Weekend Update

Once again I’m linking up with the most awesome Tara for my weekend update!  Please go check her out and see for yourself how awesome she is!  I had a LONG weekend that started out amazingly and ended not so amazingly about an hour ago!

Friday I was driving home after a long day not really looking forward to a night of putting progress notes in when I got a call from Leah, my uncle’s wife (we’re all too close in age to call her aunt!:)), she was calling to let me know that she had just picked up tickets to Sunday’s Saints/49er’s game and that I better call in sick on Sunday!  Needless to say I immediately got on the phone and made arrangements to switch shifts so that I would work Saturday instead of Sunday!  Leah told me that she was giving the 4 tickets to my mom, my sister and her boyfriend and me as Christmas presents!  I just had to meet Leah a couple of hours away on Saturday to get the tickets and my mom.

Saturday I woke up and did a half shift at the hospital and then hit the road to meet Leah and my mom!  We had a late lunch and I got to see my favorite little cousins!

After our late lunch my mom and I came back to my place and decided to go to one of my favorite local bars to do a load of laundry (yeah in NOLA you can do laundry at the bar:)) and watch the LSU/Bama game.  I was not happy about the ending of that game 😦

Sunday morning mom and I got up early and headed out to get some coffee then walk around a bit before heading to the Dome.  After coffee we decided to get some breakfast and bloody marys for our walk to the Dome.  My sister and her boyfriend were going to meet us in Champion Square and then we’d all go into the game.  It took a while before my sister and her boyfriend got there but that just gave us the chance to watch the drum line come into Champion Square!

We had AMAZING seats!  24 rows up from the field!

Not happy after that loss 😦

It was an amazing game!  I just wasn’t too crazy about that ending 😦  After the game we walked to the quarter so my sister and her boyfriend could get a caricature made.  Once we finally made it back to the parking garage to get my sister’s car everything went downhill!  We could not find her car!!! We searched for hour!  They were supposed to meet Leah with mom and Leah was already at the meeting place with the girls and they still hadn’t found the car much less left NOLA!  At this point my mom and I were sure that her car was stolen so I told Leah to get the girls some dinner and then just go home that I would get them back home and drive mom all the way home.  After me stopping an NOPD officer, against my sister’s wishes, we were FINALLY able to find her car!  It was parked in a garage that belonged to a hotel instead of the Dome that my sister swore was not the right garage because they didn’t drive that far.  My mom and I were exhausted from spending 3+ hours walking through 5 parking garages, after dark in downtown New Orleans.  My sister knew that I had told Leah that I would take mom all the way home and just went with that instead of offering to take mom herself since she was driving in that direction.  So at 9 p.m. my mom and I made it back to my apartment got her stuff and hit the road for a 4 hour drive!  I woke up today and saw my Mawmaw for a bit before having lunch with my mom and hitting the road.  I FINALLY got home at 6 p.m. tonight and I’m DONE!  I’m counting all of my walking yesterday as my workout for yesterday and today!  Hoping to have a good week and a good weekend next week!

I hope y’all have a great week this week!!!

Weekend Update

Oh what  a weekend!  I had an insanely long day on Thursday and was more exhausted than I ever remember being on Friday!  I mean I was exhausted to the point that I was on the verge of tears all day!  I will just say that I am not a big crier so this was very unusual for me!  Once I finally go through the day I got home and found a notice that the sewage and water board would be working on something and my water would be off all day Saturday!  Thanks to this wonderful news I spent my Friday night/ Halloween doing all chores that require water, such as laundry!  What an exciting Halloween for me!  But if I’m honest as exhausted as I was I would have likely stayed home anyway 🙂

Saturday I set my alarm to go off before my water was to be turned off so that I could at least brush my teeth before going to the gym!  So I got up and got dressed to go to the gym only to find that I was stuck at home due to an awesome 1/2 marathon!  I originally planned to run the Jazz 1/2 but after my ankle injury I had to put my registration on hold until next year.  It was our first truly cold day so I put on a hoodie, fixed some hot chocolate and sat on my stoop and watched/cheered on the runners until I could get out to the gym.

Gotta love my view!

