Sara Blabs: Let's Get Random!

I have been posting this mostly on Wednesdays, but now I’m posting about my paleo experience on Sundays and my marathon training weekly recap on Tuesdays, so I’m moving this post to Thursdays. So my only back to back postings will be Saturday and Sunday. Now, of course, random posts may be posted on the other days, of course…you know, race recaps and other things I find, like questionnaires and surveys.

Last week, as you know, I started a new experience…dun dun dun…PALEO! It’s a lifestyle but I don’t think it’s ridiculous. I mean, it could totally get ridiculous if that’s how you approach it, but it doesn’t HAVE to be that way. You don’t NEED organic, grass fed meat, though it does come highly recommended for a variety of reasons that are all valid. However, be aware that “organic” is just a label that they use to get you to pay more money and doesn’t really mean what you think it means. But that’s beside the point and if you want to go with organic meats, then by all means, do so. I however, have chosen to go with just regular meats and seafoods. When I get seafood, I do try to get it from the meat counter so it’s a little fresher. If that counts for anything. Who knows?

weekend paleo meal, scrambled eggs and dried venison sausage

another weekend paleo meal, salmon and grape tomatoes

my failed attempt at pan frying plantains

paleo exercise snacks!

more paleo snacks

lara bars are the bomb!

i paleo-ized a burger at the movie theater!

this smoothie is 1 pound of strawberries blended with frozen and also unfrozen cashew milk, no other ingredients!

I got to run with a friend one day last week and that was awesome. I really wish I had more friends that ran. It does make me sad when they worry about pace so much. They’re usually like, oh you’re so much faster than me. So? Who cares? I can run slower for once. And I’m not all THAT fast anyway. Speed is all relative. I know, I know, to them I am fast, but to me I’m just average. There’s nothing wrong with being average. Nothing at all. I don’t want to be super duper fast anyway. I’d settle for my goal marathon time being just a comfortably hard effort instead of the knock down drag me across the finish line pace it’s going to be for me when I attempt to do it next year in November.

I ran a couple fun races this past week! First there was the Loteria Run down in San Antonio where I dressed up as a mermaid and SERIOUSLY PR’ed the 5K. The second race was the CASA Superhero Run, also a 5K. I ran this race a little over half way through my long run, so it was not fast at all…average runner speed. I dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Michelangelo to be exact). I was a little upset when I was about an hour into my pre-race run when I realized I’d left my prop nunchucks at home on the couch. Ugh! I still had lots of fun and that’s the most important part. I recently read a great quote: “it’s not the time you ran, but the time you had.” Don’t worry about your pace, just have fun!!!

I bought even MORE dresses. But, I think I’m done buying dresses for a while. I’ve more than replaced all the dresses that were too big for me with dresses that fit so nicely.

I bought a new phone!!! And with that new phone came a new cellular provider. I am no longer with Verizon and am now with AT&T. I have had U-verse TV and internet for about 5 or 6 years now. I discovered a little while back that if I have the TV service (you’d think it’d be the internet service, but nope, it’s the TV service), then you can pay a flat rate of $60 and get unlimited data on your phone. My bill with Verizon last month was $160…and that’s WITH my government employee discount. Ugh. My new AT&T bill will be an acceptable amount below that. And I was so excited and had so many other questions for Reynaldo Saturday evening when I was making the switch that I completely spaced on asking about a government employee discount. I know they have one. I’ll just go back to the AT&T store this weekend and inquire about it.

Anyway, I got the Galaxy S7 Active. I no longer have to worry about if it starts raining while I’m out running or I want to go running and it’s already raining, my phone is really water resistant. I got it in the goldtone coloring. I downloaded a super cute free theme that has to do with cats and hearts. When I got home with the phone, I immediately transferred all my stuff from the old phone to the new one and that took over 1.5 hours. Geez. Then there as a system update. Then there were a few apps I use all the time that didn’t start downloading automatically, so I had to download those before I could go to sleep. It was around midnight before I got to sleep and I was to wake up shortly after 4 to knock out that 10 miles pre-Superhero Run the next morning.

I ordered some new shoes from Running Warehouse online last week and they arrived yesterday! Well, I went to the UPS customer center and picked them up myself. UPS doesn’t like taking packages to the apartment office for some reason, and I didn’t want to chance them leaving it on my doormat and then I’m at work all night and the package could get stolen. Yea. So I just changed the delivery to customer pickup and swung by on my way to work. But, of course, as I was coming back from my run just before 11am, the UPS truck was pulling into my apartment complex. Figures. Oh well. I didn’t want to take the chance as usually they don’t get there until 30 minutes or so after I’ve left for work.

say hello to the Altra Olympus!

I decided to suspend my gym membership. Actually, I had decided to cancel it, but when I called they gave me their schpeal and talked me into just suspending it for 12 months. All I have to do to reactivate it is go to the gym and punch in my sign in number and scan my thumb and voila, membership reactivated! But, I haven’t been to the gym since the end of August and I don’t see myself going any time soon. I was really only doing abs, core and legs and all that stuff I can do at home.

I had an oil change appointment Monday morning and while my oil was being changed, they did an appraisal on my car and had me test drive the basic version of my car, but the 2016 model. They’re trying to talk me into upgrading to the 2016. It’s model year end time for one. For 2, they’re trying to beef up their used car stock. And 3, they want to keep me making payments longer. HA! I mean, if they can get me in a 2016 for nothing down and just the trade of my current car, then fantastic, where do I sign? However, I highly doubted that they’d be able to do it without me putting money down and I just don’t have the money for that right now. But it’s nice to know where I stand and it was kinda fun to think about having a new car again. Even if I would be losing some stickers that I’d put on the window. You better believe if I do ever trade my car in that I’ll be removing my marathon maniac sticker!!! But, sadly, as I expected, the offer they came back with (because I don’t have anything to put down toward the new car, because of the higher mileage on it and because the tires need to be replaced on my car) was $200 MORE a month than I’m currently paying. I don’t need the newer car that bad, but thanks. So by the end of the year, I’ll go into my bank and see about refinancing my car instead.

As you may or may not know, I work in a jail. There is this wonderful thing called contraband which is basically anything that is not allowed within the secured confines of the jail facility. Soooo, they put out a list of prohibited smart watches. The FitBit Blaze is on that list. Seriously?!?!?! You can’t do squat with it unless you’re within about 10 feet of a phone that it’s paired to already and the phone is turned on. Cellphones are most definitely NOT allowed within the jail and would be quite obvious, so I don’t understand why they’re banning the Blaze. So, I had to go and buy a second FitBit to wear just to work. I decided on the Charge HR. I would have gotten the Charge HR 2 but it’s basically a simpler version of the Blaze so it’s only a matter of time before that one gets banned too. Ugh!!! But! I got it in hot pink! So there! Take that! Buuuuut, I think I’m going to take it back and trade it for the Charge HR 2. I like it better. And the bands are easier to change out and more durable. I know a lot of people have issues with the bands on the regular Charge HR peeling back and stuff. So I’ll do that this weekend.

initially i bought the Charge HR to wear to work

but then i exchanged it for the Charge 2

There’s this guy I like. He doesn’t work for the same agency I work for, but works for the main local agency other than my own. Well, he and have been what I’ll call friendly flirting for quite some time now. Pretty much since he hired on with the agency and started bringing people into my facility, actually. So, probably about a year now…maybe a little more. Well, the other day, he started being a little more, shall we say, direct with his flirtations. Then the very next day, I am convinced he was actually and genuinely hitting on me. Like he was saying things like he had definitely incentive to come back to my facility multiple times during my shift and that I was very distracting, among other things that gave a definite impression that he’s for sure into me. I’m not sure if it’s an actual he wants to date me into me kind of thing, or if he just wants a hook up, but it’s definitely fun to flirt hardcore with him.

I won’t be promoting in the next year. I didn’t score high enough on the written exam to move onto the interview panel. Next year! I’ll for sure make it next year! My friend and I are going to help each other prep and study for the exam over the next year to make sure we both get to the interview portion of the process.

I downloaded the I Heart Radio app the other day with the express purpose of listening to what I was told was a channel that was strictly military cadence. So I found the channel and the first 2 songs were cadence, then it played some crappy slow song. Ugh. So, what I then did was go on Amazon and buy 2 CD’s with cadence on them. I will load them onto my phone and make a playlist out of them. Of course, that means I’m going to have to figure out how exactly to create a playlist as I’ve never done that before, so that should be fun! I should have the CD’s by the end of this month, end of the first week of October at the latest. So I’m really looking forward to that! If the playlist thing isn’t hard to do (and I’ve been told it’s not), then I’ll make a few more of them…maybe…possibly…we’ll see.