Les Miz!

Today was a big day for me. I got to see Les Miserables again - this time on the big screen. The movie came out in December, but M had no interest in going ("It's all singing, isn't it?"), so when Kari and I made plans to get together, we decided this would be an ideal event (since her husband didn't want to go either).

I'm so glad we did. Even if the stage show will always be superior, the movie was pretty good. I was impressed with the editing - especially during "I dreamed a dream" where basically the camera was just on Anne Hathaway the entire time. Up close, tight shot, and on the big screen, you could just feel the emotion running through her. I was bawling like a baby - and I couldn't even chalk it up to hormones (though I'm sure that helped).

I still think I prefer it on stage, mostly because the acting and set is so powerful, but this was good. And it was nice to have a girl's day even if it was only in the theater, snacking on popcorn and sipping a slushy. :)

Girls night!

Last month I drug Sallie out to Color Me Mine for a little pottery painting. Once a month the store has a thing called "Diva's Dish and Design" where they walk you through a pattern which you can put on any product in the store. I had wanted to do this for a while, and both Sallie and I needed a break, so we did that.

That one turned out so well that we decided to do it again for January. This time we invited our new chaplain's wife, Sharon, along for the fun. We had a blast. Funny thing was neither Sallie nor I were drinking, but Sharon brought wine. Whoops. She had some, which was great so I didn't feel too bad.

Our project was a Cocktail Time platter with bowl set - very retro looking. Our biggest issue was picking out the colors we were going to use. I swear that took at least an hour. I'm very indecisive (shocker!) and last month's project was much simpler...it was trees! How do mess up trees? But with the retro look, we wanted to get the scheme just right.

Mine - kind of a blue, weird green-blue and their "new pink" which reminded me of coral for my Daiquiri

Sallie went with a tan, purple and lime green (a true margarita in the glass!)

Sharon's upside down, but you get the gist. Her's was a different blue than mine, a slightly different tan and then the new pink for her Cosmo.

It was truly a fun night. I love painting and even if it turns out icky, they still are fun to do. The next couple month's projects aren't as cool, so I probably won't be doing them. But maybe in April I'll go again. Of course March is Easter so maybe they'll have their egg painting days again so Jake, Ava, Kevin and I can paint. :)

Lefse time!!

I had been lamenting a couple weeks ago that I was getting the itch to make some lefse. I don't eat the stuff, but I do enjoy making it. So Tre talked with her mom, Connie, and we made a date. I headed up after work to Tre's new place and we got busy.

Look at that perfection! HA!

An almost perfect lefse circle!

Tre's lefse circle!

Yes, I make noises when I'm unrolling lefse onto the griddle.

Connie showing us how this is actually done. :)

We had so much fun we're looking for another day to make some more. We'll just have to find a time that works. Thanks for the fun, ladies! :)

Expo time!

Each year, Mom and I have a date. We go to the Expo for Her in town and make a day of it. We get there early, of course, so we can get the free goodie bag. You have to get there early because they only give out 100. So we make camp.

One year, I called Bridget and asked her to bring us lunch because we couldn't leave the line once we got there. The next year we camped out with cribbage, books and snacks and then ran stuff out to the car just before they opened the doors.

This year, we calmed down a bit and just brought a few snacks. I skipped the purse and just carried my water and such in a drawstring bag that I could carry on my back. We end up getting one of those reusable bags, so it's just easier not to carry a purse and have so much more to handle through the crowds. The reusable bag is bad enough.

Once we get inside, we immediately head to a chair area to go through our bag. This year we did stop for wine samples first.  Note to self: If you find a sample you like, buy it right away. I went back today and the wine I liked was already sold out. *shakes head*

The goodie bag actually is worth the time we sit on a cold, tile floor for hours waiting to get in. One year I got a t-shirt. The last couple years we've gotten plants. There's always good samples in and sometimes just fun stuff. This year I got a headband - one of those stretchy ones - and this one actually stays on my head.

But the best part of it all is that Mom and I get to spend some time together. I love these days. It's a nice break from reality and mother/daughter time is always good.

