Excitedly, I woke up early today to a crisp autumn morning. 43 degrees crisp. My hubby and I met our friends, Kathryn and Pam, at Middendorf’s in Manchac to complete a 5K which is #15 on my 18 for 2018 list. Barry and I walked the course briskly while Pam and Kathryn ran it. It took my hubby and me about 48 minutes to complete it. Unfortunately, I was so excited about starting the race that I forgot to start my watch and failed to check the starting time, as well as the finishing time. Hopefully, since our race bibs have the timing chip, we will be able to get a more accurate time when New Orleans Running Systems posts the results.
As participants in today’s race, we received a tech fabric moisture wicking t-shirt, a custom finishers medallion, Middendorf’s Restaurant’s famous thin fried catfish, and the satisfaction of completing the race course. In addition, all proceeds benefited Our Daily Bread which is a food bank that services Tangipahoa Parish. Participating in the Manchac Run was a perfect way to start the day. And, we were blessed with beautiful weather.
The point of completing the race was to motivate me to get back into running. I’ve always enjoyed running. If my memory serves me correctly, I have not run a race since June of 2013 when my hubby and I ran the Zombie Run in City Park with the Cyrus family. That was five years ago. Zoiks! Therefore, I will be starting my run/walk program the week we break for Thanksgiving holidays, so I can run my next 5K which I am thinking will be the Shamrock Run in March.
In Other News:
In the middle of this upcoming week, Andrew and I will be heading to Sulphur with the STA Swim Team for him to participate in the State Meet. We will be there for two days. On Saturday, he and I work the concessions at our last LSU game. And, Sunday officially begins my week long holiday. Woo-Hoo! I cannot wait because this also means that my season of sacrifice will officially end.
Dear reader, I hope that you will have a wonderful weekend. Be positive, focus on your goals, and count your blessings. Happiness!
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” ~ Fred DeVito
Today marks the end of the third quarter of 2018. We have completed three fourths of the year. The new year is just around the corner. Today is also the 8th anniversary of Comet, otherwise known as Tooty, becoming a member of the Loyacano family. Eight years ago today, Andrew and I rescued Comet as he was dodging traffic on Happywoods Road. We were on our way to school. Personally, I was not planning on keeping him. However, my hubby and Andrew had other ideas. No chip, no collar, no owner to be found. Needless to say, we kept him, and I am happy we made that decision. He brings us so much joy.
Tomorrow begins a new month. I have 12 items to complete on my 18 for 2018 list. I am confident that I will be successful in the remaining last three months of the year. I hope, dear reader, that you are succeeding with whatever goals you have set for this year. Enjoy the remnants of your weekend. Happiness!
Subsequently, I dragged my booty out of bed the next morning, took a selfie of myself making the commitment, and walked for an hour. After walking, I documented my starting weight at 158 pounds. I dug in a kitchen cabinet and pulled out my “pounds to go” and “pounds lost” containers. Diligently, I counted out 18 marbles, dropped them all in the “pounds to go” container, and sat both containers on my kitchen counter. This means that by 31 December 2018, I will need to weigh at least 140 pounds. There is no more “I don’t have time” because taking care of my health is important, and it is time for me to make my health a priority.
This past Thursday, Andrew and I went shopping for school uniforms for the last time. It was the first of the “lasts” that we will experience in the upcoming school year. Soon, he’ll be taking senior pictures and applying for college. While senior year is an exciting time, it will be bittersweet (for me). Andrew is the baby, so my hubby and I will be empty nesters. Thankfully, Andrew will not be going too far away for college. He has decided to attend Southeastern in Hammond to earn his undergraduate degree in Biology. While he could easily live at home, he wants the “college experience” of living on campus. After talking to parents of college-age children and to college students who live away from home, I can see the benefits for him.
Yesterday morning, my hubby and I brought Andrew to the airport, so he could embark on his journey to Ireland, Wales, and London. I will not see my baby again until April 7th. It will be an unusual week being home alone with just my fur babies. I guess it will give me a taste of what it will be like when Andrew goes off to college.
I realize that I am probably one of the last humans on the planet that waited so long to watch Stranger Things. In my defense, I do not have much time to watch television, and there are few shows that I watch alone in real time or with Andrew. He is just as busy during the school year as I am, so coordinating our schedules to watch a couple of hours of television together can be difficult. However, we manage to squeeze in some time here and there for our favorite shows. Andrew and I had finished watching Parks and Recreation during Mardi Gras break, so we decided to start watching Stranger Things. Many of my friends, family, acquaintances, and even some of my students encouraged me to watch it since they thought it would be a show that I would really enjoy. Boy, were they right. Stranger Things is SUPER awesome! I’m obsessed with it. I absolutely LOVE that it takes place in the 1980s. The show is basically about a group of geeky kids who meet an unusual girl with special abilities around the same time that one of their friends vanishes into a mysterious place that is home to a disturbing creature. It is like the X-Files meets the Goonies. The seasons are not very long, so we blew through both of them within a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the next season does not come out until 2019. Alas, Andrew and I will just have to watch Beyond Stranger Things which delves into the secrets of the Stranger Things universe, specifically Season 2 and re-watch the two seasons prior to Season 3 premiering next year.![MC900432635[1]](https://katloyacano.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mc9004326351.png?w=500)
Three weeks ago I assigned myself some action steps for improving my health that I wanted to complete by today. Unfortunately, I did not complete them all. I have been working quite a bit at school and helping Andrew get ready for his upcoming trip to Ireland. Instead of admonishing myself, I am praising myself for the steps that I did accomplish (week 1). After all, I do have until the end of the year to complete this goal.
I struggle with time management and hope 2018 will be the year I can tame the beast. Therefore, I decided to sign up for Laura Vanderkam’s 
Twenty days have passed since I started my year-long journey of RENEWAL. Until today, it has been slow going, uninspiring, and almost coming to a screeching halt. I have not accomplished anything much regarding my health and fitness goals for this month, and I was having a hard time deciding how to write about it. I’m stuck! Then two occurrences took place earlier today that has prompted me to move forward. The first was watching a brief video that popped up in my Facebook news feed, and the second was an unexpected phone call from someone I adore but had not talked to in quite a while.
The Kat Files 