Monday, May 29, 2006

Memorial Day weekend

A big "Thank You" to the veterans out there.

I got to leave work a little early (my whole group did), thanks to my boss! Woohoo. So, I went to my sister's house and she and her hubbie and Chase and I went to a local race track to watch some cars do their thing... she had gotten 2 tickets from her boss and Chase was free, so we only had to buy one ticket. That was nice. My nephew loved the place, I think, 'cause he got to just be a kid and make noise and have fun. It was a good time.

My brother came into town this weekend and we got to have dinner with him and My dad and step-mom on Saturday to celebrate our birthdays. We shared a little wine and had a wonderful dinner that my step-mom cooked (she is great and we missed her while she was gone on her own family adventure for the past few weeks). It was a blast!! ;-) My brother is BIG FUN and I miss him being around. We were supposed to get together today (Monday) too, possibly, but didn't... I hope I didn't upset my brother with one flip comment I made about something my dad got him... 'cause I certainly didn't mean anything by it (in case you are reading this, Joe... I'm sorry... I hope I didn't offend you the other night). Otherwise, we had a GREAT time. I hope that my little Bro' runs a marathon with me this fall. That would just be awesome!

So, yesterday, we lazed around the house most of the day because a friend of my BIL's got hurt Saturday night. I won't go into the details, but he was hurt pretty bad and ended up in the hospital. We are all praying for his speedy recovery. We went to My BIL's friend's house last night for a cookout and then Jake (BIL) cooked for us tonight! He is a great cook and made some wonderful stuff tonight. We were SOOOO full!

Oh, and I got my sister to do a 5K race with me today! :D That was very cool, too! Actually, it was hotter than he!!.... We both did alright. She walked it, and I thought did just a great job... and I ran it, and wasn't as happy with my time. But we were both happy to be done! The heat was killer! I bribed her by buying her running socks. hehe. Just kidding. Ok, maybe not. ;-)

I'll post weekend pics tomorrow if I get a chance!!

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Dinner the night before the Cleveland Marathon

Chase, Min, Joey, Me, Kath - carbo loading, yes. :)

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Cleveland was an interesting place. Now let me first say, dinner was great. The restaurant was really nice, the people were nice. The food was terrific.

After dinner, however, my sis and nephew and I went to a store right next door. All I wanted was some PopTarts. Well, I thought I gave the cashier a $10 and when she gave me change back I said that. She immediately said that "She Don't give NO wrong Change!"... in a snooty, bitchy tone. I looked in my wallet and realized I had given her the $5 instead and I said so. No problem. But she went on to be really bitchy and so my sister said that she thought this girl should apologize to me, and that the customer is always right (not about the change, per se, but in practice). Well, the woman told my sis that "SHE is always right... not the customer".

Sis went to get the manager... who couldn't find said cashier for about 20 minutes. He told the girl to apologize (it was really a very simple misunderstanding) and she came to apologize, but then proceeded to make some other comment like "sorry, but....blah, blah, blah". WELL, that didn't go over very well. So, I told the manager that all we expected was some courtesy and an apology for her going off on us like that. She told him that "she said all she's had to say"... no apology. He said if she couldn't apologize, she'd have to leave. She wouldn't. So, he told her she would have to leave. We didn't stay to see if he actually followed through (though, I've had this great desire to call this week to find out) to make her leave. She was just downright rude and mean.

Meanwhile, there is a rent-a-cop on duty at the front door. Apparently, this must not be the greatest part of town, or maybe just all of Cleveland has security guards in their stores... I don't know. But at one point I even asked said rent-a-cop if we had entered the wrong side of town... she was nice, and basically said that all the stores around there had them.

The place - DRUG MART. The cashier - Joya... I told her she wasn't such the "Joy" now was she?

The rest of the trip was pretty good. The hotel was packed, and we couldn't seem to get a valet. The race had the oddest weather conditions (started rainy, then drizzle, then full rain, then full sun and gorgeous, then 25+ MPH winds and gusts for the last 7 miles). I had hoped to PR (make a personal record) at Cleveland, but that wasn't to be. I did push those last miles, even though it was full headwind, and I'm proud of myself for that. I'm glad I did it, but it definitely wasn't the trip I had hoped it might be.

Happy birthday to me (and sis).

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Too long...

I'm sorry I haven't posted in what seems like forever.... still waiting for baby!!! The wait time has gone from 6-8 month wait (from LID) to 10-14 month average... ugh.

I got a whole box of little baby clothes for ONE Dolla' at a garage sale last week. Way cool. Some won't fit, for sure, but even if one or two items fit, that'd be cool. :)

Running news... well, I've been a busy girl! I ran:

4/9 - St.Louis Marathon
4/23 - French Lick/West Baden Marathon
5/6 - Indianapolis Mini Marathon (13.1 miles)
5/7 - Flying Pig Half Marathon (also, the 13.1 miles)
5/21 - Cleveland Marathon.

The Cleveland Marathon was tough! I was hoping to do a personal best there as it was my Birthday!! But there was NO WAY. There was a horrible headwind from mile 19 almost solid to the finish... 20-32MPH gusts according to the weather people... and it was dreadful.

I am officially a Marathon Maniac. I registered today. (that just means I run too many marathons, haha). I can't wait to see what my number is!! I also have one more state to go before I can sign up for the 50 state marathon club.

My sister is AWESOME!! She went with me to Cleveland and we *tried* to have a good time, considering... more on that tomorrow if I can. For now, I'm off to bed!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Indy Mini with friends

At dinner the night before the half marathon race.

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Monday, May 1, 2006

the little buggers

Sometimes owning your own home can be a lot of work. Take yard work, for example. I really don't enjoy yard work. Mainly, I think, it is because I'm allergic to a lot of things... including my own grass! I learned today that it is called Tall Fescew. Great. I call it the itch-monster. OMG. As soon as I cut the grass I have to go take a shower and then I still itch for 2 days. :( Yuck. I really do need to find a lawn-boy... ha.

Ok, so I was cutting the grass a few days ago, when I notices that there were all these awful little wooly-worm looking bugs on my pin oak tree!! OMG. I also have some tent-woms on my weeping cherry. :( So, I called a couple tree guys to come give me estimates. I also want(ed) someone to trim a couple of the branches off the one pin oak becaus they hang very, very low and it is hard for me to mow under them. SO. the first guy comes out... wants $150 to spray all my trees/shrubs and they have a $250 minimum charge to trim trees. Oh joy. The 2nd guy comes out and says they'll charge $90 to spray, the front trees and bushes but not the back evergreens. Why? Well, apparently, the evergreens have some boaring bugs and it requires some other type of application to get rid of them. That will be $70 in June and $70 in July. Oh, and on top of it, to trim ONE tree will cost $280 but to do both trees will only be $350. Can you say Cha-Ching?

I do have to have one of them do the spraying. I have one more guy coming to give me an estimate. Let's see what he says.