Long run and relaxing Sunday!

This morning I got up and ran 8 miles. I got them done and felt really good after, I was just freezing! It took me the whole way back to my apartment, which the heater blasting. After my mile run this morning, the rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxing! I tired to get some more cleaning done, and about all I accomplished was adding to my dirty laundry piles that are in the middle of my living room.

My new mantra!

Errands in the flurries!!

I decided today I needed to do some major cleaning. I go up and started with my bathroom. Then I got a call from my mom, her and my sister were ready for me to come over and help them move the furniture back in their bedrooms (now that the flood was cleaned up). So I headed to my mom's house to help out. It was actually done quicker then I expected! Once that was over my mom took us to Abner's as a thank you. It was actually really good. The last few times I’ve been it was terrible, service and the food. But they seem to have their act together now.

After lunch I decided to go look for a dinning room table. There are two furniture store in the Jackson area that are going out of business, so I decided to give them a try.

My first stop was looking at all the little thrift stores in the Heart of Pearl. I didn't find a thing! My second stop was Wholesale Furniture Inc‎ on Terry Rd in Jackson. I was a little worried about going there by myself, but it ended being fine. They didn't have a whole lot to choose from. I did find a table I really liked, but it was still more than I was willing to pay right now. My third stop was Merchandise Warehouse. They acted like bad car salesmen. It was quite entertaining!! I didn't find anything there. My last stop was Big Lots. My carry furniture so I decided to check them out. Their prices actually surprised me, they were no different from the other furniture stores. So I left. I was cold and I was so tired from running around in the snow flurries and having no luck.

Tonight I headed over to my friend Jessica's house to help Karen and Collin try out their maybe wedding cake! When I got there, they were still baking and waiting for one of the cakes to cool. Turns out they were on a time limit, Karen, Collin, and Jessica had not seen Avatar yet and so the cake testing got moved until after the movie was over. I decided to go out to eat with everyone but decided against going to see Avatar again. I was so tired and knew I wouldn't make it through the movie, let alone the cake testing, plus I needed to get up early in the morning to run 8 miles! So after dinner, I headed home to go to bed.

Early Friday!!

So excited today is an early Friday at work... even earlier for me because of my crazy schedule. I got to leave work at 11:00 a.m.!!! I was so excited and had a goal of trying to find invitations for Karen's bachelorette party! I had agreed to meet the guys at Hooter's for lunch at 11:45 a.m., so it gave me to go to one place before lunch.

I headed to a place in Fondren, their selection was pretty nice, and I thought I had just about made my decision, but wanted to look at a few other places before I ordered anything. Lunch was fun with the guys. And some how during the course of lunch I agreed to go back to Hooter's for after work drinks at 4:00 p.m. This gave me several more hours to go look for invitations!!

I'm not sure why I decided today would be a good day to look for the invites because it was cold and pouring down rain, but I got out in it anyway. I went to a place in Highland Village (where I found an invite I loved), a place near Old Canton Road (where they were really rude and unhelpful), and a place off of County Line Road (where I found my second favorite invite)! I decided I would think it over and make my final decision tomorrow.

I headed to Hooter's for the second time today, but this time for drinks! My buddies had tried a shot the week before and they wanted me to try it... It ended up being really good! We ended up staying there a little longer than expected but it was lots of fun!! And the guys were nice and drove me home. :)

After leaving there, I went to a friend, Jessica, house for game night. She made turnip soup (which was actually really good)! We played this game that was from the makers of Cranium, I'm not even sure that the name if it was. But it was along the line of the dare part of truth or dare. It ended up being lots of fun. After that we tried to play a round of Trivial Pursuit the 90's. We didn't even make it half way through this game before everyone was tired of playing it!! Besides the rain, it was a really good day!

Shopping and visit with my Gramma!

Today I was a very easy day at work! I actually got to catch up on so many things I had been neglecting. I even got to leave a little early. 4:00 p.m.!!!

