At first I wasn't sure how I was going to answer this part of my 30-day Challenge, but as soon as I started typing, the words started flowing. weird, but kinda cool. Here we are on....
Day 05 - A time you thought about ending your life.
I can honestly say I've never been suicidal. This is not to say I've never thought about death.
I've asked myself questions like would I rather drown or burn to death. drown. If I died who would come to my funeral? hopefully lots of people cuz I'd like to believe I'm loved! If I were to commit suicide, how would I do it? pills - less messy. This, by the way, wasn't a contemplation of the actual act. I really, truly never have considered it.
Thankfully, no matter how bad my life got there for a while - and I did have a VERY rough spell - I always knew that I was loved by my family and my friends. I always knew that even if I couldn't see it, there were better days ahead. I had FAITH that things were going to get better...eventually.
Have you ever had surgery? I've had two surgeries - two ACL knee surgeries cuz apparently I like to be symmetrical and very fair. It's interesting how after the injury your body will start to naturally heal itself. Now it can only do so much, mind you. Still, your injured area starts to feel better. You get more range of motion back every single day. Then comes the surgery. Oh criminey...the pain is worse than it was upon initial injury. In other words, it has to hurt worse to get better. That's how you know it is truly healing...the right way.
I kind of think that's how it works with our emotions. When you don't deal with something the right way...in other words, you just sort of dust the issue/problem under the rug, you can ignore it for a while and you feel a little bit better. Eventually that dust pile grows bigger and bigger and you have this giant elephant in the room...you know...under the rug. You try so desperately to ignore it, but COME ON...it's an elephant now and you have no choice but to actually face it. It hurts sooooo much. It hurts too much. It's hard, so hard to really get up underneath that rug and dust particle by dust particle work your way breaking down that elephant. Some people give up. They don't have the support network. They don't have the strength. They don't have the faith that it will get better. That makes me sad. It makes me thankful for what I do have and it reminds me to count my blessings each and every day because with my support network, with my strength, with my faith...I was able to face my demons and get back on the right track.
In some ways, I am still removing the last bits of dust. I probably will be for a while, but that's okay. The pile didn't get there overnight, after all.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Day 04 - Religion
In continuing with my 30 Day Challenge...I'm now on:
Day 04 - Your views on religion.
Oh boy....I guess the point of this challenge is to get a girl thinking, but this topic makes me kinda uncomfortable. At least I'm not skipping it, right?! This is kinda wordy *warning*.
Here goes. I was raised Catholic. I have no issue with the Catholic faith. I just stopped going to church because I got really annoyed with something that happened in mass when I was in college. I guess, in general, you could say that I'm an open-minded person. That is to say regardless of whether or not I agree with certain controversial topics, I can see both sides of an argument/issue. In this particular incident, the church allowed for people to shout out prayer requests. Most everyone shouted out something of a personal nature like a "please pray for my grandmother who is having surgery next Tuesday" kinda thing. This is just an example, by the way. My grandmother is not having surgery. One parishioner shouted out, "please pray that Congress will reverse the abortion laws and that abortion will once again be illegal." I was appalled. I can't say that I necessarily agree with abortion, but I can say that I very much understand why it is legal. Perhaps it was immature of me to stop attending church because of this. I don't know. All I knew was that I felt so uncomfortable and I just couldn't return there, so I didn't return to A CHURCH until many years later when some friends of mine encouraged me to attend church with them. It was a Baptist church. Wow! That was way different. It was like culture shock. It was surreal to go from little old ladies singing hymns in high pitched, terrible voices that only dogs can hear to an entire congregation singing contemporary Christian hits from the radio with their hands raised in the air as they are swaying back and forth really feeling the music. The pastor was an incredibly dynamic speaker. He was able to hold my attention throughout his entire sermon and I walked away with something, many somethings actually. I went to this church for 4 years. I met one of my very best friends, Meliska, at this church.
I had my struggles there, however. I don't choose to get into all of them because I don't want this post to take you 100 years to read.
Bottom line - I never joined the church. In part because of the issues and also because I did not want to become a religion hopper - someone who keeps changing religions. I wanted to join a church once I was basically sure what religion I wanted to be "when I grew up." I wasn't entirely convinced the Baptist "label" was the one for me, so I remained content with just attenting church...and then eventually Sunday school in addition to church...for quite some time.
