Race Time

We thought our chance to run in the April 5th Cherry Blossom 5k/10m was gone: registration opened in December on the day we were on a plane to Texas. You have to register quick because it fills up within two hours sometimes. We found out that Meghan works at the credit union who's sponsoring the race and last week she got us and my acupuncturist and his wife entries into the race! So, we're running the Cherry Blossom with 5,000 of our closest friends. I hope it's not cold and rainy like last year. It's still a pretty course along the tidal basin and around the monuments, usually at the height of the cherry blossom "bloomage". Now I've got about 7 weeks to train for the race and hopefully knock another 30 seconds off my personal best (PB) time. (Oooh, I sound like a runner!)

Did you catch the Oscars? Me neither, but I've been catching up on the winners and the fashions. I heard Hugh Jackman did a good job (and looked awesome too). I haven't seen any of the movies but I'm hoping to at least catch "Slumdog" soon and maybe "Milk". The problem is Mike's not big on Oscar-type movies so I'll either have to see them on my own or grab someone on the planet who hasn't seen them besides me.

Let them eat Pancakes

Join The Leukemia & Lymphoma at IHOP for National Pancake Day 2009!

On Tuesday, February 24 dine at your local, DC-area IHOP restaurant and enjoy a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes*.

In lieu of paying for your delicious IHOP packcakes on this special day, please consider making a donation to support LLS and the fight against blood cancers.

To locate the IHOP restaurant near you, visit www.ihop.com.

*Dine-in only. Not valid with any other discounts/offers. Limit one per customer.

I love me some pancakes, so you'll probably see me at IHOP tonight. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Fabulous 40s

I'm not talking about me (although that will be me soon enough). My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary yesterday and we took them to dinner last night. They celebrated on their own by driving to the Bavarian Inn in West Virginia on Saturday and trying to order in German from the poor waitress who wasn't German and didn't speak a word of German. That's my parents! I'm in awe that they've been married that long - I reminded Mike that we've "only" got 30 more years to go before we hit that mark. My grandparents were married 60 something years before grandpa passed away, which is really an amazing achievement. Congratulations, Mom & Dad for making it so far!

I'm finally on Facebook and it's been fun tracking down old school friends. The other day I found some class photos from Kindergarten and 1st grade. I have to admit, I was pretty adorable back then! :-) I was so pleased to find them that I had to show Mike. It's pretty exciting to flashback to my childhood.

Spring has Sprung!

After our bitter cold weather last week, with snow and ice, we have some spring-like weather for the weekend. Temps were in the 40s/50s yesterday and lots of people took advantage of it and headed outdoors. I helped Jeff move stuff out of his house into storage so he and Kelli can sell it and buy a new house, now that they are newlyweds. He picked a great day for it because I didn't mind being outside for the 2 hours it took to help out. All I can say is Jeff has a LOT of heavy books.

Today was another nice day so Meghan and I joined Mike and his Road Runners group for a run on the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda. Meg and I aren't technically with the group, so we decided to start before the huge crowd started running at once. It was a beautiful day and thankfully since it was 8am when we started, all of the other runners, bicyclists, walkers, moms with strollers, and people with dogs weren't out on the trail (but there were quite a few). I've only been on the trail once before, but I heard it can get crazy. Bicycle police have been known to police the trail, giving out speeding tickets to bicyclists going too fast. Like I said, it was early so it was pretty peaceful out there. It's a beautiful trail that starts out in the heart of Bethesda and winds its way through the woods all the way into DC, but we didn't run that far - only 5 miles. Mike ran 10 so we waited for him back in town at Starbucks. How yuppie can you get - run down a trail and come back for a latte!

After we returned, I felt bad for not taking Riley for a walk yesterday so I took him out for a nice long walk that he thoroughly enjoyed. He sniffed every blade of grass and every pile of leaves. He met up with his doggie buddy, Maddie and a new lab/husky mix named Samantha. Being outside today, made me yearn for spring and planting flowers. I can't wait to get out there and dig. Now that we're back home, he's sleeping soundly (along with Mike!) I will probably sleep like a champ tonight! What a great day.

