Doesn’t Everyone Do This on Valentines Day?!?

>> Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentines Day: the perfect day to take down the Christmas lights. Right?



Oh jeez, we’ve turned into “those neighbors.” But really, we’re pretty good: I shovel snow right away, my lawn is always mowed, and we keep the boulevard garden looking pretty all summer long. Somehow, the Christmas lights just got away from us. Well, better to take them down on Valentines Day than to wait until St. Paddy’s Day!!

I hope you have a good Valentines Day!!



Anyway, here are my over-simplified goals for each quarter of tomorrow’s half marathon - this is what I NEED to do to have a successful race:

First Quarter: easy, comfortable warm-up.
Second Quarter: hold a good pace.
Third Quarter: RACE!!
Fourth Quarter: hold on for the ride!

When I attempted my first stand-alone marathon this past summer, I had my usual list of goals: what I COULD do, what I WANTED to do, and what would be the BEST possible scenario. I made a major mistake on that list. My first goal should have been simply to “finish.” I didn’t finish that marathon. That scenario was never even anything I worked out in my head. That was stupid of me.

So tomorrow, no matter what happens, I’ll be finishing my second half marathon. Anything better than that is just icing on the cake.

Mmmmm.... cake.

40 comments:

Kelly 1:49 PM, February 14, 2009  

Christmas light? It's ok... my Christmas tree laying on my bedroom floor.

Happy V Day!

Carly 2:01 PM, February 14, 2009  

Don't feel bad, we still have ours up too. We didn't have them lit but they are still up.

Good luck tomorrow. Happy Valentine's Day.

Unknown 2:03 PM, February 14, 2009  

Personally, I think you should have left your lights up. As long as you don't light them, it would have saved you some work next winter! :)

Hope you had a good race, and Happy Valentine's Day

IronWaddler 2:03 PM, February 14, 2009  

Have a great half and don't wear yourself out with the decorations

Steve Stenzel 2:05 PM, February 14, 2009  

Carly, ours were still plugged in and on the timer. So they were going every night!! Glad to have them down (and off)!!

;)

Judi 2:11 PM, February 14, 2009  

dominic baked me a triple layer chocolate cake with cream cheese icing in the middle. i wish i could share with you. it is huge. pix on my blog.

Diana 2:13 PM, February 14, 2009  

I just took our christmas stuff down this past week when it warmed up nice and the ground was soft enough to pull out the stakes! Nice to have it down!
Good luck on the race!

The Boring Runner 2:14 PM, February 14, 2009  

hahahaha. That is awesome about the lights. My dad used to keep his up until way into march. "Too damn cold to take those bitches down"...

My wife doesn't seem to let the same excuse slide for me. Pharmie 1, my wife 0.

Amber 2:15 PM, February 14, 2009  

Hilarious about the Christmas lights, and totally true!

Unknown 3:23 PM, February 14, 2009  

Good luck. I like the "hold on for the ride". I know how that feels. pain everywhere.

teacherwoman 3:29 PM, February 14, 2009  

Hell, my 4 foot evergreen tree has lights on it still, even though I probably turned them on a whopping 3 times this holiday season. We just got too much snow in December, and all you could see for 2 months was the tip of the tree. What a wasted effort. LOL.

Happy Valentine's Day... love the teddy bear picture! HA!

Michelle 3:38 PM, February 14, 2009  

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

That picture ROCKS!!!

GOOD LUCK in tomorrow's half marathon!!! I know your going to run a great race!!!!

Jess 4:27 PM, February 14, 2009  

At this point, you may as well have just left 'em up!

Good luck wtih your race tomorrow!

Trishie 5:29 PM, February 14, 2009  

I took everything down -- tree, decorations, lights -- on deb 26. I am obsessive like that.

have a great race!!

Judi 5:46 PM, February 14, 2009  

i just updated the shamwow post w/ a video. :)

Anonymous,  6:10 PM, February 14, 2009  

I think you should have left them up, and turned the lawn into a patio or a disco. Put the speakers out the window, and we'll all come over, for STEVE'S HOUSE-RENT PARTY, and dance till dawn, to the strains of "Gimme a pigfoot, a reefer, and a bottle of gin."

(After Garrison Keillor, Minnesota has some catching up to do. Penance, more likely....)

