Mistakenly Texted

I received a funny text message today that I'd like to share:

Como te sientes hoy reina?
perdona que te mande text message, pero tenemos
que adaptarnos a la tecnologia y asi no te interrumpo.

Uhm...ok. No, I don't know who sent it. I do know it's someone from NYC because of the area code. That's as far as my curiosity took me. No reply from me! I just laughed because it sounds like someone is involved in some extra curricular activities and they just sent the text to the wrong number.

Update 10pm:
I just checked my phone and I have a missed call. Guess from who? Yup, same text message NYC person. Since they didn't leave a message, I'll assume they heard my voicemail and realized they have the wrong number.

Tales From The Trail

It's no secret I go running. Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I hate it. Whenever I can, I go to El Paseo Lineal de Bayamon. It's a nice path for walkers, runners and a separate one for cyclists. On the site it says it's a total of 6 miles. I think it's less than that, but I can't run the whole thing anyway. I did reach a goal and continuously ran from one end to the other. Now I have to work on running the whole way back. I have to stop and walk a few times on the way back.

Anyway, this is not why I blog today. I blog to share yet another random story. It takes place while I was running this morning in Bayamon. One other thing that you should know about this place is that it isn't uncommon for people to randomly greet you or to make some comment to you. Usually, it's old folks that do this. So there I was running, sweating, looking at the cyclists as they go by. By the time it takes me to run one way, I've seen the same cyclists maybe three or four times, depends on how fast they're going. I'm concentrating on jogging more than running because I don't want to burn out. I see a cyclist and as he passes by he says "Buenos dias". I've never had a cyclists greet me before (unless they're your friend). They acknowledge you're there, but never talk. So I wasn't expecting it and therefore said nothing back.

Later on I see the same cyclist. By now I've reached the point in my run where I'm battling with the snot running down my nose. Attractive I know. So I'm sniffling and at the same time the cyclist says "Buenos dias". I BARELY heard him over my sniffle and I didn't say anything back. Of course now I'm thinking the guy is weird and continue on my run.

On my way back I'm tired and thinking about stopping at the water fountain. The first two I see don't work. I know there's another one ahead at the rest stop and I'm hoping that one works. I didn't need to stop, I run with a water bottle so I had water...I just wanted COLD water. I see the rest stop, the fountain and then the cyclist leaning on the benches. My thought process: "oh crap...I should run past...but I want cold water...the fountain probably doesn't work....I should run past...I'll quickly check if it works which it won't so I won't have to really stop...I should run past". I walk up to the fountain expecting it not to work, but it does. I drink some water, fill up my bottle and the cyclist starts talking to me.

"Te iba invitar a sentarte un rato", he says.
"Como?", I said as if I didn't hear him the first time.
"No que te iba a invitar a descansar un rato", he says.
"Tengo que seguir, no puedo parar", I say as I fill my water bottle.
"Cuanto tiempo llevas corriendo?", he asks.
"En el dia de hoy? Como unos 40 min", I say.
"Es que te veo corriendo ahi con tanto deseo...", he says in a low voice to which I say nothing.
"Tienes que tener cuidado con el calor y hace mucho sol", he says.
(yeah, it couldn't have been a cloudier day today in Bayamon)
"Yo corro por las tardes, el sol no me molesta", I reply.
"Bueno, pero correr con cuidado porque el sol lastima...", he says.
"Agua, tomar mucha agua", I say as I show him my bottle and finally see my opportunity to end the conversation.
"Bueno, que tengas un buen dia", I say and start running away from the Oakley wearing cyclist.
"Igual a ti, que tengas un buen dia", he says as I'm running away.

Uhm, I'm a bit confused. After this minute long conversation, all I could try to figure out was what in the world did he see that made him hit on me. Let me describe my physical state while running. Sweat, hair in disarray, snot nose happenings and the obvious face flush from the heat and exersion. More specifically (just so you can picture how attractive I looked) my tank top was soken through with sweat in circular patterns. I looked like I was lactating. My pants were soken through with sweat also. I looked like I had pissed myself. So which one was it he liked more? The sweaty lactating shirt look or the sweaty pissed pants look? Maybe it was a combination of both. I didn't really want to find out.

