I can't believe I haven't written since the 16th!!

Wow, it's been a LONG time!!! I have been really, really busy. I haven't even put up my Thanksgiving pictures yet. I flew home to Blowing Rock and spent Thanksgiving with my family. Another whirlwind trip trying to fit everyone in, in just a few days. Got to see Alyse and my godbaby Jack, saw Laura, saw my friend Noel and her 3 girls who took me by surprise. Last time I saw her daughter Parker she was a child but now she looks like a Brittany Spears type in makeup and tight jeans. I was in shock!! Made me feel REALLY old! It was good to see everyone though. All of my brothers were home. Eli brought his girlfriend Jill with him. They just bought a house in Pittsburgh so they were excited. We even got a dusting of snow on Thanksgiving night. It's always nice to visit the mountains but I'm usually glad to get home. Too small of a town. I need a little more excitement... So, my 5k is tomorrow morning. Yes, I am still running, believe it or not. It should be a lot of fun. It's been a lot cooler here lately so it should be pretty comfortable running tomorrow morning. We haven't recruited anyone to stand on the sidelines and take pics yet so I might have a few "before the race and after" shots to put up but none of us crossing the finsh line. I have to go and get my Santa hat after work. You're supposed to dress up. That will be my attempt at dressing up. My friend Rob did tell me I could borrow his "full" santa suit. I declined!! I'll catch you up later and let you know how the race turned out. Until then, here's some Thanksgiving shots of my crazy family. The one where we are all at the table pretty much sums us up :)

New music!

Can you be addicted to a cd?? Well I am!! I mentioned in my last blog that I was going to help out The Gabe Dixon Band the other night. They were opening up for two guys, Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes. I had never heard of them before but now I am a big fan. I bought the Dave Barnes cd called Brother, Bring the Sun. I love it!! I cannot stop listening to it. Anyway, the show was great. They obviously have a big following. It was pretty crowded for a Tuesday night. Mostly college kids. Now I have been to see HUNDREDS of bands in my lifetime. Usually it's your typical rowdy crowd. I noticed that this crowd was different. They seemed so sweet and wholesome. I heard mentions of youth groups and mission trips. Not your typical "out to see a band at a bar" talk. I figured these guys must be Christians. Turned out they are. I think they started out as Christian singers but have gone the secular way with their music. It was just really refreshing to see such a nice crowd. Matt and Dave are very passionate about helping out kids in Africa and took about 15 minutes to tell of a club they were involved with called the Mocha Club. You donate what would be the cost of 3 mochas (7$) a month to this cause and the money goes to feeding these kids and supplying fresh water and medicine. We were standing beside a couple who were working the booth filling out applications for this cause. I was suprised at all the people signing up during the evening but was really amazed after the show. There was a line practically out the door of all these young college kids signing up to donate money every month. I thought that was so sweet and it gave me a new outlook on college kids these days.. The whole night was really nice and Gabe Dixon was awesome too. I got my picture with him. Always thinking about the blog...ya know :)

Elton John

So I went to see Elton John Saturday night. He played at the UCF Arena which is really a great place to see a concert. Not too big of a place. The concert completely sold out in minutes. I bought my ticket last minute on ebay. I THOUGHT I was bidding on two tickets until after I won the auction and read the fine print and saw that it was only one. Luckily my friends Brigitte and Josh were going as well, so we all went together. I just had to go my separate way when I got there. My ticket was a behind the stage seat which can go either way. Good or bad!! I had gotten very lucky in the past with behind the stage tickets. I saw Billy Joel and The Police behind the stage and they ended up being the best seats I have ever had. This time was no different! I was about 5 rows from Elton and could see every key he was playing on his piano. Next time you decide to pass on the behind stage tickets...think twice!! Elton was great. Nothing crazy, no costume changes, pretty much an intimate evening with Elton. He played for 3 hours and did hit after hit! I was too scared to bring my camera in so I left it in the car but everyone else brought theirs. I'll know better next time. I did take one pic with my horrible, worst cell phone camera on the planet, phone. It should give you an idea of how close I was. Well I'm off to see The Gabe Dixon Band tonight. My friend Denise and I are on the guest list :) We are actually working the show selling merchandise. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures for you tomorrow..

Good Movie

Saw a really good movie last night! Delirious with Steve Bushemi. It's kind of an indie film so it probably won't be in any mainstream theaters (for those of you in the metropolis otherwise known as Watauga County) The acting was great. Steve Bushemi couldn't have played his character any better. It was a comedy but also had deeper meaning, touching on the absence of parental love and feelings of loneliness. A great story of how important love and friendships are in life! Go see it!

Oh yeah! I ran 3 miles on Wednesday night. An entire 5k. I could not believe it! The key is to set a slow and steady pace. Before, I had been running too hard and too fast and tired out too quickly. Now that I know the secret, I can't wait for my first 5k. The Reindeer Run on Dec 8th!

Surprise!

Here are some pics from Shalene's surprise birthday party on Saturday. She actually had no clue. I was surprised that no one blew it. It was an Italian themed gala and everyone brought either an Italian dish or a bottle of wine. We had all kinds of pasta, chicken parmesan, garlic bread, tiramisu. Everyone chipped in and got her some patio furniture that she had been wanting.. It was a fun night! The weather could not have been better. The kind that people flock to Florida to enjoy. It was actually kind of chilly. We were outside most of the night and had a fire going and blankets.. People up North would probably laugh at us and our definition of cold but once you are here long enough your perception of cold CHANGES!! That's for sure... Sunday I went to a golf tournament with my brother. Another fantastic weather day! It was a lot of fun. I had never been to one before and had no idea what to expect. No cameras allowed. I found that out nor any cell phones. That's why I don't have any pics. You can't distract the golfers!! Everyone is quiet as a mouse. It was very cool to be so close to the golfers and watch them tee off and putt. A guy named Stephen Ames won. Never heard of him!! We had VIP tickets which is how I will have to see all of my golf tournaments for now on. (I'm getting spoiled with all of my event perks) Not only did we get in for free but we got to go into the hospitality tent for free drinks and food. I was exhausted after the days end. Lot's of walking!! I'm sure I'll be feeling great for my running class tonight. I'm going to suck it up and go. My ankles have had sufficient time to heal. Hopefully I won't screw them up all over again. I'll take it slow!!

Another busy weekend...

Friday was a sad day at work. It was my (planet unicorn) buddy Katherine's last day. Slowly all my pals are leaving.. We used to have to pull chairs up to our lunch table, now we're going to have to recruit new members. Boo Hoo :( Anyway, we had a farewell lunch for her. There was no one at work on Friday so we didn't feel bad at all when our lunch/gossip session lasted for 2 hours!! It's always sad seeing someone go but she's a core member of our "eating club" so we'll be seeing her again!! Good luck at Tar-jay Kat!! Later that night was my friend Brigitte's birthday party at The Melting Pot. Really good but REALLY expensive. Who knew fondue was as expensive as lobster, caviar AND filet mignon? We had 7 people total but only 4 had dinner. 300 bucks!! Good Lawd..as Kim would say :) Saturday night was my third concert of the week, Mat Kearney. Imagine my shock when I found out that cameras were banned. The nerve!! I could have had some great shots if I could have snuck one in. Oh well! I managed to snag a set list sheet so that's the only thing I've got! It was a great show and The Social is an awesome venue. You can get so close, you almost feel like you are on stage with the band. I'll be back again on the 13th. Denise and I are selling merchandise for The Gabe Dixon Band. I'm so excited. Free admission, free stuff, hang with the band. How fun!! I could easily be a groupie :)