Once the race cleared up I was finally able to get to the gym and get in a few miles on the treadmill.   Wasn’t great but I’m still taking it slow and easy on my ankles!  Since I knew I didn’t have running water at home I ran to the grocery store after the gym to pick up something quick and easy for lunch.  The cold snap that morning had me feeling pretty sick with a cold.  I swear when I am not feeling well I shop like a college student!  When I checked out my cart had 3 bottles of wine (grabbed some on sale), a can of pringles, some Ramen (always makes me feel better when I’m sick!), some progresso soup, and some soup from the deli. After I got home I took some medicine and slept the rest of the day hoping I’d feel better on Sunday since I had to work was supposed to have a date with an old high school friend.

I woke up Sunday still feeling pretty sick so I decided to just work a 1/2 day and then go home and take some more medicine so that I would feel good enough to meet my old high school friend.  I have to say that I was able t pull myself together enough to meet my friend and I’m glad I did because for the first time in 2 years I actually had a good date!  We didn’t have anything in particular planned which worked out great.  We ended up talking over coffee for 2 hours then going to dinner at a seafood restaurant that over looks the lake.  Dinner was another couple of hours of good food, good wine, and good intellectual conversation!  I do not know where this will go but it was nice to have a good date for a change!

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week!  Please check out Tara’s blog and join in on the Weekend Update Party! 🙂

Weekend Update

So Friday morning I woke up early to try to get some notes into our work program.  While I was working I got a text message from my Mawmaw letting me know there was a confirmed case of Ebola in New Orleans.  It took over an hour for her to calm down and finally believe the news that what she heard was not that there was a confirmed case but that someone was being monitored due to his travels.  Gotta love that according to my Mawmaw my local news does not know what is going on here but her small town news station does.  Also gotta love that CNN couldn’t convince her but Fox News did! 🙂

After a long day of work Friday I decided to just stay in that night and relax.  I searched through Netflix for a movie and saw that The Stand is on Netflix!  I have LOVED The Stand since it’s original airing when I was in Elementary school and have watched it almost annually so of course I had to start it!  I always seem to forget that their apocalypse starts with people being killed by the Super Flu, which looks a lot like Ebola!  I thought I would have nightmares for sure!

Saturday I woke up early and headed up to my sister’s to go to my niece’s game and have some hang out time with my nephew.  So let me just say that I have loved my nephew and niece since the day they were born.  They have been the closest thing to children I have.  That said as much as my nephew and I have loved each other we’v never really had a close bond.  Truth be told he was deeply bonded with my ex husband and for the first 10 years of his life I’m pretty sure the main source of love for me was his appreciation that I brought Jeremy into his life 🙂  But then a couple of months ago I went to one of my niece’s games and afterwards my nephew and I ended up playing some boardgames after the game and since that day we’ve had this awesome bond!  When I go to visit he wants my attention at all times.  We laugh over our own little jokes, play games, and talk about what he wants to do after school.

This Saturday I had planned on going to my niece’s game then playing with my nephew for an hour or so then heading back home and meeting a date to watch the LSU/Ole Miss game.  Well when my nephew asked me to please stay and play catch with him I just couldn’t say no!  So I definitely rescheduled my date so that I could have more quality time with my nephew who told me, “You make everything more awesome!”

We spent the night watching hockey, Go Bruins, watching football, GEUAX LSU!  We also watched IT and The Corpse Bride while we carved pumpkins.  My niece insisted that I should move in with them and just never leave 🙂  I also got to help my niece work on stretches for her splits and then filmed her as she practiced her forward flip and cartwheel.

The very rare picture of Gavin!!!

My finished product!

So since I rescheduled my date from Saturday to spend more time with my niece and nephew I had to go on the date Sunday!  Honestly I was excited about this date.  I usually end up telling myself that I would rather be sitting at home watching Netflix and then I just dread the date.  And let’s be honest wouldn’t we all rather be sitting at home watching Netflix instead of going through the awkward get to know you conversation?  Well Sunday I refused to let myself even think about what I could do instead!  We agreed that we would meet at a local bar on my side of town that is known to be a big place for watching The Saints.  We were supposed to watch the game.  This guy failed to tell me that he is not from here and is only in town for a conference and is traveling through the U.S. with his colleagues.  Yes that’s right the guy was from Cyprus and knew NOTHING about football and so we spent the whole time with him him either trying to keep my attention on him instead of the game or me explaining football to him.  He was all about asking super personal questions about my family and friends.  It was just all around awkward and I got out of there at 1/2 time so I could watch the rest of the game in peace!  So happy we pulled out the win this week!

