Since I have been absent from the blog for more days than I’d like to try to count, I feel like I should explain (in iPhone pictures, of course) the things I’ve learned during my little “vacation”. It’s important. Take notes.

1) It is my duty to take a picture when a dog runs away on my husband’s watch.

2) It is also my duty to take a second picture, just in case the first one does not turn out.

3) Being a baby is extremely hard work, apparently.

4) If a boat tour is offered, always take it.

5) If a castle tour is offered, take it.

6) When touring a castle that is located on an island, make sure you know when the last boat leaves.

7) The journey is always worth the destination.

8 ) Don’t be afraid to eat pizza at a restaurant with a wildlife scene featured on the placemat.

9) There are very few things in life that are more beautiful than the bond one has with their siblings children.

10) Always try on swim suits [and take pictures] before buying them.

11) I repeat. Always try on swim suits [and take pictures] before buying them.

[shudder]

12) When you think you’ve found “it”, be sure to get a second opinion. Then get a third. Only then is it OK to buy it.

13) Stop to smell [and photograph] the peonies.

14) Stop for a moment and just enjoy the view.

So that’s it for me!

What have YOU learned this summer?!

Most years, I am “that person”.

That person who starts Christmas shopping in September, and is finished before Black Friday even arrives.  Actually, I’ve never even been shopping on Black Friday.  I hate crowds, lines, and waiting.  I really hate waiting.  I also don’t like the idea that I could potentially have a broken leg by the end of the day, considering that everyone is going to be fighting over the same flat screen HDTV as me.

Nothing says “Christmas Spirit” like a pair of crutches and a cast, right?!

I love a bargain as much as everyone else, but I love my limbs even more.

So, although I don’t fight it out on Black Friday, I am usually grossly prepared for he holidays.  This year, however, I am no longer an “I”.  I am a “we”, and “we” just paid for a wedding.  “We” also just took a honeymoon in the Turks & Caicos.  Not to mention, “we” just remodeled “our” kitchen.

What does all of this mean?

“We” are experiencing a recession of the Christmas variety.

There will be no lavish Christmas gifts this year.  For “our” family, there will be thoughtful, loving gifts, some of the handmade variety.  I will be enlisting the help of some very crafty skills for these gifts, which you will likely see turn up in my new She’s Crafty feature.  I have a sewing machine, and I know how to use it.

[dammit]

I love giving gifts.  That is quite obvious on the blog, considering that I usually buy the items for my giveaways with my own cashola.  I just love giving things away.  It makes me happy to make other people happy.  The challenge comes in when I am forced to stick to a budget on gifts, because although I am not especially frivolous in my gift-giving, I don’t really like being forced to do anything.

[especially when I was forced to overlook that adorable Tory Burch bag that was perfect for my sister, because at $485, it was WAY out of my gift-giving budget]

The solution?

I found it on eBay.

At 70% off the retail price.

Score!

I also decided that the gifts I buy this year for My Gazelle (and the ones he gets for me), will be things that we picked out ourselves.  There will be only a few gifts, and they will be things that we really want.  This will ensure that we’re not wasting money on things that the other person doesn’t want and won’t ultimately use.

Enter…The Amazon Wishlist.

This is the most genius idea ever.  You can go on Amazon’s website, create a Wish List for yourself, and each time you come across something on Amazon that strikes your fancy, you just click on the “Add To Wish List” button on the right of the product listing.  You can then make your Wish List “public”, and email friends and family the link to the Wish List, and they can purchase items directly from Amazon.

In addition, Amazon has an add-on (for Firefox as well as other internet browsers) that inserts an Amazon Wish List toolbar on the top of your internet browser.

