I'm still ticking!

Apparently I've just turned into a bad blogger.  I can't say for sure I will get back to my regular blogging self anytime in the next century, but what I can do is blog when it's feasible and not blog when it isn't.  Sounds fair to me!

Since we last parted ways...

I've suffered the loss of a friend.  My friend was Friday Night Lights.  I watched all 5 seasons on Netflix and then...felt empty.  For 5 seasons I lived in Dillon,TX.  For 5 seasons I "cared" about football and the lives of my many "friends".  For 5 seasons, I got all caught up in the drama and then....nothing.  Empty.  I'm trying to replace my friend, but so far nothing has hooked me yet.  I will let you know if/when that changes.

Since we last parted ways...

I've traveled to Huntington Beach, CA to visit my brother and sister-in-law.  I arrived on Friday, 2/3.  Eddie took me to our Surf City Marathon Expo where I stocked up on all sorts of goodies.  Have you ever tried the Halo brand sweat bands?  OMG!  I have never in my life worn a sweat band that truly did not allow sweat to drip in my eyes.  Best. Sweat Band. Ever.  I also purchased a visor with a built in sweat band, but I've yet to try it out.  I then purchased a pair of Experia Cool Max PINK socks which are awesome!  We all know how much I enjoy NUUN, so I bought a few cylinders of various flavors to tide me over.  Wouldn't you know I would forget my SPIbelt?  No worries...I bought a bigger one at this Expo which totally holds everything I need - including my cell phone!  =)  Yes, I totally dropped a small fortune, but it was well worth it!

After the Expo, we headed to Slater's 50/50 - Burgers by Design.  Eddie had been telling me about this place for quite some time.  He wanted us to be bold and daring and try the Peanut Butter and Jellousy.  We had amazing service and we were even encouraged to each pick out a burger and then they would split both burgers for us so we could each have half of the other's burger.  We decided on the PB&J burger (pb, strawberry jelly, bacon, burger on a honey wheat bun) and the special of the month, the Pizza Burger (1/2 beef 1/2 Italian sausage burger, fried cheese sticks, red pepper pizza sauce, and pepperoni on a Ciabatta roll).  Though we both enjoyed the pizza burger, we agreed the PB&J burger was the MOST AMAZING BURGER EVER!  I might have convinced him we needed to go again to experience it in all of it's glory once more before I left. 

Saturday was more or less a chill day with plenty o' carbo-loading.

Sunday was race day.  Eddie and April had never done a half before.  This was my 8th.  I was, of course, walking the race since I have not been running for almost a  year now.  I have to say that it was probably the most boring course I've ever been on.  You may recall that I did the OC Half back last May and the course, though VERY hilly, was fantastic taking us along the beach, cliffside, and through some beautiful neighborhoods.  The Surf Side City Half was a different ballgame all together.  We started on the Pacific Coast Highway (or the PCH as the cool kids call it) and with the exception of a 2 mile detour off a side road which looped back to the highway, we remained on the PCH through the finish line.  Although I did appreciate the beach scene, it wore out its welcome at the 8 mile turn around.  I will say that the runners and walkers in the race were incredibly friendly and supportive.  The staff members working the race were helpful and sweet dispositioned.

A few cool / mentionable moments.  Around mile 3, I met an older couple.  We were chatting as we walked and they told me the best experience they have ever had was walking the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer two years in a row and that they looked forward to walking it again this year.  What you don't know is that I've been listening to the advertisements for the Houston Walk on 96.5 thinking that this may be something I want to participate in.  More on this subject in another post, but needless to say, I took this as a sign I needed to walk the walk!  Near mile 4, I hit up a hydration station and disappointingly noticed they didn't have any Vitalyte available.  I knew I needed electrolytes to help stave off the calf cramps, so I asked oned of the volunteers and he said he would look for some.  I told him thanks, but not to worry about it and kept marching along.  He apparently found some and ran it over to me.  What a great guy!  Then, around mile 6, I was traipsing along and some really awesome girl who was on the other side of the highway about 4 miles ahead of me came running across the median to give me a bracelet and some words of encouragement.

Overall, I was okay with my performance.  I maintained a decent consistent pace through mile 8 and then it went completely downhill when the calf cramps blasted me around mile 9.  I had a hydration plan of only drinking the Vitalyte at all stations, but the first one didn't have any and then I was only able to find it at the second and third.  By the time I hit the 4th station, they were out.  I hit up a medic tent around mile 10.5 and got a cup of Gatorade that took me to the finish line, cramps and all. I didn't end my race listening to music, so there is no finishing song on this one.

I think it's time I buy some salt pills to take with me on my journies.  =/  Any suggestions of brands?

We pigged out on pizza Sunday evening.  I think I was trying to replenish the 2260 calories I burned during the race. 

April and I got foot massages on  Monday.  Then I headed back to Houston on Tuesday.

