New Year's Eve, um, Eve
I spent most of today figuring out how to get some work done while my access was limited and Outlook was giving me many issues. Seems my services were terminated, or so sayeth IT. And no, that doesn't mean I'm fired...just that I'm coming up in their system as term'd. I'm not the only one with issues though. Had a co-worker denied VPN access (which I still have for some reason) on Monday morning and he called in first thing to be told he was terminated on Christmas Eve. Can you say heart attack? Anyway, it all appears to be some sort of automated snafu that no one has been able to identify, but the fix is having two levels of managers reinstate access. Give you 3 guesses how many managers aren't on vacay right now. Alright, true they do work hard, blah, blah, blah, but terribly inconvenient to all be gone right now. They are checking email in the evenings, however, so hopefully all will be fixed manana.
Other than playing dueling laptops today, I also finished the paperwork to refi my mortgage. Always a fun time, and hard to swallow those damn closing costs, the refi will nevertheless make a difference in my monthly cashflow, which in turn means the ability to pay down my credit card debt (owing about half to Evita's med bills) in the next few months while not incurring anymore, and still being able to make my reduced student loan payments. I won't be in the position to save, beyond what already goes to my retirement and health care spending plans, but zero credit card debt will save me the cost of interest and that alone makes me feel hopeful.
Today was day 2 of week 1 of my targeted training for the Austin Half-Marathon. I've modified a first-timer's 10 week start-up from Runners magazine to get me there in 7 weeks. The type-A side of my personality was inclined to go balls-out and modify the experienced marathoner program, but I'm trying to hold that psycho beast at bay. Taking it slow with just 2 mile runs yesterday and today. Despite some soreness, I felt stronger today and pushed my minutes-per-mile to 10.5. I probably could have pushed it to between 9 and 10, but that's not what the program calls for and I'm going to do my best to stick to a set regimen. I don't want to burn out or injure myself like some daffy weekend warrior who doesn't know any better. Besides, every Saturday calls for serious distance--beginning with 8 miles this weekend--albeit with breaks, and I want to save my knees for those hauls.
I'll be in Arlington again this weekend. The boy is going to add me to his gym membership, which is very kind of him and will make my gym dues well below what they would be otherwise, and I'll be able to do that 8 miler at the River Legacy park that I love. (Just pray the unseasonably warm Texas weather continues. I despise running in the cold.) I'm uber excited to see him and celebrate the new year, watch his Huskers battle it out in the Gator Bowl, and generally have another wonderful time. The twist is that this time I'll be bringing the Cheese, also known as Evita/Velveeta with me. She traveled so well to and from El Paso that I'm not too worried about her on such a short trip. I just hope his cats aren't too startled by her. She won't mind them, but I'd hate for them to hide all weekend because of her.
As for actual New Year's Eve, I will be walking over to a neighbor's house to hang out with them, their little boy, and another pair of good friends and their 2 daughters who also live just down the street from me. It will be quiet and laid back, but sure to have good food and laughs and, really, I prefer that to just about anything else--especially the club scene. Blech! [Side note: my sister was groped repeatedly at a 'nice' club back home and finally had to make a scene to get one drunken a-hole to back off. If I were her, well, let me just say that I can take care of myself. And if I had been with her...well, that's another story. She's much too 'nice' in my opinion, at least to strangers.] Then I shall wake early, refreshed and rested, to pack the car, pick up some menudo, and hit the road.
All for now I suppose. I'm going to do some quick ab work, then make dinner and try to write. Hoping to get back on schedule soon. Oh, one more thing--a major milestone was reached today when I did my first unaided pull-up since high school. True it was with a close-in, underhand grip, and from a standing position and not a dead-hang, but it shows progress since I started with my over the door pull-up bar. I know it probably doesn't sound like much, but it's a big deal to me. I dislike feeling weak. And it's not about size, either. I don't mind body weight as long as I can carry it, as long as it's useful. It's much more a mental/physical sense of being capable...being able to run if I need to, lift if I have to, knock the wind out of some douche-bag at a club if he dares touch my little sister...you get the point.