A gift from PLull

I came home to this today:

TCM

This weekend I did something that I haven't done in a very long time - actually, ever. I ran a marathon without anyone to schlepp for me. In fact, I had no one to even travel with or meet up for the weekend. I don't know that I'll ever do that again. I know some runners can do that, but it didn't work for me. While I don't need someone riding alongside of me throughout the race, having someone to run TO makes a big difference.

Anyway, the weekend started rough. Mike was shingling the shop, so he couldn't come along. I forgot my race packet which I discovered when I was just past the Minnesota border, so I had to turn back. That threw me off. My room was still good, and I had my normal hotel, but I wasn't feeling all that confident.

So I went and picked up my packet. I at least had a good race number - all of my favorites: 3, 7, 11. That should have been a good omen. But again, I was just feeling nervous.

I went downstairs to TGIFriday's for my standard pre-race meal. I ate at the bar because I didn't want to take up a table. The bartender was very nice and introduced himself, shook my hand and then brought me a cup of hot water so I could put my hands around it and warm up. He was very nice. I ate half my meal so I'd have something Sunday for after the race.

The meal was good and the hot water did help my hands. I went back upstairs and laid out my clothes. Of course I brought several options and would determine in the morning what I was going to wear. The weather was iffy. It was cool, which is normally nice to run in, but also possibly a little damp. And since I haven't been training I wasn't really ready for any of it. 

The next morning I got up, more nervous than I have ever been for a race - even my first marathon. This one I just wasn't sure what to expect. I got my standards together, checked the weather, checked for extra essentials since I was on my own, and got ready to go. I took my obligatory picture, too.

I decided to go with the black t-shirt over top of my standard green top, just because it seemed a bit cool. I also had my headband for my ears. I figured if I had to lose either one, that would be okay. I ended up keeping both.

I rode the train and got to the Dome with plenty of time to get ready, and to be more nervous. TMI moment - I think I pooped more this morning than I ever have before a race. Actually I know that to be true.

I called Mike around 7:30, before I headed to the corral and I was a mess. I probably should have just turned around and went back home at that point, but my Scandinavian stubbornness won out. As I cried into the phone to Mike, he did his best to motivate me and tell me how awesome I am. If only I had believed it.

I stood in the corral and despite the sun, I was cold. I was tense and shivering for the 20 minutes prior to getting to start. I took off slow, not in a hurry at all - just wanting to keep steady. I did really well until mile 5 when I tripped and fell, doing an awesome drop and roll. I got back up and started running again while a race guy came up and asked if I was okay. I said, yes, though my hands, leg and pride were stinging. He encouraged me to keep going and I did...for 100 feet before I had to stop and walk. That fall did not do well for my left side. I'm thankful I didn't take anyone else out in the midst of it all.

That started the downhill slide. Once I start walking, I'm screwed, and I know it. I kept up my momentum, mostly using the sweep bus as my motivation to keep ahead of it - and I did well until mile 23. The van ahead of the bus came up and kept me company for awhile. I tried to encourage them to just stay with me so I could finish on time, but they said they couldn't. I tried to tell them they could, they were just choosing not to. But by this time I knew the inevitable. My right knee was screaming at me, my left thigh was throbbing from my fall  my back was sore from all the time I spent tensing up while shivering, and my heart just wasn't into it anymore. I did my best to run a bit as I could until my knee screamed out in pain, then I'd walk. It was kind of a lost battle and I had no one to help me through, but me.

I did finish about 20 minutes over and didn't get a medal, but I did talk the guy on the bus back to the train into letting me take a picture of his so I could at least pretend I earned one.

The bad thing with that is that another guy heard and offered to give me his because he thought it was my first marathon. When I said it was my fifth, then he retracted, which I don't blame him. I didn't earn the medal - but I have a picture which will work for me.

Once I got back to my room I fell apart in tears. I took an ice bath for my knees, checked out my awesome bruise on my thigh, and then took a shower. I felt like a failure and the big thing is it's my own fault. I know I didn't train but I thought I could still get by. Stupid me.

I'm seriously reconsidering running this one next year. I think, for one thing, I need a break. I love my marathons, but maybe I need to just focus on half's for awhile. I need to get into better training patterns, especially running more and to do that I have to get over the whole "I live in the country and there's no where to run" mentality. While this is true and it was much easier to train in the city when I lived downtown, I still can train. I can drive into town and run the paths. I could park downtown and run my hills. I just need to make that a priority and make the time to do it. Until I get my mind set to do just that, I have to realize that my results aren't going to be great.

