Deja Vu

I may be crazy but I did something that I wanted to do this year but couldn't.

 

I registered for the Déjà Vu Half & 5K. It's the Louisiana Marathon's take on Disney's Glass Slipper Challenge. Run the 5K Saturday and the Half on Sunday. At least that's what I'm attempting to do.There's a quarter marathon & the full but that's too much for me. Let's hope I can stay well & injury free. It's not until January 2016 but there was a deal for early registration. Worse case scenario, I walk all of it.

Tuesday  morning I got up early & did a weight workout.

It's been awhile & now I'm sore.

Awhile back I bought these at Trader Joe's

This is what Dean likes to call an experimental item. They are really good! Plop it frozen in a skillet & 5 mins. later it's done. It taste like chicken but it's like a burger. The best part is it's 150 calories. I'll definitely buy them again.

Have y'all seen these things?

They're facial razors for women. I've heard a lot of talk about them so I ordered some. The order came with 3 but this was yet another item that was lost between the time it left the facility & got to me so I guess they were making up for how long it took & sent me extras. It's like a little exfoliator plus it gets all the little fuzzy hair. They work great!

My tour of Mardi Gras flavored things continues.

On my way home from work the other day I stopped at Fat Cow & got the king cake shake. It's really good. They make it with ice cream & a shake thingy. Not like what they have at McDonalds. I don't even want to know how many calories it is.

Yesterday morning I was planning to run. My alarm didn't go off but Dean woke up a little later & woke me up. I had zero interest in getting out of bed so I didn't. When I got home from work the weather was nice, temps in the high 60's so I went then.

This morning I got up & walked with Sheri & Kitzia. We did 3.2 miles. 

What's going on with y'all?

Toodles!

Another Weekend

Friday night the majority of our group went to Caliente for Cliff's birthday. It's been awhile since the whole group was together. 

There was flan which was soooooo good & king cake from Ambrosia. Also soooo good!

I've been wanting some new living room furniture & Dean wants a recliner so he was on board. While watching TV the other night there was a commercial for a local store that had a sofa I really liked. So Saturday morning off we went to check it out. I liked it but it wasn't really the color I wanted & it had loose back cushions. I wasn't totally against those but then I found another sofa that was the color I liked & it attached cushions. It was also cheaper by a lot so we have a winner. We bought the sofa, chair & half & Dean found a recliner. I'm not a fan or how recliners look BUT this one is really comfortable & I feel sure I can take a good nap in it so I'll overlook the look of it. It will be delivered Saturday. The chair and a half is on order so it may not make it next weekend but that's ok. 

Once we got home I went for a run. The weather was fabulous. A little too windy but it was ok. It was around lunchtime & I was starving but I wanted to run first so I had one of these.

I love these things! It's like a flat waffle cone that taste like a cookie. So good!

4 miles - I was happy to be able to go that far.

Saturday night we had our cruise excursion party.

Dean had a PowerPoint presentation. We'll be zip lining, feeding pigs beer (I know!!), having a beach day & the rest is to be determined.

Sunday we went to Mass & then didn't do a whole of anything. I had good intentions of cleaning out the office but it didn't happen. We went for a walk.

For the first time in a really long time I managed to either walk, run or bike every day last week. I ran this morning with Cindy. I forgot to charge my watch last night so all I know is I ran at least a 5K. Cindy had her app going but I started a little earlier than her. I think I was somewhere around 3.25. So I have an 8 day streak going. Not bad!

Toodles!

Happy Happy Friday!!

The weather's yuck but it's Friday! When I say yuck, I mean cold & rainy. I have a Doctor's appointment this morning to go over the results of my CT scan of my sinuses and talk about a game plan. Fun stuff. 

I've done really well with my workouts this week. I've been up at 4:45 every morning. Monday I walked with some friends.

We were a little slow but hey at least we were out there!! When I got home from work Monday I ran on the treadmill. 

I only did 2.5 miles because I'm trying to break in my new shoes & it's the treadmill & it bores me. 

Tuesday morning we walked again.

We were faster!

We were much faster! 

