnancy is 100% preventable“

Posted by Caro in Discoveries, TV
21Jul
0

Cramps

I have horrendous cramps.

Not that kind.

These cramps are in my feet. Mostly the bad foot, but also occasionally the “good” one. What’s going on here? Seriously I’ve had 15 spasms in the last hour. My toes are curling all over themselves. They’re also splitting into some really funky shapes. The muscle or tendons or whatever tightened as much as it could, tightened some more, and won’t let go. It’s like a crocodile clamping down on a victim. No bueno.

Posted by Caro in Health
21Jul
0

Reality Succumbing to Non-Reality

I love Top Chef. I get that you don’t get to actually taste the food, but it’s fun to watch and see who has the seemingly best food. I actually went to Harold‘s restaurant (season 1 winner) and plan to go to several more. But I am having trouble getting into the current season.

The people aren’t that interesting, and they seem to be producing mediocre food. I feel that as a way to “spice” things up the show’s producers are focusing on the so-called drama between the chefs. It’s like this thing between Angelo and Kenny is 100% made up. (Today for example the challenge is to pick off one of the competitors, and these two just so happen to be on opposite teams. Gee.)

It all just seems so contrived this season, which makes it less enjoyable. I really like watching them cook and get feedback. That’s interesting enough. If I want to watch stupid drama I’ll put on Real Housewives or something. Take the bs out of my show and let’s go back to some great cooking!

Posted by Caro in Food, Rants and raves, TV
20Jul
3

Guns

My great uncle grew up on a ranch in the middle of nowhere in the 20s. Obviously the man owned guns; it’s just a way of life where he’s from.

After he died my parents started going through the house. They secured several firearms. One story that still makes me laugh:

Mom: “We found this revolver with no serial number, not registered. I didn’t know what to do with it. I mean it’s a gun. I certainly don’t want it.
Me: “So what did you do with it?”
Mom: “Well David (family friend) was there. I looked at him and said ‘David, do you want a gun?”
Me: “You gave him a gun?!?!”
Mom: “Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”
Me: “Um. A lot of things. Does he have a gun permit? The gun isn’t registered. I’m pretty sure that’s not legal.”
Mom: “Well he has other guns. I figured I don’t want this near me. Should I have done something else?”

Gotta love my mother. (For the record she made him bring it back and is going to get it registered.)

So then several weeks later they’ve completed round 1 of the house cleaning. Secured all 8 of the firearms. This had my mom really nervous: “Caro, what do I do with these? I mean, I need to dispose of them somehow, but I’m not driving them somewhere. Taking them in my car. Where would I even take them? The police station? Just throw them on a table and say ‘Here officers. I don’t want these.’”

But then they found my uncle’s homeowner’s policy. The one that had the itemized list of firearms. 10 firearms. As previously mentioned, various family members had only located 8. So there’s 2 weapons unaccounted for somewhere in the house. Um…..that could be a problem. Know what else could be a problem? 7 of the secured guns were loaded. 2 of them fully loaded.

So basically there’s 2 guns MIA in the house. Possibly loaded. How does one lose 2 guns? Especially when one of them is a .22 caliber rifle with a scope.

Happy hunting to us. Literally!

Posted by Caro in Family, Fears, Things to do
13Jul
0

Austin in Pictures

Here’s some more pictures from my Austin trip last month. FINALLY got my computer up and working again :)

Posted by Caro in Sports, Travel and tagged with
13Jul
0

Running Log

Mostly to self-motivate, but also to get others into it, I’ve started a new page on this blog to track my progress at the c25k. I did workout #4 last night and am feeling pretty good today.

Anyone looking for a great starter program, this is for you.

Anyone looking to kick my ass into shape, monitor my progress and let me have it if I’m slacking!!

Posted by Caro in Blogging, Health, Sports, Things to do
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