Wednesday was a pamper-me day.  I got a MUCH needed haircut in the morning followed by a 70 minute hot stone massage that I purchased via Living Social a long time ago.  Although the massage was relaxing, I have to say that I still prefer my deep tissue torture sessions.  ;)

Thursday, I had eye surgery...AGAIN.  6 years ago, I jumped on the lasik bandwagon.  Right before I was to have standard lasik surgery, the doctor decided he would prefer to do a procedure on me called Epilasik.  This was as a result of my astygmatism and it meant a longer recovery period.  I remember being totally miserable for about 5 days or so.  Well several months ago I noticed that my vision had changed and since I had paid for a "warrantly" of sorts on my surgery, I was entitled to free touch-ups as necessary.  I went through the whole process with Lasik Plus before they determined the procedure would be beneficial to me.  This time they decided to do PRK surgery - slightly different than Epilasik and a longer recovery period.  I wasn't able to return to work until the next Tuesday and even then...my eyes were not as they should be.  My left eye was slightly over-corrected and my right eye was lagging behind.  It made for a very unbalanced vision causing me eyestrain and glaring issues.  It has since improved, but is still not perfect.  My doctor basically told me to have patience.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures in this post.  Not only am I bad blogger, but I'm a terrible picture taker, as well.  =/

I have so much more to catch you up on, so hopefully I will get to writing another post ASAP so you can share in my family's excitement!

M.I.A.

Apparently I went missing again.  Not from the real world, but I've been relatively quiet on the social media front.  I think, as a whole, I'm not very happy with this year.  That makes me sound like a spoiled brat when you read what I've been up to in my absence, but doing things and feeling things are sometimes two VERY different things.  Does that make sense?

October 18th was the last time I blogged.  6 weeks ago.  Bad Blogger.  Here are the highlights of things that happened during my disappearing act...

Painting Class
I bought a Groupon for one of those painting classes at Merlot to Masterpiece a while ago.  It took a bit of coordination to get some friends and fellow bloggers (Kim, Amanda, Marg, and Britt) together, but we finally managed to swing it.  Here is what the "goal" was supposed to look like:

Here was my finished (and framed) product:

The group shot:

Top Row - Amanda, Me, Kim
Bottom Row - Marg, Britt

Vacation
I headed to Chicago at the end of October to hang with family and participate in The Monster Dash.  My cousin Courtney and I walked 13.1 decked out in Angry Birds gear.  It was Courtney's first (and I'm told last) half and I promised her we would stay together.  I never left her side and we finished it.

While in Chicago, I made sure to eat all my favorite foods.  I hit up Portillo's twice - the first time for Italian beef and the second time for hot dogs.  We may or may not have managed to get the car towed while on our hot dog run during rush hour traffic downtown.  =/

I managed to pick-up some of my favorite candies from Fannie May - most notably Trinidads.

The beauty of a Trinidad lies in its decadent layers of rich, creamy real dark chocolate,
covered in a golden toasted coconut shell.

Of course, the best breakfast in the world can be found at Walker Bros. Pancake House.  Carbo-loading at its finest.

Post race, Courtney and I indulged on the BEST Chicago-style pizza EVER - Lou Malnati's.

Although it's hard to beat the BBQ of the South, Famous Dave's is quite delicious especially when hanging out with some wonderful cousins!

While downtown, I got to experience Chicago from the tourist perspective instead of my usual in and out of our designated commitments routine.  It was a nice change of pace.  I saw the famous Forever Marilyn statue (26 feet tall) and the Cloud Gate.

Management Meetings
Not even 2 weeks after my Chicago vacation, I set-off for Chicago again for my company's annual Management Meetings and Award Banquet.  Every year a book serves as the theme for the meetings and the upcoming year.  This year, Ubuntu! was the chosen one.  The basic concept is that "I am because we are" and that "we are all in this together".  In short...teamwork.  I have to say that some of my disgruntlement regarding work this past year has been as a result of a lack of teamwork, so this book and theme were much needed and appreciated (and will hopefully pay off).

After arriving in Chicago on Thursday, 11/10, all the managers (traveling from 12 Service Centers located nationwide) were whisked away to check into our hotel and then managed a caravan downtown to meet up with all the management of our headquarters to the Signature Lounge at the 96th Floor of the John Hancock building for a marvelous dinner (and an open bar).

Friday was filled with various meetings and followed-up with our Award Banquet.  Upper management has been really great about giving us monthly and quarterly statistics so most of us had a basic idea of our rankings in each category, but there is always one award whose recipient is always a mystery - the Service Center (SC) of the year award.  This award originated 8 years ago.  My SC won it for the first time in 2008.  We won it for the second time in 2009 becoming the 2nd SC to manage a repeat.  Then came 2010...we had dreamed of a 3-peat just to end up in 6th place (boo!).  I had a plan to win it back.  I can honestly say I worked the hardest I ever have in all my 12 1/2 years with this same company.  It paid off!  Now the only problem with being #1 is that there is a large target on your back!  =)

On Saturday we spent half a day finishing up our meetings and then it was off to my aunt and uncle's house to hang with family for the evening.  Wouldn't you know we managed to get our happy Lou Malnati's pizza for dinner!