Wednesday morning I ran. Yay!!! 

As usual I wasn't fast but I don't care. I was faster than when I'm on the treadmill & I was actually outside. This is only like my second outside run aside from last weeks race of 2015. I'm planning another run tomorrow. It was 50 degrees outside too & I think that's about the perfect running temp.

Thursday morning we walked again.

We had our long legged friend back with us so we picked up speed!!

I've been having a lot of sleep issues. Weirdest thing ever. I sleep, I've always slept. These days I have no problem falling asleep, it's staying asleep that's the problem. I mean like waking up every hour or so but of course then being dead to the world when it's time to get up. I had a glass of wine last night. 

I slept! All night! Only waking up at midnight when the alarm went off. No idea what the heck happened. I just remember hearing it go off & thinking OMG it CANNOT be 4:45 already. Thankfully it wasn't & I went right back to sleep.

This morning I used my bike trainer & went for a 30 minute ride.

This was a Christmas present from Dean. I like it sooooo much better than the treadmill. Mainly because it's not noisy & I can watch TV. This morning I watched part of the latest Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Does anyone else think that Giggy looks like Ken??? I've always thought there was something strange about that dog. I mean aside from the fact that it wears clothes every day & Ken takes it everywhere. 

So yesterday was a very exciting day!!!! 

This concert was announced on Tuesday. We don't care so much about TLC & Nelly but we've loved NKOTB since they first arrived on the scene in the 80's! They'll be in New Orleans May 15. We got tickets yesterday! Really good tickets! The husbands all think we're crazy and in the words of Allison's hubs "I wish this band would stop touring already". HAHAHAHAHA!!! 

Toodles!!

Louisiana Marathon Weekend

The Louisiana Marathon has turned into a really big deal in Baton Rouge. Saturday was the 5K, the Kids Marathon and the inaugural 1/4 Marathon. Lydia & I were registered for the Half & Scott his first full. Due to a lot of sickness none of us were able to train for what we registered for. I was super bummed. We were all able to change our registrations so at least we were able to run something. Scott & Lydia did the 1/4 Marathon, I did the 5K and of course Logan did the Kids Marathon. 

It was cold but a beautiful morning. We haven't had many of these days lately. When I say cold it was about 36 at the start of the race. 

I had several friends running the 5K. 

Me, Karen & Allison - The usual suspects.

I watched Scott & Lydia finish their races. For some reason we didn't get any pictures. They both did great & Scott won his age group & was 7th overall. I really wonder what he's capable of if he actually followed a program & trained like most people do!

While we waited for the Kids Marathon to start we went over to the Post Race Party for refreshments. I saw more people I knew, got a delightful king cake latte from the CC's truck that was there & listened to Rockin' Doopsie.

He's very popular around here & it was fun to watch him. There was a lot of good food. Jambalaya, crab & corn soup, pork sliders and of course beer. I'm not a beer drinker. I'd much prefer a glass of wine at the finish line. Better yet, a glass of champagne would be fab. You know, to celebrate the fact that we ran another race & didn't die!

Next it was time for the kids race. It was a 1 mile run for kids 12 and under.

They had their own starting line. There were a ton of kids.

This picture cracked me up because the expression on Logan's face was so serious. I know he was thinking about how he had to catch the little girl in front of him.

And he did!! He ran the mile in 8:39. 

Father & son. Here's a fun fact - that's the Louisiana State Capitol in the background. After the race we went back to the finish festival for a bit so Logan could play on the jumpy things & rock wall they had.  

Race bling & my official time. 32:13 wasn't a PR but I was happy with it since I haven't been running a lot lately.

I went to the expo and then home for a shower and a nap! We went to Mass & then to run some errands. I finally got a new phone. I got the iPhone 6. I'm very excited because I never have the "current" iPhone. We ate dinner at Albasha and picked up King Cake Cheesecake to bring home for dessert. 

This is by far my most favorite dessert. It's like cake and cheesecake and sugar and whipped cream and it's all kinds of delicious!

Toodles!

Catching Up - AGAIN!

