what i expected to be a long and exhausting weekend ended up being a ton of fun. friday went as planned: 5 mile run around the neighborhood, exploring the other university near me; sensible dinner of baked potato with black beans and salsa, spinach side salad, lots and lots of water; trip to sports authority and old navy (seemed really exciting until i realized that i got home with only a stick of body glide). i got to bed early, which was to be expected considering i was running on about 3 hours of sleep from thursday night. i really enjoy a good 7-10 each night, along with a few naps thrown in. so it was nice to hop into bed and get to dreaming.
saturday we woke up early to hit the road to breckenridge, texas. we took alex's two youngest cousins (middle c and little c) with us, who assumed that their older, obviously cooler relatives would provide such amazing entertainment and memories to last a lifetime. little did they know that we listen/sing along to music they don't know or care about and that the little talking we did was mostly in reference to people or things they don't know or care about. they played their own games and slept. apparently i'm already old enough that i'm out of the cool club.
3 hours later we arrived at aunt shirley's house for uncle buddy's 80th birthday. we spent the day catching up with the rest of the family and eating (i didn't do TOO bad, definitely could have done much much much worse- shirley enjoys butter). the older of alex's cousins (big c) brought his girlfriend along for the trip, which was exciting for me. after 8 or 9 months of dating i was glad to have someone new to hang out with to restore my sense of youth.
after lunch i invited the youngest cousin on a walk around their property. i told her it would be long, probably about 14 miles. her eyes bulged. she gulped. i told her we could maybe cut it short, but she assured me she was gonna tough it out. i love that my exaggerations can get past a 9 year old. we took off down the road, keeping our eyes peeled for mountain lions and coyotes. we made it to the river (maybe 2 or 3 miles away) where the rest of the family were shooting guns. we let them finish off the bullets and caught a ride back to the house. big c and his girlfriend headed to the pond to do some fishing, so we tagged along and hung out there for awhile.
for the ride home, the cousins were going to trade out cars to give everyone a little break. middle c and little c weren't having it, and wanted to head back with us. we knew were going to stop for dinner on the way back, so we assumed they would make the trade then. no go. real shame, though. i had saved my questions for the girlfriend for the ride home, but never got to take advantage. we made it home, exhausted.
the puppies were thrilled to see us, especially since we spent most of the weekend neglecting them. we snuggled for a bit and headed to bed. best night's sleep in a long long time. lots of dreams, very little waking up. delightful.
after church we whipped up a quick lunch (nothing too heavy since i'd gained back the 2 pounds i'd lost friday). i fell asleep on the couch for a couple of hours, also delightfully full of dreams. alex woke me up to tell me he was leaving to ride at the lake. i wished him luck, and quickly decided i should probably tag along, knowing i wouldn't get much accomplished left to myself in the neighborhood. we picked up one of his friends on the way for his first mountain biking experience. i tried to stretch as much as i could and headed out on my path. the first mile nearly killed me. it usually does. i normally just need some time to get warmed up. that wasn't the case yesterday. i made it through the first mile, limping along- ankle/shin area trying to slowly kill me. the 2nd mile was equally rough. my plan was to finish that loop, see how things go, and maybe finish off a 5k. things weren't better, but hadn't gotten worse, so i pushed through to the 5k mark. figured i might as well finish off that loop and maybe get to 5 miles. i somehow managed this. i limped most of the way, but got to a somewhat sprint at the end thanks to coldplay's "fix you." the guys weren't back yet, so i walked around some until i saw them. i felt defeated saying how much i sucked and that i only managed 5 in that hour (i'm not fast, but i'm usually not quite that slow). they laughed and said that they also nearly died and only biked 3. i felt like a winner again.
most people are out of the office this week for a conference, so i'm stuck by myself until thursday. we'll see if i can stay awake. today's plan: run if my ankle will let me and fix some baked spaghetti for dinner.
saturday we woke up early to hit the road to breckenridge, texas. we took alex's two youngest cousins (middle c and little c) with us, who assumed that their older, obviously cooler relatives would provide such amazing entertainment and memories to last a lifetime. little did they know that we listen/sing along to music they don't know or care about and that the little talking we did was mostly in reference to people or things they don't know or care about. they played their own games and slept. apparently i'm already old enough that i'm out of the cool club.
3 hours later we arrived at aunt shirley's house for uncle buddy's 80th birthday. we spent the day catching up with the rest of the family and eating (i didn't do TOO bad, definitely could have done much much much worse- shirley enjoys butter). the older of alex's cousins (big c) brought his girlfriend along for the trip, which was exciting for me. after 8 or 9 months of dating i was glad to have someone new to hang out with to restore my sense of youth.
after lunch i invited the youngest cousin on a walk around their property. i told her it would be long, probably about 14 miles. her eyes bulged. she gulped. i told her we could maybe cut it short, but she assured me she was gonna tough it out. i love that my exaggerations can get past a 9 year old. we took off down the road, keeping our eyes peeled for mountain lions and coyotes. we made it to the river (maybe 2 or 3 miles away) where the rest of the family were shooting guns. we let them finish off the bullets and caught a ride back to the house. big c and his girlfriend headed to the pond to do some fishing, so we tagged along and hung out there for awhile.
for the ride home, the cousins were going to trade out cars to give everyone a little break. middle c and little c weren't having it, and wanted to head back with us. we knew were going to stop for dinner on the way back, so we assumed they would make the trade then. no go. real shame, though. i had saved my questions for the girlfriend for the ride home, but never got to take advantage. we made it home, exhausted.
the puppies were thrilled to see us, especially since we spent most of the weekend neglecting them. we snuggled for a bit and headed to bed. best night's sleep in a long long time. lots of dreams, very little waking up. delightful.
after church we whipped up a quick lunch (nothing too heavy since i'd gained back the 2 pounds i'd lost friday). i fell asleep on the couch for a couple of hours, also delightfully full of dreams. alex woke me up to tell me he was leaving to ride at the lake. i wished him luck, and quickly decided i should probably tag along, knowing i wouldn't get much accomplished left to myself in the neighborhood. we picked up one of his friends on the way for his first mountain biking experience. i tried to stretch as much as i could and headed out on my path. the first mile nearly killed me. it usually does. i normally just need some time to get warmed up. that wasn't the case yesterday. i made it through the first mile, limping along- ankle/shin area trying to slowly kill me. the 2nd mile was equally rough. my plan was to finish that loop, see how things go, and maybe finish off a 5k. things weren't better, but hadn't gotten worse, so i pushed through to the 5k mark. figured i might as well finish off that loop and maybe get to 5 miles. i somehow managed this. i limped most of the way, but got to a somewhat sprint at the end thanks to coldplay's "fix you." the guys weren't back yet, so i walked around some until i saw them. i felt defeated saying how much i sucked and that i only managed 5 in that hour (i'm not fast, but i'm usually not quite that slow). they laughed and said that they also nearly died and only biked 3. i felt like a winner again.
most people are out of the office this week for a conference, so i'm stuck by myself until thursday. we'll see if i can stay awake. today's plan: run if my ankle will let me and fix some baked spaghetti for dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment