Back to the Grind

What I started writing on Monday.......

So as most of you probably know by know, Jon and I returned to DC yesterday afternoon. Each family member that we called to say we had safely landed would say "oh that's good", to which we both responded, "NO it's really not!" Yes, I realized our family was just happy that we were home safe and sound but neither of us were happy to have to have left Disney and BE back in DC.

The trip was amazing, best vacation/trip I have ever been on in my life. I got teary eyed just having to walk out of the park that last time on Saturday night, turning out to catch one more beautiful glimpse of Cinderella's castle. I could try and take the time to go through what we did all week but 1. I don't really have the patience to nor should I probably use that kind of time at work doing such things, and 2. no one probably wants to or will read it anyway so I'll leave you with a breakdown of where we were each day:

Sunday - up at 3 a.m. for a 6 a.m flight to ALT to Orlando. After checking into the hotel, spent the afternoon and evening at Magic Kingdom, watched the Spectromagic parade and Wishes fireworks, extra magic hours let us ride Splash Mountain one more time, but in the dark!

Monday – Character Breakfast at MK with Pooh Bear and friends, spent the morning @ MK, Epcot in the afternoon with dinner at Marakesh and Illuminations: Reflections of Earth from great sitting seats in Mexico. I cried during the fireworks as I realized that Disney probably has the most amazing fireworks anywhere – just love them!

Tuesday - Animal Kingdom in the morning, Disney Studios in the afternoon and evening, saw Fantasmic.

Wednesday – MK in the morning, headed to Epcot early in the afternoon but all the running around and getting up at 3 a.m. on Sunday was finally starting to catch up with both of us. I think we were both sleep walking around 1 p.m. and thought it best to head home and nap before our dinner at the Beirgarden (which is something we were both REALLY looking forward to. Pretty much as soon as we stepped foot on the property of our hotel I started getting very sick and throughout 2 hours of napping feared that I was not going to bounce back to make it out that night. I did and we freshened up and headed back to Epcot for our dinner reservations. Beirgarden was a lot of fun and the family that we sat with was nice (minus the rude guy who got sick) but I wasn’t blown away by the food, but I did drink my ENTIRE liter of beer, but Jon did not! Haha and yes we calculated that a liter of ______ is like having a 6-pack of Bud Lite with dinner :-) Mom would be so proud!

Thursday – Animal Kingdom in the morning, headed to Hollywood Studios where we were waiting to see Lights, Motors, Action when a storm started to approach. They delayed the show and then canceled it due to lightening in the area and wanted everyone out of the stadium…..uh I know we were sitting on metal bleacher but this was NOT the time to get thousands of people under cover. We waited there with many, some of the cars came out when the rain started to let up and let off some pyrotechnics and they said they would do the finale once t he rain stopped. Cast member came over and said the rain would not be over for a long LONG time and that we should try to make it to an indoor ride to not waste our day. Of course the closest gift shop has now run out of ponchos and we are completely soaked and I’m walking around barefoot, the line for Toy Story is not only outside in the rain but still 70 minutes to wait so we gave up and went back to the hotel to dry off, nap quickly and get dressed for the evening. Went to MK for the night and rode rides once the parade started, watched the end of the parade and then rode Splash Mountain during the fireworks which Jon planned perfectly and was AMAZING!!! If you didn’t get so damn wet on that ride I would have recorded all the beautiful sights, if you ever go to Disney, take a night away from fireworks and do this!

Friday – MK in the morning (of course, it’s my favorite park!), Epcot in the afternoon (Jon’s favorite and my 2nd fav) where we magically got Soarin’ fast passes at 1 p.m. for later in the day, saw Illuminations from where they are truly meant to be seen! Tried to head back to MK for Magic Hours but it wasn't real successful. Super busy, longer lines than during the day and we were both too tired to deal with it. Did ride Haunted Mansion and Pirates before heading back to the hotel.

Saturday - Made a final attempt at Hollywood Studios for the new Toy Story ride (were successful and it was so good that we stayed for a 2nd time) and got to see Lights, Motors, Action which was TOTALLY worth it! Rest of the afternoon at MK, saw Spectromagic again, monsoon rain came out of no where while we waited for the fireworks, I cried b/c I thought we wouldn't see them, they were delayed 15 minutes and then happened! Soaking wet and freezing but totally didn't care!

Sunday - up at 6 to finish packing, bus pick up at 8:25, flights to ATL and then DCA, dinner and passed out on the couch by 7 p.m.

