Blessed...

Before I write about 2008... I wanted to share the best part of 2007 for me.

It wasn't working.

It wasn't working out.

It was my friends. I have cemented friendships with amazing people this year and I have no idea where I would be without them. I started to name some, but I don't want to leave anyone out. However, without my friends...

-Who could I call at any time of the day, and even though he hasn't been able to move / go out / sit / etc, would talk to me for hours, cheer me up, keep me company, and be there for me when I really needed some truth in my life?
-Who would have met me at 5:30am in the mornings to push me, motivate me, or goof off with me? (Or who would I talk to while one of us is sobbing while driving down the highway or sleeping in a CVS parking lot?)
-Who would be giving me the same advice I gave her a year ago and being an endless source of support?
-Who would drop anything in a second to lend me her ear, a hug, or her living room on wheels?
-Who would have gotten me out to try so many of Houston's best margaritas, or listened to all the cheesy pick up lines, or shared text messages about blow up gorillas, or worried about me when I hadn't texted back in hour?
-Who would have met me at Panera after work on Fridays and really allowed herself to trust me and form a really great, true friendship?
-Who would have met me for breakfast before work to help me start my days off right?
-Who would blow off work and meet me anytime, be up for anything, and eventually kick my butt both running and biking?
-Who would have ridden to Dallas with me while we shared our similar plights, worries and aspirations?
-What other group could I expect 150+ emails a day from, where we all make fun of our "lovable" quirks, issues and breakdowns?
-Who would I have formed such a close friendship with that people have called us attached at the hip, and who is a main factor in my decisions about whether to do something or go somewhere, or sometimes better just hang out on the "safe couch"?

There are so many more... and I'm lucky that I could go on and on and on.

Life isn't easy. Sometimes it's really really hard. But thanks to my friends, I always land feet first.

Thank you.

Year 2007 Workout Totals (or... to Alaska!)

Looking at my logs... I'm a little sad that I feel a bit short at my numbers. Not that I actually had any goals, but I do like nice round numbers. Oh well... here it is!

2007 Total Run Miles: 794
2007 Total Bike Miles: 2485
2007 Total Swim Miles: 68
2007 Total Gym Visits: 138

Total Distance Covered by Running, Biking & Swimming in 2007: 3,346 Miles.

You know where that gets me? According to Mapquest... it gets me to Juno, Alaska! (3,344.72 miles)

Total Estimated Time Working Out in 2007: 446 hours. (About 7.5% of my waking hours!)

Not bad, huh? Compared to Glenda or Lulu, I look like a sloth. But to the average person - I think those are pretty impressive numbers. I'm most proud of 2 things - how much better I got on the bike this year (when I actually trained) and being dedicated to going to the gym about 3 times a week. I definitely feel much stronger and healthier this year. I'm also proud that I got this done all while traveling at least 2 days a week the majority of the year. Looking back, I'm not as slothful as I thought. ;)

Today's Horoscope

You must place sufficient attention on your inner processes now and this could require you to go somewhere quiet. Spending a peaceful evening at home might lead to significant revelations. If you can't find solace there, try a few hours at a public library. The location isn't important as long as you can be alone with your own thoughts.

Sorry I bailed, but this hits home tonight.

SIX MONTHS - GO ME!

Today I figured out that I have gone SIX MONTHS WITHOUT DESSERT!!

I meant to go a month... then two months... and then six. I thought I started this thing on July 25th, but Kerry helped me realize it was actually June 25th. So, I think it's time to indulge. (There just so happens to be homemade fudge in the pantry. Hmmm.)

What should I eat? I feel it should be something special, but I can't think of anything I actually really want!

Vacation Day!

Today was the first day in quite a while where I did whatever I wanted. It was so nice to be on vacation ... In 2008, I am going to have to remember how much fun vacation days are.Nothing better than a beautiful day, three friends, chips & salsa, a hippie sandwich and a strawberry colada (Damsky's favorite) at Shady Grove!

Dionn, Kerry & I playing in the Bear Patch. Happy Holidays!

Thank You

I am so lucky to have such amazing parents. Sure, it hasn't always been easy. I can be quite pigheaded at times! But no matter what, my parents have always been there for me. They are quite easily the most supportive people in the world, and I feel so lucky to be their daughter.

No matter what I do, they are always there - backing me up. Thanks to them, I am able to face my fears and (I know this sounds cheesy, but...) shoot for the stars.

I love you both. Thank you.

HELL YEAH!

I just got my tickets for They Might Be Giants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March 5th @ Stubbs BBQ. I got 6 tickets... who's with me?

(There have been few things that I have truly been happy about lately. I'm glad to have this one on the horizon.)

Thanks, Houston!

I can't believe it... I am about to embark on my LAST TRIP TO HOUSTON IN 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's really crazy to think about how much time I've spent in that city this year. I would guess probably a month & a half total for the whole year.

There were definitely some really great times... but I'm glad this is the last trip scheduled for as far out as I can see. The girl I hired to take my place is rocking, and thus... no need for me.