Tulsa, baby

I was selected, luckily, to go on a work trip for a symposium on issues relating to our enlisted folks. It was really exciting and I was curious what issue I was going to get assigned. Five of us flew down to Tulsa - Chief U, Chief W, Ross, Brittnie and me. Our hotel room was awesome. Basically it was going to be this big symposium with a dinner that night with a presentation of the Order of the Sword.

The Order of the Sword is huge in the enlisted world. We present it to one officer who has really championed for the enlisted man/woman and our recipient this year was one of the best. And, for fun, I got to wear my mess dress, which I don't get to very often. :)

 I know this one is blurry, but Brittnie was nervous taking the picture. That's LtGen Harry "Bud" Wyatt. He's AWESOME. :) I'm so excited to meet him...and the man is TALL.

Our group - Chief U, me, Ross, Brittnie, and Chief W.

On our last night, we headed out for some fun on the town. We ended up at a bar drinking crap beer (it was cheap) and watching the Wisconsin/Nebraska game. We had a good time and a lot of laughs.

Purging weekend

I spent the weekend at work. I love going to work when I'm a) motivated, and b) all alone so I can crank up my stereo. My tunes were rockin' while I cleaned out 1275 emails from my inbox and various folders, emptied out my recycle bin and cleaned up a bunch of little projects. This was an awesome weekend! I wish I had more of these.

SF Half Marathon

As is my custom, I run the SF Half each year. I really hadn't been training for this one, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Part of me told myself that if I could make it through the half without injury I should still be fine for TCM in 3 weeks. Mike doesn't think I'll be running TCM. He doesn't realize my stubbornness.

I posted this picture of me on Facebook with the comment that I don't know why I stress myself out with what I'm going to wear each race when I always end up wearing the same thing anyway.

Here I am, once again, with my green Skirt Sports shirt, black tights, Gracie's Gear sports bra and Garmin. It's the same every time. My running scrapbook is all lime green. It's almost funny, if it wasn't so sad.

I met up with Sara and Tom - Tom was running, Sara was not. That was okay though. She was the smart one of the two of us. I also ran into Lance, Reggie and Chelsea from FXB, and got to see Kent - a friend from college.

Overall the race was okay. I walked more than I should, but that's typical of me when I don't train. At one point I got in my head doing math and I almost missed my turn. I kept forgetting that they changed the route a couple years ago because of construction and haven't changed it back. So I missed the turn, but eventually caught up.

My time wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. It was better than last years, or 2010's (I can't remember which when I ran against Dawn). So by that count I'm going to run TCM even if it kills me.

A wedding weekend

So this weekend I headed up to the Cities to see JB and Dave get married. I was excited to get back to the Cities for some fun. Mike was going to come along but he's busy working on the shop and needs all the time he can get.

I did get to get a massage from Keith, which was much needed. And I went to Target, which is typical of a Cities trip, and I hit Chipotle, which wasn't as good as I remembered.

So I went alone to the wedding, which was okay. It was beautiful and they are both very happy. I got to see Erin again and her guy Mark, and Laura K. I did feel a bit out of place though. But I guess that's to be expected.

And stupidly, I didn't take any pictures! Oh wait, I have one of me...

Work trip fun

Every now and then, my boss lets me travel for work. This doesn't happen often, so I'm always excited when I do get to go...even if it's to Arkansas.

This year, I got to go to training on SharePoint. So excited I was...not. The training was okay. A lot of it was talk, talk, talk by the instructor and then follow the directions on the example/training sheets and call it good. For some reason, a lot of the class had trouble with this. Apparently reading wasn't their forte. I got worried a few times because I was done way ahead of everyone else, but eventually I got over it and enjoyed the break. Of course I used those breaks to go back to my room and work.

I relaxed the first couple nights but then I decided to get out of the room and hit the town. So I hung out with a Chief and LT.

The first night we went to a baseball game. The Chief got cheap tickets from someone, so we were able to get nice seats for low cost.

It was an awesome night for baseball and the boys even bought me a Guinness. I couldn't argue with that. And I got myself some cotton candy. :)

The next night we had our class outing and went to a really great restaurant - awesome food, great drinks, and good music.