One Sunday, we had a guest Sunday school teacher. He happened to be one of our classmates, actually. He decided to do a comparison between the Baptist faith and another, unnamed faith. He was clearly Catholic bashing. I was offended. Having been raised Catholic, having parents and many extended family members who are Catholic, and having Catholic friends, I was angered at the very notion of what he was insinuating. What, pray tell, makes any one faith supreme to another? Who, pray tell gives any one faith righteousness over another? It was obnoxious and it took everything in me not to hold this against that Sunday school class and that church. BUT, it was in the back of my mind. I guess I had matured since my college days when I walked away from a church over less, eh? For the record, a comparison of faiths can be done in an unbiased manner. While in high school, I attended church for a while with my friend Stephanie. She grew up Lutheran. Her Sunday school class was studying other religions and even went to go visit some of the churches. I never once got the impression that the message was loud and clear GO LUTHERAN and/or BAD {INSERT ANOTHER RELIGION HERE}. It was done properly.
THEN...there was him.
I dated someone who I felt tried to use God against me. He attended church once, if not twice a week (not my church). He would pray before each and every meal. He would read his Bible daily. He could quote the Bible like any pastor. He listened to Christian music and watched Christian television programming. He was also a nightmare. I don't care to get into specifics in this post, but to put it simply, he was one giant contradiction. It was confusing, to say the least. Throughout my entire ordeal with him, I never lost sight of God, mind you. I lost respect for religion.
My life became a roller coaster ride that came off the tracks. My emotions were out of control. I was a mess. I didn't feel comfortable going to church anymore. I felt like the very idea of church was...hypocritical, if that makes any sense. I blamed church and religion because he abused it and me.
So where am I now? I've gone to a few churches a few times here and there. I haven't found another church that I like, though. I've considered going back to that same one I attended for 4 years as I did love the music and the Pastor. I wonder, though, if I would be doing that for comfort sake and maybe I need to step out of my comfort zone and really seek out a true church home - one that I could someday raise a family in. I guess you could say I've been feeling a calling to do so, so it shall be done soon.
To wrap it up...I am a Christian. I'm a fairly private pursuer of my faith. I do not trust self righteous people.
Day 04 - Your views on religion.
Oh boy....I guess the point of this challenge is to get a girl thinking, but this topic makes me kinda uncomfortable. At least I'm not skipping it, right?! This is kinda wordy *warning*.
Here goes. I was raised Catholic. I have no issue with the Catholic faith. I just stopped going to church because I got really annoyed with something that happened in mass when I was in college. I guess, in general, you could say that I'm an open-minded person. That is to say regardless of whether or not I agree with certain controversial topics, I can see both sides of an argument/issue. In this particular incident, the church allowed for people to shout out prayer requests. Most everyone shouted out something of a personal nature like a "please pray for my grandmother who is having surgery next Tuesday" kinda thing. This is just an example, by the way. My grandmother is not having surgery. One parishioner shouted out, "please pray that Congress will reverse the abortion laws and that abortion will once again be illegal." I was appalled. I can't say that I necessarily agree with abortion, but I can say that I very much understand why it is legal. Perhaps it was immature of me to stop attending church because of this. I don't know. All I knew was that I felt so uncomfortable and I just couldn't return there, so I didn't return to A CHURCH until many years later when some friends of mine encouraged me to attend church with them. It was a Baptist church. Wow! That was way different. It was like culture shock. It was surreal to go from little old ladies singing hymns in high pitched, terrible voices that only dogs can hear to an entire congregation singing contemporary Christian hits from the radio with their hands raised in the air as they are swaying back and forth really feeling the music. The pastor was an incredibly dynamic speaker. He was able to hold my attention throughout his entire sermon and I walked away with something, many somethings actually. I went to this church for 4 years. I met one of my very best friends, Meliska, at this church.
I had my struggles there, however. I don't choose to get into all of them because I don't want this post to take you 100 years to read.
