Lisa's Wish Journal - Now we have gone Dopey.

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Lisa, great job getting that walk in! I can't even imagine walking that far. I should try that sometime!

As for Biggest Loser, the new season starts this Tuesday and I am so excited. I have watched three seasons now, and while the scale may not show it, it really motivates me.

Glad you enjoyed NYE, I had a dog so terrified of fireworks, we had to tranquilize him on the 4th of July. Luckily, its always too cold here to shoot off fireworks on NYE excpet at the big shows downtown.

So which base were you at in Denver? Lowry (now a houseing development) or Buckley? I live just about three or four miles south of Buckley.

 

[Sandy321]

Lisa - I love your enthusiasm!!

You did great with both your long walks - you are prepared, you will have the excitement of the race surging forward - I still believe if you are at a 15mm pace the tough part is maintaining the pace after the MK and after mile 10 - its a mental game for me!

Cant wait to see you in less than 1 WEEK!!

 

[eyor44]

Thanks for stopping by everyone.

Inkkognito - can't wait to hear about your next cruise. I will definitly be asking questions.

Amy - we were out Lowry. We were there for five months while my then DH was in training school. We lived in an apartment about three blocks from one of the gates. The North gate I believe.

Sandy - I am confident that I will finish. That is my main goal this first time. I believe mile 10 is where you and others have said there isn't anything around and it is kind of boring? Look at it as a regrouping mile where you have time to catch your breath before the surge to the end.

 

[eyor44]

Saturday was a busy day for me. Isn't every day? Ran some errands early, didn't realize how cold it was until I had to scrap the windshield. Had my hair appointment. Love my stylist. She is the best. Ran a couple more errands. I decided I need some more walking clothes for the trip. I never buy myself anything unless I absolutely need it. Not sure why prompted me. But Penneys was having an awesome sale, so I didn't do too bad. Spent $42, but saved $105. Love those receipts. Met oldest DS at Sam's to buy his new mattress set.
Here is where the lesson comes in. If someone is helping you do something and you have a bad feeling about it, speak up. I didn't. A store employee helped us load the matress set into the truck. I had some bungy cords and rope. The employee insisted we only need to us the bungy cords and that it would be fine. Now I was 30 minutes from home and would have to get on the interstate. It just didn't look right to me and I had a very bad feeling about how they loaded the set, but they insisted that's what they do every day. Perhaps, but this is me and if something bad is going to happen, then I'm it.
Got on the interstate and I'm watching closely. Didn't help that it was a VERY windy day. Going slowly, I went around a curve and saw the mattress move. I tried to get over and slow down, but couldn't do it fast enough. There went my brand new mattress, I paid big bucks for, into the middle of the interstate. AND NO ONE STOPPED!. Thankfully no one was right behind me. so no vehicles got hit by it. and everyone was able to go around it. I jumped out of the truck and ran back (thank you training) and just stood there as not one car would stop so I could get it. Suddenly this huge wrecker comes up, turns his lights on and angles his truck to block all lanes of traffic. I grabbed the mattress and pulled it out of the road and started to the truck with it. The wrecker drive pulled over and got out to help me. He helped me load it back and then was willing to help me tie it down with my rope. (that I wanted to use in the first place). Leon, my angel sent from Heaven, refused to let me pay him or anything.
So, if you happen to be driving through Slidell, LA and need a tow truck, please call Leon's Tow Service. He's great!!!!!. I drove very slowly the rest of the way home, watching the back of the truck the whole time. Slowly means 55 and I got off as soon as I could and took a secondary road the rest of the way home.
DS, who went to another store instead of following me, finally got home and came in saying "So, you decided to stop and tie it down after all."

I am happy to report the rest of the day went fine. I spent the evening changing out the bed in second DS' room. He has been begging for a bigger bed and I was able to get one from a co-worker as a surprise for him.

