Time is such a sneaky bastard. Here it is, March 10, and I'm in desperate need of catching up again ... from February. So let's do it.
Hitting the highlights:
**TIC Conference: Every year, at least for the last seven years, I have done the annual TIC conference in Savannah. The venue may have changed - it used to be downtown and now it's out by the airport - but the goal is still the same, getting entirely wasted-face with the fellow enigneers and their wives. I shouldn't be surprised. The mission is always accomplished.
But this year it was special. Josh was honored for 10 years of service. I got to get in on the act by making a slide show of embarrasing pictures of him and sharing it. Yep it was fab. So proud of him.
On stage with the other honorees. 10 years. Can't believe it.
After all of the formalities were out of the way, we proceeded to throw down with a casino night. We had a ball "betting" and playing games. Great night.
Josh was sick but pulled it together for the evening. The next day, we had to get up early and drive back home to Brunswick ... for a few hours THEN another hour South to Jacksonville for the
26.2 with Donna. I had originally signed-up for the full marathon but instead we opted for the half, which was a very good idea, as my foot had been giving me problems, oh for like two months (more on that later).
So Ash, Julio, Josh and I roll down to Jax, did the expo and went to dinner.
Sidebar about dinner: I'm going back to my vegetarian life (I was a vegetarian for 10 years, had to go back to being a carnivore due to my inability in college to do it properly - whew long sentence) and I'm loving it ... so my pre-race meal was a fabulous dish of veggie pasta. Yums. McGee. So good.
Ash and I at le Factory de Cheesecake
Then it was off to bed, which sadly didn't help me much. I can never sleep the night before a race. Ever. It's not like I'm nervous - why should I be ... I'm not going to win or anything - but it never fails. I can't sleep. So I got up around 4:30 a.m. and started to get ready, loading up on layers because it's going to be in the 30s ...
We met up at the hotel lobby and roll out around 5:15 a.m. Now, we've run this race before ... and we've navigated the early morning cluster of buses, bathrooms and starting lines.
But this time, this race was the MOTHER of all cluster f*cks. I'm not trying to be vulgar ... there just isn't another way to put it. Complete cluster f*(k. Not only were the start/finish lines at TWO DIFFERENT PLACES (which matters a lot when you have "spectators" with you) they also moved the starting line at the last minute ... we had to drive, the line of cars to the start was outrageous. So the powers that be ended up haivng to push the race start time back by -- an hour. Thankfully, we didn't get there until about 20 mins before the new start time. So we didn't spend hours out there freezing. But some did. Complete chaos.
But this time, this race was the MOTHER of all cluster f*cks. I'm not trying to be vulgar ... there just isn't another way to put it. Complete cluster f*(k. Not only were the start/finish lines at TWO DIFFERENT PLACES (which matters a lot when you have "spectators" with you) they also moved the starting line at the last minute ... we had to drive, the line of cars to the start was outrageous. So the powers that be ended up haivng to push the race start time back by -- an hour. Thankfully, we didn't get there until about 20 mins before the new start time. So we didn't spend hours out there freezing. But some did. Complete chaos.
All bundled up, ready to run
So we ran, it was fine (cold but fine) and FINALLY got back to the start line, magically found Julio's car in the SEA of cars and drove back to the hotel. The boys didn't even come because it was such a pain trying to get from one place to the other.
But after that, Ash and I showered and went our separate ways. Josh took me to lunch at Boston's in Jax.
And my foot (randomly my knee too) was hurting pretty severely. So it was home to ice it for a few hours. After THAT I went over to Bobby/Nancy's to meet up with Ericka, a former B-News gal and a great friend who moved up to Boston a couple of years ago. We hung out and caught up. It was great to see her.
That Monday, I took the day off and we did lunch before she left.
Miss my little EC!
Now, I get to one of the most exciting parts of February - Beckett's arrival. My best friend Kelly and her hubby Austin welcomed this adorable bundle on Feb. 8. Kel was such a trooper ... actually Facebook chatting with me, Megs and Em DURING LABOR. Rockstar.
We all planned to give the new fam a few weeks of adjusting before we converged on them to meet our new girl. Em and I flew up March 1 and Megs got us at the airport then we spent the weekend with the Martins. So great to be together again. These girls just love and understand me like none other. That's what 15-plus years of friendship will do for you.
We loved feeding little Beckett, who was MORE than down with her schedule. Such her mother's daugther.
It was amazing. We all stayed in and cozy ... it snowed!
On Sunday, we went our separate ways. : ( But I did have time in the aiport to get into a new show - The Walking Dead - um yeah. Totally hooked. And it was set in Atlanta ... so starting it there was even better.
I came home and got J hooked immediately. And now Ineke (my Belgian) and I have one MORE thing in common. Haha.
OK this post is getting really long and I've got mucho to do. So I'll fill you in on the foot next time. Stay tuned.
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