Saturday, July 31, 2010

What the heck!!!!?????!!!!

I agreed to run a 5K race September 18 with one of my BFF's Kris and her daughter - 15 year old Lexi. Why we decided to do this - I don't know. I just know we were kinda discussing it - smart mouth 15 year old said "how hard could it be to run 3 miles" and then it kinda snowballed from there. So, Kris got us set up on the Couch to 5K running plan and - it's a gradual process and thus far it's working. We've completed our first week of running training - the only gripes are sore shins. I've been icing them and that has seemed to help - but actually when I run I actually feel really good.

The worst part of this running jazz....is I'm hungry all the time - well, mainly at night. I could eat the entire pantry. I need to just drink water, water and some more water or eat an apple or something to alleviate my hunger and attacking of whatever I can get my hands on. So, that is really the biggest adjustment. We just have to run 3 x week so it's not too brutal.

I start personal training sessions with an old friend from high school. I cheered with her and we were good friends during school but after we both graduated, we really lost touch with each other and I don't think I've even seen her since we graduated. Anyway, she lives about 30 miles away and she owns a Fitness Center and she teaches several classes. She just recently got her personal training certification and posted it on Facebook. Well, since I have been stagnet since really January when I had my biopsy on my foot and then had my melanoma surgery, fell down the steps and had a hairline sacrum fracture, another biopsy on my foot, another melanoma diagnosis, another melanoma surgery - I haven't been able to be back at the gym.

I have my 20 year class reunion coming up - and botox just can't fix everything! :) So, I'm going to drive over to Brownsburg twice a week for the next 2 months and take a beating from Jamie - train for this 5K and then also do 3xweek some hard core cardio on my own at the gym. With all of that - I should be in tip top shape for a 38 year old woman at my 20 year class reunion! I shouldn't give all my secrets away now should I? I should have kept quiet and then showed up - and act like I looked like this all the time. Oh, well....

The kids start school in less than 2 weeks. Today we went school supply shopping and picked them up some clothes for school. Both kids are set for the first couple of months of school while it's still warm. Now, when it turns cold - the pocketbook is going to be taking a deep hit...(be prepared Steve) because we don't have anything bought. Well, Isabella's tops from the cool season will still work for her this year but she has outgrown all of her 7 slim jeans and Ava has zero - and I mean zero - cool weather cothing.

Stride Rite is having their Buy 1 get 1 1/2 off sale right now so we will probably go Monday - if Steve is feeling up to it (he is having an endoscopy done in the morning) and get them their tennis shoes for the year. Well, first part of the year - they are pretty hard on them that they wind up getting a 2nd pair during the middle of the year. I'm so happy that they have outgrown (well, I have outgrown) the multiple pairs of shoes phase. I remember when Isabella was in kindergarten she probably had 10 pairs of shoes....and she went for 2 1/2 hours (Ava will be going to full day kindergarten). I know the days of multiple pairs of shoes will be arriving soon - so I'll enjoy just buying some expensive tennis shoes for now.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Tybee Island - Photo Filled - Post 2

Ok, these are from my sister in laws camera. Most pictures are pretty obvious so no descriptions will be typed. Any photo with description - it will be under the photo.




My mom, sister in law, her mom and Ava all went out one day to the Lighthouse on Tybee Island. I think it was the oldest lighthouse/first light house or something like that. Isabella and Dialycia were still in bed and my back was killing me so the three of us stayed back at the cottage. Mom, Ava and Dee walked up the 178 stairs - and back down at the lighthouse. They said Ava was a trooper and didn't complain once - even when she had her picture taken a million times. I think she was just happy to be the only kid with 3 adults. lol













The three girls at The Crab Shack - pretty obvious. lol

My beautiful sister in law and gorgeous niece.


Three complaining beauties on the beach.

Grammy and grandkids


Me upstairs at Paula Deens Store. The apron had S.L.U.T.S. on it = Southern Lady Under Tremendous Stress. Yes, I moved the display for the photo.







Goodness, she is beautiful.

Can you read this sign??? No swimming within 50 feet...someone drifted over to this pier and was not 50 feet away...just sayin'







The aforementioned someone who didn't read said sign - went under this pier when wave #2 hit her

The making of a mermaid.





Bella had a BLAST - this is one of my favorite photo's of her.





Mermaid complete!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tybee Island Vacation - Post 1 - PHOTO FILLED

Ok, this is the first set of photo's - my sister in law has to upload hers tonight and then I'll add another post. The whole vacation is credited to my sis-in-law Dialevash who researched it and found the cottage we rented. It was a 5 bedroom cottage. I'd never even heard of Tybee Island, Georgia - but so glad we had a girls trip and made the trek. Even though my back flared up like fire - the laughs - so, so, so surpassed my pain.

Descriptions will be under all photo's.

The three cousins sitting in front of the fountain near Paula Deens Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah, Georgia - which was only 15 miles from our cottage.