So, if you’re on another website and you see something that you absolutely must have, you just click “Add To Wish List”, and it will add the item from another retailer’s website.  That’s how I added my Gap Always Skinny Cords…

Some other highlights from my Christmas Wish List:

I have a Kitchen Aid mixer, but I’d like to sell it and upgrade to this professional version…

I found this adorable 8 x 10 print by CakeSpy, and it will look delectable in my new kitchen [I also added this through the Amazon Wish List button on my toolbar]…

A set of Wusthoff Gourmet knives, which I am hoping to upgrade to [from my current Ikea knives]…

This watch, which proves that Swatch can still be cool after 1993…

And these Miz Mooz boots, which I am hopelessly in love with [and frequently daydream of wearing with a cute sweater dress and tights]…

[I Die!]

So, there ya have it.  Christmas in November.

What about you–do you pick out your own Christmas gifts, make a list for family and friends, forgo gifts altogether, or just wait for a surprise on Christmas day?

And…if you have a Christmas list, what’s on it??!!

Remember me?!

Well, I barely remember me, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t.

But I hope that you do!

Last week at this time, I was likely lounging next to a palm tree, under a palapa on the beach at the Club Med Turkoise on the Providenciales Island of Turks & Caicos.  This was probably my view…

Since I had enjoyed far too many adult beverages the morning night before, it had only been a mere 2 hours earlier that I rolled lazily out of this bed…

Threw open the blinds on the window, and gazed in amazement (again) at the view…

For lunch that day, I probably ate something fabulous, since Club Med Turkoise, despite its economical accommodations and price tag, is known for having amazing food.

I also probably ate about 4 more pieces of that dark chocolate bread that you see in the upper right corner of the picture.  Um…YUM!

In fact, food was a really important part of the honeymoon.  We sort of planned our entire day around what time we were going to be eating our meals.  In fact, food was so important that it was probably around this time last week that I was starting to get hungry again, and probably starting to lazily walk from my beach chair over to Sharkies for a grilled cheese sandwich and a margarita.

Healthy stuff here kids, healthy stuff.

Although my meals consisted of many foodstuffs that I wouldn’t normally have the desire to involve myself in at home, I’m happy to report that I greedily ate each and every morsel.  Well…except for the conch fritters.

I was scared.

Even more so than the food, I was out of my mind happy about the fact that I partook in my first (and second) workout since my pregnancy debacle.  I nearly cried as I walked hills on the treadmill.

Then, after my workout was finished, I walked into the adjacent room to stretch, and I nearly cried again.

There is just something about cooling down from your first workout in 50 days in front of a blanket of lush tropical greenery that changes a girl’s life.  From that moment, I knew that stretching would never be the same for me again.  **sigh**

What I’m telling you is that although I was supposed to be avoiding anything that seemed fun, and I complained about how much reading I was going to have to do while we were on our honeymoon, truth is that I didn’t get much reading done at all.

I was far too busy doing all of the things that my doctor told me not to do.

Don’t tell him that I said that.

Funny thing about it is that despite the fact that I worked out, ‘got my honeymoon on’, and drank more alcohol during the aforementioned week than I’ve drank in the entire past 2 years of my life, I did what felt right to me.

I returned home from Club Med Turkoise a happier, healthier girl.  As of yesterday, I’m at ZERO, and it’s back to business as usual.  I’m certainly not encouraging you to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, have sex, and work out at the tail end of resolving your ectopic pregnancy.

BUT.

I’m officially living proof that every once in a while, all we need are new friends…

[p.s...slightly diaphanous dress is completely optional...]

Good lovin…

And a stiff one.

The drink, of course.

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

Did you miss me??!!  Tell me how much you’ve missed me!

[I'm still a little needy, that hasn't changed].

]]> http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/guess-whos-back-back-again/feed/ 12 http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/wednesday-confession/ http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/wednesday-confession/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:33:26 +0000 http://www.joggerslife.com/?p=3960

I am being pulled in 4,398 different directions. Normally, I’d be going batshit crazy at this point.  However, I’m actually loving it, because I was essentially “off the grid” for about 3 weeks whilst I physically and emotionally dealt with life’s most recent curveball.

I’m making up for lost time I suppose.

