But I'll have some fun pics to post this weekend!
I'm leaving work in 14 minutes, and I'm headed straight for the airport. I'm going to Florida tonight for a fun getaway with some other Army wives. I'm so pumped!!!
Oh, and ... I just got promoted. Sweet!
Looks like I'll have plenty to post about next week -- if things ever slow down!!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Because I can't lie to you
Yes, it's late Friday night, and yes, I'm really really tired and want to go to bed, and yes, I'm incredibly sore from possibly the worst workout I've ever done (Running 2.5 miles to a track/park area; doing lunges all.the.way.around. said track -- that's 100 meters, people -- and doing 25 sit-ups and 25 push-ups every fourth of the way around; only to run 2.5 miles back to the car. I'm officially walking like an old lady today.) ... and yes, it's almost midnight and I'm still working.
But because I promised you I'd do this post today, I'm writing it now. I may never give you a promise with a deadline again.
So here goes ...
I was already in Oklahoma for my old roomie's graduation. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and swing through my mom's hometown on my way back to Dallas. Because I knew the moment I mentioned to her I was considering the visit I'd have to follow through, I waited until the day before to mention it to my mom. So that Sunday morning -- which happened to be Mother's Day (just a coincidence) -- I got up early and made the drive to her town.
When I got close to her home, I called her, and decided I'd meet her and her husband at Chi!i's, since none of us had eaten lunch yet. I was glad we'd be meeting in a public place so I could avoid some overly emotional reunion at her house.
When I walked in the restaurant, my mom and her husband were already there. I gave each of them a hug before I sat down with them. I had worried my mom would give some drawn-out hug or something, but she didn't. Whew.
Over the course of lunch, my mom talked about the weirdest things. She told me about her trip to Oklahoma C!ty with her husband the day before, and how they'd gone to the movie THEE-ate-uhr. My mom talked about that experience for a while. She said it was like heaven, and she talked about how big it was and how good the popcorn was. She told me how the movie theater in their town doesn't salt the popcorn, so you have to salt it yourself, so once you get past the top layer it tastes really blah ... and you'd think they'd want to salt the heck out of it because then people will be buying more drinks.
I told my mom about our Stud!o Mov!e Gr!ll theaters where you can eat dinner while you're at the movies. I was just making conversation, but my mom actually turned to her husband (we were seated at the bar to avoid the endless wait for a table) to say to him, "She said they have THEE-ate-uhrs where you can eat while you watch the movie!"
My mom asked to see my ring. She noted I was wearing my hair shorter. She asked about K. Her husband asked where K was. (Surely he knew K was in Iraq ...) They asked about my bike ride the week before and had lots of questions about my helmet and bike.
My mom started filling me in on the big news scandals from her town over the past year. She told me about her new job. She told me about the new $7 million building of the company her husband works for. They talked about the chairs and how neat they were ("They're like $1,000 apiece!"). As they described them, I realized they may very well be the exact same chairs all the employees at my office have -- only it never occurred to me to tell anyone about the chairs (they're chairs).
My mom went on about the big TV screens and how they can use them to have meetings via satellite with people in their office in Houston (the same thing we do with our other offices across the country). By the time she got to telling me about the ceiling ("There's no ceiling! You can see the wires and tubing. It's all just exposed!" Which is exactly what we have at work), I started to wonder if living in such a big city has made me spoiled and maybe even a little snobby.
I had noticed my mom's ... Southern, if you will, pronunciation of the word "theater." It occurred to me that I used to pronounce the word that way, but I stopped in college.
I tried to consider things from her perspective. While a $7 million building is no big deal in Dallas, it's very big for her hometown. And maybe the technology, the ceiling and, yes, even the chairs are a big deal there too. But we'd still managed to talk for 10 minutes about movie theater popcorn.
Was I too snobby and spoiled to carry on small talk? But then as I thought about it more, I realized I talk about much smaller things than popcorn with my dad and friends all the time. I'm perfectly capable of talking about things like chairs and popcorn and ceilings.
I can talk about small things all day. But this wasn't typical small talk. It wasn't laid-back, comfortable small talk. It was just empty conversation. She was nervous.
After lunch, we headed back to her house. When we got inside, my mom asked, "Do you want to sit in the living room or in the back yard?"
I hadn't prepared for the small cold front that came through. I was only wearing flip flops and short sleeves. My mom was in a sweatshirt and pants. "It's a little cool out," I said.
"Well, let's go sit in the yard. We can get some sun," my mom answered. I'd only done the M$150 the week before, so I wasn't interested in getting any sun, but I didn't want to argue over where we were sitting. I did wonder why she'd bothered asking where I wanted to go if she wasn't going to listen anyway.
So we went to the back yard. Just as I sat down in a chair, she called me over to her little goldfish pond to show me the fish she and her husband had bought the day before. There were easily 20 fish in this pond, so pointing out 3 and expecting me to know which ones she's talking about was a little pointless, but I tried my best. We stared into the pond for about 10 minutes before I sat down. We sat outside for over an hour talking.
When we stepped inside to get something to drink, I took the opportunity to fetch my laptop from my car so I could show my mom and her husband pictures from the bike ride. After we looked at them, I waited for my mom to say something about wedding pictures. She didn't, so I asked if she wanted to see them. She said yes, so I pulled up the album. I went through our professional pictures and then the ones taken on my camera. She said they were pretty, that the beach was gorgeous and that I looked pretty. She laughed when I pointed out that K had left his yellow L!vestrong bracelet on during the ceremony. (groan)
After we finished looking through the pictures, I realized it was an hour past when I'd intended to leave. I had to get on the road so I could pick up Piper from being boarded. It was good because it gave me a nice out. I had a reason I needed to leave, so it wasn't like I was cutting the visit short or something.
We'd spent about 4 hours together. They didn't go badly, obviously, but they weren't awesome either. As I thought about it on my way back to Dallas, I became more and more convinced that my mom was just nervous. I'd seen her goldfish pond many times before, and she'd never tried to point out specific fish to me or made me stare at it for 10 minutes.
When I got inside my apartment, I called my mom to let her know I'd made it home safely -- and that I'd gotten sunburned from being outside (I was very annoyed at that, especially since I had wanted to stay inside to begin with! I did my best to keep those feelings to myself.). I told my mom how much I had to do that night and how badly I wanted to just go to sleep. She told me to put it all off until the next night and to go to bed early.
It wasn't that simple, though. I needed to get those things done that night -- things like changing my sheets and making a care package for K. My mom called me a couple times more that night to tell me to go to bed. I didn't. I was a little annoyed and worried that the visit had given her the impression that she could bombard me with phone calls.
Luckily, though, that was the only night she did that. We're still only talking a couple times a week. Right now, I like it that way. I wish we could talk more, but I think baby steps are very important. And they seem to be working right now.
We don't have plans to see each other again yet, but I'm sure we will eventually. And I'm sure on that visit, we'll have much more interesting things to talk about -- especially since we can cross ceilings, movie popcorn and goldfish off our list.
But because I promised you I'd do this post today, I'm writing it now. I may never give you a promise with a deadline again.
So here goes ...
I was already in Oklahoma for my old roomie's graduation. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and swing through my mom's hometown on my way back to Dallas. Because I knew the moment I mentioned to her I was considering the visit I'd have to follow through, I waited until the day before to mention it to my mom. So that Sunday morning -- which happened to be Mother's Day (just a coincidence) -- I got up early and made the drive to her town.
When I got close to her home, I called her, and decided I'd meet her and her husband at Chi!i's, since none of us had eaten lunch yet. I was glad we'd be meeting in a public place so I could avoid some overly emotional reunion at her house.
When I walked in the restaurant, my mom and her husband were already there. I gave each of them a hug before I sat down with them. I had worried my mom would give some drawn-out hug or something, but she didn't. Whew.
Over the course of lunch, my mom talked about the weirdest things. She told me about her trip to Oklahoma C!ty with her husband the day before, and how they'd gone to the movie THEE-ate-uhr. My mom talked about that experience for a while. She said it was like heaven, and she talked about how big it was and how good the popcorn was. She told me how the movie theater in their town doesn't salt the popcorn, so you have to salt it yourself, so once you get past the top layer it tastes really blah ... and you'd think they'd want to salt the heck out of it because then people will be buying more drinks.
I told my mom about our Stud!o Mov!e Gr!ll theaters where you can eat dinner while you're at the movies. I was just making conversation, but my mom actually turned to her husband (we were seated at the bar to avoid the endless wait for a table) to say to him, "She said they have THEE-ate-uhrs where you can eat while you watch the movie!"
My mom asked to see my ring. She noted I was wearing my hair shorter. She asked about K. Her husband asked where K was. (Surely he knew K was in Iraq ...) They asked about my bike ride the week before and had lots of questions about my helmet and bike.
My mom started filling me in on the big news scandals from her town over the past year. She told me about her new job. She told me about the new $7 million building of the company her husband works for. They talked about the chairs and how neat they were ("They're like $1,000 apiece!"). As they described them, I realized they may very well be the exact same chairs all the employees at my office have -- only it never occurred to me to tell anyone about the chairs (they're chairs).
My mom went on about the big TV screens and how they can use them to have meetings via satellite with people in their office in Houston (the same thing we do with our other offices across the country). By the time she got to telling me about the ceiling ("There's no ceiling! You can see the wires and tubing. It's all just exposed!" Which is exactly what we have at work), I started to wonder if living in such a big city has made me spoiled and maybe even a little snobby.
I had noticed my mom's ... Southern, if you will, pronunciation of the word "theater." It occurred to me that I used to pronounce the word that way, but I stopped in college.
I tried to consider things from her perspective. While a $7 million building is no big deal in Dallas, it's very big for her hometown. And maybe the technology, the ceiling and, yes, even the chairs are a big deal there too. But we'd still managed to talk for 10 minutes about movie theater popcorn.
Was I too snobby and spoiled to carry on small talk? But then as I thought about it more, I realized I talk about much smaller things than popcorn with my dad and friends all the time. I'm perfectly capable of talking about things like chairs and popcorn and ceilings.
I can talk about small things all day. But this wasn't typical small talk. It wasn't laid-back, comfortable small talk. It was just empty conversation. She was nervous.