What will I miss about Houston?
-The people at & idiosyncrasies of the Four (three) Points
-Cafe Adobe's amazing margaritas
-Cafe Red Onion
-Empire Cafe
-Running at Memorial Park
-The MFAH (Museum of Fine Arts Houston)
-Breakfast at the Buffalo Grille
-Bally's on Dunston
-Stopping at the Bakery in La Grange
-Talking to my friends (primarily Tim) throughout the whole ride
-Time to learn about Roman and/or Greek History

Alas, what can I say as I'm about to head out?

THANKS, HOUSTON!

*Sigh*

i wish i was here.

Humbled

I watched Wiley run White Rock this morning. He was amazing.

Watching him, and all the other runners today, was inspiring.

Getting all the text messages from our friends was humbling. I feel blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life. The support we all give each other is amazing.

....


Mike just got out of the shower - he's warmed up. In his word, "I'm disappointed, but I'm happy." I'm so proud of him.

Badass

Sometimes you find friends in the most unlikely people. Ask me a year ago if I'd be thinking nonstop about two of my best friends and their insane weekend endeavors - I can't say I would have thought you meant Lulu & Wiley. But you never know how friendships are going to work.

I am so proud of Lulu for ROCKING the Sunmart 50K this morning. The fact that it took until 5:00pm to hear from her today was horrible (stupid I-Phone) - but when I finally did, I was just as happy to hear her report as if I'd have done the race myself. It broke my heart that I wasn't there with her in person. Stomp, Lulu.

Tomorrow I will be there, in person, for Wiley as he runs White Rock. I've watched him operate like clockwork all weekend. He is ready. He is going to kick so much ass tomorrow.

I feel so lucky to have Lulu & Wiley in my life. I feel so lucky to be inspired by them both.

So this is what relaxed feels like....

I took a vacation day today. Aside from a little bit of work, I really did take the day off and it felt awesome. I got a run in before 9:00am, spent some quality time communing with nature, and then road-tripped to Dallas with Mike.

The trip went by in no time, thanks in part to a really funny three-way conversation with Kerry. The Dallas White Rock Expo was nothing special, though chasing around an inflatable walking spaceman was kinda fun. Being with my parents is great, and my family even managed a game of Scrabble, which I won. (Sorry, Mike! Quad + Id + triple word score!)

Anyway, it's really nice to be away from it all. I've needed this. I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend and to practicing how to relax. Tomorrow I will get to spend some quality time with friends I haven't seen in ages. I'll send all of my positive thoughts to Kerry as she runs the Sunmart 50K. And Sunday I'll give all the positive energy I can to Mike as he runs the Dallas Marathon.

Deep breath. Deep deep breath. It feels great.

Girlfriends

Thank god for girlfriends. And bartenders named Ross. But definitely, for girlfriends.

Two more in 2007

I just booked my last 2 trips to Houston for the year. They will officially earn me Starpoints Platinum Member status. (And, of course, I won't be going much after that so the Platinum status really means nothing!)

Anyway, December will definitely be busy... it starts with a trip to Dallas this weekend, followed by Houston the next, then Houston again, and then... vacation? Maybe?

I've gone to Houston at least 40 times this year. I have taken vacation days only 2 times this year. Maybe next year I need to look at that balance a bit more closely!

Decker

And yet another year passes and I get out of running Decker. The twelve miles on Decker (which I know so well from biking this course so much for Danskin training) have no appeal to me on foot.

However, it's always fun to go out and cheer. This year Wiley (aka Bike) and I took out our bikes and hit two spots along the course. He came equipped with 2 cowbells, which made cheering a lot easier. He did manage to get a "F@$# You" from one runner, and the finger from another. Well done, Mike! I like to put my past cheerleading skills to good use. Dionn would be proud of me!
Lulu & Justin rode by...
Here's the group post-run/pre Trudys.
And lastly, my buddies!! I LOVE THESE TWO!!!!!!

Hawaii Ironman

I watched the NBC compilation of the 2007 Hawaii Ironman this afternoon. Wow. I remember watching it online in real-time, but this time they had all of the amazing "regular people" stories all packaged into a neat Hallmark-type story.

I'll admit that I cried more than once watching people cross the finish line. I don't feel any rush to complete an Ironman in the next few years, but I know it won't be THAT long until I do one. I'm definitely not ready to put that much of myself into training right now...

However, I am definitely inspired.

Family Vacation = Success

Thanksgiving was great this year. My parents made the trek to Austin and stayed with us for 4 days. It was so awesome to spend time with them, especially since they stayed at my house instead of a hotel this year.

We didn't fight at all, and I was actually really sad to see them go. I wish they would move to Austin so I could see them more!

