The Weekend

Yes, I'm aware it's Thursday. The week got away from me. 

Friday night was the season opener for LSU Baseball. We had extra tickets so Scott, Lydia & Logan came with us. 

This kid amazes me all the time. Somebody came up to bat & Logan immediately told us that he changed numbers & last year he was whatever number it was. Of course I don't know if he's right but Dean did & he was. For the first time in a long time the weather was nice. Normally, it's freezing cold. That's coming this weekend. sigh.

Saturday I went to my Godchild, Lane's birthday party. He's 10. Seriously no clue where the time goes. I remember we'd just moved into our house when his mom came over & helped me unpack & told me she was pregnant. 

Me & the birthday boy.

My friend Allison was there with her kiddos. Anna Claire is almost 6 months old. 

Clearly she wasn't impressed with my selfie taking skills. It's so funny to see her little chunky arms. She was so tiny when she was born.

After the party it was off to the LSU game. It was a gorgeous day. So gorgeous I could've worn shorts. Yes, in February.

Saturday was also the 18th anniversary of Dean & I meeting. It was in a Ramada Inn in Austin, TX. We were all there for the LSU/UT Baseball games & we met in the lobby. I had a blender & a bottle of pina colada mix. Back then that blender went everywhere with us. Fun times! 

After the game we went to Caliente for dinner. The weather was so nice we were able to have our first patio day of the year. I had a pina colada to commemorate the day!

Saturday night sleeping proved to be a challenge. I was still having some sinus/allergy/whatever issues & I took some medicine that caused my sleep issues. UGH. I ended up on the sofa & reading Leah Remini's book about her life in Scientology. Seriously, CRAZY!!!! 

I was up early so I went for a run. Since I'd been sick it was my first run in a week. 

I wanted to run 10 miles but I was slow & I had to stop at 8.5 so I could make it to Mass on time. 

In case you missed it, Monday was National Margarita Day. We went to Caliente.

I slept soooo good Monday night after my marg!

Tuesday I got up to run but the weather was just gross. Extremely foggy & misty. I decided since I was recovering from being sick it probably wasn't the best idea to hang out in that. I stayed inside & did a leg workout. 

We had an unexpected half day off Tuesday. The weather was supposed to get really bad with tornadoes & stuff.  Schools were closed so our office closed at 11:00. We were lucky that all we had was rain & wind but some of the outlying areas had tornadoes. 

Wednesday the wind was between 20-25 mph so I didn't even attempt to run. I did arms & upper body & ran this morning.

It was pretty cold this morning. 43 when I went outside. As much as I absolutely HATE cold weather I really love to run in it. It's strange. 

So, now we're all caught up!

Toodles!

Monday's are not my favorite.

I don't know what it is about Monday's but they're definitely my least favorite day of the week. This morning was my yearly mammogram & ultrasounds. Everything was fine which is a relief. A lot of people are totally freaked out by the whole mammogram process. I don't think it's a big deal. I'd rather have the mammogram than deal with dental stuff. Today was harder than normal. If you've never had one you have to hold your breath when they take the pics. I woke up yesterday with a really stuffed up head so breathing is a little difficult to begin with. 

I was ran the Mardi Gras Mambo 15K Saturday morning so we had dinner at Monjuni's Friday night. Love, love, love pasta! It was delicious. 

Saturday I was up bright & early. The race started at 8:00 & it was downtown which is only about 15 minutes from home but there's the whole parking thing. I ended up with a parking ticket the last time I was downtown for a race. I wanted to avoid that. After being stopped by a train  & detoured because of road construction I finally got to a parking lot that took credit cards. I had some cash but no small bills & the machines don't give change. Well, there are people milling about the machine but nobody looked to be paying. The machine was taking your money but it wasn't printing the receipt that you're required to leave on your dash. There was a sign that said you could pay by phone on their website. In order to do that you had to have your parking spot number. Well, the parking spot numbers aren't clear enough to read because they're painted on the concrete. Most people were just parking & not paying. I moved on to another lot. I've never used the fancy machines before. This lot was $10 (ridiculous in my opinion but whatever). I actually had a $10 bill so no biggie. Yes, well in order to give the machine your money, you have to know your license plate number. I had to trek back to my car to get that. I took a picture of it so if I need it again I'll have it. Then I couldn't figure out where to put the money. Seriously, I felt like I was on an episode of  I Love Lucy. The parking lot attendant had to come over & help me two different times. I told him I wasn't normally this stupid. He laughed but wasn't very convincing. I think he was thinking "yeh right lady". My question is, if you have to have an attendant to show people how the machine works why not just sit him in a booth & have him take the $10?? I assure you based on all the commotion that was happening with this machine, it would've been faster to just give him my money.

