SAD week, wonderful boyfriend!

Well last week was pukey! It got really cold and I got really sun deficient. My winter depression is setting in and I have lost all motivation to do anything and am so damn cold and just feeling generally blah plus this week I felt real illness too. I had some kind of stomach virus/issue going on and didn't feel like doing anything. J got home late Wednesday. He had his last floor hockey game and got a ride home from his dad. I had planned on us eating dinner at Hope and going to church but I just didn't feel like it. I didn't want to do anything but lay on the couch so K ran to the store and got fixings for sausage and cheese plates and came home and grilled. Thursday morning, I had an appointment with the podiatrist. I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis, a bone spur and inflamed joints. He gave me a cortisone shot in my heel and told me to aggressively stretch and ice my foot and all should be better in a month or so. I went back to work, started feeling sick because of the general anesthetic he gave me and wanted some soup to soothe my belly. Amber, Jennifer and I went to Pho Vietnam and I had a bowl of shrimp and pork pho. It made my stomach feel better but my heel wasn't numb anymore and it hurt like hell. Nancy sent me home to rest. K took care of me again and took care of dinner. We had take out from Huey's, J was happy with that choice! Friday brought total relief to my heel!!!!! J had half a day of school. When I got there to pick him up, his school was on lockdown because our SWAT team had gotten into a car chase with 3 homicide suspects and 1 got away right by J's school. Once I was finally able to get him, K and him hit the road for the youth hunt. I went back to work and then went and hung out with Amber G.and Katie at Amber's. We had a few glasses of wine and then grabbed some dinner at East End Grill. Saturday was a total me day. I was suppose to get up and do 9.5 miles but just wanted to sleep away the winter blahs. I stayed in bed until it was time to go for my massage and facial at Gould's. It was so relaxing and the massage made my entire body feel so loose and so relaxed. I came home, napped some more, went to work to check on the Sex Offenders and make sure they didn't have any trick or treaters or Halloween decorations, went to dinner with Amber R. at Sekisui, worked a little more and came home and went to bed. No pics to post because I couldn't be bothered......geesh I was in a yucky mood :(

Another added to the bowling "league", white chili and bad news

J had his usual Tuesday night bowling with Jackson and Jimmy last night and now Leegan has been added to the mix. Trouble may come out of this very soon.....

K and I hung at the house while J was bowling. I made a big delicious pot of white chicken chili and chilled. I did an ellip/stair stepper session this morning and then met K at the house for lunch. The chili was better today, of course. J's last floor hockey game is today.
I talked to Mom earlier and they had just gotten back from the neurologist about Aunt Opal's memory problems. She has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Horrible news :(

Ribs, Boys, Bad Weather and Walks

K and I really, really love his new grill and I love that he loves it because it's less work for me! Here's a shot of it since I forgot to get  one the 1st time we used it.

Sunday we wanted to smoke some ribs but the weather didn't work with us so we saved it for last night.

The weather was very warm so we were able to sit outside and chill with a drink while the ribs smoked and J and Luke played ball.

The ribs turned out great. They weren't quite as tender as we wanted but still decent and the marinade and smoke flavor was perfect. I mixed up a dry rub and K coated the ribs with mustard and the dry rub and smoked those babies. I whipped up some potato salad, baked beans and garlic cheese biscuits. It was a fantastic dinner! Thankfully, I was able to get a good night's rest even though I stuffed my belly with as much food as I possibly could. I got up this morning and did some strength training and whipped up a smoothie to try and counterbalance all that happened during that dinner. We had some pretty bad storms roll in after I got to work but they cleared up enough after lunch to let me get in a 3 mile walk.



I still had some dinner to work off. The temperature had dropped significantly but the rain was gone so I trekked on down to the riverwalk. The rain clouds were still lingering and it was very pretty.

Looking to the North.

And a shot to the south. I may hate this weather but I can't argue that it isn't beautiful.



Carrie Underwood, date night, 9 miles and Marcy time

After work Friday, I met all the girls at Heather's before the Carrie Underwood concert.

We finally made it to the concert around 7:30 after waiting forever for everyone to get there. Heather managed to get us awesome seats by joining the Carrie Underwood fan club. (That cracks me up just typing it!)

I sat with April, Heather and Vicky up close.

Candace and April H. and their girls weren't far behind us.