Any single girls out there, or even better divorcees, who deal with dates asking about their long term relationships?  I mean we are on a first date do you really want to spend that time asking me if I’ve been married and then trying to dig deeper into what happened?  Maybe let’s get to a second or 3rd date and then we can discuss past relationships?   Whatever!

I hope you all have a great week!  I’m starting my 1/2 marathon training today so next week I’ll have some running updates again!  Also I hope you all hop over to Tara’s page and join the link up!  Tara is awesome and you should all check her out even if you don’t link up.

Living the Single Life

I have been living the single life for almost 2 1/2 years now and from time to time I get a bit frustrated with people pushing me to be in a relationship, get married, and have kids already!  I cannot tell you how many times in the past 2 years people have told me that I should not be so picky, that I should go out on more dates, I shouldn’t be so hard on the dates that I do go on.  I have one sister who, being single about 6 months less than me and already finding her “soul mate,” has given me advice that just contradicted itself based off of my answers to her questions.  Basically if I was already doing what she advised then she would tell me not to stick to it 100%.  For example she told me I need to have a list of what I want in a partner.  When I told her I do, her response was that it doesn’t need to be written down and that I don’t need to stick strictly to the list.  All of this advice from someone who “met” her soul mate by reconnecting on Facebook with someone she knew all through out middle school and high school.

So a couple of days ago I was on the phone with one of my best friends who is also recently single.  We were talking about the insane dating scene and swapping dating horror stories.  At one point in the conversation she said something knowing that she’s picky but she doesn’t care.  I told her that I feel the same way and then it hit me and I told her, “I’ve already been divorced once, I’d like to make sure I’ve got it right the next time!”  So that is what I will be telling people from now on when they say something about my being picky.

Along with wanting to get it right this time around I am enjoying being single for the first time in my adult life.  I enjoy not having to share the tv with anyone and being able to binge watch Gilmore Girls all weekend if that’s what I want to do.  I enjoy being able to go to the gym any time of the day or night.  I enjoy being able to decide at the very last minute that I am going to drive home to Mississippi for the weekend.  I enjoy planning trips with my girlfriends for the first time ever, before my divorce all of my trips included my husband.  Don’t get me wrong I loved our vacations but having a good girls weekend is great too!

So while I am hopeful that I will someday meet the right person and again have a partner in life and maybe even have kids one day, I am not going to rush it.  I am not going to force a relationship with someone who isn’t quite right.  I’m not going to settle just because I am 30 and live in the South.  I am going to enjoy being single.  I know that enjoying this time in my life and going on horrible dates will make me even more appreciative when I do find the right person.

So when I get down about not having someone there when I am sick, or someone to help me clean around the apartment  or any of the other things that come with having a significant other, I am going to remind myself of all the amazing things that I’ve been able to do since becoming single…

Dancing on stage with my BFF of 15 years,

proving that we are not too old for this!

Traveling to Italy, alone!

Mardi Gras with my best girlfriends

Deciding 2 weeks ahead of time to go to the

Presidential Inauguration and make it happen!

Having a crazy all girls weekend at the lake for my birthday.

Driving an hour and a half just to go tail gate an LSU

Game.  You don’t have to go to the game to

enjoy the tailgate!

Random trips see my super awesome

niece and nephew!

So for any single girls out there I hope this reminds you to enjoy this time in your life, do not feel the need to rush into something or lower your standards.  You are amazing and deserve everything you want in life and in your life partner! Now get out there and enjoy your life and when it is right you will know it and you will appreciate it so much more!

Weekend Update

This weekend was a pretty boring one full of sickness 😦

If you read my post from late last week you know that I am officially off running for at least the next two weeks following an injury.  Thanks to that I spent my Friday afternoon at the gym on the bike instead of running.  But I was able to get in some good cardio so that was nice.

Once I got home from the gym on Friday I’m pretty sure I didn’t leave the house again after that!  I’ve been home taking medicine for a cold since then.  I even called in sick to the hospital for the first time in the year that I’ve worked there!