Friday was our last day and we got out of class early. The three of us, and one other gal, went out to lunch. Southern barbecue and I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with Texan. E told me later that Arkansas uses a mustard base, which wasn't all that great.

For our afternoon fun, the girl went back to pack, and Chief, LT and I went to the Clinton Library. That was awesome. We got our picture taken in front of the "Oval Office" by a security guard. We had to laugh because he commented on LTs shoes. :)

The library also had a display for the St. Louis Cardinals. I had to send several posts to K, since I know she grew up cheering for them. Gotta love Stan.

After this, we walked over a very long bridge and around a corner and down another block or two (the lady at the Library information desk said it was much closer) to see the USS Razorback. That was very cool. I know I had been on a sub tour one other time, but this was a smaller group and since I'm married to a Navy boy it was much more interesting.

 A big prop and anchor. I kind of wish I could bring this back home, but I don't think it'll fit in my carryon.

I had to take this picture. The cup with the shaving brush is just like one that Dad had. I kind of wonder if Mom still has it.

Friday night, we went out to a place like Carnaval (up here) where you can eat all the meat you want. They served their sides family style, which was okay, but I really wasn't impressed with the food. After, we headed to a hole-in-the-wall club where our teacher was playing in a band. That place wasn't bad (considering it was a true hole-in-the-wall) but I had forgotten what it was like to go to a bar or club where they allow smoking. We walked in and it was like walking into a wall of smoke. Uffda. It was fun though.

The next morning I headed home. All in all, a good trip and I met some great peeps. Not sure I learned a lot though. :) Oh well.

But the bigger kicker was as I was driving home from Mpls (where I flew out of since it was cheaper and because our airport ramps were under construction over the weekend), I ran into two of my friends from college...at a rest stop! How random is that?!? It was so fun to run into Al and Rachel. We caught up briefly but they were on their way to SoDak for a week long vacation. Of all the gin joints in all the world...

New Races

Over the past few years, I've had pretty much the same runs, over and over again. This year I finally got to do a new one. First was the Firecracker run, which I haven't posted about here yet.

I won entry into the Lennox Firecracker 5K via the Runner's Block fun0run. I hadn't been running a lot, but since I also signed up for 5K in a week after this, I thought maybe it'd be good to get a practice run in.

So Wednesday morning, July 4, I got up and traveled to Lennox to get signed up. I was a little nervous - for one, I've never been to Lennox and two, I had no idea where I was going. Plus, I only knew of one person who was for-sure going to be there, and I wasn't sure how I'd meet up with her (that ended up not being a problem).

Anyway, I got there early, which was good because there are a lot of people who don't pre-register so the line got long in a hurry. It was a decent run - not super well marked at the start, but people seemed to know where they were going. There wasn't official time, but I don't think I did too bad. It was a beautiful morning for a run, for sure.

Well, then today FXB decided to host a Farrells to Farrell's run. It ended up being about a 10K, which was awesome. People could either bike, blade, walk, or run it. I opted to run it and I'm happy to announce I ran almost all of it without stopping. I had one 1/4 block where I had to so I could avoid traffic, but for the most part I kept a steady (albeit slow) pace.

I decided to try my compression socks today since I've been having problems with my knees. And of course, I had to wear my standard race shirt - my lime green runner's dream shirt from Skirt Sports (who refuse to make more). And then I tried out my new shorts that are a little bright. Normally I wear black, but since this was a new run, I thought it good to try something new. 

The route was good, I will say. It was a good training run for TCM. The first mile was fairly flat (a couple hills, but nothing bad), but then right at mile 2 (like TCM) there's a steep hill over a bridge. That was perfect. And I ran up and over it without stopping. YAY! I have not been training like I should for TCM so this was a very important run.

It was kind of rainy and dreary, but it was fun to be out with so many folks who understand fitness, even if they don't all understand running. :)  And Farrell's was great in having water stops set up at appropriate places. The only bad thing was we had to fight traffic a few times, so that threw times off, but I tried not to focus on that.

Coming in at the end. I look fat. I have a lot of work to do. But it was fun to have so many people there that I work out with to cheer me on as I came in. And I wasn't the last one, which was also good. :) Our "prize" was a keychain with a little Farrell's boxing glove. :) Very nice.

