Skinny Minny

I want to brag on my Mom for a moment.  Since December 20, 2010 she has lost 68 pounds.  She still wants to lose another 32 or so, but she looks amazing!

I had to attend the NHRA race in Bristol this past weekend for work.  Since my parents live 2 hours from there, we used it as an excuse to spend a long weekend with them.  It has honestly been since Thanksgiving that I've seen them-Christmas was spent with Robert's family this year and a planned trip to Atlanta for them got canceled when my sister's appendix ruptured in May (which she is recovering well from).
 

Friday I had to work, so Robert hung out with my parents and my Dad immediately put him to work as they rehung the porch screen.  Friday night Robert joined my parents and sister at the Smokies baseball game (a AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs).  The plan was for me to join them there, but after 2 rounds of the top fuel qualifier one decided to catch caught on fire which delayed my departure time.  Robert texted me that the game was over as I was pulling in the parking lot-no lie.  But I did make it to my seat just in time to see the fireworks show.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a sucker for a fireworks show (or anything bright and shiny). 

Saturday we headed to Oak Ridge to go to a Lavender Festival that my Mom has missed every year for the last 7 years that they have lived in the area.  Yeah, she hasn't been missing much.  But the people watching was quite nice. 

Robert assisted me in making Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup on the Food Network for my dad for Father's Day.  It was delicious and very easy to make.  I really liked that we were able to make it the night before and then pop it in the oven when we got home from church.  I would recommend letting the praline topping to sit before spreading it.  Since the main ingredient is butter, it gets hard after sitting in the fridge all night.  I pulled it out before we left for church and it was perfect for spreading by the time we got home.  *Note-definitely not for anyone who is watching calories



Overall the weekend was great!  We're looking forward to running the Peachtree Road Race 10K on July 4th and then we're hopping in a car shortly after we complete to head to St. Simon's Island for the rest of the week.  We're still debating on if a shower will be involved after running, or if we are literally going to get in the car and go (my vote is for a shower, we are smelly people after running and 5 hours in a car is a long time to be trapped with the smell!)

Army Wives

Whoopsie, not really sure where April or May went.  A few trips, Braves games, and fun would probably sum it up.  Oh yes, and work-lots and lots of work.  Since our current programs run on a school schedule the last month or so it usually hectic and then the summer months we have time to breath.  I'm not sure how the breathing is going to go this summer, we picked up a few new programs.  I will get to go to a few more NHRA races-I know you are all jealous. 

Ok, so now for the real part of this post.  I know I am behind the time, but can I say that I am addicted to Army Wives?  I'm not very far into the series though, so don't spoil it.  Robert isn't a fan of the show, so I have to watch when he's not home or doing something else (he's currently playing in a basketball league on Wednesday nights...so Wednesday nights= Army Wives and formerly dirt).  But, I'm addicted to this show!  I'm only on the episode where Michael is named the poster commander.  I'm sure one of these main characters' husbands is going to die soon, but I don't care...I'm willing to take the risk.  (Awh, Pamela's husband just came back!! yes, I giving you live commentary as I watch). 

And because I feel like the blog is naked without pictures...this past weekend I got a tease of the beach.  One of my friends from college, and roommate during CWE got married in Orange Beach.  It was absolutely fabulous to spend the week with a few girls who I haven't gotten to see in quite awhile!

  

27ized

This past weekend Robert and I entertained my sister Michelle on Friday night and then on Saturday I headed down to the Georgia World Congress Center to watch her team play volleyball.  She has a 13-2 team and ended up finishing 29^th out of 96 teams in their division.  The entire tournament was for 12-18’s, and there were 160+ courts.  It was actually really fun to watch volleyball again, and I got to see a girl I used to babysit play a little.  She was 6 ½ months old when I started babysitting her…she’s now playing on the 14’s team.  Ugh, I’m getting old.  I also got to visit with a friend from high school that played volleyball with me.   She left HS and played volleyball in Kentucky so I haven’t seen her in almost 10 years now.  Saturday night we had a shower to go to, and then we hit up Dunwoody Tavern.  Very interesting place…

Sunday I ran 6 miles and then Robert made a birthday brunch-pancakes, pepper crusted bacon, eggs, and a mimosa for me and beer for him.  And then after that we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday was my actual birthday and after work we headed down to the Virginia Highlands to eat dinner at George’s.  We hadn’t been there in a few months nor had we made hamburgers for a while so it was certainly a treat!  For dessert we walked around the corner to get gelato.  (I was very excited about this because the last time we tried to go to this place we get up to order and then realize that it is cash only and between the two of us we maybe had $1)  It was all that I had hoped for! As we were eating our gelato on the bench outside we got to witness a lovers quarrel with 2 woman.  From what I could gather they were with a group of friends of one lady and apparently no one knew they were dating and the other lady made some comment in front of them about not being invited to go somewhere.  That is just how it started, but I’m fairly certain they were both drunk.  Didn’t know we were getting gelato and a show though!

I’m super excited for this weekend.  Robert and I got tickets to the Braves home opener and I’m taking a half day on Friday so we can head down there early.  Saturday my brother is going to be in town “playing Army” (what we call it when he goes off a few times a month to fulfill his Army obligations-we also like to think that’s all he was doing while in Iraq), we’re going to meet him for dinner.  It’s a shame that he and Tina live so far away because I really think he and Robert would get along very well.

 

And on a random note…look what I’m drinking my water out of these days…

One of my bosses (the CEO who also went to Auburn), was in Auburn this past weekend and came across this cup and brought it back for me.  Pretty AUsome if you ask me.

Dinner Anyone?

Someone apparently forgot about their dinner.  I got on the elevator one day after work to find this...

When I left shortly after getting home to run, it was gone.  I guess someone remember they were hungry.

Now what...

Over the last few years of running (yes, years...I've been running consistently since February '08) I've come to realize that I am a better runner when I have something to work towards.

I first started running in September '07 doing the "Couch to 5K" program while living in Dothan.  It was a fairly easy program and there was a great park that I would go to immediately after work to run.  It's amazing to think back to then.  Not only was I living in a town where I knew NO ONE and at this point was really not enjoying my job, I struggled with running 2 miles.  In high school when I would run, it was timed miles or stadiums or hills (and it was all H-E-double hockey sticks).  

Since then I’ve run:

August ‘08  South DeKalb Striders 5K 33:48 (10:54 pace) *and I got 2^nd place for my age division, HAHAHAHA
July ‘09 Peachtree Road Race 10K 1:07:23 (10:52 pace)
July ’10 Peachtree Road Race 10K 1:00:08 (9:41 pace)
November ’10 Thanksgiving Trot 8K 46:29 (9:23 pace)
March ’11 Georgia ½ Marathon 2:09:09 (9:51 pace)

I’m happy to see my times improving.  Which makes me excited to run in another Peachtree Road Race.  I’m hoping to shed more time off and run closer to a 9:00 pace.  My only problem, the race is 16 weeks away and my “training” is an 8 week program.  So now I’m trying to find something to keep me motivated for the next 8 weeks before I officially start training for the Peachtree.  I'm eyeing a 5K the first weekend in May-I like the idea of updating my "official" 5K run since it's been so long.   

Side note: Robert got some exciting news today!  He has an interview with the City of Atlanta Friday AM!!  Now we’re not counting our eggs before they hatch or anything, but this is his first real interview since beginning his unemployment 10 ½ months ago (he’s had a few phone interviews here and there). 

13.1

Well I did it!  My knees are currently hating the hills in downtown Atlanta right now, but during the race I felt great!  If you remember from this post, I said that I really just wanted to run the entire time and wasn't going to set a time goal.  Well, as the time got closer and I got a better feel for my pace on the longer runs (10, 11 and 12 miles), I decided that I would be happy for a time between 2:10 and 2:20. 

Robert ended up having a basketball playoff game this morning, so he didn't get to be there for the finish.  But he was a trooper and woke up at 6 to drop me off.  At first I was bummed he wouldn't be there, but I knew if it weren't for the basketball game he would have been there to cheer me on.  The race began at 6:55 for the wheelchair division and 7:00 for the runners.  I was in corral K, so not in the front by not in the last group (like I have been for the Peachtree for the last 2 years).  It actually worked out really well because I started exactly 10 minutes into the race-which made figuring out my time easy since I forgot to grab my watch.

We got to run through some pretty cool parts of Atlanta...downtown, 4th Ward, Little Five Points, Va-Highlands, Piedmont Park, GA Tech, and then back downtown.  The weather was perfect, a tad warm at 60 but there was a nice cloud cover so we weren't being scorched.  The last 4 miles of the race were hard-not because I had run 9 miles but because it was basically up hill the entire time (note to self, next half marathon pick a FLAT location).  But I guess it was all worth it because I ended up running the entire time (goal 1, check) and did it in 2:09:09-a 9:51 pace (goal 2,check)! 

When it was all over, I met a friend of ours and her husband for a few minutes and then got in the car and drove to play in a basketball game.  I'm not really sure how I managed to get suckered into playing EVERY game (when I was supposed to be a sub/only play if they were going to forfeit).  But it was the playoffs and the other girl was running the half marathon with her aunt so she was going to be later.  We ended up winning the first game and had to play in the championship game an hour later, which we won as well.   


I'll post pictures from the race when they post them...since it was just me, I didn't have anyone to take pictures pre or post race.  I must say though, I'm looking forward to the Peachtree 10K.  It's going to seem so easy only being 6.2 and only 2 hills!

Repaired & Repainted

So for the last month Robert and I have been hard at work-hence the lack of blogs.  We've had a few areas in the condo that previously had leaks and had essentially ruined the plaster and paint around them.  We'd been putting it off for far too long to actually fix the plaster and since we own our unit it was our problem to fix.

Robert picking off the large pieces of plaster and paint, area 1 hallway

So after a weekend of just chiseling the areas to get the bad plaster down, we started to see some process...

Side note-this was the worst spot, and the area that took the longest to repair

After a few more weeks (yes weeks) of plaster, dry, and repeat it started to look like we had walls again...

God bless the person who thought to make white stuff go on pink and dry white

Then began the sanding process.  That was a good thing and a bad thing.  Good that we were getting closer to no longer living in a disaster area, but bad because dust. was. EVERYWHERE.  And I mean everywhere.  I tried to tidy up in between sanding and pastering, but it didn't work.  The floors were covered, the sofa,  the TV, the china cabinet, the counters...you get the picture.  On top of it all (literally) Robert accidentally spilled some liquid on the dust, so that was a task cleaning the floor (plaster dust+liquid=plaster).

In the middle of this we decided that since we were going to have repaint the repaired areas we would paint our kitchen dark blue...

pardon the mess-

 

Thankfully we had made a lot of food and just lived off of leftovers while the kitchen was disheveled for the better part of a week.  But we like the refresher of the kitchen and hallway a lot!  I'll take more pictures once we are done with everything.  We still have 2 areas in the bedroom that we're working on...