Regularly Scheduled Days

I went home Tuesday night with full intentions of working out and then having some type of light dinner since I still can't use the oven but that did not happen. I had a couple of beers and some cheez-its while trying to get our vacation pics uploaded unto facebook. I wasn't too worried about what to eat because the hops and cheez-its had taken the edge of my hunger when K decided he wanted to go to Houston's and since it is one of my favorite restaurants, I wasn't about to refuse. We got there and had about a 45 minute wait so we hung out in the bar people watching like we always do while I sipped on a pinot grigio and he partook in some whiskey. For dinner, I suggested he get the Hawaiian rib eye and he finally listened to me and loved it. I had to try a few bites and it was as tasty as I remembered. I had the french dip. It was delish but I don't think it was quite as good as J. Alexander's. I subbed a side of braised red cabbage for the french fries. It did not disappoint!

By the time we got through with all of this, it was pretty much bed time, which was cool with me! I set my alarm clock to get up early and work out but once again my workout plans fell through when I reset the clock around 3:30am when I was having a bout of insomnia. I skipped the smoothie this morning because it seemed like the past 2 days when I had a smoothie, I was even more hungry than usual, which makes no sense but that's how it went down. I got a little hungry around 9:30am had a banana and some cherries.

 

I couldn't leave the office for lunch since I was leaving work early to take J to get his medical check up so he will be allowed to go to his camps. I brought leftovers from the other night's dinner of BBQ Lime Shrimp and Corn and gobbled that down in between doing employee evaluations and running across the street to get my vehicle registration.

I got J to the doc and he was extremely pissed at me because I didn't know he was due for some vaccines and told him there would be no shots and we got there and he had to have a chickenpox and Hep-A vaccine. Oops! He freaked out but was glad when I offered up a prize for him if he would just calm down. We went to Target after and he got 2 new sets of baseball cards. We went home and relaxed for a few before grabbing K, heading to Gus's to pick up some chicken and over to Mom and Roy's to share that deliciousness with them!

Mom and Roy had never had it before and it was super tasty last night!!!! The last few times I've had it, it was good but nothing special. Last night's chicken was the kind they became famous for. So damn good! After dinner, we hung out with them and watched So You Think You've Got Talent. I'd never seen it before. It was the try outs for the show and I think it was better than the American Idol try outs. Hi-sterical! Mom seemed super happy to have us over and I was glad to see her looking like she felt better. When we left, I went to hug her like I always do and it seemed like she hugged me a little harder than normal and held on for longer too. I kinda like this new touchy, feely mom! She's always been a wonderful mom but is very stoic and not much on emotions. It was nice to see that side of her! Maybe I should take a lesson from her now.

We got home and I picked up around the house a little since Paulette was coming today and then went to bed at a decent time. I set my alarm clock to wake up this morning and work out and actually stuck with it! I got up at 5:00 and did some circuit training for 45 minutes while I caught up on 2 episodes of Chelsea. I would do 10 minutes on the elliptical and then follow it with 5 minutes of strength and repeated the circuit 3 times. I liked adding the strength to my elliptical. It broke up the monotony of it. For breakfast, I toasted a whole wheat pita and spread some hummus on it and followed it with a banana.

Back to reality

Back to work yesterday wasn't quite as bad as I expected. I think it may have had to do with coming off of such a wonderful vacation, truly getting some quality relaxation in and getting 2 1/2 days to transition at home before having to come back. For breakfast, I made K and I some yummy chocolate strawberry smoothies with strawberries, Rob Roy chocolate protein powder, vanilla soy milk and flax seed. For lunch, I met Marcy at the Beauty Shop and had one of the best salads I have had in a while. The Thai Cobb Salad was out of this world. It was a traditional cobb without any chicken and bacon and in place had crispy duck, served with a mint green goddess dressing. It was amazing. I left work early and Bill took me out to the substation to pick up a loaner car while my rear bumper is being repaired. I ran by Whole Foods and picked up stuff for BBQ Lime Shrimp and Corn on the grill. K and I relaxed while we got things ready and had a few cocktails. Dinner was pretty tasty but it wasn't worth all the effort I had to put into the marinade. I highly doubt I will be making this again. It originally appealed to me because it seemed like something simple to throw on the grill, which is exactly what we need right now considering our oven is broken but the marinade took quite a while to make.

After dinner, we caught up on some TV and went to bed. This morning, I made us smoothies again but this time they were made from strawberries, banana, tropical dreamsicle protein powder, vanilla soy milk and flax seed. Right before my staff meeting, I had some cashew butter on a deli flat and a peach. I met K for lunch at Holiday Ham and had some of their spicy cheese dip and a traditional club.