After I got done with work I decided to try and get some shopping done! My Uncle Dan and new aunt, Jen, sent me a house warming present! A gift card to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I recently have been making toasted sandwiches and regular toast, and using my big oven to do so.  I decided this week that it was really silly to warm up the entire oven to make one piece of cheese toast. So I went in search of a toaster oven. I spent over an hour walking around that store! They have some of the coolest stuff in there. When I originally looked at the toaster ovens, I only saw ones that were $50 or more! I was pretty disappointed that they cost so much and decided to walk around while I had a decision.  When I went back to the section with the toasters, I noticed they had some on sale in a different section! So I ended up getting a really nice one for only $40!!

When I got done with all my shopping, I went to visit my Gramma. I hadn't been to see her in several weeks! (There was a stomach virus going around at her place, and she didn't want us to be exposed to it). But the virus scare was finally lifted and I could go visit her. It was nice to visit and see her, and I think she was thankful for the company!

Happy Hump Day!

So glad today is Wednesday! It just means it's that much closer to the weekend.  I'm so ready for this weekend. My goal is to do as little as possible. This is my last free weekend until after my friend Karen's wedding  (which is March 13th)!!

I did have to be at work at 6:00 a.m. today. I was a little worried about it. The process I had to do this morning was something I hadn't done in about 3 months. (Even thought I had been doing it for over a year before that, it's amazing how quick you can forget things when you are even a little out of practice). Everything turned out okay and I even got to leave work a little early! At 4:30 p.m.!!

Que Sera Sera!!!

Tonight is a meeting for the running club I'm a member of! They usually spilt it up by having a 2 or 4 mile run. I have pretty much decided that I am more of a two mile person. (I run so much slower that most everyone else in the group, that by the time I get done with 2 miles, the 4 mile people are not that far behind me). There were actually 3 of us that did the 2 miles this time, and we actually all ran at about the same pace, which was nice! It was fun having someone to talk to the whole time!!

After our fun, we ate at Que Sera Sera in Fondren. I had the kids meal and a beer! I got picked on for this one, but I didn't care to much. (I'm sort of use to it) It turned out to be a really fun night!!

It's getting cold outside!

So after several weeks of being nice and warm it's decided to get back in the 30's!! Perfect running weather! I love running when it's cold outside, as long as it's not too cold. It felt good to get my running in this morning, I've been doing so bad lately I'm determined to do better.

Today was a pretty good work day. I caught up on lots of things I've been neglecting! And although I know tomorrow is going to be a long day, I don't have to go in at 6:00 a.m. Hooray!!

Tonight play with the Wii Fit! I've been so busy I haven't been able to do it. My favorite thing to do right now is the free step. I can set it to 30 minute, and watch TV. while I do it. It doesn't burn that many calories, but it keeps me from just setting on the couch!!

Back to Jackson

Today I made my way back to Jackson after a fun weekend in Memphis! I had so much fun, but was happy to be home. I made myself go to the grocery store when I got back to Jackson, but that's pretty much it. I didn't even bother unpacking!

I made myself get to bed early, I was determined to get up and go running. I've been neglecting my running schedule, mostly because of the 6:00 a.m. mornings at work. But tomorrow starts a new week and I'm going to do better!!!

Parker's 1st Birthday Party!

Today was Parker's 1st Birthday party!! It was so much fun!! Parker get tons of toys and it was lots of fun watching him eat his special cake. I hate I didn't take that many pictures. All I managed to get a picture of was the cake! Oh well... Candice did such a great job and I was so glad that I got to be there!!

The cake!!!

The play cake!

Memphis bound!!

Today I only had to work a half day!!! Since I had to be at work at 6:00 a.m. two days this week, it put me over my hours for the week. I got to leave work a little before 12:00 p.m. I was excited that I would be able to get on the road for Parker's birthday!

After grabbing some lunch, packing, and getting some coffee, I was on my way to Memphis!

Early to work and my Mom's birthday!

