The blur...

That pretty much sums up my life lately. One big blur.

Last week was absolutely insane. In addition to preparing for Christmas, I was working an insane amount of hours. Last week also included a quick, in and out trip to Las Vegas. It was all work and I was on the ground for approx. 26 hours. Of those 26 hours, I think I only slept for 4 hours. Friday was my last day in the office and I was hoping to get out early afternoon. I finally left around 6:30 p.m. and I think I was the last one left in the entire building!

Friday night we had two Christmas parties to go to. The first one was a friend of JP's. JP has had a few rough weeks at work too and was ready to unwind. I told him I would drive so he could enjoy the night. :) After the first party, we headed to his sister's house for a friends/family get together since we weren't all going to be together for Christmas. His brothers from Chicago get in around 1 a.m. and we didn't leave until I was pretty much falling asleep at 3 a.m.

Saturday we had a get togther with my high school friends. JP drove so I could enjoy the night, but since I've been so stressed out lately and really don't drink much anymore, two beers in I was feeling it. Sad, I know. I'm a cheap date.

During the rest of the weekend we finished getting ready for Christmas. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was spent with both of our families and we put in plenty of miles driving between the two. It was a nice holiday and it was great to see family we don't see very often. Of course we all ate too much and spoiled each other crazy. I think our favorite gift (me, my brother and JP) was a quilt or blanket that my mom made for each of us. Every year we get a special gift from "Mrs. Clause" and every year she amazes me even more. She's such a super mom!

The last few days have been busy for me on the work front. I'm frantically trying to get things pulled together for an event shortly after the first of the year. We're way behind and I'm stressing out just thinking about it!!!!! And... we're leaving for Chicago tomorrow to spend some time with his family. JP's dad is coming into town and we're all meeting up there. I'm looking forward to it, but it kinda crept up on me.

For instance, I should be packing right now but I'm not. I hate packing. And, to make things even more overwhelming, I need to pack for two back-to-back trips. From Dec. 28-Jan. 3 I'll be in Chicago for vacation. On Jan. 3, I'm flying out of Chicago to head to Las Vegas for work. I'll finally be home on Jan. 9. That's a long time to be gone.

Anyway... I need to get back and start packing. We're shooting to hit the road between 9-10 a.m. and I'm hoping to get some sleep in tonight. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

I LOVE the weekends

The end of the week got a bit hairy and I was pretty much living in the office. JP was also, so we were both exhausted by the time we got home last night.

Too tired to cook, we finally made it to dinner by 9:30 p.m. last night. We went to Bravo -- yum! Sadly, we were pretty tired and filling our stomachs only made it worse. After we finished our soup, we were pretty much down for the count. We opted not to go to the movies, and instead called it a night. Ah yes, the days of heading to the bar after work and not getting home until 2 a.m. are LONG past.

Today, I went to the gym and ran 3 miles at approx. 9 minute miles. I felt fine to do more, but honestly, I just wasn't feeling like running. So, I did some core work and got in some good stretching. I knew I should take advantage of having time to run, but I think the main reason for the slugishness was that I was running low on fuel. I ate before going to the gym, but not enough. Can you tell I'm not in "training" mode yet... :)

We have two Christmas gatherings tonight, but will only be able to make one. I hate not being able to do everything, but it gets so busy during the holidays. We may get a snowstorm tonight, too, so it should make for an interesting night.

5k, here I come

We all need goals. Big goals, little goals, it doesn't matter. I decided that I was going to do a 5k in February, so I've been getting back into shape and into running mode.

Monday, I went to the gym and ran 3 miles on the indoor track. It felt so good and I was in such a great mood after I left. JP even commented that he could tell I was running again. I wasn't stressed out from work when I got home and I wasn't nearly as tired as I normally am at the end of the day.

But... by the end of the night I was feeling the soreness creep into my legs.

Last night, I ran 3 miles again. It felt good to be out there, but my legs were heavy and it wasn't quite the blissful run it was the night before. Stretched out a ton!! And, man was I tired last night. I sat down on the couch after dinner and quickly got back up. I knew if I didn't, I'd be down for the count.

At least I know I can run 3 miles and will be able to get through the race. :)

Getting my hair cut tonight (finally!) so I may have to rely on my Women's Health 10 minute workouts DVD in my living room.

Work is crazy busy so I better get back!

NY Times running article

Something I'm sure lots of runners have been doing for a long time, but the article is still interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/health/nutrition/06Best.html?em&ex=1197176400&en=ca0897ba66f87fcf&ei=5087%0A

Sometimes, my disassociation method is to write my blog entry in my head about the great run I just went on... :)

This week's excuses

Here are my many reasons for not getting back to the gym this week, as I thought I would...

Tuesday's excuse
It was day 2 back in the office and I was so freaking tired. I went home, ate dinner and was in bed and asleep by 9:30 p.m. I didn't even stay up to watchc the VS fashion show on TV... :) I don't think JP noticed though, as his "wife" Adriana Lima apparently opened the show. Scantily clad, beautiful women... yeah, I'm sure it's easy to forget about your girlfriend! :)

Wednesday's excuse
We had dinner with one of my old college roommates and her boyfriend. My friend moved to the same town about a year ago and we get together occassionally. We definitely need to get together more often, and we had a great time! Our boyfriends are very similar and get along great (which is always very helpful), so hopefully we'll see more of each other.

