Birmingham, AL Race Weekend

Took a road trip with my friend Mike and headed to Bama to run the Birmingham Half Marathon, while Mike ran the Full Marathon. It was a easy drive since it was all interstate. Weather was great! Course was not as hilly as Balitmore, but it did have it's share of hills! The event was well organized. Hum,,what's the next state?

Sleeping, Running, Pilates, Martinis, Cycling, Football Weekend

I finally gave up. I've had problems sleeping off/on for the last 3 years. A couple of weeks ago I went about 8 nights of restless sleep. I'm not saying I didn't sleep at all, but it wasn't a sound constant sleep. Enough! So I saw my Neurologist I saw a couple of years ago when I got pretty sick, because they have a sleep center. He wanted to do a sleep study to make sure I had no sleep issues. If nothing is found, then he would give me sleeping pills for when I needed them. (Yeah, right, like I'm going to take them.) He said if I took sleeping pills and had sleep apnea then it could/would make it worse, so first he wanted to make sure everything was good.

A very interesting night. They could tell when I did anything. Blink, move my eyes any direction, breathe through my mouth or nose, snore, heart rate, blood pressure, if I moved my legs, etc. Stay tuned for the results.

Saturday was a usual day of running & Pilates. Saturday night Ron and I decided to spend a quite evening at home and play with making martinis. That was fun! We tried about 4 different kinds and settled on our favorite. A lot cheaper than going out and sampling them in restaurants~ Plus we didn't have to worry about driving home.

Sunday was a beautiful cool sunny day, so it was time to get the ol' bike out and cycle with the Bee team. I haven't been on a bike ride in a couple of months due to the cold. They are die hard cyclist, but I won't get out there unless it's over 50 degrees!

Now, it's Super Bowl time. I'm pulling for the underdogs and mostly watching the commericals.

Gifts from the Company

My favorite.












Something to put all my "special stuff in".















We could use some new phones around the house. This has 2 other phones. I will enjoy using the speaker feature, when I'm working from home and in meetings.














Nothing fun, but I needed a new paper shredder.

I thought I would share some of the gifts I've bought myself from the company I work for. They gave you "points" for doing a good job on certain projects or work efforts. But they are discontinuing this program due to the economy, so I had until Feb.1 to use all my remaining points. I've been loving to see the UPS man!! lol

Other items I didn't take pictures of are a Dyson Vacumn cleaner, a set of All Clad Pots and Pans, flowers for friends/family, Le Creuset Stew Pot, I can't think some of other stuff I've bought over the last few years.

Preparing for Mercedes Half Marathon

So what did I do today? I got up early and met a running buddy(John) and we ran 13.2 miles. I'm preparing for the Mercedes Half Marathon on Feb. 15 in Birmingham, AL.
I'm running the half, and a buddy is running the Full.

Did I tell you my goal is to run a Half Marathon in each state? My marathons count as a half in each state, so I've got a decent start.
(Hawaii, Minnesota, Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, DC, Florida, Georgia, Maryland)

Early Valentine's Day

Since I'll be out of town Valentine's weekend, Ron and I celebrate Valentines Day last night.
Ron made reservations at Del Frisco's Steak House. It's one of the Best Steak Places in Charlotte. It was sooooo good. Ron got the Filet Mignon and I got the Salmon(I was trying to be good). Of course we got a salad to start, with crab cakes with cajun lobster sauce. Meal came with some yummy potatoes and sauteed mushrooms. Dessert was a Chocolate Mousse with was sooooo yummy!! And we topped it off with the V.I.P Martini.

Check out the yummy food: http://www.delfriscos.com/index.php

Eagles Concert

Last week, a friend of mine had two club seats to the Eagles Concert. She had a client (she's a lawyer), that wanted to treat her to dinner uptown and the concert. We had a wonderful dinner and the concert was just awesome. Those old guys can still play and sing. I forgot all the songs they actually sing!! My friend has a condo uptown behind the building I work in. So instead of driving home late, I crashed at her place. Man, it was so nice getting up and ready for work and just walking across the street. NO COMMUTE, and I got to sleep in late!

I know I'm a bit behind, but Merry Christmas!!

My brother & sister-inlaw at mom's Christmas Eve.















Christmas Breakfast at my house. Jack(step father), Ron, Stanage, Chase, Drew(Brittany's boyfriend), Brittany, Mom.

























































WOW~ All the croissants were eaten. The ones we ordered from Williams & Somona from a French Chef were awesome. (A Christmas Tradition!!!)






























My mom's Homemade Candies! YUMMY
I have some Coconut Balls still in my freezer!

We had a great Christmas. That's the nice thing about families living close to home. We didn't have to travel too far. :-) --- And yes, we went to the Bowling Alley this year~ (no pics though)

We went to my mom's Christmas Eve and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and mom's homemade desserts/candy. Christmas morning as spent at my house opening gifts and having a wonderful Christmas breakfast. For lunch off to the bowling alley for Ron's extended family. After lunch the afternoon as spent at Ron's mom and dad, with his brother's family(sorry, no pics I forgot the camera for the bowling alley and Ron's parents. Really, it was an accident..hehe) Christmas night is usually spent at my mom's home for left overs, but we were just too tired this year so we passed.