I have special lunch plans today. My hubby is being honored at a lunch at his work for his 10th anniversary. It's the longest he's worked for a single employer (beating out the U.S. Marines by about a year). And his employer makes a big deal out of every 5 years of work, so he and a couple others are being celebrated today, and I'm invited too!
I'm very excited and so proud of him. I've never worked anywhere 10 years -- the longest was about 7 years at my first job out of law school at a big firm. But since I like my job so much now, I could absolutely see being there for 10 or 20 years, but it's not such a big deal where I work. They mark your anniversary every year with the "quarterly cake" -- basically a big cake for everyone that has a list of all the quarter's birthdays and anniversaries. He likes his job too most days, so I can imagine going to another of these lunches in another 5 years, and then again in 2021, after which I'd guess he'll retire if he hasn't already. He doesn't want to do his job when he gets too old, he'd rather find something else, but for now it's a very good fit for him. It brings out many of the best aspects of his personality, he finds it interesting most days, it motivates and challenges him, and he can't imagine doing anything else.
So today I get to go to work with him at lunch and clap and be proud of him. Should be fun!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The Bachelorette Bash
So, I've finally recovered in most senses from the 3-day bachelorette weekend extravaganza in Michigan. I am so lucky that my two youngest brothers are both getting married this year to women that I think are wonderful. I've spent a lot more time with one of them (the October wedding) since she and my brother have been dating for close to 10 yrs. My baby brother is marrying someone he's been dating for about 7 years I think, but this weekend was the first time I got to spend a lot of time with her. Whereas the other fiancee (October wedding) has been home with us for Christmas many years, I've been around Europe with her, we've road-tripped together, we've been around the US together -- from Seattle and Portland to Upstate New York. So there's no question I love her. And I could tell I liked my baby bro's fiancee, I just haven't spent anywhere near that much time with her.
The bachelorette weekend changed all that. Both of them were there, I was with them pretty much 24/7, and wow, my brothers have both done so well! They're great guys. The baby is seriously insanely sweet and agreeable. That kind of made me think there was absolutely no chance that anyone he ever married would be good enough for him in my book. Well, I think he's found someone who can measure up to my high standards.
She's so friendly and upbeat. So sweet, so generous. I think they're going to be a great match. A few of my favorite aspects of the weekend, captured in photos:
First, the cottage where the party was. Belongs to the parents of one of the bride's childhood friends, and it was ours for the weekend.
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Inside the cottage, the bride getting ready to celebrate.
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Friday night's crowd was a little smaller, 8 of them plus me, trying to figure out how to work the timer on the camera so I could be in the picture too.
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We weren't very good at tapping the keg. Way too much foam. This is the bride's cousin and the woman whose parents own the cottage, bride's childhood friend.
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The backseat of the Denali going out to dinner Fri night -- I think there were 12 of us, all in one car. My husband probably would have been pissed at me if he'd known we did that (glad he doesn't read this!), he's big on people being buckled.
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Bride to be laughing and laughing and laughing. Very good sign that the wknd was full of that.
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Her special princess glass for the wknd, complete with a penis straw.
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Sleeping arrangements on the less crowded night -- believe it or not, it was substantially more crowded the following night.
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Most of the alcohol for the wknd. Those kids could drink...
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My future sister in law.
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Playing beer pong.
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Woman who is married to one of the sons of the people who owned the cottage, passing out the penis straws.
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She's getting ready for her first keg stand.
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Completely upright for her second keg stand. Crazy.
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Getting ready for the panty-party and gifts.
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But first, we all took turns dancing for the bride. This was one of the craziest girls that wknd, one of the bride's college friends. She was so much fun. And though she drank tons, she still got up and ran with me! And she was fast!
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So the panty game is where everyone brings a pair of panties and the bride has to guess who each pair is from. For one reason or another, she decided to put on every pair.
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Oh, I meant she put on every pair at the same time.
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So by the end, she was wearing about 15 pairs of panties at the same time. I guess it went with the "excess" theme of the weekend!
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And she modeled the lingerie she got.
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She cracked up that I gave her something very conservative and full coverage -- but it's my baby brother, what did she expect???