The Samples

This has been a truly crazy week. I'm borderline sick...probably because I'm so run down and to make things worse, my ankles hurt so bad I can barely walk. My running days may be over :( I have pretty much determined that it has been all my years of wearing high heels. My foot has been on an angle for all those years and now when I run I am pulling down and stretching out my muscles or my Achilles tendon or whatever. It just hurts!! Not sure what the solution is? I know that I am not going to be able to go to my class on Monday. The only way I can even walk is to wear heels. There's a walk-in orthopedic clinic down the street from me that I'm going to have to pay a visit. I'm so disappointed though. I was really enjoying my class! We were timed on Wednesday for the mile and with my sore ankles and all I did a 12 minute mile...I was happy with that!! Oh well, we'll see what happens. Any suggestions?? So, this has been my week of concerts. Started with Cat Power last Saturday, The Samples on Thursday and tonight is Mat Kearney. I'll blog a bit on The Samples for now. I was so excited to see them. I listened to them ALL the time in college. I can't believe they are still touring. My friend Denise and I went. We decided to go have dinner before the show and on our way to the restaurant we crossed the street and saw their tour bus. I wasn't really paying attention but Denise noticed two guys standing by the bus and said, are you guys in the band? They said yeah and I turned around and it was Sean, the lead singer. I got a little star struck although I'm probably one of the few on the planet that even know who The Samples are. (FYI-Dave Matthews used to open up for them) Anyway, we chatted with him for a bit, told him our names and he asked me what I wanted them to play. I got a picture with him too. I'm a blogger ya know...I don't go anywhere without a camera! Later on at the club we ran into him again and he remembered my name. He even yelled out from the stage and said Bethany, how's the sound over there? There were only about 4o people in the whole place so it wasn't hard to get attention but I still felt special :) Anyway, they were awesome and sounded pretty much the same as they did when I was in college. I'm spoiled now! I want special recognition at every concert!!

One week down, 9 to go!!

Just got home from class #2! Quite the work out. 3 miles again. This time more running than walking. I'll be going to bed early tonight. Here's a couple pics to prove that we actually are runners! Seth and Shalene and Seth and I. Running buddies :)

These will be our before shots. We'll take the same pics on Dec 19th and see if we have changed...

We made it!!

So tonight we started our class. It wasn't SO bad but I guess for the first night, how bad could it be?? It was pretty basic. We met at Lake Eola. There's a pretty big group of us. Mostly women (not going to meet my future husband there, that's for sure) We started with an introduction and then our trainer had us walk around the lake first, then we ran/walked 2 more times. We did about 3 miles total which is more exercise than I've had in a LONG time. I think it's going to be good. We meet at the lake on Monday's and the track on Wednesday's. Lake= distance Track= speed. We get timed next Wednesday. Hopefully by December I will have improved a bit. We'll see! I'm excited about running in our first 5k. Maybe in December? After class, Shalene and I went back to my house. Jenny and Karen were there and dinner was waiting. How cool is that?? Jenny made pecan and parmesan encrusted tilapia with a lemon cream sauce, brown rice and asparagus and a yummy peach and strawberry cobbler. Everything was delicious!! I even broke open a bottle of 2 buck chuck! I'm spoiled now. What am I going to eat on Wednesday after class?? I told Shalene we'd be the only two in the class to probably gain weight..hehehe