Even though I’m definitely on overload, I feel this strange sense of calm.  I just dealt with pretty much the worst thing that I’ve ever had to go through in my life, and I came out of it stronger and more confident in myself and my life.

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to realize what is really important.

Sometimes, you need to go through something ugly before you can see how beautiful things really are.

Sometimes, you have to stop complaining about how difficult life is, and realize that you could lose it all in the blink of an eye.

With the knowledge that I’ve gained over the past few weeks, I’ve also been hugging a little tighter.  Calling more often.

Laughing.  Laughing a lot.

This picture was taken when My Gazelle and I had just started dating.  We were fresh, our relationship was unscathed, and we were drunk.  Often.  We were living it up.  We had no responsibilities to each other or to our two dogs and a bird.  We didn’t have plumbing fixtures lying all over the kitchen floor.

We didn’t have dishes waiting to be washed in the bathroom sink.  We weren’t aware when this picture was taken that we’d even still be together four years later, much less still be together and charging through our first life tragedy together.

He still makes me laugh like this.

I don’t wish what we’ve just gone through on my worst enemy.  However, I can honestly say that the strength with which we coped with this situation has made an already confident decision completely concrete.

I’m marrying my best friend in 9 days, and it’s the best decision that I’ve ever made.

Although I seem to be talking a lot about kitchens and weddings lately, I really do still jog, sweat and complain. Really, I do. I’m just too overly-consumed with the former to discuss the latter all that often.

Something else that I have really failed to mention (for fear of over editorializing “The Man”), is that My Gazelle is hard at work studying to become a personal trainer. As part of this process, he recently took a course so he could learn how to train other people on the fitness tool that he loves the most: the TRX Suspension Trainer.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the TRX too. I am never disappointed by a TRX workout, and I am always amazed at the fact that I can be SO SORE after basically only using my own body weight to work out. But…but…he’s just better at it. He looks like he knows what he’s doing.

I just look like I’m suffering.

He effortlessly breezes through exercises, while suspended in mid-air, at a speed that doesn’t even seem humanly possible.

And I look like I’m about to die while doing a simple back row.

Oh lordy.

In any case, despite the fact that I nearly passed out on 3 or 4 occasions during this workout, it was really fun. We are probably not what you could call a “normal” couple in any sense of the word, because this was the beginning of our Wednesday date night.

I was going to make reference to the TRX and foreplay, but I changed my mind. But then I just told you about that jaded thought anyway, so I guess that now you know the truth about how my brain processed this workout on date night.

Moving along.

Doesn’t My Gazelle’s outfit make you giggle? Or was that just me? I felt like he looked like a 70′s throwback. It immediately made me think of this image:

[s]

All Napoleon Dynamite references aside, this was a really difficult workout.

The point of this workout is to get a good cardio workout as well as body weight training. There are very few rests, and I basically only rested when I felt like I was going to a) puke, or b) pass out. It was very very humid here on Wednesday, so that was my issue.

Here is a good link that describes in detail many of the exercises that we did: Ace Fitness.

TRX Interval Workout:

Warm-up: 2 minutes jumping rope

SET 1 (15 REPS OF EACH EXERCISE)

• “I to Y”
• Runner lunges
• Single leg squats
• Front rollouts
• 1 minute plank
• Jumping rope (2 minutes)

SET 2

• One armed back row (that’s what I’m doing above when I look like I’m about to die)
• Chest press
• Hamstring curls (hips lifted)
• Suspended knee tucks (CRUNCHES to beat all other crunches)
• 1 minute plank
• Jumping rope (2 minutes)

So, this is the part that killed me…the part where I had to REPEAT all of that and do it a second time. That was when I started to see stars and had to sit down a few times.

Luckily, I didn’t actually pass out. Although, that might have been a great story if I had.

Let’s just say that the money spent on My Gazelle’s TRX course was well worth it. He obviously learned a lot, and he gave me a great foreplay workout to kick off our Wednesday date night.

Have you tried the TRX Suspension Trainer before? If not, would you like to?