Bottom line - I never joined the church. In part because of the issues and also because I did not want to become a religion hopper - someone who keeps changing religions. I wanted to join a church once I was basically sure what religion I wanted to be "when I grew up." I wasn't entirely convinced the Baptist "label" was the one for me, so I remained content with just attenting church...and then eventually Sunday school in addition to church...for quite some time.
One Sunday, we had a guest Sunday school teacher. He happened to be one of our classmates, actually. He decided to do a comparison between the Baptist faith and another, unnamed faith. He was clearly Catholic bashing. I was offended. Having been raised Catholic, having parents and many extended family members who are Catholic, and having Catholic friends, I was angered at the very notion of what he was insinuating. What, pray tell, makes any one faith supreme to another? Who, pray tell gives any one faith righteousness over another? It was obnoxious and it took everything in me not to hold this against that Sunday school class and that church. BUT, it was in the back of my mind. I guess I had matured since my college days when I walked away from a church over less, eh? For the record, a comparison of faiths can be done in an unbiased manner. While in high school, I attended church for a while with my friend Stephanie. She grew up Lutheran. Her Sunday school class was studying other religions and even went to go visit some of the churches. I never once got the impression that the message was loud and clear GO LUTHERAN and/or BAD {INSERT ANOTHER RELIGION HERE}
THEN...there was him.
I dated someone who I felt tried to use God against me. He attended church once, if not twice a week (not my church). He would pray before each and every meal. He would read his Bible daily. He could quote the Bible like any pastor. He listened to Christian music and watched Christian television programming. He was also a nightmare. I don't care to get into specifics in this post, but to put it simply, he was one giant contradiction. It was confusing, to say the least. Throughout my entire ordeal with him, I never lost sight of God, mind you. I lost respect for religion.
My life became a roller coaster ride that came off the tracks. My emotions were out of control. I was a mess. I didn't feel comfortable going to church anymore. I felt like the very idea of church was...hypocritical, if that makes any sense. I blamed church and religion because he abused it and me.
So where am I now? I've gone to a few churches a few times here and there. I haven't found another church that I like, though. I've considered going back to that same one I attended for 4 years as I did love the music and the Pastor. I wonder, though, if I would be doing that for comfort sake and maybe I need to step out of my comfort zone and really seek out a true church home - one that I could someday raise a family in. I guess you could say I've been feeling a calling to do so, so it shall be done soon.
To wrap it up...I am a Christian. I'm a fairly private pursuer of my faith. I do not trust self righteous people.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Day 03 - Drugs & Alcohol
Just a little update...I've taken the plunge and I'm doing THE CHALLENGE, the 30 Day Challenge, that is. I'm on Day 03 right now.
Day 03 - Your views on drugs and alcohol.
I have some strong opinions on half of this subject matter. Let's get started, shall we?
Drugs - Call me a dork, if you'd like, but I belonged to an anti-drug group in high school. We went out to the Elementary schools to talk to them about "just sayin' no". In college, I found a similar group and did the same thing. It's always been important to me to spread that kind of message to the young and impressionable.
Here's my two cents on the subject matter: unless we are speaking of prescription or over-the-counter drugs, they are illegal. I can honestly say I have never partaken in any illegal drugs. That being said, I do not judge those who HAVE (notice the past tense). I understand that there is a lot of peer pressure out there. I understand that people make mistakes. What I don't understand is people who are old enough to know better and still choose that route. How does one tell their children not to do drugs when they are using? I get annoyed with the whole yuppy "I can be successful and still smoke pot" mentality. What's the point? Oh...and it smells icky.
Prior to starting my freshman year in college, I had the opportunity to take some exams to receive college credit. One of those exams was a written essay. There were multiple topics handed out randomly throughout the classroom. I received "should drugs be legalized?". This was easy for me to discuss. I understand some people feel like this would help our economy - court costs would be decreased, law enforcement resources could be focused elsewhere, jobs could be created. I also understand that laws would have to be created like age limits and whatnot. How many kids under the age of 21 currently drink? Exactly. It would be worse. For the record, I tested out of Freshman English.
Okay, I will get off my soap box and move on...
Alcohol - I have gone through my wild days. Fortunately, I mostly waited until I was 21, but that's because I was/am a mcwimpy and was always afraid of getting busted. I've had moments of drunkenness. I've had good times.