Baltimore

I'm so behind on my blogging! It takes a lot of time to sit down and write, post pics... I just don't have much time. Anyway, I'll backtrack a bit. I went to Baltimore last Thursday for a mini-vacation. It was a 3 in 1 trip. Was going to see Paolo Nutini in concert, going to my friend Nicole's baby shower and going to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins in Delaware. I left on Thursday evening after work and flew into BWI. My mom flew in as well from Greensboro and we met up at the airport. We stayed by the airport that night since it was so late. The next morning we got up and headed into Baltimore. We were able to check into our hotel early, so we put our stuff down and then headed out. We hit the Inner Harbor for a bit. Had a crabcake at Phillips...Maryland is all about crab so we were on a quest for some good crabcakes. (Unfortunately we never really had any) Got bored with the Inner Harbor. Been there done that! My mom is from Maryland and I have grown up going to MD visiting family so we had seen our share of the IH. We decided to cab it to Fells Point. What a neat little area. Very, very charming but very young and collegy (if that's a word?) I can only imagine what it's like on a weekend night. Tons of bars!! We wandered past an old police station and saw that it was where they filmed the tv show Homicide. Got a pic! Did a little shopping and stopped in a diner and had some Maryland crab soup. We were determined to have all things crab. The night before we had crab quesadillas at the hotel lounge. Believe it or not, they were probably the best "crab" thing we had the whole trip! We headed back to the hotel to freshen up and then we were off to see Paolo Nutini. He was playing at the Rams Head Live which is a very cool venue for concerts!! He was AWESOME!! I wasn't expecting him to sound so good live but he was amazing! The opening bands were really good too. Serena Ryder and Jon McLaughlin (who is also pretty amazing) It was a great night and it was so cool being there with my mom. I am so blessed to have such a cool, hip mom who loves all the same things I do. Not many moms I know would be squirming their way up to the front of a concert to rock out with Paolo Nutini :) We had a great time in Baltimore and headed to Delaware the next day. My cousin and all of her kids picked us up and drove us to my aunt and uncle's house. Delaware was really nice. Very rural for the most part but cute little beach towns along the way. My aunt lives near Lewes, Delaware. What a charming little town. Very New England like and just adorable..and it's a few minutes from the Ocean. We went down to the beach at sunset and saw the largest natural dune on the East Coast. Really beautiful! Thh next day we headed back to Maryland and over to the Eastern Shore. My friend from college, Nicole, is pregnant and was having a baby shower. I'll post a pic for any of you that know Nicole. So strange seeing her 8 months pregnant. She's lucky and has really just gained in her stomach. The shower was nice. Beautiful house!! I only stayed for a couple hours and then had to head back to Delaware. The next day we went into Lewes again and had lunch and then trekked it back to the airport. LOTS of driving on this trip. Stressful drive though. We were pushing it with the timing. I was getting nervous that's for sure. We finally made it. After we got through security we went to my gate since I was leaving first. My mom's flight was going out a couple hours later. I was flying out of D2 and saw the sign that said D2 and D4 together. We saw that gate D4 was boarding and didn't see a gate D2. We just assumed that maybe my flight was going after so we went and got coffee, sat down and yapped a bit until I heard, FINAL boarding call for Orlando. D2 was down in the corner where we never even looked. I raced down there and barely made my flight. That would have been amusing and definitely blog worthy.. I got lucky!! All in all it was a nice trip but I was ready to get back home. I missed the A/C! It was about as hot as Florida there and it seemed like NOBODY used their a/c. Crazy stuff! Ok, gotta go and get ready now. I'm going to a play called Return to the Forbidden Planet. A sci-fi 80's campy sort of musical. I'll let you know how it is! Oh yeah...It's T-1 and counting. Tomorrow is the day we start our running class. YIKES! We were tryng to recruit some people at a party last night to come and take pics for the blog. Not sure if anyone agreed but we did get Jenny to agree to cook dinner at my house and have it waiting for us when we get back from our class :) So I guess I'm having another dinner party tomorrow night...

Funny picture

You may wonder why I call this blog, Welcome to my crazy life?? There hasn't been anything crazy to add since I started it. I guess that's a good thing?? Normally though, I have all kinds of stories... Just haven't had many lately. Give me some time!! Anyway, here's a funny picture. I was home watching tv the other night when my phone rang around 9:30. It was my landlord asking if he could come over and hang some blinds. I told him that would be fine and frantically ran around trying to pick things up. Nothing like an unexpected visit when you're in your pj's and settled down for the night. I run down to meet him and he asked if his partner Bob could come over in his bathrobe to look at the handle on my shower. It recently had pulled out of the wall. I laughed to myself and let them both in. They both went up to my room and into my shower to fix the handle. It struck me as funny for some reason and I started to crack up as I watched them in my shower. I asked them if I could take a picture for my blog. They both looked at me like I was nuts. Ah, the things that make you laugh!!!