Since I was sick I spent some time doing some reading and binge watching Gilmore Girls and catching  up on The Walking Dead.  So my reading list this weekend was Little Women (I do not understand how I’ve never read this!), my favorite classic Pride and Prejudice, and since the movie just came out I decided to read Gone Girl again.

Feeling better today so I hope to get some cleaning done since I didn’t do any this weekend! I hope you all have a great week!!!

Yearly Check Up

I got to spend this morning at the doctor’s office! Yay Me! 🙂  I am all about preventive health care and so this morning I went in for my yearly check up.  I also wanted the doctor to check out my ankles since they have both been killing me since my 5k 3 weeks ago.

So good news first.  I found a great new doctor!  Spent most of the appointment chatting about housing in my neighborhood and stuff like that!  What I loved most about him was that when I told him I do not take flu shots he did not try to bully me into one!  He was fine with that even before I explained my reason to him and when I told him my reason he said that I was right not to have a flu shot!  That’s right people flu shots are not always a good thing!  The reason I, and my entire family, do not get flu shots is because when my father was a teen ager he was diagnosed with a rare nervous system disorder which to this day does not have an exact cause but one possibility is the flu shot.  My doctor even told me that the exact disorder my father had is one of only two things that can exempt hospital staff from the flu shot!  So that right there won me over!

After our appointment he set up for me to go downstairs to have blood drawn for your basic blood tests to verify that I am in perfect health.  I expected this but I wasn’t excited to have it done today!   I HATE anything involving needles but I especially HATE having blood drawn!  I really hate it when I don’t have someone there (let’s be real my mom:)) to hold my hand and distract me.  See on top of me hating needles my veins, as bright blue as they are, tend to roll which makes it hard to get the vein on the first try!  The phlebotomist was GREAT!  She got it on the first try and next thing I knew it was over!

At least they gave me some pretty purple gauze 🙂

Now on to the not great news 😦  The doctor confirmed that my ankle injury is tendonitis and I cannot run for at least another 2 weeks.  I can get in some other forms of cardio though so that is good for my weight loss plans but not for my training plans 😦

The second set of not great news is that I have borderline high cholesterol.  My doctor was not concerned about this but given my families history of heart disease I’m not thrilled with this.  My best friend from High School is a doctor and so I asked her what I should do.  She told me that she also has high cholesterol and that we really just need to change our eating a little and get more exercise!  I’ve known for a while now that my weight was going back up and I haven’t been happy about it so this was just the kick in the pants I needed to really get back on track with my workouts!

So plan to kick my cholesterol back down to a healthy range…

1. Start eating my oatmeal every morning!  My daddy did not have the best health.  He had high blood pressure, multiple heart attacks and smoked like a chimney but his cholesterol was always amazing.  His doctor’s never understood this but he swore it was all due to his love of oatmeal.

2. Fish Friday

3. Red bean Monday (sans sausage)

4. Get back to 5-6 hours a week of cardio

Since I am not able to run for the next couple of weeks I will be hitting the bike and the dreaded elliptical until I can start running again.

Since the doctor wasn’t concerned about my borderline high cholesterol I will not be having it tested again for at least a year but I’m hoping to feel the results of a healthier life style and am sure that the next time I have it tested I will be in a completely healthy range!

Weekend Update

This weekend was a great weekend full of a great spectrum of emotions.  I found out about 2 weeks ago that there was going to be a charity dinner to raise money for a scholarship set up in the name of the man who not only taught me history in high school but is also a second father to me.  The dinner was on Saturday and at the last minute I decided to drive up Friday night instead of Saturday morning so that I could catch my high school’s big rivalry football game and see Coach and Mrs. Cecil outside of the crowded dinner.  Friday night I made it to the game during 1/2 time and got to spend some time with Coach and Mrs. Cecil before the 3rd quarter started.  The game was AWFUL!  Since the real reason I was there had been accomplished I left the game early and went to my friend Phillip’s house to have drinks with him and his brother.  I was supposed to stay at my brother’s house that night but ended up staying up way too late with Phillip and Max and was order by Phillip to stay in his guest room.  We had a great night!  So much laughter!  He is one of the few people I can debate current events with and have fun while doing it!