She drinks a whiskey drink, she drinks a vodka drink
She drinks a Lager drink, she drinks a cider drink
She sings the songs that remind her of the good times
She sings the songs that remind her of the best times
I've had bad times, too, though.
Back at the end of '08 to the first third of '09, I went through a VERY bad phase. I found myself drinking more and crying often. I used to at least be a happy drinker. I somehow became sad and pathetic. I took myself off of drinking for several months. My thought process was "I used to drink and laugh and now I drink and cry. Until I can learn to laugh again, I just won't drink." I worked on me. There was a lot to work on. It took a while, but eventually I crawled out of the hole. Now I enjoy the occasional adult beverage. When I do, it is done so in the spirit of laughter. No more tears in a beer for this girl!
So there you have my thoughts on the matters at hand.
illegal drugs = not cool; alcohol in moderation (or when you don't have to drive) = cool
Day 03 - Your views on drugs and alcohol.
I have some strong opinions on half of this subject matter. Let's get started, shall we?
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| source here |
Here's my two cents on the subject matter: unless we are speaking of prescription or over-the-counter drugs, they are illegal. I can honestly say I have never partaken in any illegal drugs. That being said, I do not judge those who HAVE (notice the past tense). I understand that there is a lot of peer pressure out there. I understand that people make mistakes. What I don't understand is people who are old enough to know better and still choose that route. How does one tell their children not to do drugs when they are using? I get annoyed with the whole yuppy "I can be successful and still smoke pot" mentality. What's the point? Oh...and it smells icky.
Prior to starting my freshman year in college, I had the opportunity to take some exams to receive college credit. One of those exams was a written essay. There were multiple topics handed out randomly throughout the classroom. I received "should drugs be legalized?". This was easy for me to discuss. I understand some people feel like this would help our economy - court costs would be decreased, law enforcement resources could be focused elsewhere, jobs could be created. I also understand that laws would have to be created like age limits and whatnot. How many kids under the age of 21 currently drink? Exactly. It would be worse. For the record, I tested out of Freshman English.
Okay, I will get off my soap box and move on...
Alcohol - I have gone through my wild days. Fortunately, I mostly waited until I was 21, but that's because I was/am a mcwimpy and was always afraid of getting busted. I've had moments of drunkenness. I've had good times.
She drinks a Lager drink, she drinks a cider drink
She sings the songs that remind her of the good times
She sings the songs that remind her of the best times
I've had bad times, too, though.
Back at the end of '08 to the first third of '09, I went through a VERY bad phase. I found myself drinking more and crying often. I used to at least be a happy drinker. I somehow became sad and pathetic. I took myself off of drinking for several months. My thought process was "I used to drink and laugh and now I drink and cry. Until I can learn to laugh again, I just won't drink." I worked on me. There was a lot to work on. It took a while, but eventually I crawled out of the hole. Now I enjoy the occasional adult beverage. When I do, it is done so in the spirit of laughter. No more tears in a beer for this girl!
So there you have my thoughts on the matters at hand.
illegal drugs = not cool; alcohol in moderation (or when you don't have to drive) = cool
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
feelin' hot, hot, hot
...not what you think
like at all...
At the end of last year, I listed my goal of running 4 half marathons. Yes, 4.
I've since upped it to 6. Yes, 6.
My parents think me nuts.I prolly am, but not for this.
Many of you agree, but there are those out there who do these things like once a month. So, when you compare my measley 6 to...say 12, well I'm not so hands-in-the-air-like-I-just-don't-care cRaZy, now am I?!
What if I were to add one more?
What if that one more were...um...say in August...in the Texas hellish heat?
Then would it be safe to say I've gone completely loony-toony?
Here's my thought process on the matter. I have 3 half marys within 5 weeks - all of which will be completed by 9:30am (PST) May 1st. My next one isn't until October 9th (which I totally officially registered for on Tuesday - yay!). That means I will go 6 months without one. 6 WHOLE MONTHS. I'm pretty sure medals keep me motivated. 6 months of Texas hellish heat...and let's not forget HUMIDITY...without a medal dangling in the distance will make it really hard to stay motivated to keep that mileage rollin', don't ya think? Yes, I do.
