It is way too early...

For me to be making a 'sweat angel' if I lay down after a jog.  It's not even May!  Gross, TMI, and all that but I needed to vent :)
***Edited to add this is from my back.  There seems to have been a little confusion...

Spring time creeping into summer

Pretty, right?

Top of the stairs!

It was an absolutely beautiful day today.  Starting to get hot.  It hit 90- maybe higher, that's the temp it was when I checked after the run. My run had a nice long break today where I wondered around the SC State House.  It was hot and I wanted to cool down after weeks of 75 degree runs, 90 was a little shocking to the system.  I will say that in my opinion SC has one of the most beautiful and accessible state house buildings and grounds.  You may not like the people in the building or the statues on the grounds but they are quite lovely.  I did make myself walk the steps five times to make up for the pizza I was about to eat since I took a stroll in the middle of the run.

Blurry pic, fabulous peeps.

The pizza was left over from dinner last night.  Some of the girls went out and just had a nice dinner and chat.  Definitely need to do that more often!  And tomorrow night my friend David and I will be taking a class on how to cook Indian food.  Hopefully that will go well!

Close up of a bronze star

Stars marking cannon damage

The lion is not part of the State House grounds, but part of a pair at the State Library.  I love the condescending look on their faces as you pass between them.  It's like "why are you here?... I know you read trashy romance...."

Stupid Weather

Ready to go Sat. morning

So this weekend did not go as planned.  AT ALL.  I was supposed to do the Mud Run this weekend. But as you can probably tell from that sentence it didn't happen.  I got a message early on Saturday morning saying that two of the team members backed out due to weather concerns.  This really disappointed me (especially after the fact since the bad weather didn't really come near us), but having seen the news and reports from that same storm system I can't really blame them for backing out.  I was nervous Friday night.  But like I said, the weather mostly bypassed us.  Kim, from TNT did offer to transfer my father and I to the Fall Mud Run, to which I said YES!  So put October 15th on the calendar.  (Also, I am taking applications for the other two spots on my team.  The rules are that you want to finish and that you aren't competitive... because I am not going to be fast :) )  The only good thing is that we (you all and I) have raised almost $600 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I am going to keep the widget up and see how much we can raise by October.  Let's shoot for $1000!
On that note I spent Saturday baking rather than washing mud out of my hair.  Below are the pictures of the first batch of rocky road bars that will be making their way to my donors shortly.  Second batch will be made once I figure out everyone's schedules so I can get them to you fresh!  I was trying to find fun ways to incorporate 'dirt' and mini mud pies would have been way too much work :)  Hope you enjoy!  (For those of you who live further out I have something special coming your way).  Thank you all for playing along with me in this endeavor and I am looking forward to October 15th! 

Ready to go!

Getting the ingredients together.

Rocky Road bars are done!

Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the flowers

Getting a little dark.

So this was a busy week.  Yesterday I had work, Phi Mu stuff, and then since this weekend is the mud run I had to get one last run in.  'Cause I had lots of stuff to do tonight and knew it wasn't going to happen.  And I needed it because I needed a little serenity (though I had calmed down a lot thanks to Dad).  Earlier this week I got an email from Kim, my Team in Training contact, and I noticed that a teammate wasn't listed so I was wondering what was going on, did I need to forward the email, etc.  Well two of the team dropped out.  They had their reason but still a heads up would have been nice.  So I start to freak out... since the event is SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kim called me and let me know that I would still have a team even if she had to do it.  So she has/had feelers out and I was told to show up on Saturday and I would have a team.  Well yesterday my dad called and offered to join the team.  So Dad and mystery persons (I had not met the fourth person before all of this anyway) will be playing in the mud this weekend.  So the news about Dad joining the team and a nice mellow run after the meeting I filled in on and I felt good.  What makes me feel even better is that we have raised 90% (counting offline donations) and are at $450 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  You can click on the widget on the right to learn more if you would like.  We will be having a muddy good time for a great cause.  And it will be extra muddy since the forecast is calling for rain.

Also, a love the picture to the right.  As I left class tonight the plants flowering around Moore were just so beautiful and were so completely perfuming the air.  It was so nice. 

Urban tour and fun surprises.



Pierre humoring me at Drake's

 

Drake's Duck In

 

Late Thursday afternoon I came across an add for Columbia's Urban Tour.  This was a way to get people to come out on Main St. after 5pm and see what downtown Columbia has to offer.  So I sent out a couple texts and Pierre was able to come with.  There were about six blocks of music, art, food, and the always fun people watching.  Heard some new bands (or at least new to me- Whiskey Tango Revue was one) and got to see the Who Shot Rock & Roll exhibit at  the Columbia Museum of Art.  And I made it to Drake's Duck In!  I had not been there in years... like 20.  Because every time I would drive through Main St they would be closed (like most businesses in the area when the main businesses close at 5 the small surrounding ones close for the day as well).  I was so nervous that I had built up the yummy-ness in my head that I would be disappointed.  Not the case at all.  It was soooooo good!  Pierre was impressed with the fries.  We then went and listened to some of the bands.  Whiskey Tango Revue was playing and I really liked their sound.  I now have a new band to listen out for. 



The fam



The amazing cake



Then on Saturday, the family headed to Camden to surprise my grandmother with an early eightieth birthday party. All five of her kids were able to make it into town along with most of the grandkids. As people started showing up she just thought it was the biggest coincidence that everyone ended up in town on the same weekend. First of the family to come down were my uncle Forest and Greg. They "just decided to come down to the lake for a weekend". Then, Uncle Hollis and Aunt Sherri drove up from Charleston "where they had flown in to visit a friend". Aunt Carrie just popped in. Then Grandma called us to try and see if we could come and visit since everyone else was here but we "had plans already". When they all got to Sam Kendall's restaurant she was shocked to see us there. And I blame Lent for her not putting things together (she is really, really busy this time of year but it worked in our favor :) ). She kept saying we all needed to call my Uncle Craig because everyone together was just awesome and how it was too bad he was still at the beach... and then he walked in along with his kids.  It was a wonderful night.  With the exception of getting caught in the horrible storm on the way home.  One of the scariest times of my life- if not the scariest.  We couldn't see the road, hail, cars swerving, and we were past the point of return because you can't turn around or you'd be driving back into the storm.  We made it home thanks to God and my dad's great driving skills.  Luckily, once we got though the storm it bypassed Columbia and it was a quiet night.  I will tell you though I speed home and put my little storm kit together :).  So I just had a nice relaxing Sunday where I cleaned and decompressed.  Tomorrow I plan on going to the ropes course for some last minute practice for Saturday's Mud Run.  Only six days left!



Busy, busy week!

I finally made it out today.  I didn't want to at all.  I was tired and just wanted to go home but I have a meeting tomorrow night (Columbia Area Phi Mu Alumnae- so fun but I won't be running) and it has been over a week since my last run... last Sunday to be specific.  My week was busy (see map below).  But really interesting- it was nice to see the campuses and learn a little more about how they all work.  However, the days were LONG.  Five AM is not my friend!  Some pics from the road below.  And in addition to that I had a Columbia APH meeting (we went to Mad Platter-again fun but no running- and note to self I still need to pick my piece up!), dates (let you know if it leads anywhere- fingers crossed about one), and other job.  So this weekend when I had a free second I was very lazy.  Now to get back on track 'cause I only have 12 days until the mud run.  GULP!  And a huge thank you to those who have donated the the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!






On the road again...




So pretty here at USCA



Water was moving
 fast tonight after all
 the rain last week

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