Don't let these cute looks and smiles fool you - there was TONS of complaining that went on while we were taking pictures.

Ava on our 90 minute trolley ride around Savannah. I never knew the deep history Savannah has! If you ever go to Savannah - pay the $22 for the tour - it was money well spent. Plus, we had 4 hours to wait until our lunch reservations at Paula Deens (we had to show up BEFORE 9:30 a.m. to get a seating time. We got to the restaurant at 8:45 and Dialevash's mom stood in line for us the entire time. The line was wrapped around the building. We got a check-in time of 2:30 and we were finally seated at 3:00)


Isabella on the trolley - can you tell it was HOT, HOT, HOT there. Oh yeah - and about 100% humidity. My hair just LOVED Georgia.

Ava - always being camera ready...


Me and my sweet girls waiting inside the restaurant waiting to be seated. After 4 hours, I finally found a ponytail holder in my camera bag. Temps dropped 10 degrees once the hair went up.

Silly cousins wasting time.



My mom and I....um, why does she not have a shiny face???? Must be the Mary Kay...I even wore oil free moisturizer, no foundation and powdered the heck out of my face the entire trip, but alas, I was still a shiny mess in every photo.

We went and ate dinner one evening at the Crab Shack - it's a huge place and very popular. Ava looks really excited to be at a seafood restaurant.

My sis-in-law and I. A near death experience would occur just a few short hours after this photo. I'm giggling thinking about it. Sorry Dee!!!!!






Ok, so Dialevash follows several beach/cottage blogs. She met one of the ladies who blogs and this lady also happens to be a realtor (super sweet lady) and she is the one who has the vacation listing for Paula Deens cottage. You can rent out her house when she is out of town. So, after dinner we drove by it...


Dee and I wanted a photo of us in front of the house. Dee had in mind standing UNDER the sign, I didn't have the same plan. I drug her booty up to the porch and stood above the sign. We were laughing so hard. Plus, the kids kept yelling from the van that we were going to go to jail and get arrested for trespassing. Picture taken and no one arrested. :)

Isabella

Ava

Me and the shining stars of my life....

Sisters, best friends, best enemies - partners in crime...

Mommy and the birthday girl...






Ava showing the world she was 5 years old...

Beach photos that were PURE TORTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grammy and her grandkids....
Me, mom and the girls...the wind was a beyotch with my hair and the sun was brutal to stare into...

Ok, this photo makes me giggle - look at Ava. She was worried about getting her shorts wet, so she was rolling them up. lmbo


We found a sweet couple to take photos of us. The wind blew my hair into a million different directions and I probably cut a few people that it whipped up against.
Ok, highlights of the trip...
  • The trolley ride in Savannah - I took a million photos while on the tour but can't remember what the heck they are of. The only one I remember was of the park that Forrest Gump was filmed in and the park bench he sat on with his box of chocolates.
  • Lunch at Paula Deens. I got the buffet - and honestly - it wasn't anything to write home about. It wasn't really expensive $13 - but it's really just Golden Corral quality buffet food. But, the experience was good - it was just one of those places you'd regret going to the town and not eating there.
  • Spending a good hour out in the ocean with just me and Dialevash. We were collecting sand dollars with our feet - but I laughed and swallowed a ton of salt water during that hour.
  • Ok, I posted about this on Facebook - but must relive the story here. The night after getting our picture taken at Paula Deens cottage, we went to the beach. My mom had bought boogie boards for the girls and Dee found one at goodwill. Well, Dee (thank goodness, she is an experienced swimmer) decided she was going to take the board out to "ride the waves". Well, we were right by the pier - the stone/concrete, barnacle filled pier. Dialevash, being the good citizen she was - warned everyone about the barnacles. This is no joke when I say she "paddled/kicked" for AT LEAST 30 minutes and didn't move an inch. You would see her be able to catch her breath between waves and she was panting. I'm shaking right now from laughing as I type this. She says she would look up to the beach to see us and all she saw was me bent over at the waist laughing my butt off. Long story short - she got a couple feet from the pier - a massive wave comes, you see her bring the boogie board up to protect her head as she is SLAMMED into the pier. She disappears for quite a while because there was at least 3-4 waves that repeatedly came and didn't let up. At this point, I stopped laughing and started running towards the ocean (like I was going to save her). A few moments later, she resurfaces on the other side of the pier - and I resumed laughing. Her foot was cut to shreads from hitting the barnacles. She said that she remembers looking up during her kicking period of going no where and seeing people looking at her, once she resurfaced on the otherside of the pier - she said the people moved to the otherside (probably to make sure a dead body wasn't floating) and they were giving her thumbs up for surviving. Thank goodness, she was a good spirit about it and didn't take offense to me laughing - but I seriously couldn't stop and still can't.

She and I agreed on the following - our hair does not do well in Georgia and after seeing photos of ourselves - we need to lose weight. lol