The update... thanksgiving, Black Friday, half marathon, reading, Christmas prep

I hope everyone had a fabulous thanksgiving filled with wonderful food, good friends, and family!

I've been so busy that I have neglected my blog. So here's what I have been doing lately...

• We went to my sis-in-law's for a spectacular feast! She made a 24 lb turkey. Yes, it was the mega-turkey if I have ever seen one! The food was delicious, the company was great, and I got to play with my little niece. It was a great Thanksgiving!
• I got up at 3:30 AM last Friday to go Black Friday shopping. I fought the masses at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target. I got some INCREDIBLE bargains! And this gal LOVES a bargain like a fat kid loves cake.
• My first half marathon is on Saturday! I did a long 12 mile run last Saturday and my knees have just stopped hurting (and it's Tuesday) so we'll see how this goes.
• I get to run with 2 great friends and we have 1 awesome cheerleader who has a broken foot (huge bummer). We had t-shirts printed for our team. We're "The Bookies" and "we've been bookin' it since 2009!"
• The half marathon is in Memphis and benefits St. Jude's! Contributing to a great cause and experiencing a fun city with wonderful friends will be an amazing way to spend a weekend. I hope we have time for Beale Street, Rendezvous ribs, & Graceland after the run.
• I finished Eat, Pray, Love and LOVED it. Read it. It will change your life. If you love to travel, you will really enjoy that book.
• We put up our Christmas tree already! We still have the same Christmas tree that we bought in 2004. It was $20 from Big Lots and we love it. It is the most pitiful Christmas tree that you can imagine but that baby is loaded down with lights, tinsel, and many many ornaments so it looks pretty good to me.
• I get sentimental every year when we put up the tree. Every ornament on our tree has some special meaning and a story behind it. There are birds with broken wings, a stuffed Ronald McDonald from when I was 2 years old, scotty dogs from my MIL (the hubs name is Scott), a chipped light house from Tybee Island, and bells with sequins (most are missing) and I would not trade any one of them for a set of fancy ornaments.

Do you have your Christmas tree up yet? Ho, ho, ho!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your stuffing be tasty.

May your turkey be plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

There are no impossible goals.

Call me an optimist (or a little crazy) but I'm one of those people who believes you can do anything if you really want it bad enough. If you put in the effort, you will achieve your goal. Sure, there are roadblocks, setbacks, and obstacles along the way... but if you just keep going and keep trying, you can do it.

As Little Nemo says... just keep swimming.
(yes, I loved the movie and yes, I am 30 years old)

So I signed up for a marathon.

26.2 miles.

Scary.

***sings to self: "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming."***

Cavanal 5 Mile Run

A week ago I ran up this hill. It's the "world's highest hill" at 1,999 ft tall. If it were a ft taller, it would be a mountain. The 5 miles up this "hill" were killer.



I did this run with one of my best friends and we had a blast. I had not seen her in almost 2 years! She met me in my hometown and we ran jogged and walked our way up the hill. I was dragging around mile 2 as you can see. I'm the one in the pants who is barely managing to stay upright. I also had a cold and was hacking like a chain smoker. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)


Here we are at the finish line and I was very relieved to be finished with this race!

I finished in ~77 minutes. Yup, that's a whopping pace of >15 min per mile. Oh yeah. I know most grandmas move faster than that but they're not running up hill for 5 miles straight! Hey, it was a great way to start a Saturday morning and I got to hang out with a wonderful friend. :-)

The never ending story...

Do you ever pick up a book that you just CAN'T manage to finish? Yeah... that's me with Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and the Damned. I have been reading this book for months.

It's not from lack of effort.
* I carry this book in my purse to work.
* I take it into the house with me at night.
* I put it in my car when I will be getting an oil change and have a few minutes to read.

... and I open it and read one paragraph and then:
* fall into a coma.
* check my email for the 400th time.
* log onto facebook.
* balance my checkbook.
* go clean something... anything.
* read another book instead (or some random science protocol or a product brochure or anything else to prevent me from reading The B&D).

Yes, the Beautiful and the Damned has given me ADHD. I loved the Great Gatsby but somehow I just can't get into this book.

So I bought Eat, Pray, Love instead.

What are you reading right now?

P.S. Thanks for all the comments on the big announcement about San Antonio! I look forward to eating my way through the city and surrounding areas!

The hubs and I are moving to...

....San Antonio!


My husband and I will become Texans some time next summer! He has been interviewing for jobs over the last couple of months and the decision about where to move has not been an easy one. We don't know ANYONE in San Antonio. I've been to this city twice in my life. But, we are on to the next adventure. I'm trying to stay positive about it but I have to admit that a move to a completely new place is pretty scary.

So now we just need to:
* sell our house in Alabama.
* find a job for me in San Antonio.
* find a house in San Antonio.

Most important:
* find the best places for Mexican food & margaritas in San Antonio. ;-)

Any suggestions?

Running!

Saturday, November 7, 8 AM:
Vulcan 10 K Run
Birmingham, AL
Goal time: 1 hr.

Saturday, November 14, 9 AM:
World's Highest Hill 5 Mile Race
Elevation change: 1,999 ft. (It's one foot shorter than a mountain y'all).
Poteau, OK
Goal time: no goal time for this one, the plan is to finish the race without needing emergency medical assistance.
If my geometry skills are working, I'm calculating this to average a 4.7% incline for 5 miles. Holy crap. Fun stuff!

Monday

Thanks so much to everyone who left such sweet comments a few days ago when I posted about my friend. She was diagnosed with liver cancer and she is only in her early 30's. It's just so unbelievable to me still. She has started chemotherapy and I am praying all the time for her. She is such a strong person and she is fighting hard. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers for her.

The weekend review:

I rotated my tires instead of buying two new ones. The tires for my car cost about 5 times as much as I budgeted. Dear Santa, the Frye boots will have to wait until next year, please bring me tires. Sigh.... At least the dogs are good for another year after a trip to the vet.

My Halloween was spent with the most precious baby girl in the world. I was thrilled when my sis-in-law asked me to join her and my little niece for a Halloween parade. My niece was a bee princess and she was adorable in her little orange tutu and bee wings. She was very cuddly because she is teething and I must admit that baby cuddles are the best thing in the entire world.

I got 6 trick or treaters this year. When I got home from my sis-in-law's house, it was already kind of late so I got some sketchy teenagers and some of them weren't even dressed up. I wouldn't have even opened the door if Scott wasn't home! I bought 4 bags of Halloween candy so I'm glad I don't have to eat ALL of it myself. (ok, ok, so I ate an entire bag of Butterfingers last week before Halloween weekend even started).

For my butterfinger induced state of guilt half marathon training, I ran 10 miles on Sunday. It was the first double digit run of my life and I was thrilled! It's so nice to get on the treadmill, zone out, and forget about everything for a while. Some people are able to think when they run, they sort out all of their problems... not me, not this weekend. I just went blank. I watched the ridiculousness (yes, that should be a word) of VH-1 mega-yachts, listened to good music on the iPod, and felt nothing except for the sweat running down my face. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Happy Halloween

Cricket wishes you a happy halloween!


(Bat girl)


(Masquerade girl)


(The Nightmare of Elm Street girl)

(Davey Crockett)

(Indian girl)

It's pay day!

I want these...

But alas.... instead of the beautiful Frye boots I've been lusting over, I will be buying shots for these little girls at the vet tomorrow...

and 2 of these for the Mazda-rati.

Being responsible is SO overrated. :-)