Some highlights:

• Eating at Chuy's and actually not having to wait
• Watching my dad work at Spec's, and woo the store manager with his mad sales skills
• Thanksgiving tradition: Turkey Trot + Threadgills (Candied Yams = Yum!!) + Cowboys
• Lots of crossword puzzles
• 4 games of scrabble (I kicked butt. Sorry, Dad!)
• Breakfast at Magnolia and at Galaxy Cafe
• Going to the gym Friday morning and being the second person there out of 4 total.
• Watching our dogs react to Sweetie Pie, my parents miniature toy poodle
• Visiting Terry & Pat, and my mom buying us a cool metal bird we've been wanting
• Organizing all of our CDs & playing with our Ipod Shuffles
• Giving a bunch of my clothes to my mom, who now fits in them. She is looking very hip!
• Not fighting. No tension. No unease. Just happy to have my parents around.

This was my Dad at specs. He's the Riedel distributer, and was checking out the display.

I love Scrabble!!

Sweetie Pie in her new sweater my mom bought on Friday.

What's better than migas and french toast at Galaxy?

It's Your Own Dumb-Asphalt You're Broke

I couldn't sleep last night. So at 2:30am, I decided to check out the Woot shirt of the day. By 2:30am, this was already sold out. Seriously, that is insane. But normal. (Which is why I checked it at 2:30am.)

Oh well, it's awesome & I want to share:

They charged you how much? For a cup of coffee? Let me see that. Whoa, and the cup is freezing cold to boot. Boy, did you get taken for a—OK, well here’s your problem, right here. You’ve got whipped cream in here. And ice! I mean actual ice cubes! What are these, sprinkles or something? It smells kind of… cinnamony. There’s, like… what, fudge or something at the bottom? If you ordered coffee, you should take this right back; they gave you a sundae that someone spilled coffee into.

This shirt was designed by: shirt.wooter shmeedles—a congenital tightwad, sure, but our congenital tightwad.

Wear this shirt: to the senior center, or the barber shop, or wherever you cranky cheapskates hang out.

Don’t wear this shirt: to a certain ubiquitous coffee chain. Unless you’re just going to get an Odwalla juice; those are sooo good, and worth it.

This shirt tells the world: “I’ve not yet succumbed to Starbucks Fatigue Fatigue.”

We call this color: With A Daily Five-Dollar Drink Fix It’s Your Own Dumb-Asphalt You’re Broke.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Why I don't eat turkey on Thanksgiving (or ever, for that matter)...

Turkey Trot

I ran the Thundercloud Turkey Trot 5 Miler this morning. I was pretty nervous about running since I've been feeling (and running) so slowly lately.

Last year: 5 miles - 44:44 - 8:57 pace.
This year: 5 miles - 41:14 - 8:15 pace.

Needless to say, I'm pretty darn happy. (I could have gone faster too, but I started pretty slow. My first mile was 9:30 - the rest were all sub 8's.) The course is somewhat hilly, and it felt very fun to pass so many people from miles 2-5. For the first time, I feel like all those leg presses I've been doing paid off up the hills.

It was really great to meet up with Leslie, Amy & Amy before the race and for the first mile. It was also great to see Glenda at the end - 3rd place in her age group - awesome!

Lastly, it was the BEST to run the last leg with my dad for the third year in a row. This year he broke one hour - walking!!!!! He is amazing & I am so proud of him. It was great to spend Thanksgiving morning doing what I love - spending time with friends and family and running!

Sleep + Art

Today was awesome. It was dark and gloomy outside this morning, so I opted to sleep in for bit. At 10:00am, when my phone went off, I finally got up... guess I needed the sleep.

Then I laid in bed for a while and just stared out the window. No running. (No guilt either, luckily.) Just laziness and calm. It was really nice.

The rest of the day was full of awesome art things. I mapped out a route of galleries and studios on the East Austin Studio Tour, starting with one of my favorite local artists - Jennifer Balkan. Not even one studio into the tour, and I'd already purchased an adorable little painting of a lost pig.

After touring some other places, we headed to the Austin Museum of Art for the new Roy Lichtenstein exhibit and a lecture by the collector. This guy was awesome - one of the best museum lectures I have ever heard. One thing that really spoke to me was when he said, "Art to me is like a mini vacation. Every time you look at it, it takes you away somewhere else. I need art in my space. I need art around me to live." I couldn't agree more. (That's why my house is filled with art and I don't take many vacations!) I HIGHLY recommend this exhibit - one of the best I feel the museum has had in a while.

After the lecture, we hit more studios and then headed to Terry & Pat's to see how he did at his home show. Met up with Tim & Rhonda for a bit which was a nice treat. Tonight I'll figure out the remaining places that I want to check out tomorrow. I'm overwhelmed with the amount of galleries and studios in East Austin - there are over 200 artists on this tour. Sometimes I just can't get over how cool Austin is.

Hopefully I will run tomorrow, and maybe hit the gym and swim. And then more art... I can't think of many better ways to spend the weekend.

(By the way, here is one of Terry's most recent paintings. I LOVED this painting, but someone else snatched it up. The little green bird with the orange head on the bottom rocks!!!)

A few pictures & an update...

