I like toys

Doesn't that sound like something a boy would say? Or a little person? Well, it may be but it is also now being said by me.

I wouldn't really know this myself, except for outside influence from a boy who happens to also like toys. Good ones. That are really useful. What I have learned so far is that:

• I like GPS. After all the times I've argued with people about the accuracy and usefulness of GPS systems, laughing because the car would say "turn right" about a mile past the actual destination, I have to pull my big fat foot out of mouth and just smile.
• Running shoes are important. I didn't believe it, but I do now.
• ipods are fun. Darnit, those students of mine will possibly not irritate me quite so much blaring music during class now that I've been converted to the cause. Of course, if I can dance to it when the earbuds are in someone elses ears, there is a problem.
• iphones are awesome for entertaining kiddos when all else fails.
• Buying the killer awesome kitchenware makes cooking EVEN MORE exciting. And, the pans are heavy enough I get a workout in the process. Double bonus.

Why, you ask, is any of this important? I'm not certain that it is. I cannot sit here and say that your life will be better for reading this post or that it makes a survival difference in my meager little life. What I can do is tell you how sweet this running watch is!!!

This puppy tells you everything, talks to the computer on it's own (uploading data), monitors heart rate, tracks pace & distance, maps your route online, pauses automatically if you stop, tracks elevation changes, slices, dices, and washes the kitchen sink. Ok, maybe that's a bit of a stretch - but not much. It's awesome enough that even a pseudo-runner like myself can analyze the jeebers out of everything I do. And I love it.

Back in the day (when I lived with family for what seemed like FOR-EV-ER) I ran 3-4 times each week for about 3-4 miles a day. These runs were always on a treadmill, and usually to some random Harrison Ford movie or another. Or old Star Trek's. Or Runaway Bride. Or something else equally distracting. The thing was, I thought I liked it. I genuinely thought I enjoyed running. Inside. On the treadmill.

And then I got outside. I tell you that completely ruined the treadmill for me. Outside is so beautiful and so fresh and so inviting. The treadmill is so stark and cruel and just plain blah. But outside couldn't compete with my addiction to seeing the numbers. More than enjoying running, or even listening to my body scream (stop!), was my need to focus on those numbers going up. This was all fine and dandy except that the end result was that I started to hate running. And then I stopped, and then I started again, and then I stopped, and, well, you know what comes next.

Which is where the watch comes in. Now, I can obsess over numbers and also be outside!!!! Sweet chicken, this is fabulous. Running is pleasurable again and I get to be my neurotic obsessive self in the process. So, that is that. I like gadgets. Evidently.