My last work trip and a PR

I've been gone for a while and I have so much to tell you.  I still haven't even posted about my last day in Vermont, which I still want to do.  Maybe you aren't that interested but I want the memory written down.  However, today I am going to give you a quick recap of my trip to Los Angeles, which is where I was for the past week-ish.

But first, my exciting PR news.

Yesterday I ran a neighborhood 5k.  I'd been doing some speed work and signed up for this race specifically to see whether I could improve my speed.  My previous PR had been 23:49 back when I was 21 years old and I was hoping to beat that.  And I did!!!  Not by much, but my new PR is 23:46 - a whole 3 seconds faster.  However, I am definitely NOT 21 anymore so I was excited that I actually got a new PR.  I came in 19th place overall (out of 376 people) and 3rd place for my age group.  Excitement people!

And now, a quick recap of my trip to LA.

Every year I organize HIV testing for a big national conference.  This year the conference was in Los Angeles so my co-worker and I headed out there.  With Evan (because he hasn't missed a work trip yet) and my Aunt Pam (who was nice enough to come hang out with Evan while I was working).
 

This conference is huge and stressful and I am pretty much stressed from May until I get back into the office and have paid all of the bills and our boxes are returned.  The thing about this event is something, or many things, always goes wrong.  It's a huge exercise in problem solving.  This year was no different.  All kinds of crazy things went wrong, but luckily it was a huge success on the outside.  No one but us knew the internal drama and disasters that were going on behind the scenes.

I'm not going to describe them all because I am sure my work is not the most interesting thing to read about, but I will describe one.  Like how we brought in a mobile testing unit this year and the unit ran on a diesel generator and we couldn't run it inside the convention center.  That meant that our entire testing unit had to be run on the battery...the lights, the refrigerator that held the tests, etc.,  and there was no air conditioner so the temperature kept rising and the tests become unstable in temps higher than 86 degrees.  Nice.  So we ended up having to run to an auto parts store, buy a 12-volt battery, and plug it into the wall.  This actually didn't solve the problem because it still wasn't enough power and although the fridge was working, we could only turn the lights on in one testing room.  Ahhh!!  These are some of the problems I dealt with.  Fun stuff.  It made for a very long trip with anxiety as to what disaster we were gong to be faced with each day.

However, we did squeeze in a bit of fun.  My aunt and I made it out to the Santa Monica beach!

As you can see - I made another tragic weather assumption.  I thought Los Angeles was going to be HOT so I brought a bunch of shorts and t-shirts for Evan and me.  Nope.  It was chilly.  Evan had to wear my sweater when we went to the beach because it was so chilly.  Next time we go anywhere I'm just going to bring a bunch of sweaters and pants no matter what the temperature is supposed to be because I sure can't seem to figure it out!

We walked along the promenade (I think that is what they called it).  The houses right on the beach were beautiful. I was wishing I could go for a run along the promenade, but obviously that was not going to happen!  Plus it was downright cold so I would have wanted long pants and a long sleeved shirt, which of course I didn't bring.

And the pier was fun too.  A bit crowded for me, but it was fun people-watching for a while. 

We walked around long enough to see the sunset, which was beautiful.

I think this was the first time I'd seen the sunset over the beach.  On the east coast we usually have to get up really early to watch the sunrise, but never the sunset.  It was beautiful.  Actually, I changed my mind.  I think I've seen the sunset on the Pacific coast when I was in Acapulco like ten years ago.  But usually I think of sunrises on the beach and not sunsets.  Both are equally stunning and beautiful.  And really, can you see those people in the water??!!  It was freezing out!! 

That night we ate at Seasons 52.  I had never heard of it, although I guess there is one in northern Virginia (and I just looked at the website and one is opening near me soon).  The name means something like 4 seasons (they have a different menu each season) and 52 weeks in a year.  And everything on the menu is less than 475 calories - however, that doesn't mean you can't order an appetizer for 475 calories and then a meal for 475 calories, and then a dessert for 475 calories.  I got the Summer Vegetarian Tasting which was sooooo good.  It had a quinoa-citrus salad, soft taco, seasonal vegetables, and cedar-roasted tofu with a tropical salsa.  It was delicious.  Evan got the kiddie flat bread pizza and LOVED it.  He loves pizza these days.  I try to make it at home with whole wheat pita so that it is a bit healthier than Papa Johns.

The rest of the trip was pretty much taken up with work, work, work, and dinner.  We ate at the Yard House twice (both times I got the 5oz burger - for some reason I was really craving burgers), George's Greek Grill, The Farm of Beverly Hills,(for breakfast and dinner), and The Original Pantry Cafe (a historic cafe that's been open since 1924 - and actually opened since that day, it's never closed because it's 24/7 and they say they've been opened and had a least one customer since then).  I'm not sure why I think you're interested in where we ate every day, but I guess since all I did was eat and work, I figured I'd share.  If you are ever in downtown LA, these were all good restuarants.

We stayed at the JW Marriott LA Live, which was right next to the Staples Center.  Lady Gaga played there the last night we were there.  It was VERY interesting to see what people were wearing (or not wearing...lots of skin showing) to the concert. 

The hotel was beautiful and Evan loved hanging out by the window looking at the pool.

Luckily my aunt was nice enough to take him to the pool a few times.  He LOVES the pool and literally spent hours looking at it from our room and saying "agua" over and over again.  It was adorable, until the 900th time.

At the conference I got the pleasure of meeting Dora and her new friends, Kate and Pablo.

I wrote a little sign for my niece that said, "Good luck in kindergarten Peyton, Love Dora" and I was SOOOO excited to show her the photo.  She starts kindergarten this year and I thought that she'd be really excited to get this little picture from Dora.  I posted it on Facebook and my sister said she was really excited.