Rather than post a long drawn out post of what I've been up to lately, I thought I'd post a few pictures and a quick update. I may get more motivated to update later, but for now... a few pics from my lovely Palm Treo:

The Golf Tournament - not a bad way to spend a Friday. It's work, but the fun kind of work. I coordinated my fourth company tournament for about 100 people. The Garage- we cleaned the garage last Saturday. At least, we cleaned enough out to make 2 full car trips to Goodwill, post 3 furniture pieces on Craig's List, and have an entire side yard full of trash. The result? We can now put our bikes in the garage versus in the living room.

The Elevator - You didn't think I'd stay away from Houston for long, now did you? Here is the infamous non-working elevator at my usual hotel. So yes, I obviously went back to Houston. It was fun to be back there, but I reconfirmed that Austin is where I want to stay. Moving forward, I'm hoping that I will mostly stick to Houston day trips. Still, it was really fun to see my Houston gang.

Generally speaking, this was a really great week. Minus a few hiccups, I really enjoyed myself. Work was pretty easy. I got to attend a ton of association events, which I love. I managed to run more than normal, I swam once, and I even got on my bike this afternoon to head to South Austin with Scot. I got to run with Robert yesterday. I went to the gym 5 days in a row! I had the most fun at Magnolia Cafe this morning that I've ever had. I finally got to have lunch with Meredith today. I visited Ostrich's office. I went on an art preview tour for E.A.S.T. (East Austin Studio Tour) last night, went to Terry's preview party tonight, and I have a fun filled art weekend ahead of me. I've spent some true quality time connecting with people who are important to me, and it has been wonderful.

Next week my parents are coming to visit for Thanksgiving and I am very excited. I have a lot to be thankful for right now.

How Not to Eat a Grapefruit

I now know why grapefruit is considered a fruit that helps in losing weight.


First, it doesn't really even taste good.


Second, it takes forever to actually get any fruit from it. Work, work, work!!! Who the hell invented grapefruit spoons anyway -what a joke.

But, I gotta say... trying to eat grapefruit on a Friday morning (at Magnolia with Lulu) is one of the best ways a girl could ever start her day!

Terry's Home Show - This Saturday!!!

If any of you have been in my house, then you will instantly recognize Terry Powell's work. He's having his annual home show this Saturday! Details below...

Terrell Powell Fall Home Show

Saturday, November 17th

10AM - 6PM

2016 Brentwood Drive

Austin, TX 78757

Come on out! There will be tons of art in all price ranges - including some cool stuff for the holidays. If you don't want to buy anything, you can at least check out his collection - I'm very jealous. Or, if you can't come by, check out some of his stuff at www.curiousroom.com.

TMBG IS COMING!!!

I just got an email that said that They Might Be Giants is scheduling shows in Texas in March...

I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED!!! Road Trip!!!

Are Mondays really this good?!!

It's funny how I don't dread Mondays. In fact, I oftentimes look forward to them. And so goes an awesome Monday today...

6:00am - arrive at Gold's Gym downtown for a nice upper body workout. Got a really cool indirect compliment, heard by one woman talking to her friend: "Did you see that at one point, there were only women in the free weight area? And they weren't wussy women, either - they were the real deal."

7:15am - breakfast at Kirby Lane. Yum!!! (I managed to resist the pumpkin pancakes today, but I am SURE I will be back for them soon.)

8:30am - start of an awesome day at work

11:30am - lunch with Leslie, Amy & Glenda at Banzai. Obviously it was great to see them & hang out. I felt like I hadn't seen any of them in weeks.

4:00pm - meet Scot @ the Veloway for a nice 21 mile ride. Great weather, great company, and my legs actually worked!

6:00pm - veggie stir fry for dinner and some downtime.

8:55pm - finish blogging, finish emailing, celebrate that I took my work inbox emails down from 46 to 7 (WOW!!!!) and head upstairs to work on the days crossword puzzle.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE BEING IN AUSTIN!!!!!!

(For the record, I resisted the urge to go to Houston tomorrow. My coworker is making the day trip.... and I almost joined him.... but I resisted.)

I like this picture...

WurstRide Metric Century

I am still unsure why I thought it would be a good idea to ride a metric century (63 miles) considering my recent lack of cycling. My last "long ride" was 49 miles on July 29th, and since then it's pretty much been short trips around the Veloway.

But I promised Kerry I would do it. And I promised Scot I would do it. And I have been bailing on both of them left and right lately, so I needed to actually do something I said I was going to. And what the hell, how hard can 63 miles be?! (For the record, I was promised "nice & easy" pacing!)We left the LCRA complex off Montopolis at 8:00am. Justin & I started out slow, while Kerry & Dionn took off. (Shock! Easy ride pace?! Whatever!) By the first reststop, I was thinking there was no way I could keep up with them for 50 more miles. So I met up with Scot and rode with him for a bit. Unfortunately his riding partner was holding us back, so I forged ahead and rode with Laura & Kris for a bit. (So awesome to see them, btw!) By the second water stop, I found my original group and decided to try and hold on for dear life with them. Thankfully, Kerry stayed with me and they didn't go too fast. We picked up Panther at the halfway point, and once again I just tried to hold on and keep them in eyesight.