After lunch, we headed back to her house. When we got inside, my mom asked, "Do you want to sit in the living room or in the back yard?"
I hadn't prepared for the small cold front that came through. I was only wearing flip flops and short sleeves. My mom was in a sweatshirt and pants. "It's a little cool out," I said.
"Well, let's go sit in the yard. We can get some sun," my mom answered. I'd only done the M$150 the week before, so I wasn't interested in getting any sun, but I didn't want to argue over where we were sitting. I did wonder why she'd bothered asking where I wanted to go if she wasn't going to listen anyway.
So we went to the back yard. Just as I sat down in a chair, she called me over to her little goldfish pond to show me the fish she and her husband had bought the day before. There were easily 20 fish in this pond, so pointing out 3 and expecting me to know which ones she's talking about was a little pointless, but I tried my best. We stared into the pond for about 10 minutes before I sat down. We sat outside for over an hour talking.
When we stepped inside to get something to drink, I took the opportunity to fetch my laptop from my car so I could show my mom and her husband pictures from the bike ride. After we looked at them, I waited for my mom to say something about wedding pictures. She didn't, so I asked if she wanted to see them. She said yes, so I pulled up the album. I went through our professional pictures and then the ones taken on my camera. She said they were pretty, that the beach was gorgeous and that I looked pretty. She laughed when I pointed out that K had left his yellow L!vestrong bracelet on during the ceremony. (groan)
After we finished looking through the pictures, I realized it was an hour past when I'd intended to leave. I had to get on the road so I could pick up Piper from being boarded. It was good because it gave me a nice out. I had a reason I needed to leave, so it wasn't like I was cutting the visit short or something.
We'd spent about 4 hours together. They didn't go badly, obviously, but they weren't awesome either. As I thought about it on my way back to Dallas, I became more and more convinced that my mom was just nervous. I'd seen her goldfish pond many times before, and she'd never tried to point out specific fish to me or made me stare at it for 10 minutes.
When I got inside my apartment, I called my mom to let her know I'd made it home safely -- and that I'd gotten sunburned from being outside (I was very annoyed at that, especially since I had wanted to stay inside to begin with! I did my best to keep those feelings to myself.). I told my mom how much I had to do that night and how badly I wanted to just go to sleep. She told me to put it all off until the next night and to go to bed early.
It wasn't that simple, though. I needed to get those things done that night -- things like changing my sheets and making a care package for K. My mom called me a couple times more that night to tell me to go to bed. I didn't. I was a little annoyed and worried that the visit had given her the impression that she could bombard me with phone calls.
Luckily, though, that was the only night she did that. We're still only talking a couple times a week. Right now, I like it that way. I wish we could talk more, but I think baby steps are very important. And they seem to be working right now.
We don't have plans to see each other again yet, but I'm sure we will eventually. And I'm sure on that visit, we'll have much more interesting things to talk about -- especially since we can cross ceilings, movie popcorn and goldfish off our list.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Happy birthday, Piper!
Thanks for sitting still juuuuuuust long enough to let me take this picture.
Sorry to delay the Mom post one more day. After my boot camp-like workout tonight, I'm about to die. Must. go. to. sleep. But I promise the post will come tomorrow.
There. Now it has to. I promised.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Two weeks, one post
My my, has life been hectic lately. I'm afraid you'll be a little upset with me when you find out one of the MAJOR things that happened well over a week ago ... and I haven't blogged about it yet. But that's how busy I've been! Seriously!
Here's a taste:
Friday, May 9: Went to Sw!tchfoot & Gav!n DeGr.aw concert with AJ & College Friend. both were awesome (especially Sw!tchfoot). (pictures coming)
Saturday, May 10: Went to OK to celebrate my old roomie's graduation. (pictures coming)
Sunday, May 11: On my way back to Dallas, stopped by to see my mom -- for the first time since Christmas of 2006.
Talked to K for over an hour. It was the longest we'd talked in months!
Monday through Thursday: Work. Gym. Repeat.
Friday, May 16: Rode bikes 22 miles with AJ. Went to concert to see Eve 6 (who seemed very bored with themselves) and Everc!ear (who was AWESOME).
Saturday, May 17: Did 40-mile bike ride with AJ that morning. Immediately after ride, dropped my car off at my apartment, then headed north with AJ to meet my grandpa & great uncle near the Texas border to pick up a roasted pig that my dad had cooked. Dropped off pig at ER's parent's house. Went home & showered. Made fruit salad. Headed to ER's for luau party. (pictures coming)
Sunday, May 18: Tried to force myself to stay home and do nothing. It worked in the morning, but not so much at night. Oh well ... Still managed to get to bed really late for all I had to do that night.
Monday, May 19: Work. Gym. Got to talk to K. Made him a care package, complete with new & awesome pean.ut butter cookie recipe.
Tuesday, May 20: I think Piper did such a good job vacuuming my kitchen floor while I was cooking that she really upset her stomach. She destroyed my carpet yesterday morning. I spent 30 minutes before work picking up, blotting and finally scrubbing. And 30 minutes after. Good thing it's a long weekend. I'm pretty sure I'll be steam cleaning my carpet. Oh well, it's a good excuse to do it.
