Staycation

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been on staycation and doing everything else but blogging! I'm not very good at doing nothing. Last week when people asked me what my plans were, I usually answered, "To do whatever I want and to relax." Friends just nodded knowingly; I don't stand still well.

But I did y'all! Thursday's run was scrapped because of the smoke. Friday morning was the triumphant return of pregnant Sarah. It was still smoky, and strangely cool, but we shuffled our way to 4 miles. It's so nice to have my running buddy back! I hope she feels better this trimester. Saturday we did not run AT ALL! I know, shocking. We've been training for something or other since August. This was a hard earned, and much deserved break. As much as I enjoyed sleeping in, I missed my girls and was eager to start Session 3 of Spring Speed on Monday. Of course we ran the Magic Mile. Funny, just 6 weeks ago I was beyond thrilled with my 8:09:99. And yet, when I ran 8:10 this week, I was disappointed. So was my coach. She tsk tsk'd me when I told her I hadn't really run in days. Guilt. AND the few girls who were actually slower than me didn't return for Session 3. So, in just over a year, I have knocked over 2 minutes off my mile, yet am STILL the slowest girl in class. Yeesh.

I made a list of Things to Accomplish this week. Here is what I've done thus far:

1. Re-organize kitchen cabinets, removing items I'm not using on a regular basis. Downsizing my gadgets!
2. Magic erasing kitchen cabinets. I'm in a long term love affair with Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers. We have a lot of painted woodwork in our home and Mr. C keeps my cabinets sparkly!
3. Caulk and paint the crown moulding that Hubs installed in our bathroom.

4. I carried that can of white paint around for hours yesterday and touched up most of the baseboards in our house, as well as a lot of the trim work around the doors. You know, you try to keep it clean, but life comes with little dings here and there. It now looks mahvelous. I figured you didn't really want a photo of my baseboards.

5. Trimmed all of the hedges and a few trees. Yes, I even broke out the chain saw. We will def be calling for special trash pickup on Monday. I've got LOTS of branches for the city to mulch! I'll spare you a photo, but look at this darling rooster I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

Here is the sad truth. I have an inner struggle between my love of cheesy chickens and Pottery Barn. These things do not mix. And I squash my desire to decorate in toile with chickens roosting all over the house, every now and then I indulge my love of poultry and plant a pullet here and there. You can't see it in the photo, but he's kicking out his front leg, like he's doing the Chicken Dance! And for half off, I just couldn't pass him up.

6. I've spray painted the chandelier...photos to come once it is hung.

7. Sprayed all of the wrought iron railings in the front and back porches.

8. Done Jillian's 30 Shred each and every day.

The list continues with the even more mundane. I'm thinking of heading to the nursery to pick up some shrubs. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, I want to take advantage of the soft soil and rework some of our landscaping. (or lack thereof) I NEED to head to the mall to replace the now two pairs of pants that I finally retired. The lining split, right across the, ahem, backside. And I wore them entirely too long after the great divide. But I don't want to leave that house! I'm enjoying just being at home (and watching 7th Heaven reruns) entirely too much. I just wish Staycation could last a little longer.

As I was rearranging furniture this afternoon, I cam across this unusual sight. Believe me the lion has finally laid down with the lamb. (or has the lion lain down with the lamb?) These two do NOT get along! They are prolly just trying to stay out of the way so I don't paint them too!

Lastly, Hubs announced this weekend that he would like to take a Beach Vacation this summer. This is a surprise to me for several reasons, namely, we are not Beach People. I prefer to stay out of pools of water that are not chlorinated, I despise the heat and frankly, neither of us are good at relaxing. Which is what I gather most of y'all do at the beach. So I propose to you, where should we go? Jules says Hawaii, and looking at Chic Runner's photo, I agree. But Hawaii is not in the budget. Keeping in mind, my beach vacay experience is limited to Galveston and Padre. So I'm not hard to impress! I'd love your suggestions for something out of the ordinary, yet totally accessible.