Happy Halloween and Spreading the love

Here was our costume for Halloween this year:



Some people got it right away. Some people needed a bit of explanation. Some people still didn't get even after the explanation. (If you're not getting it, google the number I'm wearing for a hint.) We won the prize for most creative costume, which made us very proud!

I got this new game from my friend Sarah's blog. Spread the Love: just reply to this post if you want me to list 3 things I like about you. And if you have a blog you should do it too to spread the love!

Tomorrow, I start listening to Christmas music. Sweet glory!!!

For the girls!

Update 08/05/12: I was just looking through old posts on this blog and couldn't help but notice this blank post.  I vaguely remember there being a graphic for breast cancer awareness.  Try to envision that in the space above.

Fun in Tennessee...

This past week-end we went to Murfreesboro, TN so that William could attend, and present a paper at, a conference on Milton. It was a nice little get-away for us, with some much needed relaxation.

In Murfreesboro, TN we went to the Battle Ground at Stones River. It was a cool place and it was fun to get in a bit of our Civil War history.

We also took some time to go into Nashville, which was a blast as well. First we ate at Provence Cafe which was featured on Rachel Rays $40 a day. It was affordable indeed, and very very yummy. It was across the street from Vanderbilt University and obviously popular among the university crowd in Nashville, with good reason.

Next we went to the Parthenon Museum. There were a few really interesting exhibits there, but we weren't allowed to take pictures of those. We were, however, allowed to take picture of Athena. Not as fun as being in Greece, but still pretty fun.

Next, we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. This was a great time. We saw all kinds of old stuff: Dolly Parton dresses, Johnny Cash's guitar.... but this was the coolest:

Elvis's Gold Cadillac. Apparently the paint was actually made of crushed diamonds and fish scales. It is awfully shiny.

Our last stop was Neely's BBQ as recommended by the Dean boys on Road Tasted (We're big fans of the food network, clearly). Seriously good ribs were involved.

And now we're back home. It was totally worth the 8 hour drive.

Pictures of the run and OUR NEW COUCH!

Here's some shots of the run that William mentioned:

We really had a great time! I didn't even mind all the 60 year old ladies that ran so much faster than me. I was just proud to have finished. And the area at Lake Jackson is just beautiful. Here is a great shot I got of the sunrise:

Later in the day on Saturday we FINALLY found a new couch. I wasn't out to get a blue couch, I just knew I didn't want something boring. Its not boring and I love it. AND we got it at a surplus warehouse, so we got a great deal. It was a good investment. And see how William enjoys it?

RUNNING?

Okay, I am not a big fan of running; however, Leah Marie has made it one of her new things of late. Once in a while, I will run for exercise, usually no more than once a week among the many other cardio exercises I do: efx machine, biking, basketball, racquetball, etc. Anyway, Leah Marie started running a few months ago and decided she wanted it to mean more, so she started searching for races in which we could participate. Lo and behold, she found a 5K run at Lake Jackson for Habitat for Humanity. So we sent in our preregistration so we could assure ourselves t-shirts, and yesterday morning we showed up at Lake Jackson, which is virtually waterless right now. Lake Jackson is one of Florida's disappearing lakes. Every 25 years, the lake either completely or partially drains because of two sink holes in the bottom. Right now, it is almost completely dried up, so we got to run on the lake bed, under up to 12 virtual feet of water!

Anyway, back to running. It's never been my favorite thing outside of the occasional trot for exercise. However, yesterday, I fell in love with running. Oh, I'll still dread it to a certain extent, but in the heat of running a race amidst all those people, meeting some of those people, and supporting a good cause, I had a blast! And I ran like I have never run before. In fact, I came in second in my age group! My prize? A small photograph of one of the sink holes, taken by the Florida Geological Survey's photographer. Not the coolest prize, but it represents something, something that I would have never imagined . . . success running. For someone who used to weigh over 400 pounds, that is huge (pun intended). So I am extremely excited to run another race, even to start training for one so that I can perform better. I may never win anything ever again, but I was having a blast long before I realized my place finish, which, by the way was 55th overall (just in case any of you were too impressed). Leah Marie will upload pictures soon

Another Disney Trip (with a super surprise)

We went to Disney again this week-end. Our intentions were to drive down early on Friday and have plenty of time in the afternoon to play Disney after going to the temple. Unfortunately we came upon two major accidents involving semi-trucks. We didn't know it at the time, but both involved fatalities. Its sad for those involved, and also made our 3 1/2 hour trip 5 1/2 hours. We had planned on going to Magic Kingdom first thing, but by the time we got there it was 6:30pm and MK was closing at 7pm for some manner of Halloween party that we didn't want to pay extra to get in to. So... we headed to Epcot.

I only give you the back drop so you can understand how delighted we were at what we found at Epcot. They are having a 'food and wine' festival which we had known about but were only mildly excited about because we don't drink. As it turns out, it was as much about the food as it was the wine and it was SO much fun. Besides the normal countries they had stations set up for new countries... Chile, Peru, Turkey... we ate some food at Poland (William's people), Ireland (My people) and South Africa.

AND to crown it all off... as we were wandering from country to country we stumbled upon a concert. A STARSHIP concert. I'm not even kidding! We were so excited to join the 30 to 50 somethings in the crowd. Here's the proof:

It ended up being the most fun night!!!

Oh, and today we went to MGM and Magic Kingdom. We had more fun, of course. Now we are home again.

My new haircut

I had a request for a picture. Here it is:

I don't really love it, but my hair grows fast. I'll try something else in December.

Cereal really IS a good snack.

You know those Special K commercials? The ones wherein they advise you not to throw away the day on a nighttime snack? I tried that tonight. Not with Special K though, because that has high fructose corn sryup in it. I used a cereal that doesn't want to kill me. Anyways, I was feeling really snacky and now I don't. Success.

I read a bad book over the week-end. Luckily, it was really short. But it was still a waste of time. Stoner and Spaz. Stear clear.

I didn't really do anything else exciting this week-end. There was a surprise party Friday night. And the guy was actually surprised. Its so fun when no one has given it away. He was so pleased.

I also watched Bionic Woman this week-end. It has the potential to be not only the new Bionic Woman, but the new Alias as well. If you know me at all, you know I'm all over that.

Oh yeah, and I'm excited its October 1st. I love October 1st. Its like, the start of the season. Its time for Halloween and then Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Its the best.