Official time...

Just checked online and my official race time was 1:04:47. I didn't meet my goal of finishing in one hour, but considering everything going on, I'm okay with that. Just thought I'd share.

Everybody beats somebody...

The Monument Avenue 10K is over. Woohoo! We ended our training with a big pasta dinner last night with friends, Danny and Rachel.

Woke up early this morning and Chris and I headed into Richmond with my running partner and friend, Tiffany.

The three of us started together in Wave H but sadly we didn't finish together. Chris started out a bit too fast (he's not accustomed to pacing himself outside) and dropped just a bit behind us. "We'll meet you at the bunny butt*...love you!" I said as we trotted by him.

Tiffany and I were together until about mile 4.5 and I had to slow it up a bit. Not only am I getting over a bad cold (blowing your nose while you're running isn't very fun) but I had 3 fillings done on Thursday and my mouth still hurts. So between my sinuses and my mouth, I felt a throb in my head each time my left foot hit the ground.

Tiffany broke away a bit and I waved her on...didn't want to negatively impact her time. She finished around 60.5 minutes and I probably came in about 2 minutes later. Chris wasn't too much farther behind me. After some free food (bagel and banana) we headed over to Bottom's Up Pizza to meet up with a few other runners from our YMCA Early Risers group.

After good food and a hot shower, I'm ready for a nap!


*We wanted to secure a meeting place in case we got separated and quickly decided to meet at the rear end of the inflated bunny that sat on top of one of the vendor trucks at the finish area. Later we realized that it was actually a pig. Oh well.

An awesome present...

I think the picture speaks for itself...at least for those of you who know me.

It's my birthday...

I don't think I'll ever get to the point where I don't want to celebrate my birthday, but as I get further into my 30s I am getting to the point where I don't always want to think about my age.

There's so much going on right now that it doesn't really feel like my birthday...not looking for a pity party, it's just a fact.

Anyway, today will probably be the toughest birthday I've had in a while for a couple of reasons. But life goes on and all is good.

Chris was so great to share his lovely cold with me! Thanks, hon! ;-)

High dollar vomit (aka The birthday celebration starts early)...

This is a little misleading because there isn't any actual vomit involved. However, my mom took Chris and I out to dinner last night for my birthday, I threatened that I would throw up. And, Chris, being the loving husband that he is said, "Man, that would be some high dollar vomit." How can you pass that up?

Anyway, mom took us to Ruth's Chris. I've never been there before. The food was fabulous. The steak really is sizzling. And even though they remind you not to touch the plate, I'm sure you've already guessed that I managed to grab the plate. No major injuries but it was hot.

So even though my birthday isn't until tomorrow, the celebration has already started. I need to back up really because I got my first present on Thursday night...new Pandora beads for my bracelet from my best friend, Sonja. Woohoo!

Me and mom.

Chris loves to takes pictures of signs.

A cab ride in San Fran...

So I know I still owe you all some pictures of the trip (the few I have). But Patricia is supposed to send me some of the ones she took (since before I bought my camera I kept saying, "Take a picture of this..." and "Take a picture of that..." I know she was relieved when I finally bought my own!)

Anyway, all I can offer now is a link to Patricia's blog where she recounts a very interesting cab ride she and I took.

This is a true story.

I don't believe in hexes...

After a long day, we headed out for dinner at Bobo's. The food was delicious...I had surf and turf which consisted of a petite filet and a pound of dungenous crab. Absolutely fabulous.

After that we headed to Ghiradelli Square and walked around the nearby shops. Against my better judgment I entered a shop advertising a sale on digital cameras.* We looked at a couple of cameras and I was actually ready to buy one. The owner of the store was a bit pushy and even though I wasn't trying to haggle, I think that's what he thought I was doing.

I decided to walk down the street for a few minutes. As we were walking out, we thought for sure that he said he'd sell us the camera for $129 (down from $199). We walked a couple of stores down and decided that would be worth the risk...the risk being that I was most likely buying a stolen camera.

So we walked back to the store to get it and he informed us that there was no way he could sell me the camera for $129...he has to make a living. I explained that we had misunderstood and thanked him for his time. He then turned to me and said, "Cross my heart, any camera you buy after tonight that's not from me, will break. I guarantee it." It's a good think I don't believe in hexes.

I was glad at that point that I hadn't given him my credit card and as I walked out, he offered to sell me the camera for $99. Now explain to me why he couldn't sell it to me for $129, but $99 was okay. Odd? I think so.

After the camera fiasco, we headed over the Ghiradelli ice cream shop for dessert...the Mint Bliss kicked my rear.

Back at the hotel and exhausted...good night!


*I didn't bring a camera with me. And since I've been wanting to buy a small digital camera, I got it in my head that I would buy one here. I thought I had talked myself out of that idea until tonight.

First night in San Fran...

