A real training week

So, I finally did it, had a real training week. Monday was a recovery bike ride, Tuesday was the hard day. I ran 10 miles in the morning which included 4 sets of parking garages, then Tuesday night was the "in town" bike ride. This is the hardest bike ride I have ever done! It is all the starting and stopping and trying to keep up with the guys that kills me. I am just not as stong off the line so I have to go all out to catch the group at every light. Wed morning was track...thank goodness Wed night was girls night out! I needed the break. I also needed girls night. It was sooo much fun. I miss just hanging out since I am not with my old group of friends. It was also nice to take a break from the cleaning and putting things away, a night away from the house :) Today I did a 30 mile ride in the morning and swam tonight. Yes, I got in the pool, ok for the first time in a week, but I still did it. Tomorrow morning we are running and tomorrow night I may hit the Pilates reformer machine. Yeah. I feel good! It is amazing how a good workout week can make you feel good about yourself. Sometimes you just need that!!!!

Getting into the swing of things

So, yeah, it has been a while, but hey, I have been busy getting the home in order. The good news, it is coming along. Jindy's mom gave me this PERFECT oriental rug and she bought us a huge flat screen tv. Needless to say, Jindy is extatic. We got a TV stand, wine case, and I just had to buy this amazing antique bookcase. Anyway, enough about the house.

Training is starting to go well. I had some hard workouts on Tues and Wed last week, took Thurs and Fri pretty easy, then did 60 miles and a 20 min run on Sat and 18 miles on Sunday. Not too bad. Today was an easy day, but I run garages tomorrow morning and doing the bike ride from hell. I say that only because it is REALLY hard. It is short, but the whole thing is explode off the line then slam on the breaks at the next stop light. I just don't have that kind of power. I can go long, but that start/stop fast stuff kills me! It is good for me though. I seem to be saying that a lot, it is good for me. I still haven't gotten back in the pool :) I need to do that. I seem to be saying that a lot also :)

Anyway, a little over the week until Nashville. I can't wait. I am really looking forward to this marathon! Just "running for metals" to quote my friend Damie. Just going to have fun. Who knows, maybe I'll carry a camera again!

Emotional roller-coster

So, the past week has just been an emotional roller-coaster. I have been exhausted, stressed, and really miss my friends in New Orleans. It is hard to leave. It is hard (in a good way) to have someone waiting for you 24/7. I am use to having a house to myself to decompress when I come home. It is hard to come home from a stressfull day and contol my mouth sometimes. I have been jumping on Jindy for small things, and I know I shouldn't. I just am tired and am use to reading my book and petting my cat, and I think it just takes some getting use to. The good news, he is sooo patient with me. I love him more and more. It is good to have a face to face conversation. To have someone to give you a hug, it is worth it, but is just taking some getting use to. The ups and downs. I am sure they will continue for a while...now if I could just get back to working out :)

All moved in

Ok, I know it has bene a while, but hey, it has been a stressful last few weeks to say the least. I moved to Houston last Saturday and have spent the whole week unpacking. Fun, fun. I love the new house though. And, in reality, it is coming together nicely. I have most of the boxes unpacked and most of the pictures up. I am just too anal to let things sit around...imagine that. Now, the fun part is trying to get back to training. I haven't done much in about 2 weeks. There NO WAY I am going to be ready for the Nashville marathon, but oh well. I wasn't ready for Houston either (since I didn't decide to run the full marathon until mile 9) and did ok, so surely I can do ok here also. Then, there is this whole issue about the half in Orlando. There is NO WAY I am going to be close to ready for that either. I think I am just going to have to accept that this may not be the best year. I am just going to have fun and enjoy it, who really cares about results. I have been thinking a lot about that lately. Being competitive vs. the fun of the training and race. I thought for a little bit I may actually want to try to be competitive, and came to the conclusion that this really is just for fun and I want to keep it that way. If something good happens, so be it, but there is more to life than this, and this next year is going to be consumed with a lot of other things. The fun of life :) Anyway, I am already missing New Orleans. Missing my friends, but at the same time, I know I will meet new people in Houston. I love my neighbors, and it is nice being near Jindy. I guess this is what life is all about.

We did it!

We picked a site for our wedding reception. I will be at the Frazier Museum. I really like it, it wasn't the first choice, but you know what made the final decision...ice-cream. Yep, ice-cream, how appropriate for me :) See, Jindy and I want to have a very small cake with lots of little deserts, chocolate covered strawberries, cookies, you get the idea, AND we want Graters Ice-cream. See, this isn't just your everyday ice-cream. There is nothing like it here in New Orleans. Yes, there is good stuff, but nothing like this. It is, well, magic! Anyway, we want to have ice-cream and the exclusive caterer at our fist choice in reception venues would only let us use their deserts (and we could bring a cake) but NO Graters Ice-Cream. That was it, decision made! Frazier will be really nice. It is a great place, and I am excited about it. Yeah.

Getting into the thick of things

So, I got the house, I am now a true American, completely in debt :) It is better than rent though, and I love the house so I am very excited. I also started getting heavy into the wedding planning process. We have two places on hold, the one we really like and the one that is very nice but much more affordable. I have a question...why should proclaiming your love for someone put you even farther in debt. It is hard for me to comprehend how a dozen roses cost, what, maybe $40, but wrap some ribbon around it and call it a bouquet and it is all of a sudden $200. Why is that? And I understand sending invitations, response cards, and even the cards that have the address of the reception, but there is another card, the "note" card, the just has your name on it, what is the point? Those things add up and it doesn't add to the value of the ceremony. I guess I am not exactly doing things the traditional way anyway so maybe I will forgo some of the traditions. No, nothing too major, my mother would shoot me. Little things, like a sapphire engagement ring, we may have ice-cream and assorted deserts instead of cake, and I am contemplating no bouquet toss, little things. I am saying this for the record...I do not want to stress over this. I do not want to go beyond our means because it is about two words and nothing else really matters! I hope I can remember this!

All in a days work

So, I said I wasn't very good at writing too often, life just got very busy in the past week. Let's see, I closed on a house. Yes, I am now a real American, in debt for the next 30 years. Good to know that I have joined adult society. I flew to Houston on Thursday morning, did the final walk through, went to closing, and spent the rest of the day getting all the utilities set up.

I love it though. It really is the perfect house. I can't even believe that I was able to get something like that as a first house. It amazes me! Now, I just have to find a mover and MOVE!

It is going to be really hard leaving all my friends in New Orleans. I know that Houston will be a great place personally and professionally. I can't even describe how wonderful it is going to be to live in the same city as Jindy. I also love my friends there, but it will take some getting use to. At least I will get to come back to New Orleans every now and then!

That was yesterday. This morning I was back on a plane headed to Kentucky to try to find a date and place for our wedding. We looked at 3 places today and have 2 to look at tomorrow. I really like two of the ones we looked at today. They are very different, but both incredibly nice. Can't go wrong either way. I am going to look at some dresses tomorrow and meet with the priest. So much to do, so little time :) I will let you know when we make some decisions.