Lazy weekend...

I have had such a relaxing weekend! I really needed it. I am entirely too busy and need to just take a couple days to chill every now and then. It's amazing how long the weekend lasts when you're not running around to 50 million different places. Friday night after work I went to Blockbuster and rented Shopgirl and Sherrybaby. I had been wanting to see Shopgirl forever and had never gotten around to it so it was a perfect night for it. I even bought popcorn to enhance the experience. Good movie. I enjoyed it. Not as good as I thought it was going to be but definitely watchable. It was a little hard to imagine Claire Danes and Steve Martin together. Not only the age difference but he's just an odd looking man. I kept thinking "plastic" while I was watching him. He doesn't look real. Anyway...Saturday morning, my friend Louise came over and we went to the Baldwin Park community tag sale. Various homes in the community participate in this sale every year. We didn't get there until 11:15 only to find out it ended at noon but we still ended up doing quite well. The one thing I wanted was a case to put my laptop in. First stop...found it!! 4 bucks! Kenneth Cole leather. I aslo got a bodum tea press with a hot plate for a dollar. I think I did pretty good for 5 bucks. Louise got some really nice things too. After the sale I had an appointment to get my haircut. I don't think I have ever needed a haircut so badly in my entire life. I ended up getting it chopped off. I was a little nervous at first but Selena, the hairdresser, assured me that it would be fine.. She was right. I love it!! It is going to be so much easier. I should have at least an extra 15 minutes sleep time in the morning now :) Here's a picture. I was trying to get it a little lighter and accidentally turned it purple (the picture, not my hair). In trying to fix it, I made it worse. I think it looks kind of cool though. You can still see the haircut! After my haircut, I met up with Louise again for dinner at Buca di Beppo. We both think that place reminds us of our Italian grandmothers. It's very cozy and the food is really good, although the calamari last night had just a few too many of the octopus shaped ones in it!! We could barely get them down. EEEWW...makes me sick thinking about them. Today I have been extremely lazy and have done just about nothing. I love it!! I'm still in my pj's. The only thing I had planned was church tonight at 6 but I think I will go tomorrow night instead. I love having the option to choose which service I'd like to go to. So, I think I'll go and watch Sherrybaby and by the time that's over Desperate Housewives will be on. Doesn't get much better than that :)

Grandpa!

I was home over Labor Day (the big metropolis of Blowing Rock, NC) and had lunch with my grandparents. My mom took the recent picture of my grandfather and I. Later on that day, I just happened to look up on the bookshelf and saw the other picture sitting up there. I was 2. Similar picture, lots of years later! Thought I would post them both so you could see how much I have changed. Not a bit huh?? :)

