Grounded

I didn't have to travel this week and after flying on 4 of the 5 business days last week and only having one flight on time, I am so glad. I feel like I have been home forever and it is so nice. I think that Craig was starting to feel like I didn't live here anymore. He definitely enjoyed the home cooked meals all week :-)

I did a longer run on Tuesday (only 5 miles) and I felt pretty good (good thing since the half marathon is only 3 weeks away). I think that I will be ok :-) I did walk twice but I don't really get into the whole "I have to run every second of it" thing. I took two walk breaks that might have lasted 2 mins each and the rest of the time I ran at my normal pace. Had I not taken those breaks then I would have slowed down a lot I think. We will see in a few weeks. Ali and I decided that we needed to be cute to run the half...you always feel better when you are cute, right? So, I ordered a run running skirt and black tank (in honor of the UGA game that day). I am working on fashioning a headband with some UGA material. HA! Sadly when my skirt came in, it didn't have the little spandex shorts attached to it like 99% of running skirts so I am not sure if I am going to get to wear that one. I have some little shorts that fit under it but I haven't worn them yet. I did order another red skirt that does have shorts but it is a lighter, almost pinker red (it reminds me of those "red" pants that someone's husband had at the UGA games that we used to call pink---was that Judd?) anyway, we will see. I am in love with running skirts because it is the best of both worlds...spandex that stays in place but a cute skirt to keep my spandexed booty from hanging out all over the place :-)

Other than that, I have a 5 mile bike ride this Sunday with C. I am looking forward to it and dreading it all at the same time. I know I will be so proud of myself when I am done (40 miles is the most I have done at a time) but I know it will be challenging along the way (especially if there are any hills). To put it all in perspective for you guys, we usually average about 14miles per hour...that means about 3.5hrs in the saddle....YIKES!!

You would think with all the running and biking and stuff that the pounds would just be melting off, but not so much. I have managed to lose a few (and someone actually noticed yesterday at work) but for those of you I am seeing on Tuesday, don't expect much :-)

The next few weeks I will also get to be in town a lot. I actually only have one trip between now and Sept 13th and that is to Atlanta for a couple days next week. Craig and I are going to Milwaukee for Labor day and I am excited about that but otherwise, I will actually get to spend time at home and cook my own dinner :-)

40 miles!

i am trying to post more even though I don't have that much to say sometimes :-)

Yesterday I was having one of those days...you know the days where you are just antsy (ok, if you have kids, think to BEFORE you had them) and you want to do something but nothing really sounds good? That was me yesterday. When I have weeks that I am good about exercising I have a really hard time taking a day off. That was yesterday. I ran 7 miles on Friday (really ran/walked 7 miles and then walked another mile home) and then I knew that today I was going to ride my bike for a long distance so I knew I NEEDED to relax yesterday but it was just so pretty outside that I wanted to do something outside. Oh well, I ended up making some treats for Craig's work peeps, synced up my Nike +, tried to come up with some playlists (still working on that) and did other little things that I have needed to do.

My new hobby (well, old hobby but it has been in full force lately) is knitting and crocheting little hats. I have about 50 of them made now because it is the one thing that you can take anywhere and do while taking off or landing on the plane (when I am not sleeping). Most of them have been made on planes, in airports or while I am just watching tv. I need to find a creative way to get them photographed. We are going to do a couple craft shows in the fall but a lot of people asked last year if we had an etsy account (which we do) so I need to get some pictures of them up there. I don't like just taking pictures of them flat because they don't look as cute. I don't have a kid to put any on so I am not sure what I am going to do....if anyone has any ideas, let me know :-)

Today we did 40 miles on our bikes...that is a really long way and to give you guys an idea, it took us 2:45 of just ride time to do it (we didn't count the quick break on a bench for a granola bar or the quick stop to get gatorade). I am proud of myself because that is a long ways to ride on a bike. I am hoping that by next year sometime I can do a century (100 miles) but if I do the math, that is over 6hr in the saddle. Not sure my booty can handle that. You would think by looking at it that there was a lot of padding but somehow it doesn't seem to be the case.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Time

Wow, how times change (and I haven't even had a kid yet). I haven't posted in 3 weeks. The even sadder part is that I am not sure I could tell you what has happened in the last 3 weeks. Work has been pretty good and considering this is my busy time every quarter, things have started to slow down. I am trying not to jinx myself too much because I know it can all come back to me.

Last Thursday I went to Myrtle Beach to meet up with the fam. We have been going there for as long as I can remember and usually my grandma and aunts and uncles go too. I stayed with Alyson, Zach, the kids and my mom and Richard. Quite a condo full. I loved spending time with everyone and this is going to sound sort of nuts but I just really like spending time with Ariyana. I feel like we have a special little bond (not that I will not love my other nieces and nephews just as much). When I first got there she came right to me and wanted me to hold her until dinner time...in the mornings when she got up she would come and snuggle with me (ok, it was more like her taunting me with her stuffed animals) on my air mattress. I just can't get enough of that kid. She will sit completely still for me while I do her hair or while I put sunscreen on her and she missed me when she woke up on Sunday and realized I was gone. She knows I live in "hio" and she wants to visit me so badly. She told me this past weekend that she wasn't big enough to go on an airplane. She had to grow a little more and be taller. My sister said they told her that one time when they dropped me at the airport and she wanted to come with me. Little does she know that we are planning to do just that. I have decided that I am going to bring her to Ohio for a weekend. Just her. I can't wait. I am not sure when we are going to do it. The fall is getting pretty packed for Craig and I and then, well, winter sucks here so I am scared it will have to be in the spring but I really don't want to wait that long. My plan is to just work in Atlanta during the week, then fly up with her for the weekend and then back to Atlanta with her and work there that week too. Since I have all my stuff in Atlanta, I would really only need to bring all her stuff back and forth. I asked Craig if he would be cool with it and he said yes (he also said he didn't think that it would be a hard thing to have her for a whole weekend. I think he has forgotten how much energy she has).

Maddox is another saint baby and my sister is extremely lucky (and thank goodness my fear of all boy babies being difficult is going away....really it was only Terah and Drena's boys, but it has stuck with me). The only time I heard that baby cry in 3 days was when he was hungry and even then my sister got to him most of the time before he cried. She has him on a pretty tight schedule and it seems to work. I didn't even hear him cry at night except one night and that was because my sister had to change him. He is such a cute little thing and he has the most gorgeous blue eyes ever!! He is 3 months old and point and shoot cameras suck so he still makes those funny baby faces whenever I tried to get a picture of him.

Other than that, Craig and I are working on our fall vacation and I have actually been in town this week (which means normal work hours and trying to exercise). I am still training for the half marathon but it doesn't really feel like I am getting any better.....guess we will see. It is only 6 weeks away so I hope I can improve a bit. I might sign up for the one in Atlanta in March if this one goes well.