Work. Four-mile run.
Phone calls with K's family. Evidently K has a cousin who was in Afghanistan. (I think K had told me this once before, but I must've forgotten.) The cousin had only been in Afghanistan since January. He was killed yesterday morning by a roadside bomb.
K's dad and brother wanted me to tell K about it next time I talk to him, but that probably won't be until next week. I had to try to send K a nonchalant email telling him I'd heard from his dad & brother and that they're fine, but they need to talk to him. I'm not sure how close he was to this cousin, but either way, I didn't want to tell K what happened in an email. Hopefully he gets in touch with his family soon, and hopefully he handles it OK.
I'm sure it's hard on his family to know that this happened and to still have one family member who's deployed. I felt really guilty for the thought that entered my head when I realized that. So guilty that I can't voice the thought by putting it here (and I'll definitely never say it aloud), but I'm sure you can figure it out.
Please pray for his family right now.
Wednesday, May 21 (today): Work. I was supposed to go to the gym, but I skipped it. There's been too much going on, and I needed the break.
I've actually got a big few days coming up, as far as markers go.
Tomorrow (May 22): Piper's 1st birthday. I can't believe my little puppy is growing up so fast!
May 23: Official countdown begins for K's and my "real" wedding. Which means I have to start planning. And find a dress already. I don't feel stressed about it, though, because our reception is booked and halfway paid for, and the church is booked. That was done BEFORE the Florida wedding in September. And we have a really awesome photographer. And I've talked to a cake lady. Plus, since we got our perfect wedding in September, it takes the pressure of perfection off of this one.
But ONE YEAR FROM THIS DAY, K and I will finally get to live together. Ah, bliss!
Saturday, May 24: This was supposed to be my wedding day.
Monday, May 26: Three years from the day I met K. Since we didn't get to see each other again until the Fourth of July weekend that year, we spent a TON of June on the phone with each other. So much so that it felt stupid to say we started dating Fourth of July weekend (honestly, that was when we both realized we'd get married someday). So we celebrate Memorial Day weekend as our anniversary.
Tuesday, May 27: The 6-month marker of the deployment. That's a lot -- but we'll still have 9 to go.
Wednesday, May 28 (while we're throwing in big dates): CG's wedding anniversary! If these two hadn't gotten married, I wouldn't have met K. Well, I'd actually like to think God would have brought us together eventually, but thanks to them, I didn't have to wait as long. :)
(The 28th is actually my mom's wedding anniversary with her husband, too.)
So those are all the big things lately (and coming up). I promise I'll post pictures of all the fun things soon, and I'll definitely post about seeing my mom for the first time in almost a year and a half.
For now, I'm getting ready for bed. I might actually get to go to sleep before midnight! (Heck, for me lately, 12:30 is still really early!)
Here's a taste:
Friday, May 9: Went to Sw!tchfoot & Gav!n DeGr.aw concert with AJ & College Friend. both were awesome (especially Sw!tchfoot). (pictures coming)
Saturday, May 10: Went to OK to celebrate my old roomie's graduation. (pictures coming)
Sunday, May 11: On my way back to Dallas, stopped by to see my mom -- for the first time since Christmas of 2006.
Talked to K for over an hour. It was the longest we'd talked in months!
Monday through Thursday: Work. Gym. Repeat.
Friday, May 16: Rode bikes 22 miles with AJ. Went to concert to see Eve 6 (who seemed very bored with themselves) and Everc!ear (who was AWESOME).
Saturday, May 17: Did 40-mile bike ride with AJ that morning. Immediately after ride, dropped my car off at my apartment, then headed north with AJ to meet my grandpa & great uncle near the Texas border to pick up a roasted pig that my dad had cooked. Dropped off pig at ER's parent's house. Went home & showered. Made fruit salad. Headed to ER's for luau party. (pictures coming)
Sunday, May 18: Tried to force myself to stay home and do nothing. It worked in the morning, but not so much at night. Oh well ... Still managed to get to bed really late for all I had to do that night.
Monday, May 19: Work. Gym. Got to talk to K. Made him a care package, complete with new & awesome pean.ut butter cookie recipe.
Tuesday, May 20: I think Piper did such a good job vacuuming my kitchen floor while I was cooking that she really upset her stomach. She destroyed my carpet yesterday morning. I spent 30 minutes before work picking up, blotting and finally scrubbing. And 30 minutes after. Good thing it's a long weekend. I'm pretty sure I'll be steam cleaning my carpet. Oh well, it's a good excuse to do it.
Work. Four-mile run.
Phone calls with K's family. Evidently K has a cousin who was in Afghanistan. (I think K had told me this once before, but I must've forgotten.) The cousin had only been in Afghanistan since January. He was killed yesterday morning by a roadside bomb.
K's dad and brother wanted me to tell K about it next time I talk to him, but that probably won't be until next week. I had to try to send K a nonchalant email telling him I'd heard from his dad & brother and that they're fine, but they need to talk to him. I'm not sure how close he was to this cousin, but either way, I didn't want to tell K what happened in an email. Hopefully he gets in touch with his family soon, and hopefully he handles it OK.
