Don't google "rabbit toys". Just don't.

I ordered the bun's Christmas presents last night. Yes, I am one of "those" owners who gets their pets gifts. Judge if you will, I'm cool with it. Last year was Archie's first Christmas and she was so excited to have a little box to unwrap with treats inside. It took her 10-15 minutes to get it open but she finally managed it. Maybe I'll try to video tape it this year. Trixie is receiving nothing because cats don't care. Well, she does but here is how it goes:

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG A NEW CATNIP MOUSE!!! I am going to kick it and lick it and throw it and beat it and sit on it and ignore it and then attack it and love it and sleep with it and put it in my water bowl and take it out of my water bowl and shove it under the couch and then dig it out from under the couch and pretend I lose it but know where it is the whole time and cry until you retrieve it and OMG this is the best present eeeeeeever!!! *purr purr kick purr throw purr claw purr purr*

<Shortly thereafter>

Catnip mouse? Please. That is so 5 minutes ago. Fill my dish, servant. I'm going to go find a pair of your shoes to vomit in and then I will lay sprawled in the middle of your bed and hiss if you disturb my slumber.

Proof of this: asleep on the chair and ottoman with not one care.

And then she never touches it again. This is not a dramatization, she has been mine for 10 years and I know how she is so instead she gets a tiny portion of prime rib that I bring home for her from Christmas dinner and I tie some curling ribbon to some door knobs for her to attack and all is happy in her kitty world.

At the opposite end of the spectrum the bun loves everything new that I get for her and plays with it happily for week if not months. I ordered her a really cool looking enrichment toy that I found on Amazon that she has to figure out how to get the treats out of. She has one I got her on Etsy last year that she loves so I'm interested to see if she likes new one.

Anyway, this whole rambling boring business about my pets was really to just warn you of this: do NOT type in "Rabbit toys" to Amazon and then forget to select "pets and supplies" as a category. Do not. I am permanently scarred now.

Really, that's where I was going with that. I have no idea how to be concise. And I have had a migraine for a week so my brain is Jello (but really, we all know that has nothing to do with my rambling ways).

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The Runner's World Running Streak Challenge I decided to start doing on Thanksgiving is going well. I missed a few days due to my back hurting pretty badly (just for a couple of days, in general it's doing pretty well) and then due to a (as of today) 7 day migraine but missing 3 days out of 18 isn't awful so I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Running with a migraine can be pretty painful because of all the pounding and blood rushing around but I ran 6 miles this morning and am spending the rest of the day in bed to try and ward it off before the work craziness starts up. And it's going to be crazy! I am really liking the running challenge though, I didn't realize how much I missed a daily run until I started doing it again. I really miss having a treadmill in my house but I have a desk where it used to be and no other room to fit a new one so I might join a gym so that I can run at 11pm if I want. Which I do sometimes. I've been running a lot at the lake I got my start in running at and although I don't love it all the time, it's fast and easy and carries a huge amount of nostalgia with it.

My Curltember Challenge is going even better than the running challenge and I have not missed a day of that. If you remember from my previous post I am curling my hair daily in honor of one of my good friends who has breast cancer. I hate being so far from her during this and it's my way of keeping her in the front of my mind and letting her know that she's there. I will tell you this: Hot Tools Curling irons, Argon Oil and Kenra 25 hairspray are my BFF's right now. There's been some road bumps along this curly road but I'm getting closer and closer to hair that should be allowed out in public every day.

Is anyone else doing the running challenge? How about the "shop as much as possible without actually buying a thing you need for Christmas girfts" challenge? I made that one up right after Thanksgiving, too and I have been doing fantastically at it.

Socks, shoes and a few challenges.

Here's what's going on: I sit down to write, I start to write, I get a paragraph in, I get distracted by something really important like Instagram or watching the bun trying to hide my socks when she thinks I'm not watching and then it's game over. Therefore, you are getting some bulleted business so that I can catch you all up and get back to this blogging thing because I miss it.

-My running is going really well. My base is at a solid 10 miles and I ran the best run I've had in two years last Sunday. It wasn't that I was faster than normal, it was that I felt amazing. I finally got in my running zone and when I was done I swear I could have easily done five more miles. You have no idea how good that felt, it's what I have spent the last 6 months working towards. My goal is to run at least one 5 mile run during the week and one 8-12 mile run on Sundays until February when I start half marathon training again in order to keep my base solid.

-That being said I have committed (in my own mind, which is all I need) to the Runner's World Holiday Running Streak where I need to run at least one mile a day every day until January 1. I'm not sure how it's going to go on days that I leave at 6am and get home at 8pm but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. You can read about it here: http://www.runnersworld.com/cold-weather-running/2012-holiday-running-streak and I am wicked excited about it so I am sure I will check in a lot about it.

-I've finished several races since I last wrote: the Wineglass Half marathon in Corning, NY; the Empire Half Marathon here in Syracuse; and the Baldwinsville 10k Turkey Trot yesterday. Both halves went much better than I expected and I finished almost an hour faster than the half I attempted in March. I will try to remember to write about them. Hold me to it :) And if I don't here are a few pictures:

Wineglass swag! The medal is glass as Corning is known for the Corning Museum of Glass, one of my favorite places.

Empire bling

-I have found my holy grail of sneakers. They are Nike's and I have no idea what exactly they are but we are in love and I have no intention of cheating on them anytime soon. Well, not counting when I have to start wearing my winter Asics soon. Do you hear that faint sound of sobbing? It's my butt because they weigh about a pound more than my normal sneakers. But anyway, back to the Nikes. They are soft and squishy and amazing and don't give me blisters and they look cool and they don't really show dirt and even when I'm done running I don't want to take them off. All of these things are proof that we were meant to be.

My soul mates.

-I signed up for my dream race last week after waiting 8 months for them to announce the sign up and I will find out December 14 if I got in. Please cross your fingers, toes and pray to the makers of Cadbury Eggs for me (aka my version of Jesus) that I get in.

Yes, that is a picture that I took of my iPad with my iPhone while sitting in my car on a call on my OTHER iPhone. God bless technology.

-Enough about running, I have another challenge that I have put forth for myself and it's a little something I like to call Curltember. My goal is to curl my hair every working day from now until January in honor of one of my most amazing friends who had to shave her glorious curls recently for a reason that I have named Nipplegate. And that's all you need to know because it's her story :) I will tell you that my hair might not make it out alive but I'm doing it anyway out of 90% solidarity and 10% insanity because my hair is super straight and curl resistant and it will take an act of Ulta to get it to hold a curl consistently. I bought a Hot Tools curling iron today, a gallon of heat protectant spray and enough hair spray to turn Nutella into silly putty. Let's do this!

Also, that lipstick is my life right now. It's Mac's Creamsheen lipstick in On Hold and I'm obsessed.

-I went to my friend's baby shower recently and wore the amazing BCBG dress I wrote about a while ago (which, btw, is also an awesome date dress. It's an awesome everything dress) and my current favorite Nine West shoes. I still have no idea why anyone ever wears pants. I mean, I do sometimes but I don't like it. Not one bit.

I also ate cupcakes of the cookie dough variety and they made me not fit in my dress the next day.

-As for my back, it's doing ok. It was better, then it was way worse, then I found out I had a herniated disk, then I started back to work, then I started back to PT, then I got some narcotics, then I was told it isn't a herniated disk, then I got mad because I hate the human medicine world and that's where we're at. I maintain I have a herniated disk though and am just working around it accordingly. AND FOR THE RECORD: No one has told me that I have to stop running! Quite the opposite actually because the longer I run, the better my back feels (most days, some days it's not happy and I take it easier those days). It's funny how once you have an injury everyone magically has an MD and has an opinion about it which usually is 1) You need surgery and 2) You shouldn't be running. I do appreciate the concern but it gets a little frustrating after a while. It's been improving with PT though so I'm sticking with that for the time being and I have decided not to go for the cortisone injections that the unhelpful spinal doctor prescribed to me in my 7 minute visit, 3 of which involved discussing his cat. If I am not feeling better in a few weeks that I am considering a second opinion but only because I like answers. It amazes me sometimes how different veterinary medicine and human medicine is, it's not too often that a client will let you get away with "I don't know" in regards to their pet's health yet that seems to be a viable answer for my own.

/End rant :)

And with that I think you are all sufficiently updated on my life so I will leave you with a parting gift of the bun rearranging my socks when she thinks I'm not looking. The Smartwool ones are her favorite because they are more stiff than my Balega running socks and are therefore easier to throw. I think? Who knows, I'm not a bun.