 

[eyor44]

Sunday - Today was the day to prove to myself, that I could do this 1/2 marathon. My goal was to walk 11 miles. First, I had to wait for the weather to warm up. Finally at 9:20, it was 32 degrees and the clouds were starting to break up. i was doing this final walk in my neighborhood where I would be closer to home and have some hills to add to the mix. Dressed in layers, I began my journey. I wrote down on a small piece of paper the laps I would do and when to take my clif bloks. I marked off each lap as I completed it. Things were going well, until I realized that I had left my second bottle of water in the house, instead of in the mailbox at the end of the drive. First stop, back in the house for a new bottle of water, at which time I took off my scarf and head band. Back out and doing good. At the end of mile 9, I was back by the house and picked up Roo for the final two miles. Normally I take her at the beginning of my walks, but it was so cold out and she doesn't have fur, I changed things up. This worked out well, as she won't let me stop. At the end of the walk, I felt good. Tired, but good. I sat down to recalculate the walk using the web site geodistance.com and realize that with the changes I did during the walk, I had actually done 12 miles instead of 11. I now feel somewhat confident that I can complete the 1/2. My neighborhood is very hilly and Disney is not. Yes, there are three hills to contend with I believe, but not constant up and down as I have been practicing on. I pray and hope I will do as well on this Saturday as I did this past Sunday.

After I rested a couple hours, I went in to the dance studio and finished up what I had been doing there. Then I was tired. I took a shower and sat in front of the TV clipping coupons for the evening. It was a good day.

 

[toystoryduo]

Sorry to hear about your mattress. Thank God that Leon was there to help you! What a nice guy!

Fabulous job on your walk, Lisa! You are so ready for this marathon, girl! You are going to do a great job! I know you CAN do it!!!

Hope you have a great Tuesday!

 

[eyor44]

Monday - back to work, but it was an easy day Weird for a Monday and most people being gone for basically two weeks. DH called to say that their flight from Rochester had been delayed leaving. Not weather, but mechanical problem. He gave me their new arrival info for N.O. Then he called after lunch to say they still hadn't left and gave yet more new info. They had gone from arriving at 3:55pm to 6:45pm. When I checked the flight statuses before I left work, I saw they were late leaving Rochester and they only had 15 minutes to change plans in Atlanta. Would you believe they made it? Then they arrived early into N.O. But their bags didn't make it. Seems they made their connection but the bags did not. The bags were on the next flight and would be delivered today. Gotta love air travel. The kids were full of their adventures and experiences.
John was very happy when he got home and saw his new bed. I have never been hugged so much. Such a simple thing made him so happy.

Today (Tuesday) - Work is still slow, but a few have figured out that I am going away for a few days. After lunch the panic should begin to set in. DH kept calling this morning as he couldn't find his badge to get on site, asking me where it was, where I moved it to, to check my car. He fiinally looked in his truck...and guess what? Yep, right where HE put it. Men, gotta lov'em.
Not sure if I am taking Roo out tonight. Our high is 41 today and the low tonight is in the low 20s (23 outside right now). It may be too cold for me to take Roo out, so I'll try to get the WII out for a little. And Aly and I have to write her report on what she and Frankie did over the holidays. Frankie is a turtle (stuffed) who goes home with a different child every weekend. He came home with Aly for the holidays. There is a book that we have to write in on what they did and include pictures.

 

[inkkognito]

I'm glad the flights worked out...you never know what kind of delay you'll end up with when it's mechanical problems. Just as bad as weather.

The Wii sounds like a good plan...I am so addicted to mine.

 

[lovinaz]

I am so glad the good samaritan stopped to help you with the mattress. It's nice to know people still care about helping others these days!

Great job getting those 12 miles in! Especially in the cold weather. You are going to rock that 1/2 marathon.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Congrats on doing the 12 miles!! That must have just felt so good. You will do this 1/2 Marathon no problem! I cannot belive how cold you guys are down there. Keep up the good work! And thank God for Leon, that must have been so scary and aggravating, glad it all worked out.

Yep, Lowry is now a big housing development/neighborhood. I can't remember when they did that, but its been awhile. They have some condos but mostly its high end houses. That start at $500,000 and go up. Of course they forgot to unbury some of the WWII warheads and some people found them when they landscaped!

The old Stapleton Airport is now houses too as is the old Elitches Gardens. Denver itself can only do new building when they tear down something and build anew!

 

[eyor44]

Thanks Ladies and thanks for the well wishes. I am trying to be confident for Saturday. Now getting there seems to be the issue.

We shouldn't have a problem getting out of New Orleans, they are just expecting rain. But....we have to have a plane to leave on. Ours comes from Birmingham, who is expecting snow. I remember back in '93 when we had freak snow in March and Birmingham had one snow plow. Yes, one! Let's hope it is parked at the airport.