I was so frustrated at my lack of cycling fitness. I was so strong just a few months ago, but not today. I'll get back to it, but it's going to take some work. I was so happy when we reached the finish and I could finally relax! However, I did have an amazing time with the group. It was so much fun to be back on a long ride again. And the weather was perfect too.

After the ride, we all hung out to enjoy free sausage and beer. (I "enjoyed" gatorade and a granola bar. Not the best vegetarian friendly finish!) As I talked to Panther about why I sucked so much on the bike, he wondered if I've still been hitting the gym. (Hell yes I am!) I told him yes, and bragged that I'm up to 310 on the leg press. This is when he wanted to see if I could press him, so I offered to try! Anyway, this was a really fun ride. I'm motivated to get training again.

AWESOME FRIDAY!!!!

Today was the best Friday ever.

First, I managed to finally drag my butt out of bed and go run this morning. 5 miles at 5:30am - perfect! Though I was supposed to meet Kerry, I ended up running alone. I love running with Kerry, but I was also glad to be able to run at an easier pace and relax with my Ipod. No stomach problems, either, which was a blessing.

Next, I went to work for just a moment- for those who may have seen a "secret" post that no longer exists on my blog - let's just say that everything is MUCH better at work as of this morning. (Also, for anyone curious, my marketing manager in Houston is doing splendidly, which is a huge relief to me.)

Then, I went to Cabellas (Yes, Cabellas!) for an AAFAME Board of Directors retreat. After years of working me like a dog (the president's words, mind you!) they voted me to be a board member. This is really cool, because not only do I represent the entire vendor membership of a 350+ member group, I don't actually have to do anything except show up. Today, I got to hang out with a bunch of my friends and just throw my input in every now and then - awesome!

Now, in regards to Cabellas... what a place for a liberal vegetarian! Some highlights:
1) Hot pink camo.
2) More dead stuffed animals than I ever would have cared to see. (After the initial shock, I was okay, honest.) Included in this list: deer, mountain lions, coyotes, zebra, lions, warthogs, grizzly bears, a giant moose, a polar bear, real lions, etc...
3) An aquarium with giant catfish. (Ewww - why would you eat that??)
4) A Barbie fishing pole. Yes, Barbie. I guess to go with the hot pink camo.
5) A stuffed otter. When I asked my friend Stac why anyone would shoot an otter, he replied "Because you can."
Anyway, after my board retreat - I took some "erin" time and went to one of my favorite places in Austin. It was the most perfect way to spend my afternoon. Perfect, perfect, perfect.

Then, I met the group at Chuy's for happy hour for a bit. And then, we went to a show opening at Artspoken Gallery. One of our favorite artists, Amy Lindsey Joynt, was showing and (surprise) we bought a piece. It is so cool... I'll post a picture soon. The evening ended with falafel at Sarah's Market and now I have 3 crossword puzzles waiting for me in the que before I go to bed.

Tomorrow I am riding the metric century WurstRide. Thanks to Lulu & Scooter for holding my true to my word on this one... I'm nervous about 63 miles, but looking forward to being back on my bike for more than 20 mile increments.

Anyway, I am so happy to report that I am feeling much better about work lately.

And, not surprisingly, life too.

Grandma Couch

I LOVE CRAIG'S LIST!!! Someone is actually paying us $150 for the grandma couch. Scratch that - someone already PAID $150. She is picking it up sometime over the next few days.

R.I.P. Grandma Couch!!

Yuck.

YUCK. Mylanta is nasty. Really freaking nasty. But hopefully it will cure my stomach ache that I've had since Monday. (Well, off and on since last week to be honest.)

I wonder what's wrong with me? My parents reminded me that I always used to get this way before algebra or geometry tests back in junior high. (Thank goodness I don't have to do those anymore!)

I suppose there is something stressful going on. Haven't put my finger on it yet. I did get stressed out when I managed to spill the bottle of mylanta all over the kitchen counter tonight. Lovely! :)

On a positive note, I had a WONDERFUL day today. One of the best days I have had in months. I'm really happy to be back home.

Friday - YES!!!!

I'm so glad it's Friday. I was given the afternoon off, and this morning looks to be awesome. Breakfast with the old gang, and a tour of the new Hill Country Galleria.

Just knowing I don't have to work today (minus the tour) is liberating. :) Throw in Saturday & Sunday... and no trip to Houston until next Thursday.... life is great!!

Stress Level Rising...

I had a really fantastic weekend.

Friday I went to the Rogue happy hour and saw tons of friends that I haven't seen in a while; then Wiley & I hung out at Wahoo's before heading over the Burnett Road Challenge. My night went from "Quick stop at the happy hour then relaxing night at home" to "I probably should not have had that much to drink, been to that many bars, or allowed cameras in my presence." (Totally worth it, by the way!)