I was stuffed after all that and ran by the house and grabbed about 25 minutes worth of cat napping before I went back to work. I'm spending this afternoon doing employee evaluations so will definitely feel like another nap when I get through. I have got to get a workout in sometime today!!!!

I talked to mom today, she went to see the neurosurgeon yesterday and didn't receive much news. One of the clots has gone down and the other one looks like it is still the same. The doctor said they would do another scan in a month. They are not giving her any answers as to why this happened, how it happened or how to prevent it from happening again. I'm frustrated by the lack of answers and mom is frustrated by everything. She isn't hurting as bad but still has no energy to do anything and can barely eat. She told me that she is very depressed and feels desperate. She mentioned that if this was going to be her demise, she'd rather it just go ahead and happen. I don't like hearing her talk like that! That is not the mom that I know. Hopefully she will get some strength back and start to feel better. Lots of prayers til she does.

Every good thing must come to an end :(

We are home now from Anna Maria Island and I am trying to keep a positive attitude about it.....at least I did get to experience a slice of heaven! We woke up Wednesday morning and after a jog, took J to the Cafe on the Beach for all you can eat pancakes. K and I decided not to eat there but J went to town. I took a few bites too and they were damn good pancakes! I sent Mel this picture and needless to say, she was super jealous.

It was lunch time when J finished his pancakes and K and I had gotten hungry so we stopped at the Havana Cabana for a hot pressed Cuban. It was delish and the owner was very friendly. We talked to him a while about life and the Island and the Tampa Bay Rays. After lunch, we chilled at the pool for the rest of the day until it was time to go to the Rays game. J, K and I headed over to St. Petersburg that evening for the Tampa Bay vs. Toronto MLB game. It was J's first MLB game and he was so excited and what a great game it was. TB won 10-1 and we saw some really great plays. J was in heaven and had such a great time.

Thursday morning, I got up and took a 3 mile walk on the beach and then we went shopping for souvenirs for Taylor and Mary Katherine and Anna Claire. After that, we went and rented bikes again and went straight to the North Point of the beach and hung out. We were told earlier in the week that this was the best place to find sand dollars so hunting we went. The day was gorgeous and we found at least 30 or more sand dollars. They were all still alive though and we did not want to kill them so it was a catch and release kind of day. We got hungry and went back to the Sandbar for lunch. K had a tilapia sandwich and J and I both had the grouper sandwich. They did not disappoint. After lunch we hung out more at the beach and then grabbed some ice cream from Dips on our way to turn in the bikes.

Dad and Dee took everyone to dinner at the Sandbar that night and everything was delicious again! The workers are beginning to know us there. J had shrimp anna, K had the sesame crusted tuna and I had the Mahi Longboat. After dinner, Shelly, who is a professional photographer took beach pics right before and at sunset. I can't wait to get copies of those from her but I did snag a shot while she was trying to get a pic of the kids with Dad and Dee. She was quite impressive with her skills and getting everyone to listen to what she wanted them to do.

We caught another beautiful sunset and K and I checked out the wedding that was going on at the beach. We discussed earlier that day that we would like to get married on the Island when the time comes and the Sandbar had a wedding going on. They have a little pavilion on the beach next to the restaurant that they use for weddings. I wasn't all that impressed with it though. We decided what we would probably like is a little ceremony on the actual sandbar and then a house party/shrimp and crab boil back at the house. Now if only he will "officially" ask me!!!!!! Here was that night's sunset:

We got up Friday and got in every last second of pool time that we could get before having to get ready and head to the airport. We left for the airport at noon and had a pretty uneventful day after that, which we were thankful for after J had such a horrible time getting there with his earache and getting so sick. We got back home around 7:00 Friday evening and ordered in some Pancho's and chilled at the house.

We got up Saturday morning and went to Bryant's and got a big, yummy breakfast and then hung out at the Riviera all day. J and I ran up to Whole Foods later that afternoon for some chicken salad and pasta salad to carb and protein load for our big race that night. J, K and I headed downtown around 5:30 for the Gibson Guitar 5K. It was J's first 5K and he did great. We jogged the first 2 miles without stopping and then walk/ran the last mile. After the race, there was an after party on the rooftop of the Gibson Guitar Factory. We listened to the band, K and I had a few cups of beer and J had a smoothie. He was super duper hungry and they ran out of food before he got any so we stopped at Huey's on the way home. K made a deal with J that every time he runs a 5K, we will go to Huey's for dinner, so J is wanting to know when the next 5K is.