Thrift Shopping

Went thrift shopping last night. My friend Denise has me hooked! Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm accumulating so much STUFF!! I don't need any more stuff. But how can you turn down a leather Kenneth Cole bag for 4 dollars?? or a Ralph Lauren bag for $3.99..and the shoes! Don't even get me started. I told Denise last night that since I've met her, my shoe collection has increased by 100 fold! It's crazy. I can barely open my closet door anymore... I love it though. Nothing more exciting that getting a bargain!! I picked up a gold, metallic purse last night. Haven't you heard?? Metallic is all the rage these days. I never in a million years thought I'd fall for that trend but this one's cute. Price WAS $12.99. I thought I'd put in my two cents and told the check out lady that I thought it was a bit high considering the prices of some of the other bags.. She must have agreed because my final purchase price was YES...$2.99. (could have also been that it was one minute before closing and she just wanted me out of there) For whatever reason, I got a deal and learned that it never hurts to try and bargain and never hurts to ask!! Afterwards we went to High Tide Harry's for dinner. My new favorite place for seafood in Orlando! Divey little place on 436 but great seafood and great prices. I did a double take when I saw a pound of KING crab legs for $15.99. Could not pass that up. As Rachael Ray would say..YUMMO!! Denise and I came back to my place and checked out our thrifty finds. She helped me move my patio furniture inside. I'm having a dinner party for 10 tonight and need the extra table. Small little lizard freak out session but all is well. Oh the joys of Florida!! Finally got ready for bed around 1:00 am only to be rudely interrupted by a GIGANTIC cockroach looking, brown, winged, antennas sticking out, disgusting rodent... It was only a bug, I know, but it was as big as a rodent. It almost crawled across my foot and ran into my bathroom. Anyway, I freaked out again and knew nothing else to do but put a coffee mug over him. It took me about 10 trips to the bathroom to check and make sure there was NO way for him to get out. I still wasn't 100 percent convinced. I think that's why I didn't sleep very well. I just kept picturing him crawling in my bed. UGHH!! Anyway, he's still under the cup and I don't know what to do?? I'm going to have to convince someone to dispose of him. What if he's not under the cup?? I will just die knowing that he's loose somewhere. Oh, I HATE bugs!!!

Ok, I'm off to meet Shalene. We are going to get running shoes today. Oct 15th!! That's when I start my training classes. I'm actually excited about it. That may soon change though :) I'll let you know on the 16th.

Update: The bug is gone!! Now I can relax!! My roommate graciously went in and got him. He was still alive and kicking. A night under a cup didn't stop him. We set him free though. No bug cruelty here. He just BETTER not come back in. Got my shoes too. I'm all set to go :)

My First Blog

My friend Kim keeps telling me I should do a blog (probably because insanity seems to follow me wherever I go and usually makes for a good story!!) Anyway, I have finally decided to take her up on it. What better way to start it off than with a recap of my "2 block" trip to drop off a contract. Not as exciting as you thought it would be huh? Now MOST people would walk the two blocks, drop off the contract and walk back. No incidents to tell of. Not me!! You will soon learn that I can't get a cup of coffee without something happening along the way. So, begrudgingly I start off on my journey. If I had it my way, I would have called the courier to accomplish this simple little task or would have dropped it in the mail but why not save the company a little money?? A little exercise won't kill me either. May as well get a head start since I am going to be training for a marathon (or a half) in a few weeks. Yes, stop laughing!! I know!! I'm sure I'll have quite a few blog posts on that topic. Ok, back to my story. So, I start out on my walk. It's a beautiful sunny day (remember that). I walk out the front door and get to the corner. I'm about to cross the street when this maniac in a pick up truck flies up onto the curb, almost knocks a woman down, completely plows over a metal no parking sign and leaves it flat to the ground and then continues to drive down the sidewalk until he gets back onto the road and takes off again. That poor woman and I were standing there in shock. It was actually quite a bizarre scene. You had to have been there but here's a pic of the sign in case you don't believe me!! So I continue on my little 7 minute journey and make it to my destination. I drop off the contract, check out the building and think to myself that I'm glad I don't work there. Nice big high rise but no charm, very cold and blah!! I'll attach a picture of my office too so you can see the difference. Well I walk about a half a block and out of NOWHERE it starts pouring rain!! Do I have an umbrella?? Of course not! Am I a freak about my hair?? Of course I am. I run to the nearest parking garage for cover and decide to wait this one out. No way am I going to ruin 30 good minutes of hair drying time. For anyone that knows me, you'd definitely understand my decision. I end up waiting for 20 minutes until it stops raining and then head back to my office...40 minutes later!! And then right before I get to the door a car drives by and splashes me until I am soaked!! Just kidding...that would have been a good ending though :)