Warning: If you are averse to paper crafts, you might want to skip this post. It’s very paper-y, and it’s very craft-y.

Personally, besides the cake, the invitations are my favorite part about weddings. At one point in my life, there was a huge boom wherein all of my friends got married at the same time. I remember getting so excited to find a wedding invitation in the mail, and I was always anxious to see how the invitation conveyed the personality of each couple.

There is something beautiful, especially in today’s electronic age, about receiving an actual piece of mail that is more than a bill, a magazine or a grocery store flier. We just don’t write enough letters that require actual postage these days. That, however, is another post for another day.

Today, I’m mailing out our wedding invitations. In line with standard etiquette (although I totally suck at this topic in the grand scheme), I’m sending them out about 2 months before the actual wedding date. I have, however, thrown caution to the wind in terms of some of the other things that the “experts” recommend. That’s just how I roll. I try not to be too stuffy.

I didn’t order my invitations from a print shop. I considered buying a box of “u-print-em” invitations from Target (some of their paper products and invitations are really cute), but I am kind of hellbent on things like this being personal. Something that you probably don’t know about me yet is that I am painfully sentimental, and I always assume that everyone else is. What I decided was that I wanted our wedding invitations to be something I could look back upon fondly, and recall the hours that I spent making them by hand.

I am very rarely the first to point out any type of talent that I possess, but I’ll be damned if I’m not crafty. When I was little, my Mom worked for a print shop, and when I went to work with her, she’d sit me down at the light table and let me trace and draw and cut and paste to my heart’s content. I’m sure she only did that because it was the only way to make me shut up and stop whining for more than 15 minutes, but that was the beginning of my love for paper, pens, crafts, and anything that meshes these three things together.

If my friends need invitations, they call me. If they need wedding, shower, or party favors, they call me. If they need gift tags or goodie bags, I’m their girl. It’s something that I love doing, and it’s one of the few things that I’m not ashamed to say that I do well.

I knew that I could create the exact wedding invitation that I envisioned, and I could give our invitations the personal touch that neither a print shop nor Target could pull off.

I began with a sketch of what I wanted. I didn’t know how I was going to get there, but I knew what I wanted: something classy, bold, and a little unexpected.

I decided to make the invitations from the Envelopments paper line by way of Red Currant Studio. I chose the Black Linen Pocketfold because I liked the idea of our invitation looking sort of like a little “package” that just folded up into itself.

On the main part of the Pocketfold, I decided to incorporate our favorite picture of us as a couple.

This picture was professionally taken at a friend’s wedding, and the photographer uploaded all of the pictures to Shutterfly. I ordered 5 x 7 copies of the picture from Shutterfly, and was very happy with the result.

I also ordered pre-cut 5 x 7 sheets of Medium Clear vellum paper, also from Red Currant, on which to print the invitation wording.

Red Currant also provided some very good 5 x 7 cardinal red cardstock on which to print the information about our “Welcome Dinner” and the post-wedding dinner party.

I was happy to find that Red Currant offered all of these items in pre-cut sizes. Although I wanted to do most of the design and printing myself, I really didn’t want to have to cut out several pieces of paper for each of the invitations. Although I only needed to make 30 invitations, I wasn’t keen on all of that cutting.

In order to personalize the Pocketfolds and the envelopes a little more, I purchased a huge pad of 12 x 12 black and white patterned paper from Michael’s. I can’t find the paper on their website, but here it is on a different website.

From that point, I made two templates: one for the top of the Pocketfold, and one for the envelope. I wanted to use the black and white patterned paper to customize each invitation a little, and coordinate the Pocketfold to the envelope.

I feel like this added a nice coordinated touch to the invitations, and once I had the template, it was very easy to cut out the shapes and stick them onto the envelopes and Pocketfolds just using Tombo Mono Adhesive tape.

I knew that I wanted a black satin ribbon in order to tie the whole “package” together, but it took me a little while to figure out how to accomplish this. I ended up ordering some small (#0) drapery grommets because I liked the “finished” look that they gave to the invitation.