Today I had to be at work at 6:00 a.m. It came really early this morning. Last night i got woken up by the tornado sirens. The weather had been crazy lately, one week it's in the 20's and the next it's in the 70's!! It wasn't that bad today; it just makes for a long day. I did get to leave at 4:00 p.m., which I was really excited about.
I was also excited about taking my mom out for her birthday. I called her to confirm that she still wanted me to take her out, only to find out that her house had flooded sometime this morning!! What a terrible birthday present. She told me that she and Teresa were in the hall way around 11:30 p.m. last night and that things seemed to be okay. Only when she woke up and got out of bed, the carpet was squishy!!

She ended up letting me take her out to eat. We went to Kismet's and it was really good. I hadn't been there in a long time. When we got back to my mom's house, my mom received a call from the man who was going to come in the morning and try and get the water out. He told her that she needed to get the furniture off the carpet. So that's what we did. My mom and I moved all the dressers out of her room and my sister's room! I was so tired when we got done.

We finished off the night with birthday cupcakes! And I even talked my mom into letting me put a candle in her's. It turned out to be a fun night.

Another relaxing work day!

Today was another catch up day! It was so nice and stress free! And now the week is half over! I do have to come into work at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow but it's not going to be as bad as it usually is.

Once I got home, I decided that I didn't need to be a bum again so I made myself get some more cleaning done. I was really excited about everything I got done. After that, I cook some supper and tried to get to bed early, I had an early day in the morning.

Nice and Relaxing Workday!

Today was so nice and stress free. Because of the holiday it's prevented this week from being to busy. I was actually able to catch up on some things I've been neglecting for months! I'm still going to have a 6:00 a.m. morning this week, but it's not going to be near as bad as it has been lately!!

When I got home I was able to relax. I cooked myself some supper and then watched t.v. the rest of the night!

Holiday!!!

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. birthday. This means a holiday from work!!! Yea! I got to sleep in a little bit, which was nice. But then I had to meet my Mom and sister at my Gramma's apt. Thursday is my mom's birthday and since we are all off from work, we decided to go out to lunch to celebrate.

My mom chose Cracker Barrel for her birthday lunch. It was really good! I look to get breakfast there. After we were done with lunch, we headed to Walmart to get some things my Gramma needed.

I was excited after we were done, I was able to go home, get a little cleaning done, and then do absolutely nothing!!! It was wonderful!

Lazy Sunday!!

Today was such a nice day!! I got to sleep in until 11:30 a.m. I didn't do to much the rest of the day either... I had planned to go visit my Gramma and go to Walmart for her, but we decided that since tomorrow was a holiday, we would all go out to eat and do the Walmart thing after.

Later tonight I went to Cups to catch up on Grey's and Private Practice! I had missed it and it was so nasty and rainy out I had to get out of my apartment. I just knew if I stayed any longer I would do nothing but nap!

The rest of the night turned out good and I was looking forward to my holiday tomorrow! Excited about sleeping in a little bit before I had to meet up with the family!

Karen's Bridal Shower and a rainy afternoon!

Today I made the trek to Brandon to catch a ride with Karen, her mom, and sister-in-law (Jamie) to Vicksburg. We got there just before the rain started, which I was very excited about. There were so many people at this shower! It was at Collin's church, so Karen only knew a handful of people, but they were all supper sweet!

I was pretty mad at myself when I got to the shower. I had remembered to bring my camera; however, I left the SD Card in my laptop! :( But turns out, there were several other people who had cameras.

By the time I got home I was beat! I lounged around the rest of the day, doing nothing (I think the rain was partly to blame) and went to bed early. I was looking forward to sleeping in in the morning!!!

2 hour work day!!!

Today I only had to go in for 2 hours! Which would have been great but it turned out to be a really long 2 hours. It seemed to be worst then Tuesday and Wednesday put together!!!

When I finally got to leave, I was so excited! There was so much I wanted to do with my day....

The first thing I did was go to Mississippi Blood Services and give blood! I usually make an appointment, but decided to walk in. Luckily, they weren't busy and I got to walk on in!! It wasn’t that pleasant of a visit this time. By then time I left, I looked like I had been beat up! They ended up having to stick me in both arms, the vein in my right arm got nicked and wasn't giving them hardly anything. But they got it right when they stuck me in my left arm, and it was over before I knew it!