The only other experience was the 5 hour non-stop flight with Evan, by myself.  Evan's come on all my work trips so I am used to traveling with him alone.  However, before this trip, the longest we'd been cramped on a plane was 4 hours.  Not that an hour is that much more, but in toddler hours - it is FOREVER.  Plus, the plane was completely full so there was no space.  Evan and I were jammed into one seat by the window.  Surprisingly, he was an angel both there and back.

That's not a very flattering photo of either of us, but it was hard to get one.  He was so good on the way there that TWO people complimented me on how well-behaved he was.  Now, I did come prepared with books, toys, one or two iPad apps (he is not allowed on the iPad anymore due to a few breakdowns when I took the iPad away from him...it was great for the plane and for the trip, but definitely not ready for an iPad-addicted toddler), and lots of patience.  I really think the key was staying calm myself and pretending we were at home and not on a small, confined plane with a large audience.  The way back he slept for 2/3 of the flight (amazing) and so that was a small blessing.  I still nurse him on take-off and landing (even when we are jammed super close to our seatmates and it's a bit uncomfortable), so that works like a charm.  And it calms him down when he starts getting antsy, which is nice.

So, that was my trip.  I got back on Tuesday night but I took the rest of the week off because my sister was out of town and so we didn't have any daycare.  And plus, we needed all that time to readjust to East Coast time!  We just hung around, met up with friends, and played.

**************


Sunsets or sunrises at the beach?

Your saving grace for long plane rides?

Favorite restaurant??

Wet Shoes

My run yesterday was the hottest run I've experienced yet.  It was SO HUMID I thought my clothes were going to melt on my body.  It really felt like I was running in a wool sweater and pants.  Completely gross.  I was so sweaty when I got back that I was talking with a co-worker and drops of sweat were falling off my chin.  Nice, huh.  Don't worry, I didn't snap a photo so you are safe from seeing that disgustingness.  My usual mantra while I'm running is "Slow and steady wins the race" and "I can do hard things".  The slow and steady one has been a real winner this week because twice I've had to "battle" it out with a guy who wants to run faster than me.  I'll pass him going my normal speed, then he'll speed up to pass me but then slow back down, so then I pass him again, then he speeds up, etc.  It really aggravates me because I feel so awkward the entire time.  However, both times now as I've slowly trudged along at my normal pace, I have eventually passed guys (on separate occasions) as they take a walking break and then never see them again.  And each time I think - see, slow and steady DOES win the race! 

That was a long tangent - my point was that yesterday it was so hot I couldn't even manage to get my mantra out.  The entire run I kept repeating to myself, "It is SO HOT" over and over.  That was the only thought I could muster.  Surprisingly, it was still a good run and although I was hot, I felt strong.  I'm not sure why - must be that special Monday feeling after running with the BOB all weekend.
Then when I went to wait for the bus after work it started pouring (like torrential down pour, wind, lightening, and thunder) and by the time I got to the bus stop I was completely soaked.  Completely.  I had to wring my shirt out.  I figure someone wanted me to have a shower so decided that the best time was on the way to the bus.  And if I had had some soap - I totally would have been able to shower.  Then I had to sit on the bus for 1.5 hours in my wet clothes.  And when I put my shoes on this morning, they were still wet.  It was a crazy day!
When I got home, this lovely package was waiting for me.

My first nursing school book!  I got it early so I could start studying.  We have an exam the third week of school and if we don't get 100% we have to take it again.  And you only have three tries to get 100% or you fail the class.  Yikes!  I decided I should start studying as soon as possible so that I get 100% on the first test and don't have to worry about it.  That's my hope anyway.

And for dinner I had some of that lasagna I made yesterday.

It really doesn't look that appetizing, but it's actually quite tasty.  I love the basil taste and the squash is really excellent!  It was a lot of work so I probably won't make a vegan lasagna again, but I'd definitely make a spaghetti squash pesto lasagna again - with real cheese!

And that was pretty much my day.  I leave for LA on Thursday for my last work trip and I can't wait for it to be over.  This is my big event of the year and it takes so long to organize and I'm so stressed that things won't go well or I will have forgotten to do something.  I will be so happy when the entire experience is over and I can just relax.  And I will barely have time to see LA because the work days are so long.  Boo.  I have never been to LA before so I'm excited to go.

I am less excited about taking Evan on a 5 hour plane ride by myself.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the plane isn't full and we have at least one seat open next to us - otherwise it's SUPER crowded.

And my aunt is coming to watch Evan and I'm super excited to see her again.  I haven't seen her since she came to Birmingham, AL to watch Evan last April!

********************

Any fun ideas to keep toddlers occupied for five hours straight?

Do you prefer running in hot or cold weather (or do you just prefer to not run!)?

Vermont Vacation

So, I took the weekend off from blogging and work, and the family and I decided to head up to Vermont for the 4th of July.  I was so excited because normally we only go to Vermont for Christmas and sugar season (March), and although those are fun times - summer is fun too.  So, I was really happy that my husband decided to take a weekend off during the summer (his busy time at work) and head up there.

Every time we make the drive to Vermont we leave earlier and earlier.  This time we decided we'd head out at 4am.  My husband wanted to leave at 3am but I convinced him that 4am was much better.  And actually, it turned out to be a great time to leave.  It would have been better if I had gone to sleep before midnight, but three hours of sleep with a nice cup of coffee did the trick.  Why was I up until midnight??  Oh, because we were fixing our bikes at the last minute.  We were determined to bring our bikes to VT since we now have a bike rack and we were finally going in the summer (not much biking in the middle of winter).  Except Ivan's bike was a bit broken.  However, my friend Allyson (she is a cyclo-cross super star and knows everything there is to know about bikes) came over and helped him fix it - it just took over two hours.  And she didn't get a chance to come over until 9pm.  So, although we got the bikes fixed - we were a little late getting to bed.

