Good bye

My friend Jen is leaving. We threw a going away party for her on Sunday at the Blue Star. It was a nice time, but sure are going to miss her. I'm excited that she will be moving on to new, fun things in St. Louis, but that means no more crazy nights of dancing, long talks over cocktails, or even sometimes boring carpools. Have fun, Jen!

Eating while Pregnant

These days it is the small things I'm having to pay attention to. Sleeping, eating, generally being healthy...but that eating part seems to be getting the best of me this week. I'm trying to follow the Brewers Diet. I need to be eating more and starting to gain some weight (which I haven't, yet, I was up 2 lbs but back down to 1 lb below pre-pregnancy weight, sigh), but now I don't want to eat anything. Nothing is making me sick, I'm just bored with eating and nothing seems good. Especially meat...it's just tasteless these days. And my usual snack stand-by, trail-mix, is boring me. I guess I need to change things up a bit and add some variety to my snacking. I just want fabulous options to appear by magic before me. Wow, what a whiner... maybe I should try getting some more sleep, then I won't be so crappy.

back home

We just got back early on Thursday morning (2:30am) from Mexico. It was a nice, relaxing vacation. We didn't do much but swim in the ocean and swim in the pool. I tried to get tan, but even my tan is not very tan compared to most people. We were there with other salesmen from Danny's company, although I hadn't met most of them since they are all from other locations. They were all the hardworking ones who exceeded the sales goal last year. Congratulations to them! 

Yesterday I slept in, picked up my dog from the Rents, and worked on cleaning my house. We didn't leave it very nice before we went to Mexico, so I just wanted to get it back to livable standards and make it a place I'd like to lounge in for the next couple days without the visual stress. I also cooked a meal...it was nice to get back to my kitchen after vacation! I didn't make anything fancy, but I had inspiration from Chez Pim. After dinner Danny agreed to play cards with me (amazing!). It is nice to be home.

...but then I look at the picture of me in the pool again, and wish I was back there! sigh...

Independence Day

The Declaration of Independence is what this holiday weekend is all about. We take time off work to spend time with friends, watch fireworks, have bbqs, eat too much, drink too much, laugh a lot, sleep in...all this thanks to some courageous men who were willing to stand up and demand a better way of life. I'm so thankful for my freedom. I get to choose my own path in life without birthright or titles dictating what I will become. I can say what I wish to about all my own opinions without fear. I believe that the American dream is still possible...that through hard work and determination I can achieve great things. 

Triathlon

I finished my first triathlon on Sunday! It was a great experience...I was nervous, excited, scared...but it was fun to be there with 2,000 other women doing the same thing. We cheered each other on and made general fools of ourselves, but in the end we achieved a goal; many of us for the first time. 

The water was so cold that, for safety sake, they cut down the swim by half. The bike was also a little shorter, and cut out some of the hills. Yet, I did well and I was a fast as I had hoped to be in all the events. 

I will definitely be doing this again.

being 30

It's depressing to be reminded of my age.
Until just recently I didn't feel much different than I did when I first got married 10 years ago. Then it seems like suddenly my body has put on the brakes and is conscience of it's physical age. (mentally, I'm not sure I'll ever grow up) Just in the last couple months I've had more physical aliments for seemingly no reason...hurt knee and hip.
And now I'm being shown that I can't party like a rock star anymore. Since Danny's brothers were all in town this weekend, we spent every evening with them, having drinks and catching up. Getting in bed late and getting up early for 5 days in a row. I used to be able to do that for weeks or months on end. Now, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. Sigh...

I have to get back on my regular schedule and get my energy back up so that I can run in my triathlon this weekend! I'm excited (and a bit scared).

Dinner Tonight: Fish Tacos

Facebook

So, I've been resisting the whole facebook thing for awhile because I didn't want to have my time sucked into a vacuum. But as with most things, Danny convinced me to get my account up and running. Sure enough, since Monday I have been spending quite a bit of time looking at my friend's profiles. It has been fun though.

So next time you are on facebook, you should look me up. I'll probably be online...

The Trip

It was the trip of a lifetime; what more can I say? 

The boat was great, the water was beautiful, and it was fun being with friends. 

Feeling Melancholy

Sometime you just need a good, sad song...

"One Moment More" Mindy Smith

Hold me

Even though I know you're leaving

And show me

All the reasons you would stay

It's just enough to feel your breath on mine

To warm my soul and ease my mind

You've got to hold me and show me now

Give me

Just one part of you to cling to

And keep me

Everywhere you are

It's just enough to steal my heart and run

And fade out with the falling sun

Oh, please don't go

Let me have you just one moment more

Oh all I need

All I want is just one moment more

You've go to hold me and keep me

Tell me that someday you'll be returning

And maybe

Maybe I'll believe

It's just enough to see a shooting star 

To know you're never really far

It's just enough to see a shooting star

To know you're never really gone

Oh, please don't go

Let me have you just one moment more

Oh, all I need

All I want it just one moment more

You've got to hold me and maybe I'll believe

So hold me

Even though I know you're leaving

Boot Camp

Tonight I'm going to Boot Camp class with Lauren at the Y. I'm looking forward to it...I know, I'm a little whacked in the head. We do painful things to our bodies while someone is telling us we can do more, or do it faster. But I always feel so good after I go (or I just misinterpret sore muscles as feeling good). Exercise is definitely a stress-reliever for me.

I'm also taking part in a training challenge for the month of May on Beginner Triathlete. I am very motivated by competition and I don't want to let my team down, so it is making me get to the gym more, which I'm loving.

Getting Ready

We are getting ready for our sailing trip! We leave next Saturday and it couldn't come soon enough. I'm so looking forward to a vacation! A relaxing, warm vacation.

I'm getting very excited! Tonight we are going shopping for a few things, then we need to pack our bags and do a test weigh in. You see, we can only bring 20 lbs per person. That's right...20 lbs. But that should be ok because we will be wearing swimsuits the whole time that weigh next to nothing...but I want to take my big camera, which might be challenging. We already mailed a box of books and sunscreen down so that we don't have to fit that into our bags.

I think one of the things I like about vacations is the anticipation leading up to the event. Getting new music, making playlists, getting new bathing suits, new books, looking at the map and plotting the course...all of that leads into something exciting. It's something to look forward to. There's also some nervousness...will we catch our connecting flight that has a short layover, will the airlines cooperate and run our flights at all, will everyone get along for 7 days? But these things also help provide a sense of adventure.

Girl's Night Out

Last night we were at Emily's house for wine and appetizers. Emily had a credit at PF Changs, so she picked up some tasty food for us...seared Ahi, lettuce wraps, ribs, and pot stickers. Yum. I was able to bring a bottle of Mano a Mano wine that I recently purchased but not yet tried. It was pretty mellow, but quite nice. I'll be having that again soon. And Jeanne brought a bottle of Flowers, which is consistently delicious.

It's always fun to have girl time...we talk about such different things than when the guys are there. We can talk about shoes, clothes, hair as much as we want, but we also get down to the nitty gritty of relationships with men, coworkers, family, etc. Seems like we also talk about our dogs quite a bit. I guess they are like our children right now, so it is only natural.

So, thanks to Emily for always having an inviting home and providing us food and wine!

Ahhh...Sunday Night!

I have grown quite fond of Sunday nights. It is a time for us to get together with our friends and share a great meal. Since most of our friends are great chefs that is not a difficult feat. It is just nice after a long week at work to look forward to a relaxed night with people who make us laugh and a great bottle of wine. 

Tonight we polished off 4 regular bottles along with 2 magnums of really nice stuff. Plus Danny K made us a great spread of fried mozzarella and meatball hoagies. It was nice to be at their house with the new sun room and with Beth pregnant...looking forward to their new family together. She is so cute.  

Better Living through Chemicals

This post is in praise of Coffee and Sleeping pills...it's what makes the world go round.
The last two nights I have not slept well. So today I'm really dragging...this is where the Coffee becomes essential so that I can function somewhat normally at work. Well, at least I'm at work and dressed; that may be all I can hope for today.
Then because I've been drinking coffee all day it makes it really difficult to get to sleep, besides the reasons for me not sleeping well in the first place, so I have to take sleeping pills to get some rest. What a vicious cycle! How can I get back to normal, drug-free living?
Maybe it's overrated...

Cathy's Birthday

Tonight we went to The Blue Star for drinks and dinner to celebrate Cathy's birthday. It's been quite awhile since I've been there, but the food was good as usual and it was good to see Cathy. We had a great time together in New York for Em's bachelorette. Hard to believe that was almost a year ago.

Tonight it was just girls...Cathy, Emily, Beth, Jaime, Cheryl, Georgia, and I. We always have a great time out.

Spoiled

Twice in one week we got to eat at Lauren's...she is one of the best cooks I know. Last Monday we went for ribs and were treated to a meal that is better than any restaurant I know. Besides the ribs we ate swiss chard with dates, scalloped potatoes, and an amazing salad of crab, avocado, and tomatoes. Everything was delicious.

Then this morning we went for brunch and were served poblanos stuffed with eggs, topped with guacamole, green chili and cilantro. The sweet potato hash was a nice complement to the heat. Of course there had to be mimosas, tea, sausage, and fruit. As usual a huge spread. I guess Lauren and Mark were trying to get rid of the food in their house since they are leaving tomorrow for Thailand for 3 weeks. What an exciting vacation!

Training

So after trying to find "the best" workout to get a great body in time for our sailing trip, I decided that really it comes down to the simple process of eating well, and exercise...any exercise. And since last year I was training for a triathlon and it kicked my butt into shape, I decided that I would go back to that plan. I find that I do best when I have everything laid out for me; how much/when I should bike, swim, run, and do weight training. It makes it easy to wake up in the morning and just do what my training plan is telling me. Although, I have to actually get up and go to the gym; that's the hard part. But I always feel so good when I workout in the morning that it is motivating to do it again tomorrow. The other hard part is doing the plan...the one I picked is pretty ambitious so I have a lot of work to do to keep up with it. I can do it though, it just requires effort (which is really the point of exercise, right?)

Sick Day

Why is it that the best way to get better when you have a cold is to sleep...but because you have a cold and can't breathe, and ache all over... you can't sleep. Argg... At least it's better to be miserable at home, rather than at work, where I can have the kleenex box close and my coughing won't disturb anyone but the dog. (Who really prefers me at home with him in any condition, so he doesn't mind.)

Things to do today:

• surf the internet. Some of my favorite sites: PBase (I especially enjoy the Photo a day competition), Chez Pim, and Go Fug Yourself.
• rent movies from ITunes. oh, yes. they are so smart and will be getting all my $$
• eat soup.
• feel better.

Happy New Year!

We spent New Years in Grand Lake at a cabin with some friends, Luke & Jamie. It was nice and relaxing. It snowed a ton while we were there and yesterday the interstate closed, but we were content to stay by the fire and watch the winter wonderland (it helped that Danny brought 5 cases of beer). But today it cleared up and made for a beautiful drive home.