Today got all messed up. DH is in tense mode since his Dad is coming to visit tomorrow. I left work early to do shopping and start cleaning up. ( I am such a last minute person) Didn't work out as planned. I got the shopping done, but cleaning... I started worrying about the weather and then I started packing. I never pack this early. The weather has me more wacky than usual I think. And now I have a plumber coming tomorrow afternoon. Oldest DS just told me there is a problem with the hot water in the shower in his room. Problem......there isn't any hot water. Thankfully the plumber could fit us in.

Luggage still hasn't arrived for DH and kids. Thankfully it was all play clothes. Of course they could really use their big jackets tomorrow.

Yes, Amy. We are not used to this kind of cold. If it gets too bad there is normally some kind of power issues. Two things in our favor, okay three. Our power lines are underground. We have a house generator. and we have a gas fireplace.

Thanks to everyone for the vote of confidence for Saturday. Now, if we just don't all freeze we'll be doing good. Of course, I am actually more worried about the citrus crops. The farmers have got to be way more worried about the temps then I am .

 

[inkkognito]

Surprisingly there hasn't been anything on the news about the citrus crops. It's mostly coverage about fires caused by space heaters/ovens and kids being cold in schools because the furnaces aren't working. I'm surprised because last time we had a vicious cold snap there was lots of talk about the orange trees. There are still quite a few small groves out by Clermont.

 

[toystoryduo]

Sending lots of good weather your way. The weather has been kind of wonky this year, hasn't it? We'll be praying that everything goes smoothly for you. Before you know it, you'll be at the finish line! You are gonna rock that marathon, Lisa! ( Love that smilie! )

Hope you have a great day!

 

[lovinaz]

I hope the weather snaps out of it for your big event! Traveling is such a nightmare anyway, and having bad weather definitely makes it more adventurous!

 

[eyor44]

Yes, wonky weather. You have that right Tracy.

I do not like to fly and weather just make it that much more difficult for me. This morning I was stressing about the weather until DH called to say the Fire Department had been called to the house. Kind of forgot about the weather for a while.
Everything is fine, but our carbon monoxide monitor went off. We may have a leak in the fire place. That is the only thing gas in our home. We have regular heat, so we should be good until we get it fixed.

Then I had to have a plumber come out. No hot water in the guest shower and of course, Pock is coming in tonight. $85 later and we have a temporary fix. I told him we would be calling in a couple weeks to have it replaced.

I am afraid to ask what's next.

I am not too worried about walking in the cold. It's not fun, but if the sun comes out and gets in the upper 40s then I will be good. The first couple of hours I will be though.

 

[inkkognito]

Yikes, scary about the monitor going off but at least it's doing its job. I hope they find the leak quickly.

I hate flying too but Xanax generally takes care of that. It was especially good when we flew to Barcelona; it changed my attitude from "OMG! We're way out over the middle of the ocean!" to "Wow...we're way out over the middle of the ocean...cool."

 

[eyor44]

I am all packed and ready to go. I have everything printed, car is full of gas, bag is almost completely packed. (just a few things to add in the morning). House is clean (kind of), laundry is all done, dishes are all washed, Pock made it here safely and I am about ready to go to bed. Normally the night before I go to Disney or fly I stay up really late so I can sleep on the way. Since I am driving to the airport and have to realize that we just may end up driving all the way if our flight is cancelled. I am actually going to bed.

I am very excited about this trip and marathon. Two things I have never done before. Gone to Disney without my family and entered a race.

Thank you, thank you for all the well wishes, I will report how things went next week. We will be staying at the Old Key West, but I have decided not to take my laptop.

Barb, I take two Aleve after I get to the airport. The tech at the dentist office had me do that one time before a visit and it helped so much. Helps with flying too. Not that I would be saying cool about being over the middle of the ocean, but I don't have a panic attack either.

Everyone stay warm this weekend.

 

[eyor44]

Thanks for all the prayers for good weather. Looks like they are working! Our weather is good and not suppose to rain until after we take off. Birmingham has a mix which is suppose to taper off soon.

I am about to leave and be on may way to the airport. Talk to you all in a couple days.

 

[toystoryduo]

Safe travels and good weather, Lisa!! We'll be cheering you on from Ohio!

 

[inkkognito]

Ah, so you don't like the dentist either. That's another thing I drug myself up for. Not cleanings, but any kind of major work because I had a bad experience once and can get panicky if I remember it while they're poking around in my mouth.

Safe travels!