An early start is always good though.  Because a lot of this happens.

Evan is getting a bit older though, and he doesn't sleep the entire way anymore.  He slept until around 7:30am and was content for a few more hours.  We probably stopped around 9am for breakfast and to stretch our legs.  We are all about stopping on road trips.  I know plenty of people pack a lot of snacks and just go and go until they get to their destination - but no, we stop and stop until we get to our destination.  We actually used to stop a lot more but now we don't like to stop unless Evan is awake so it usually ends up only being twice.  And notice how close I am to him?  Yup - after he woke up the first time I sat in the back and played and read with him until he fell asleep again.  Now that we don't have the doggie (sad face), there is more space in the back.  Not a ton, but a bit more.

The scenery to Vermont is so much prettier in the summer (it's pretty in the fall too).

The winter is usually just brown unless there has been some snow and then it's pretty.  This past Christmas it was snowing like crazy and the roads were a mess so we couldn't concentrate on the scenery - we took pictures of the snow freezing to our windshield instead.

We arrived in Vermont around 3:15pm.  Not too bad!  It's so much better arriving earlier because it felt like we still had so much of the day left.  We used to arrive around 7pm or 8pm and then we'd turn around and go to bed and the entire day would have been spent in the car.  I am definitely a fan of the early morning departure time.

As you can tell, the weather wasn't amazing.  It was nice and hot the day we arrived but then the next day (4th of July) was cold.  Actually it was freezing.  I wasn't very prepared and only brought shorts and short sleeves for Evan (and one pair of pants for me) - so we were a bit cold that first day (it warmed up after that).  Luckily we didn't have much planned - just a family BBQ (with my awesome aunt who now lives just 8 miles from my parents!!).

That morning I headed out and did a six mile run.  It was nothing short of a miracle because I pretty much always slack on running when I'm on vacation.  I was motivated by the cooler weather though, so I headed out.  The scenery is amazing, but the running isn't.  This is the road my parents live off of (kind off, they live off a dirt road off a road that is off this road) - beautiful right.  And this road isn't too bad - not a lot of cars.

However, after you turn off this road, the next road is a small highway (although it sounds far, this road is only 1 mile from my parents' house).  And the speed limit is 40mph.

And cars FLY by you.  And do you see a shoulder?  Any space to jump when a car is coming at you???  Just down the hill into the ditch.  Let me give you a closer look.  The road.  Someone's property.  Not much else.

But every once in a while I wasn't dodging cars and could look and see beautiful things like this.

And barns like this.  I mean, how pretty is that!

And you could see the road forever.  This is where I ran - all the way down this road.  Notice that the speed limit changes to 50 on that road, but there was a tiny, tiny shoulder that you can kind of see.

And lots of cows.

So, it was worth risking my life.  I guess.  I sure wouldn't take Evan in his jogging stroller though.  I guess if I lived there I would have to drive to a better place to run if I had to take him.  Or I'd run with him on the smaller road and just keep going back and forth.

Ok - that is all I'll leave you with for now.  I'll recap the rest of the trip next time.  The bus was delayed this morning by an entire hour because a restaurant caught on fire on the side of the highway and the road had to be shut down - but it didn't give me enough time to write about the entire trip so I'll save that for later.

*******************
How was your 4th?

When you go for a run - do you just go out your front door or do you drive somewhere?

Traveling with a Toddler and a Stitch Fix necklace

Traveling with a toddler is not easy.  I can tell you that.  That must be why everyone always asks me what it's like and how I manage.  First, I am blessed, because Evan is super easy to travel with and pretty calm on the plane.  I traveled with him in January when we went to Houston and that was a bit challenging because it was supposed to be a four hour flight but it turned into a 5 hour flight and that was a long time for him to sit still in his seat.  Or my seat really, because he flies as a lap child still.  This past flight was fairly easy because Atlanta is only a one hour flight from Baltimore, so it wasn't too difficult to get there.

Taking every baggie out of the box is airplane friendly, but it sure helps me get dinner ready!

But there is SO MUCH STUFF.  Packing for children is not fun!  First, I packed the diaper bag with so many activities and toys and snacks that it weighed at least 20 pounds.  It was SO heavy.  Then I had a backpack that had some of my stuff in it and things that I didn't want to check.  We also had the car seat because if you want to go anywhere in a vehicle you need a car seat.  I know that legally you don't need to put children in car seats if you are taking public transportation (buses, taxis, shuttles, etc.), but taxis are just as likely to get into an accident as I am so why risk it?  So I always bring the 50lbs car seat.  I did by this nifty carrier for the car seat and love it.  It fits the seat perfectly and then I can carry it on my back.  I always check the car seat with my checked luggage and it doesn't count as an extra bag.  If I get desperate I can always throw a few things in with the car seat because they don't weigh that.

Evan can now climb onto the rocking chair by himself.  He loves sitting in his own seats now - but on planes he
still has to sit with me!

In the suitcases go normal stuff like clothes and shampoo, but then I have to remember all the stuff for keeping a toddler entertained at a hotel: blocks, animals, coloring books, books, trains, spatulas, measuring cups, bath toys, etc.  Plus enough diapers and wipes and special baby shampoo and soap.  And swim diapers.  These things get heavy...and take up an entire suitcase.  So, on top of the diaper bag, car seat, and backpack, I also have two suitcases.  And a child.  That is a LOT of stuff.  Usually my husband helps me check in but sometimes there is no one waiting on the other side so I have to somehow get all my stuff into a cab by myself.  This time I was meeting my mom at the airport so she helped me out. 

The airplane ride was a breeze this time because on the way there we flew at 2pm which was close to nap time.  I nursed Evan on the take-off (yes, he is 21 months and I am still nursing) and he immediately fell asleep and then slept for the entire flight.  On the way back the flight was delayed and didn't take off until 9:05pm and that was close to his bedtime, so again I nursed him at take-off and he fell right asleep.  Easy peasy.  The flight home was super crowded so there was a person in every seat.  This made it a bit tight since I had a lap child.  He may have gently kicked the person sitting next to me, but she didn't care. 

