Happy Days!!

This week has been a long one. Its been kind of hard getting adjusted to being away from Marc and the girls, but I think I'm starting to slip into a bit of a routine, which is nice. We had our first exam in class today, and I missed 3 out of 50 so I wasn't too upset. I'm only mad because I had the correct answer for two of them and then changed them at the last second, so I would have only missed one had I just trusted my instinct!

I also got one of my grades back from Grad School. I got an A in my Organizational Behavior class for my MBA. I got 100%, which makes me happy, though we don't have +/- grades so no one will ever know. I will though! Very nervous about getting the grade for my Program Management class...that was a very difficult class and was the bane of my existence the past several months. Thank goodness it is over now!!

Let's see. I have a decent weekend planned. I got all my homework done today so that I could play on the beach all weekend. Lainie and her family and I will go to Pensacola tomorrow and get some rays...I just can't get too many tan lines b/c I'm two months away from a wedding dress!!

Oh, other fun news to report. We went clothes shopping yesterday and got some really cute stuff. We both have lost weight and didn't have spring clothes, so it was a necessity. My sense of style has really changed in the past several months, and I even bought, are you ready?, a half sweater. I make fun of people for those but my friends all said it looked cute and it was pretty cute so I went for it. I also bought a really nice white dress that I am going to wear for the honeymoon. Such a pretty fun summer dress...I can't wait to show off my tan.

I'm doing great with the weightloss. I really don't feel too fat anymore, especially since we've been working out a lot and lifting weights as well. I haven't run since Tuesday...I'm having some trouble fitting it in. I intend on getting up at aobut 7 tomorrow and running though. I really want to run tonight but I'm waiting to go to the gym with Lainie and it also looks like its going to rain at any moment and I hate getting caught out there.

One question-does anyone have an opinion on Mp3 players or Ipods? I definitely need a new form of music player since mine is so big and bulky and doesn't play many songs...it used to be the top of the line...but 3 long years have passed. Thanks in advance.

Happy Easter (From Florida)

Well, this has been far from a happy Easter, but I think the day has gone as bad as it can already, so it won't get much worse. Let me backtrack a little here, I got to Milton, Florida yesterday afternoon for AMO school. I got here about an hour before check-in and they told me I would have to wait. I'd been in the car for 5 hours, and wanted to "cut loose" so I decided to go on a run around base and get myself acqainted with the area. I did run for about an hour (in 90 degree weather) and then I got back and checked into my room. Well, when I got to my room there was no electricity and they said it would be out for several hours. Mind you I've just emptied the car in the 90 degree heat and I'm still sweaty from my run so I must take a shower. Well, the bathroom has no windows so I had a nice shower in the dark. Thank goodness I eat my carrots or I wouldn't have even been able to make out the shadows! I got a stroke of luck next though because I decided to go to the Commisary and get groceries. They were closing in 10 minutes, so I was lucky that I got all the "fixin's" for lunch this week and cereal for milk, as well as an ungodly amount of rice cakes (so many different flavors!)

So yesterday was mediocre. Today is awful. Lainie and I decided that we wanted to go to sunrise service on the beach. I printed directions out before we left Maryland, talked to a couple of people and had it all squared away. Well 2 hours and $4 later (in tolls) we still weren't at the "Clam Shell" which was described to me as a big bandshell on the boardwalk. Then, on our way off this island (took us an hour to find the right place) we turned around in a parking lot and I saw this little tiny pink clamshell in the distance. We decided that there was no way we could have missed a boardwalk, but we went over towards the clam shell. Then we see this big sign that says "Boardwalk" and about 500 people leaving the clamshell area. The "Boardwalk" was actually a strip mall, there is no pier or nothing. That clamshell is smaller than a shed. It was ridiculous. So Lainie and I drove to this other little empty beach that we had passed about 10 times before and said the Lord's Prayer in unison and then prayed ourselves. Oh, did I mention that we had been up since 5 am to get to this ridiciulous service? Both us had been hoping that the other would cancel, but neither of wanted to be the one to do so, so we suffered through. And that isn't even the worst part of the day. I get back to my room and Housekeeping says "Um, we found a roach in your bed". I said "ok, get it out and all its little friends". They are not allowed to spray and they'll have to get the place fumigated and I guess that they are all out of rooms so it looks like I'm in the roach motel. Oh well, not like I didn't pick up enough germs at the Waffle House where we ended up for our Easter Breakfast. That was a disaster and I'll save the social commentary for another time, but lets just say that we left that with full bellies and broken hearts. It was just awful.

Now that I got the computer working though, I'm in a better mood. I think I'm going to try to get some ironing done (oh who am I kidding, I think I'll fluff the stuff in the dryer) and take a little nap or something. I'm going to wait until about 5 pm to run. I would have done it this morning but by the time we got back we were so hungry we didn't know what to do with ourselves.

I miss Marc a lot. I don't like being away from him because he makes me happy. But I also have to remind myself that we get married in less than 10 weeks!