Another fun aspect of this one is that I got to reconnect with my friend Sarah whom I used to run with . She and I became friends because we were stalking the same blog writer (how funny is that). She only lived a couple blocks away so she went and got her car and took me back to Southside. A bunch of my 5AMers biked the route so they just headed to the nearest bar for a drink to celebrate instead. :) Being the big drinker I am, it took all I had to bow out of that one. haha

The fun thing about both of these was the thrill of a new race and a new route. It's nerve-wracking but kind of exciting at the same time. TCM, St. Patty's, Avera's...those are all routine for me and I know the rhythm which make them easy to participate in, but trying something new was a lot of fun. 

Party and a Concert

Today we headed south to celebrate my niece Emily's birthday. She's 12 now... it's crazy how quickly she had grown. Nothing exciting at the party, just some fun time with family.

Tonight though, I met up with Erin from Sem and took KC along to see Sara Bareilles in concert at the Pavilion. I've listened to her but never really diligently, so I only knew a few of her songs. She is pretty impressive though. The concert was fun - it was nice to see Erin again and it was great to hang out with Casey for the evening, even impromptu as it was.

Missing firsts

Today my adorable Goddaughter, Nika, is receiving communion for the first time. She's almost 4, so I know for some folks this may seem way too soon, but I trust her parents and I believe in my little girl that she knows what's what, probably better than most adults.

I really wanted to go down for her communion, but alas, work/life/etc all kept it from happening. I feel awful for missing it. I love you, Nika!

A perfect day

Today I took a day for me. I went to class, which was a great upper body day, then went home and showered and relaxed. I met up with SBK and Bridget for lunch at Chevy's where I got a sombrero with my dessert.

After that, wearing my new favorite shirt, I headed to the movies and saw "The Hunger Games" all by myself - and maybe 3 or 4 other people. It was funny when someone looked at my shirt and it took them a second to realize what it was about. At first they thought it was an AA shirt (because of the 'sponsors' and the '12'), until they saw the parachute. :)

This turned out to be one of the best days ever. I really need to take more days off midweek. :)

A great week

It's been a crazy week and a half, but pretty great for the most part.

Last weekend we had our state volunteer/family conference. My friend/co-worker, Nikki, and I put on a Leadership Presentation for all our high ranking folks. Uffda...we threw it together at 5pm last Friday and somehow it still went really well. We were complimented more than once that we work well together. It is true. I love doing presentations and teaching with her. We're able to bounce off each other and keep things rolling. She's a great friend.

Sunday after the conference I met up with Kev and his kids for our annual tradition of painting eggs. Not hard boiled eggs, mind you, ceramic ones. It was a lot of fun. I love to paint, and having a tradition with Kev's kids is great. We painted 3 each this year. Let's hope I don't drop and break them like I did last year. :)

The week after that was insane. Boss1 was back and so there was a ton of catch-up to do and prep for his next trip. Plus it's the end of the month so we had a bunch of projects to clean up before April shows up. Busy busy busy.

Thursday I had a Girls Night with KC, Charissa and Chris - how confusing! KC set up a night at a local boutique that sells Bare Ecentuals/Bare Minerals products. Yes, I went out for a make-over. Holy crap. It was fun though. The gal who 'did me up' was named Kate and she was a riot. I kept questioning the look and she started teasing me, "You need to step out of the box." "Give it a chance, you're not even trying." She said it in a joking way which helped, but later when I started asking real questions she was great in helping me understand the steps. Bridget had warned me that BE/BM products have a LOT of steps, which is true, but hey, if it works and it's not too nauseating for the non-girl in me, it might be good for me to try.

Plus, I like their products. They don't feel heavy - though some of their creams did feel sticky at first, but when I tried them today and let them dry a bit before applying the next step it wasn't so bad. And their sunscreen for your face is AWESOME. I got a mini sample one year from somewhere and I loved it. Lightweight and didn't smell bad. Plus when I sweat it didn't get in my eyes.

When I got home I walked in to the Man Cave to see M. It took him doing the classic double-take and a surprised look, "You have makeup on! Who are you?" He was pleasantly surprised. He liked how the foundation and powder smoothed out my skin and made me look younger, but he didn't like all the eye shadow. I explained they did a "wedding" look so I'd need to work with something for an everyday look instead.