Next, I was off to meet the guys at Hooter's for lunch. My punch card for full so I got free lunch today!!

After that I decided to go to the movies. A few months ago I read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, mainly because I knew it was going to be made into a movie. (A majority of the books I read, are books that look interesting and are being made into movies!) Today the movie The Lovely Bones came out.

The movie was really good! And from what I remember, they stayed pretty close to the main storyline.  They had to cut lots of stuff out and the scenes were much tamer (which I was thankful for). Over all I thought it was a great movie!

Visit to the dentist and The Wizard of Oz!!!

Today was a pretty laid back day... after finishing everything from the last 2 days, I pretty much spent the day playing catch up.  It was so nice. I did have to go to the dentist today, which I dreaded, but it was just a cleaning and it was over before I knew it!!

Later I meet my co-worker, Robin at Keifer's for dinner and then we were off to Thalia Mara for the Wizard of Oz!!

It was so much fun and it got Robin out of the house. Because of the "water crisis" in Jackson (don't think I've mentioned this, I've been under a boil water notice all week long!) And because of the water, Robin's children have been at home all week long from school. So she was ready for a little break away from them. The play was lots of fun and I'm glad I had the chance to go!

Wednesday the 13th??

So today was plan awful... I thought yesterday was bad. Today has proven to be much much worse.  I had to be at work at 7:00 a.m. which was better then yesterday. I spent all day fixing a file the wrong way.  I was so mad at myself.  Then turns out the company I was doing this for, doesn't even look at the changes I was making!!! 

To top things off I didn't get to leave until 7:00 p.m. By the time I got home I wasn't worth anything. I just fixed a quick dinner and sat on my couch the rest of the night.  :*(

Only 2 more days until a long weekend!!!

Long Day at Work!!!

Today I had another long day at work... I had to be there at 6 a.m. and didn't leave until close to 6 p.m. To make things even better, I was starting to get a major headache...

I ended up going to bed at 8:30 p.m. and was asleep by 9:00 p.m. I hadn't going sleep that early in years!! Hopefully tomorrow will be better then today!

It's Monday!

This morning went by so fast, then when I got back from lunch...

The afternoon was pretty terrible, my boss and one of my other co-workers were both out, which left me to handle everything that was going on. I had several voice mails and important e-mail when I got back that kept me busy until is was time to go. This caused me to leave everything on the back burner that I was working on, which was really annoying! I had been getting so much accomplished!!! Well enough complaining, I got to leave on time, which was a plus!!

Day with the family!

Today I had some cousins come in town from Kentucky to visit for the day. My cousin Micheal, Elisha, and their son, Seth. This little kid was so adorable.  My mom cooked lunch for us, a roast, potatoes, green bean casserole, and a few other things. That little kid ate more meat then I could have ever imagined.  I think he out ate everyone at the table!! It was quite entertaining.

The rest of the afternoon, we just sat around visiting.  It was lots of fun, it's always entertaining when there is a little kid there showing out for you. I think my gramma really enjoyed herself too. Both her and Seth didn't get in their naps, but they seemed to be okay without them.

For supper we decided to got out to eat. We headed to Cici's Pizza. It's cheap and my Gramma really likes it.  It was fun to get to spend the day with some out of town family, but after dinner they had to be on their way to visit with some other family. It was great to see them and I know that my Gramma really enjoyed them making the stop to see her.

Mississippi Blues Marathon and Half-marathon!!!

This morning I woke up to a temperature of 17 and a wind chill of 9. I was a little nervous... The race started at 7:00 a.m. and so Teresa and I didn't get out of the car until about 6:40 a.m. I got a really good parking spot and didn't want to get out of the car. But watching all the people walk by heading to the race got my adrenaline running and I was ready to face the cold.

I did a quick stretch (I had done most of it at my apartment), so I was ready to go. It was so cold... I had never experienced cold like this. But was thankful that I didn't have to stand around to long before the start.

The cold start...

Here we go!