Thanksgiving
Apparently I like to fly every 2 weeks.  =/  I only get sick EVERY time, but no big deal.  So we decided to resume our annual Thanksgiving trip to Vegas despite the fact that younger sister Linda and brother-in-law Craig were not going to be able to join us because of the upcoming arrival of their first child.  Older sister Cathy figured out that this was our 15th Thanksgiving in Vegas.  We spent 14 of them in a row, but detoured to Orlando last year for a fun-filled week in Disney and Universal Studios.

My parents stayed at the Venetian while the "kids" resided in my grandmother's condo located a couple of miles from The Strip.  This year was a bit different, though.  Normally we manage a movie or two walking from The Venetian all the way down to the Showcase movie theater by the MGM.  This year, we didn't see a single flick.  I also normally hang out at Casino Royale, but...not this time.  I mostly gambled away at The Venetian, the Palazzo, and the Las Vegas Hilton (because it was located across the street from our condo). 

We did swing a show - taking in Sting at Caesar's Palace.  It was in the Celine Dion theater, so a more intimate setting.  I loved listening to the background story of how his songs were conceived and I have mad appreciation for his violinist who made amazing music!

The ladies swung a spa day!  My mom treated older sister Cathy, sister-in-law April, and me to a spa treatment at the Canyon Ranch Spa located in The Venetian.  I chose a European facial and experienced rejuvenation in my skin!  I literally felt my skin glowing the rest of the day.  Upon completion of our respective services, we spent over 2 hours in the wonderment that is the spa-experience...the Hot Tub, Steam Room, Sauna, Herbal Laconium, the Igloo (yes, as cold as it sounds) Salt Grotto, and Wave Room while sipping on orange-infused water and delicious herbal teas.

Though I pretty much came home a big loser, I had some really nice hits throughout my gaming that kept the days fun and entertaining.  My favorite slot machines this year were Quick Hits and Hot Shots.  I will definitely be revisiting them next year!

And that's about it in a nutshell.  Hopefully I will be posting more frequently since it is now "the most wonderful time of the year!"  I leave you with this pretty dress displayed at The Venetian:

display dress made entirely of paper and ribbons

Vacation Planning

Have I ever mentioned how much I love vacations?  Oh I do, it's quite true!  It can even be said that I live for them.  To me, vacations are the reward for...life.

I know I've spoken of my love for Playa del Carmen, but alas...Mexico can't be in the cards for me.  You see, I have to plan my vacation with the thought process that I will be "all by myself" (sing it Celine).  I don't know for a fact that I will have anyone to go with me and so I have to choose a vacation spot that would be safe for me to travel to alone. 

One of the huge appeals of Playa for me...or any beach, for that matter...is that it's AWAY and it's peaceful.  I can choose to do everything or nothing.  This got me wondering what it is that I could do here in the states that would give me that same sense of utopia.  Then it dawned on me.  I can choose a hot springs resort and spa escape. 

I then began my research.  My requirements were - hot natural springs, adventurous activities nearby, and of course...a spa.

No matter how many different search options I Googled, I kept coming back to this place - Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa in N. Bonneville, WA.  The only downside I can think of is that the high temp will be around 56 and the low 31 (ye gads!) while I'm there (early May 2012).  Oh...and brother-in-law Jay wanted to point it out to me that I might not be safe in the Pacific Northwest because there are a lot of serial killers from around those parts.  WHAT?!  Well you know that lead me to serial killer research!  I'm morbid like that.

source here

Within 30 minutes of the resort, I will have the opportunity to do a zipline course, white water rapids, hike waterfalls, see Mount St. Helens, and tour wineries (with wine tastings).

The resort also has a lovely restaurant with wonderful meal offerings, but if I wanted to eat off-campus, so to speak, Portland Oregon is only 35 minutes away with some great offerings like Veritable Quandary and Salvador Molly's.

The spa menu is superb.  I've already picked out several services I want such as:

Ultimate Relaxation Bath, Wrap & Massage


Our Chamomile bath and wrap or our Lavender bath and wrap followed by a relaxing 80-minute massage is perfect for those days when you just want to relax. This ultimate treatment also includes a foot massage followed by a warm towel foot wrap and a warm towel face wrap.


140 minutes

Just for Women Bath, Wrap & Facial


Enjoy a bath in YonKa Phyto Bain bath oil followed by a warm wrap and an

80 minute European Facial.

140 minutes

Rock N’ Rain Signature Massage


Try our Bonneville Hot Springs Spa Signature Massage. Six therapeutic essential oils are delivered down the spine in the Raindrop Technique, and then massaged in with warm basalt rocks followed by a full body massage.

80 minutes

Having something relatively planned for the future gives me the motivation to commit (fully) to getting to my goals.  Now, unfortunatley I have a bit more ground to cover than initially because I went wayward, but the point is I'm back on track.

Speaking of track...I decided this is going to be key in transforming me into the girl I want to be.  Starting today, I am tracking EVERYTHING.  I have Daily Mile to track my exercise.  I have Myfitnesspal.com to track my calories and water consumption.  I have Sleep Bot (an app on my phone) to track my sleep.