So, I did a wee bit of research and found The Hottest Half in Dallas on 8/14. They only promise that "it will be hot" and that I "will survive". Hmmmph...well...it will be hot in Houston and I will survive it as I'm putting in my long run that weekend, so why not visit some friends in the Dallas area and get a medal while doing so?
I mentioned this race to my buddy Melissa a couple of months ago when I first found it during my research. We chuckled at the very notion of it. BUT...it remained lurking in the back of our minds. Could we? Should we? Melissa (clearly the crazier of the two of us) brought it back up to me when we did our 10K this past weekend. Now it's all I think about (slight exaggeration).
I mean they do promise I will survive it...they wouldn't lie, right?!
That Pink Girl is considering this race, too, for what it's worth and we all know she is perfectly sane.
What are YOUR thoughts on the matter?
Do I make like NIKE and "Just do it"?
What would you do?
like at all...
At the end of last year, I listed my goal of running 4 half marathons. Yes, 4.
I've since upped it to 6. Yes, 6.
My parents think me nuts.
Many of you agree, but there are those out there who do these things like once a month. So, when you compare my measley 6 to...say 12, well I'm not so hands-in-the-air-like-I-just-don't-care cRaZy, now am I?!
What if I were to add one more?
What if that one more were...um...say in August...in the Texas hellish heat?
Then would it be safe to say I've gone completely loony-toony?
Here's my thought process on the matter. I have 3 half marys within 5 weeks - all of which will be completed by 9:30am (PST) May 1st. My next one isn't until October 9th (which I totally officially registered for on Tuesday - yay!). That means I will go 6 months without one. 6 WHOLE MONTHS. I'm pretty sure medals keep me motivated. 6 months of Texas hellish heat...and let's not forget HUMIDITY...without a medal dangling in the distance will make it really hard to stay motivated to keep that mileage rollin', don't ya think? Yes, I do.
I mentioned this race to my buddy Melissa a couple of months ago when I first found it during my research. We chuckled at the very notion of it. BUT...it remained lurking in the back of our minds. Could we? Should we? Melissa (clearly the crazier of the two of us) brought it back up to me when we did our 10K this past weekend. Now it's all I think about (slight exaggeration).
I mean they do promise I will survive it...they wouldn't lie, right?!
That Pink Girl is considering this race, too, for what it's worth and we all know she is perfectly sane.
What are YOUR thoughts on the matter?
Do I make like NIKE and "Just do it"?
What would you do?
Day 02 - In 10 Years...
In case you are not in the know, I've decided to do a 30 Day Challenge, only it won't be completed in 30 days cuz I roll down a path less traveled, yo.
I am currently on Day 02 - Where you'd like to be in 10 years.
Do you think this question would be easier answered if you were already married and/or if you had all the children you planned on having? yes? no? maybe so?
I remember back about 9 years ago or so one of my employees asked me where I saw myself in 10 years. I told him it was impossible to answer as I had no way of knowing if I would be single or married, if I would be childless or a mother. He said it shouldn't matter and I begged to differ. Hindsight being 20/20, he was right. It shouldn't have mattered. One can come up with a 10 year dream-self regardless of one's circumstances. I was just a kid then and didn't know better.
The only fair way to answer this is to break up the idea of 10 years into different categories.
Love Life - Please God let me be happily married in 10 years time.
Children - Assuming I am married, please let me be a mother to at least one child (but preferably three)
Home - In 7 years, my first and only house will be paid off. I kinda hope to be in a new home in 10 years time. It doesn't have to be new-new, just new to me (the custom built one I've been designing in my head for years would be AMAZING, though...). Of course, if I'm not married, it wouldn't make sense and I would be perfectly content staying in my then paid-off home.
Work - Let's face it, if you know me at all and my work situation, you know that I'm not going anywhere. I would just hope to have even more responsibility and to continue to grow in my skills/confidence/leadership and to better tame the beast that sometimes rears her ugly head.
Health - I will still be on the right path of living a healthy life in mind, body, and spirit. My diet will still follow the guidelines of The South Beach diet. I will still maintain an active lifestyle - focusing on cross training and running. Hopefully I will have multiple marathons under my belt. I better be maintaining my goal weight!!!!