On Saturday I managed to drag myself out of bed and meet Holly for an easy 6 mile run at 5:45am. It was wonderful to run with Holly, and I'm looking forward to getting back into a schedule with her. Next was breakfast with Panther (who had yet made it home from the previous night!) and then errands with Phil. We went to IKEA and I bought a desk and a hot pink desk chair. I finally have my own little office space (set up in the music room), and I am very jazzed about it. (Phil has 3 rooms of his stuff, I had none.)

This morning I went to the Veloway to ride easy and have some alone time. I had a really great ride, and then headed to the H&B to meet Maggie for a run. 30 + 3 miles made for a great workout - I finally felt like I am getting back into the swing of things. Then I got to hang out with Maggie for the rest of the morning.

The thing is, now I have to go to Houston. I have to be in Conroe at 8:30am tomorrow. I will probably end up staying in Houston again on Monday night and heading back Tuesday evening. Once I get to Houston I will be fine, but the process of packing, going by my office, bringing everything for the event tomorrow, and getting some final things done here is really stressing me out. I hate giving up half of my Sunday. I hate feeling this stressed out at only 2:45pm.

This will all pay off in the long run, though. It better.

At any rate, at least I had an amazing/fun weekend until now.

New Addiction

Wiley took this last night... It's true, I have a new addiction. I picked up a Palm Treo yesterday, and now I am permanently attached to work. On that same note, I'm permanently attached to my email. I'm predicting trouble...

Great Great Great Day

Today may have been one of the best days of my professional career. I took on 2 things that I really didn't want to do, and I nailed them both.

I'm pretty damn happy. Thanks for all the well wishes!

Where have I been?

I've been lax in posting... Why?

It is 11:50PM. I just put the final touches on a 2 hour class I am teaching tomorrow.
This is the third night this week that I have stayed up until at least 11:30pm working.
I am about to get ready for bed, in my second hotel room of the week.
Tomorrow I will teach this class to anywhere from 50 to 200 people.
(Guess who speaks after me? The mayor of Houston. Gulp.)

And then.... Then... I will hopefully come back to Austin.

(Only to return to Houston on Sunday.)

The Amazing Race

One of the things I've been working on lately was a brand new adventure race, called the AAFAME Amazing Race. This was a fundraiser for one of my work associations (AAFAME = Austin Association of Facility & Maintenance Engineers). Our goal was to raise $5,000 for the Angelheart Children's Shelter; I'm proud to say that we raised over $6,000!! Not bad for our first year.

The race started at 301 Congress Avenue, and teams of 2 raced around downtown completing fun obstacle checkpoints and mystery checkpoints. This is similar to the Urban Assault Race, except it is on foot, not bike. I am so excited to announce that Tim & Carri won the whole race! Their prize - $500 in travel vouchers. They kicked butt & I am really happy for them.
Here is Mike completing the "wheel barrow" challenge at 816 Congress. Mike & Rob won 3rd place, but forfeited their prize so they could hang out at Barton Springs instead of wait for the awards ceremony. (I wasn't surprised.)
Here is me with Stac, my co-chair for the race. One thing that I love about the various work associations I am in is that I become friends with people I probably never would have met otherwise. This group is filled with guys that would do anything to help you if you needed it - true, kind, wonderful people. I know I have been less than enthusiastic about work lately, but I can never complain about the people I get to work with.
So, overall - a fantastic event. I don't think it could have gone better & I am really excited to do this again next year.

Finally calm.

It's no secret that I've been somewhat out of touch lately. Work has been overwhelming. I have worked every week and weekend this month. I have not gone a week without going to Houston in over 5 months. And my primary source of relaxing (training) is done for the year. So, I've been retreating. Trying to destress and relax.

My weekend did not start well. A ton of stress at work, followed by a screaming match with a co-worker, followed by skipping the gym because I didn't want anyone to see me with mascara running down my teary face. Lovely.

Thanks to happy hour (s) and a huge job from one of my accounts on Friday, the weekend was looking better. On Saturday I rode my longest bike ride since July - Scot & I headed from my house down to Buda. I'm amazed at how much fitness I've lost and how hard this ride was. But I loved every minute of it and felt stress leave my body with each mile we rode.

As for the rest of the day (and weekend, largely), Phil & I worked with our accounting consultant to get our RB books in order. This meant entering 3 years of data into quickbooks. I'm proud to say that I got it done! Luckily I am a 10-key whiz! Getting this taken care of helped relieve a lot more stress.

Today, I slept in and then went swimming at Barton Springs. Nothing hard, more just enjoying the water and the people. For the rest of the day, Phil & I headed out on our mountain bikes for Austin Museum Day. We visited the AMOA, Arthouse, Women and Their Work & Umlauf. We were ecstatic to see that Umlauf has a David Everett show going on. We're lucky to own one of his pieces, granted it is the most inexpensive thing he sells. Anyway, it was an awesome surprise and we will definitely be back for more programs there. Then we checked out the SculptFest artists, and (of course) ended up buying 2 new pieces. (I won $200 on Thursday. Though I was going to apply it to my $600 car bill, I said "what the hell" and splurged.)