After a 6 hour flight, I made it back onto the ground safely in San Francisco. What an interesting place. I've only seen a little bit (most of it on the cab ride from the airport to the hotel) but hope to see at least a little bit more over the next couple of days.

Had an evening reception tonight and then headed out to dinner at Thai Spice. On the way we encountered a woman sitting on the sidewalk who said, "If you wash your windows, you will keep the animals inside." Think on that for a few minutes.

The food at Thai Spice was really good. Had drunken noodles (despite the name there's no alcohol)...my absolute favorite Thai dish. Then, a little splurge for dessert...fried bananas with honey. Can I just tell you how yummy they were? Really yummy.

Hoping to get up and run in the morning, but not sure how realistic that ambition is. I've been up now for about 20 hours and I'm sure I'll probably be awake around 3:00 a.m. because my body is kirking out from the time change. You know it's bad when the waiter asks you if you want more diet coke and it takes you more than a full minute to respond (because you're thinking of how to answer him).

Anyway, I'm signing off as I attempt to get some much needed sleep.

P.S. Chris left Monday for West VA and I miss him incredibly. Pray he gets home safely tomorrow and that the rest of the week goes quickly so I can get home!

Expansion. It isn't always good...

What would you think if you saw this sign (actually it's only part of the sign...for effect)? You might think, as I did, that whoever hung this sign was excited about the fact that they were growing and expanding.

But I can think of at least one instance when expansion just doesn't seem so exciting.

Here's the whole sign.


After seeing it, you can probably figure out what the sign is promoting...but just in case, here's a better view.


Is it just me, or does this seem odd? I mean I understand that death is a natural thing and that unless everyone is cremated, there have to be places to bury them. However, this sign seems to scream, PEOPLE ARE DYING! YEAH!

Maybe it's just the exclamation mark that gets me...it just doesn't seem appropriate.

Anyway, I've been driving by this sign for at least a month now and we finally stopped to take pictures so I could share with you.

Thoughts anyone?

Chris + the vacuum = ??

As you all know, we have dogs. And with most dogs, comes a plethera of dog hair. It's quite a struggle to keep things dog hair-free, but we are always trying.

And since our doggies are quite rotten, they lounge on the couches often. Don't think these pics need any further explanation (they're a little grainey, but you get the idea).

Enjoy.

Update on Baby Girl...

I picked Pebbles up from the vet yesterday around 5 p.m. Poor thing...

She seems to be doing okay. She had to have some stitches deeper in and then she has 3 staples on the outside.

We should hopefully know the results of the biopsy early next week. The doctor felt confident that he got everything so she should be okay. I'll just be relieved to know for sure.

And she did get her teeth cleaned...boy do they look pretty.

Thanks for your prayers...some may say, "she's just a dog." But to us, she's a huge part of our family...like a kid.

A prayer for Pebbles...

Some of you may already know that Pebbles is having a procedure tomorrow to remove a spot on her belly. They'll be sending it for a biopsy to find out whether or not it's a melanoma. While she's there she's also having her teeth cleaned, which will greatly improve her breath! =)

Please say a prayer that the spot will be benign and that all will go well.

I've made it this far...

I haven't had a week like this in a long time...and it hasn't been a good one. Here's a quick run down, minus most of the gory details.

Monday
I spent all day working to update our site because our discussion list vendor informed us on Friday afternoon that they would be moving all of our lists to a new server. This required tons of changes and a lot of back and forth. Yay for the tons of notice. Not.

Tuesday
More fall out from the discussion list project and assorted other work craziness. Better than Monday but not by much.

Wednesday
Tried to play catch up on all the work I didn't get done on Monday and Tuesday until about 1:30 when our entire site went down. In trying to diagnose the problem, it was discovered that our entire Web site had been deleted from our server. Don't ask me how...we haven't figured that out yet. But talk about stressful. We restored it from a back up and the site was up in a little less than an hour and a half.

Then I ran Pebbles to the vet for a nail trim. I didn't even have an appointment. When I got there, though, they reminded me that she needed a shot and they always have to do a brief check up before they'll give a shot. So, I decided since I was paying for an office visit, I'd ask them about this spot on her belly (it looks just a mole would on a person). I was expecting them to advise me that it should be removed but I didn't expect them to say that it could possibly be melanoma. Needless to say I was quite upset. She's going in Tuesday to have it removed and they'll biopsy it to see what it is. So, please say a quick prayer that everything will go okay and that it will turn out to be nothing at all.

Today
And while today has been better than the rest of the week, I'm extremely tired. And we're leaving tomorrow to take some of our kids to our district Fine Arts Festival in Maryland. It's going to be a hectic weekend and I'm already tired. I'm going to need an extra boost and I'm sure by Monday I'll be absolutely worthless! ;-)

Anyway, that's the scoop from here. Watching Survivor and then I'm headed to bed. Here's hoping you all have had a better week than I have.