Friendship - I will have maintained my supremely fantastical friendships while hopefully making some new lasting ones.
The outlook is good for a happy, healthy 10 years into the future, y'all.
How's yours?
I am currently on Day 02 - Where you'd like to be in 10 years.
Do you think this question would be easier answered if you were already married and/or if you had all the children you planned on having? yes? no? maybe so?
I remember back about 9 years ago or so one of my employees asked me where I saw myself in 10 years. I told him it was impossible to answer as I had no way of knowing if I would be single or married, if I would be childless or a mother. He said it shouldn't matter and I begged to differ. Hindsight being 20/20, he was right. It shouldn't have mattered. One can come up with a 10 year dream-self regardless of one's circumstances. I was just a kid then and didn't know better.
The only fair way to answer this is to break up the idea of 10 years into different categories.
Love Life - Please God let me be happily married in 10 years time.
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| source here |
Children - Assuming I am married, please let me be a mother to at least one child (but preferably three)
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| source here |
Home - In 7 years, my first and only house will be paid off. I kinda hope to be in a new home in 10 years time. It doesn't have to be new-new, just new to me (the custom built one I've been designing in my head for years would be AMAZING, though...). Of course, if I'm not married, it wouldn't make sense and I would be perfectly content staying in my then paid-off home.
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| source here |
Work - Let's face it, if you know me at all and my work situation, you know that I'm not going anywhere. I would just hope to have even more responsibility and to continue to grow in my skills/confidence/leadership and to better tame the beast that sometimes rears her ugly head.
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| source here |
Health - I will still be on the right path of living a healthy life in mind, body, and spirit. My diet will still follow the guidelines of The South Beach diet. I will still maintain an active lifestyle - focusing on cross training and running. Hopefully I will have multiple marathons under my belt. I better be maintaining my goal weight!!!!
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| source here |
Friendship - I will have maintained my supremely fantastical friendships while hopefully making some new lasting ones.
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| source here |
The outlook is good for a happy, healthy 10 years into the future, y'all.
How's yours?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Fake Birthday
In my family, we have a tendency to celebrate fake birthdays. That is...we celebrate someone's real birthday just not on the right date...cuz...you know...more often than not one's birthday doesn't fall on a convenient day.
My birthday actually isn't until Friday, so naturally we would have celebrated it on the following Saturday, but we thought my mom was going to have to go out of town. We made plans to celebrate my birthday this past Saturday night instead. Now, as it turns out, my mom isn't going out of town, but...well...plans were already made.
I didn't mind, though. Since I'm a mid-March birthday, I've always managed to celebrate for an entire week as my birthday has always fallen during Spring break. I'm pretty clever to use it to my advantage that way. Just because I've been out of school for um...a few years now doesn't mean things should change in that area, now do they?! I think not.
I mentioned to my dad a few months ago that I have a love for the souffle. It's one of my favorite desserts, actually. I believe I had my first one, a chocolate souffle, at a restaurant called Neros in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas during one of our Thanksgiving trips many moons ago. Such airy delightfulness. Mmmmmm. Most recently, I had the pleasure of consuming a Grand Marnier souffle when I went on a cruise two years ago. My taste buds didn't get to experience much happiness during that trip as I got incredibly sick with strep throat and bronchitis while on-board, but I do remember that dessert with fondness. Ah, but I digress. shocker. So anyway, my dad told me I needed to go to Tony's someday as they are known for their souffles and they have many, many different flavors. I must know more of this Tony's he speaks of! I asked if we could go for a special occasion...say perhaps my birthday? He said it was a bit too pricey. =(
A couple of weeks ago, my dad had a change of heart. He informed me that he decided we could go to Tony's. Oh dear heavens...all I cared about was that I was going to get souffle!
We dressed up in our nicest attire - we all looked stunning, I must say - and we headed over to the restaurant. It's valet only, don't you know?! I decided to be bold and daring and order the wild boar tenderloin as my main course. Over half my family thought I was nuts, but it was yummy, so I felt validated. I started my meal with a delicacy I normally wouldn't order because of the calories and fat content, but...well...it was my fake birthday. Oh how do I love lobster bisque? Let me count the ways. This was the best lobster bisque I have ever eaten, by the way. rich creamy loveliness.