It makes nursing a bit interesting though - when someone is practically sitting on top of me.  I'm not a huge fan of nursing in public because I have to try and be a bit more modest (i.e. I can't take my entire shirt off, I have to wear something underneath so that my entire back and stomach aren't exposed, etc.).  Although I have read numerous stories about people having problems nursing in public, this has not been the case for me (thank goodness).  I have nursed Evan on all of his flights and I rarely use a cover (what's the point - Evan hates being covered and flings it off two seconds into a feeding) and no one has ever said anything.  Some people don't like to make eye contact with me - like they are a bit embarrassed or thing I am embarrassed), but that's about it.  I've nursed at the airport too, but usually in gates with only a few people.  I've never had to pump in an airport though, and I hear that that can be pretty rough (it's hard to find outlets in private areas). 

To keep Evan busy while waiting for the plane to board we usually try and find an empty gate and set up shop near the window.  Then Evan can run around, take out his ball, build some blocks, look at planes, make a lot of noise, and wear himself out.  Sometimes we walk up and down the hallways, but this can be hard because of my 20 pound diaper bag.  And Evan eventually wants to let go of my hand and go darting in and out of people and in front of airport carts.

So - that is a brief summary of my experience.  Nothing that I'm sure you couldn't figure out yourself.  I wrote a post of airplane tips with toddlers a while back that might be useful if you are flying too.  So far I have taken Evan on every work trip (a total of four) and am really lucky to have family members willing to meet me at my destination and hang out with Evan while I'm working (thanks Elizabeth, Aunt Pam, and Mom!!!).  That has made all the difference and has made work travel so much less stressful.  It is awesome getting to eat with Evan during lunch and show him off to my work colleagues - who are in love with him, of course.  Plus, I get to see family I normally wouldn't get to see - even bigger bonus!

After spending half a week with his Mimi, he was all set to Skype with her shortly after we returned home.
We usually Skype lying on the floor - so he was all set to go!

Aside from that - not much to report around here.  Oh, except I got my third Stitch Fix box yesterday and LOVED it.  I wanted to keep 4/5 things but really didn't want the 5th thing and it was more expensive to buy the five things than to buy the four things so I decided to just buy three things.  One included this necklace that I love!

I'll snap pictures of the other things too.  Plus the things from my second box, since I never showed you that.  I am really loving Stitch Fix!!!  If you click those links to sign up, I get $20 for referring you.  No pressure though - you can just go to the website yourself.  I just wanted to put it out there just in case you were interested and didn't mind using my referral number.





How is your week going?  Any tips for traveling with a toddler?

Any Stitch Fix lovers out there??

My Old Stomping Ground

This past week I headed back to Atlanta - my home for the two years I was in grad school.  I remember when I was trying to decide where to go for grad school and I was nervous about heading so far south and to a place completely unknown to me.  However, Atlanta turned out to be a great city and I loved everything about it.  I don't love it enough to move there for the rest of my life, but it was, and is, a fabulous city.

Evan and I headed there for a work trip (probably my last work trip to Atlanta ever) and so the first few days were spent in grantee meetings.  My wonderful mother was able to make the trip to Atlanta this time and take care of Evan (thanks Mom!!!), which was awesome because I pretty much spent the first couple days in meetings.  The meetings started at 8am and ended around 5pm and then we had evening events that went from 5:30pm-9pm.  Yup - long, long days.  I stopped in around lunch to eat with my mom and nurse Evan to sleep and then I banana split again.  Since I've been on the same grant since it started and everyone remembers when I was pregnant and I've brought Evan on every work trip - people were very excited to see him again.

Evan was an angel and behaved perfectly for my mom. 

They got to spend so much time together and did lots of exciting things: hanging out at the pool, kicking pine cones in abandoned parking lots, walking around the hotel property numerous times, playing the "dancing farmer" app, and putting stickers all over the hotel room.

Evan loved the pool and kept pointing outside and saying "agua" numerous times a day.  I think a ton of pool days are in our future.  Like all photos, he looks like he's a bit iffy about the entire situation, but really he just isn't into smiling for the camera.

After the work meeting, I stayed a few extra days to see some Atlanta friends.  I stayed the remaining nights with my Peace Corps friend Sarah (for some reason we didn't take any pictures).  Fun fact: she married a Honduran also!  She is now pregnant with her first child (a little boy) and is due in November.  We moved from the hotel to her house on Friday and then headed over to my old roommate's house to see her and her three kids.  I hadn't seen them in about 4 years so it was nice to catch up.

Back at Sarah's house we had a traditional Honduran meal: Pollo Campero!  Ok, so Pollo Campero is actually a Guatemalan chain, but it was all over Honduras too and it's pretty yummy fried chicken.  It was fun eating it and remembering all our Honduran times.  Sarah used to live in the city near my town and when I'd go into the city I'd often hang out with her and sometimes spend the night at her place.  When I first moved to my town she was the person who really helped me adjust to life in Honduras and showed me around the city.  She was starting her third year when I started my first so she left about 10 months after I got there, but we had a lot of great times together.

My mom left the next morning so Evan and I took her to the airport.

Evan was very sad to see her go.  I don't pay attention to him nearly as much as his Mimi does! 

Here we all are together.  I'm not sure what is going on with my leg there, but oh well.  And I swear this outfit looked better when I looked in the mirror than it does on camera...but again, oh well.  It was so much fun seeing my mom and watching Evan and her bond.  After she left he kept saying "Bye Mimi" all day.  And when I'd say "Te amo Evan" he'd respond "Te amo Mimi" rather than "Te amo Mami".  I realize that Mimi and Mami are very similar so he's probably just confused, but I thought it was cute.

