NKOTB & Firecracker 5k

I have been running 1.5 miles to 2 miles every other day. On Thursday I ran 2.1 miles before starting my day. I had an interview at 1pm that I will hopefully hear about next week. I visited with a friend. I ran errands. At 6, I met the girls at El Patron in Bartlett for dinner before we went to see NKOTB! It was so exciting we all felt like we were 12 year old little girls drooling over those 5 boys that are now almost 40. The boys have turned into nice looking men. ; ) We screamed. We sang. We laughed. We had a lot of fun.

My favorite New Kid was Donny, of  course. You all should know I like the bad boys. : )

Here is everyone:

After the concert, I was beat. I went home and straight to bed. Woke up at 3 in the morning with the most horrible sinus headache. It hurt to lift my head. When I finally got out of bed my head was a little better, but I just felt bad in general. I went ahead and registered for the 5k in hopes that I would feel better after getting some meds in me.

Steve had decided to run to keep me going and convince me to finish. Marshell called and said that he wanted to run, too. Steve ran in front of me like the guy on wii fit. You know the one that trips you if you go too fast. I’m sure he wouldn’t have tripped me, but he would have stopped me. Marshell ran beside me and reminded me to slow down my breathing and pointed out people that I had to beat. Along the run, people were outside cheering us on and many had set their sprinklers to spray into the street for us. The water felt great. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but it was hot! The race started at 7pm. Mile 1 was good. By mile 2, I had run my fastest 2 miles yet. (Take note that I have only ran 2 miles 3 times in my life and they have been in the last 2 weeks.) The last mile was tough. I was tired and my legs were starting to go numb, BUT I had 2 great supporters to help me. When I could see the finish line, I just took off running. I wanted to be done and be able to say I did it. My time was 35 minutes 40 seconds. I’ll take it. There were still people behind me coming in, so I can’t be that bad. I saw lots of people that appeared to be more fit than I am that had to stop and walk in parts. I did this to finish and I finished!

This running thing

I decided I would try running. (again) I have tried a few other times and not had any luck. My joints don’t like to cooperate. I have a knee that decides to swell sometimes..just because it can. My friend Bethany started a running club in Memphis a while back. I was still living in Colorado, but decided to give it a shot. My goal was to be able to run a 5k with the girls at some point in my life. I would prefer it to be sooner than later. I’m not getting any younger and will have my 3 x 10 birthday in September. But hey, if that crazy lady on the biggest loser can run a marathon, I can kick ass in a 5k or something like that. Back to what I have done…I started out really slow, really, really, slow. After about 3 or 4 weeks of running every other day and sticking to it no matter what…My ankle decided it was tired. ugh. It hurt. It swelled. I stopped running to let it heal or rest or whatever. It was the end of the school year and we were on walking field trips, field trips that involved lots of walking, or soccer games or softball games (you get the point?). I stopped running for 3 or 4 weeks. I tried running the last week I was in Colorado…I got a cramp in my side so bad that it was sore for two days. I had just about given up. I mean I could only run for about 3 minutes straight without wanting to kill over anyway. Was it really worth trying again? My joints don’t want to run. My mind does. I felt so much better and had more energy and just felt good. : ) So, I got up at 7:45 on Thursday morning. (totally had the alarm set for 6:30, but couldn’t convince myself that I really wanted to get out of bed) Where was I? Oh, yes. Got up, put on my cute purple running outfit, put my contacts in my eyeballs, pulled my hair in a hat, AND off I went. I did a warm-up walk, stopped and stretched, and then turned on my Trainer that I downloaded to my iphone. The robotic woman said “Run for 1 minute.” I did and when she said “Walk for 1 minute.” I said, “B*tch, please” and I kept running. So, I did 3 rounds of run/walk for 2 minutes and then ran for 3. My trainer ended and I wanted to keep going, so I walked around the corner, turned the trainer to track run, and ran. I made it .74 miles in a little over 8 minutes. (very slow pace) Friday morning I was so determined that I was going to run a mile. I got up at SIX AM People! I was feeling so good after I ran my mile that I ran one more. : ) Taking off Saturday to rest the muscles that are screaming at me. I may take off  Sunday too, depends on how I feel Saturday night. I am super pumped about accomplishing one of my goals. Who wants to go for a run? (I’m really slow though.)