Today, after kickboxing, resistance bands, and a run, I showered up and tried the makeup out. I had some eyeshadow - funny enough, similar colors she used Thursday - and I attempted this girly process. It wasn't too bad. I didn't go too dark on the eyeshadow, and M didn't really notice. Maybe I did it right. :) Or maybe not. We'll see... more practice on that. Someday I'll be a girl. :)

Today was great...I mentioned I had kind of an intense workout morning. It was great. It was upper body day and we were short on time so Julie led us through super-sets on all the exercises with a little cardio to loosen up in between. 40 minutes of that and then we went into an intense 30 minute kickboxing workout. I've been partnering up with Cory lately and he pushes me like no other. It's awesome. We were sweating a ton, which is always fun.

Then after a 90 minute break, I met up with Sara, my running buddy, and we went for a 3.6 mile run. Tons of fun. We ran pretty hard the first mile, and Sara was doing most of the talking - and it was uphill, so by the time we got up to the left turn we were ready for a walk. We walked and talked two sections (not quite 2 miles total) and caught up and talked through wedding ideas. Sara just got married in November so she has a bunch of contacts for me. Yay! We ran in the last mile and ended up coming in at the end of FXB's mile test (initial testing was this morning) so the coaches and instructors who were there cheered us on too. :)

I love running with Sara - we're evenly matched with skill and pace and we can still talk and catch up. She's become a great friend over the last couple years.

This afternoon, M and I went into town to have lunch (I needed it since I hadn't eaten all morning) and we were going to do some shopping. We got his shoes for work ordered and me some more running socks (score!). Then we went for frozen yogurt (I had a coupon) and then as we were driving home I saw the antique store that's in our town was open, so we went in and checked it out. We spent over an hour in there, didn't see everything but did find a couple things that were purchased at M's garage sale a couple years ago - for way more than we got for them. Too funny. I did find a couple of the books I collect - Trixie Belden - but I didn't buy them today. I doubt they're a hot commodity, so I'll catch them the next time around.

I came home and napped while M studied. Now he's mowing so I thought I'd write a little. But now I'm done, so I'm going to go. :) 

Back at it

Yay! I've been running again! It's been so long!

After Saturday's misery with the Irishman, I decided it's time I get off my butt and get back out there. So yesterday after a lower-body day, I went for a 2.5ish mile run. It felt awesome. So this morning B and I walked 3 miles. And then after work I ran 3 miles of hills.

*sigh* I'm back on the right track. The best part? Running tonight and losing myself in my thoughts to the point i forgot I was running. LOVE that feeling.

Busy week and great saturday

Really? Has it been since Monday since I've written? It's not surprising, I guess. I've had a busy week - very productive but limited time on email and the Internet.

And I've been okay with that. I've been reading. It's been awesome! M returned to studying for his upgrade test so nights have been quiet - no television - all reading. YAY! At work I've been actually getting projects accomplished. Boss1 was back this week, which is great because his presence "rights" the world, if that makes sense.

So I read "An Abundance of Katherines" and then started on the Hunger Games series. Kari had suggested I read it and loaned me her Nook so I could read them right away. I'm loving those, except I finished book 1 and now i need to download book 2 but I don't really want to plug in our account code, so I need to go into town to find free wi-fi. Maybe tomorrow since it seems M has settled in for the night.

Anyway - today I ran the Irishman, my St. Patrick's Day tradition. This entails a 5mile run at 9am, 5K at 11:30 and a 1mile run at 2pm, just before the start of the parade. I haven't been running a lot lately (read: at all), so I was a little worried about this one. Plus I've been freaking out about my knees and I think my fear of my last marathon has kept me from running. I don't want a repeat of that day...it sucked and it hurt.

Today was good though, other than my breathing issue. Despite kickboxing 4 days a week, my breathing isn't that great, which means that cardio isn't good enough. More to work on. And it was humid today, so that didn't help either.

I'm happy with the runs. And I got my Guinness at 10am (between the first two races). Last year they gave away Guinness glasses with the beer, but this year, nada. Oh well...it was still tasty.

Now I'm just relaxing and trying to decide what to do for the night. Do we go into town or stay at home? Decisions, decisions.