So... Today was the perfect "Austin" day. Barton Springs, biking, museums, downtown Gold's Gym, the hike & bike trail, running into random people throughout the day and time with the family.

I'm afraid to say it, but for now - the stress is gone. I feel calm for the first time in weeks.

Only 2 more hours until Monday.

I'd like to interrupt...

I'd like to interrupt my afternoon of going through the 163+ emails in my inbox and 15+ "To do by Friday" items in my task list to reflect on my favorite part of this week.

Something about a kayak, Town Lake, a wonderful friend and some Bud Light makes everything seem okay.

Six Days Left!

In more 6 more days, I will have gone exactly 3 months without eating dessert.

That means: No cookies. No icecream. No popsicles. No candy bars. No brownies. No m&ms. Not even wedding cake, and I've been to 3 weddings!

Instead, I have been chowing down on: watermelon, apples, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, frozen blueberries, bananas, watermelon, frozen bananas, grapes, peaches, watermelon, plums, nectarines, yogurt, and... did I mention watermelon?

And what have I learned? For me, dessert was just a habit. I don't need it. In fact, I much prefer some fresh fruit. (Like watermelon!)

But I have to admit... I'm suddenly getting tempted to eat some of Phil's blue bell icecream...

By the way, I don't think I look any different than I did 3 months ago. Except that I'm working out less - I can tell something there. Anyway, the "no dessert" thing has not actually changed my body one bit.

I mentioned to Phil that maybe next I will try giving up bread for a month. He responded that perhaps I need to find some goals that actually mean something. I think he's probably right.

Sweet dreams, Murphy.

Yesterday we said goodbye to Murphy. While technically our neighbor's cat, Murphy lived with us since we moved into our house almost three years ago. She was the most adorable cat I'd ever seen.

In a way, Murphy adopted us. She even made it onto our wedding invitation, along with Karma and Velvet.

I could always count on Murphy to sit meowing at the front porch every morning as I left to go run or swim. And I could count on her to be waiting for us, perched atop Phil's car or our windowsill, when I came home. I was never much of a cat person, but you couldn't help but love Murphy. She had a way of making you come to her and scratch her belly and love on her.

Now she will rest in peace forever under her favorite oak tree, right between us and our next door neighbors. Sweet dreams, old girl.

Who needs a hotel when you can have a CVS?

I got an email from my G.M. this morning about conserving expenses. To quote, he said, "Every time someone needlessly takes advantage of the credit card, it’s money out of our pockets."

So I responded to him about last night's trip to Houston:

As you know, I went to Houston last night for a Casino Night. Luckily I was able to convince one of my closets girlfriends to go with me. We had a blast by the way. After rocking at Casino Night, we hit the Black Swam - a bar at the Omni Hotel. This place was awesome - we danced all night.

Anyway, I want you to know that I successfully avoided a hotel charge last night. I somehow got the BRILLIANT idea to drive back home at 2:15 in the morning. (This was after arriving at the hotel, even.) Guess what: there was freaking TRAFFIC on 290. So after sitting behind a wreck, going about 1 mile total, for 40 minutes, we were on our way back to Austin. Until about 30 minutes later when I realized I was going to fall asleep.

So, I pulled into this random CVS (which was closed), parked in the corner of the lot, and went to sleep. We slept until about 5:45, when I woke up and drove us back home. I imagine if anyone saw us, they would have had quite a sight. Two girls, in cocktail dresses, passed out in a parking lot. (Don't worry, the cars were locked!)

I walked into the office this morning at 7:30am still in my cocktail attire. Black slinky dress, high heels and makeup still on. Lulu, on the other hand, had on boxers and a shirt which at some point she had changed into, I don’t remember when. Uh, yeah. Classy.

Again, the point of my story? No $100+ expense charge from the Sheraton Brookhollow. Which should cover the $101 bar tab from last night.

(Thank god for Lulu, she was awesome. Hopefully once she sobers up, she'll thank me for taking her!)

Houston Bound

Tomorrow I will wake up early and go to the gym.

Then I will go into work for some meetings.

Then I will be at a trade show until 2:00.

Then I will rush home and take Phil to get lasik.

Then I will take Phil home, feed the dogs (there are 4 right now since we are dogsitting), and then...

Head to Houston for a Casino Night. But, am I upset that I have to work tomorrow night?

No... because Lulu is coming with me!!!!!!!!!! We are going to rock Houston, and I am pumped! :)

Guess I should go get some sleep.

A Little Bit of Press

It's been a long time since I've worked in PR - so it's rare that I see myself in print. This made a whole page of this week's Austin Business Journal, so I thought I'd share. By the way, I don't look AS goofy in the paper as I do below. It's really annoying that the ABJ cropped my face so closely!

Just what I needed...

I had, er, forgotten that I had promised Lulu I would race the Women's Race with her today. I was almost off the hook, since she thought the race had passed when I was in Dallas. But for some reason, I reminded her it was this weekend, and we signed up.

