Randomness and being thankful

So today has been quite a decent day.  Work started a little rough with a 6am client on a Saturday, but it worked out well. I was done with everyone by 10am and ready to go to the UC v Purdue game by 10:15.  This was a great way to start off the season! We crushed Purdue :) That makes for a happy midget :) Now, trying to be a good triathlete I was downing water because I was SUPPOSED to do a 90 min bike and 20 min run today.  It was 96 degrees out and said it felt at least like 102. When we got to the car my thermometer thing said 109. Awesome.  Well, after the game we grabbed a Powerade from BP to get done electrolytes in because our clothes were  absolutely drenched in sweat, and I was still intending to bike and run. We get home finally and grab some food and the sky starts to look pretty ugly.  According to the radar we weren't supposed to get hit and everything was supposed to go north. The weatherman was wrong. I know, such a shocker. It started storming and absolutely pouring. Lightening was going crazy, and poor Zo was scared of the thunder. She decided to burrow under the pillow Red was using.  Red was just heading downstairs to switch laundry over when our power went out. Meh, well that was nearly 3 hours ago.

So 3 hours without power actually isn't that bad. Red's company just allowed their employees to enable the mobile hotspot function for their phones on the company's dime :) Yeah! Also, Red has been traveling a lot so he decided that having a better way to charge his phone and tablet would be a Powergen battery pack instead of fighting for an outlet at airports. We are currently testing it out as we still don't have power but have fully charged phones. Yep, no power doesn't mean no entertainment. Another thing we have to be thankful for is the fact that we have gas for our stove and water heater.  This means we were still able to have a delicious meal (prepared by Red), and take comfy hot showers. Possibly one of the best things we have is the ability to put screens in our windows. It was really warm, but that storm blew through and it dropped about 15 degrees. We opened the windows and put the screens in so we can have a decent breeze in the house.  All of these things combined to have quite a comfortable evening playing on our phones, watching football on the ipad, shower, and not feel like we're in a sweat box.  I'm very ok with all of this.

Now tomorrow I need to go back to being a good triathlete and get my swim and run in.  I may do the bike I was supposed to do today after my run, but we'll see what all happens!  Hopefully the power comes on soon, or I may just go to bed when the ipad dies and take advantage of sine much needed sleep.  One more week until Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3!! It's almost go time!

Control what you can

So I've been trying to figure out a way to deal with everything that life has thrown at me this year, and I've decided that the only thing I can do is to control what I can.  I can't control other people, I can't control jobs, I can't control the weather, and I can't control illness.  All of these things have decided to wreak havoc on me this year, and I'm fairly certain that I'm going insane, but I'm taking everyone with me.  I have wanted to break down and just straight cry more often than I care to admit, but crying doesn't fix anything.  Giving up on things or just quitting isn't what I'm all about, I really really wish I was sometimes, but I'm too stubborn.  Plus?  Minus?  Meh.  I've discovered that nearly every time I think I have something figured out then life decides to go "Ha!  Good one!", well eff.  Each week, sometimes each day, I have to pause and not let myself day dream too far into something that isn't really a thing yet but weighs heavily on my mind.  I realize I'm being very vague, but that happens.  My coping mechanism?  Training.  Sometimes it's quite helpful and sometimes it takes me momentarily closer to curling up in a ball and crying like a baby.  More times than not it actually makes me reflect on the paces I'm keeping, the weights I'm lifting, and the speeds I'm maintaining instead of going "well that sucks, better not do that again".  I actually go "well that sucks" a lot, then I typically turn around and say "what's next" instead of I'm done.  I've decided that with everything that I can't control, and I love control, then I need to focus on what I can actually change or make happen.  I can control my workouts by pushing myself harder, and enjoy the fact that if something says it weighs 200lbs, then guess what?  It weighs 200lbs.

Sometimes we all need to find something that is stable in our lives in order to make life make sense.  Some find stability in God, some find it in training, some find it in reading, writing, cooking, running, sleeping, singing, what-have-you-ness.  I've spent a lot of time praying, cursing, and training.  I've leaned on Red a lot too and am glad that he knows the best way to make me feel better is to simply be quiet, listen, and do what I say.  I don't mean it in a mean way, but if a hug will make things better then he immediately gives me a giant hug, if leaving me alone for a bit will do it, then he waits until I want to talk, if biking next to me while I run is what will work then he is right beside me.  I hear a lot of people talk about what's going wrong in their lives and a lot of things don't sound too bad if you simply try to compare life to life, but then I look at what's outside of that person's life versus my own.  I know that working out makes me feel better.  I have an awesome family that I could randomly drop in on at any given moment and they would be cool with it.  I have an awesome goober (Red) who listens to me whine until I feel better then picks me up and sends me on my way to whatever adventure, or disaster, I may run to.  There are some people I want smack upside the head repeatedly because they're completely retarded and refuse to take care of themselves or get their heads out of their butts to see reality, but then I realize that what they claim is impossible is all they know.  They don't have a support system of any form, it's quite possibly because their parents sucked or because they are so dag-on annoying that no one wants to be around them, but  being stupid is all they know because they lack a substantial support system.  Mine is brutally honest but very loving at the same time, which is precisely what I need.  My friends sit and listen to what I have to say, but then aren't afraid to tell me I'm being stupid and help me see what I'm too blind to see.  Like with Grandma I sometimes sit and want to pout about her being "sick", but then my friends are quite quick to point out that at this current moment she is fine and strong.  They remind me that she's a fighter and that the reason I'm so feisty and stubborn comes directly from her.  I usually then laugh and realize that I would love to be half as strong as she is because I would really be invincible.  A lot of people apparently don't have people like this, that or the people they're around suck and are too afraid to deal with the bad nonsense to get to the good parts in life, thereby allowing people to continue to be stupid and mopey.  I really think that people need more friends like mine and I'm always VERY quick to "adopt" anyone I want to be friends with because I think my family is awesome (weird as sin, but still awesome) and I know my family would support anyone with anything.

So I guess that I'm adding one more thing to my list of things that I can control.  I can control my workouts, weights, speeds, and how hard I push, but I can also control how I try to help people.  Not everyone wants help and I honestly don't want to help everyone because as nice as I want to be I still think the best thing for some people is to get their butt kicked a few times, but such is life.  So this is a whole lot of freaking randomness but I think it made things a little more clear for me.  You may think they're clear as mud, but it works for me.  Now back to training.  What's next?