Using just a standard hole punch, I eyeballed 2 holes for the brads and ribbon. This was one of the most nerve-wracking parts of the whole process because there was very little room for error–if I was 1/4″ off, my grommets wouldn’t have lined up, and the ribbon would be strung through the grommets crooked. I could’ve made a template in order to avoid crooked grommets, but after a few practice runs, I became an expert at eyeballing.

I also strung a little silver charm through each of the satin ribbons to add some extra flair (and…ahem…extra postage…). I got these on sale at Michaels, and each of the charms had a different lovey-dovey sort of word on it (honesty, appreciate, joy, faith, etc.). After stringing the ribbon through the grommets, I tied it into a sturdy knot in the back.

This was a pretty important step because the grommets were not attached by anything, and the ribbon was the only thing that would be holding them into the punched holes.

After getting everything glued and tied up, I placed a tissue square (also purchased from Red Currant) on top of the vellum paper to protect the printed portion of the invitation. Although I tested this to make sure that the ink would not rub off, I thought it looked more “official” with the tissue paper square.

Then I tied up all of the little “packages”, with a knot in the front, cut the ribbon ends into points, and burned the edges of the ribbon so that they wouldn’t fray.

Then, each of the invitations went into their envelopes, I addressed them using a silver metallic pen, sealed the envelope using Aleene’s Tacky Glue (because the envelopes were too “fat” for the standard seal to work), and finished them off with a personalized sticker that I purchased from Beau-Coup.

p.s…this is one of FOUR sets of stickers that I have purchased for our wedding. Don’t ask. Let’s just say that I now have a sticker for every wedding occasion.

So, there ya have it. Our wedding invitations, deconstructed. There are a few things that I would’ve done differently now in hindsight (namely, I don’t like the font sizes and layout on the “before the ceremony” cards), but I love my invitations. They are exactly as I planned them, and they are definitely one of a kind.

Now it’s your turn…tell me all about YOUR wedding invitations! Or, if you’re not yet married, what do you want your wedding invitations to look like??

Yesterday, after my Tuesday Confession concerning the mourning of our cozy, tiny, lovely 675 square foot condo, I felt slightly cleansed and renewed.  I suppose that’s the beauty of all of my confessions.  I have a difficult time some weeks posting just one Confession, and sometimes, I could post 3 or 4 in just one day!  The fact that I always feel amply CONFESS-ED is the draw.

You might be seeing more Confessions from me in the future.  As they transpire.  Organically.

Last night was My Gazelle’s last night off from work.  For those of you who aren’t in the know, he’s a police officer, and he works a weird-ish schedule of 3PM-1AM, 4 days on, 3 days off for 5 weeks, then it switches to 5 days on, 3 days off for 5 weeks, rinse, repeat.  Sometimes I don’t like to keep track of his schedule because then it’s like Christmas when I arrive home from work and see his car in the parking lot.

(cue collective “awwwww”)

He basically ends up getting 3 weekends off in a row every 5 weeks.  Needless to say, changes in life situation (i.e…moving), many outside obligations (martial arts, triathlons, 15K’s, volunteer work) inevitably creep into these 3 weekends that he has off every 5 weeks, and make it nearly impossible for us to have a weekend together without interruption.  We both lead very active lifestyles.  I try to plan my races on weekends when he’s working, but that doesn’t always happen.

Last night was his final night off until next week, and I made tacos.  That was no surprise.  As I’ve mentioned in the past, he would basically barter his first-born son in favor of a well made taco.

OK, maybe not his first born son.  A daughter maybe.  He’s afraid of having daughters.  But that’s another story.

Although our new condo is riddled with unpacked boxes (which surely spells “T-U-R-M-O-I-L” for my neurotic, organized mind), I have insisted that we at least have a proper dinner table to sit at.  Last night, we ate PACOS from paper plates at our clean dinner table, and it was enjoyable.  Although the room where the table currently resides has no lighting whatsoever.

It was dark.  And cozy.  And calm.  It almost felt like home.

Almost.

I’ve instituted a new “no TV during dinner” rule.  My Mama always made us abide by this rule, and I always thought it was so stooopid.

“BUT MOOOOOMMMMM!”

Now, I’m older and wiser, and I know that TV during dinner is distracting, and the background noise sometimes honestly makes me kirk out a little.  Anyone else?

After dinner, My Gazelle sat a little closer to me on the sofa than he had the previous 2 days.  He made a little extra effort to talk and converse and inquire.  He smiled a little more.  He asked all the right questions.

He read my post yesterday.

He understood why I had been such a raging ball of hormones and ugliness over the previous 2 days.

My routine…my life was uprooted.  Again.

You guys.

I have moved 16 times since 1995.  That is 16 times in 15 years.

1. 1995: Utica, NY (for college)
2. 1998: Binghamton, NY (for a job)
3. 1999: Ft. Meade, MD (to run away from NY and my job)
4. 1999: Columbia, MD (to share a house with a cat lady)
5. 2000: Baltimore, MD (to get out of the cat lady’s house)
6. 2000: Baltimore, MD (to rent a bigger townhouse)
7. 2001: Baltimore, MD (to move in with “his” parents and save money to buy “our” first house)
8. 2001: Baltimore, MD (to buy “our” first house)
9. 2001: Pasadena, MD (yeah…that didn’t work out…moving back in with the friend from 1999)
10. 2002: Chase, MD (moved in with my (now) ex-husband when things got hairy with my friend)
11. 2003: White Marsh, MD (first condo with my (now) ex-husband)
12. 2005: Pasadena, MD (because SURELY a big house on the water will cure my failing marriage!)
13. 2006: Silver Spring, MD (yeah…that didn’t work out either.  Moving in with another friend)
14. 2007: Columbia, MD (aahhh…my own condo.  Mine.  Mine.  Mine!)
15. 2008: Laurel, MD (I’ve barely moved into my condo…why am I moving?  Oh yeah…love…and debt…and THE FUTURE!)
16. 2010: Columbia, MD (back to the condo that I love!)

Are you exhausted?  Me too!

I need roots.  I don’t want to move anymore.  I’m tired of moving.  I’m tired of being uprooted.  I need some stability!

For someone who lived in the same house for 18 years while growing up, moving is sort of a strange experience.  I never realized it until recently, but moving is very upsetting to me.  More than anything, I just want to plant my feet somewhere and stay put.

We’ll move again in a few years, but until then, I will do my best to become as connected as I can to our bigger (although still cozy) “new” condo.  He’ll sit close on the sofa, and we’ll eat dinner with the TV off.  Because it just feels right.

I’m tired of keeping my life in a box.  Over the next few months, I’m going to make it a point to “unpack” my life.  It should be a fun process.

What do you do to stay connected with your family?  Do you sometimes feel like you don’t see each other enough, even though you live under the same roof?

I’m happy to report that the future Mr. and Mrs. Gazelle and their furry and feathered family have survived The Great Move of 2010.  There was a lot of sweating, bruising, whining and complaining, but it’s over, and I’m happy to say that we are moved back into the condo that I loved so much.  Pined over.  Dreamed about moving back to.

But I kind of miss our old, small, 675 square foot condo.

I kind of miss being piled on top of each other like sardines.

It’s weird that I don’t have to shut the living room blind before I take a shower with the bathroom door open.

And furthermore, I don’t know how I feel about not having to take turns in the bathroom.

I liked the fact that “all of us” had to be in the same room 90% of the time.

We have different “projects” happening in the same 1200 square feet of space, and we’re spread out all over the place.  We have 3 TV’s now, so we don’t have to compromise about what to watch anymore.  We can just be in different rooms.  I have to cook dinner by myself without the benefit of an open floorplan to chit-chat as I chop and slice.

Cooking is lonely now.

I am not complaining.  I’m just adjusting.

I’ll be fine.

It’s different.