The race started out not so bad, the sun was coming out, and after a few miles I was actually getting warm. But about mile 3, the sun went away and the cold settled in. It was so cold that the Gatorade was slushy. When I tossed my cup on the ground, the water turned to ice. When I run in the cold, my eyes tend to water the first few miles... well my right eye watered the whole time. At one point I looked down at my jacket and there were frozen teardrops!! It was at about mile 7 though 9 that were the worst. It was on the frontage road of Lefleur's Bluff State Park, there was no buffer for the wind and the interstate traffic zipping by didn't help anything. After that, the last 4 miles weren't that bad. They actually went by really fast. Which I was excited about, I was so hungry!

Tina the Icicle

I ended up finishing the race in 2 hours and 52 minutes, my worst half marathon, but I finished! The food was so good at post race tent, they had hot soup, hot pizza, hot chocolate, and cold beer!! It was a great reward after finishing such a brutal race... I think this may be the only time I do the Blues, but I have been known to change my mind.

I thought Teresa was taking a picture so I was making a goofy face for her.... turns out she was making a video. Enjoy!

Carb Loading!

Today is the day before the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon and it is freezing! I mean it's cold cold cold... I made sure to get out this morning for a little run.  I wanted to prepare myself for what I was going to have to deal with tomorrow...

I ended up having to go to work for a couple of hours, which wasn't so bad. I went in about 8:00 a.m. and got to leave a little before 10.  When I left work I headed downtown to pick up my race packet.  I was so excited!! The t-shirts looked really nice and we got harmonica's! I was really excited until I was walking back to my car and busted it on the sidewalk of the Convention Center. I was so embarrassed! There was a group of 3 people walking behind me that saw the whole thing.  My I got up and hurried to my car.

Once I got home I just chilled out and waited for Teresa to come over so we could go out to eat and carb load! I decided on Olive Garden.

There were several recommended places to go downtown, but I wanted to go somewhere where I knew the food.  I ended up getting the cheese ravioli's and they were so good!  It was the perfect meal to have before the race.

Teresa and I went back to my apartment and played a little Wii and then I was ready for bed.  I wanted to try and get to sleep by 9:00 p.m. The race started at 7:00 a.m. and I wanted to make sure and get plenty of sleep. The predicted temperature for tomorrow morning is 18 so I went to bed thinking warm thoughts :)

What a nasty day!

I was hoping I would wake up this morning to find snow, but no such luck. It was just brutal cold and from what was predicted, the rest of the week was not going to get any better.  I'm a little concerned about what they are saying the temperature is going to be Saturday morning... they are saying the temperature is going to be 10!! I can't believe it... Last year for the Mississippi Blues the temperature was close to 70 and this year it's going to be 10! The coldest I've ever run in is about 19. So this weekend should be interesting.  I just hoping that it warms up just a little.

Work was 10 times better today with was a plus to the nasty day. I just wish it would warm up a little.

Long Busy Day Take 2!!

So I had another long day... work at 7:00 a.m. and didn't get let leave until close to 8:00 p.m.  I was still really tired, but not as bad as I was yesterday.  One thing that made my feelings feel a little better was knowing that I might not have to come into the office at all on Friday!!  We'll see how this goes.....

Long Busy Day!!!

Today I got to work at 6:00 a.m. and didn't get to leave until around 6:00 p.m. :( It was so miserable. And to make matters worse, this was just a taste of how things are going to be from now on at work. The new year is going to be filled with long days and not much down time.  But I thankful I still have a job!!

By the time I got home I was so tired I didn't do much of anything. I barely had the energy to fix dinner, but I managed, and then it was straight to bed!!!

Back to work and dinner at Gramma's!

Today was my first day back to work in a week and a half! It felt so weird being gone for so long. I hadn't taken that much time off from work in over a year. The day went by pretty fast and when I got off work I headed to Brandon.

I had dinner over to my Gramma's with my Aunt Betty Gene, Uncle Tommy, and several of my cousins came into town for a visit. My mom and sister were there too. It was nice to get to see all of them. My mom made the Raspberry Chicken I had made the week before, because we knew how simple it was and how many people it could feed. 

