Better Late Than Never? – February Review

 

So…I’ve been super horrible about Blogging lately which is odd because I’ve actually done stuff that have been “Blog Worthy” in my opinion.  Let’s see what I can remember from February:

WEATHER:  it was still crappy.  We had several more rounds of the Polar Vortex and it made getting outside to run a struggle.  Its odd to think that I ran 109 miles in January (which was probably worse weather-wise) but only ran 78 in February.  Most of these miles were completed on the treadmill.

RED DRESS DASH:  for the second year in a row, I did the American Heart Association’s Red Dress Dash.  You can read my review of that here.

BIRTHDAY:  I turned 49 on the 9th.  My last year in the forties and last year in my current running age bracket.  A lot of people get all worked up about how old they are but it really doesn’t bother me.  I think I look pretty good for my age and I feel pretty good too. 

My favorite place to go on my birthday is Red Lobster.  Pretty fancy of me, huh?  But let me tell you, although it is a chain restaurant, its still fairly expensive.  And since it was my birthday, I didn’t really look at what the cost was for the item I wanted.  I ordered the Lobster & Shrimp Linguini Alfredo (I think) which gave me two lobster tails and the Shrimp Linguini Alfredo.  Now, I’m not a total glutton; I ate both lobster tails but boxed up the Linguini to eat the next day.  I did however overindulge in the Cheddar Biscuits and since it was my birthday…I had to have dessert! 

I really hope they aren’t on the verge of shutting down Red Lobster.  I already lost Chi-Chi’s several years ago.  I can’t lose another friend.  #SaveTheLobster

CHOCOLATEFEST:  the next town west of us was having a chocolate fest so we went there the Saturday before my birthday.  I’ve never “participated” in a Chocolatefest before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  There were 12 places to visit and you got a card at the first place and then had all the businesses “check you in” on the card.  If you went to 10 out of the 12 places, you were entered to get a chocolate basket a few weeks later.  The first business was a consignment shop and all we got was a bite-sized Reece’s cup.  Now, I love Reece’s cup but this was NOT what I was expecting.  Most of the other businesses had homemade items, especially if they were a restaurant.  One place wasn’t even open…although according to their posted hours they should have been.  And another business signed our card but didn’t give us anything.  #lame  You could choose the order in which you visited the businesses.  We lucked out because the last place were we stopped gave us homemade hot chocolate that had whipped cream which was drizzled with chocolate sauce and it was the perfect ending to this cold day.  #yum

And we weren’t just all about the freebies, we did make one purchase while on the walk.

HALF MARATHON:  winter half marathons are difficult to find in the Midwest.  But I found one 4 hours away in Marion, IL and it was only $25 to participate.  My brother agreed to do it with me.  However, because of the crappy weather, it got postponed one week.  It should have taken place the day before my birthday but was moved to Valentine’s weekend,  You can read about the postponement here.  So for the first time EVER since my husband and I have been together we would be spending Valentine’s Day apart.  Not really a big deal but it still made me a little sad.  Although postponing the race a weekend proved to be the best thing, the course was still very treacherous in places.  You can read my review of the race here.

GIRL’S WEEKEND:  this was the trip that almost didn’t happen and as a matter of fact, I didn't even blog about it except for the run I did down there, which you can read about here.  Long story short, the night before I was supposed to leave, we discovered that our basement had flooded.  A few things were ruined and we did what we could that night but my husband insisted that I still go and that he would take care of everything while I was gone.  LOVE HIM!   We really needed to get rid of a bunch of stuff down there but this wasn’t the motivation that we’d hoped for.  Then…as I was driving to Tennessee on Friday I get a text from my brother stating that he was in the ER with my Mom.  I was just north of Louisville so if I needed to come home now was the time to find out.  After quickly checking in, both brothers agreed that I should go ahead and go and they would keep me posted.  We would discover that her blood sugar levels were OFF THE CHARTS and that was what was giving her all the other issues she was experiencing.  At almost 83 years old, I’m not sure it will ever sink in that she is diabetic and needs to what this and test her levels.

But back to the trip….it was great to be with girls I’ve know since high school and to have some fun.  The weekend was not without its difficulties though as our best friend JH’s sister was in the hospital in Los Angeles and it looked like she wouldn’t get any better.  JH would leave Tennessee, go back to Dallas to regroup and then head to California.  The family would then decide what to do. 

However, this silliness DID happen while in Nashville:

WINNER WINNER:  I follow a few other blogs and every now and then will enter a contest if it is something I am interested in.  I got this in the mail on February 24th.  I didn’t even remember “entering” but was surprised to find not only the cough drop samples – which I am interested in trying – but a $100 Visa gift card.  Yay me!  When you opened the box the “Ricola” song played. 

All in all, it was a pretty good February.