I started typing this up on Monday afternoon at work, it’s not Thursday at 3:46 p.m. and I’m finally finishing it up. It’s been a long week of exhaustion which I’m slowly getting over. Monday was by far the worst, I was having horrible dizzy spells and my eyes kept going out of focus which made for a really long, miserable day. Been better since then, just don’t have the energy when I get home at night to do anything which means my suitcase is still sitting EXACTLY where I dropped it on Sunday night to open it and get Mickey and Minnie out. Hoping to be productive with this unpacking tonight since tomorrow’s the big day (5 year Anniversary big day that is <3)

Last one before FL

So it FINALLY happened. Jon and I went for a run on Wednesday morning. It went really well for the first in 2 months, but I am still paying for it today. As always when I first start running again my upper legs are killin' me. Was totally fine most of Wednesday, around 4:30 I really thought I was going to be fine and maybe be able to get in a 2nd run on Thursday morning........then at 5:30 I jumped in the Jeep with Jon and sat in rush hour traffic to get out to 7 corners. By the time I got out at Target I realized what was coming! Yesterday was definitely worse that today is but I did strategically wear flats today which I think is making a bit of a difference as well. Would like to try for one more run tomorrow morning but haven't decided if I want to sleep in yet/if I really want to chance being sore for Sunday morning's early flight and the first day in DISNEY!

Ah yes Disney World, in just a short 48 hours Jon and I will be at the Magic Kingdom! I am so pumped that I haven't been able to focus at work all week. Today is of course particularly bad, yet I don't even care all that much because today is my last day until the 17th! whoooooo I know this trip is going to be amazing even though it's been 12 years since I was last at Disney and this is only my 2nd time ever and I don't even fully know what to expect off of what I remember from '97. I am excited though to experience it all with Jon as adults (apparently I'm an adult at 25, but I can not guarantee that I will be acting like one for the next week), with no kids, just us! I have already warned Jon that he will have to be on guard to hold me back because I will probably squeal, jump and run to tackle the following: Mickey, Minnie, Winnie the Pooh! I probably won't be able to update anything on here next week as I don't believe we're bringing a laptop with us, but I will be taking lots of pictures and will finally get that Picassa thing set up to post them on when I return.

I decided this morning that I want to start keeping track of craft projects that I'm working on, finished, and ideas that I have on here. A couple of you saw on FB the other night that I was working on a blanket while watching SYTYCD and since this is my first attempt at something bigger than a scarf, shawl or tote bag I would like to remember a bit of this experience.

So it's a little hard to see here since it's about the same color as my awful couch, but really right now its' not even really a shawl! I am very happy with the stitch that I choose (thankfully since it took me like 3 days and multiple books and crocheting of test swatches w/ the yarn). Definitely my biggest undertaking not only in size, but also not just a half double or double crochet here! There will be some stripes coming on each end in a pretty teal and lime green which will complete this beachy looking blanket to use while outside on my lovely patio. Don't believe that I will have it done before it's too cold to me sitting out there reading, and I hope that I keep up finishing it once this has happened because I think of how happy I will be next spring when I pull it out to use for the first time! As long as I continue my daily contributions to it both in the mornings and evenings so that I see progress I think it'll happen.

I also have a 2nd blanket that I plan to start shortly as well. The only reason I'm starting it now is because it's designed for my trips to FL and Syracuse in being all Granny squares. This means that I can just bring a skein or 2 of yarn with me and work on the 3" and 9" squares off my pattern I created and bring them home after each trip. Yes you read that correctly, I have designed this blanket for Grannie on my own and I am VERY excited about it. I'm not going to premiere the pattern yet because I really want to make sure it's going to work out, then I will showcase my design as well as a couple of pieces crocheted in the yarn I plan to use.

Just 4 1/2 hours left of work and even though I have some things to finish up here, my to do list that I'm thinking about is as follows:

1. update all Disney lists to see what still needs to be done
2. eat lunch :-)
3. get through the next 4 1/2 hour and GET HOME ASAP!
4. try on all clothes marked to try on on the list of clothes for Disney
5. pack clothes
6. get all toiletries together
7. pack carry on bag and purse
8. get together food, etc. to go in my big suitcase
9. make Jon pack :-)

This will leave me with the following to do early tomorrow morning in order to spend one final day at the pool before the trip:

1. pick up tables
2. Vacuum
3. water plants inside
4. drop off keys to Bev
5. work a couple of squares on new blanket project
6. watch the Yankees beat the Red Sox (ok so that's tomorrow night but w/e!)

Have a good week next week everyone, I'll be on FB throughout the week I'm sure!

Well that didn't happen

No iPod playlist was created last night and no run was taken this morning. The lack of getting up early and running does not stem from laziness though, unfortunately I was up most of the night thanks to my ridiculous sinus pressure and was not only not in the mood to run after 4 hours of sleep, but I didn't think anyone should have to see me attempt running with a stuffy, sniffly nose and sneeze attacks......doesn't even seem that save really does it?

We did go to the grocery store though last night and stocked up on enough healthy food to get us through the next 5 days. I was quite impressed with myself for wanting to get stuff to make salads for dinner each night or Lean Cuisines. I was also happy to get lots of fruits and yogurt to have throughout my day at work vs. sneaking bags of potato chips from the secret stash hidden under my desk this week like I did yesterday. I also got stuff to make a pesto mayo to use on my turkey sandwiches this week which I am extra excited about trying today! It's going ok so far, I guess....I had my cereal at home this morning vs. going to Cosi for a bagel which was fine. Problem is I have already had my snack of blueberries and want to eat both FiberOne bars that I have with me like now and I still need to make it until 1 p.m. to have my lunch. sigh. This is also because I am slightly bored at work at the moment due to my lack of desire to actually do work because I'm exhausted, my sinuses are killing me and I'm extremely focused on all that I need to do before we leave on Sunday.

Speaking of, I spent many hours laying awake last night unable to fall back asleep and my mind was racing on all the things that I need to get done in the next 4 nights so that I'm not racing around all day on Saturday and miserable doing it. Quite honestly I just wanted to get out of bed and start doing things then, but I did not think that Jon would appreciate it, so I just kept laying there, getting more and more annoyed that I can't breathe through my nose. I have made a list of things I need to get at Target this week as well as a list by day of what things I want to do each day straight through Saturday morning (hoping to have the afternoon on Saturday to relax out by the pool, weather permitting, since I didn't get to last weekend). I just finished making this list and now I can't focus on the work I need to be doing at work because I would rather be home doing all the laundry that needs to be finished or trying on the clothes that I need to see if they still fit me and running the errands I need to fun in VA.

Hopefully now that I have written my thoughts here and I have my list sitting in front of me for any other things that I remember to avoid a last minute "damn it!" moment, I will be able to focus a little better. I'm also sure I'll be focusing a lot better around 12:50, and at 5:15 :-)

Still not in the swing of it

So clearly I have not been "getting in the swing of things" as I had hoped 2 weeks ago when I last blogged. I have realized that I don't think about getting on here during the day like I used to. Somehow I think about it around 2 a.m. when I randomly wake up and my mind starts racing about ridiculous things, which of course keep me up longer than anyone wants to be awake at 2:30 a.m. when they have to get up for work in the morning.

Perfect example would be last night/this morning, when my mind decided I should wake up and run through the entire musical score to Lucky in the Rain.....seriously?!? I did the show like 9 years ago and probably have not listened to the soundtrack in at least the past 2 months, but never the less, I sang just about all of it last night/this morning, remembering all the crazy times that came with that show, the wonderful memories that I have followed with me over the past 9 years and of course the amazing life long friends that were made.

These early ass morning sing-a-long sessions that I seem to be forced into with my mind are the #1 one thing keeping me from starting to run and train again. Thanks to my good friend Mary and her blogging about running a half marathon next month, I have been keeping up on her training which has inspired me over the last 2 weeks to want to get back into running in the mornings. Before I had started working again, Jon and I were fairly consistent in running about every other morning and I was running further that I EVER had before. Granted, I can only run a little over a mile, maybe a mile and a half before I DIE in Kalorama park and can't even look up or talk to someone for about 20 minutes. I was still becoming very proud of myself for getting better and loosing some weight and feeling generally better about myself.......then I started working and getting up at 6:20 in the morning. I have a really hard time wanting to get up at 6 to go running and know that it will be 12 hours until I'm even home again, let alone the 17 or so hours until I'm in my bed again - definitely not motivating! I do find myself every day at work listening to music to fill my day and motivate me through my work, and I have started making lists of songs w/ the proper BPM to run to (thanks to Mary's earlier blogs). I have a list of like 12 songs right now (which at say an average of only 3 minutes per song is 36 minutes, CLEARLY a lot longer than I will need to run 1 mile), yet I haven't even taken the time at night to create this playlist in iTunes and update my iPod!

I complain about body image and wanting to do something about it a lot, yet I don't actually take the time to do it. I want to feel comfortable in my skin next week in FL, yet I know that it's impossible in less than one weeks time to get myself to that place. Hopefully I will find the strength, motivation and determination to get up early and run this week and eat healthier and just maybe I'll be a little bit closer to reaching that goal by Sunday. No one wants to feel uncomfortable in their own skins and clothes while running around Disney (which I'm sure will be a great work out as well, yet eating out every day will not!)

Hopefully I will remember to get on here tomorrow and I will be able to discuss my first run back at it again!