J and I got up this morning and met Mom, Roy, Sissy, John and Taylor at church. Mom looked really good and said she is starting to feel a little better. After church, Roy and mom took us to lunch at Houston's. After lunch, I took J to meet his dad and came home and took a nice long nap. I'm spending tonight watching the Alabama/Crimson baseball game and getting ready to go back to work tomorrow......all good things must come to an end :(((((((((

Some of the best days of my life

Anna Maria Island is so amazing and I am so glad to be blessed enough to be here and have the experience with some of the people I love the most. I have literally had some of the best days of my life and don't want it to end. The better part of Sunday was spent at the beach. We set up and camped out and had a blast. J caught fish, J and K threw the baseball and we relaxed A LOT! Here is J with some of his catch.

After a long day at the beach, everyone headed back to the house for a little pool playtime.

Dad and Dee and everyone else decided to cook out burgers and hot dogs for dinner but there was no way K and I weren't going for seafood so we headed up to the north end of the island to find the Rod and Reel Resort that Dee told us had a great grouper sandwich. We never could find it but happened upon a lovely little place called the Sandbar Bar and Grill and it was exactly what we were looking for!

They had an awesome little patio that ran right onto the beach, drinks flowing and a guy playing some Jimmy Buffet and other island music. We started with the calamari and a crab cake. J had popcorn shrimp, I had the crab encrusted scallops and K had the stuffed tilapia. It was all amazing and they had the best au gratin potatoes I've ever eaten. After dinner, we dropped into the little ice cream shop across the street from Sandbar and had some gelato.

K and I started Monday morning with a little jog and then we took J into Tampa to play at their water park, Adventure Island. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A for lunch because we didn't feel like having burgers or dogs at the park. It is so stinking hot down here, it is pretty impossible to eat heavy. We spent the rest of the day at the park, sliding down all the slides and climbing a whole lot of stairs. We hit every slide in the park and all the pools too. Tons of fun :)

It was pretty late when we got back to the Island and we were starving. We had a better idea of where the Rod and Reel Resort was so we headed out to find it and hit the jackpot. It was on top of one of the city's piers and looked like a dump but I loved it immediately and their food solidified that love. We started with clam strips, J had the fried grouper sammy, I had the blackened grouper sammy, K had the coconut almond encrusted mahi and we finished with a beautiful sunset.

Tuesday was by far one of the top 5 best days of my life! K and I started the day with a jog around the island and then we took J to the Island Flea Market and rented some cruiser bikes. We had them for 4 1/2 hours and had so much fun with them. We headed north on the island and went rode up to the sandbar and played in the water and looked for sanddollars.

After that, we were hungry and thirsty so we decided to go back to the Sandbar Grill and have pina coladas and lunch on the beach. J had the kids strawberry colada and fish planks, I had a peach colada and tuna tacos and K had a pina colada and grouper reuben. It was all delish!

After we were refueled, we explored more of the north end of the island. We checked out the fishing on both piers and saw a ton of seagulls getting some free grub, we stopped at the city park and let J enjoy the playground and made a few more pitstops to cool off in the ocean.

After we returned our bikes, we headed back to the house for some more playtime in the pool and a few cold beverages with the rest of the family. Dee made some yummy pulled pork and we had sammys and slaw and beans for dinner. After dinner, we all headed down to the beach to watch the sunset and do some crab hunting.

Trip from Hell to Paradise

J, K and I got to the airport bright and early and very excited about our vacay! We had a 9:45 flight to Atlanta and then a connecting flight to Tampa. Everything went to Hell on our descent to Atlanta. The pressure in the plane began to hurt J's ear very badily and he was miserable and we still had another flight to catch. We grabbed a bite to eat in the Atlanta airport from Atlanta Bread and then caught our Tampa flight. That flight made J's ear feel even worse and we felt so sorry for him. The flight attendants tried to help by giving him some cups with hot rags to put over his ears but that didn't help either.

We finally made it to Tampa and I was so happy to see the water and palm trees. We got our baggage and car and started the trip to Anna Maria Island. On the ride there, J started to feel bad and he wound up getting sick. Once we got to the Island, we stopped at the CVS and I got him some decongestant and ear drops that numbed his ears. That seemed to do the trick and we have been good ever since. We made it to the house and were very impressed. It is the cutest 5 bedroom on the island!