If only I could mentally get beyond this ridiculous weather.  I'm sure you are sick and tired of hearing me (and every other Texan) complain about the heat this summer, but I can honestly say that in all my 24 years of living here, this is by far the hottest summer.  Yesterday around 3:30pm, I took this picture (and no, my car had not been sitting in direct sunlight...this was after I had been driving for over 20 minutes).

So, what kind of vacation are you planning OR do you prefer?

Vacation Recap: Spring 2011

Let's talk numbers.

I was gone for 8 nights. I traveled on 4 different flights - Houston to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Chicago, Chicago to Greenville (SC), and then Greenville to Houston. I read 4 books - The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins and The Search by Nora Roberts. I saw 3 movies in theaters - The Conspirators, Something Borrowed, and Water for Elephants. I participated in 1 half marathon - The OC Half. Wowsers - I was a busy girl!

I don't want to bore you with all the sordid details of my vacation, so I will hit you with the highlights.

I left Houston on Saturday, 4/30, Los Angeles bound. I chose L.A. as the beginning of my adventure because my brother Eddie and sister-in-law April live in Huntington Beach and because I could coincide my visit with The OC Half Marathon.

Eddie picked me up from LAX and took me to Pinky's. He assured me it was an L.A. staple. So, hot dogs we had.

Eddie's on the left and mine on the right.

Next, we happened across the Hollywood Forever cemetery. Not to be all morbid or anything, but we were kind of looking for celebrity graves. We managed to find Estelle Getty and Johnny Ramone and, of course, the lovely peacocks you see pictured below.

After a crazy turn of events which were detailed in my race recap, we ended up arriving a bit late to our dinner reservation at Bandera's. We met up with our friends and coworkers (from New Jersey) Joe and Carie. I somehow never did manage to get pictures with them or of them (bad blogger). Joe and Carie's son and daughter-in-law just so happen to also live out in HB, so they came along to dinner as well so that Eddie and April could meet them.

Saturday was half marathon day. After the race, we met up with the gang at their hotel for breakfast. It just so happens when we finished that Muscle Milk decided to stop right outside their hotel and hand out free bottles, so I had myself a bottle of Muscle Milk Lite - mmmmm....tasty.

Later Eddie and I went to see The Conspirators. I knew nothing about it and found it fascinating. I was so exhausted from the day, however, and couldn't wait to crash and burn that evening.

On Monday, April and I got foot massages. $25 for an hour - awesome!!! Just what a girl needed post half marathon! We also hung out at the beach for a while.

On Tuesday, I had lunch with Eddie and then later April and I took their dog Roxie to the dog beach. so much fun!

I enjoyed my visit and can't wait to go back to sunny beautiful Cali!

Wednesday was a day full of travel. I headed out bright and early for my first flight of the day to Chicago. Unfortunately I ended up delayed once in Chicago for an extra hour above and beyond my layover. =( Ultimately it took me 12 hours to get to Greenville, SC.  Factor that in with a 3 hour time change and I was beat!

My friend Dana had to work a half day on Thursday, so I decided to power walk the hills - yes, my little lamp chops, Greenville is one hillatious city. yikes! I managed 6 miles and I was one sweaty mess! I got cleaned up and once Dana got home, we decided to get pedicures. Next up was our little Cinco de Mayo celebration at Senor Salsa's.

Dana was able to take Friday off. We were lazy bums half the day. yay! Then we went to lunch and saw Something Borrowed.

On Saturday, we had a picnic in the park. It was a beautiful day and downtown Greenville was having a Duckie Derby. It was fun to people watch! Later we went and saw Water for Elephants and then headed back to the house for a cook-out with some of Dana and Michael's friends.

We convinced Dana's parents to come up to Greenville on Sunday. I had not seen them in 3 years (since Dana's wedding). We had lunch with them and it was great to catch up. Before you knew it - my vacation was over and it was time to come back to reality.

My next vacation won't happen until AFTER the summer craziness that is my job.  Hopefully this one will carry me through the rough days ahead. 

Happy April!

No jokes today because I'm not sneaky enough to pull them off.  My smile/smirk gives me away every time.  tsk tsk...

So, I bought a new car this week.  Yeah, that's kind of a big deal.  I mean besides a house it's the most expensive thing a person buys...or at least this person.  It's my second car purchase...I'm practically an old pro.  I wheeled and dealed my way into a 2011 Chevy Traverse 2LT.  Her name is Ruby.  Do you like?

In other news, I found out I will not be able to participate in the 2012 Houston Chevron Marathon as I will be attending my cousin's wedding in Springfield, IL that weekend.  Family is very important to my family, so I know that I belong at the wedding.  This means that I will be changing my registration for The Woodlands half marathon to the full marathon.  This gives me 6 more weeks to train and an extra hour to complete the race (as compared to Houston).  A win/win situation, perhaps?

So, what's in store for April?  The parentals leave for vacation tomorrow which means I will be pulling dog duty at their house for an entire week.  Perhaps this go-around I will actually take advantage of their home gym.  Yes?