After dropping my mom off Evan and I headed to my friend Kelly's house.  I met her in grad school and then she moved to the DC area and then recently just moved back to Atlanta.  From her house we walked to downtown Decatur where we were going to meet another friend Nancy for lunch.  We got there early so played at a very awesome playground for about 40 minutes.  This playground not only had playground equipment, but people also donated a ton of old toys so it also had trucks, cars, fun riding things, those plastic play equipment things, kitchens, etc.  Evan LOVED it and didn't even really go on the playground stuff - he mostly pushed around plastic lawn mowers, road cars, and went in and out of plastic houses.  He was in playground heaven.

When our other friend arrived with her three kids we headed to farm burger for lunch.  It was a bit  crazy because I had Evan, Kelly had her son (two months older than Evan), and Nancy had her three kids (two boys aged 6 and 4 and a girl aged 10 months).  It made for a constantly moving meal, but we still managed to catch up and talk a bit.  After lunch we headed back to the playground for a while and then Kelly and I walked back to her house.  Evan fell asleep on the way so Kelly and I got some quiet time to catch up before she brought me back to Sarah's house (Sarah was working on Saturday - which is why we didn't hang out).

Sunday we slept in a bit and then headed to the Renaissance Festival.  I really lucked out because I didn't have a ticket and just as I was heading over to buy one (for $20), a nice family asked if I needed a ticket and handed me their extra one.  What a blessing!  We really just walked around the festival, ate some food, played some games, and people-watched (very entertaining since so many people dress up).  It was a fun day.  Then we headed home, packed up our suitcases, and made our way to the airport.  Our flight was delayed 1.5 hours so Evan and I entertained ourselves for about three hours (since I like to arrive a bit early when I'm traveling with Evan) before getting on a completely packed flight.

Yesterday I took the day off to catch up, unpack our suitcase, wash some clothes, go to the grocery store, and rest a bit.  Evan found his bird while I was unpacking and it made him think of Mimi.

My mom made this bird for him (and one for herself too) and they play with their birds when they Skype.  This is one way they play - they put the birds in their mouth and then shake their heads around.  So, when Evan sees his bird, he usually does this and wants to talk to Mimi on Skype.  It's adorable.

So, that was my long week/weekend!  What have you been up to since I've been gone???

10 Random Musings

Here are ten random thoughts floating through my head this morning.

1) Today I was hoping to get a nice nap in on the bus.  But then my bus friend drove by and picked me up instead.  I got to work 20 minutes early but I am now super tired - it's kind of rude to sleep while someone is driving you to work.  The nights have been rough for the past week.  I am still sick and coughing up a storm all night.  And Evan is still not really comfortable and has at least one "fit" at night where he wakes up and decides he wants to climb off the bed and then roll around on the floor in anger.  Regular coffee, here I come!

2) I am in love with these stamps.


I am tempted to buy lots and lots of them since they are forever stamps and then I can put them on my letters for the next few years.  Seriously, it is 10x more fun sending bills when you put a Harry Potter stamp on them.

3) I tried doing our family budget for next year and it doesn't look good.  When I added up all of our necessary expenses (rent, car insurance, electricity, etc.) and then subtracted the money I was getting from loans and the hub's salary, we were short $2,000.  And I didn't put things like gas and food in there.  We obviously have to eat something, even if it's just eggs, pasta, rice, and beans.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that shortfall, but I have a feeling I'm gonna have to pray a lot and hope this path that I've chosen is the same path that God has chosen for me...otherwise things could get scary towards the end of the school year when our cash dries up.

Another random school thing - I have a "Set-up for Success" day in June where I go to the campus and they review anatomy and physiology and teach us drug calculations, etc.  Is this kind of like having to read books over the summer but for science?  It's a bit scary when you have to have a review session before classes even start!

4) I am trying really hard to eat healthier.  No more eating an entire pan of brownies. I'm not saying brownies are out of the question because it's not worth living if you can't enjoy cakes and brownies at times.  However, honestly, once I've stepped away from 10lbs of sugar for a few days it's not so hard to show a bit of restraint.  And I feel a bit better too.  Not as better as some of those healthy food blogs say you will feel, but a little better.  And I feel a lot better about myself!  This was my healthy dinner yesterday.

I made Teryaki stir-fry with tofu.  It was pretty delicious.  I actually made my own Teryaki sauce - so much easier and better than the store-bought stuff.  And it made a lot so I froze the rest in ice cube trays so I can take a few "ice cubes" out and use them whenever I want.  I ate this over quinoa...quinoa that has been in my fridge for over a week but doesn't have mold growing on it yet.  Thank goodness.  I also then enjoyed an ice cream bar and a glass of wine, so as you can tell, I'm not eliminating sugar from my diet or anything.  But I am trying to make sure I eat bigger, healthier meals for lunch and dinner so I'm not shoving entire bags of chips in my mouth the second I arrive home from work because I'm famished. 

5) I have some scary, new addictions.  First, the Dugger Family.  I know!!!  How embarrassing!!!  I just find them fascinating and I LOVE big families and always wished I had lots of brothers and sisters (really Mom, why didn't you have 17 kids!!!) - so I live vicariously through them.  I started watching the season from the beginning and I'm on Season 6 now.  And I also bought their book and read it too.  It's not that well written, but it was still interesting.  In between that show I have been watching Season 3 of Dance Academy.  Another embarrassing thing to admit.  It's about a group of teens in dance school in Australia.  I love it.  I love dance movies and tv shows so of course I love this.

6) Evan is obsessed with golf.

He loves hitting his golf ball and can actually hit it most times.  I can't wait until we can all play as a family - how fun will that be!!!  And oddly enough, he plays golf left handed.  He plays and writes with his right hand for other things but for some reason he's a lefty golfer.  Funny, huh.