I swear I feel like all I do these days is play catch up. I guess that means I need to spend more time doing stuff & less time laying on the couch. I have a hard time with that when it's cold. Not to mention working. On the weekends I don't want to do anything because the weekend goes by too fast. I could totally be a hermit. I'm getting old apparently because everything annoys me. Traffic - it took me 50 minutes to get home yesterday in what is normally a 30 minute drive in the evenings. People - they annoy me in stores, in traffic and at work.  I'm even annoyed with myself. My eating has been awful, my workouts and runs have been virtually nonexistent and I'm not doing anything as for as knocking things off my to do list. Enough complaining.

Before Christmas we decided to buy gas logs for our fireplace. It was wood burning but we never used it. There was already a gas line so Dean ordered the logs online. It's so nice to just turn the switch on.

I got new running shoes!

 Finally a cute pair! I've worn them around the house to try & get them broken in good. 

A lot of the running I haven't been doing is because of our weather. It's cold, it's raining, it's hot. Typical but no less annoying. My parents have a treadmill that they hardly ever use so we went & picked it up over the weekend. 

Some observations about the treadmill - it's not fun, running on a treadmill is loud therefor watching TV isn't really an option, it's boring, I run slower on it and it's not fun.Yeh I know, I said that already but it's not.

Saturday after we got the treadmill we went to Mass and then to eat at the Chimes. We were sitting at our table & we looked up & there was this little cutie with his parents.

They were going to the LSU basketball game so we switched tables and had dinner with them. I've said before that Logan is very loving. He gives hugs all the time. He also knows when he's about to get in trouble & the hugging and I love you's come quick. 

I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a lot of his hugs Saturday night. I got hugs and Dean got to bring him to the bathroom. I think I got the better deal. HA!

Sunday afternoon I had lunch with Vicki & Allison to celebrate Vicki's birthday. We ate at Ninfa's. It was good. When I got home I made myself get on the treadmill. 

This run wasn't awful. One of the football games was on so I was able to watch. I don't need to hear the announcers tell me what I just saw so that worked well. 

Monday when I got to work King Cake was waiting in the kitchen. One of the girls I work with made it herself & it was really good.

Monday afternoon I had my CT scan of my sinuses. The Nurse called yesterday and said that everything looked "pretty good" whatever that means. I have an appt. next week for her to go over the pictures with me (like I care about that ) and to tell me her game plan. We shall see.

The lady that's doing my roman shades in the kitchen came over for me to pick out new fabric. She installed the shades Friday & she didn't like them once they were up. Something about the thinness and grade of the fabric made them not hang correctly. So I picked out new fabric & now I wait. 

Monday night was a sad night. 

The tin is empty. Completely. We always ate these cookies when I was a kid and for some reason I'd forgotten how good they are and I how much I love them. I picked this tin up as an afterthought before Christmas because I didn't think we had enough dessert for Christmas Day. Considering we're 2 weeks in January and just finished them I'd say we were good for Christmas. Anyway, they're gone. There was talk after Christmas of freezing them. Yeh. They're gone. Empty. No more. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I was eating entirely too many of them. However, Dean has instructions that if he goes to Sam's without me and they still have them he's to buy more. 

When I got to work yesterday ANOTHER king cake had appeared.

Notice I had a small sliver.It was really good too. 

My plan was to run on the treadmill when I got home yesterday. Well the above mentioned 50 minute drive home ended that. So I got up at 4:45 and ran this morning. 

I discovered that I can also watch House Hunters while running because I don't care in the least what any of those people have to say. I just want to look at the houses. I also attempted to read. I was able to do that for a little while. I've decided to wait until after the 5K Saturday to go back to working out with weights. It's been at least a month since I've done one so I'll be really sore and I don't want any extra soreness before the race. 

Thankfully there was no king cake at work today!

So that's what's been going on. What's up with y'all?

Toodles!