I have the Tomball Bunny Run 5K on April 9th.  This is my second repeat race for the year and my second 5K for the year.  Consequently, last year's run gave me my current PR.  I'm hoping to outdo myself and PR-it again.  It's possible cuz I am KIMpossible.  yeah...and a total cheeseball, clearly.  Lauren and Meredith are going to be running their hearts out with me.  Who else is in?

Later that night, I have a date to the Rocket's Game (and killer seats, I might add)!

On April 20th, my brother and sister-in-law are coming into town to celebrate Easter.  I was thinking I was going to be an only child that day as both of my sisters are abandoning the family on Easter in favor of their stupid tropical vacations, but I'm not bitter or anything.  I haven't seen Eddie and April since Thanksgiving, so I am excited about their visit!

On April 23rd, I will run my 2nd half marathon for the year - The Hippity Roc Half in Cypress, TX.  If I get my lazy booty into gear and if it isn't too hot out there, who knows, perhaps another PR?  I'm on a roll here!

Of course, we know that April 24th is Easter AND it's my double cousin Danielle's birthday - 17 - ye gads.

Last, but not least, I leave out on April 30th for my vacation.

What big plans are in store for YOU this month?

Happy February!

Happy February to you.

I'm trying to be in better spirits about February than I was about January, so bear with me here while I work my way through it.  One of my many issues right now is loneliness, so February bringing ol' V-day isn't going to help that, but whatever. 

So, on Sunday I went out to watch the Houston Chevron Marathon.  My friend Melissa was running her very first.  I was supposed to be running this race, but the ol' pelvic stress fracture took that opportunity away from me.  I wasn't really so sad about that when I took note of the weather that day.  The temperature was between 68 to 72 degrees and it was quite humid and drizzling most of the day.  I felt sorry for the runners and was quite thankful that it wasn't my first marathon.  Now, watch it be identical conditions next year when I embark upon my "adventure".  Oye.  Our first stop was Mile 6.  It was pretty cool because we got there so early that we were able to watch all the gazelles elites run by.  They are truly amazing!  I kept my eye out in the crowd for some familiar faces I knew were running the races - most specifically That Pink Girl, but alas...I sadly never did see her.  =(  I did cheer my heart out for all the runners.  As a runner myself, I know it means the world to me to hear people cheer.  It doesn't matter if you know them or not.  One dude told me he loved me.  I figured that meant we were dating and if I saw him again at a later mile marker perhaps we would become engaged, but no such luck.  I became hoarse from shouting my encouragements throughout the day.  We made it to miles 11, 15, 19, 23, and then to the George R. Brown Convention Center to congratulate Melissa.  She did great!  We were sooo proud of her!  I would also like to mention that we did see one guy running the race who wore a blue t-shirt that read "from 426 lbs to 26.2 miles".  Though I don't know who this guy is - he brought tears to my eyes.  Not only had he conquered one remarkable feat, but he had conquered two!  So very inspiring!

The marathon got me thinking about my plans for improving my running and achieving my goals.  I told myself that it's time to stop the pity party and time to start conquering my demons!  Tuesday morning, I got up at 4:30am and went out for a run.  It was 68 degrees and ridiculously humid.  A few hours later, it was 38 degrees.  What is going on Houston?!  Sheesh!  Last night I went out to run my coldest run EVER - it was 29 degrees (20 with the wind chill).  I managed 2.75 miles.  Post run, my house felt like an inferno compared to the chilly outdoors. 

In other news, I booked my vacation yesterday.  Uber excited about this.  Since I'm going out to Los Angeles to run the Orange County Half Marathon on May 1st, I thought I should incorporate that into my vacation.  It's really cool that I don't have to run this race alone.  A friend / co-worker of mine from NJ is coming out to Cali with her husband (also a co-worker of  mine) to visit their son and daughter-in-law who live in the same area where my brother and sister-in-law live.  This will be her first half marathon, though she is quite the runner! I'm heading out on Saturday, April 30th, and I will stay out there until Wednesday, May 4th.  On the 4th, I will head out to Greenville, SC to visit one of my best friends and her husband.  I haven't seen them since October '09.  I will stay with them until the 8th when I will arrive back in Houston JUST in time to celebrate Mother's Day with my family!  This means the mini triathlon I was going to do on May 8th is out.  I'm okay with that, though.  I think I really would rather focus on running this year and then I can consider a tri next year.

I also did more race shopping - one of my favorite things to do.  I discovered the Hippity Rock Half Marathon in Cypress, TX (VERY local) on April 23rd.  Do the math, my friends - this is 8 days before my Orange County Half Marathon.  Call me cRaZy, but I decided to take the plunge and register for it...I really want to be comfortable with the half marathon distance so that the marathon won't be quite so daunting for me.  I also found the See Jane Run Half Marathon in Austin on October 9th.  This is an all women's half.  I'm about 90% sure I'll be doing this one, as well.  Their slogan is "i run for champagne and chocolate."  How much do I love that?!