This is Carrie on the jumbotron when she first came out. She put on a really great show. The special effects were perfect but nothing topped her voice. She is such a cute and humble and gracious girl. It's nice to see a star that isn't completely full of themselves.

Later in the show she came out on this truck that circled over the crowd. It was great! After the concert, April, Heather, Vicky and I went to Brendalay's in Arlington and met up with Jason and Greg Word for a couple of drinks. I made it home around 1:45 and slept til 10:00 the next morning. It was so nice to sleep in. K came home from hunting at lunch and we lounged around the house all day long watching college football. Longhorns and LSU lost so it wasn't a great day for us. K took a long nap too and had trouble getting to his feet when he woke up!

I thawed us out some jambalaya for lunch but didn't like the way it tasted so I had smores for lunch.

After the LSU game, we went to Fleming's to have a few drinks and some dinner. I had the wedge salad and the lobster tempura, he had the peppercorn strip and we split some Fleming's potatoes. It was perfecto! And we were home and in bed by 10:00. We are getting so weak! Sunday morning, I got up early and knocked out my 9 miles.



There was more of the greenline opened which was perfect since I didn't have to double back to make all of my mileage. The trail now ties into the Cherokee trail at Shelby Farms. I am so glad to have it available. I went early to get my 9 miles since it was suppose to rain and I almost made it home without getting wet. It started raining at mile 8 so I had to pick up the pace a little bit. I went to Whole Foods to get us some lunch and then came back home and watched some football in between napping. K and I went up to Swanky's for dinner and Marcy and JJ met us there. We stayed up there a little later than we planned and got home in time to go to bed. I overslept this morning and didn't have time for a workout or breakfast. I feel mucho fato!

Sushi, Wicked, Boxing New Puppy and a New Grill

Tuesday was back to regular work. I picked J up from his dad's after work. He went to his Tuesday night bowling with Jimmy and K and I had a little date night at Sakura. We tried to go there for our 1st date but it was closed and this is the first time we have gone back. We haven't been missing anything either. It wasn't near as good as it use to be. On Wednesday, I met K at the house for lunch, he picked up sammys from Holiday Ham for us. J had floor hockey and I picked him up after work. We chowed down on some pizzas I got from Lucchesi's and then hit the road.

We went to the Orpheum to see Wicked. It was really, really good. The actresses had awesome voices and it was comical too. J, K and I all loved it but J and I agree that we still haven't seen anything that is better than The Lion King. I hope it comes back soon so K can see it. Yesterday, Amber and I got out at lunch. I had to run to the uniform shop and after leaving there, this is what I spied:

Boxing

This guy couldn't even wait til he got to the gym! I swear I see the funniest things. After doing a few U turns and getting into the best position on the Mapco lot to tape him, we went to lunch. I was craving a huge bowl of soup and decided to try something new.

So glad I finally tried Pho Vietnam. It was superb! I can't wait to go back. I had the spring rolls (which are fresher tasting and yummier than Pho Saigon) and the shrimp and crab pho. It rocked and there was a ton of it. When I picked J up, he didn't feel like going to karate, which was fine with me because I didn't either. We hung out with Sis for a little bit and played with Miss Lily Wiggles.

We left Sis's and ran by Fresh Market to pick up some stuffed potatoes to have with the venison back strap K was smoking with his new grill. He bought it yesterday and ruined the Christmas gift I was going to give him but dinner was great! Today, I enjoyed the rest of my Pho and got out to enjoy the weather and burned a few calories while I was at it.

K left this morning to go hunting and J is with his dad this weekend.

Haunted Cornmaze, 5K, Cooking for the Fam, Donuts and Guns

J and I had a great weekend. K left Friday and went hunting. After work Friday, I picked J and Jackson S. up and we met Melanie, Drew and Jackson M. for dinner at My Favorite Place. Mel suggested it, I had never eaten there before but wasn't about to turn down Mexican since I hardly ever get it when K is in town.

I loved it and not because the food was so amazing, it was good but not really any better than any other Mexican place BUT they had an old man that played the keyboard that sounds like the whole band and he sang Copacabana and Jailhouse Rock in Spanish. It was awesome! After dinner, we went to the Haunted Corn Maze.

I'm glad I knew some of the people working and didn't have to wait in line or pay because when we got there, J, Jackson S. and Drew all chickened out. Omar, a Fayette County Deputy babysat while me, Mel and the other Jackson went through the maze.

