A week of highs and lows...and another milestone

This has been an interesting week for me. On Friday as I was getting ready to leave work, I was informed that I have been caught up in the corporate cut-back and I was out of a job. The good part is, I worked for a staffing company and they are trying to place me elsewhere. Fortunately, I still have some income from being self-employed.

The great part of the last week is that I recently met a wonderful man and we are growing closer every day. His name is Chad and he makes me happy!

Monday is my weigh-in day at Weight Watchers. I am now down a total of 50.4 pounds since January 21st.

This weekend, my brother and his family are coming up from Miami to celebrate my niece's first birthday. I can't wait to see them...my nieces, of course! :)

Life Check List

Work:
Stressful, my hours have been cut (more on that later)

Family:
Good though concerned about my grandma. She's 88 and having some issues.

Friends:
Most are good. However, Steve was in the hospital this week because of chest pains. All checked out fine. Now we move onto another doctor. Beth found out she has a broken arm from her fall in Virginia Beach. She will not need surgery but this will keep her from Ironman Florida on November 1st.

Weight Loss:
Great...down 46.6 pounds since January 21.

Athletic:
Finished my second half marathon on August 31st with a time almost 15 minutes faster than my first one. Now I'm signed up for a full marathon! I'm not sure what I was thinking when I was talked into it.

Dating/Relationship (pick one):
It's Great!!!

OVERALL:
FEELING GOOD!!!

What was I thinking?!?!?

Today was Missey's birthday (Happy Birthday!!!) so we were having a small-ish get together over at her house. One of the guests was Missey's ironman coach, Hector. I learned a hard lesson. Never say that you have no desire to do a marathon in front of him and all of your friends. He kept pressing to know why...I never gave him a reason he would accept. He kept pressing along with everyone else. Before I knew it, he had conviced me and one other lady to join the insanity...I mean, fun. By the end of the night, I was registered.

My friend, Rick, is doing both the Half Marathon and the full Marathon dressed in Star Wars armor to raise money for charity. He's walking the race...I will be part of his support crew. At least I'll be distracted by this. LOL

Here's the craziest part...The Disney Marathon is the VERY strict about time cut-offs. What makes me think I can do this? Well, you never know until you try!

So, now in addition to sharing my weight loss journey, I'll be sharing my journey to 26.2 miles. Wish me luck...I'm going to need all that I can get!!!

Labor Day Bonus

Our plane landed in Orlando around 11:00. After talking to my parents, I found out they were meeting my brother, sister-in-law and my nieces at the Mall of Millenia for lunch. My brother and his family had been at a church camp for the weekend so they were driving through town...of course, they HAD to stop. So, I headed my car toward the mall and met up with my family.

Have I ever mentioned that I have the CUTEST nieces in the world? No, really, I'm telling the truth! Kayla will be 3 in November and Megan will be 1 in a week. We had fun playing in the kids area and letting them burn off some energy before the long drive back to Miami. I had to share some pics:

See, I was telling the truth! They ARE the cutest!

(OK, maybe I'm a little biased.)

Virginia Beach Update

Virginia Beach has come and gone! It's hard to believe that it's over. The weekend started when Missey and I left on Friday morning. We arrived in Virginia Beach and immediately checked into our hotel and headed to the Expo. We were anxious to get our packets before the craziness began. After the Expo, we kept close to the hotel as it had started raining and then ran some errands...party store, grocery store and such. At the end of the night, we joined Aimee and Kelly (who had just arrived) in the bar for some food and drink. A good time was had by all!!!

Saturday morning started with a short run, breakfast and decorating the birthday gir's room. (We're evil!) Missey went to pick up Sandi, Joy and Beth the Birthday Girl from the airport while Aimee and I finished decorating. I think Beth was ready to kill us upon her arrival at the hotel:

After a quick change, it was off to the Expo again. They needed to pick up their race packets and do a little shopping. However, this time Beth was the attention getter...we made her wear her birthday crown all weekend!

After the Expo we headed back to the hotel and had a scrumptious dinner at Aldo's. I wish we had one here in Orlando!

Sunday was race day so we started early...breakfast, dressing and making sure we had everything we needed! Then, we were off!!! We met everyone in the lobby:

The one bad part of the weekend was that Beth fell between mile 1 and 2...she messed up her shoulder but she finished the race makeshift sling and all. She is an amazing woman! I was pleased with my race...I finished 10-15 minutes faster than I did on my first one. I don't have an "official" time from Disney because they turn off the timing mat at 3:30...I was in between 3:40 and 3:45. Oh well!

After the race we went to Abbey Road for drinks and burgers, spent some time at the pool and then got ready to go out to dinner to Captain George's Seafood. It's an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. I can only do this on a day I have a major workout! LOL

Here's the dinner crew:

All in all it was a FABULOUS time! I am looking forward to my next race and my next adventure with all of my friends!