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But of course, she wore all of it at the same time.
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Going to dinner Sat night -- this time with 16 people in the Denali. Again, not something I'll tell my husband.
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Arriving at dinner Sat night.
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There just so happened to be a group of 20 or so guys with reservations at the same time, at the same restaurant. And we knew in advance they'd be there, and that they were a German or Russian sports team. We had high hopes. Little did we know they were all substantially older than even me, and they were a German handball team. But they were so much fun! And of course they loved the bride! Though they didn't really speak English.
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Waitress bringing mudslides for everyone.
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My future sis and a bunch of her friends (one college, one childhood, two high school, and her mom).
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One of the Germans who spoke English, most did not, giving the bride some advice for a happy marriage.
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Dance party at the house after dinner.
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And then a bonfire, where we eventually sat around playing "I Never." Fortunately I was sufficiently intoxicated that I have no recollection of what she did or did not drink to!
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Her bachelorette weekend cake -- pretty and tasty!
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A bunch of people laid out on Sunday for most of the day, I mostly walked the beach.
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A pretty view of the Lake.
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So there you have it, the weekend in pictures! I had so much fun, despite all the alcohol!
The bachelorette weekend changed all that. Both of them were there, I was with them pretty much 24/7, and wow, my brothers have both done so well! They're great guys. The baby is seriously insanely sweet and agreeable. That kind of made me think there was absolutely no chance that anyone he ever married would be good enough for him in my book. Well, I think he's found someone who can measure up to my high standards.
She's so friendly and upbeat. So sweet, so generous. I think they're going to be a great match. A few of my favorite aspects of the weekend, captured in photos:
First, the cottage where the party was. Belongs to the parents of one of the bride's childhood friends, and it was ours for the weekend.
Inside the cottage, the bride getting ready to celebrate.
Friday night's crowd was a little smaller, 8 of them plus me, trying to figure out how to work the timer on the camera so I could be in the picture too.
We weren't very good at tapping the keg. Way too much foam. This is the bride's cousin and the woman whose parents own the cottage, bride's childhood friend.
The backseat of the Denali going out to dinner Fri night -- I think there were 12 of us, all in one car. My husband probably would have been pissed at me if he'd known we did that (glad he doesn't read this!), he's big on people being buckled.
Bride to be laughing and laughing and laughing. Very good sign that the wknd was full of that.
Her special princess glass for the wknd, complete with a penis straw.
Sleeping arrangements on the less crowded night -- believe it or not, it was substantially more crowded the following night.
Most of the alcohol for the wknd. Those kids could drink...
My future sister in law.
Playing beer pong.
Woman who is married to one of the sons of the people who owned the cottage, passing out the penis straws.
She's getting ready for her first keg stand.
Completely upright for her second keg stand. Crazy.
Getting ready for the panty-party and gifts.
But first, we all took turns dancing for the bride. This was one of the craziest girls that wknd, one of the bride's college friends. She was so much fun. And though she drank tons, she still got up and ran with me! And she was fast!
So the panty game is where everyone brings a pair of panties and the bride has to guess who each pair is from. For one reason or another, she decided to put on every pair.
Oh, I meant she put on every pair at the same time.
So by the end, she was wearing about 15 pairs of panties at the same time. I guess it went with the "excess" theme of the weekend!
And she modeled the lingerie she got.
She cracked up that I gave her something very conservative and full coverage -- but it's my baby brother, what did she expect???
But of course, she wore all of it at the same time.
Going to dinner Sat night -- this time with 16 people in the Denali. Again, not something I'll tell my husband.
Arriving at dinner Sat night.
There just so happened to be a group of 20 or so guys with reservations at the same time, at the same restaurant. And we knew in advance they'd be there, and that they were a German or Russian sports team. We had high hopes. Little did we know they were all substantially older than even me, and they were a German handball team. But they were so much fun! And of course they loved the bride! Though they didn't really speak English.
Waitress bringing mudslides for everyone.
My future sis and a bunch of her friends (one college, one childhood, two high school, and her mom).
One of the Germans who spoke English, most did not, giving the bride some advice for a happy marriage.
Dance party at the house after dinner.