Anyway, I made the race with 15 minutes to spare & then for some reason the start was delayed 10 minutes. I met up with my people & we lined up. I was running the 15K. Allison & Amanda were walking the 10K & Karen was running the 10K. It was her first ever 10K race. 

Normally, all of the races I run are downtown & have a very similar course. This one was different & different than last year because of construction. We still got to run around the lakes which I love but we only had to do the dreaded overpass one time! Yes, it was at mile 8 but at least it was only once.

The weather was great. In the high 40's when it started & sunny which is just about perfect for me.  I finished in 1:36. I was hoping for 1:35 but really thought I would be closer to 1:40 so I was happy. I'd been taking sinus/allergy meds for a couple of days.

Since it was Karen's first 10K I had champagne to celebrate!

She loved it and was so surprised!

Me & Karen while we waited for Allison & Amanda

I LOVE my medal!

The medal hangs on a strand of mardi gras beads. Really cute!

I ran the last 4/10 of a mile at an 8:57 pace. I NEVER run that fast. I was trying to make 1:35. Just missed it.

Allison, Amanda, me & Karen

The only thing I was disappointed in was the fact that there were no cake balls! Every year Brew Ha Ha is a sponsor & has a ton of king cake cake balls after the race. They were a sponsor but there were no cake balls. I was really bummed because I passed up going in there Friday night after dinner to get some because I knew I'd have them Saturday. No bueno. 

After the race I went home & ended up taking a little nap. Imagine that! We went to Mass & then came home for dinner. We go out to eat so much that it's not a big deal for us to go out for Valentine's Day. Dean got us some bacon wrapped filets & shrimp stuffed baked potatoes to cook & we had a bottle of "good" wine.

I think this is one of my all time favorites. 

When I woke up Sunday morning my head was so stuffed up. UGH! It was awful. I did basically nothing but lay on the sofa & read yesterday. I didn't even nap good because Mucinex keeps me awake. Today isn't a whole lot better. I need to move to a better climate.

Toodles!

Throw Back Thursday

This popped up in my Time Hop yesterday.

That would be the beginning of my "fitness journey". LOL! Seriously, that was the first time I'd done a real workout in years. Hard to believe that was 5 years ago. I don't go to Yoglates anymore but I'm still working out. I don't know that I've ever stuck to anything that long!

Saturday morning we went to Logan's basketball game. I swear it's sooo funny! Once the game was over Logan wasn't ready to leave.

He played with his dad for awhile.

Then this stuff starts happening. Scott wonders why Logan is wild & plays rough!

You can't really tell but he was a little sweaty mess!

After the game we had some errands to run & being that my goal for the weekend was to have some king cake cheesecake we had lunch at Cheesecake Bistro.

I swear I think it gets better every year. It's just so so so good! We went home after that & I think I set a record for laying on the sofa. I was there for over 5 hours without getting up. I guess I should be embarrassed but there was nothing going on. I napped, watched the LSU basketball game & read.

We were full from lunch so we didn't even make it to Caliente. I ended up eating a bowl of cereal. 

Sunday morning we got up early & went to 7:00 Mass. That's when things got interesting. There were several police hanging out which was weird. When we got back from Church there were about 7 cars in front of a house. After some phone calls we figured out there was a home invasion & the people were home. One guy was caught, the other one was roaming about our subd. It was crazy for awhile. There was even a helicopter circling over the subd. looking for the guy. Here's a link to the article that was in The Advocate Monday. So basically nobody is safe anywhere. Great. It was in the paper today that they did catch the second guy last night so that's good. 

While all of this was going on I went for a run. I mean how much safer could I be with all the police that were roaming around everywhere? I'm running a 15K on Feb. 13th & a Half in March.

It was kinda hot Sunday but I got my 7 miles in.

Dean washed both of our trucks Sunday.

It looks so pretty when it's clean. While he washed I worked in the yard.  Might as well take advantage of the weather. 

Since the weather was nice Dean grilled & I had a glass of wine.

Isn't the glass cute? My friend Cindy did it with her Cricut machine.

Monday morning was leg day and Tuesday was arm day.

Wednesday I ran.

Today was leg day again. It's supposed to also be king cake bread pudding day! One of my favorite restaurants operates the cafeteria at the plant where Dean works & he's bringing me some home today!!

Toodles!

Lil LeBron

As usual at this time of year the weather has been predictable. Predictable that it will be unpredictable. It's hot, it's cold, it's raining. It's a vicious cycle. Last Friday it was crazy cold. 20 mph winds cold. I wanted seafood gumbo so off we went to Mike Anderson's for dinner. It was fabulous!

Saturday morning was Logan's first basketball game. In case you haven't noticed in past posts Logan takes sports really seriously & he has to look the part.