What a fabulous weekend!!

I’ve been dying to tell you all about it, but yesterday I was completely wrapped up in this little project…

(you know…in addition to working)…

Who knew that it would be so difficult to retro-fit cabinets and counter tops into a kitchen that already has appliances?!  It’s turning into more math and spatial planning than I originally anticipated, but I’m really excited for the finished product.  Although technically nothing has even been ordered yet, I’m hoping that the whole project will be done before the end of July–praying for minimal downtime in the kitchen.

But…I’m willing to sacrifice having a kitchen for a while, because when it’s all said and done I’ll have a fun little kitchen that I love!  Small, yet functional.  That’s all I need!

So.

For the past 2 months, it’s killed me that I had to keep a secret from you.  I couldn’t tell you, but I was planning a surprise party for My Gazelle, which went down last Saturday.  After 2 years of hard work and complete devotion, as well as 6 months of being on his Black Belt Cycle (read: no sex, no sugar, no fried food, no sex, no red meat, no sex), he passed his black belt test!

The black belt test was on July 10th, which just happened to be the day before The Boilermaker, which meant that your girl was out of town and could not be in Maryland to celebrate this momentous occasion with her man.  I was very sad that I missed his testing and demonstration, but the knowledge that I was about to surprise him with a super fun surprise summer crab feast was enough to keep my guilt at bay.

I told him 2 months ago that I wanted him to keep Saturday, July 17th free for us to do something fun together with his niece and nephew.  Along the way, I “suggested” that we take the kids to our favorite park (a.k.a. the park where I rented a pavilion), and have a little picnic with them.  I rallied his family together to help me (he has the most amazing women in his family, and they eagerly jumped in and prepared all of the food), and for the past 2 months, have been dying on the inside because I couldn’t really tell anyone about this grand scheme!

The morning of the party, I left the house early to go to the gym, got in a quick workout, and then went over to drop some ice off at the pavilion for the drinks which hadn’t yet arrived.  After that, I went back to the house and helped get the kids ready for our “picnic”!  By the time we left, it was a little after 12PM, and I received word that everyone was running late.  My Gazelle’s Grandma and uncle hooked us up with 2 bushel of crabs fresh from the wharf on the morning of the party, and they were behind schedule due to that trip out to DC.

On the way to the park, I had to waste some time, so we stopped at a local farm stand and bought some fruit and corn, and showed the kids the farm’s turkey’s.  La la la la la la…wasting time…la la la la la…

Eventually, we got to the park, and Grandma still hadn’t yet arrived with the food, but I couldn’t stall any longer.  I parked on the opposite end of the park from where the pavilion was, in the hopes that while we took 15 minutes to walk over, Grandma, the food, and the rest of the family would arrive.  She didn’t arrive until 30 minutes after us, but it was OK.

He had NO CLUE.

We walked right up on the pavilion, and some of the family was outside with their backs turned.

NO CLUE.

His step mom popped her head outside of the door of the pavilion and yelled “SURPRISE!!”, and THEN it clicked.

He cracked up and said “OK, you really got me…”

The bottom line…he was happy.

Very, very happy.

The day was very hot and sweaty, but it didn’t stop everyone from having fun.  Some sang and danced.

Some relaxed and/or tried out their MMA moves on unsuspecting children.

Some taught the little ones where their feet are supposed go when they throw a ball.

Others just hung around.

Me?

I basically just sat and gazed at the lake.

You know…that same lake that I recreated a horror film in did the Celebration Sprint Tri in just a few short weeks ago?

Yeah.

…and I nonchalantly appreciated all of the hard work that this one has put into his body over the past 2 years…

There was a lot of appreciation.

Because what’s not to appreciate?

In all seriousness though…

The party was so fun.  I’m really really glad that he didn’t find out in advance, and that I was able to keep my big mouth shut (not my forte).  We had a ton of food, and it made me realize (again) what an awesome family I’m joining.

So proud of My Gazelle!

It’s race weekend…AGAIN!