After dinner I took my Gramma home to Heritage House and then headed home myself.  It was such a long day and I was ready to go to bed.

Drive back to Jackson and a birthday party!!!!

So today I made my way back to Jackson so I could go to a birthday party! My friend Jenny's son turned 3 today and I was invited to the party. It was at Pump It Up! I had never been there and it was an experience...

This place was so neat! When I was growing up the coolest place was Chuck E Cheese. Now kids have so much stuff!! The kids got to jump in these huge indoor inflatables for about 1 hr and a half and then they had the cake and opening of presents. It was lots for fun and I was so glad I made it in town in time.

After the party, I meet my sister to go see Sherlock Holmes.  I went to see it without her and to make up for it I went with her to see it. It was just as good the second time around and I was glad to get to spend some time with my sister.

Drive back to Memphis and Wii!

So I made my way back to Memphis today. It's wasn't too bad, except for the terrible wreak I saw happen about 100 miles outside of Memphis. It was so bad I had to pull over on the side of the road and stop myself from shacking.  After I finally calmed down, I was back on the road...

The trip actually went by pretty fast, thanks to John whom sent me home with a book on CD. Play Dirty by Sandra Brown.

I almost finished the whole book! I had about an hour to go by the time I got to Memphis. So I guess, I'll have to wait until tomorrow before I can find out the ending! But so far it's pretty good.

When I finally got to Can's, we all went out to eat, Can, Jen, Parker and me. We went to El Porton for some great food and margarita's.... well just me. :)

After supper, we went back to Can's for some Wii! About that time Louis can home from work so the Band Hero was on! It's was a lot of fun and I'm glad I got to spend some time with my friends!

Hello 2010!!!

To bring in the new year, John and I stayed in, watched Public Enemy with Johnny Depp and had our own toast for the new year! It was lost of fun. I had seen it before but it was still good the second time around.  We were so tired by the time the clock struck 12 that it wasn't to soon after we were in bed.

We slept in a little bit and then I made myself start 2010 out right by running 10 miles...

There is a lake about a mile from John's house called Lake Hefner... it's exactly 10 miles around it.  I knew one of the things I had to get done while I was in OK City was to get some miles in so I would be prepared for the Mississippi Blues half marathon next week.  I did okay.. there was still lots of snow on the ground that covered parts of the trail. You think running in sand is hard... running in snow is harder!  But I made it around and felt really good that I had made myself do it!

John and I didn't do much the rest of the afternoon but rest, it was so nice. Later that afternoon we decided to go downtown and snow tube...

This sounded so cool when John mentioned it! I was really excited until I got there and saw how tall the slope was.  I'm a little scared of heights and this didn't look good. Imagine someone constructing a slope from the upper deck of a minor league baseball field and the slope ending by the pitchers mound (did I mention they iced it down). There were lots of people that went ahead of us so that helped me out a lot.  Then it was my turn... It turned out to be really fun!! John and I got to go down about 10 times... I was so worn out when we got done but it was so worth it!!! Here are a few pictures:

The Slope!

This is me!

Getting out of the tube!

Here's John!

After we were done snow tubing, we went to a cute little pizza by the slice place near by. It was so good, I was so hungry but the time we got done.

We had decided to end the night by going to the movies.  John had told me about a really nice theater that he had wanted to try, it was a Warren Theater.  This theater was so nice it put the Malco to shame... it was fashioned like theaters were in the 40's, even the workers attire looked like something out of the past. We were in a small theater, but there was so much leg room, you couldn't even stick your feet on the seats in front of you.  And the larger theaters had balconies. It was so nice! We ended up going to see Up in the Air.

Up in the Air, starring George Clooney and Anna Kendrick, was about a man who spends over 300 day on the road for his job and then almost gets it taken away from him (an idea from Anna Kendrick's character). (He really enjoys traveling for his job and never being home or in one place).  I thought it was a pretty good movie, some of it was pretty depressing, you really what things to work out for George Clooney's character, but it seems that bad things follow him.  It turns out okay in the end though.