I'm sure it's hard on his family to know that this happened and to still have one family member who's deployed. I felt really guilty for the thought that entered my head when I realized that. So guilty that I can't voice the thought by putting it here (and I'll definitely never say it aloud), but I'm sure you can figure it out.
Please pray for his family right now.
Wednesday, May 21 (today): Work. I was supposed to go to the gym, but I skipped it. There's been too much going on, and I needed the break.
I've actually got a big few days coming up, as far as markers go.
Tomorrow (May 22): Piper's 1st birthday. I can't believe my little puppy is growing up so fast!
May 23: Official countdown begins for K's and my "real" wedding. Which means I have to start planning. And find a dress already. I don't feel stressed about it, though, because our reception is booked and halfway paid for, and the church is booked. That was done BEFORE the Florida wedding in September. And we have a really awesome photographer. And I've talked to a cake lady. Plus, since we got our perfect wedding in September, it takes the pressure of perfection off of this one.
But ONE YEAR FROM THIS DAY, K and I will finally get to live together. Ah, bliss!
Saturday, May 24: This was supposed to be my wedding day.
Monday, May 26: Three years from the day I met K. Since we didn't get to see each other again until the Fourth of July weekend that year, we spent a TON of June on the phone with each other. So much so that it felt stupid to say we started dating Fourth of July weekend (honestly, that was when we both realized we'd get married someday). So we celebrate Memorial Day weekend as our anniversary.
Tuesday, May 27: The 6-month marker of the deployment. That's a lot -- but we'll still have 9 to go.
Wednesday, May 28 (while we're throwing in big dates): CG's wedding anniversary! If these two hadn't gotten married, I wouldn't have met K. Well, I'd actually like to think God would have brought us together eventually, but thanks to them, I didn't have to wait as long. :)
(The 28th is actually my mom's wedding anniversary with her husband, too.)
So those are all the big things lately (and coming up). I promise I'll post pictures of all the fun things soon, and I'll definitely post about seeing my mom for the first time in almost a year and a half.
For now, I'm getting ready for bed. I might actually get to go to sleep before midnight! (Heck, for me lately, 12:30 is still really early!)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
After today, I'll be making some minor changes to my morning routine
I had quite the morning today! It stormed last night and was still raining this morning. I was getting around a little later than usual. I walked out of my apartment at 8:45, 8:50ish. I did the same thing I do every morning: I went to my car and put my laptop in my trunk. I put my keys and purse in the front seat. Then, I went to the grass on the side of my building so Piper could use the bathroom before we left.
Since it was raining, her feet were all wet. I walked to my passenger's side door to spread her blanket over the seat and let her in on that side so she wouldn't get my seat covered in mud. The door was locked, so I walked back around to the driver's side to unlock it. I hit the button, closed my door and walked back to the passenger's side to let Piper in. Only instead of UNlocking my door, I had locked it. And closed it. And locked myself out of my car.
Thank goodness with K being gone, I always have my phone on me -- and thank goodness it has Google maps on it! I was able to find a locksmith and call to have someone come break into my car. I waited and waited and waited. Finally, at 10:00 (about 40 min. after I called), a locksmith showed up. About 20 minutes and $90 later, I had my keys and purse.
What just goes along with my morning is that as soon as I opened my door to get my keys and purse, Piper took that as her cue to hop in the car. So even after my ridiculous effort to keep my seat from getting muddy, Piper still managed to get filthy paw prints all over it. Go figure!
Since it was raining, her feet were all wet. I walked to my passenger's side door to spread her blanket over the seat and let her in on that side so she wouldn't get my seat covered in mud. The door was locked, so I walked back around to the driver's side to unlock it. I hit the button, closed my door and walked back to the passenger's side to let Piper in. Only instead of UNlocking my door, I had locked it. And closed it. And locked myself out of my car.
Thank goodness with K being gone, I always have my phone on me -- and thank goodness it has Google maps on it! I was able to find a locksmith and call to have someone come break into my car. I waited and waited and waited. Finally, at 10:00 (about 40 min. after I called), a locksmith showed up. About 20 minutes and $90 later, I had my keys and purse.
What just goes along with my morning is that as soon as I opened my door to get my keys and purse, Piper took that as her cue to hop in the car. So even after my ridiculous effort to keep my seat from getting muddy, Piper still managed to get filthy paw prints all over it. Go figure!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Probably not the answer he was expecting
One of my old roommates from my senior year in college graduated last weekend, so I went to Oklahoma City to celebrate with her and our other two former roomies. The graduate's boyfriend, Daniel, was there, and I hadn't seen him in about 2 1/2 years.
"So how's married life?" he asked me.
I gave a little laugh, thinking he was joking since not much besides my last name and the presence of another ring on my finger has changed since the wedding. So I answered, "There's less talking and a lot less sex."
I guess Daniel forgot that K is deployed, because he gave me this odd, worried look. All my old roommates were laughing, and they reminded Daniel that K is in Iraq.
You could instantly see the relief on his face.
"So how's married life?" he asked me.
I gave a little laugh, thinking he was joking since not much besides my last name and the presence of another ring on my finger has changed since the wedding. So I answered, "There's less talking and a lot less sex."
I guess Daniel forgot that K is deployed, because he gave me this odd, worried look. All my old roommates were laughing, and they reminded Daniel that K is in Iraq.
You could instantly see the relief on his face.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Hallelujah!
I'm generally a pretty happy (OK, very happy) person. I'm usually smiling, and I love talking to people pretty much about anything and everything. Since K left, I've felt like a walking zombie most of the time. Oftentimes over these past five-plus months, I've just wished I was invisible so I could avoid conversations. I wanted to avoid the pained look people would (understandably so, I guess) give me when they find out K is in Iraq. I've forced so many smiles and tried to act normal and not give away the worry, the stress and the fears that were consuming my thoughts and, really, my life. For five months, I just didn't feel like me.
But not these last few days.
There are a few things I think might have caused this sudden, oh-so-welcome change. It could be cycling and how pleased I am with my workouts and exercise right now. It could be the new friends I've made. It could be the fact I've eaten pizza and pineapple in the last week. Heck, it could even (albeit highly unlikely) have something to do with my sudden increase in water consumption.
Most of it, though, I suspect is due to the fact that I'm doing a lot of exploring and questioning with religion right now. I'm growing as a Christian. It's exciting.
So I'll go more in-depth on this later (probably next week), but I had to share. Finally, I feel like me again. And I LOVE IT!
But not these last few days.
There are a few things I think might have caused this sudden, oh-so-welcome change. It could be cycling and how pleased I am with my workouts and exercise right now. It could be the new friends I've made. It could be the fact I've eaten pizza and pineapple in the last week. Heck, it could even (albeit highly unlikely) have something to do with my sudden increase in water consumption.
Most of it, though, I suspect is due to the fact that I'm doing a lot of exploring and questioning with religion right now. I'm growing as a Christian. It's exciting.
So I'll go more in-depth on this later (probably next week), but I had to share. Finally, I feel like me again. And I LOVE IT!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
I get my own holiday!
I thought I'd have to have kids to get my own date on the calendar (outside of my birthday). Turns out all I had to do was marry K.
Since 1984, when it was started by President Ronald Reagan, Military Spouse Day has been observed on the Friday before Mother's Day. This is a neat press release from last year that explains more about the holiday.
So even though it's about an hour and a half early, I'd like to wish a happy Military Spouse Day to CG, GFF, Alyssa and mrsssg. It's pretty cool to get our own holiday for standing by our superhero husbands!
Since 1984, when it was started by President Ronald Reagan, Military Spouse Day has been observed on the Friday before Mother's Day. This is a neat press release from last year that explains more about the holiday.
So even though it's about an hour and a half early, I'd like to wish a happy Military Spouse Day to CG, GFF, Alyssa and mrsssg. It's pretty cool to get our own holiday for standing by our superhero husbands!
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
This is why I'm hot
Once you get into cycling, you realize that very little of its culture fits in with the world beyond cycling. Things everyone else steers completely clear of are exactly what cyclists gravitate to. Perfect examples:
We wear helmets that might make us look a little dorky, but they save our lives. We walk around with grease from the chains and dirt from the tires on our legs and hands. We drink pickle juice by the bottle.
We stand in line for porta potties, and because we don't have the luxury of "real" bathrooms, we can go hours and hours without washing our hands. We're lucky if we have hand sanitizer.
(Note the shorts line AND sock line!)
(Also featuring two lines -- the gloves line and the participant bracelet line!)
(Note to self for next year: Don't forget to put sunscreen on the sides of your neck. The sun does actually hit there. And when you reapply sunscreen on your arms, legs and face later in the day, don't forget to reapply on your neck and your chest!)
- Spandex
- Carbs
- Sodium
We wear helmets that might make us look a little dorky, but they save our lives. We walk around with grease from the chains and dirt from the tires on our legs and hands. We drink pickle juice by the bottle.
We stand in line for porta potties, and because we don't have the luxury of "real" bathrooms, we can go hours and hours without washing our hands. We're lucky if we have hand sanitizer.
As if all of that didn't make us weird enough, we wind up with tan lines in the most random, hard-to-hide places.
(Note the shorts line AND sock line!)
(Also featuring two lines -- the gloves line and the participant bracelet line!)
(Note to self for next year: Don't forget to put sunscreen on the sides of your neck. The sun does actually hit there. And when you reapply sunscreen on your arms, legs and face later in the day, don't forget to reapply on your neck and your chest!)
I don't remember having this problem last year!
I swear, I absolutely cannot get enough to eat and drink since the bike ride started. Today was the first day since Saturday that my bladder hadn't woken me up exactly three minutes before my alarm was to go off (I think it was getting close, though)!
I drank 64 ounces of water before 1:00 this afternoon -- and that doesn't include the milk with my cereal this morning or the water I got from the food I ate through the day to that point.
Which brings me to the eating. I'm snacking constantly! I've been eating little snacks every 45 minutes to an hour. For the most part, they've been healthy (carrots, 90-calorie Special K bars, an orange, plain almonds), but still!