We decided to order two souffles for the table - I didn't mention the souffles at Tony's are HUGE - and serve 4 people a piece! My mom got to pick out one flavor - bananas foster - and I got to pick out the other flavor - while chocolate Grand Marnier.
Since my dad had mentioned it was my birthday, our server brought out a special plate for me. So sweet.
After they served us all a piece of each flavor, two servers walked around with sauce toppers for each souffle. For the bananas foster souffle, we had a caramel sauce with bananas. For the white chocolate Grand Marnier souffle, we had a white chocolate sauce and a Grand Marnier infused whipped cream. They did not disappoint, each bite was a bite of heaven.
Then, the awesome Tony's staff brought me out a martini glass filled with pink cotton candy for my birthday. How funny is it that such an expensive restaurant would serve cotton candy?! love it!
As we left, the hostess handed each of us a bag of delicious biscotti.
We then went back to my parent's house for presents. I did not get all my parents, so all the more reason to keep extending the ol' birthday (well that and my real birthday hasn't happened yet - ha!). I got some new pillows for my bed, a subscription renewal to Runner's World, new pajamas, a car mount for my cell phone for when I'm using the Navigation function, and the matching trash can and tissue holder for the bathroom accessories I got for Christmas.
So far, I'm having quite the birthday week! Maybe...ahem...34 isn't going to be so bad, after all! =D
My birthday actually isn't until Friday, so naturally we would have celebrated it on the following Saturday, but we thought my mom was going to have to go out of town. We made plans to celebrate my birthday this past Saturday night instead. Now, as it turns out, my mom isn't going out of town, but...well...plans were already made.
I didn't mind, though. Since I'm a mid-March birthday, I've always managed to celebrate for an entire week as my birthday has always fallen during Spring break. I'm pretty clever to use it to my advantage that way. Just because I've been out of school for um...a few years now doesn't mean things should change in that area, now do they?! I think not.
I mentioned to my dad a few months ago that I have a love for the souffle. It's one of my favorite desserts, actually. I believe I had my first one, a chocolate souffle, at a restaurant called Neros in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas during one of our Thanksgiving trips many moons ago. Such airy delightfulness. Mmmmmm. Most recently, I had the pleasure of consuming a Grand Marnier souffle when I went on a cruise two years ago. My taste buds didn't get to experience much happiness during that trip as I got incredibly sick with strep throat and bronchitis while on-board, but I do remember that dessert with fondness. Ah, but I digress. shocker. So anyway, my dad told me I needed to go to Tony's someday as they are known for their souffles and they have many, many different flavors. I must know more of this Tony's he speaks of! I asked if we could go for a special occasion...say perhaps my birthday? He said it was a bit too pricey. =(
A couple of weeks ago, my dad had a change of heart. He informed me that he decided we could go to Tony's. Oh dear heavens...all I cared about was that I was going to get souffle!
We dressed up in our nicest attire - we all looked stunning, I must say - and we headed over to the restaurant. It's valet only, don't you know?! I decided to be bold and daring and order the wild boar tenderloin as my main course. Over half my family thought I was nuts, but it was yummy, so I felt validated. I started my meal with a delicacy I normally wouldn't order because of the calories and fat content, but...well...it was my fake birthday. Oh how do I love lobster bisque? Let me count the ways. This was the best lobster bisque I have ever eaten, by the way. rich creamy loveliness.
We decided to order two souffles for the table - I didn't mention the souffles at Tony's are HUGE - and serve 4 people a piece! My mom got to pick out one flavor - bananas foster - and I got to pick out the other flavor - while chocolate Grand Marnier.
Since my dad had mentioned it was my birthday, our server brought out a special plate for me. So sweet.
After they served us all a piece of each flavor, two servers walked around with sauce toppers for each souffle. For the bananas foster souffle, we had a caramel sauce with bananas. For the white chocolate Grand Marnier souffle, we had a white chocolate sauce and a Grand Marnier infused whipped cream. They did not disappoint, each bite was a bite of heaven.