First let me say, I love Lulu. I really really do. And yet, she had it in her mind that we needed to win this thing. 300 teams, racing through trails, doing crazy obstacles, paddling through a lake, all while carrying a rubber chicken. Sound fun? Hell yeah. Sound like something that we will beat out at least 500 other people at? Well...
We got to the site pretty early, since neither of us bothered to look up the start time. We set up our toobs (thanks Ostrich) in transition and wandered around until near race-start. With 30 minutes to go, we did a little run warmup - which about 7 other teams then copied us at. We had scoped out the other teams, and it seemed like we had some serious competition. Lulu's nerves started up; I, on the other hand, just wanted to go to sleep.

The race starts with a mystery event - after doing a walk for the cancer survivors, we stood around waiting to hear music that would tell us where to go. Our strategy was to position ourselves near the direction we expected the music to come from. Suddenly, we heard "The Eyes of Texas" and we raced through the park to grab our rubber chicken. We had to get ahead of everyone else, otherwise we'd be caught in the bottleneck of completing events and getting through the trail. By the time we'd finished events in one side of the park (2 math questions & passing a burrito from partner to partner with no arms) - we were in 2nd place. We hustled up the trail and then passed the lead team while doing a three legged race. After more running (and far too many hills for my liking), we finally made it back to transition.

We were the first team in the water, lifejackets on and toobs in tow. The goal was to paddle backwards while sitting in our toobs. Unfortunately, I have much shorter (and weaker, apparently) arms than Lulu and did not fair well at this. I managed to lose our lead to a mother/daughter team in an inflatable kayak. Luckily Lulu finished and came back to push me. I admittedly was exhausted at this point, and the fact that we had lost our lead (thanks to me) and still had the third part of the race left was not that motivating.

But I knew Lulu wanted to win. Hell, I didn't want a kid to beat me either, even if she was a badass kid. So I regrouped, and we ran back through transition on to the next few obstacles. First we had to blow up a balloon, carry it between our chests over these inflatable tubes, then pop it. This was easy, and the balloon popped as soon as we let go. Next we had to play croquet with a ball and our rubber chickens. We did great at this and took the lead again. Then we played frolf, but with the chicken versus a disc. By now, we were gaining time but I was getting tired. I honestly haven't been running (much less sprinting) in weeks. Lulu, thank god, took the lead and conquered the next obstacle by successfully throwing our chicken through a hole. After more (uphill) running, we had to handcuff ourselves together and run more. Then we had to carry a ball a short distance in between 2 spoons, not using our fingers.

At this point, we realized that there was a "lead vehicle" (i.e. a guy on a dirt bike) who was OUR lead. Never been in that situation before! We kept running on the trail, and had to run past the group who hadn't completed the first part of the race yet. Two girls were right on my heels, which really pissed me off, until I realized that they hadn't even done the water segment yet. Lulu was ever encouraging, telling me to suck it up, not leave anything out there, and that the second place team was right on our toes. (They weren't, by the way.)

We made it back towards the finish area, and everyone yelled, "here come the leaders." (Again, never had that before!) Unfortunately, one of the volunteers sent Lulu in the wrong direction so she ran to the end of transition before realizing I wasn't behind her. We met up at the final obstacle course and crawled, shimmied, climbed, ducked and crawled again towards the finish. We grabbed hand, ran through the finish, and low & behold - we won!

HELL YEAH!!!! We cheered for the next few teams for a bit, got some water, and headed back to the car to assess the damage. You can see from our clothes below - this was not exactly a clean race!
We ended up with a cool award (below), and each of us got a Nike watch. (And, for some really strange reason, we each got tubes of antiseptic. Not sure what that was about.)
I have obviously been really burned out lately, but this was just what I needed. A short, but extremely fun race that couldn't have gone better. I must say that Lulu & I make a fabulous adventure racing team. We will definitely be back to defend next year. Perhaps I will even train this time!

For the record...

I ran into Diane on the trail today. We were talking about what's been going on with us lately since we haven't seen each other in months, and about how we are not feeling very motivated to run or work out. I talked about how much I am traveling lately and how draining it is. She responded that I although I seemed happy in some areas of my life, I'm not happy in others.

So... for the record, I am just fine. I am tired. I am unmotivated in some areas. I wish I could teleport to Houston. I wish there was about 4-5 more hours in the day. I wish the laundry would do itself tonight, and I could go to sleep.

But besides all of this rather irrelevant stuff, I am happy.

*Sigh*

I miss my friends. A lot.

Houston is "fun" and all, but I really really really miss my friends. I feel like I hardly see anyone anymore. I get calls & emails from people wanting to work out or hang out, but I can't because I'm not in town.

I'm currently interviewing to find my replacement for Houston. I'm taking my time, but I want to be sure to hire the right person so I don't have to do the interview process again. I only want to have to train someone once. I'll still have to travel even when I hire someone, but not as much, and hopefully not overnight.

Sigh.

Protest Pictures