In need of a Boost!!

The good news is I got the job! The bad news is my training has severely been lacking. Ever since my tri I have been slacking on my training. My sister had a baby, then I got the job, and I have just been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to finish my summer course and get my classroom ready and help my sister and travel back and forth to and from Boston and see Bryan and I would like to see my friends but that hasn't happened yet. I guess what I am saying is that I haven't had the time (or motivation!) to get back on the bike/feet/in the water....and I know that is a super shitty excuse...I mean if Training Payne can have 2 kids, a wife, a blog that is read by thousands of people, and still find time to party all the time, stay up all night, smoke, drink, train and rag on cowardly commentator, then who the hell am I to be complaining? So here is where all of you help me...I need equal parts sympathy (yes, we understand you are busy, take care of yourself and don't beat yourself up) and ass-kicking (get off your ass and get going!! You have a tri in a month and a half!) So...help me please!!! Thanks :)

Shippin' up to Boston...for an interview!!!

Sorry for all the short posts lately...to those of you who are still actually reading my blog. I have been so super busy, as I keep saying! So this morning I woke up and was feelling all motivated (mostly motivated by nerves!) because I had a phone interview for a job at the Boston Children's Museum. I was trying to stay busy until 11:30 when my interview was because I was nervous...and man, I think I should be nervous more often, because I got so much done! First I added color, font, animation and timings to the power point my group made. It looked pretty cool when I was done, and hopefully the group will be happy because I was able to consolidate it down from 11 slides to 6. The max for the project is supposed to be 5, hopefully the teacher will let 1 slide..well, slide. Haha...That's a bit of computer humor for my computer geek boyfriend who I love so much...hehe love you Bryan! Haha...anyway, I also applied for maybe 6 jobs and then took a break and read some of the book I am reading: Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult...she is an awesome author! Anyway, I was feeling depressed because I counted 48 jobs that I had applied for on SchoolSpring since about May, and probably 20 more that I had applied to through other sites. Thats 68 jobs, and I had one phone interview, which, by the way I don't think will be the job for me because the pay is worse than what I get now and there are no benefits...and for those of you who know how much I make now, you know I could NOT possibly survive on my own on any less. Lol. Anyway, I typed this message into facebook saying how I was feeling down about not getting any interviews from the 68 jobs I applied for. I pushed "post" and as soon as it posted my phone rang. It was the principal of a school in Boston asking me to come in for an interview! She has a 1st grade position available and my friend who used to work there had recommended me to her. I have an interview on Monday at 11, which explains the title of my post, I am going to Boston...probably I will leave early tomorrow morning and go to Bryan's parents house, because that's where he will be. Then on Sunday I will go back to my apt. and get ready for the interview. Eeek! Wish me luck! I'm going to have lunch now and then go out for a long bike ride to clear my mind and practice interview questions in my head while I ride..yes, I'm a dork, I know. Haha. I am hoping to ride to my sisters house and back, which is about 20 miles...20 very very hilly miles...let's hope I make it through the heat and humidity! Anyway, off to have some spicy pad thai for lunch...yum yum!

Ketchup and gummy bears

The past week has been a blur of childcare-induced exhaustion. My sister had a baby last Thursday, as I mentioned in my last post, and since then I have been driving her places and taking care of my other niece, who is 4 and full of energy! I have enjoyed spending so much time with them because I don't get to see them much when I am in Boston, but I am freaking exhausted!!!! I also have had pretty much no time to train...which isn't good since I have a tri coming up at the end of September, I should be training now. I did manage to run yesterday, but only went about a mile...I was hoping for a bike ride tonight but by the time I got home from my sister's house I was too exhausted to do anything. I am hoping to have the day to myself tomorrow so I can train and get some other things done. This pseudo mommy thing is exhausting! Oh...and my purse smells like ketchup and gummy bears. Eh...I guess there are much worse things, right?

pseudo-parent

Well, the past few days have been so busy that I haven't even had time to train! My sister had a baby on Thursday, and since then I have been shuffling back and forth between her house, the hospital and my parents house...taking care of my other niece, cleaning and visiting with my sister, brother in law and the new baby. I am EXHAUSTED! They are home now, and  today I spent part of the day taking my niece swimming so my sister could nap, and now I am home. Tomorrow I have to be up early to take my sister to doctor's appointments and take the baby to a doctor's appointment. I haven't had time to train except to take my new bike out on a 5 mile ride...I am getting up early tomorrow to go to the gym before I have to be at my sister's house at 10. More later when I have more Time!

Two exciting happenings!

I see no one has commented on my last post...come on people...give me your advice!! Haha!

Anyway, two exciting things have happened in the past 2 days....the first, and MOST exciting thing is that my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl yesterday! Her name is Shaelyn Michelle Cargill and she is 6lbs. 11oz. and 19 1/4 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful. I couldn't be happier, I have the two most adorable nieces in the world  and I am such a proud auntie, and a proud sister. My sister is such a great mom and I love seeing her so happy with her two little girls. Congratulations Amy, Pete and Maren!

The other exciting thing is that I finally bought a bike! My brother in law Pete has a friend who owns a bike shop...Garden State Bicycle, for those of you who live in NJ, you should check it out! So anyway, Pete's friend Tim called me the other day and said he just got a used Cannondale CAAD 4 from 2001 in the shop in amazing condition. It has Shimano Ultegra components, some really nice wheels that I can't remember the name of, and it is all in great condition. I bought it from him and he helped me pick out shoes and clipless pedals. Now I am all set! Once I learn how to post pics I will be putting up a pic of my new bike and some pics from my first tri...I have just been too busy lately.

More tomorrow or the next day...too tired now to write more!

FUNtastic Nantasket!!

I signed up for my second triathlon today! It is on September 26, and it is a sprint distance in Nantasket, which is a beach somewhat near my house. I am nervous to do ocean swimming, but sooo excited to be able to get in another triathlon this season! I am working on getting a bike and am keeping up my training. Here is my question for those of you who are triathletes and read this...give me some suggestions for speeding my time up and for upping my training for this next race. I know I can finish, now I want to go a little faster. What should I do? Please comment and let me know what you think!

Oh, a big Shout out to Training Payne, who raced IMLP yesterday and finished in 10:20:20!  Awesome job, can't wait to read your race report!!

A post that has (almost) nothing to do with triathlon...

So...it has been just over two years since I moved to Boston, so I think it is a good time to reflect on some of the changes and some of the growth that has happened in the past two years.

When I first graduated college, I moved back home even though I knew it wasn't what I wanted. I had always had this thought in my head that you go to college and then you move out on your own. I guess in my head I had never thought about the fact that it takes a job and money to move out on your own. When I graduated I was looking for a teaching job, and all the professors at my university made it seem like we would all get jobs easily...that was bullshit, in fact I'm still looking for a teaching job two years later. But anyway, I digress. I moved home and kept looking for jobs. I thought I wanted to move to the Boston area, and my reasons were many. For one, I was born here and have always loved the area. I was also dating someone who lived in this area and we had been dating all through college long distance. I wanted to be closer to him. I also wanted to live in a city while I was in my early 20's, I thought it would be really fun. One Saturday in June of that year I was applying for jobs and I haphazardly applied to a job as an art teacher in a summer camp. I really didn't think much of it until they called on Tuesday and asked if I could come for an interview on Thursday. I said yes, hung up the phone, and then started packing to drive to Boston. I called my friend Jess who lived in Boston. She was my best friend as a young child and we had lost touch and then gotten back in touch in college. I asked if I could stay at her apartment the next night, and she said yes. I drove up on Wednesday, slept on what is now my living room floor, and interviewed on Thursday. I drove straight from my interview back to New Jersey...because I was working at a daycare center and had to be back for work on Friday. I got a call on Friday saying I had the job and I needed to be there Monday to start. I packed up all my stuff...called my friend Jess again and asked if I could move in with them. She said one of their roommates was moving out and so on Sunday I drove to Boston and on Monday I started my job. I worked there all summer and then got a job as a teaching assistant in the fall at the same school. That is the job I am still doing now.

But anyway, onto the interesting things. Here is a list (in no particular order) of things I have learned, experienced, ways I have changed, and reasons I am so glad I made this move two years ago.

- I learned how to "really" live on my own. In college I lived on my own, but my parents were kind of paying my way and I always knew it was only the school year. I feel like now I am really on my own. It feels good.

- I learned that sometimes long distance relationships don't get better when you get closer. In fact, sometimes they get worse. For 5 years I thought my ex and I would be blissfully happy when we were living in the same state, but I found out when I moved here that we were actually less happy together. I'm glad I found this out when I did.

- I learned how to ride the T. Haha...I know this sounds crazy, but when you grow up in a rural area, riding the T (subway for those of you who are non-Bostonians) is something you never learn how to do. It's an awesome thing and makes it much easier to go out in the city.

- I have changed my outlook on money. I know now that you don't have to make alot of money to have a fulfilled life. I never was the type of person to really care too much about money, but I am extremely proud that I make a very little amount of money and I have still managed to live for two years completely on my own without having any credit cards.

- I have changed my outlook on love and men. I used to try so hard to make my ex love me. I tried everything I could to try to get him to want to make time for me, to want to be with me, and to want to try as hard as I was. None of this really worked. Now that I am with Bryan I realize that if someone really loves you they will want to spend time with you, they will care about your feelings, they will want to do special things for you, and they will want to introduce you to the important people in their life. My outlook now is that if someone likes me they will call, they will try, they will show me, and if they don't do these things then, to quote the movie "he's just not that into me" and then why bother with him anyway?

- I have discovered a passion for triathlon. (The title of the post said ALMOST nothing to do with it!) I NEVER thought I would be able to do a triathlon, or that I would ever want to. When I went through a break up in March I decided I needed to rediscover myself. My friends and family had been telling me that I had lost my glow, my passion and the spark that used to make me the funny, perky, bubbly girl I always was before. My mom said that for the past few years it was like I had a dark veil over my face,  like I just seemed depressed and sad alot of the time. I wanted to do something for myself, something that would give me satisfaction without feeling like I was depending on someone else. I also wanted it to be something healthy. I mean, it would have been easy to start baking cupcakes in my spare time, but I don't make alot of money and couldn't afford to buy bigger clothes, so that was out of the question, hahaha. I decided I wanted to do some sort of exercise, but I didn't really like running, master's swimming was too expensive and I didn't really want to join a team sport. I wanted this to be an individual journey. That is when I decided on triathlon. I went online and signed up for one that day. I knew if I didn't do it then that I never would. I completely immersed myself in learning everything I could about the sport, I started training, and I started reading blogs about it (slow, fat triathlete and Brybrarobry). I completed my first triathlon on July 11, 2010 in 2:15. I am so proud of that accomplishment and I cannot wait to do another one. As much as the actual acomplishment of finishing the race was wonderful, even better is all the other things that have come from discovering this sport. I joined a triathlon group and met some great people, I came out of my shell and tried things  I was afraid of before, namely swimming in a very deep lake, running on the treadmill at 9 mph and biking 25 miles.

- I have learned what it feels like to be in a truly loving, respectful, no drama relationship. My past relationship was riddled with stupid drama, there were fights literally nearly every day, there was no trust, and it almost seemed like we thrived on the pain we caused each other. Basically it was really messed up and unhealthy. The relationship Bryan and I have is amazing. There is no drama, there is trust without question, our love is true and pure, and we are together for the reason we should be together, because being with each other makes us happy. I never realized how simple a relationship could be. There is nothing for us to fight about because we just want to be together and we are simply happy for the time we get to spend together. It feels great to be loved and to be living in the moment. I am content.

- Family is even more important to me now than ever. It is hard to be away from my parents and my sister, especially now when my sister is pregnant and my niece is so young. I love my family so much though and it is so important for me to keep up with what is going on with them. I talk to my mom almost every day  and my sister and I text all the time. My dad gets the scoop from my mom, he's not much of a phone guy! Haha...love ya dad!

I'm sure there are more lessons I have learned, but I am tired of typing for now, haha. These  are the most important ones I think, if I think of more then I will have a part 2 for this post. And yes, I realize the longest paragraph in this post is about triathlon even though I said this post had almost nothing about it in here...so I lied..what can I say, I love to "tri"!