Then, the awesome Tony's staff brought me out a martini glass filled with pink cotton candy for my birthday. How funny is it that such an expensive restaurant would serve cotton candy?! love it!
As we left, the hostess handed each of us a bag of delicious biscotti.
We then went back to my parent's house for presents. I did not get all my parents, so all the more reason to keep extending the ol' birthday (well that and my real birthday hasn't happened yet - ha!). I got some new pillows for my bed, a subscription renewal to Runner's World, new pajamas, a car mount for my cell phone for when I'm using the Navigation function, and the matching trash can and tissue holder for the bathroom accessories I got for Christmas.
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| source here |
So far, I'm having quite the birthday week! Maybe...ahem...34 isn't going to be so bad, after all! =D
Monday, March 14, 2011
Kim Versus the 10K: Bayou City Classic
This is my first repeat race EVER and it will be only one of two repeat races that I have scheduled for the year (though, of course, I reserve the right to add to that list as the year progresses).
I had two goals for The Bayou City Classic.
1) PR (last year's time was 1:26:38)
2) Run the entire distance, walking only through the water stations
I did have one friend to run this race with me - Melissa - who, consequently, ran this race with me last year, as well. I love knowing at least one other person running a race. It doesn't matter to me how much faster they are - it's just nice knowing someone else is experiencing the same conditions and that there is a natural built-in support, you know?!
I wish I could say I prepped all week long for this race like a true champion, but sadly...I'd be lying. My diet plan was practically non-existent. I have a bit of insight into my psyche as to why that occurred, though, and I'm working on it so that I can get back on the right track and stay there. My running plan didn't happen. A little birdie barely managed to convince me to hit some minor mileage on Thursday night, but other than that I hadn't done anything since last Saturday's 9-miler. My hydration plan was lacking. I finally got the water thing down on Friday, but that's not saying much when I had caused such a deficit in my system. =/
Enough about my downfalls...onto the recap:
Saturday morning, Melissa and I agreed to meet at my work so we could drive together to the race. We got there VERY early so that we wouldn't have to deal with road closures and all that jazz. It was quite windy, though not really cold. We met up with a couple of her friends and started the race just after 8. My legs felt kind of heavy right from the start. I had some defeatist thoughts come through my head. I fought them. For the first mile, we navigated down town and then we hit Memorial Parkway. I really don't know how they get away with calling the course "flat and fast" because Memorial Parkway is anything but flat. I had forgotten this from last year. =/ I thought about walking up the hills, but then I reminded myself that wasn't what I had set out to do (see goal #2), so I just pumped my arms and carried onward.
There were water stations set-up every 1.5 miles. Initially I had considered skipping the first and third, but since the sun was beating down on us pretty brutally and I could feel the salt caked on my face, I knew I needed to hydrate, so I did walk through all of the water stations. I was happy when I finished drinking my water just past mile 3 and I heard Melissa and her friend shout my name from across the median as they were approaching mile 4 on the opposite side of Memorial Parkway.
I started getting a bit discouraged as I hit the 5th mile marker and realized I was going to be cutting it SUPER close to last year's time. I knew there was one last big hill to conquer and I thought about giving up and just walking the rest of the race - see...total defeatist. I didn't register for this race to give-up on it, though. I pumped my arms hard up that hill. I rounded the corner and saw the 6th mile marker. I looked at my watch and knew I had to high-tail it to have a hope of PRing. I sprinted my heart out. It worked.
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| I look like a VERY serious runner here. |
Official Time: 1:25:50 (48 seconds faster than last year)
Finishing Song: Dead and Gone - TI featuring Justin Timberlake
Melissa and her buddies were there to cheer me on as I crossed the finish line - awesome! I then consumed massive amounts of water and we got our finisher's t-shirts. Then came the swag. Wowsers - check out the loot I got!
Yeah, buddy - I got 3 packs of Shot Bloks, a 5-hour Energy, and many Clif's bars. Sweet!
All in all, a good race, a positive experience, and I was quite proud to say I accomplished both of my goals - a PR and I ran the whole thing, only walking through the water stations.
Lessons learned: eat right, stick to running/training schedule, and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate as my actions for the week will affect my performance!
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