Pursuing Balance & Joy

Holy Moly!

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Has it really been almost 2 weeks?! How did that happen?!

I knew it would be difficult getting work, exercise and blogging all in while I was in Pennsylvania. I didn’t really just how difficult though! I am so proud of me for not skipping a single workout while I was there. Yay! I had plenty of room for excuses too because it wasn’t possible to run outside. I so hate running on the treadmill, but I did it. I also used the elliptical for the first time in forever. Go me!

When I got home, I got SICK. I think it was some sort of stomach flu. It was really awful, but I’ll spare you the gory details. I’m so thankful it only lasted a day and that it was over before my favorite day of the whole year: Thanksgiving!

Honey and I spent Thanksgiving with my family. Honey went last year so he was prepared for the spectacle of my family’s tradition, but his son was new to the event this year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it’s the only time all year I see a WHOLE BUNCH of my family members. This year, we had about 120 people. I never heard the final count, just that is was in the 120s. It was so wonderful! I was busy chatting and playing so I didn’t get many pics.

I did get this great one of my beautiful daughter!

That’s her honey napping behind her…lol.

We all had a wonderful holiday weekend. We got to celebrate my youngest niece’s 3rd birthday Friday! (The birthday girl is on the left. It was all my other 3-year-old niece would do to wait for that pretty pink cake though…LOL)

Me, yet another niece (I have 7!) and my Daddy!

The toy of the night was cute little pink pig ears…

Before heading home Saturday, we had a little family gathering for lunch. There were about 40 people, I think. It was so much fun, and my lap was the spot for nieces wanting to color.

That’s 3 adorable nieces balancing on my lap to color. It was quite a workout!

Speaking of workouts, I didn’t miss a one all weekend! Aside from the one day I was VERY sick, I haven’t skipped a workout day in the whole two weeks I’ve been away from the blog. The result? I lost a pound over the holiday weekend! WOO HOO!

I hope your holiday was fantastic!

Posted in Exercise, Family, Holidays | 2 Comments »

Hello From PA!

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Greetings from Altoona, PA!

I’d forgotten just how much fun traveling to a new place can be. My trip really started out normal, but that didn’t last long. We boarded on time in Indy and then parked next to the runway for a little over an hour. I SPRINTED to make the flight in DC. It was delayed by about 5 minutes or I wouldn’t have made it at all. My sprint included four flights UP stairs in various parts of the airport. (Seriously, the day after the climb? That’s just mean!)

I was shocked when I got to Pittsburgh and actually had luggage. The baggage claim office lady had even already written up a ticket for one of my bags because it didn’t get scanned in DC that it made the flight. She was as surprised as I was when it was there. Whew!

It was about 3 hours of driving from Pittsburgh to the hotel. I think it will be great on the way back when I can see the scenery, but it was dark all the way here. It’s been several years since I worked in PA, and I do remember that it’s very pretty. I’m looking forward to the drive back to Pitt on Thursday.

Anyway, I finally got to the hotel about 9:30 or so last night and got to bed at a reasonable hour. I didn’t sleep well, but I got up to work out this morning anyway. I ran 3.5 miles on the treadmill. I’d love to run outside, but there are no sidewalks or trails anywhere near the hotel so running outside in the dark is not a risk I’m willing to take. The treadmill wins for this week.

I ran super slow this morning, and it felt fantastic! I’m so proud of the training I did for the climb because I have ZERO soreness! I totally still sound like a smoker when I cough, but other than that, I’m completely awesome. HOORAY!!!

That’s it for today, I think.

Oh, I do have one picture to share. This is the couch in my hotel room.

It’s a weird, little thing. I think I’m mostly bothered by the asymmetry of it all.

Anyway, I’m off…blogging may be sporadic this week. LOTS to do!!

Posted in Everyday Life, Exercise | Comments Off