And then a bonfire, where we eventually sat around playing "I Never." Fortunately I was sufficiently intoxicated that I have no recollection of what she did or did not drink to!
Her bachelorette weekend cake -- pretty and tasty!
A bunch of people laid out on Sunday for most of the day, I mostly walked the beach.
A pretty view of the Lake.
So there you have it, the weekend in pictures! I had so much fun, despite all the alcohol!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Awesome Weekend!
Wow, three-day weekends are so nice! Mine was completely awesome.
I ended up doing the 10k on Saturday morning, but it did not go well. Not even close to a PR. I mean, not even close. Like probably a minute per mile off. Fortunately one of my best running friends who is a million times faster than me (he's looking to qualify for Boston, which means about 35 minutes faster than the time I needed), happened to be hung over, so he said he'd run with me. He's agreed/planned to run with me before though and then proceeded to go out way too fast -- and I'd either try to keep up (which meant train wreck), or I wouldn't (which meant we didn't run together). Given our history, I wasn't counting on him being true to his word. But this time we actually ran together! Needless to say, that meant no age group award for either of us. It was just way too hot. Our last mile was about 30 seconds slower than the first, if that gives you an indication of how bad it was. The goal is usually to be steady (within 5-10 seconds for all miles), or to get progressively faster. Well, every single mile for us was slower than the one before it. But not big deal. Neither of us really cared, it was just fun to run together and get in some miles.
Then I ran errands. One of the local running stores is moving to a new location, so I stocked up on some stuff (including a couple things for hubby's birthday). The highlight of my errands though was going to see my dress for the next family wedding. I'm going to be in my brother's wedding in October, and so I wanted to try on the dress that she picked so I'd know what size to order. I'll have to look for a link to post.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/donna-morgan-twist-detail-chiffon-dress/3207028?origin=category&resultback=1004
If that works you'll see it's also dark blue and strapless, just like the one for the wedding for my brother who's getting married in July. But still pretty different. Why did I ever think I was mostly done being a bridesmaid a few years ago? Two in one year this year!
Sunday started with a long run -- 14 miles, which felt more grueling than it should have. But good friends always help the miles tick by, so that was nice. Then I came home and made a quiche -- asparagus. Maybe the first quiche I've ever made, but I used pre-made crust, so I'm not sure it counts. It was crust, gruyere cheese, asparagus tips, then a mix of eggs, cream, nutmeg and pepper poured over the top. I really hate eggs or things that taste like eggs, but this was pretty good.
I went over to my friend's house to finally watch the former man of my dreams marry some other woman named Kate Middleton. I'd also made scones on Saturday, and we had all kinds of other fun foods to eat. My friend's daughter got bored with the wedding pretty early on (probably because we watched a lot of the pre-wedding coverage). I think I was about her age when I watched Diana and Charles get married very early in the morning one day with my mom.
After the wedding-watching party, I went to my husband's work. There is a huge fireworks show in the town where he works, ranks third in the country. Most years a bunch of the wives plan a big potluck meal, and it's always a lot of fun. Sometimes nearby coworkers show up and also chow down, and I think that has irritated some in the past (like we're bringing the food for ourselves and our husbands, and you're welcome to eat too but exercise some portion control and don't bring your whole family). Well, this year, one of the officing neighbors hosted and it was not quite the same. Still at my husband's work, but they (office neighbors) completely outnumbered us (hubby's co-workers and families). And of course there wasn't enough parking for my husband's co-workers' spouses, despite the fact that most of the neighboring spouses came on school buses. The food was not well planned. Burgers and hot dogs with ketchup, mustard, relish and buns, boxes of indiv bags of chips, boxed store-bought cookies, and a couple cakes and some watermelon. We usually make sure there are pasta salads, tons of homemade desserts, toppings for the burgers like lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, etc. Just not the same. Maybe, maybe, maybe next year we can just do our own party and not invite neighboring offices. Let them do their own party. The problem is, all the guys work together a lot, so it's likely we're kind of stuck with them. Oh, and another complaint was the smoking -- we were outside, but still, it didn't seem like a smart idea with so many kids around. It smelled awful and it just set a bad example. Anyway, the fireworks were still great. I mostly watched with the wife of one of my husband's colleagues who I've barely seen since our US wedding reception about 2 years ago. It was nice to catch up. But oh, the drive home sucked. So much traffic! About 11 miles in 90 minutes. Sigh.
