Lent and Personal Record

This past Wednesday, we attended Mass. It was my first Ash Wednesday - which I guess is kind of weird...but just being honest, I never felt comfortable enough to go and part take in mass on that day. In the past years I have always 'participated' in Lent --- as in I would 'give up' something, but that was about it. I still ate meat on Friday's and I didn't pray any more than usual. But, this year I am really trying to follow the 'rules' a little more. I gave up using the elevator at work and listening to the Bert Show (it's a local morning show on the radio that I listen to EVERY day). So far, I haven't taken the elevator or listened to Q100 on my way in to work.

AND...for setting a personal record. This past Saturday we went to the park by our house to go for a run. I ran 6 miles in 65 minutes - which is a new personal record. I know it's not even half of my goal (half-marathon) but I feel like I'm making progress and I was very proud of myself! I'm hoping to run the Silver Comet 10K in a few weeks to get my official Peachtree Qualifer time. I'm hoping that my bruised ankle and cramped calf are all better by then. I've enjoyed the runs I've gotten outside and I'm really looking forward to the Missoula Half Marathon!!!!! Here's to hoping for more nice spring weather on the weekends!

Escaped Zebra

This afternoon, one of my coworkers stopped by my desk with some 'breaking news.' There was a zebra (yes - a real life zebra) galavanting around downtown Atlanta this afternoon. The Barnum and Bailey Circus is in town and apparently, someone left the door (and a cage) open and the zebra darted. The AJC reported that he was spotted in a parking lot near the Sam Nun Federal Building, CNN, Centennial Olympic Park, was seen running westbound on Alabama street near Five Points Marta Station and even made its way to the downtown connector and was galloping between lanes of traffic.

Now, I am really intrigued by the fact that this animal was able to find its way to the connector. I mean, I'm not 100% sure that my husband could find his way to the connector from downtown (no offense, hubby). But somehow, this zeb-bra did.

I can't even imagine what I would think if I saw a real life zebra running along side my car - on the connector. I'd probably start looking for hidden cameras. In fact, when I heard that the zebra was on the connector, I went right over to the Georgia Navigator website and started looking at the live camera shots and low and behold --- a zebra. (picture courtesy of the Georgia Navigator website)


I was laughing all the way home --- but that's because I wasn't headed down the connector. If this zebra had of been on 285 or Peachtree Industrial, I'm pretty sure I would have been livid.

Oh well, nice try zebra. I hope you enjoyed your run around town. I just wish tax dollars weren't being spent to have APD chase around Africa animals.

THE Donation Monday

If you are a Georgia fan, then you know that today is the deadline to make a donation to the William C. Hartman Jr. Fund --- aka the pass to the almighty football tickets. This is our first year making a donation. It makes me a little nervous to think that we just plopped down SEVERAL hundred dollars as a donation just so that we MIGHT be able to buy 2010 season tickets. Since this is our first year donating - we will probably not get them. But, at least we can write off 80%.

I guess new tires for the Civic will be pushed back to a March expense......

Valentine's Day Recap

Friday around lunch time it started snowing. I didn't really think much of the snow because the high for Saturday was 40. Well, at 2:30 the office cleared out. I stuck around til 3:30 so that the rush of traffic would hopefully be over. I was wrong. I didn't get home until 6:30. Yes - that's correct. I left work early and still had a THREE hour commute. Ugh. Needless to say we didn't make it out to Athens to the Gymdogs meet. We spent Friday night hanging out and just vegged out. This is a picture of our neighborhood as I was pulling in at 6:30.

And, this is what our house looked like at 10-ish on Saturday.

Once we battled the sheet of ice on our driveway, we headed down to Atlanta to begin our Valentine's 'staycation'. We checked in at the Westin in Buckhead and then headed to the World of Coke.

At the end of the tour, we got to taste Coke products from around the world. Some were good. And, some were nasty. As we were on our way out there was a "have a coke on us" --- so we got two cokes in glass bottles. Which, I think is the best way to have a coke. In a COLD glass bottle.

Mike surprised me with reservations at the Atlanta Fish Market for dinner. It was amazing! We split the Crab Chowder and an order of Oyster sampler as an appetizer and then I got the Parmsean Crusted Salmon. Every bite was better than the one before. We decided that we would grab dessert somewhere else and randomly ended up at Prime in Lenox Mall. It was probably the most un-romantic setting. They sat us at a high top table overlooking the escalator. Super.

This morning we walked over to Dantanas and Mike had a bloody mary (they are known for having a good Bloody Mary bar) and then we decided that we wanted some really good breakfast food. So, we headed on over to Highland Bakery. We split the French Toast and it was soooooooooooo good. It was definitely worth the hour wait.

This afternoon, we make a quick trip up to the outlet mall and picked up a few things. I got some new shirts from Gap and Mikey got some new running shoes.

We are finishing up our night watching The Hangover and having our Coke's.

It was a great, relaxing weekend. I have the best Valentine. :)

Short on Time

Almost every morning I tell myself "Michelle - update your blog tonight" but it never seems to happen. So, I just thought I'd put it out there that I have been a terrible blogger...and I really want to get better.

There are a few things that deserve their own posts - but I can at least summarize them here, right?

• I have made some progress with my 2010 goals. I already ran 1 5k. I've been trying to keep a log of how many miles I run each day and as of yesterday I have completed 77 miles this year. I can tell my body is becoming more conditioned because I can run further without walking and when I slow down - I am able to catch my breath must faster.
• I have completed my first book of 2010 (only 8 more to go!). I read Same Kind of Different as Me. It was really good. It's such a good book that I already gave it to another friend to read. I hope she likes it just as much as I did. If you are interested in borrowing it, let me know! I'm happy to share! :) I'm still working on Praise Habit...but my next book will probably be So Long, Insecurities. Which leads me to my next point....
• I am EXCITED to say that I have a ticket to see Beth Moore in April. I am very EXCITED about this. :) I am supposed to post an EXCITED picture but Mike told me I was acting weird...so I didn't get a good picture.
• AND...yesterday I got a letter in the mail. Not just any letter. A letter from a little 8 year old boy. He told me what his favorite color was (blue). He told me his favorite things to do (play with little cars). He told me that his eye color (light brown). And he drew me a picture. If you guessed that the letter came from Yefri; you're right. It was by far the highlight of my day. I have displayed his drawing proudly on my fridge. :)

I guess those are the things that I've really wanted to blog about. Hopefully, I will get in a post on Sunday to document our Valentines Day adventure.

I've just been 'threatened' that I'm going to be left by myself downstairs...which I hate. So, I guess that's all for now.

Happy Wednesday!