Come to find out, Logan's favorite basketball player is LeBron James.

See the resemblance?? Ha!

I only wish I could've gotten a picture of him when he was trying to intimidate the girl that was guarding him. His expressions were priceless. This was some of the funniest stuff I've seen in a long time!

Look at that form! 

Some of these kids were surprisingly good. I mean considering they're 5 & 6 years old.

He made some shots.

And showed a lot of emotion! Kids are so funny!

After the game we went to my parents, ran errands, had lunch (I can't believe all the years that I didn't eat chicken shawarma) & went to Mass. We stopped at Caliente. It had been 2 weeks & we can't go longer than that. 

Work has been crazy. We're getting into tax season so there's no early Friday's. Such a bummer. 

I've stuck with all my workouts this week. Up every morning at 4:30, Sunday & Tuesday I had 4 mi. runs & Thursday a 5 miler. Monday & Friday was leg day & arm day on Wednesday. I've felt better this week & more rested. According to my Vivofit I've been getting more deep sleep than I had been. 

Other than Logan's basketball game tomorrow the only thing on the agenda for the weekend is a piece of this

I haven't been eating king cake at work or indulging in all of the king cake flavored things that I normally do but this will be an exception! 

Toodles!

Last Weekend

Friday night we went to Confirmation for my Godchild/cousin, Brendan. 

Scott is Brendan's Godfather. 

My parents with Brendan, Brooke, Dylan. They're brothers & sisters & Logan because nobody's taking a picture without him!

The Bishop does all the Confirmations in our Diocese. 

Saturday night out crew hosted an engagement party for Alexandra & Travis. Alexandra is the first kid of our 3900 Krewe & More to get engaged.

Me, Cindy & Jackie. The party was at Jackie's. We had tables set up in her outdoor patio.

I thought Cindy's cheese & fruit trays were so pretty!

We used a pirogue for the beer & water.

If you need flowers, Trader Joe's is the place to go. I went over there a few weeks ago & talked to the girl that's in charge of their flowers & told her that I was going to need white flowers & the date I needed them. She said she'd order extras. When I got there Saturday morning she'd pulled a bunch of white flowers & bouquets & had them in water at the service desk. I was able to look through them, pick what I want & buy them. It was so easy! Much less expensive than using a florist too.

Jeff, Brad, Cindy, Dawn & Suzy - all hosts. 

The main course was pastalaya, salad & rolls. It was delicious. Also, the perfect meal for me since I was running the Half the next day.

It's Carnival season so we had to have a king cake It was delicious! There was a red velvet bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes & a sheet cake from Sam's that was my favorite!! Love butter cream icing! We had adorable custom made styrofoam cups with Alexandra & Travis names & wedding date on one side & their hashtag on the other. 

I'd made the decision that my exit time was 9:00. I had a 4:30 wake up the next morning. I needed some sleep. I didn't drink one drop of alcohol & about 45 bottles of water. Once I got home & in bed I couldn't go to sleep right away because of the music coming from the party!! Nothing like trying to sleep with Beat It playing. The party went on until 1:00 am. This ought to be some wedding!

Have a great weekend!

Toodles!

The Louisiana Marthon

What a crazy busy weekend! Saturday morning was the 5K for The Louisiana Marathon. When I first registered for this the plan was to run it & the Half on Sunday. When you do both you get the Deja Vu award. Since my leg had been bothering me I decided to walk. Let's back up to Friday. I went to the Expo after work & met up with a friend that is a Physical Therapist. The company she works for is a huge supporter of the race. We were talking & I mentioned my leg had been bothering me & she took me into her "tent" & worked on me. She "scraped" with something that looked like this.

It kinda hurt but it felt good if that makes sense. After she finished scraping she did a few stretches & showed me some things I can do to keep it from getting bad again. When I stood up & walked away I had zero pain. It was the strangest thing ever. She showed me how to tape it with KT Tape too. I understand that stuff about as much as I understand the Cloud which is not at all. People swear by the tape so I bought some.

Back to Saturday. I walked the 5K in 46:05. It was cold. 

Karen ran & she just knew she was going to do awful because she hasn't been running as much but her time was the EXACT, I mean down to the second exact time from last year. 

After the 5K we went to the finishers fest & had some food. Ruffino's was there with braised pork cheek & butternut squash which was delicious! Community Coffee was there too with free coffee which was great because aside from it being cold, it was windy too. They even had the king cake coffee. After that it was time for the kid's race. 

Logan had a great time. All those kids are so cute. One poor kid ran by with one shoe on his foot & one shoe in his hand! I saw him cross the finish line the same way! 