On the Fourth I took a day of freedom from working out. Got up early and went to a place called Fossil Rim with a friend, her husband, and their two kids, one of whom is my godson. It's about 90 miles away and is a drive-through safari thing. You get a bag of feed and you get to feed various kinds of deer, gazzelle, giraffes and zebras. We had a great time and my friend made an awesome picnic lunch too. Then I came home and tried to get organized for the week ahead. Lunches, outfits, straightening up.
Two short work-weeks coming up now: 4 days this week, 2 days next week for the wedding!! I'm going to post bachelorette party pictures tomorrow I hope.
I ended up doing the 10k on Saturday morning, but it did not go well. Not even close to a PR. I mean, not even close. Like probably a minute per mile off. Fortunately one of my best running friends who is a million times faster than me (he's looking to qualify for Boston, which means about 35 minutes faster than the time I needed), happened to be hung over, so he said he'd run with me. He's agreed/planned to run with me before though and then proceeded to go out way too fast -- and I'd either try to keep up (which meant train wreck), or I wouldn't (which meant we didn't run together). Given our history, I wasn't counting on him being true to his word. But this time we actually ran together! Needless to say, that meant no age group award for either of us. It was just way too hot. Our last mile was about 30 seconds slower than the first, if that gives you an indication of how bad it was. The goal is usually to be steady (within 5-10 seconds for all miles), or to get progressively faster. Well, every single mile for us was slower than the one before it. But not big deal. Neither of us really cared, it was just fun to run together and get in some miles.
Then I ran errands. One of the local running stores is moving to a new location, so I stocked up on some stuff (including a couple things for hubby's birthday). The highlight of my errands though was going to see my dress for the next family wedding. I'm going to be in my brother's wedding in October, and so I wanted to try on the dress that she picked so I'd know what size to order. I'll have to look for a link to post.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/donna-morgan-twist-detail-chiffon-dress/3207028?origin=category&resultback=1004
If that works you'll see it's also dark blue and strapless, just like the one for the wedding for my brother who's getting married in July. But still pretty different. Why did I ever think I was mostly done being a bridesmaid a few years ago? Two in one year this year!
Sunday started with a long run -- 14 miles, which felt more grueling than it should have. But good friends always help the miles tick by, so that was nice. Then I came home and made a quiche -- asparagus. Maybe the first quiche I've ever made, but I used pre-made crust, so I'm not sure it counts. It was crust, gruyere cheese, asparagus tips, then a mix of eggs, cream, nutmeg and pepper poured over the top. I really hate eggs or things that taste like eggs, but this was pretty good.
I went over to my friend's house to finally watch the former man of my dreams marry some other woman named Kate Middleton. I'd also made scones on Saturday, and we had all kinds of other fun foods to eat. My friend's daughter got bored with the wedding pretty early on (probably because we watched a lot of the pre-wedding coverage). I think I was about her age when I watched Diana and Charles get married very early in the morning one day with my mom.
After the wedding-watching party, I went to my husband's work. There is a huge fireworks show in the town where he works, ranks third in the country. Most years a bunch of the wives plan a big potluck meal, and it's always a lot of fun. Sometimes nearby coworkers show up and also chow down, and I think that has irritated some in the past (like we're bringing the food for ourselves and our husbands, and you're welcome to eat too but exercise some portion control and don't bring your whole family). Well, this year, one of the officing neighbors hosted and it was not quite the same. Still at my husband's work, but they (office neighbors) completely outnumbered us (hubby's co-workers and families). And of course there wasn't enough parking for my husband's co-workers' spouses, despite the fact that most of the neighboring spouses came on school buses. The food was not well planned. Burgers and hot dogs with ketchup, mustard, relish and buns, boxes of indiv bags of chips, boxed store-bought cookies, and a couple cakes and some watermelon. We usually make sure there are pasta salads, tons of homemade desserts, toppings for the burgers like lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, etc. Just not the same. Maybe, maybe, maybe next year we can just do our own party and not invite neighboring offices. Let them do their own party. The problem is, all the guys work together a lot, so it's likely we're kind of stuck with them. Oh, and another complaint was the smoking -- we were outside, but still, it didn't seem like a smart idea with so many kids around. It smelled awful and it just set a bad example. Anyway, the fireworks were still great. I mostly watched with the wife of one of my husband's colleagues who I've barely seen since our US wedding reception about 2 years ago. It was nice to catch up. But oh, the drive home sucked. So much traffic! About 11 miles in 90 minutes. Sigh.