Saturday morning, J, Jackson and I ran the Fast and Furriest 5K for the humane society.

It was held at Shelby Farms and started at the humane society. A lot of people brought their dogs and the weather was perfect.

J had his own running partner so I was able to run my own pace and I surprised myself. I did almost as good as the old days!

We took Jackson home later Saturday and went over to Mom and Roy's for dinner. K and I restocked on the Cajun sausage last weekend so I decided to cook for them and Sis and John. I made some pasta with a Cajun sausage, tomato cream sauce and they loved it. We hung out with them the rest of the night.

Sunday morning I got up and knocked out my 8 1/2 miles since I wasn't able to do it on Saturday.

It was rough too! A 5K followed by 8 1/2 the next day made for a very unhappy heel and knee. After lunch, J and I bought pumpkins and spent the afternoon making Jack-O-Lanterns. We met Heather, Shane, Colin, Amber and Destiny at church Sunday night and then came home, cooked dinner and watched the Cowboys lose AGAIN. It's so tough being a Cowboys fan right now :(

J was still on Fall Break. I took him to Gibson's Donuts for breakfast Monday morning.

He had the manly pink donuts while I kept from being a hog.

I managed to make it out with only eating half of this glazed and one bite of J's pink donuts. After lunch, I took J to his dad's because I had to go to the pistol range for fall qualifications. I passed with flying colors and we got to do some cool training exercises.

We got to shoot up some cars from the outside to see how they hold up to gunfire and where the best cover is provided and we also got to shoot from the inside of the car out the windshield. K came home while I was at work and smoked some deer back strap. I pigged out when I got home. It was so good!!! I was back at work in the office today. I tried the buffet at Pho Hao Binh for lunch and was extremely disappointed. Will. Never. Go. Back. They were out of everything, every time I went up to the bar except for tofu. Sca-rew that! I also took the opportunity to do 2.82 miles on the mall since I didn't work out this morning and won't get a chance tonight.

Church, Sushi, Hair appointment & 2 dogs

Wednesday night, J, K and I went to dinner at church and then to church. We had baked chicken, dressing, green beans, butter beans, salad and chocolate cake. Eli taught our Real Discipleship class and we went over the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. I was so tired that I was barely able to keep my eyes open and went to bed as soon as we got home. Yesterday I got up and did an ellip session while I watched Criminal Minds. Marcy and I made plans for lunch but she had to cancel and I was craving sushi so I ran to Sekisui in Midtown.

I had the house cucumber and a PR Roll. Sekisui has a new menu that is all rolls that their costumers made up and the PR Roll is on there. It was so good and SPICY! Inside is spicy crawfish and cilantro and the outside is peppered and seared tuna with some kind of hot sauce. It may be my new fave roll.

After work, I had a hair appointment so K picked J up from floor hockey and took him to karate while I got new color and layers.

It's a total mess in this pic, had been outside with lots of wind but I am totally diggin the body the layers have given me. We hung at the house last night catching up on TV (Survivor, The Office, Modern Family) and clearing some leftovers out of the fridge. Today was the 1st day of J's fall break so I took him to his dad's before work. K and I had lunch at the house (clearing some more leftovers out of the fridge) and then he hit the road for the hunting camp. Before I left home, I spied 2 pups running amuck in the hood and decided to try and save them before they ran into the busy street. They were sweethearts and came right to me. I put them in the back yard to play with my babies and called their owner.

They were happy to have new meat!

Their owner didn't answer so it looks like they will be playing for a while. I'm back at work now wondering when 4:30 is going to get here! 

K's reunion, trip home and half a work week

Saturday night, K and I went to a cemetery tour with Betty. It was in the cemetery that is connected with the church where he went to high school. It was pretty cool. They had actors telling the history of about 10 of the people buried there. We went at dusk and it was dark by the time we got halfway through so that was cool for the Halloween season. After the tour, K and I went to his high school reunion which was close by at some banquet hall. We had a pretty good time and I enjoyed meeting and putting faces with some of the people I have been hearing so many stories about.

K and some of the other Opelousas Catholic guys. We stayed until around 1:30am and then headed home to take a nap before hitting the road. We headed home around 10am Sunday morning and got home in time to watch the second half of the Cowboys/Titans debacle. I was so pissed by the end of the game that I decided we needed to have a few drinks. We went up to Swanky's for a few beverages and some dinner. Monday was an easy peasy morning since J spent the night with his dad. I got in an ellip workout and made it to work early. I ran by the grocery at lunch so I could make a few things to sustain us during the week. After work, I picked up J from school, he had floor hockey, got home and started to cook. Dinner was a chicken mushroom broccoli casserole, some roasted okra and corn.