Thursday's excuse
I had a dentist appointment (one tiny cavity and my wisdom teeth are coming in and I need to have them removed -- yuck!). It was a new dentist for me, and I LOVE him! A co-worker referred him to me and he's a great guy. He even gives his patients his home number so if you have a dental emergency at 1 a.m., you can call him. My appointment wasn't until 7 p.m., and JP worked late last night. We ended up heading home around the same time and meet up at Olive Garden for dinner. I hate when we're the couple that eats out/gets take-out in the middle of the week. My mom is a total Betty Crocker and we always had homemade dinners at 6 p.m. everynight. Whenever I'm super tired and I end up making JP hot dogs or something, I cry to him that I feel like I'm going to be the bad mom with obese children! Guess I can't help that we both work long hours and sometimes that's just the way it goes. I try to plan our dinners so we can have healthy, homecooked meals everynight, but I need to work on it!

Friday's excuse
To early to tell....

TGIF!!!! Hope everyone has a great day and kick-off to the weekend!

I'm pooped!

Well, I knew I'd be tired and I am. Actually, I was exhausted by 11 a.m. But... the good thing is I'm healthy enough to be back and everyone was so nice. Lots of hugs, smiles and well-wishes today.

It only took me about 4 hours to get through my 300+ emails. Most were irrelevant by now, but you still have to read them to stay in the loop. I feel so out of it and really have no idea what's going on around here. I'm sure it'll be back to normal in no time, and I actually enjoyed the quiet day of email, mail, voicemail, etc.

As I said, no gym tonight but I'm still planning on getting there tomorrow night! I'm anxious to get back into the training mode -- even if it's for a 5k race. I love being in shape and the dedication of training. Plus, I noticed the other night how non-muscular my legs are becoming. Come on, those running legs are my trademark! :) (Plus, we have a wedding in the Florida Keys in April and I will look smokin' hot in my bikini! If that's not incentive, I don't know what is!)

Doesn't anyone want to interview me?

Yes, sometimes celebrities have things appear in print that they would like to keep private, or things that really shouldn't interest others (like getting coffee, fueling your vehicle, etc.). Why aren't they interested in things that normal people incounter? For instance, Mary-Kate Olsen reportedly was in the hospital last week for ... wait for it... a kidney infection. I scrolled though the entire article, but no where did they mention that I was in the hospital for a kidney infection as well. Hey, maybe it's the newest trend... I'm a Hollywood trend setter! :)

Here's the article: http://tv.msn.com/tv/hotgossip/11-29-07_4

Anyway, today was a belated Thanksgiving for my family. Since my parents went to my brother's in Kansas for Thanksgiving and I was sick anyway and we didn't go to JP's family for dinner, we thought we'd declare today our Thanksgiving. Thankfully the roads weren't too bad from the storm we got last night. My mom made a feast and invited family and friends to celebrate. She had quite a houseful (there were 12 of us!), and we had a good time.

My parents were so thankful that JP took such good care of me while they were out of town (sick daughter on one hand, son they never see and hasn't been with family for Thanksgiving for a couple of years on the other other hand -- tough decision), my mom thought the least she could do was cook for him.

Back to work tomorrow. It'll be a little weird since I haven't been there for 2 weeks, but I'm sure it'll feel like I never left... Since I'm sure I'm going to be beat after work tomorrow, I'm not planning on hitting the gym, but I'm planning on getting back there on Tuesday. I have a 5k on my schedule for February, so I better get myself into some sort of physical readiness.

Hope eveyone has a happy Monday!

Go! Fire Up Chips!

Go! Fire Up Chips! Today my alma mater -- Central Michigan University -- won its second MAC championship! I was hoping to go to the game (they were playing on Ford Field in downtown Detroit), but with the whole hospital visit thing, I didn't get a chance to buy tickets.

When I was there, our football team wasn't very good. Over the years, we've gotten better and better, which always makes Homecoming more fun... I was there in spirit though, wearing my school sweatshirt today. :)

Today, I braved the mall to get my mom a belated birthday present. In addition to getting some great stuff from The Body Shop for her (I LOVE that place! Plus, it's enviornmentally freindly.), I scored some sweet jeans from The Limeted for $15. Yes, $15!!!! I almost bought two pairs. They fit perfectly and I even found a "short" size.

And... I picked up two more Christmas gifts. That makes my count thus far to four gifts. It's only December 1. Sadly, I admit that I've been one of those crazys running around on Christmas Eve day still trying to find that "perfect gift." Yay me. :)

Well, better get going. JP is on his way over and I have a fun dinner planned. We're under a winter strom advisory, so we're planning on camping out inside tonight. I made a bunch of picnic foods -- french bread, an assortment of yummy cheeses, meatballs (for him), grapes, rasberries and melted chocolate, etc. Unfortunately, no wine since I'm still on antibiotics, but I thought it would be fun and something a little different.