Labor Day Weekend

After working a *fun* filled day.  Yeah...notice those astricks - big thick sarcasm can be heard from miles away!  My family all boarded our respective airplanes and headed to The Windy City.  Yes, I was just there and Yes, I will be there two more times before this year is through in case you are keeping tabs on me.  ;)

Most of my immediate family departed from Houston.  Younger sister Linda with her husband Craig, older sister Cathy with her husband Jay, my mom, dad, and I boarded our 7:15pm flight with non-stop service.  As in all other times we fly together, I end up on team Cathy and Jay.  It's funny to think how just slightly over a year ago we weighed collectively over 320 lbs more than we do now.  Do you know tightly we used to be squeezed into that airplane row?  Do you know how much more comfortably we fit now?  It's amazing!  Cathy and I tried to convince Jay that another person could fit into our row, but he wasn't having it.  ha!

My brother and his wife April flew in from Washington, D.C.  Since they arrived first, they were already whisked away to my aunt and uncle's house.  My uncle came to pick-up the whole lot of us in our party van - a 15 passenger blue number.  We shuffled in with our luggage in tow and headed to the house.  My aunt is like ol' faithful when it comes to hospitality - especially food.  Good Lord - the woman even has a dish of York Peppermint Patties in the powder room (no, I didn't eat any of them).  We ate, laughed, gossiped, and retired for the evening.

On Saturday, my family threw a surprise 80th birthday party for my grandmother.  The "adults" meaning my mom, dad, aunt, and uncle headed out in my uncle's car while the "kids" headed out in...yes, you guessed it...the party van.  I suggested a Chinese fire drill at one of the lights, but it got the veto because of our high heels and dresses.  I thought those details would make the entire process even that much more amusing for spectators, but alas...the veto stuck.  It was 7 weeks before my grandmother's real birthday, so the surprise part wasn't too hard to pull off.  The guest list included family near and far, some select employees from our family business, and some of my grandmother's dearest friends.  I believe there were around 200 people total in attendance.  It was an open bar event with brunch served and, of course, dessert.  The best part of all was seeing my Grandma get emotional when she realized what was going on.  She made me tear up!  It was a beautiful event, but alas...the day was not over when it was over.  Oh no...we had about 2 hours before party #2.  All out of town guests and immediate family were gathered at my aunt and uncle's house for dinner.  Do you notice a theme?  Food!  Lots and lots of food!

On Sunday, I woke up super duper early to do my long run.  Normally I would have hit it up on Saturday, but I hadn't gotten much sleep with flying in late and we had to leave for down town relatively early PLUS I was scheduled for a 6 miler which takes a turtle like me a bit o' time.  It was 52 degrees!  At first when I walked outside I wondered if I would be better off changing my attire, but then I told myself to "man up" and hit the streets.  My aunt told me I could leave their cul-de-sac and head down to the main street all the way to the next main street and back and that would be 2 miles, so I decided to duck down a few side streets here and there.  I ran non-stop for 3.3 miles and then went back into the house for a bathroom break.  I went back out again to do the other 2.7 miles, but the strangest thing happened....I still had lots of energy left in me, so I ran for another 3.2 miles (without walking) making it an even 6.5 mile run.  I'm such an over achiever!  I still could have kept on going, but there were 2 parties planned for the day (yes, another 2).  We went over to my Aunt Janet's house for my cousin Rachel's bridal shower (party #1).  Once again - ridiculous quantities of food.  After the shower, the men folk came back to the house after playing golf (and the others who didn't play golf joined us) and we had a barbeque.  In case you were wondering....more food was served for our dining pleasure.  After eating, laughing, gossiping and all that jazz, we headed back to the house we were staying at to just chill and we might have eaten some cookies.

On Monday, my mom and aunt's brother met us up at the house and all of us went to the Walker Bros. Pancake House.  This is a staple for us whenever we go to Chicago.  It was delicious, as always.  Once we finished, there was just enough time to relax for a bit back at the house before heading to the airport.

In short, we ate too much.

I had my camera...didn't take a single pic, but pics were taken, so they are out there somewhere and when I get my grubby hands on them, I shall post them.

How was your holiday weekend?