Thanksgiving 2010

We started off the weekend with a bang - running the Turkey Trot in downtown Dallas with 27,000 other brave souls.  The weather for this run was not awesome.  The night before we were having dinner on the patio of the Old Monk, temps in the mid 80's, and then the next morning the temperatures dropped to the 40's with snow and rain.  Boo.  Luckily I recently purchased a pair of GapBodyFit running pants so I was warm.

I did not have high hopes for this run as I have not ran a step in the last 3 months.  Thus, I didn't expect to be able to run the entire time.  But you know what? I did it.  I ran the entire race and at the end I felt oddly better then after any other race I have ever ran.  When I got my race results back I saw why - I ran MUCH slower then I normally do - in part because the first 2 miles were packed with people and you couldn't run very fast.  This has inspired a whole new philosophy in running for me, to slow down, because I can run for so much longer.  In fact, I even ran four laps around our neighborhood last night (a little under 4 miles) and felt great! Perhaps I have caught the running bug again...

Regardless, doing a race the morning of Thanksgiving in the best way to start Thanksgiving because you don't feel guilty stuffing your face later in the day!

 

We were lucky to have very good friends invite us over for Thanksgiving so that we weren't eating at some $10 all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving buffet by ourselves.  The food was fabulous, the company was better, but the best part was the games.  At least six hours of the most intense game playing of your life.  I didn't want to point it out to anybody, but I think I am bad luck as my team lost EVERY TIME.  Don't tell.

The day after Thanksgiving we managed to get up our tree and all of our other Christmas decorations.  I am a huge proponent of not decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but since Thanksgiving is over I am now in full Christmas spirit.

Also, we got another dog.  Fido here sits on the front porch and greets all of our visters. He is also the extent of our Christmas decorations outside (unless you count the tree shining through the bay windows.) Dan claims he is going to put up more, but I recommend not holding your breath on that one.

Of course, the low light of the weekend was Boise State losing to Nevada.  If you are not a Boise State fan, then you don't know how crushing it is to go from being a contender for the National Championship to potentially not even making a bowl game thanks to TWO STUPID FIELD GOALS.  Lucky for me, I was able to avoid the pain of this whole event because I was so confident that they would win that I went to bed.  Then, I awoke to screams coming from my living room from the boys and I thought to myself "this has to be a dream."

But it wasn't.  I will restrain myself from my "I hate football" tirade - but this is the EXACT REASON why I think the BCS ruins college football and why I don't like college football as much as I like college basketball. 

Saturday morning consisted of a delicious breakfast with friends and learning how to play, and promptly lose every hand, of Shanghi. That game is hard and requires way too much concentration for me to succeed at.

Today we finally went to see Harry Potter.  Yes my friends, Dan watched every single one of the movies leading up to this one in preparation for this big event.  Upon exiting the theater I asked him "what did you think?" and he responded "it was boring."  Such a kill joy.  Although it did have some parts that kind of dragged on a bit, overall I have been very happy at how much the movies try to stay true to the book.  Can't wait for the final one.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.   I did bring work home with me with the full intention of working on it over the weekend - oops!  It is probably going to be a long week as a result.  But for now I am going to curl up on the couch, watch TV, and have some of my Mom's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup!

No Puppies for Kadira

The day finally came.  The day our little girl became a woman...with no way of reproducing. 

I don't know why we waited so long to get Kadira spayed.  I think it was partially because we got her, moved, and just barely found a vet down here that we like.  Also, it costs a ridiculous amount of money to get your 80 pound German Shepherd spayed - allegedly because of the anesthesia - so we were dreading that whole aspect of it as well.

I must say, however, that my favorite day of Kadira ownership was the day we brought her home from the vet.  She was so out of it and all she wanted to do was lay down and sleep.  Finally, there was a moment of peace in our house.

Poor thing will be wearing this sassy shaved leg where the catheter was put in her for awhile. 

 

She also will be sporting this very chic head cone.  This is the "soft" version, encouraged for people who have small dogs or children.  Apparently the dogs don't know that they have a cone on them, at least not in the space-issue sense, and will often bash into the small dog.  The soft version eliminates the fear of injuries.  Of course, this version is more expensive then the traditional hard version, because when we walk into any store we scream "sucker."

Toby better appreciate the gesture. 

A Royal Wedding!

I have been waiting for this day for-ev-er. Forever! I love me a royal wedding and Kate and William finally have made all my magical dreams come true! I was not alive when Diana and Charles got married, but considering that fact I was far too obsessed with Diana for my own good. I have Diana books and Diana calenders...okay well that's about it but REGARDLESS I love the British Royals. That was 95%of the reason I chose to study abroad in London - in hopes of some fabulous royal sightings!  (I got none.  I did see the Royal Guards though.  As does every other tourist in London.)