Saturday morning I woke up and made it to my niece’s football game.

After the game I went out to Coach’s so I could see my baby, Ender while I was in town.  I don’t know why I didn’t think to get a picture but she has gotten so big! I can’t believe we got her 3 1/2 years ago!  She has transformed into the sweet, loving, and calm dog that we always wanted her to be!  I was so proud that when she saw me she did not jump on me but came to me and calmly sat there loving on me while I petted her.  Coach did tell me that her knee has been bothering her so I check to make sure it wasn’t out of place (she dislocated it a couple of years ago and from time to time it will pop out of place and has to be rubbed to go back in), the knee was in place but I rubbed the knees for her anyway 🙂

After seeing Ender I went to my sister’s because my nephew asked me what we were going to do after the game, clearly wanting to play some more board games! 🙂  So We played a round of Clue and then The Walking Dead board game.  We had a great time!

The dinner was full of laughter and tears for me.  I cannot begin to explain what an impact Coach has had on my life.  We were asked to write notes to him that will be put in a book.  I told him that I kept mine as short and sweet as possible because I know neither of us want other people reading about our memories.  I will say this he is the one person that for the past 15 years I have turned to for EVERY life decision.  He helped me pick which college I would go to, was there to guide me and my ex husband through the decision making process when the recession turned our life upside down, he was the first person to give me a hug and tell me that my ex husband and I would both always be his children despite our divorce (he’s a father figure to my ex husband as well). He has driven me around his farm on his tractor, let me feed his cows, screamed my name from the top of his roof, taken in my sweet baby Ender when my ex and I both had to move into places that were not Ender friendly upon our divorce (she needs acres to run in).  He has taught me so much more than history he has taught me so many life lessons.  Needless to say it was an emotional night!

My dear friend Phillip Toasting Coach

My Baby Brother speaking about the time his assignment

was put in the paper cutter! 🙂

While everyone else followed the dress code and wore plaid,

Coach’s school attire, I chose to honor him by wearing

Denim on Denim which is the real, down on the farm Coach

We spent every break between classes my senior year of High School

playing Hand Slap.  We even played one round as I walked off the stage at Graduation.

Needless to say we had to play again!

Sunday was another day at the hospital but hey my Saints WON!!!!! :):):)

Don’t Wait For Tomorrow

Two years ago today I was going about my life, working on a paper or project for Grad School, arguing with my estranged husband/best friend about whether or not we were going to hang out that day.  These were two things that early that day were driving me crazy and seemed so important.  Then just before 6:30 that night (after I had basically said screw you to the ex) I got a call that will forever be burned into my brain and that changed my life.  My Mama was calling because my Daddy had died.  This was completely unexpected and changed me in so many ways.  I was 1,000 miles away from my family and at that point had few strong relationships where I was living.  I called my estranged husband, the one that I had basically said screw you to earlier in the day, and he rushed to my side.

My Daddy’s death changed me in many ways but the #1 thing I learned from my Daddy’s death is that none of us are guaranteed another day, another chance to say I am sorry or I love you.  I learned that what is important to me is the people that I know will drop everything in a moments notice when I need them regardless of what may have been said or done prior.  I try my hardest not to let the petty things get in the way of my relationships today.  I wish that I had one more day of fishing with Daddy, one more chance to tell him how much I love him.  Since I don’t get that chance I try to honor him by making sure that those that are still here with me always know just how much I love and care for them.

I hope that you will all take the time today to hug the ones you love and tell them how you feel about them.

Weekend Update

I had a great weekend this week!  Today I’m linking up with Tara at Running N Reading today.  If you haven’t already you should check out her great blog!  She is such an inspiration and great motivator!

So on Friday I finished up work by 4  and hit the gym for a cross training day.  I decided to do 30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 on the bike.  Can I just say that I REALLY hate the elliptical!  But last week I managed to do 30 minutes on both of my cross training days!  After the gym I did some fun shopping.  I planned a board game competition for my niece, nephew and anyone who wanted to join us.  So Friday after the gym I went to the dollar store next door and bought some black face paint for “war paint” and some silly string.  While I was there I thought it would be a great idea to get a trophy for the championship.  That was a great idea but it was harder to find a generic trophy than I expected!  Luckily after going to 4 other stores I found one at Party City!  So after driving all over town looking for a trophy I headed home and was just about to go to bed when I got a call from my Aunt letting me know that she and my cousin’s wife and kids were in town!  So since I was going to be out of town for game day the next day I drove over to their hotel for a little catch up session.