Well there you have it - you can tell, I'm sure, that now I'm all kinds of excited about what is in store for me running-wise, so my body better be in agreement!  =D

these are a few of my favorite Christmas things...

Day 1 of 3 off and what did I accomplish?

1 doctor appointment down, 2 more to go.

cleaned the kitchen

cleaned the dining room

cleaned the family room (and decorated it for Christmas)

saw Love and Other Drugs

went to Old Navy to get a couple of sweaters (buy one, get one free) and some long sleeve t-shirts

cleaned the guest bathroom

cleaned my bedroom

Not too shabby, I think considering this girl is a major procrastinator!

Curious to see what I can get done tomorrow!!!

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas things...

My Great Grandmother made Christmas stockings for all her great grandchildren.  When we were younger, "Santa" made sure they were filled to the gills - which made the fact that our stockings were HUGE extra specially awesome!  My mom made it clear a few years back that "Santa" was no longer interested in filling our stockings.  Boo on that!

My Grandma buys all her grandchildren the Swarvoski crystal snowflake ornament of the year.  So far, I have 11 of these beauties.  2010 will make snowflake #12.  I always strategically place each snowflake on my tree so that the lights hit them just right!  Here is the ornament from 2001!

Many moons ago before I was old enough to gamble, younger sister Linda, my brother Eddie, and I would use up my parent's generous cash donation in Vegas to play the Midway games over our Thanksgiving vacation.  On our first day there, we saw "the Christmas rats" (or so we called them) and knew we had to have them.  They were "expensive" in the way that midway games often are - in other words, they cost a lot of tickets, so we knew we had to work hard to get them.  We did just that and on our last day, we accumulated all our tickets and had enough to buy each of us our Christmas rats.  Linda and I got the girl one and Eddie bought the boy one.  Technically, we had enough tickets to buy older sister Cathy (she was of gambling age) a Christmas rat, too, BUT we got greedy and started getting all kinds of junk.  My college peeps will remember "Club Kim" which came from this greed!  ha!  In the end, we bought Cathy a lopsided ugly little dog.  She said, "oh thanks, it's so cute" and then threw it away before we left for the airport.  I still have my Christmas rat and love it (probably more for the story than the rat itself).

Last, but not least, I bought this snowman family from Sam's Club several years back.  I love snowmen and I just think this little family is so cute!  I always change where I display it - this year, it's on the dining room table!

What are some of your favorite Christmas decorations?

a very Merry weekend - EXTENDED

Yay!  It's Friday night!  Am I normally this excited about Friday nights?  Nope!  Why is this one so different?  Well, my friends, I am embarking upon a 5-day weekend!  Woot!  Turns out that I've been uber healthy (um...when it comes to sickness, not injury) this year which means I have all 6 of my personal days left.  My company allows us to carry over our days until the end of February, so I've decided to use 3 of my days Monday thru Wednesday and then save the other 3 for the first couple of months of 2011!

Tonight I decided to put up my Christmas tree, but then I got lazy when it took me an hour and a half just to get it standing.  Yikes!  Truth be told, it was really the first strand of "tree" that gave me a bit o' struggle.  It appears the branches got all kinds of twisted and by the time I got them untwisted, I was about ready to go buy either a new fake tree or a freakin' fresh tree.  Needless to say, I decided it best to get back into the Christmas spirit and actually enjoy decorating it by waiting until tomorrow.  =/

What's on the agenda for the rest of my little siesta?  First and foremost, I decided to take the opportunity to get some doctor appointments out of the way - 3, to be exact.  One of these is a follow-up on  my pelvic stress fracture.  As I mentioned on Wednesday, I'm still wishin' and hopin' that my doctor will say I can power walk the RunGirl 13.1 on 12/12.  If he says no, though, I will abide by his ruling, but I will pout.  Secondly, I plan on getting my Christmas shopping done.  Thirdly, I want to catch up on a few movies.  I've been eying Burlesque, Love and Other Drugs, and Morning Glory.  Finally...and this is the doozy...I want to declutter, organize, and deep clean my house room by room.  I have a small home, but I've lived in it for almost 10 1/2 years, so it's accumulated quite the non-essentials.  I'm not going to be so silly as to think I'm going to get rid of all non-essentials, but I can definitely cut back.  Let's just say I would love to be able to proudly display my 2 spare bedrooms with their doors open.

I'm looking forward to having some me time at home - no stress, no pressure, just a general outline of "things to do" and the time to do it!

May you all have a very Merry weekend!

These are a few of my favorite things...MOMENTS/MEMORIES

There were many wonderful moments and memories that made this vacation fantasmic, but alas...just short of taking you through a day by day LONGEST BLOG EVER...here are some highlights: 

My father mispronouncing the "Komodo" in Komodo dragons.  He must have said it 10 times incorrectly as co-mo-doe (spelled out phonetically for you to enjoy).  I finally corrected him.  It just never stopped being funny.

My two sisters showed up for breakfast wearing their brand new Disney pajama tops (we all brought with us) as t-shirts one day.  They told me to do the same so all 3 of us would have our Disney t-shirts on to wear to the park for the day.  I obliged and thus...we have our cute picture!