Sugar Shock

Today was the General's 65th birthday at work, and as is customary, we celebrated with cake and pizza. Yes, he's a real retired 4-star general and one of a handful of African American's to achieve that rank. Not only that, but he's really nice, a great senior leader, and he calls me "AJ".  The pizza was good and the cake was delicious, but within 30 minutes of finishing my meal I felt the first pang of sugar shock. I've noticed in the last couple of years that I just can't handle that much sugar like I used to. I get a queasy feeling and the slight shakes. I just can't enjoy my Friday morning donuts like I did in my youth when I used to eat a "black cat" - chocolate glazed filled with custard - from Montgomery Donuts. Of course, guess what I'm having for dinner - crepes with the Jaycees. I just can't stay away from the sugar!

Jeff & Kelli's Wedding

Since Blair asked...

Friday - After a long car ride, we arrived in Charlotte about an hour and a half before our first event, which was a cocktail reception at our hotel hosted by Jeff's parents. The highlight of the party was the Steeler's groom's cake for Jeff. He was so excited about the cake that he showed it to us as soon as we walked in the room. He was practically giddy. Melissa gave him her camera to take a picture of the cake since he's so tall and could get a better angle from the top, and he snapped off six pictures!

Saturday morning - The bride's friends hosted a brunch in the morning before the 4pm wedding. Jeff seemed a little nervous, like it was all starting to sink in, so we chatted with him about everything but the wedding to calm him down. Jeff's sister was there and I'd heard all sorts of things about her, so I asked Jeff's dad to introduce us. After a very brief conversation with her in which I realized why Jeff was reluctant to introduce me, I ran back to the kitchen for more food. Not much personality - he's not like his sister!

After brunch, we headed back to the hotel and Mike and I went for a run since it was nearly 60 degrees out. I walked/ran about 4 miles and Mike did 8. We ran together for 2 miles and then I turned abound and headed back. I saw Jeff and his best man coming back to the hotel to get ready, so we teased him about heading to the airport instead of the church. Kelli, would kill us if she knew! After the run, Melissa, Keith, and I headed over to the awesome mall next door for lunch. This is one of the nicest malls I've seen and if Mike had a job, I could have done some serious shopping!

Saturday evening or The Wedding: After figuring where to park, we headed into the beautiful old church. Nicole warned us right away to not take any pictures because the mean church lady already yelled at her for taking a picture. The lady also wagged her finger at Melissa for taking a picture too, even though she wasn't using a flash.

The wedding started and Jeff walked out front to wait for his bride. He looked a little flushed and nervous, but happy. The flower girls and then the bridesmaid came down the aisle. When Kelli took her place at the top of the aisle, Jeff broke out into a wide grin. Kelli practically sashayed down the aisle towards Jeff. During the ceremony, Jeff didn't stop grinning and his face turned redder and redder (two sure signs of his nervousness). We were proud of him during the vows - he spoke loudly and clearly, something we had teased him about at breakfast. When the pastor pronounced them man and wife, Jeff swooped in for the kiss, she leaned back, and he gave her a quick peck. The groom's side collectively groaned and giggled. I called out, "do over!" She didn't want to mess up her lipstick. We gave them crap at the reception and made them do it again - with similar results. Oh, Jeff and Kelli we hope you got the kiss right later that night!

The reception was in downtown Charlotte at a museum. The food was good and included a potato bar with mashed regular potatoes and sweet potatoes with lots of topping choices served in a martini glass. Mike enjoyed some huge, tasty shrimp and we also filled up on prime rib and roast beef. Since we were in another room from the main room, we practicaly missed the first dance and the cake cutting. Both times, we managed to run out to the dance floor area to catch the end of the activity. Soon, the reception was over and Jeff and Kelli headed out through the gauntlet of ringing bells for the honeymoon in St. John's.

Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel with our Jaycee table, parked the cars, and walked to a nearby bar for some margaritas. A good time was had by all.