I talked to Intense Co-Worker today, and he's doing the same thing. In fact, College Friend, AJ and I were talking this weekend about how much more we've all been eating since we started training for the ride. Before AJ said something, I had thought maybe I was just going through a hungry phase. I joked that it's a good thing K isn't here because I'd be freaking out and thinking I needed to get a pregnancy test. Since that's physically impossible, I guess my metabolism is just in (insanely) high gear right now.
So today I've been eating every 45 minutes and running to the bathroom about every 30 (that much water will do that to you). I'm over halfway through my third 32-ounce bottle of water today, and it's not even 3 p.m. (Thank goodness I use a refillable water bottle!)
And guess what I need to go do again?!
I drank 64 ounces of water before 1:00 this afternoon -- and that doesn't include the milk with my cereal this morning or the water I got from the food I ate through the day to that point.
Which brings me to the eating. I'm snacking constantly! I've been eating little snacks every 45 minutes to an hour. For the most part, they've been healthy (carrots, 90-calorie Special K bars, an orange, plain almonds), but still!
I talked to Intense Co-Worker today, and he's doing the same thing. In fact, College Friend, AJ and I were talking this weekend about how much more we've all been eating since we started training for the ride. Before AJ said something, I had thought maybe I was just going through a hungry phase. I joked that it's a good thing K isn't here because I'd be freaking out and thinking I needed to get a pregnancy test. Since that's physically impossible, I guess my metabolism is just in (insanely) high gear right now.
So today I've been eating every 45 minutes and running to the bathroom about every 30 (that much water will do that to you). I'm over halfway through my third 32-ounce bottle of water today, and it's not even 3 p.m. (Thank goodness I use a refillable water bottle!)
And guess what I need to go do again?!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
"It's all downhill from here!"
The ride is over. I survived. I finished.
You can't tell from our chipper "Yay, we're starting!" picture, but the weather on Day 1 was miserable. It was about 50 degrees, and it was very windy. We had a headwind most of the day. My toes and fingers were frozen until almost 1:00 in the afternoon, when it finally started warming up. My fingers were also swollen from their role as shock absorbers for the vibrations of the handlebars from the bumps on the road.
When AJ and I left lunch together, several people assured us, "It's all downhill from here!" They lied. Thankfully, though, just a few miles from the finish line that day, the quality of the road was awesome. It was nice to finish up on smooth pavement.
Like last year, someone from our team had driven along the route for Day 1 and spraypainted silly motivational comments. My favorite was not far from Tex@s Motor Speedway, which was our finish line for day 1: "We're getting close (that's what she said)!!!" Hilarious!
When we turned into the speedway for the end of Day 1, we still had 3 miles to go around the track. After the entrance, we made a turn that again put us riding directly into the wind. It was a relief to be finished for the day. We had ridden just over 86 miles.
After hanging out in our team tent for a while, we headed to College Friend's house, where we stayed the night. She and her husband cooked us an amazing dinner, and we all stuffed our faces with grilled shrimp, grilled hamburgers, chips and guacamole, asparagus, and fresh strawberries. When I finished eating, I curled up into a content, exhausted ball on the couch. We were all chatting when all of a sudden my ringtone for K went off (since he calls from a call center, it's always the same number that shows up on my phone). I went from barely moving and being ready to fall asleep to skipping across the room to get my phone and then ran out of the room so I could talk to him. Everyone was laughing at me for the sudden giddiness that had completely woken me up.
I was able to talk to K for about 20 minutes. I filled him in on Day 1, and he wished me luck for Day 2. After our phone call, I headed back to the living room. Everyone was tired, so we all got ready for bed and passed out after a few minutes. It was only 9:00!
We woke up at 5 a.m. for Day 2. Since the day before had been so miserably cold, I put on a thermal shirt under my jersey. College Friend had a windbreaker she let me take as well. Our other friend had an extra set of arm warmers for AJ. We were all set to ride through the cold.
Which is why the weather on Day 2 was gorgeous. There was hardly any wind, and the temperature was much warmer.
We got to the speedway about an hour before the start that day. We ate breakfast and stopped by the real bathroom to spoil ourselves before spending the day waiting in line for porta potties again. We filled our water bottles, aired our tires and then climbed on our bikes to begin the final 74 miles of the ride. As you can imagine, it was extremely uncomfortable to be sitting on that hard little seat again so soon. Thankfully, about 10 or 15 minutes into Day 2, your rear end gets numb enough that the soreness is no longer an issue.
AJ and I got off to a great start. We stopped briefly at the first rest stop, just long enough for AJ to stand in line for a porta potty and for me to fill up on oranges, a protein bar and some Gatorade. We got back on the road and got into such a good groove that we skipped the next rest stop and drove through lunch at 9:30. As we rode straight through the lunch stop, the volunteers directing us on our path said, "It's all downhill from here!"
Again, liars! We hit quite a few hills. None of them were particularly memorable or tough, but it was just hill after hill -- and they were all false summits, meaning there was no nice downhill slope to reward us for topping the hills. My technique for the hills is the same as it was last year: I pedaled up them pretty quickly (for a hill) to get them over with. The slower you pedal, the harder you have to work and the more it burns (and for longer). I tended to pass people on the uphill, only to have them pass me on the downhill, since many of them were bigger than me, resulting in more momentum on the downhill slopes.
When I got to the next rest stop after lunch, I was exhausted. I called my dad and told him I thought I was about to die, and I kind of wanted to. I talked to him for about five minutes as I waited for AJ to reach the rest stop. Once she did, I walked over to the food and drinks. When I saw what they had to offer us, I immediately felt rejuvenated!
The rest stop had fresh PINEAPPLE!! My favorite! AND they had pickles (I know they don't go together, but I enjoyed them both anyway!)! I ate bananas and pickles and pineapple and canteloupe. I filled up on Gatorade, and I even drank a couple cups of this yummy pineapple-cherry drink they had (with the fruit in it!).
AJ and I took our refreshments to a grassy area and sat down on the ground. We relaxed and enjoyed the soothing tropical music coming from the food area. We even decided to lie down for awhile. I was at that rest stop for over an hour, and I really think I owe at least some of my finish to this stop. It was amazing.
A couple of friends of mine from work caught up with us before we left the rest stop, and the four of us set out on the rest of the ride together. One of them is pretty intense with his cycling, so he and I rode ahead, and the other co-worker hung back to ride with AJ.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of me riding on my own, then waiting at the rest stops first for Intense Co-Worker, then AJ and the other co-worker. Many times, I wanted to just ride ahead and finish, but I waited. As much as I wanted to get to the finish line and be done, I still wanted to cross the finish line with AJ as well since we'd trained together and I'd convinced her to join our team.
Day 2 is the hillier day, so my legs were burning quite a bit. After I climbed my most-hated hill (this picture does it NO justice, and you can't see the similar hill -- another false summit -- that you climb just a quarter of a mile or so before this). At the rest stop after the Hill From Hell, AJ noticed a neat rainbow halo that circled completely around the sun.
After the halo rest stop, we had one of the most (if not the most) notorious hills in the entire course -- a gently sloping hill that left you climbing around corkscrew turns for over 2 miles. Everyone talked it up just as much as they did last year. I was worried I'd have more trouble with it this year and that my memories hadn't given it enough credit. The hill was no cakewalk, but just like I expected, the burn in my quads on that hill just didn't quite match the torturous burns of the steep hills we'd already climbed.
After that hill, we stopped at our last rest stop before the finish line. I waited for five minutes for Intense Co-Worker to catch up. AJ and Other Co-Worker took another 10 or 15. It turned out they'd had some technical issues with Other Co-Worker's cycling shoe. When we finally set out to complete the final 9 miles of the ride, we passed a cop who was directing traffic in an intersection. We said thanks as we rode by. He nodded back at us and called out, "It's all downhill from here!"
Thankfully, we knew better. In addition to a couple minor hills and a short, steep climb through a neighborhood, we still had the steep final climb that waited for us a mere quarter of a mile from the finish line in downtown Fort Worth. We all made it up just fine. Intense Co-Worker and I waited for AJ and Other Co-Worker to catch up. When they topped the hill, AJ was crying. I think all the frustration, burning thighs, emotion and relief of finally being done finally caught up to her. I had cried a bit at the end of the ride last year, so I could understand.
The four of us spread out across the road so we could all cross the finish line together. The announcer called out AJ's name as we crossed and told her to wave to the crowd. I thought it was neat that they had chosen her, since the other three of us had all done the ride before. She was the only first-timer with us.
We didn't stick around downtown Fort Worth for long. After spending two days on a bike and burning 3,000 calories each day, we had some catching up to do. We each headed home and took showers, then met for dinner to stuff ourselves with calamari, salad, bread, pasta and sangria. We chatted about the ride and how relieved we were to be done with it. We talked about training and doing the ride again next year.
And we also happily talked about the fact that both our bikes will be collecting dust for at least a few weeks. We deserve a break!
Yes, I can still walk
I finished the ride. All 160 miles of it. (I seriously think they should change the name of the ride if they're going to throw 10 additional miles at us like that.) I'm not even kidding, my jeans were a little tight on my thighs today. I guess a weekend on a bike will do that to you.
I've started my post (with pictures!) to tell you about the ride, but I'm afraid I'm too tired to really do it all justice. I'll do my best to finish (and post!) it tomorrow.
For now, it's bedtime!
I've started my post (with pictures!) to tell you about the ride, but I'm afraid I'm too tired to really do it all justice. I'll do my best to finish (and post!) it tomorrow.
For now, it's bedtime!
Friday, May 02, 2008
Next time I blog, I might not be able to walk
Tomorrow is my big bike ride. AJ and one of my college friends who joined our team are staying the night with me tonight, so I spent all day working from home and doing things like shredding papers and organizing closets, in addition to the standard dusting, vacuuming and doing laundry. I also got some paint and touched up my living room walls, since I repainted a few weeks ago and had some areas I need to fix. I can't have my friends coming to my apartment for the first time and thinking my closets are messy or my paint job is awful!
So now I'm just waiting for the weekend to start. We have a ride dinner tonight, and we'll get up super early tomorrow to start our first 75! Eek!!!
So now I'm just waiting for the weekend to start. We have a ride dinner tonight, and we'll get up super early tomorrow to start our first 75! Eek!!!
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