Neglectful

So, I realize I have been neglectful about posting lately. I must apologize. There's no real excuse, just nothing major happening on the home front lately. I've been running, Miner goes out with me most times. It's finally starting to warm up and the Bumble Bee has been out 3 times already this year. 

I did have a very fun long weekend and vacation this weekend though. The only bad thing is my throat and sinuses are messed up enough that I lost my voice on Sunday afternoon. I am going to do my best to not talk at work tomorrow, though it was difficult not to this afternoon at the Training Center.

My vacation was to South Carolina. I ran the Cooper River Bridge Run with my friends Jada, Tim and a group of their friends from Texas and the Carolinas. Here's all of us on the beach Sunday morning. Left to right is: Julia, Toby, Jes, me, Jada, Tim, Sara and Walt. 

It's a 10K and you go over this big pretty suspension bridge. The run ends up in downtown Charleston. We stayed out on Folly Beach which was great. They all headed home on Sunday afternoon and I stuck around two more nights. I didn't do a whole lot...I wandered around the beach and went and saw this huge tree.

I got up very early this morning to fly home. I got to pick Miner up all clean from his bath at the kennel. Since Easter is coming up, he got this little bandanna. This is only the second time he's ever had a bath there that they put a bandanna on him. I am thinking it may also be the only other time where I have picked him up right after his bath and not the following day. 

California Visit

A bit delayed, but here are some photos of my trip to see John, Erin, Owen and Marcus. Brian flew in, too. There was plenty of good food, running around with nephews, Speed Scrabble, poker, and assorted fun. Erin put me and Brian to work helping pick out and install a new light fixture in the dining room. You can see the before and after pictures down at the bottom of this post on the Johnson's blog. 

It was really a team effort. Erin looked on line and found a couple she thought would work. It took Brian, John, Erin and me to take the old one down. It was heavy and awkward and ugly. Here it is waiting for me to take it apart and put it in a box. Erin found a woman to give her $200 or something for the whole thing and the ceiling medallion that was up with it.

We were a little concerned about getting that medallion down. Mostly just the unknown as to how it was up there. Luckily, the B was masterful with a putty knife and it was only up there with a couple finish screws. 

 

Once all that was down, Erin and I went to pick up the new fixture and assorted items to patch up the ceiling around where the medallion was. Brian did a fine job with spackle and sanding. I put up a coat of primer and we installed the new one. John played a very important role in getting the boys out of the house for a while. Brian was the height and muscle behind the whole operation. Owen was the vacuum cleaner operator to clean up our mess. Mar was just busy being cute. Erin finished up the painting in the next couple of days. I was the consultant/supervisor. ;) 

Here's a picture of Brian and me with the finished product.

 

Hanging Rock State Park, NC

My trip to NC was great. Saturday afternoon, I got into Greensboro and Jada, Tim and Vonda picked me up from the airport. Jada and Vonda came running and screaming at me from behind a pillar like the crazy people they are. :) We wandered around REI and Sur La Table because it was raining. Then went and had yummy dinner at Cafe Europa. I had a big bowl of muscles. Deliscious!

Saturday morning, Tim made us French toast, which was great. Then we packed up the car and drove to Hanging Rock State Park. We hiked the Wolf Rock trail and the Hanging Rock trail. We went all the way up to the top of Hanging Rock and ate our lunch up there. It was a good reminder that I need to keep working out, but the view was definitely worth the climb. I'll post a picture of us when Tim forwards it on. When we were done we drove a little and went to see the Lower Cascade Falls in another part of the park. One the way home, we stopped for sodas in glass bottles at a little gas station.

After getting cleaned up, we had a great dinner with a couple that lives 2 doors down from Jada and Tim. Yummy food, good deserts and fun conversation.

So, I am home now. I will have to be sure to walk the dog after I pick him up, otherwise I won't be able to move tomorrow!

So much for not traveling...

...but it was an offer I couldn't pass up. And a damn cheap plane ticket, too. I am flying to Greensboro, NC on Saturday to see my friends Jada and Tim. Another friend Vonda will be visiting them that weekend, too. Chalk this up as something great about being single.
Flight from MLI to GSO...$227
3 days of dog boarding...$60
One meeting moved...done
Not having to OK a last minute trip with someone...priceless. :)

Who knows, maybe I'll get really lucky and it will be the Astros and White Sox in the World Series again this year and I won't have to ask anyone if it's OK to spend $600 on a ticket and parking spot to the opening game. A girl can dream, can't she?

Plus, I now have a "fare watcher" thing looking for cheap flights to Philadelphia to see Holly and Chris and Ruby when she gets here!

In general, feeling much better than I have in a while. And doing a much better job at focusing on the good stuff and not the sad stuff.