Saturday I woke up and headed to Mississippi to see my niece cheer at her teams football game and then on to game day!  So my family is very competitive.  In my family we do not just let kids win games.  My nephew and I were engaged in some serious trash talk the week leading up to the championship.  The main game that my nephew and I were concerned about was Monopoly.  He was sure that he would beat me!  We decided that since Monopoly can take hours it might be the only game of the day but that if we were able to finish it early in the day then the champion would be the person who one the most games.  Well I won Monopoly!  It came down to my nephew and I, just as expected!  Here is the run down of the games…

Monopoly: Stephanie

Twister: Angela (my sister)

Clue: Angela

Jenga: Tristin (my niece)

Beyond Balderdash: Angela

So yeah an adult won the trophy!  My poor nephew didn’t win any of the games!  But I somehow managed to get the elusive picture of my nephew!  Though his face is covered by his Goofy hat! 🙂

Tristin getting her cheer on!

War paint on!

The silly string was supposed to be for the end of the championship!

My niece and nephew decided to get me with it before we started! 🙂

My main man Gavin!

Mega Monopoly Champion!!!

2014 Game Day Champ!

Sunday I had to work my shift at the hospital and it was a crazy day!  So after a very stressful day I headed home and caught up on the last few episodes of last season’s Parenthood and watched the season premier that aired earlier this week.  Then watched the Saints/Cowboys game.  My boys did not play a good game so at half time I went to the gym for my run.  I figured I could run my frustrations out during the 2nd half.  Another positive of watching at the gym is that I was able to watch the game and the season premier of Revenge at the same time! 🙂  My boys may have lost but I still love them!  I hope you all have a great week!!!!

Weekend Update

Linking up again today with Tara at Running ‘N’ Reading for the Weekend Update!  I had a pretty great weekend and hope you did too!!!

Friday I sadly came to the realization that I love the new Taylor Swift song, “Shake It.”  I say sadly because I have been a staunch T.S. hater forever but this song is catchy, makes me want to dance and makes me change my whole opinion of T.S. as a person!  So after listening to “Shake It” at least 5 times that day I really felt like going out and shaking it Friday night but I decided to be smart and stay in and prepare for my 5k the next morning.  So Friday night was spent drinking tons of water, laying out my race clothes, and watching The Wire.

Saturday I woke up early for the 5k.  I will not get into all of the fiasco that this race was but I will say that I ended up PRing and running into my “Gay Husband,” Reggie, who finished out the race with me!  If it weren’t for him I would not have PR’d.  And we actually had some time to catch up and decided that we need to be running buddies!  So yay to finally finding a new running buddy!

Reggie and I once we crossed the finish line

After the race I headed to Panera for a PSL and Cinnamon Crunch Bagel

That afternoon I found this super cute lunch bag with matching divided container!

Sunday was another day at the hospital.  The best part of Sunday was definitely that my Saints WON!!!!  Finally!!!  I don’t think I could have taken another loss and definitely not a loss in the Dome!

Today and tomorrow I am without a car, mine is being repaired after being side swiped a couple of weeks ago, and so my weekend is continuing! 🙂  This morning I decided to take advantage of not having a car and living in such a great neighborhood and just walk around the neighborhood, shop and have some lunch.  So I walked to a near by running store and finally bought some compression socks and a hand held water bottle.  Then walked to Sucre for some gelato before having lunch at my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Joey K’s.  I found Joey K’s a year ago when some friends came to visit and fell in love with the food and how close it is to my apartment.  Then a few months ago I saw a ranking of different restaurants in NOLA and the #1 neighborhood restaurant in the city was Joey K’s!

 

Resting up before my run tonight!

One of today’s specials included all of my favorites!

The Joey K’s sampler: 1/2 shrimp po boy, cup of red beans, and cup of jambalaya.

All yummy!!!

Even though I won’t be seeing clients tomorrow I will be going into the office so I’m going to enjoy this last day of my weekend!  I hope you all have a great week!