I also prepped a pork shoulder to cook in the crock pot Tuesday.

We used the calm night to relax and catch up on laundry and some of our TV. Tuesday morning was a yoga workout. K called asking for a lunch date so we met at Humdinger's and I had the seared scallops. It was K's 1st time there and he was loving it until the crowd got too large and people were standing over us waiting for tables to sit down. He will probably never go back :( He's funny like that! After work, J had an invite to go bowling at Billy Hardwick's with Jackson and Jimmy. I dropped him off and then got busy on the pork shoulder. After letting it marinate and then cooking it all day in cook and onions, I shredded it and stuck it back in the pot for about an hour with some BBQ sauce. The finished product was delish! And K was mad at me for not having made it sooner for him.

J bowled until 9:15 and had a blast. Looks like this may become somewhat of a common occurrence. Jimmy's dad bowls on a league every Tuesday night and the kids take over the other side of the bowling alley while the adults do their thing. J had a blast, bowled an 82 and has already asked to go back next week. I got up this morning and did an ellip/strength session. Been hard at work ever since..... 

Short work week and off to the Bayou

Monday wasn't the normal Monday. J spent Sunday night with his dad so I didn't have to get him up and ready and then his floor hockey season started and his dad went to his game so Mom didn't pick him up and we didn't go out there for dinner. They decided to have college teams for the floor hockey teams and J wound up on LSU's team. He got home and was laughing about it with K. I grabbed stuff on my way home and had the oven rolling.

I made a big pot of shrimp and sausage jambalaya and a pot of chili. The nights had gotten a little chilly and I was ready for winter food. They were good and lasted throughout a few lunch and dinners.Tuesday found us back to normal. Workouts and work and all that good stuff. Tuesday night was karate for J and I got a new pair of running shoes while he was in class with the hopes that they will help out a little with my plantar fasciitis. We got home and ate on some chili and watched the Biggest Loser. J had 2 floor hockey games after school and I left work 45 minutes early so I could watch his second game. He played awesome and scored 4 goals. K left for the hunting land that afternoon and was gone Wednesday night. J and I went to dinner and church. It was taco night and we were stuffed :) Thursday was a good day since it was really my Friday! Gotta love that :) The work week was good, I got a lot accomplished, I LOVE my new boss...things are good. K was having a good Thursday too. He killed a deer first thing in the morning. I picked J up at Sissy's and he decided he wanted a karate break. We had a busy night so I was glad. K and I had to get packed for our trip to Louisiana and we had to get the house cleaned since we are having an open house while we are gone. We ordered pizza for dinner and worked our butts off. Friday morning, I got J to school, we did some last minute things around the house and then hit the road, southbound. We made it to Dale and Betty's around 4:00. We visited for a little bit and then got ready for our night out. We had reservations at DI's, which is a Cajun restaurant/dance club out in the middle of nowhere in a rice field. It is about 45 minutes from Dale and Betty's. They took us the 1st time I came down and I loved it. We went for Betty's birthday and we met Kyle, Kristina, the girls and Tom and Yvonne (friends of theirs from the camp). The band, Briggs Brown and the Bayou Cajuns, was playing and the accordionist was the owner's grandson and they were fun.
Briggs Brown & the Bayou Cajuns
The girls and Kyle did a lot of dancing and the rest of us did a lot of eating.
I got up this morning and did my 8 miles and K joined me for most of it.

After our miles, we went to town, K had to get his mom a birthday present and I wanted to see his old hood and home. We cruised the town with Ryan for a little while and then headed back to the house. Betty made crawfish pasta and salad for lunch and it was so good. We ate and hung out watching football in the outdoor kitchen. Now I'm about to take a nap before tonight's festivities!

A little Halloween, some football, some missions work and a date with my man

After work Friday, J and I headed to Cordova for a night together.

We started off with a little shopping at the Halloween costume store and then headed to Huey's to grab some grub.

They have some of the best nachos ever. After dinner, we rented Little Shop of Horrors and that's how we finished our night.

We woke up early Saturday and hit the greenline so I could get my 7.5 out of the way.