Sunday morning I was up bright & early at 4:30. I got dressed & ate my usual breakfast of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, chia seeds, blueberries & honey. I still had zero pain in my leg. The race start is only about 10 minutes from my house but I left a little before 5:30 in case I had trouble finding a parking place. I ended up getting a great spot. It pays to get there early.

 First stop was Mass at 6:00. The Cathedral is only a block from the starting line. The Church was packed. I got a seat but by the time Mass started it was standing room only. Father Michael joked that he didn't get this many people at Christmas Mass. Later he said that there were 800 people there. All either runners or people there to support their runner friends & family. His plan was to do Mass in 26.2 minutes. 

One of the readers - I did not take pictures in Church. I borrowed this from Fr. Michael's Facebook page. The clock was a great touch! He was soooo close to making his time BUT as he said "Too many people came" so Communion took longer than expected. He's such a great Priest. He has lots of energy, he's young & doesn't take himself too serious. His sermon's are easy to understand too. It was a great way to start the day. The extra blessings didn't hurt either. Another great perk is we got to use the bathroom at Church so no porta potties!! 

The view approaching the starting line.

The tall building is the State Capitol.

I've talked about my leg & I talked about how I didn't run for about a week and a half leading up to the race because of my leg. I think sometime during my training I talked about a 2:15 goal. Well, it seems like after the Disney race everything went down hill. First that race was changed from a Half to a 7 miler, then it was the holidays & cold & rainy & just a lot going on. I managed to get some  runs in but they were all slower than they had been & I wasn't really sure why. Needless to say when my leg started feeling worse I pretty much kissed 2:15 goodbye & was thinking about being able to do it in October at the Gulf Coast Half in Mandeville. That's a super flat course & the site of my last PR. 

I started this race with no expectations. My longest run this training cycle was 11 miles so I was just hoping that those last 2 miles wouldn't kill me. Especially considering the overpass is at mile 11. 

I always start slow. Nothing new there. When I had to run up the overpass the first time (yeh we get to do it twice) after a mile I checked my watch & I was going faster than normal at that stage. I was under 11:00. That was good to see. At that point I was hoping for 2:17 something because that would be a new PR. 

I'm running along enjoying the scenery. There are a ton of spectators for this race. People were handing out jello shots, shots of champagne, pancakes. Yes, pancakes. There were also a lot of people along the route playing music. It was great to hear Snoop at mile 2! Not long after that I heard a familiar voice. Cindy is the BEST cheerleader because she squeals & screams & you can hear her before you see her.

Running selfie!! I never stopped, she just ran a few feet with me. See the commotion behind me with the man bent over? He is a very nice man. When I saw Cindy I started taking off my sleeves because I was warming up a little & I was going to give them to her so I didn't have to carry them or fight to get them in my flip belt. While I was doing that I managed to take off my finish fest bracelet & didn't know it. That very nice man was picking it up for me. He could've kept it & had more food & drinks for himself or he could've just left it on the ground. Runners are very nice people. 

I saw Cindy again a few more times along the route. She took my gloves later. It was great. I had no idea she'd be out there. 

When I saw my 10K time I got excited. It was 1:02. I've never ran a 10K that fast. I've barely run 6 miles that fast. I start calculating in my head which also helps get your mind off the actual running. I knew I was going to be close to 2:15. 

Then mile 11 hit. It was tough. At that point I was ready to be done & I kept thinking about the dreaded overpass. I managed to speed up before getting to it. My thinking was maybe some of my momentum would help get me up the hill. Yeh, not so much. I thought I was going to die. I wanted to walk so bad. I yelled at myself in my head. I did not get to 11 miles & that close to a PR to blow it all & walk when I was almost to mile 12. I kept going & I saw my friend Denese at mile 13. Dean was standing right next to her but somehow I didn't see him. I was expecting him at the finish line I guess. When I saw the clock I was so excited because that's when I knew not only did I beat 2:15, I was in the 2:10's!

Official time: 2:10:46!!! A PR of almost 8 minutes! 

Next up was time to wait for my sister-in-law Lydia. The race had an app this year with live tracking. 

After Lydia finished we went to the porta potty & to find coffee because we were so cold. Surprisingly, the porta potty wasn't awful. People who know me & are still shocked that I run are even more shocked that I'm using a porta potty! 

It was in the 40's & windy but as you can see from the pictures, it was a gorgeous day! After running my first Half in 40 degree rainy weather I will never take for granted the awesome weather we seem to always have for the Louisiana Marathon.

We got our coffee & headed back to wait for my my brother Scott. We had a great spot to watch from but it was also in a wind tunnel.

Freezing!

Here he comes!

3:48:48 for his first Full Marathon! He said it wasn't as bad as he expected & he didn't say that he wouldn't do another one.  

All in the family!

My haul from the weekend! Not too shabby!

It's a pretty good day when you get over 30,000 steps.

Toodles!