On the Fourth I took a day of freedom from working out. Got up early and went to a place called Fossil Rim with a friend, her husband, and their two kids, one of whom is my godson. It's about 90 miles away and is a drive-through safari thing. You get a bag of feed and you get to feed various kinds of deer, gazzelle, giraffes and zebras. We had a great time and my friend made an awesome picnic lunch too. Then I came home and tried to get organized for the week ahead. Lunches, outfits, straightening up.
Two short work-weeks coming up now: 4 days this week, 2 days next week for the wedding!! I'm going to post bachelorette party pictures tomorrow I hope.
Friday, July 1, 2011
To Race or Not To Race?
I'm trying to decide whether I should "race" tomorrow. I think I have to use quotes around that phrase b/c obviously I'm not in racing shape. The only way I could set a PR right now would be to race a distance I've never done before, or to race a distance I haven't raced in several years.
Tomorrow our local running club has two options -- 5k or 10k. I need to decide if I'm going to do one, and if so which. Other options are sleeping in (but Monday is going to be a rest day, so that's really not a good idea), or doing the run with Back on My Feet (not sure if I wrote about that before, I've only done it a couple times, it's running with homeless people to help them get on track in life and it's awesome). But I should note that the homeless run would be at a fairly slow pace. Since I really want to push hard the next couple weeks until my baby bro's wedding (eliminating as much back fat and other bulges as possible), I think it's better to do a race.
And I think 10k is probably the best option. Because I'm closer to being in 10k PR shape than I am to being in 5k PR shape. But I'm wondering if I should try to run hard. The last time I tried to run a 10k with a lot of effort was in January (I'm sure I posted about it, but too lazy to try to find the link). I was fairly disappointed with my time, but I was also in the middle of a bad upper respiratory infection. But I'm not sure how that balances out -- [upper respiratory infection and coming off the holidays] v. [100 degrees and coming off a long vacation very very slowly].
In some ways maybe doing this 10k will be a great exercise for me -- practice at pushing hard, but not too hard. Not hard enough to PR. Not hard enough to die of heat stroke. But hard enough to have a time with which I'm satisfied. Hard enough to justify getting up early and getting out there. Hard enough to feel like it was a solid day's workout.
Tomorrow our local running club has two options -- 5k or 10k. I need to decide if I'm going to do one, and if so which. Other options are sleeping in (but Monday is going to be a rest day, so that's really not a good idea), or doing the run with Back on My Feet (not sure if I wrote about that before, I've only done it a couple times, it's running with homeless people to help them get on track in life and it's awesome). But I should note that the homeless run would be at a fairly slow pace. Since I really want to push hard the next couple weeks until my baby bro's wedding (eliminating as much back fat and other bulges as possible), I think it's better to do a race.
And I think 10k is probably the best option. Because I'm closer to being in 10k PR shape than I am to being in 5k PR shape. But I'm wondering if I should try to run hard. The last time I tried to run a 10k with a lot of effort was in January (I'm sure I posted about it, but too lazy to try to find the link). I was fairly disappointed with my time, but I was also in the middle of a bad upper respiratory infection. But I'm not sure how that balances out -- [upper respiratory infection and coming off the holidays] v. [100 degrees and coming off a long vacation very very slowly].
In some ways maybe doing this 10k will be a great exercise for me -- practice at pushing hard, but not too hard. Not hard enough to PR. Not hard enough to die of heat stroke. But hard enough to have a time with which I'm satisfied. Hard enough to justify getting up early and getting out there. Hard enough to feel like it was a solid day's workout.
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