J rode my bike while I trekked on foot and he hung with me the whole 7.5.

It was a beautiful morning and the greenway was packed. We must have passed between 250 - 300 people. Everyone was enjoying themselves except for the poor fellow.

After our ride, we grabbed some lunch at Panera and then hit one of our favorite new spots.

J loves to let his yogurt melt a little bit and then mix it all up with his toppings and drink it like a milkshake.

We needed a nap after all of that and snuck one in before the Memphis v. Tulsa game at the Liberty Bowl. We went a few hours early and tailgated at Clay and Mills' new spot on Tiger Lane. Tiger Lane was awesome, granted it is not tailgating at an SEC school but a HUGE improvement over what Memphis has had. We had a good time and the game was fun too, even though Memphis got spanked. We had great seats with Clay and Angie.

It got pretty cold at the game after a cold front moved in and J and I had to make a hot chocolate stop on the way home. We got up Sunday and had some serious work to do at church. Global Aid Network, which is a Christian organization that provides food to countries in need was at Hope. We went and helped seal and pack dehydrated chicken, veggies, soy and rice to go to Haiti. It was a lot of fun and the workers made me feel great when they explained where the food goes and what kind of an impact it makes both physically and spiritually in the people's lives that receive it. I was glad J had a part in it too and was able to see the pictures and hear the stories of the people in need. I really want to raise him to feel blessed and be thankful for everything he has. After church, he went over to his dad's to spend the night for Jack's birthday. K came home from hunting and we had some great QT. We napped, watched football and then went to the Butcher Shop for a few drinks and dinner. It was so good!

I got up this morning and did an ellip/strength session and made us "fried" egg sammys for breaky. At lunch, I ran by Tops BBQ and ate with J at school.

Will I ever catch up?

Not only can I not keep up on here, I haven't come up for air at work yet but I think I may see a light at the end! This week has blown by. While I was out of town last weekend, Puggy died unexpectedly and Sissy has been going through a really rough time. I grabbed some lunch and some happies at Whole Foods and ran by to check on her and hang out for a few.

My sushi bowl and her card.

After work, I went out to mom and Roy's for dinner with my little man. Mom made pork chops, mashed potatoes, turnip greens and fried okra....DAMN :) After dinner and a little visiting, we rushed home to do the shower/homework/lunch packing/get ready for bed thing.

Tuesday was normal: Morning workout, healthy breaky, work, lunch w/ K, more work, J's karate and a 2.5 miler for me, back home for dinner, red beans & rice that had been cooking in the crock pot all day.

Tuesday's breaky of a bagel thin with almond butter and banana and some Greek yogurt.

Wednesday was normal too: early  morning workout, smoothies for me and little man, work, lunch at the house, more work, pick up J and rush off to church for Wednesday night church and dinner which was chicken & dumplings, turnip greens, black eye peas and ice cream. The new teaching pastor (Rufus) did the Real Discipleship class and it started out on shaky grounds, I wasn't sure if I was going to like him but he won me over by the time it was all done. He is super smart and has an incredibly dry sense of humor.....which is my favorite! After church, J shocked me with his school picture proofs. I really don't need to explain myself, just need to show it, so here it is:

I tried to find out what happened with his hair because it DID NOT look like that when we left the house. I never really did find out because I was too busy laughing every time I would look at him or the picture and he was too busy being mad at me and acting like his feelings were hurt. Did I buy them? Oh yes I did! And I cannot wait to look back at it for years to come and still laugh like I did the other night :) Glad I'm not the only one with embarrassing pictures from the past!

Thursday was not our "normal" Thursday. Early workout, healthy breaky and off to work were the only normal parts. After that, I met Heather at church for lunch and shopping at the Hope Market and got a whole lot of Christmas shopping knocked out, all of K's family except Ryan as a matter of fact :) After that, I had the Key Indicator meeting, picked up J, talked him into skipping karate, ran to pick up some tuna to sear for dinner and ran by Walgreen's to pick up some accessories for his Halloween ninja costume. We went home, cooked and ate and caught up on a lot of our shows with K.

This morning was an early workout, off to work, Bill's last day in our office, lunch with Amber at India Palace (my 1st time to eat at an Indian Restaurant.....loved the food, hate the way I smell now) and some end of the week work. K left for his 1st weekend of hunting so it's me and J this weekend.