Some rambling thoughts because my mind is still buzzing from the news:

First, I have way less time then I initially planned to become Kate's best friend and subsequently her maid of honor.

Second, if my plot to become Kate's best friend fails - I am going to have the most fabulous royal wedding party ever.  It is going to involve giant hats, small sandwich, polo playing, Earle Grey tea, and lots and lots of corgis.

Third, if anybody else gets engaged or married this year nobody is going to care.  Seriously.  If I were Jessica Simpson I would be so pissed I forced my boyfriend to propose because her wedding is going to be so overshadowed by William and Kate fanaticism. Jessica who?

Fourth, did you know Kate's engagement ring is Diana's old engagement ring? How do we feel about that?  I mean its a beautiful ring, but is that a bit morbid?  I mean Diana's legacy is marrying Prince Charles, divorcing Prince Charles, and her tragic death.  Would you really want all that weight on your finger?

Fifth, my Mom told me that on some show this morning they had Kate look-a-likes in "possible wedding gowns."  CAN WE CALM THE HELL DOWN PLEASE?  I am still obsessing over the rock and the beautiful Kenya proposal, I don't have the mental ENERGY to obsess over possible wedding gowns just yet (although, do you think she will have a train that will match Diana's? Kind of outdated, but Diana's train was just so powerful.  Do you think it will be strapless? Do you think the Queen will have a say?)

So excited for the next year!

You. Make. Me. FeelLikeI'mLiv'enA. Teen. Age. Dream.

I have a lot to say about this past week, but first and foremost on my mind is this: did anybody (not) watch Glee this week and see Darin Criss's version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream"? It gave me goosebumps and is hands down my favorite performance on Glee thus far. Additionally, it is skyrocketing to being one of Glee's best selling singles and may overtake "Don't Stop Believing."



PS If for some reason this video gets taken down go HERE.

Which song do you like better? 

What's your favorite Glee song? 

Book 20: Good in Bed; Book 21: Little Bee

Book 20: Good in Bed by Jennifer Wiener

I think I might have to give up and admit defeat on Jennifer Weiner.  I really respect her a lot as an author (and I follow her Bachlor/ette live tweets religiously!) but I just don't enjoy her books.  I can't put my finger on why, but at the end of this book I felt very similar to how I felt when I finished "In Her Shoes": bored.  I always enjoy the premise of her books.  Funny? Yes! Great character development? Yes! Too much detail.  YES.  There is just too much unnecessary detail, and I lose interest.  Most people indicated on Goodreads that they really enjoyed this book though, so don't let my distaste for the novel dissuade you from checking it out.

Book 21: Little Bee by Chris Cleave 

This is the book my book club is reading, so I will reserve a lot of comment for our meeting.  I have only heard good things about this book, so I was really excited to read it.  My take on the book is somewhere in the middle.  I didn't love it, I didn't hate it.  I liked how the story unfolded and it seemed very compelling - but I didn't like the ending. You know me and my endings though, I have very high standards.

NEXT UP... HARRY POTTER CHALLENGE! 

Haven't heard of the Harry Potter Challenge?  Uh, that would be because I made it up. The concept, however, is that I am going to reread the entire Harry Potter series (inspired by New Teacher Wife!)  I am so anxious about the release of the new Harry Potter movie, but I realized that I read the entire seventh book so fast that I don't remember a lot of it.  I was so concerned that someone would spoil the ending for me that I read it in under 24 hours - which was pretty much the same experience I had with books 5 and 6.  I thought about just rereading the seventh book but so much of the detail has been lost in my mind from the preceding books that I decided I want to start over from the beginning. I can't wait!

Make sure to friend me on Goodreads! My user name is DuolyNoted. 

 

Welcome November...

I am not much of a Halloween person.  Sure, it was fun as a little kid but as an adult it just doesn't do it for me.  I am very relieved that the holiday has come and gone and no kids knocked down our mailbox this year. 

I have a confession, and I must admit that it is not something I am happy about.  You see, despite my determination to hate Dallas I must say that this time of year is rather glorious.  The weather is mere perfection.  I was walking to work the other day and literally had to stop myself from skipping.  We have been sleeping with our window open, and the fresh air makes me sleep like a baby.

One of the absolute best things about our move is we are very close to White Rock Lake and I swear I would spend every day there if I could.  For those of you unfamiliar to the Dallas area, White Rock is a beautiful 8 mile lake perfect for biking, running, or sail boating.  It is hands down my favorite place in Dallas.

Yesterday, we went to grab some coffee and hang out at the lake. Has anybody ever noticed how there are no local coffee shops in Dallas?  Other then that one at Half Price Books it seems like your only coffee choice is the chains.  Regardless, it was nice to get a cup of coffee and walk the lake while looking at the water front houses and daydreaming about which ones we would want to own someday.

What's your favorite fall activity?