7) This weekend I am taking my nieces out for special days.  I'm taking the oldest out on Saturday for a special day with Titi (me) and then I'm taking the middle one to the Zoo on Sunday with our family for a special zoo day.  I CAN'T wait!!!  At first I was afraid they might be too nervous to venture out alone (they like to go places together but rarely separate) but my sister said that they both want their special days with me so it sounds like it is going to work out.


8)  Our pediatrician just started requiring all patients to be vaccinated (she used to see patients that preferred to avoid vaccines).  She has a Facebook page and you should have seen the ridiculous comments people made.  I'm not going to get on a pedestal and talk about vaccines, but people were saying completely untrue things.  One woman said that natural immunity is best and we should all just get polio and measles and tetanus so that we build a natural immunity and then the diseases would be eradicated that way - like typhoid fever and scarlet fever were eradicated.  Umm, really?  Minus the fact that people can die from those diseases and so some people's "natural immunity" might be death, but typhoid and scarlet fever haven't been eradicated!!!!  Plenty of people get typhoid fever in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.  And Scarlet Fever?  Really?  That is caused by Group A Strep - the same thing that causes strep throat.  Yeah, it's not as common anymore because we have antibiotics - but people still get it!  I understand that people aren't as educated as I am about health issues (it is my job, so I tend to know more than the average person), but before I post or talk about fact-like things, I do my research and make sure I know what I'm talking about.  And I definitely do my research when it comes to Evan.  And I make sure I don't just look at websites that say what I want them to say - I try and get a few opinions from different resources because in this day and age you can find any website to support any illogical thought but that doesn't mean it's right.

Ok - long tangent.  I just couldn't believe that comment.

9) I have an upcoming work trip to Atlanta and I can't wait to see my ATL friends.  It has been so long and they have babies now and it's going to be so fun.  And my mommy is coming to take care of Evan and so I get to see her too.  Not much because I have to be at work things all day and all night, but I'll get to see her for a little bit.  And Evan gets to see his Mimi and hang out with her all day.  He is going to be so excited!!!

10) When I first started this post I thought that 10 random things would be really easy but after #7 I was struggling.  And now I don't have much at all.  Except that since April, Verizon has gotten their switchboards screwed up and so a bunch of sick elderly people were calling my office phone wanting a Lifeline phone (you know the "if you've fallen and you can't get up").  I guess there was some Medicare deal where they could get a phone for free and when they dialed the number (which wasn't my number) they were transfered to my phone.  Literally, I was gone for a week of vacation and came back to 99 phone messages from frail sounding elderly adults asking about their phone.  And when I was in the office the phone rang off the hook so I stopped answering it because they didn't understand that they had the wrong number and each call took about 10 minutes of me explaining and it was taking up my entire day.  So then I would get really nasty phone messages (I had to listen to some of them if I was trying to get to an actual message) talking about how I should be fired because I'm never at my desk and that I'm a horrible person because I don't return their calls, etc.  I returned a few calls in the beginning but I can't return 99 calls.  Or even the 15 calls I was getting a day.  Thankfully it has slowed down (our phone and HR people have been working on it) and I only get about one or two a day now - but it was a phone nightmare.  Luckily these people just wanted phones - they weren't using their Lifeline phones because they had fallen.  That would have been way more tragic.  I do hope they got it worked out though because I would hate for these people to never get their phones!

Ok - there are my ten randoms for the day.  How about you?  What is something random going on in your life?  What embarrassing TV shows are you watching these days?  Have you bought Harry Potter stamps???

The rest of my vacation recap with a ton of photos

Evan was not happy this morning when I woke him up to head out the door.  He's gotten to sleep in for three whole weeks and today it was back to a 6 am wake-up call.  First he had a week at another daycare, but that place didn't open up until 7:30am so I let him sleep in and when he woke up I brought him over there.  Then I was on vacation for a week so we both got to sleep in, and then my husband had to take a week off for his cataract surgery so he got to sleep in some more.  When I woke him up to change his diaper and brush his teeth (since he still nurses at night I am very diligent about brushing his teeth the second he wakes up), he kept saying "night night".  I felt badly, but hopefully he'll go back to bed at my sister's.  He's been going through a bit of separation anxiety and cries (or screams) when you drop him off - so not sure if that is conducive to falling asleep.  We'll see.

So, what else did I do on my vacation?  Besides sit home and watch TV?  Actually, there wasn't as much TV watching as I'd like because I don't like to watch TV when Evan's awake and he's awake most of the day.  I did catch up on Parenthood (it was the season finale already????), NCIS, Believe, and The Voice though.  And I got in a bunch of 19 Kids and Counting, my new Netflix obsession.  

Aside from that, I decorated a wedding cake for my co-worker.  I alluded to it yesterday.  I worked on it for about a week.  I started with molding the chocolates into seashells.  This was easy but you could only do so many at a time, so it took a while.  I ended up making way more than I needed, but I put them in goodie bags and gave them away at the shower.  I then bought "mini" Adirondack chairs and a picket fence.  The chairs turned out to be way less mini than I had envisioned.  They said "garden fairy gnomes" but I guess garden fairy gnomes are a lot bigger than I imagined.  I then had to paint the chairs and fence because they were unfinished wood color and didn't look great.  I also got little hearts that I painted and wrote the bride and groom's name on.  Then I finally got started on the cake.  If I am decorating a cake I usually buy the cake mix and then make the frosting, so that is what I did.  I made a 9x13 cake and then a heart shaped cake.  I also made 12 cupcakes because the heart pan only used half a cake mix. Then the next night I frosted it, but a bunch of gold balls around the outside and some brown sugar sand on the top.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out, just sad about the enormous chairs.

Here's the cake in all it's glory!

Not too shabby, right.  Here are the cupcakes.