Mardi Gras

It's carnival season! I'm not a big Mardi Gras person. Been to New Orleans once & it was fun but I don't really need to go back. I have Mardi Gras wreaths on my doors & I love anything king cake flavored which is why I'm happy! There's cheesecake & bread pudding & all sorts of other king cake goodness. My first treat of the season was this


CC's King Cake Latte! So delicious! You can also get a King Cake Mochasippi. That's CC's version of a Frappaccino. I didn't know that either. I'm mostly a Starbuck's girl. You may have heard of Community Coffee. It's a local coffee company here in Baton Rouge. CC's is their coffee shops. Someone told me that Community has King Cake flavored K cups! I went to 2 stores Sunday & didn't have any luck finding them. Monday morning on  my way to work I stopped at another store & there they were. They are DELISH!!!

We stayed in pretty much all weekend due to the crappy weather & the dreaded upper respiratory infection that Dean has. He's feeling better now. All of the Christmas stuff is down with the exception of the big tree. It's not decorated anymore but it takes two of us to get it down & packed away and into the attic. Dean was not feeling like tackling that so it'll happen this weekend.

We went to Mass Sunday evening & stopped at Caliente on the way home. I'm looking forward to getting back into that routine as well.


Shrimp tacos and veggies. I had enough veggies left over to bring to work to eat at lunch for 3 days. It was really good.

I thought I was back on track with my workouts after Friday's run & I started Monday off with a walk with my friends.


Yeh not so much. That 3.2 miles is all I've done all week. I had good intentions but it didn't work out. The weather has turned frigid. My plan was to run when I got home from work yesterday. It was in the 40's which while not ideal, I can handle. What I could not handle was the wind. I swear to you it was a hurricane without rain. I've been through a lot of hurricanes so I know. At that point I decided that I need a treadmill. I don't particularly want to buy a treadmill because I want to buy living room furniture. Thankfully, my mom has one & as with most people & exercise equipment it doesn't get a lot of use. YAY for me. As soon as we get all of the Christmas stuff in the attic & I can clear the desk out of the office I'll bringing that sucker home with me. Just in time I'm sure for the summer temps to be back.

This was what it looked like this morning.


Wind chill of 13 degrees. I'm a firm believer that if the wind chill is below 30 nobody should have to leave their houses. Yes, I realize people live in places that are much colder but I don't, I haven't, I never will (by choice anyway) & I don't want to deal with it. The forecast tomorrow says there may be the dreaded "wintry mix". If that's going to happen it needs to happen early, like before 7:00 so that work will be shut down & I can stay home in front of a fire. I'm not getting my hopes up.

Toodles!

The New Year

Hard to believe another year has come & gone. I didn't really make any resolutions last year. I just wanted to continue working out, running & trying to eat right. For the most part I accomplished that. It's an amazing feeling to know you accomplished something you set out to do.

I ran a lot in 2014. Somewhere around 332 mi. I finished Half Marathons #2 and 3. My time was better with each race. Half #4 was supposed to happen in 2 weeks but it's been a month since I've ran so that's not happening. I officially dropped down to the 5K today. I thought about the 1/4 Marathon but I'm not sure I could even do that so the 5K it is. I'm not happy but it is what it is.

I ran 12 races in 2014. I didn't run a race in June or August but I ran 2 in May & 2 in September. In July I did my first Triathlon. I discovered how much I like bike riding. I decided I wouldn't do it again in July because the heat was brutal. I haven't decided if I'll attempt the one in April. The swim will be longer & that wasn't my strong suit. We'll see.

I'm excited to see what 2015 brings. We have the "Graduation Cruise" planned for May & I'm very excited about it & getting to see some new places. I'm recommitting to my eating & workout plans. I've eaten horribly - delicious - but horribly, the last month. It's time to get back on track. That means doing some planning because currently there isn't anything in the house to eat that would be considered healthy.

We weren't busy at work Friday so I got to leave at 1:15. I took advantage of getting home early and I went for a run.


It was hot & humid. We've had awful weather lately. I could've gone further but I thought it would be best not to overdo it.

Just about all my Christmas stuff has been taken down. I need another container so the mantle is still decorated. Everything looks so bare! My new roman shades that I had made for the kitchen will be installed next week. I'm very excited about that.

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year!

Toodles!