Was the cyclist good looking? I think you can tell from my fountain-thought process what I thought. To each their own, really, but I'm just not into 40 something year old men. When I'm 40 I'll be into 40 year old men :)

Two other things that happened almost at the end of my run was that I saw, no...I caught another cyclist checking me out. This one was younger and cuter. Now why didn't he try to chat me up?! hahaha! He was one of those serious cyclists though. They never talk or stop and pass by the runners more than four times. Then at the end this elderly man said to me, "Por ahi voy! Lento, pero por ahi voy". This just made me laugh.

As you can see, Hay un poco de todo en Bayamon.

My Day As A Forced Couch Potato

So I'm on Spring Break vacation. Woohoo!
If only I hadn't wasted an entire day confined to the couch, I'd be happier. This was not by choice. I had probably the worst stiff neck I've ever had and it just hurt to move.

My day was supposed to be filled with exercise. I know, some of you are rolling your eyes, but that's what I wanted to do and had been doing the days before. I was going to go lift weights, watch movies and have a run later on. Instead, I spent more than 12hrs on the couch, half sitting up and half lying down because that was the only position I could tolerate.

I have no idea what I did. I guess I must have slept in the weirdest position ever. But! I didn't wake up once all night. I slept so well and was completely refreshed when I woke up. I got up, walked around, felt a little pain (but nothing like what it turned into) and took the dog out. I was fine...or so I thought. After taking the dog out, I went back to bed and THAT'S when the pain really hit me.

I couldn't move my neck in any direction. The pain went from the top of my neck, down the right side to the bottom of my shoulder blade. It hurt soooo much. Getting out of bed was a challenge. An even bigger challenge was brushing my teeth! So much pain. I was walking around the house looking like a robot who couldn't lift it's head. My head was fixed in a downward "the floor is my friend" position all day. And that too became uncomfortable, not to mention annoying.

I took some Tylenol and at first refused to give into the "stiff neck - I can't do anything today" pity party. I tried to use my computer, but I couldn't lift my head or extend my arms without shooting pain. So, my online access was limited. I had to sweep the kitchen/family room area. Why? Because my brother's chocolate Labrador, Hershey, has been staying here and she sheds like there's no tomorrow. (How is this dog not bald yet?!) So I start sweeping and I KNOW I shouldn't be doing this. I FEEL I shouldn't be doing this, but I do it anyway. I had to laugh all through the pain to stop me from crying. After that was done, I resigned myself to the couch. It wasn't even noon and I knew I'd spend all day there.

So I gathered my "husband" pillow, my Sudoku book and a book called "Love And Other Impossible Pursuits" by Ayelet Waldman. I propped myself up and back with many cushions to take the pressure of my neck and I stayed there...all day. My sister suggested I take a Celebrex which I refused. Aside from Tylenol, I don't like taking random medication. I'm not a pill popper.

Life on the couch went as follows: turn tv on, turn tv off; do some sudoku; read book; turn tv on, turn tv off; painfully move to answer the phone; take a nap; turn tv on, turn tv off; eat lunch and dinner looking at the floor.....You get the picture. I did try to use my computer a few times, but I was more comfortable on the couch...even though "comfortable" is not a word I'd use to describe my experience yeterday. Sometime in the afternoon I said "F*ck it" and took the pill. I didn't expect it to take the pain away, but atleast make it a degree more bareable. No difference whatsoever.

I ended up just reading my book all afternoon and night. I did of course have to take Hershey out a couple of times. This worried me. She's sort of a spaz and is prone to pulling. I was worried she'd pull me, I'd end up on the grass in pain and she'd happily continue pooping. So I decided to take her the backyard instead of an actual walk. Hershey, thank goodness, was calm.

And I was back on the couch reading! By the time my sister got home I was almost done with the book. It definitely was more interesting than anything on tv. By then it was time to go to bed. I'd had enough of the pain and just wanted to be slumberous. So my 12hr couch residency was over and I went to bed. Of course I slept, but in the only position I could...flat on my back. I woke up today with an extremely slighter version of yesterday's pain. I can move my head in all directions now, but it still hurts when going extremely sideways. And of couse my neck in completely sore from looking down for more than 12hrs.

Atleast I can rejoin the living today! Yay!