They also turned out nice.  I was excited and my co-worker loved it, so that was all I wanted.  Now I am on cake hiatus for a bit...making cakes is exhausting, especially the cleanup.

The rest of the week was spent playing with Evan.  He had a ball taking things out and making a mess - like all his numbers.

And all the bowls and pots and pans.  Here is is making soup.  He even has a whisk!

But no worries, most of the time he cleans everything up!

His is obsessed with cleaning supplies these days - vacuums, brushes, brooms, wet paper towels to wipe the floor.  It would be great if this continued into his teenage years, but I am not going to hold my breath.

We also went hiking again, my favorite thing to do.  He loves it also, but he really loves hiking off the trail and walking straight into the woods.  Now that it's getting nice out I am nervous about ticks so I'm going to need to invest in some insect repellent that isn't too toxic.  Any suggestions?

Evan has recently entered the "chase me" stage and thinks it's really fun to stare me down and then take off running in the opposite direction.  It's funny when we are in the woods all by ourselves, not as funny when we are at the grocery store with a million other people.

 
He also still loves trees in all shapes and forms.  He wanted to run up to every tree and touch it (kind of a challenging goal in the woods), and was super excited to see some fallen trunks that he could sit on.

We also spent a lot of time at playgrounds.  It was a gorgeous week (so much sun and beautiful warmth - I was in heaven!!!), so I was more than happy to go outside.  I comprimised with Evan and we'd go for a run to a playground - that way I got a run in and Evan got to play on the slide.  Win win.  This was a little tot lot we came across during our run and it worked out perfectly because it was small and there was no one there.  Just how we like it.

His favorite thing is still the slide.  He just goes down over and over again and even says "weeee", which I think is too cute.

 He also found some Easter eggs in the sand volleyball court.  He had a blast filling them with sand and then dumping the sand out.  I had less fun finding sand all over his body when we got home!

And then my last day of vacation we met my sister in Philadelphia!  She was in town for a work event and we decided to drive up to see her.  It was a beautiful day and so fun to walk around and eat some delicious food.  Here we are at the Irish Memorial - for the tiny bit of Irish blood we have in our bodies.

And this is my favorite picture - the tulips are out in full bloom and if there aren't any deer around to eat them, they looks so beautiful!  

Ok - that is enough of my recap!!  Back to regular scheduled programming in my next post - whatever that is.  Thanks for reading and sorry I was AWOL for so long!!!

Disney Trip Part Three

Somehow I survived the first day at work after daylight saving time.  The irony of it is that I drank a cup of regular coffee, instead of decaf, and so at 10:30pm when I crawled into bed I was wide awake.  Yes, a cup of coffee at 8am will keep me awake at 10:30pm - I don't have caffeine very often.  So, I was still up late again, just this time I was in bed.  I am trying a new method where I make a slow cooker meal or cook the night before in hopes of reducing dinner prep time.  It was a complete success yesterday.  Evan and I played for a while when I got home and we still sat down to eat at around 7:30pm and all I had to do was microwave a few things and dinner was ready.  I'm not sure how long it will last though.

Ok, onto Disney!  It's the last Disney post in case you are tired of hearing about the "happiest place on Earth"!

The Disney Princess Half Marathon

The half marathon was the sole reason we had even embarked on a ridiculously expensive vacation to Disney World in the first place.  My sister had wanted to run a half marathon for her 30th birthday and I agreed to do it with her (so she wasn't doing it alone).  She chose the Disney Princess because it sounded fun and not as serious as a regular half marathon.  And people dressed up as Disney Princesses and she thought it would be fun to dress up (it was fun actually).  So, we paid the outrageous entry fee of $165 back in June and there was no turning back.  I was a bit skeptical about paying so much money because it's not like you got free entry to the park or something.  You got nothing extra actually - just the same old stuff like a t-shirt and a medal.  I'm not quite sure why the race is so pricey, but it was fun.

On race day I woke up at 2:30am to catch a shuttle to the race start.  The first shuttle left at 3am and I knew I wanted to be at the start with plenty of time to spare.  Mission accomplished - I was one of about 50 people there!  I had my costume on that my sister had made and I walked around, used the potty, and stretched a bit while waiting for my sister to arrive.  There was not a lot going on, but they did have a DJ and he was playing some motivating tunes, so I was jamming along by myself.  Finally my sister showed up!

First things first - getting our picture taken.  As you may or may not know from our costumes, we were Anna and Elsa from Frozen.  My sister made our costumes, which you can see a little better in the pictures we took when it finally got light out.  Remember, it's only 4am right now so it's still plenty dark!

We eventually headed over to our corral, F, to start stretching and get ready for the 5:30am start.  My sister was a bit nervous because she hadn't trained that well and was worried about finishing, but I figured we'd be just fine.  I was initially put in corral C but decided to run with my sister so ended up just going to F (just in case you're not race savvy, you can usually move down corrals but you are not supposed to move up corrals because the front corrals are for faster people).  While waiting for the race to start we find Olaf!

We didn't actually know that guy at all, but it was fun getting our picture taken with him.  And do you see that cape I'm wearing?  That was actually my niece's cape and I had to run with it the entire time.  My mom had made a shorter cape for me to run with but it got lost in the mail and didn't arrive in time, so instead I borrowed my niece's cape and ran in that instead.  I can tell you - it was a bit hot!!  And it occassionally pulled at my neck.  However, it worked fine and everyone was able to recognize that I was Anna, so that was a huge positive.

We started out the race running like a normal race.  My sister was puffing a bit beside me so I kind of figured we wouldn't be keeping that pace the entire time, but we started out strong.  The beginning part of the race was just along highways and through parking lots.  We started in the parking lot of Epcot and had to run to Magic Kingdom, so that was a good bit of distance.  We finally hit Magic Kingdom about the time the sun was coming up!