 My father telling my cousin (who was suffering from knee pain as a result of her 2 ACL surgeries) that she needed to take glucosamine.  He mispronounced it as glue-ca-sa-mine instead of glue-co-sa-mean.  It just never stopped being funny either.  Don't feel too sorry for my dad.  We made fun of everyone equally!

All 13 of us went on It's a Small World and fit into our own boat - My aunt, uncle, 2 double cousins, my 3 siblings and their respective spouses, my parents, and I!  As we were launching out on the ride, we all put our hands in the air and went "Woo Woo" as if we were going on a roller coaster.  We probably looked really obnoxious to some people, but we had a blast!

Older sister Cathy made reservations for us to eat our Thanksgiving meal at the buffet at a resort named The Gaylord Palms.  The name of the resort never stopped being funny for the month+ that we had the reservation!  A week before we left for our trip, brother-in-law Jay made a little video entitling it "It's like Christmas at The Gaylord Palms" starring ME!  We all got the tune stuck in our head, learned part of the dance, and whenever we had some down time while waiting in line, we would reenact part of the video!  If you care to check it out, go here.

Younger sister Linda and I braved Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans - okay, so ridiculously priced at the gift shop in Universal, but I had to buy them and try them because...well...we had done the whole Harry Potter thing and it seemed like a fun idea and it was relatively cheap entertainment. There were 10 nasty flavors mixed in with yummy flavors (like watermelon, lemon sherbet, cotton candy, banana, blueberry, cinnamon, cherry, green apple, etc) and we ate every last one of them...well Linda spit out 4 of them (bogie, vomit, earth worm, and dirt) and I spit out one of them (earth worm). We did not spit out grass, soap, rotten egg (was not in our box), sausage, black pepper, ear wax. On Friday night, sister-in-law April did try whatever was left over which included vomit, earth worm, soap, and sausage. She, consequently, spit out vomit and earthworm. 

While in Germany having dinner on Friday night, double cousins Danielle and Nicole and I decided to provide a free couples counseling therapy to Cathy and Jay.  It was hilarious!  No, they didn't need our help.  No they didn't request it, but since when did that stop us?!?!  Later we offered up counseling to Linda and Craig.  When they neglected to take us up on it, we reminded them that we will all be united again in Chicago for Christmas and that our services will be available to them again at that time.  =P

Cathy, Jay, Linda, Craig, Danielle, and I happened across this monkey on our last Saturday at Animal Kingdom.  Initially, he was sitting quite awkwardly...so much so, that I assumed he was a she and nursing a baby.  He unfolded his legs and it turns out he was just hugging his knee.  He then flopped down and laid down.  Linda pronounced him lazy.  Earlier in the week, we also visited the monkeys and there was a little fella who was wreaking all kinds of havoc amongst the elders!  They were quite entertaining to watch!

Brother Eddie encouraged us all to participate on multiple occasions stating that "everything is more fun this way"!  So, participate is just what we did.  At the Country Bear Jamborie, we made all the other audience members clap their hands and stomp their feet.  At a really lame children's ride called Imagination in Epcot, we sang the theme song as we were encouraged to do.

Eddie decided to implement a buddy system half way through our trip.  We were all buddied up.  In everyone's case except for double cousins Danielle, Nicole, and I, spouses were buddies.  That meant the three of us were buddies.  I felt like a lucky ducky to have 2 buddies.  This meant when we were in a crowded area, we were supposed to call out "buddy" and await the response of our buddy (or buddies) to reply back indicating we were all together.

Mickey Mouse ears have come a long way in the 18 years since I have last been to Disney.  They now come decorated in every possible way you can imagine.  We found one with a golf theme - perfect for my father.   Though he wouldn't buy it, he did humor us and try it on.  We all whipped out our cameras to take pictures of him and some other tourist asked if my dad was famous and wondered if he should be taking his picture, too!!!

Whilst visiting The United Kingdom, Jay and I happened across Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.  We were really trying to hold the spot in line for Linda, but she didn't make it in time, so we were stuck getting our picture with them.  No need to worry...Linda also managed to get a picture with them!

My mom saw this Woody the Woodpecker statue and wanted a picture with him.  I just think I have some awfully cute parental units!  This is one of my favorite pictures of them!

My parents bought groceries for us to make breakfasts at the house each morning.  It seems every morning got progressively worse with chaos.  It became bumper people in the kitchen, but I wouldn't trade it for anything because it was fun filled time with my family and I loved every minute of it!

Older sister Cathy had me download an app (free) for my Droid before we left for our trip.  It told us the approximate waiting times in lines for the major attractions in all 4 of the Disney Parks and it updated constantly.  In all but one case, it proved to be either spot on or the waiting times POSTED were LONGER than we actually waited.  It really helped us make our plan of attack!  In case you ever need this app, it's called Disney World Wait Times Lite from the Undercover Tourist.  Loved it!

