Another Busy Week

So where did I leave off? Oh, yeah, it was my anniversary on Monday. Thursday was my husband's birthday (told you September was busy) so I made him cinnamon apple pancakes for breakfast before he had to leave for work at 10:30am to close the store that night. When we were in PA over the summer, there was a Living Social deal that was too good to pass up. My husband would be a world traveler/adventure seeker if he could. Our life doesn't afford that now. Had he not gotten married and had kids, I could see him backpacking it all over the world. I couldn't do that for him, but the deal, for $139, gets you an hour of ground instruction and then a 1 hour private flight lesson and your flight log book at one of our small local airports. We just have to schedule when he can take his flight lesson. I think he'll really enjoy it. Maybe when he turns 50 I'll get him the chance to go sky-diving. I'm pretty sure I won't be joining him. (Shit. I forgot he reads this now!)

Charlie's birthday cupcakes, chocolate cake filled with chocolate fudge topped with devine chocolate buttercream, otherwise known as an orgasm on a plate!

I still haven't heard from the program where I interviewed. On Thursday, one week after the second interview, I called the recruiter I had my first interview with and left a message asking about the status of my application. He still hasn't gotten back to me. I do know they can take a while to process the application and what not, I just thought they really needed someone to fill the position. I guess it wasn't that urgent.

Friday was a big day. Since my kids are on the bus by 6:35am and I didn't have the little ones, I was free to get my long run in. The weekend was going to be busy, so I didn't want to put it off. I downloaded some new music to my iPod and set off at 8am, for a 10 mile run. I started at the traffic light by my house and just ran straight down the highway, over the bridge, around the beach, (stopping at the Beach Hut to use the facilities), back over the bridge and back to the traffic light. The last mile was a b*tch, to say the least. I had a bottle of water with me and I would stop at every mile to walk through a sip, (since I haven't learned to run and drink and NOT drown while doing it), but I might need to bring some Gatorade with me on my next run to see if it helps. My left calf kept cramping up. It was like the toes on my foot were connected to that muscle and every time I would move them too much when striking, my calf would lock up. But I persevered and pushed through, slowing down to get it done.

10 miles. 1:51.27. About an 11 minute mile. I'll take it. I'm still very frightened that after running 10 miles, the finish line will still be a grueling 3.1 miles away, so I asked Rik, our From Fat To Finish Line team captain, if I should squeeze in an 11 mile run to give my confidence a boost and he said I should. He also suggested that I run with whatever electrolyte drink they'll have on the course to see if that doesn't help with the cramping. Knowing how much I sweat during any given workout, let alone a two hour run, it's got to be the issue. By the time I am on my front porch stretching, my shorts are dripping into my sneakers, and there's usually a thin layer of salt on my legs and arms. So, I'll be picking up some lemon-lime Gatorade for my Friday run.

Friday afternoon was a big moment in my house. Charlie finally got his cast off! And his frickin' hand REEKED!!! I really felt bad for the x-ray tech and orthopedist having to examine him right after that thing came off. It smelled like the worst baby feet odor. He also had such horribly dry, peeling skin on his palm. Poor thing. We got out the nail brush and scrubbed his hand the moment we got home. It seems back to normal now, although the knuckle still seems swollen. The doctor said it is healed, so that's all that matters. Do you know that the office charged my insurance over $3,000 just to set his hand in the cast? It took the PA about 10 minutes. Ridiculous. Between the office visits, x-rays and cast, my insurance was charged over $4,000. I only had to pay $239 of it, which was taken off of the Choice Care debit card that my husband's boss gives us, so it cost us nothing. Thank God. We do pay $150 a week for our coverage, though, so we're paying our share.

Then, on Friday night, my girlfriend hosted a girl's night at her house. It was almost a weight loss success party. My gf has lost 25 pounds on Weight Watchers, and her WW gf she met at her meeting has lost 56 pounds. Donna's other friend has lost 110 pounds in 11 months after having gastric bypass surgery and then there was me. The woman who had surgery looked fantastic. I have to say, the few people I personally know who have had weight-loss surgery have not lost all the weight they needed to. This woman was exercising before surgery and continues to workout now. She wasn't bashful in showing us the loose skin on her stomach and it wasn't horrible at all. She had the stretch marks of a mommy who had 4 babies and some skin, but it was nothing like "the jowls of a dog" that I expected. Of course if she wants skin-removal surgery to be covered by her insurance, she needs to let it get infected instead of caring for it the way she does, continuously trying to keep it dry and clean. Crazy, right? And they even said that the skin can be used for burn victims. I never realized that!

After a jam-packed Friday, we then had to get out bright and early for my husband's cousin's daughter's wedding. Second cousin? First cousin once removed? Who the hell knows. Anyway, I did a lot of driving, picking up my f-i-l, then his gf, then to the church. It was a beautiful day and she looked amazing. We had time to kill between the church and reception so we stopped at the very adorable bakery across from the church. I had a piece of blueberry coffeecake practically the size of my head which was not as good as I had hoped, but ate the entire thing, never the less. We then had to hoof it all the way to the reception hall 45 minutes away. Charlie and I had a great time with his cousins, talking and dancing. The food was great and I had too much of it. I did pass on the chocolate fountain. I think that was the ONLY thing I didn't inhale! They had a photo booth at the reception where you go in and take pictures. The bride and groom get one copy and you get the other. You can wear props, like a hat or a boa, and you can choose your style photo, be it black and white, color, a wanted poster, etc. Our pictures would have been perfect if Charlie hadn't looked down to read the instructions and just continued to look at the dang camera!

My f-i-l's pictures were hysterical. Poor Beverly had like only one eye in two shots, the first picture my f-i-l looks like he's in pain... so funny. They did a do-over at the end of the night and had better luck that time. What was really nice was that the photos were put in an album and you got to write a sentiment to the couple, and we received a frame to put our photo in. Sweet.

So yesterday was back to normal. Church, my parent's house, gym. Uneventful and calm, although the tooth that was bothering me did break and I now have to go to the dentist and have the rest removed, probably by an oral surgeon. It's the result of the years of eating late at night, not caring about my teeth or my health. This will be the second tooth I've lost because of my former bad habits. Sad but true. I'm sure that will make for a very interesting post later on.