Back in the South

Well, I made the journey back across the country to Tennessee. I’m here in the land of humidity and sweet tea.

Marshell came to help with the move, so I took him up Independence Pass to the continental divide. It was chilly!

I was wearing my rafters and my feet were red by the time we made it back to the truck. On the way up, we stopped at a ghost town and looked around at the deserted cabins. We discussed how much we would not want to live on the side of the mountain in winter with just newspaper as insulation. I love the mountains. I like to hike. I like to snowboard, but at the end of the day I love going back to a nice warm home.

I’m planning on grad school this Fall. I should be able to get my schedule together this week. I would love to get my master’s and move again. I love everyone here, but not sure this where I really need to stay.

I have visited The Peabody, attended a country concert, played with my niece and nephew, and moved all my things to a storage unit. : )

Tired.

I had a great week with Mom, but I am worn out. She’s going to be even worse since she is now stuck in Dallas for the evening! I’ll update with all of the fun exciting things we did later. It was just great having her here.

More Snow!

Hi everyone! I have been swamped at work and spend most weekends at the pool, so not much time to blog. We had our first snow day two weeks ago. I spent it on my snowboard and it was awesome. I got buried in the snow a few times and  almost didn’t get out because I was laughing so hard. It would be great if we could have another snow day tomorrow, but I won’t hold my breath. It’s been snowing all day but nothing seems to be sticking to the streets. It sure is pretty to look at.

I have two more days until Spring Break and three more days until Mom will be here!! Woohoo! I know she needs the vacation and I’m looking forward to showing her around. We are going to keep busy with hiking, wine tasting, snowboarding, the vapor caves, and the hot springs pool. Later in the week we are going to take a quick road trip to Pagosa Springs. I think we will have a great time.

My Weekend and other rambles

I had a pretty good weekend and finally got up and did something! I have had an annoying cold for about a month, off and on. Saturday, I took a nice long nap in the afternoon and then went to see He’s Just Not That Into You. It was great! I wish I could go see it again with a few of my girls. : ) It was full of great actors and packed with lots of laughs. Sunday, I went to Snowmass to board. I have decided that out of the 3 mountains that I have visited this one is my favorite. Beautiful scenes, great atmosphere, and it’s huge! This weekend I have class at Mesa State in Grand Junction and hope to go boarding again. Next week….the dreaded jury duty. ugh. I hope it is quick and painless.

Gracie is starting to be a very strange cat. I caught her licking the bathtub last weekend. I’ll have to upload the pictures to show you. She runs all over the house at night and it sounds like a herd of cats have taken over the living room. She is very loving and likes to take naps with me. She has a new laser and loves to chase after that little red dot that is everywhere.

If you haven’t signed up yet….go to feelteal.org and Pray Race And Yell for a cure!! I wish I could come into town for this. Our state test starts March 9th and is normally all week long. This year we have it Mon-Wed, so if I HAD known that I would have booked the ticket when they were cheaper, flown out on Thursday or Friday and back home on Sunday and at school for more testing the next Monday. BUT, I don’t have a private jet or a money tree in the backyard. I’ll just have to wait for next year. YOU should go and help! I’m still donating and getting my shirt even though I won’t be physically there. I’ll be with my friends in spirit. Why are you still reading my rambles? Go PRAY!!!

Falling Behind

I am behind in my postings. I’ve had a terrible cold and am almost back to normal. (as normal as I can be) I took one day off last week and was running a fever all day. After working for one day, I lost my voice and had to play charardes with the kids. That made an interesting few days of work. I went home exhausted every afternoon and slept all weekend. I am so glad that this weekend is 3-day weekend!! Thank you President’s Day!!! Here’s a pic from Super Bowl weekend….

What a great day in the mountains. Don’t worry I was only shooting clays.

Watchin’ TV

I’m finding that I spend a lot of time addicted to the tv. (I’m still making it to the gym.) I’m wondering if anyone out there is watching the same shows, so I thought I would give you all a break down on my week in tv land.

Monday I am really enjoying watching Jason on the Bachelor. He is awesome and I loved when he made the decision to NOT give out the last rose. I have a girl picked out that I would love to see him with at the end. BUT, I have to wait and see.

Tuesday If you need motivation, just turn on the Biggest Loser. It has drama, success, motivation, disappointment and celebration. I can’t wait to see the success of all the contestants in the end. They really need the help and it’s good to see it. Later at night, I have an addiction to Nip Tuck. I missed last season since I didn’t have dvr. It’s crazy and entertaining

Wednesday I was watching Friday Night Lights b/c on direct tv you get the season early on a special super secret channel. Okay, so it’s not a secret since they advertise it. But, it is super cool. Now that it is finished on direct tv, I have switched to American Idol. I can’t help it, they switched Private Practice to Thursdays!

Thursday BIG NIGHT!! Ugly Betty, Gray’s Anatomy, and Private Practice! PP is my favorite show right now. It has passed Gray’s. I love it.  I’m excited about the two combining shows for a two hour special. Oh, I  also dvr the Office!

Friday and Saturday nothing on tv. I usually watch movies or shows on dvd. I am on Season 2 of Deadwood. I watched it when it was on, but it is so good that I decided to watch it again. If I start cursing too much you’ll know where it came from.

Sunday BIG LOVE. I heart HBO. They have THE best shows. I am also a huge fan of SATC, Entourage, Rome, Deadwood, True Blood,  Sopranos, and The Wire. Some are no longer in production, but I will watch them over and over again. I loved True Blood so much that I asked for the books for Christmas. My wonderful sil and brother bought the series! As soon as I finish the Twilight series, I’m going to get started on those.

So, does anyone out there watch any of those or anything that think is worth their time?

Quick 3-day weekend

My three day weekend went by so fast.

My kids were out on Friday and the teachers had a full day of in-service. We stayed busy all day with presentations and lesson planning. When school was out, we had a gathering at a local establishment that makes margaritas.  : )  After a quick drink and dessert, I headed to the movies to see Bride Wars. It was a great movie. Funny and meaningful. Then, off to get pizza and a beer.

Saturday was a beautiful day. We headed South. It was a great drive through lots of little towns. Saturday afternoon we settled in, had dinner, and visited. Sunday was spent on a Yamaha. Not a motorcycle, but a snow mobile!

Talk about fun! I was exhausted when we got off the trails. I started out nice and easy, but then fast was more fun. I didn’t push it too much, since we were on a narrow trail with lots of turns. I did get up between 55-60 mph. I can’t wait to go again. I thought it would be cold, but I was so hot. I had to lift my face shield a couple of times because my glasses would fog up. By the end of the ride I had all my vents open on my jacket and my pants. After being outdoors all day, we settled in to watch the football games. I’m excited to see the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks. I think it’s going to be good. We headed home after breakfast this morning. I’m getting things ready for school tomorrow and relaxing. And wishing I could have another day, but we all have to go work. (If anyone wins the lottery and wants to let me stay home, send me an email!)

So stressed…

Work is getting so stressful. I don’t even want to go into details, because I will just think about it more. So…I thought I would show you a picture of my sweet niece, Alison. While eating ribs for dinner she decided to climb out of her high chair at my mom’s house. (it doesn’t have a strap to lock her in. she didn’t fall. she wasn’t in danger of falling. her mother was right beside her with an arm extended) She loved to suck on those rib bones and loves to entertain anyone that will let her. : – )

After telling you how sweet and loving and entertaining and wonderful she is…here is a picture of me with my cousin’s son…crying…because when no one was looking (except Aunt Chrissy) she took both hands and shoved him down. Hey, he was just learning to walk and was going pretty slow…

I have one more day with kids!! and one day on in-service!! (we may be getting a tiny raise. I hope so.) AND then I have 3 day weekend. : ) Big Smile. : ) I need it.