There's the lit-up castle behind me!  All the pictures are a bit blurry because they were from my sister's iPhone, but they are better than nothing.  And way better than paying $100 for race photos!  Here's a closer picture when we ran through the castle:

As you can see (on the left of my sister's head), the castle was under construction a bit and the person who took this photo of us didn't think to crop our bodies out for more of the castle.  Oh well.

 

From about this point on we started stopping to take pictures all the time.  Disney had a bunch of characters out on the sides of the race where you could get photo-ops and so it was fun to stop  and get pictures taken.  Especially since during Disney hours you have to wait for hours and hours for a photo with a character!  Don't get me wrong, the lines were really long at times but I think the longest we waited was 15 minutes for Mickey and Minnie mouse.

But it was worth it!

I think my sister enjoyed the pictures because she got a chance to relax, take a break while waiting in line, and look forward to the next character coming up!!  So, we got a lot of character photos.

 

The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland:

Mary Poppins and Bert, from Mary Poppins:

The Genie from Aladdin:

 

 

On the side of the road there was this sign:

 

"Let it Go" is one of the main songs from Frozen so we had to get our picture taken with it.

The Disney Princes!

Notice how my sister is flexing her muscle but if you look closely at me you'll see that I am carrying her water bottle.  Yup, that's what older sisters are for - when the little sis gets tired the big sis carries her water bottle.  So I actually had my water bottle in one hand and her's in another.

Princess Dot from A Bug's Life:

As you can see from the photo above, it was very hazy and foggy out during the race.  It was great actually because it wasn't too hot but it wasn't cold either.  We were perfectly comfortable the entire time.  It got really sunny and warm after the race ended but it was nice that the weather stayed cooler for the race (of course we finished a little after 8:30am so it was still early).

 

 About mile 10 there was a decent sized hill and about half way up the hill they had this green army man yelling at everyone to keep running and do push-ups!  It was cute, so we snapped a picture.  It was a little sad because there were no lines to get your picture with him - I guess princess racers aren't interested in army men!

 

Towards the end of the race they had this big set-up with Jack Sparrow and the ship from Pirates of the Caribbean.  Too bad it wasn't Johnny Depp!!!  

 

In Epcot, within the last mile of the race we found Sofia the First!  My nieces love her (she was their favorite until Frozen came out), so we had to snap our picture.  We were hoping Elsa and Anna would be on the course, but they were not.  Actually, there were hardly any princesses on the course - just Snow White, Princess Dot, and Sofia the First.  What happened to Belle and Pocahontas and Aurora and Ariel and all the others???  I think I remember Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, but I hadn't ever seen that so I didn't know who she was until my sister mentioned it.

And then we were done!!!  13.1 miles and 3 hours later!!  Yup, it took us THREE HOURS - it was the longest half marathon of my life!!!  I guess that's what happens when you wait in a million lines for photos with Disney characters....

I had a ton of fun though - it was fun running with my sister, not caring about the time, stopping to get fun photos all the time, and just relaxing through the entire thing.  And we didn't do too badly, I think we were in the 9000 out of more than 24,000 runners so we finished before more than half of the people out there (scary thought, huh).  Plus, I wasn't out of breath or tired after the race and I wasn't even sore the next day.  It was like I had dreamed the entire thing!

 

All in all the race was really fun and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun race, especially if you don't care as much about your time.  I'm not sure it would have been worth the money if I had just run straight through and hadn't taken any photos - what made it worth it were the fun photos and the actual experience.  I was disappointed that more of the race wasn't through the parks though.  We only ended up doing about a mile through Magic Kingdom and then a mile through Epcot - but the race was 13.1 miles - so that means more than ten miles were just on highways and through parking lots.  Not that exciting.  Sure, they tried to make it more exciting by having the characters along the highway, but the park and characters together would have been way better.  We could have looped through Hollywood Studies and Animal Kingdom if they needed more space.  Not sure why they limit the park part so much.

After the race I took the shuttle back to the hotel, showered, packed, and we checked out.  Our resort was nice enough to give me a late check-out so we didn't have to be out until 1pm.  Then our friends from Tampa (they used to live in near us and are Evan's godparents) came and picked us up and we spent the rest of Sunday and all day Monday hanging out with them.

They had giant legos at the entrance to the hotel so evan had a blast playing with them while we waited for our friends to arrive and figure out how to pack all our luggage into their car.

We had a lot of fun staying with them - Ivan really loved it because he went golfing Sunday afternoon, fishing Monday morning, and golfing Monday afternoon again!  Evan and I hung out at the condo, took a nice walk along the mangroves, and went to the beach Monday afternoon.

Evan looks SOOOOO old in this photo.  Where is my baby???

Evan thought the best thing in the world was their screened-in porch.  He loved hanging out there and looking at everything (they were on the 6th floor and looked out to the water).

On Monday I made a huge boo-boo that ended our trip on a high-panic note.  I thought our flight left at 8:45pm so we were about to leave the condo (at 6:15pm) and I checked to make sure and our flight actually left at 7:45pm!!!!  Yikes!!!!  It took at least 45 minutes to get to the airport and we weren't sure we'd make it.  We decided to try because we didn't have a lot of options (changing flights would have cost a small fortune).  We got to the airport at 7:15pm and by the time we got our luggage out, put the car seat in its travel bag, and made our way to the check-in it was 7:20pm!!!  The woman was doubtful we'd make it but she said we could try if we wanted.  So we checked our bags, raced through security, and made it to the gate!!!  They had even printed out our gate-check tags already!  Plus, we weren't the last ones on the flight - two people came on after us.

It was a bit hectic and crazy, but I was so happy we had made it.  

And just like that we got home and I went to work the next day.  

 

Disney?  Done.  

 

Half marathon?  Done.  

 

Bank account?  DONE!!

 

The End.