Anonymous,  6:11 PM, February 14, 2009  

Go Steve! Good luck tomorrow!

Missy 6:24 PM, February 14, 2009  

Good luck but you ARE one of those neighbors if you're lights are still up. It's OK, we have a neighbor with a NOEL flag still up...must be hard to take down.

Jim Smith II 6:44 PM, February 14, 2009  

I don't put up Cmas lights, saves on the nagging ;-)

Good luck tomorrow!

trimybest 6:57 PM, February 14, 2009  

good luck! im betting you finish top 5.

Christie 7:17 PM, February 14, 2009  

I'm sure you're gonna rock the half. Have fun.

Mel-2nd Chances 7:18 PM, February 14, 2009  

Good luck, even though I think you'll do awesome!

Nat 8:14 PM, February 14, 2009  

WE physically can't remove the lights until spring without causing some major damage. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Maria 8:16 PM, February 14, 2009  

Good Luck tomorrow, I look forward to reading the race report!

Maggs 8:30 PM, February 14, 2009  

Next year put up all red and green lights and tell everyone they are valentine's day and st patrick's day lights. good luck tomorrow.

Marlene 9:19 PM, February 14, 2009  

There are people on my street who still turn their Christmas lights ON!

Good luck tomorrow. YOU'VE GOT THIS!

joyRuN 9:27 PM, February 14, 2009  

Good luck tomorrow!!

Please. I still have my Christmas tree up.

Sonia 9:43 PM, February 14, 2009  

As long as you weren't still lighting them up it's all good. LOL

Good luck tomorrow!

skoshi 10:40 PM, February 14, 2009  

Thanks for the reminder to take down the giant silver balls I have hanging from our denuded front yard tree--by now I don't even see them anymore--and if the neighbors are talking, well, they're doing it behind closed doors!

Have a GREAT run tomorrow.

KK 10:56 PM, February 14, 2009  

Good plan, sock it to 'em!

Anonymous,  11:00 PM, February 14, 2009  

I just read about that "other marathon." What an appalling story. Whatever you were trying to prove, evidently wasn't so.

I hope you finish, but if this time begins to feel like last time, you're still not ready, so STOP! O.K.?

Otherwise, don't come playing on my sympathy with your lurid melodrama, how STEVE the ROADKILL RUNNER vomitted his LAST POWERBAR on the way to the MORGUE....

I mean it when I say, ENJOY your run!

Or ELSE!!!

(Please.)

sRod 6:35 AM, February 15, 2009  

Our first Christmas together we waited until March to take out the Christmas tree. Yup, St. Patrick's Day Eve we took out the tree under cover of darkness--I was too ashamed to do it in daylight.

Now, we're much better. The tree only made it to MLK day weekend this year.

Shannon 7:36 AM, February 15, 2009  

Christmas lights aren't THAT bad, I still have my moldy jack o lantern on my front porch!

just kidding.....

Have fun with the 1/2!

Unknown 10:51 AM, February 15, 2009  

Best wishes with the half mary!

I solved the Christmas lights thing by not putting any up. Ha!

RBR 2:23 PM, February 15, 2009  

You are still better than us, we didn't even hang them this year! A couple of scrooges, we are.

You are probably done with your half mary already and enjoying some obscenely large meal, but I hope it went well and you got your PR.

LHE 2:30 PM, February 15, 2009  

HOA made me take then down last year in March. (BIG EYES). Never been ONE OF THOSE before, but it was kind of rebellious... this year they came down on New Years day (as they should)! :)

J~Mom 3:26 PM, February 15, 2009  

Just taking the lights down...love it! Hey you have priorities!

CoachLiz 10:03 PM, February 15, 2009  

Hey, at least you did not have your Christmas tree up until Easter. I did that one year. Easter Bunny came and decorated it with strings of lights that looked like Marshmallow Peeps and hung plastic eggs from the branches.

Hey, it was the year after my Mom had passed away. Not that that is an excuse but it was a hard year to have my act together.

Anonymous,  5:08 AM, February 16, 2009  

so? what kind of icing was it??

inquiring mind and all,

Miz.

Eric 10:50 AM, February 17, 2009  

Holy crap.....I thought I was bad taking the lights down the 1st weekend in January :-)

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