Manic Monday

Mondays have become my favorite day of the week. I know, I'm weird. But I have Mondays off so Mondays are great in my world. Yesterday was no different.

I got up at my usual time of 4:20 a.m. Now you'd think that since Daylight Saving Time was this weekend that this would have been tough. But for whatever reason, I have flowed right into the normal time. I woke up at 4:08 and was ready to go. Kickboxing was awesome and then I came home to attack the day. And I did so with a vengence.

I took a nap.

A 90 minute nap, at that. :) It was great!!! I love my Monday nap time. I curl up on the couch and snooze for awhile, enjoying the solitude of a quiet house all to myself. *sigh* I love that time.

The rest of the day I spent cleaning the house. I'm not a huge fan of cleaning the house, but it needed it. I spent an hour in our bathroom alone. The shower took half of that time. Uffda. The good thing is that I finally bought kneepads so washing the floor wasn't so bad this time. But the house was dirty. Dirty, dirty, dirty. I'm glad I cleaned. I even went through piles of papers and got rid of a bunch of stuff I don't need anymore.

When M got home I made dinner - baked parmesan chicken and balsamic green beans with cranberries. M loved the chicken. He liked the green beans. I was just happy a new recipe for both turned out so well.  Then I cleaned up while he studied. Then I got to read the rest of the night. It was nice to not have the television on for once. I'm going to relish this time while he's in training. I miss my nights of just curling up on the couch and reading.

Weekend recap

Friday was a long day. It was funeral day in my world. My former personal trainer, JG, lost his mom last week and her funeral was Friday am. I wasn't sure if I should go or not, but I'm glad I did. I ended up meeting up with another friend from grad school, Tim W. He and JG are co-workers now. It was great to meet up with them both, though I didn't talk to JG. He wasn't looking too well and I wanted to let him have his peace.

Friday night, MPJ's wife and I headed to another memorial service for our co-worker's mom. She had died suddenly on Tuesday and I felt I needed to go. It was a nice memorial and our co-worker, Nikki, was overwhelmed that we drove so far to be there for her. She was really close to her mom, and I'm really glad we went.

The only bad thing was that we didn't get home til 11 and I still got up at 5:20 for class. I debated on going, but Kari and I had agreed Friday morning to meet for class Saturday AM. I'm glad I went. Jamie taught and we had a great class - though we were the only two fired up, it seemed. No one on the East side ever yells or cheers their partner on during class. It's so weird. So we were pretty loud and obnoxious but we had fun.

M and I had our first pre-martial counseling after class. We spent an hour talking with E about our issues, which was good. We have some things to work on, but it was helpful to realize that we weren't as screwed up as I thought. :)

After that, M let me take a nap while he cleaned out behind the dryer and vacuumed out the vent. Then we went into town and ran some errands, had lunch, and made plans for the evening. M worked on our centerpieces for the wedding some more while I went through papers. Exciting Saturday night, if you ask me.

Today, we headed in to town and had breakfast while reading through the scripture options for the wedding. I did my best to keep my mouth shut so M could make the decision, but he got to the point where he had me narrow it down and read them out loud and then we picked from there. He hasn't studied the Bible like I have and he said he struggles sometimes to understand them. So I did my best to read them and we picked from there. One fits us really well. Really really well. :)

We stopped in to visit his mom for awhile. Then headed home to wash cars and get some work done. M spent the afternoon welding and cleaning cars while I attempted cream cheese mints for the first time. M had picked out a bunch of flavors but I only made two today. What a mess. I need to figure out the trick with these. I wanted to practice so I can get them figured out before the week of the wedding. No sense in adding additional stress that week. It'll be bad enough that we'll need to make them then, but at least I'll have a better idea of how to make them quickly and efficiently.

Now, I'm exhausted. Daylight Saving Time sucks in the spring, but I guess it's just something to live with. It doesn't change much for me, other than more light at the end of day, which would be good. I already go to work in the dark, so that doesn't change, but maybe now I can get some runs in after work.

For now, I'm going to finish this up, play a game and then go to bed. Tomorrow is Monday - I'm hoping to get back in my routine tomorrow, including making my hard boiled eggs, cooking up some chicken and cleaning. It'll be nice to get back to normal.