I'm baaaack!
First off, Hey to all my long lost friends (and
Jodi 
).
This'll probably end up being a bit lengthy, so I apologize in advance.
I just wanted to post a little trip report (since I pretty much have no running to mention).
We had a wonderful 3 weeks of fun, starting with 4 days at Vero Beach. The highlight for me was kayaking on the Indian River. We were lucky enough to see lots of wildlife including a couple of manatees. DD11 was solo in her own kayak and I was very proud to see her learn how to paddle and maneuver.
We then moved on to the Boardwalk Villas for 5 nights. That's when Fay decided to spin over most of Florida for a week. I'm pretty confident saying that I've never seen so much rain in all my previous FL trips put together. It slowed us down some but we still managed to enjoy the time. I worried about
Cindy and wondered how some of her plans worked out.
Then it was on to Poly for 2 nights. More rain but it sure is nice staying on the monorail.
Lastly, All Star Music for 7 nights of free dining overindulgence. Now, let me start off by saying that I can eat a good bit of food quite frequently. But after eating at Kona, Cape May, Ohana, that ridiculously overpriced place in Italy, Mama Melrose, Boma, Coral Reef, and one or two more that my gluttonous mind can't recall, not to mention a counter service meal every day, who the hell can manage give a Mickey Bar the proper respect it deserves and truly enjoy it?
I think my biggest downfall was polishing off whatever DD's and DW weren't able to finish
. I hate to leave good food behind!
I'm going to give myself a week before I get on a scale just to lessen the shock of it all.
We had lots of magical moments along the way, starting with finding a plush Minnie in the room for DD5's BD and including getting Mickey ears from the Dream Squad 3 times. I was picked on by the whistle-blowing juggler in Italy and DD8 played a big part in his show a different day. DD5 pulled the sword from the stone in front of the carrousel (after her sisters tried and failed) and we were the "First Family" for one show at the American Adventure. They let us enter the theater first and announced us to the entire audience.
We finished off the trip in grand style on Sunday. Kathy got an e-mail a few days before we left for the trip announcing that they were conducting tours of the suite in The Castle for 450 or so DVC members. Kathy responded back right away and reserved our spots. We were planning on returning home early Sunday morning but extended it a few hours for a 12:40 tour.
It was fabulous. There were suppposed to be 10 people in each group but the other folks never showed so it was just our family. A DVC rep escorted us from the meeting point by the Sleepy Hallow funnel cake place up to the castle, where we were handed off to a castle suite concierge. She let us in the secret door to the "lobby" where we were passed to another concierge for a brief intro, then passed to another for the elevator ride up, then to another that gave us the grand tour for 15 minutes or so.
We didn't tell the girls until a few minutes before so they were all surprised and excited. They (and I) really enjoyed it. It was a perfect way to end the trip!
O.K., now for the running part (I've been told this is some sort of running forum, after all): I was somehow completely unmotivated to run pretty much the entire trip. I managed a 5 mile run around the Boardwalk-Studios-Yacht/Beach Club area one night and that's about it. Oh wait, one evening I jogged from Italy to the van in the parking lot so I could move it over to the Beach Club for dinner. It brought back fond memories of running mostly the same route with
Jodi in January.
So, what's that? About 6 miles in 3 weeks? Pretty darn impressive!!
This week is going to be no fun. I think my schedule has me doing a couple of 6's, an 8, and 16 or 18 this weekend
. I'll be happy if I can do a couple of 4's and maybe 10. Pretty much starting over at this point.
Alright, if anyone's left, sorry for taking up so much of your time. Just think of it as 3 weeks of posting all on one page.
.
. You'll be back out there before you know it and saving a life is always a good thing
. Keeping my finers crossed it's a go for Philly for you
.
?! You'd better check & see if your new weapon is even legal in the state of PA
. I don't think you can carry pepper spray in NY.
.
I think I may sound a little bummed because my running hasn't been going well at all. I've got no mojo to speak of...not that I ever did, but now it's less!!
Go nice and easy, slow down & maybe forgo a few speed workouts?
. I've got 10 miles on tap for Sat., but it's supposed to turn humid so I may do it on Fri. instead. The weather here has been absolutely fabulous!!
to everyone else. I really should get back to work.
. I felt like I was at mile 18 of a marathon, I really don't know what's going on. It can't be the speed work. Right now I'm tired as heck & want to go upstairs to take a nap. I mean, what's up with that?
got going way to fast down a hill, took a spill and skinned her elbow and knee. So I had to take her home, and didn't get my last 0.5 mile in. I was a little bummed at the time, but glad I could take care of her.