Run For Hospice

This weekend has been an interesting one for sure. This is the last weekend that I am at home before the wedding-that's right, I'm gone for the next 2 1/2 months to Florida for a training class for work. So its very bittersweet this weekend, especially since I had such a great time with my friends. On Friday, Marc and I went up to Waldorf and went shopping, no big deal. We also started watching X-Men 2, as he is gearing me up for the new movie coming out next month (which I will have to see alone, unless I can talk my friend Bill into coming with me in Florida!) but didn't finish it as we had a race early Saturday morning. We got up for the Hospice Run pretty early and although I was feeling pretty icky (long story, I've been to the Dr. several times, and I'm waiting for some blood test results...not fun) I was pretty excited about the run. When we got there we saw a lot of our friends that we knew were running the 10k race (Mike, Sean, Jamie, Liam) like Marc, but I was afraid I'd be all alone on the 5k course (no big deal, I always run alone!) Lo and behold, our friend Stephanie (also a Purdue grad) was there and she was running the 5k. She said she was going to run/walk it, but we made a pact to run as much of it as we could. And we did. We had a great time together and I know that she made me run better than I would have all alone. Near the finish line she started yelling out people that we needed to pass, and we fought our way into 87 and 88 place (out of 170) I like to say that I was third place in the bottom half, so I get a medal (in my made up competition!). Our time was 33:59 and I was pretty happy with that. My "healthy" goal was 30 minutes, but my "sick" goal was under 35 so I felt pretty good about it. I know that I can do it better next year, and although I'll surely be ready for the 10k I think I'll do the 5 just for a rematch!

After the race we all went to CiCi's pizza, which is just a cheap pizza place. I must say I am in love with the BBQ pizza, I want to eat it all the time, but somehow I feel Weight Watchers (and my waistline) would frown upon that. After that, Marc and I went back to the house and struggled our way through making a timeline for the reception (this is much harder than I'd like to think) and then tried to make the wedding program, but we just can't make decisions on the timeline for the evening. Most of it is simple logistics, and you'd think, since that's my field, it wouldn't be so hard for me. But we only have so much time to work with, and that's the part I'm having trouble with. I'll have to poll the WW girls and see what they think. We watched a little more of X-Men 2 last night, but I was feeling worse so I went to bed early-thank God because I was up all night feeling horrible.

This morning we gave the cats baths, which is always a great time. I need to go finish packing for Florida. Its very hard to leave for 2 months and have any idea what the heck you need to bring with you. I've been told to bring stuff to cook with, and I've also been told to bring a lot of recreational items. Luckily I have a good sized vehicle, but this is just tough. What's more distressing is that Marc and I are going to have to plan the seating chart and everything from a distance, but I brought the place cards so I can hopefully write those up with my girlfriend Lainie who will be down there with me. Tonight we're having tacos over at my friend Mindy's house. She is just the sweetest girl ever and she felt badly about missing my bridal shower (and bacheloerette party) so she wanted to have us both over. What an awesome gal.

Better go put some more peroxide in my cat bath wounds!

Run For Hospice

This weekend has been an interesting one for sure. This is the last weekend that I am at home before the wedding-that's right, I'm gone for the next 2 1/2 months to Florida for a training class for work. So its very bittersweet this weekend, especially since I had such a great time with my friends. On Friday, Marc and I went up to Waldorf and went shopping, no big deal. We also started watching X-Men 2, as he is gearing me up for the new movie coming out next month (which I will have to see alone, unless I can talk my friend Bill into coming with me in Florida!) but didn't finish it as we had a race early Saturday morning. We got up for the Hospice Run pretty early and although I was feeling pretty icky (long story, I've been to the Dr. several times, and I'm waiting for some blood test results...not fun) I was pretty excited about the run. When we got there we saw a lot of our friends that we knew were running the 10k race (Mike, Sean, Jamie, Liam) like Marc, but I was afraid I'd be all alone on the 5k course (no big deal, I always run alone!) Lo and behold, our friend Stephanie (also a Purdue grad) was there and she was running the 5k. She said she was going to run/walk it, but we made a pact to run as much of it as we could. And we did. We had a great time together and I know that she made me run better than I would have all alone. Near the finish line she started yelling out people that we needed to pass, and we fought our way into 87 and 88 place (out of 170) I like to say that I was third place in the bottom half, so I get a medal (in my made up competition!). Our time was 33:59 and I was pretty happy with that. My "healthy" goal was 30 minutes, but my "sick" goal was under 35 so I felt pretty good about it. I know that I can do it better next year, and although I'll surely be ready for the 10k I think I'll do the 5 just for a rematch!

After the race we all went to CiCi's pizza, which is just a cheap pizza place. I must say I am in love with the BBQ pizza, I want to eat it all the time, but somehow I feel Weight Watchers (and my waistline) would frown upon that. After that, Marc and I went back to the house and struggled our way through making a timeline for the reception (this is much harder than I'd like to think) and then tried to make the wedding program, but we just can't make decisions on the timeline for the evening. Most of it is simple logistics, and you'd think, since that's my field, it wouldn't be so hard for me. But we only have so much time to work with, and that's the part I'm having trouble with. I'll have to poll the WW girls and see what they think. We watched a little more of X-Men 2 last night, but I was feeling worse so I went to bed early-thank God because I was up all night feeling horrible.

This morning we gave the cats baths, which is always a great time. I need to go finish packing for Florida. Its very hard to leave for 2 months and have any idea what the heck you need to bring with you. I've been told to bring stuff to cook with, and I've also been told to bring a lot of recreational items. Luckily I have a good sized vehicle, but this is just tough. What's more distressing is that Marc and I are going to have to plan the seating chart and everything from a distance, but I brought the place cards so I can hopefully write those up with my girlfriend Lainie who will be down there with me. Tonight we're having tacos over at my friend Mindy's house. She is just the sweetest girl ever and she felt badly about missing my bridal shower (and bacheloerette party) so she wanted to have us both over. What an awesome gal.

Better go put some more peroxide in my cat bath wounds!