c25k - week 2

So week 2 actually started at the end of what would have been week 2 and it's probably going to last longer than 7 days. It has been HOT and humid here which is just not conducive to running, especially when you already pretty much hate it.

But Saturday morning while on the Cape, I was in the mood to go out for a run/walk, so I did the first workout of week 2.

Week 2 consists of 3 workouts, all identical, that look like this:

• 5 minutes brisk walk
• Jog for 90 seconds then walk for 2 minutes. Alternate for 20 minutes

I ended up actually walking an extra 10 minutes afterwards because I wasn't as close to my parent's house as I thought I was when I was finished with the workout. It was actually a nice way to cool down.

I was planning on doing week 2, workout 2 tonight (and maybe I still will), but with temps hovering over 90 degrees today, I'm not sure how good it will actually feel to get out there. Maybe after dinner though.

it's official, I'm obsessed

with our new siding. It's amazing what you get excited over when you're married and own a home.

I just love comparing the before and after pictures. I mean, just look at the difference! I didn't realize just how crappy our old siding looked until seeing this: (if you click on it, it will bring to an enlarged version)


AND - the contractor told Tim last night that he plans on being completely finished by Wednesday - he's even working through the weekend! Stay tuned later today for pictures of their work from yesterday and today :)

siding progress #2

The siders have been working very hard this week (yay!). The back of our house is about 99% done right now (they just have to finish around the new outlet by the patio door). Today they did the back dormer and it looks awesome! Don't mind the scaffolding that they left up.






We're hoping that between tomorrow and Friday that they will finish off the other side (the right side, if you're looking at the back) and then all they'll have left is the front (including the new front doors). And our landscaper mentioned possibly coming tomorrow but I'm not sure if he will or not, unless he plans on starting the patio out back. We'll see!

demolition

Warning - this post is picture heavy!

Our house officially looks like it's under construction. We hired a landscaper to come fix up the front walkway and to install a patio out back. He came yesterday to dig up the current walkway/garden beds and I can't wait for him to start laying the pavers and building the retaining wall!

Here are before vs now pictures:











On top of the landscape work, the siding is still coming along. Here are a couple more pictures.
This is the back (where the new patio will be) - showing off the patio door that Tim and my father-in-law installed. We love it :)


This is the side of the garage - the only side that is 100% complete!

The weather is looking iffy for today, but the sider is already there, so hopefully he gets a lot done! Things will be happening pretty quickly for the next 2 weeks, so stay tuned for more updates!

c25k 1-2

Couch to 5k - week 1, workout 2 - CHECK!
Yesterday was another beautiful day, so I went out for my run/walk right after I got home from work. I even made it through my route 1.5 minutes faster than Monday!
The last workout of the first week will be tomorrow morning - gotta love having every other Friday off work!

I've been so good this week. I did workout 1 on Monday, played field hockey on Tuesday, did workout 2 yesterday, coached track camp today and will do workout 3 tomorrow!

I swear, this is it, for realz

I am a bad exerciser. Monday marked the 3rd time I have started the Couch to 5k workout plan. However, I have vowed to continue with it this time! Really, I promise.

Despite my 2+ week battle with a sinus infection/bronchitis/whatever, I got home from work Monday and was in the mood to run, so I did. It was beautiful outside (Summer, welcome to New England, thanks for joining us this year) so I did the workout outside and it was great. There is no need for me to write down the exact workout again, so I won't. I'm already geared up to do workout #2 today after work. It's supposed to storm, but I hope I can get it in outside. If not, it's off to the gym (that I pay for monthly yet hardly use. Fail.).

In other news, our siding is coming along nicely. As it stands right now, I think they plan on finishing everything but the front this week and then doing the front next week. (We're using shingle style siding on the front, so it's more work, hence it being saved for last. Plus, they have to install our new front doors). No new pictures, but it is still looking awesome.

We also hired a landscaper to come fix up our front walkway and to build us a patio out back. We are SO excited for this and can't wait to be able to grill AND eat outside. Grilling and having to eat inside kind of ruins the fun. The extensive work that needs to be done out front is a little daunting to explain, but I do have "before" pictures to upload that will be easier to show.

As I mentioned earlier, I've been sick. It started out the week before the 3-Day as a sinus infection of sorts. Luckily I was ok during the walk, but I think the walking, paired with having to travel by plane (for work) the week after the walk, prolonged my illness. No sooner did my sinuses clear that bronchitis set in (they actually overlapped a little, NOT FUN). I am just now feeling better, though I still have my cough, and last night was the first night in probably a week that I haven't woken up in a coughing fit in the middle of the night. The other downside to all this - Tim is now sick. His symptoms are presenting a little differently, and I just hope it doesn't last as long for him as it has for me. Especially because he doesn't like taking medicine.

Next up, I need to recap the Breast Cancer 3-Day (now that it's been almost 2 weeks since we walked!). Hopefully by Friday (since I have Friday off) I can do that before I forget too much!

new patio door

We don't have a patio (yet), but a few weeks ago, Tim and his dad installed our new French patio door! I thought I posted about it - but apparently not.

Here's what the back of the breezeway looked like before:

Here's the hole they had to build - they essentially took out the entire back wall and re-studded it:

And here's our door! The drywall still needs to be hung and the door needs to be painted, but we love it!

siding progress

For the past 2 weeks our contractor has been working on ripping down our old siding and today he started putting up the new vinyl siding! I'm in Dallas for work until tomorrow, so Tim sent me this picture (via the new love of his life - his new iPhone) of some of their progress:


For reference, here is a before picture (taken after the new windows were installed, hence the messiness around the windows):


Hopefully by the time I get home from Texas tomorrow even more will be finished!

summer vacation - part 2

Continuing from my last post...

As I said, last Thursday, we drove from the Cape to northern Virginia. It was 521 miles of pure BLAH. The drive in and of itself wasn't horrible - we made great time and didn't hit too much traffic, but that's just a long time to spend in the car (roughly 8 hours - we may drive a little fast...).

Anyway, we headed to the "South" because my parents, after 10½ years in MA (our longest stint anywhere!), moved in April - thanks to what they hope is my dad's last relocation for work. The bought a beautiful house in Leesburg, VA in a gated golf community on the Potomac River (the community is on the river, not their house).

On Friday, Tim and I played golf with my dad at the country club where they live. It was only the second or third full round of 18 holes in my life - but I think I did pretty well! The course was beautiful, with quite a few holes running along the Potomac and we even saw some wildlife - a couple young deer and some woodchucks.

Also on Friday we went to Cocktails on the Potomac which is a monthly event at the clubhouse where there's an open bar on the deck overlooking the river. It was fun and quite picturesque.

Tim and me on the clubhouse deck - the Potomac River is behind us.

The view from the clubhouse - so beautiful!
The 18th green on the Potomac
The visit had another purpose - my mom was threw a surprise 80th birthday party for her dad, my Grampy. All of my mom's siblings came (3 sisters, 1 brother) from as far as Minnesota and Georgia as well as all of their kids. It was great and while we think my Grampy may have known, he still loved having the entire family together!

Happy 80th, Grampy!

Looking at the scrapbook of family photos that I made for him

Miriam had lots of fun with the bubbles

My mom and dad <3

Tim and me on the deck

We then got up on Sunday morning to make the trek back home. Another long day in the car, but we were happy to be home. Sox missed us (but did great with his sitter - much to my relief) and I was really excited to see him and the grass needed to be cut pretty badly, so Tim took care of that before we even finished unpacking the car. One good thing about all the rain - our grass is awesomely green right now!

It was back to work yesterday and now we're (im)patiently waiting for our siding contractor to start on our house. His tentative start day is Thursday, so hopefully he can finish up the other job he has and start ours!! I'm also back to playing field hockey (I have a game tonight) and I'm also coaching at a youth track camp in our town. It started last Thursday (I couldn't be there, obviously) and runs for 6 weeks. They told me that the bulk of the kids are young (ages 3-8) and I can't WAIT to go help out. They're even paying me which is a nice plus seeing as when I inquired about it, I wasn't expecting to get paid. The money will help pay for new blinds/shades for the windows since some of the old blinds don't fit in the new windows.

Check back for progress with the siding and keep your fingers crossed for the rain to stay away for the next few weeks so that he can finish quickly and for our walk!

summer vacation - part 1

I've been a bad blogger, but I have lots of updates today!

Tim and I took last week off work for our summer vacation. We spent the 4th of July on the Cape and part of the week after. We had a great party with Tim's extended family and watched the fireworks from the beach.

On Sunday, my mom, my mother-in-law, and I did our last big training walk for the 3-Day. 15 miles. It was LONG but definitely a good experience to get one in that was that long (we'd done 10-11 miles before). We have only 10 more days until the walk - I can't believe it! That weekend is now in the extended weather forecast, but I'm trying to keep myself from looking because I know how much it can change - maybe next Monday I'll start looking.

We also got to spend some time with our favorite kids - Danny, who was our ring bearer, and his big sister, Katie. We took them mini-golfing one night and had a blast! Danny even got a hole-in-one! He was so excited!



We also spent some MUCH needed time on the beach. It was great to get some sun (especially after the very rainy June we had here in MA - I think I read somewhere that it rained 25 out of the 30 days of the month or something crazy like that; it was getting rather depressing) and as always, it was a great way to catch up on some reading. I got through Handle With Care (Jodi Picoult's newest) and Firefly Lane (Kristin Hannah). Both were great; I especially loved Firefly Lane.

Here's some shots from the beach:

My father-in-law and brother-in-law going for a sail

The seagull that was very interested in my Chex Mix

And Tim, relaxing on the beach

We stayed on the Cape until Thursday and then drove down to Virginia to visit my parents in their new house. I'll recap that in a new post - to prevent this from getting too long!