Didn’t I just have a race like 4 minutes ago?

Yeah. I thought so.

I’m mildly nervous about running The Boilermaker 15K on Sunday because I only had the opportunity to do ONE long run after my triathlon. I’ve come to a conclusion about me, races and running: I am not forward-thinking enough to focus on more than one race at a time. If the necessary training period for two events happens to cross, I get all jacked up.

The longest run that I’ve done since March (the Disney Princess 1/2) is the 6 miles that I just ran on Tuesday. So, I have complete faith in myself that I’ll finish, but I make no guaranties about whether I’ll need a wheelchair to do so.

Since that run on Tuesday, my knees have been feeling like their old selves in the evenings (swelled, tight, uncomfortable).  This makes me nervous, but I’ve been relying on ice to relieve the discomfort.  Today they seem fine.

I think I’ll be OK.

I hope.

*****

In other news (and what is REALLY on my mind), I’m moving! Aren’t you so excited? Me too!

It’s not a major move in terms of location or reason for moving, but to me it’s UBER exciting. Back in January 2007, I bought my very own 2 bedroom condo in a location that I love. It’s a 10 minute walk to a beautiful lake, 3 minutes to a bagel shop, and excuse me, but I can WALK to the MALL. Yes. Oh yes.

The other draw for me is the fact that the entire city is connected by paved paths.  It is possible to get to virtually anywhere within the city just by following paths and sidewalks.  I love the fact that I can always safely run and walk without having to worry about cars.

Before I moved into the condo, I completely renovated it with new stainless steel appliances, marble floors, crown molding, built-in bookshelves, surround sound. Seriously, this was like “pimp my crib” (well…the single, poor-person-on-a-budget version anyway). I really loved my condo, and I was proud and happy to have a place that I could call my own.

Then, in March, at the most unexpected time ever, I met the love of my life.

After a little over a year had passed, we knew that we needed to make a change.  Armed with the knowledge that My Gazelle and I would “someday” get married, and also the fact that we had collective credit card debt to the tune of $30,000, we decided to combine our lives into one of our condos. As it were, my condo was more marketable and would fetch more rent than his, so we have lived in his 1 bedroom condo for the past 2 years. My condo stayed leased out as a fully-furnished corporate rental, and I have had 3 tenants in the past 2 years.

**Sidebar: corporate rental is THE way to go if you can furnish the joint yourself. From my experience, the tenants have been solid, reliable, and mature.

I had to rent a storage unit for 2 years in order to contain all of the wonderful things that I wasn’t able to bring to My Gazelle’s condo.  They just wouldn’t fit within our 675 square feet.  My book and cookbook collection, scrapbooking supplies, beautiful decorations and framed art.  These are all things that I’ve missed for the past 2 years, but I knew that they were just things, and I would eventually be reunited with them.  In addition to missing my things (and probably more-so), I’ve missed having a space of my own to be creative.

At noon today, I’m meeting my soon-to-be former tenants so that we can do their move out inspection.

At 12:16, I’m going to begin moving in my art, scrapbooking supplies and cookbook collection.

Well, not really…but if I didn’t already have a prior engagement, you can trust that I would.

Oh, marble floors that are never clean enough!  I love you, but I hate you.

Oh, kitchen without enough counter space!  I have missed you so much…and we’ll get you some more counter space soon enough.

Oh, sunroom!  You look completely different now, with no crazy internal sliding door and new blinds!  I can’t wait to sit in you and relax.

As an added bonus, I also had all of the windows and that huge sliding door on the sunroom replaced in late February.  I am very anxious to move back in so that I can enjoy the space as it should be enjoyed.  I feel like I never really had a chance to enjoy and appreciate what I had because I was all up in “New Loveville”.  This time, I will have at least 3 years to devote to making this place our own (thankfully with no more credit card debt).  It’s funny how things come full circle.

And I will have a craft area.  Even if I have to share it with My Gazelle’s workout equipment.  It’s OK.  I”ll make that sacrifice for love.

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