Both of my brother-in-laws just love to make fun of how my family pronounces things.  One of their favorites to harp on is caramel as we neglect to acknowledge the second "a".  When we were in Germany having dinner, we decided to ask our server (who was from Germany) how it's pronounced since Germany also offered up the caramel shop.  She basically agreed with my brother-in-laws (RATS).  We tried to get her to say it our way.  She was practicing and telling us how weird it sounded (haha) when my father overheard her since he was sitting at the next table.  He then exclaimed proudly, "See, we do say it correctly!"  She humored him and said, "I have to stick with my girls!"

We were able to see the Osborne Family's Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney Hollywood Studios.  It was quite simply gorgeous!  Here are a few pics from it!

Japan had a Munchichi doll!  I used to love that cartoon which really is saying a lot since I didn't like a whole lot of cartoons.  Ignore my look...it was an ugly/rainy afternoon.  All 11 of us were wearing our $0.50 ponchos my mom brought along for us.  On that same note...some peeps in our group started getting really grouchy because of the weather situation.  Linda was one of them.  Luckily, when Linda gets in a bad mood, she can pop out of it really fast.  She happened to pop out of it when we popped into the China gift shop.  She proclaimed, "I'm like a bull (insert her making bull horns with her fingers upon her head) in a China shop!"  And with that...she was back to normal Linda.

And...finally...one of my favorite things to do was to look at the pictures AFTER a ride or roller coaster.  I thought it sooo funny to see my facial expression or the facial expressions of my family members.  Jay looked like he was praying on the Aerosmith Rock n Roller coaster at Hollywood Studios, as an example!  I managed to take a picture of the screen shot from the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom.  Keep in mind that Eddie and April knew the camera was there and posed accordingly.  I have a look of sheer terror on my face.  Cathy and Jay look like they are having a great time!  My brother mislead my mother into thinking it wasn't a jarring ride and she was in pain, so she was gripping a hold of my father for dear life...

Okay, that's all I have for you for now!  Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane!  =D

These are a few of my favorite things...FOOD/DRINK!

We all indulged WAY too much on this trip.  I suppose, in a way, we justified it in that we walked a tremendous amount each and every day AND we were, of course, on vacation.  Sweet treats seemed to be one of the main attractions of our daily adventures.  I blame my sister-in-law April for starting this trend!  ;)

Saturday lunch - upon our arrival, my mom made us her taco soup - and this was one of my favorites!  Not much beats a homemade meal from my mama!

Saturday dinner - Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom - this was a family style dining restaurant which served us up all-you-can eat salad, rolls, turkey, ham, beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac n' cheese, stuffing, and apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Everything tasted wonderful!

Sunday lunch - in Animal Kingdom, for lunch, I ordered a turkey sandwich which was served up on sunflower bread with cranberry mayo and came with a big slice of honeydew melon.  No need to discuss the handful of french fries and the two onion rings that may or may not also have made their way into my mouth...

Monday sweet treat - ate a carrot cake sandwich cookie with a cream cheese frosting center from a Sweet Treat store in Disney Hollywood Studios.  It was messy, but so delish!

Monday dinner - we dined at the Raglan Road Irish Pub in Downtown Disney.  I ordered Paddy's Pork which was a sausage stuffed pork loin drizzled with a honey soy glaze sitting on top of a mound of mashed potatoes.  There were also some leeks and cabbage on the side.  Mmmmmm....  They also served the table some bread and gave us a dipping sauce of olive oil mixed with honey and Guiness beer.  We loved it!

Wednesday sweet treat - Butter Beer in Hogsmead (Harry Potter World) was yummy.  It especially hit the spot since my mom bought us the frozen one and it was incredibly hot outside.  They described it as a butterscotch shortbread flavor.  It was like a delicious sweet treat in the liquid variety!


Friday lunch - we grabbed lunch in the Land food court in Epcot.  I ordered a ginger mongolian beef which came with two sides - I chose broccoli (veggies seemed to be a shortage on this trip) and noodles.  Everything was absolutely delicious!

Friday sweet treats - Germany had a caramel shop (Karamelle-Kuche) which had decadent treats.  I don't even want to discuss how many things I got there on the two separate trips I made, but I will say the treats lasted me 3 days!  The caramel corn was the best I've ever had and then there was this delightful treat called the German Chocolate Caramel which was a milk chocolate covered caramel that had a layer of coconut with some pecans.  It can best be described as heaven in my mouth.

Friday dinner - We ate in one of the Germany restaurants - a buffet which was soooo yummy serving up all sorts of traditional German fare.  Amongst my faves were both a cold potato salad and a warm German potato salad, pretzel dinner rolls, red cabbage, sauer kraut, and sausage.

Saturday snack - We started the day in Animal Kingdom and grabbed a jalepeno cheddar filled pretzal.  Wow - so amazingly delicious!

Saturday lunch - Finished the day in The Magic Kingdom and ate lunch in a place that had a central bar filled with grilled onions, mushrooms, nacho cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, etc., to dress up your sandwiches.  I ordered a bbq pork sandwich and it hit the spot!

Yeah, I know...I sound like a Miss Piggy.  Oink, oink BABY!   Back on track now until Christmas Eve and Day.  =D