We were the 1st ones to the house besides Dad and Dee. The lower level is the entry, the garage and the ping pong room. The 2nd level is the living room, kitchen, dining room, master bedroom, a couple of bathrooms and a deck overlooking the pool. The 3rd level is 4 bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms. The back yard has the cutest pool, hot tub and tiki bar.

J, K and I ventured down to the beach in time to catch the sunset and for J to play in the ocean. When we got back to the house everyone else had made it to the vacay home and were in the pool. We spent the rest of the night by the pool and relaxing. We had deli sammies and a few beers for dinner.

Vacation Countdown

I was able to finally break free from the courthouse yesterday at about 3:00. We never had a lunch break so I was starving and stopped at McD's and picked up a cheeseburger, small fries and an unsweet tea before making the drive back to Memphis.

Not healthy but hey it's better than the large #2 with a DP which is what I usually would get. And it was my first serving of beef this week so I've got 14 ozs. left that I can eat between now and Sunday. It really hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be.

When I got home, K and I took Margo on a 3 1/4 mile walk around the hood and we timed it perfect. Got home just before the storms crashed in.

Storm running

Margo started out full of energy and acting like a lunatic but after about the 2nd mile, she was spent. Here she is when we got home, DYING to get inside and lie down.

I also noticed, to my great delight, that my shape up shoes had been delivered while we were out. I immediately put them on and started testing them out. They make me about 2 inches taller than I already am and they have supa cushiony soles. I think I am going to like them even though they are dog butt ugly!

After playing around with my new shoes for a while and getting showered up, I made dinner. I heated up the left over black bean stuffed peppers and roasted some broccoli and squash. It was mighty tasty. We spent the rest of the night getting ready for vacay and catching up on our TV shows. We went to bed and I did not sleep well so I skipped my morning workout AGAIN :( and I still felt so full from dinner that I skipped breakfast. Day didn't start out on the right foot by any means. I did sport my new shape ups to work though and by lunch time my calves were on fire. They must be doing something. As a result of skipping breaky, I was starving by 9:45am so I grabbed a handful of peanuts to tide me over til I could get something to eat.

I ran to the nail place to get my toes done at lunch and then ran over to Bogie's and grabbed a shrimp salad sandwich and some broccoli/bacon salad and now I am just riding out the rest of the day and waiting on the second until I am officially on vacation time!!!!!!

Break me out of these 4 walls

I got home last night and decided that the Wednesday before I leave for vacay is not the time to start a new running program so I got out the elliptical and my bosu ball and did 45 minutes of sweat inducing cardio while watching the 1st episode of Jillian's new show "Losing it with Jillian". After working out, I made dinner for K and I. Last weekend, I read an article that talked about Americans eating too much red meat and what a greater risk for heart disease that it puts you at. I started thinking about our diet and we eat A LOT of red meat. It is almost always lean red meat so I thought we were ok but obviously not. So I decided to start watching how much I serve at the house and to start incorporating some completely meatless options into our home dining. I am also going to start watching how much I eat, the article said no more than 18 ounces/week. So far this week (starting with Monday) I have not had any!! Last night I made us some stuffed bell peppers with a Mexican meatless twist. Instead of mixing ground beef with rice and tomato sauce, I used black beans. I also added some chili powder, cumin and pepper jack cheese. I also made some roasted corn on the cob, marinated and spicy tomatoes and a southwestern caesar salad. It was all pretty yummy and K did not miss the meat at all!

After dinner, we caught up a little on some of our TV shows and I talked to Stace. Her dad and step mom are being complete asses about her wedding so her and Jett are going to have a little wedding weekend down in Seaside, FL at the end of the summer. Just a handful of people and very low key. I am so excited! It sounds a lot like what I had thought K and I might do when the time comes. I think she will be a lot happier this way anywho. Planning a wedding sucks ass and then it is all over and what was the point besides a lot of stress and money spent?

I had to get up early this morning and head down to Florence, AL for a federal trial for some goof ass from Memphis. I was able to squeak out enough time to make an egg and cheese English muffin for breaky and had a peach to go with it.Anyways, goof ass was pulled over down here on some part of Federal land for DUI and then went on to impersonate himself as a SCSO officer. He was issued a special deputy commission by Jack Owens in 1989!!!!!! He still had his commission card and used it to try and prove his point even though it says it expires August 1990, he also altered his tags to try and make them look like FOP tags. The prosecutor promised it would be very quick and painless for me and I should have known better for trusting an attorney. Here it is, almost 1:30pm and I have been sitting here for over 4 hours, without a lunch break and not one in sight and no idea when I am going to get to testify. I am really hoping I get home at a decent hour! So for now here is where I sit: