latest and greatest

When Scot got home from work last night, the following exchange occurred- 

Him: How was your night?
Me:  Okay.
Him: Do anything?
Me: I think I gave the cat the Heimlich because she's a dumbass.
Him: WHAT.
Me: Well, she was licking on a piece of a salsa-flavored rice cracker that I dropped, then she decided to try to eat it but didn't chew it, and then she was hacking like this (this is where I mimed silent dry hacking, dramatic neck movements, and stepped backward across the kitchen floor) so I picked her up, tipped her forward and patted her stomach til she spat it up on the living room rug.
Him: Hm.
Me: It was covered in cat slobber so I picked it up and threw it away.  I saved her life, you know.
Him: You two really are something else...

And now more excitement!  

I GOT IN TO THE DISNEYLAND DUMBO DOUBLE DARE!!!!!!!
Last year, it sold out in record time so at exactly noon on Tuesday, I had 3 computers running in the office and refreshing the overloaded runDisney website for close to 20 minutes before I finally got a good link to the registration page.  I paid my dues and got my confirmation so now I'm super-excited!  I've never been to Disneyland before!  After I went to lunch and came back less than 2 hours later, I checked again online to see that the entire race was sold out already.  I'm so glad I didn't waste a second!  This race is important to me because, well, our summer vacation kind of hinged me getting in.  After the weekend in Anaheim, we're driving up to Yosemite for a few days to tour the national park.  I know we'd need more time than we're taking to see and do everything worth doing, but holy crap it's expensive.  Also, after Sparkles and I complete the Princess Half Marathon in 3 weeks (yipeeeee I can't wait!), I'll be halfway to earning my Coast To Coast medal.  That one requires you to run a race in both parks in the same year. 

It's been raining for what feels like 3 years here in FL now, so I haven't been able to get much done at work.  I've had a couple free mornings so we've booked our next cruise and this morning, we put together and booked a travel package to California for the race.  Between that and renewing our Disney World annual passes this week, I think my Visa card is about to catch fire. But we're good for now.  We're still thinking about going to Finland in October, but haven't really talked about the details of that trip yet.  

I did a run this morning in the rain, which wasn't terrible since it was a drizzly type of rain.  Same thing on Wednesday morning, too.  It's not bad once you get going, but I don't think I'd like to stand around in the rain waiting for a race to start.  The Princess run weather could go either way- hot and humid or freezing.  It's a weird time of February.  Last year, we planted some stuff in the garden around that time and it all froze 2 weeks later.  

Next project- there's a wine rack table that I bought from the second-hand shop in the garage that's just taunting me.  I need to add a shelf to it and make it a bit taller so until I figure out how and when to bother with that, there it shall sit.  

Below is a picture of my Cinderella running costume- all I need to do it fashion up the black choker she wears around her neck and it'll be complete.  Sparkles is dressing up as Snow White and we're going to be gorgeous!

pinning winning

I have, shall we say, a bordering-on-obsessive interest in Pinterest.  That time suck app, you know, for all of us who wish we were as crafty as we lead people to perceive we are, judging by the 500 pins on DIY home decor and holiday projects?

I'd gotten in my head that I'd wanted to make a new jewelry display...thing.  And I had no words to describe exactly what I wanted (good luck trying to explain THAT one to your boyfriend when you're trying to convince him you won't cut off your fingers with the hand saw so could he please not hide the tools from you anymore?) so I'd gone onto Pinterest to try to find something.  I didn't find exactly what was floating around in my head so I drew it up on a scrap of paper and presented it to my still-confused loved one.  Here's what I wanted- I'd find a big picture frame, paint it, put a pretty fabric in the open area and attach some way to hang earrings onto it.  I wanted a small shelf underneath with a dish on it to hold stud earrings and rings, and room to set bracelets and watches, and also hooks underneath to hang necklaces from.  Easy, right?

Spoiler Alert- it came together beautifully!  Take a look-

After wandering around Home Depot for like an hour, we located some "hobby boards," which were about 18 inch long pre-sanded pieces of wood that were exactly what I was looking for to use for the shelf.  I got some quarter-round to use as a trim design along the front and sides

 See, those aren't MY hands using the hand saw!  I actually did try it for a while but found hacking away on the quarter-round quite tedious.  

 Had to use wood glue to attach quarter-round to the hobby board.  The board was so thin and the quarter-round so awkwardly curved that even tiny finishing nails would have split it.  This sat in the clamp after being glued for about a week because I have poor time-management skills.

 I haggled this picture frame down from $10 to $5 at the second-hand shop- it's big, 16x24, but had no glass and no hanger and was pretty ugly.  But- solid wood!  I painted it with some leftover white paint I'd used to do the corner hutch.  Again, this took a few days and several coats.

 I bought a half yard of fabric from the crafter's crack dealer- AKA Hobby Lobby.  It was expensive fabric but come on, when can you not find a sale or coupon for the Lobby?  I also ended up buying some gold cord from the discount Christmas bin to stretch across a piece of white foam board I cut to fit the frame opening.  I had to cut little nicks into the sides for the cord to slip in because the whole thing was a veeeeery tight fit!  The big crafty secret there is scotch tape holding the cord in place.  Tape and fabric glue hold the fabric down to the foam board.  

 Underneath the hobby board shelf, I attached 12 Command hooks!  I'd looked into the little hooks that screwed in but again, the board wasn't thick enough.  Command hooks are pretty tough and worked out just fine.  Cheapie metal brackets with teeny tiny screws underneath attach to the board.  When Scot hung it on the wall for me he used larger, reinforced screws with that plastic sleeve that pops into the wall first.  

 I LOVE IT!!!!  The fabric has some sort of swirly French script on it that's the perfect background for dangly earrings.  Have a closer look at the shelf-

I found an empty picture frame, took the back off, and used it flat down as a holder for the stud earrings- see it on the left.  The glass sits low enough in the frame without the back that stuff won't roll out.  

I'm thrilled with the outcome and feel justified in saying that I look like one of those really creative Pinterest people.  Here's a price breakdown for my showpiece:

Hobby Lobby

Gold cord- $2 on clearance

Foam board- $1.85 on clearance

Fabric- $3.59 with coupon

Home Depot

Command hooks- $12 for 12

Hobby board- $4

Brackets- $1.76 for 2

Quarter-round- $1.50, cut by the foot

Second hand antique store

Frame- $5

Already owned- paint, clamp, brushes, screws, glue, and handy boyfriend

TOTAL- around $32!

running disney's tower of terror 10 miler 2013!

I registered for the RunDisney Tower of Terror 10 Miler on a whim last July.  I'd gone online to sign up for the Princess Half Marathon but registration wasn't open yet so I threw my name in the ring for this one.  I'd never run more than 3 miles in my life so I printed out the training schedule, followed (and tried to exceed) it the best I could.  

2 weeks before the race I came down with something that felt akin to the plague.  Couldn't breathe, couldn't talk, couldn't detach myself from the kleenex box.  This led to several panic-y episodes and nightmares and loss of sleep pretty much up until the day of the race.  Medically I was feeling pretty good by the 5th, so here's how it all went!

The Friday before the run, I had to go down to the Wide World of Sports to the RunDisney Expo to pick up my race number and packet.  That experience was an overwhelming nightmare- I arrived around noon when it first opened, stood in line in the hot sun to get in, then was swamped by crowds worse than Black Friday at Target!  I tried to wander around a little bit and look at thee vendors and booths and merchandise but it was so insane that all I really wanted to do was go hide in the bathroom.  So I left.  Maybe when I go back for the Princess Half Expo I'll be a little more prepared.  Not today though.

I had work the day of the race, so my day started at 7am.  After a day of flying, I headed down to check into the Caribbean Beach Resort at WDW around 4pm.  My parents were already there so after I took a quick catnap in my room, we met up and went to the food court for dinner.  I was starting to get really nervous so I wasn't sure what to eat.  I ended up with some chicken and mashed potatoes, which I tried eating but mostly just picked at.   I had to force myself to choke it down.  Scot showed up after getting off work early after 7, I got my Maleficent costume put together, took some pics, and was on the bus just before 8.

The bus took all us runners to the Film parking lot of Hollywood Studios.  I started talking to the lady sitting next to me- her name was Annie and she was for Montreal.  She'd run half marathons before but this was her first Disney race.  She'd been placed 2 corrals behind me, so we decided we'd hang out til line-up time.  When we arrived at the parking lot, the energy there was crazy!  There were thousands of people-many in costume, a DJ on a stage, water stations, probably 100 porta-pottys, and photo ops and laser lights.  We worked our way over to the stage where the music was playing and the DJ was teaching everyone dance moves- we decided to join in, laughing and dancing to everything from Gangnam Style to the Time Warp.  It was a great time, until we looked at each other laughing and realized we were starting to sweat and didn't want to get worn out before running 10 miles!  

It was great to have someone to hang with and talk to, since we had almost 2 hours to kill before race start.  We spent that time just sitting on the ground near the water tables and people-watching.  Around 9:00, race officials started herding us into our corrals.  Annie and I said our goodbyes and good lucks, and I went over to Corral G.  After we were all grouped up, we had to walk to the finish line about 45 min prior to race start.  The corrals were separated by officials with ribbons stretched across the fronts.  The walk was probably a good half mile, but the race officials were talking over the speakers and were entertaining us and playing music the whole time.  At 9:55, the wheelchair participants started- I heard the Twilight Zone theme music and saw a burst of fireworks over the trees.  After that, Group A went, then B a couple minutes later, and so on.  Our start time for G was 10:15.  I saw my parents and Scot on the other side of the fence as my group passed closer to the start!  Each group that started got the music and fireworks, then we'd all inch forward.  I thought I heard group F go, then it was our turn next.  I heard wrong, I guess, because as we were moving up, I crossed the start line!  Crap!  I scrambled to hit the GO button on my Map My Run app, hit PLAY on my Pandora, and started off.

Not that I was running.  The crowd was so much that it was a medium-paced walk.  Laser lights and fog machines above added to the craziness.  Music was pumping.  And we were going nowhere fast.  I wasn't worried though- there'd be plenty of running time later!  Right at the first turn, literally less than a half mile in, there was a Character Stop- the Wicked Queen from Snow White was doing photos and there were probably 100 people in the line.  Uh, sorry Queen, I've gotta run...  

It took over a mile for the crowd to thin into something I could work a run into.  There were Disney Villain characters at LEAST every mile, and water and Powerade stops every mile as well.  Even though I had my Pandora, there was music and entertainment playing all along the route.  We ran down Osceola Parkway to Animal Kingdom, made the turn after the entrance, and started back.  There were stilt walkers and characters and music and lights all themed around AK, and a inflatable giant spider hanging over the overpass with a laser light web shining on the wall.  That was by mile 3.  As I got to mile 4, more characters and a water stop-I actually saw a volunteer at the water stop that I knew!  Anita, who is in my Women in Aviation group handed me my water!  I shrieked in surprise, said a quick hi, and moved along with a bit more energy.  A little ways down further, there was a tent with people handing out goo on popsicle sticks.  I didn't know what it was- food?  Medicine?  I didn't take any of it and made a mental note to look it up later.  Mile 5 took us down a dirt service road towards the Wide World of Sports.  My phone had started giving me a low battery beep, so I was wondering how long I'd have my run tracker.  I wasn't worried about losing the music because of all the en-route entertainment.  The dirt road was darker, with fog machines, hazy lighting, more characters, and lots of trees.  It was much more crowded because it was thinner, so I stuck to the edge.  The road spat us out near some baseball fields- we wound around the race track and down the main walkway towards the baseball stadium.  All along the way, volunteers were holding support signs and clapping and cheering us on!  It was great, I don't think I stopped smiling the whole race, actually.  I turned into the baseball stadium and ran around the outside dirt area- the stands were filled with spectators and people cheering support!  The 6.2 mile (10K) marker was there, too.  I sailed out of the stadium with plenty of energy, ran through the parking lot filled with more cheering crowds, then hit the road back to the studios.  

Just after mile 7, my phone died.  I was really bummed to lose my Map My Run, because it was recording the route for me!  Also, Scot and my parents were using the live tracking feature to watch where I was.  As I approached mile 8, a HUUUUUUGE section of people who were walking were just approaching the dirt road area, which I could see across the median.  Probably 1/3 of the original crowd was just walking- I couldn't see the end of the group before I made the turn off the exit and headed through the Hollywood Studios entranceway, past more villain characters doing photos.  The lake (retention pond?) at the exit had a thing in the middle that was shooting giant hot fireballs a couple hundred feet in the air every 15 seconds or so.  And laser lights.  And music.  

Side note- I did talk to people who have done Disney races before and say there's absolutely no comparison.  Any non-Disney race you do after one of these is boring as hell.  I believe it.

As I moved into Mile 8, my legs started hurting.  My feet were already a little sore, now my legs were feeling a little crampy.  I kept going though- it hurt but was not debilitating.  Plus, I was really excited to see what was around the next corner!  More staff and volunteers cheering, more crowds, more lights, more characters, more music!  Curiosity kept me moving!  We ran past the front stage at Lights Motors Action, around and out and up the Streets of America area towards the big Mickey Hat.  After the hat, I turned a corner and saw Scot and my parents again just after mile 9!  I waved and screamed, and kept going.  The route took us back behind a parking lot area, through a tunnel filled with chasing lights and music, then one more corner (I remember Hades from the movie "Hercules") was the character there because around that corner was the FINISH!!!  Cheering crowds, photographers, a race official somewhere was announcing everyone's name as the hit the finish line- I crossed with a big grin on my face, and finally slowed to a walk.  Yep- I RAN, without stopping, the entire 10 miles.  

A lady hung a medal around my neck, a photographer took some photos, I took a chill towel and a banana and started walking through the cool-down route.  There were tables of water and Powerade, snack boxes, a bathroom (oh yes, good idea!), medical tents with the people  with the goo sticks again.  I thought to myself that I was glad I didn't take one earlier and try to eat it.  As I kept walking, there were people resting on the curbs, waiting for the rest of their parties maybe.  

There was an official photo area on the way out, but I passed it up and found myself deposited out right inside the entrance of the Studios.  It was a bit quieter and a bit surreal.  No people in costume.  No one in my immediate view with a number safety-pinned to their shirt or a medal around their neck.  It was just after midnight, and I felt like Cinderella dumped back into the real world!  I made my way to the Sorcerer Mickey hat to meet up with Scot and my parents.  It was over.  I'd made it.  

Hugs all around, we took some pics, rode some rides, I nibbled on my snack box.  Overall, I felt good.  Not too hurty, not too starving.  I did go on the Tower of Terror Ride and, because this is my life, I got conked in the head by my heavy medal around my neck when we went Zero G.  Of course.

Final stats:
My Bib #5916

1,762nd out of 9,478 total finishers (top 18%)
778th out of 6,132 women (top 12%)
Chip time- 1:47:39

Finally fell into bed a little after 5am after probably the Best. Shower. Ever.  I'm happy with everything, considering the slow-moving crowds.  I can't imagine running a race without all the entertainment and support I had on this one- I'm so spoiled.  And I think I'm addicted.  And so excited for the next one!

great, now i'm running from freaking sharks

Happy (?) Shark Week everyone!

Or rather, welcome to the most terrifying week on television.  I live within a half hour of the beach known as "The Shark Bite Capital of the World" and now I'm pretty sure I'm never going back there again.  This, people, is why I do not jump in to water that I can't see to the bottom of.  If it's not a clear Florida spring or Caribbean waters, I want no part of it. 

Up til Sunday, I'd never even HEARD of a bull shark, and now I'm pretty sure they're all lined up in a row with open mouths, waiting for my pretty polished toes to get a little too close.  These slow-motion video clips of sharks and all their teeth leaping out of the water to grab a bait off the side of a boat and these idiots, er, I mean, scientists egging them on gives me a Great-White-sized case of the heebee jeebees!  Thanks for the nightmares, Discovery Channel.  

On a better note, Scot and I have joined a running club!  There's this bar (don't judge) up in Deland that started a beer run.  (I bet you can now guess how I convinced Scot to do this with me, yes?)  Best part is...drumroll.....it's FREE!  I can do free, no problem.  We just show up at 6:30 on Monday evenings (my day off- this was fate, I tell you!) and do around a 3 mile run with a group.  Each week they feature a specialty craft beer that everyone gets a glass of afterwards.  Well, after we all drink the pitchers of water and nibble on bananas and fig newtons.  Of course, I'm not a beer drinker so if it's a tasty one, Scot gets 2.  I still beat him by a minute or 2 when we run, but he's doing holding his own, especially since he doesn't run like, at all.  Boy was even running in khaki cargo shorts and a cotton t-shirt when we started.  We finally hit up the Ross to get him some real workout clothes so I think he's improving.  It's fun to get out and do this together (and yes, he's admitted that), and of course it keeps me on track for my half-marathon training.  

Speaking of which, I have to run 8 miles this weekend.  All at once.  One after the other.  Looking at these morons on tv playing around in this shark cage and I'm half-thinking I'd rather be there than hoof it 8 miles on a Florida August afternoon.  But I must, because no one else is going to do it for me.  Unless there's any volunteers?  Hello?  No?  Dammit.

not funny, but insightful...i hope

I've been a flight instructor now for over 8 years.  I can for sure say that my teaching methods and style have changed and grown since I first started, and I've definitely become more, shall we say, professional in the way I teach thanks to the environment I've been working in for the past (almost) 3 years.  Pretty much anyone with the time, means, and commercial pilot certificate can go on to be a certified flight instructor, but it doesn't mean they necessarily should.  I'm not claiming to be the World's Finest CFI (and whoever is should just quit while they're ahead), but I tell you what, there's some people out there who should not be teaching.  

Think back about when you were in school- elementary, high school, doesn't matter.  Who was your favorite teacher?  Chances are it was not the one who yelled in class, chastised students in front of the others, or otherwise made you dread going in.  But you HAD to, because truancy is kind of against the law.  You suffer through the year and then move on.  What about the teacher who made no impact on you whatsoever?  The one who's class was one boring lecture right after another...the one you're thinking of but can't even remember their name.  The thing is, while and education is mandatory, taking flying lessons is not.  People come to us with large amounts of disposable income to spend on a mere hobby.  And yet, there are flight instructors out there (oh don't I know it) who yell, berate, and yes, even HIT their students.  There are flight instructors who are only interested in building up their own personal experiences so that they can bail out and run to an airline as soon as possible.  And people PAY these people to do exactly that!  Think about it- if you went in to a retail store and the clerk was chatting on the phone, too busy to bother with you, then hung up and yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" you'd leave, right?  Maybe after a few choice words, but you'd probably never go back.  

When a person decides to take flying lessons and chooses a CFI, they're basically entrusting their life with someone they barely know and are paying sometimes a couple hundred dollars an hour for it.  Would you want someone professional and experienced?  Or someone rude and abusive?  When most people sign up for flight training, they really have no idea what they're getting in to, and the poor souls that end up with less than savory instructors usually don't know any better.  It's not the customer's fault, just as it wouldn't be your fault with the rude clerk in the retail store.  It's our job as CFIs to guide our customers through their training in a respectful and professional manner.  After all, THEY'RE paying US.  They're like our boss- they can quit, essentially fire us- at any time.  However, so many people just wind up putting up with it, for god knows what reason, but I'm thinking that maybe it's the idea from the customer's point of view that the CFI is all-knowing (which we're supposed to be...mostly.  Or know where to look it up.) and that this (abusive, disrespectful way) is the way flight training should be.  And outsider can look at this and say "Um, no, anyone who'd stay is cray-cray" but allow me to share a recent story with you and my uncomfortable thoughts behind it...

A student-CFI relationship is just that, a relationship.  Similar to those we have with friends and loved ones.  There has to be a mutual respect and communication between the 2 parties for it to work.  Period.  I recently inherited a new student, let's call him "K."  I am K's 4th flight instructor.  K came to us after being thisclose to giving up flying altogether,  Here's some of his story he shared with me-
He began flight training out of a small airport northwest of town with a CFI I actually used to work with.  All the flying he did with this instructor was spent flying to other airports and getting breakfast or lunch.  Maybe some basic maneuver work every now and then, but other than that, he was not learning anything.  In fact, he never even learned to land the airplane from this man.  This particular CFI happens to think he is God's gift to flying (like I said, I know him and wouldn't trust him as far as I can throw him but of course I'd never tell my new customer this.  He doesn't need that) and essentially milked money out of K while making zero progress.  K caught on after an airline pal pointed it out, and switched to a new CFI at the airport I currently work at.  This new CFI is (again, I know him, and pardon my French) an old crotchety son-of-a-bitch who probably hasn't adjusted his instructing style since his military work back in the 70s.  This man yells and verbally abuses his customers and K told me of several occasions of this man cursing him out, calling him names and refusing to take the time to teach him anything constructive as far as procedures and ground work goes.  K eventually had enough when this man started yelling at him before they even took off of the runway, and he told me he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, got out, and said "never again am I flying with you" and he walked back across the airport, got in his car, and left.  I can't say I blamed him.  K then found another instructor, a younger guy who was splitting his time between 2 airports and was constantly on his phone talking, texting, or emailing.  Let me ask- what would you do if you went to see the doctor and he only half-listened to you try to explain your illness because he was too busy doing other things?  Would you feel jipped?  Like you're wasting your time and money?  Well, this new instructor did eventually get K to a point where he could operate the aircraft on a solo flight, but he also charged him for every.  single.  second. that they were together.  He also made (MADE!) K purchase an iPad and expensive headset, telling him they were required items.  He told K that the FAA is phasing out the use of paper navigation charts (couldn't be farther from the truth) and that's why he needed these things.  My boss had to tell K after he came to us that if he showed up to an FAA flight test with no paper charts, he'd fail.  Which is true.  This instructor would also take K up in cloudy, nasty weather without briefing him on what to do or expect, just to build his own flight time up.  Admittedly, conditions like that could have been educational, if only K had been properly prepped for them.  K basically has close to 60 hours of flight time and nothing to show for it.  To put that in perspective, our average customers have between 60-70 hours by the time they're ready for their FAA flight tests.    

I feel bad for K, and I'm taking a lot of extra time and devoting a lot of extra attention to him, especially since he's had no organization or proper ground school instruction.  Coming out of those horrible CFI relationships is not at all unlike getting out of an abusive relationship.  I know, I've been there.  It was several years ago, but it still affects me.  When I finally had had enough (after 10 months) and called the police on my ex, it was a very scary, yet freeing world I came back in to.  Little things would make me noticeably happy, like getting to choose the radio station that I alone wanted to listen to, instead of being told my taste in music sucks.  Forgetting to run an errand I'd planned on, or not having time to complete a chore around the house and NOT having it turn in to a messy fight with me on the defensive.  Things were okay.  People were nice.  I could talk to whoever I wanted to, I could go over to a friend's house if I wanted to without fear of punishment.  

K is the same way after breaking up with his last CFI...he's told me he's nervous a bit about the flying because he doesn't want to upset me if he doesn't do well.  He's afraid that I'm going to tell him that he's not good enough and that he should quit.  I've been doing this long enough to know that not everyone learns the same way and that some people may require a more delicate approach, especially ones who have been damaged in past relationships.  I take my time with K, we plan out the lesson together, we go over procedures for maneuvers in the classroom beforehand (which he'd never done before), and we carefully follow the airplane checklist (also something he'd never used before) so there are no surprises and he knows exactly what I expect from the lesson for that day.  Today he was visibly relaxed and actually told me that he really had a fun time on the flight, that I am an excellent instructor, and that he wishes he'd known to start at our school from the beginning.  My heart just about melted!  I love hearing such positive things from customers, and it feels good knowing that I'm doing a good job.  K is going to take some work, but he is eager to learn.  It's like he's stepping out of a dark basement of a world into the light.  A little skittish to start, but I think he'll eventually do very well.  It just takes proper guidance from someone who (again, pardon my French and pardon for not ending on an eloquent note) actually gives a shit.                   

summer sweatin' (and a cake recipe)

I went outside this morning with the full intention of going for a run, and then I almost drowned.  Not because I fell in the pool (puh-leeze!) but because the humidity was about 1,000% and the air was so hot it felt like someone opened the door to the steam room and threw me in.  So.  Gross.  Soooo yeah I didn't go running.  HowEVER I did convince Scot to run the Firecracker 5K with me last Thursday (happy birthday, 'murica!) down in Sanford at the community college.  He decided to get a 3.5 mile warm-up run in the day before (which I found out the reason it ended up being a 3.5 mile run is because he missed his turn on the route) because he hadn't run AT ALL since Thanksgiving, when we did our last 5K together.  You can imagine how this turned out.  My warm-up run the day before was 5 miles and I felt great, actually ran the Firecracker twice around, for a total of 6.2 miles that day.  He finished his 3.1 about 5 minutes after me and was completely incapacitated the rest of the day.  HAHA.  But he's in Phoenix now  for a week to work on some stuff with the Airbus or whatever so I'm actually kind of sad.  And his legs are still sore.  But that makes me laugh.

We trekked over to Dallas for my family's annual reunion last weekend, too.  My great-grandparents had 3 kids, and now we have 66 family members, all from them ("Ya'll are just a real fertile bunch" Scot has said to me on more than one occasion).  58 of us were there- this was the 33rd year we've done the reunion and believe it or not, we all look forward to it!  Everyone gets along, no one's in jail, there's no drama, everyone has some class....it's quite a nice time!  I snapped a pic of my grandparents in the hotel lobby- they have 2 kids, 5 grandkids, and 3 great-grandchildren and they're the best ever!

Scot and I wandered around the town of Grapevine, TX where we were all staying and stopped at this wine bar for a late lunch- it was called Into The Glass and it was fantastic!  I had sea scallops on a bed of farmer's market vegetables and an amazing wine that I've posted a picture of.  I can't find it anywhere so if you see it (probably in Texas) mail me a bottle or 3!  Part of the vegetable on my plate was called "fiddle ferns" which are actually just...ferns.  Baby ferns.  Like, before they uncurl and look all fern-like.  I was hesitant to try it, but I actually discovered that I really like ferns!  I don't think my WalMart carries them, though...

 Buy me this.  Seriously.

Look at the widdy biddy ferns!  

This year the 4th of July was of course on a Thursday, which is a work day for me so that was super-lame.  It was hot and windy and disgusting so I was glad to get home and enjoy some of this cake I made.  I've posted the recipe below- you can probably change the jell-o colors to work with any holiday- strawberry and lime for Christmas or something like that.  Easter colors.  Whatev.  But it was delicious!  I had my former co-worker Doug along with my boss and his family up for fried chicken and watermelon with this cake, before we walked down to the park for fireworks.  It was nice.  Hot, but nice.  On the other hand, we did book our cruise for September.  60 days to go.  I hate the fact that we have to get through August.  It's all fun and games til my shoes melt to the blacktop out on the aircraft ramp.  

Try This Cake

Cake ingredients

1 pkg white cake mix plus required ingredients (use egg whites)

2 3-oz pkgs of Jell-o (I used strawberry and berry blue)

Whip cream topping (because using Cool Whip is pathetic)

1 pint heavy whippin' cream

2 capfuls of vanilla extract 

2 TBSP sugar

Bake the cake in 2 9-inch rounds as directed on the box.  Let it cool in the pans for about 20 minutes then poke holes all up in it with a fork or a skewer or whatever.

Mix the jellos separately with 1 cup boiling water each, stir to dissolve, add 1/2 cup cold water each, then pour the hot liquid over the cake so it gets all in the holes and runs over the side.  The cake will absorb it all up so don't worry if it's runny.  

Put the pans in the fridge overnight to let them...uh, marinate.

Next day, make the whip cream

Beat the crap out of the pint of heavy whippin' cream, the vanilla, and the sugar with an electric stand mixer.  It'll get all thick and fluffy.  Taste with with your finger when it's done.  Uh huh.

Assemble and frost the cake, store it in the fridge.  Top with fruit and stuff.  It's just the treat for a hot afternoon!  Enjoy!

cinderella needs new running shoes

So, today was The Day.  I actually pulled out the ol' Visa and registered for the Walt Disney World Princess Half Marathon!  I did that AND one further- as a spur-of-the-moment decision, I registered for what's called the Glass Slipper Challenge.  The Challenge is the half-marathon of course, but it also includes a 10K race the day before as well.  Because apparently I'm sick in the head.  The whole event isn't until February so I've got plenty of training time, as long as I take advantage of it!  I've got the Tower Of Terror 10 Miler in 4 months, so it certainly seems do-able.  Here's the thing, though- I haven't run in almost a week.  

We've had this little "rain event" hanging out over the state this week and they're calling it Tropical Storm Andrea.  I haven't heard from the news exactly how many inches of rain we've gotten, but any memory of the dry season this winter and spring is long gone!  I went outside tonight to clip some parsley from my herb garden (Tangent: Scot wanted me to make some alfredo pasta with "the fancy cheese" -aka parm reggiano grated into curls- for dinner so I decided to grab some garnishes as well.  Tangent over.) and the pool is almost overflowing!  The water is level with the top of the coping!  All day it poured rain and we had some pretty gusty winds, too.  The eye of the storm passed north of us so we didn't get the really strong winds, maybe 40-45 mph at the worst, but lord have mercy did we get some rain!  This storm sucked so much moisture up from the Gulf and dumped it on us that we've had some local flooding and the past 2 days have been consumed with tornado watches and warnings.  I was all prepared to hide under the front desk as work today if I had to.  Yeah, I was still at work.  Bonus points for you if you can guess how much I actually got to get paid.  (If you said "zilch" for flying and a couple piddly hours of ground school, you'd be right.  God bless Netflix on my Kindle!)  Hence why I haven't been running.  We are officially into the rainy season so I'm going to have to figure out how to get some runs in if the weather looks bad.  I'm too much of a princess to run in the rain!

I've found a new running path in the fancy-pants neighborhood of Baldwin Park in Orlando.  It's literally like a mile from work so all week I've been super prepared with my bag and clothes and shoes and stuff, Clif bar and energy water included, with plans to run after work.  It happened once.  Then the rains came.  Anyhoo, the path goes 2.5 miles around a lake with plenty to look at and lots of people, so I feel quite safe.  I can do 2 laps so far, with the jog from and back to my car, for a total of just under 6 miles.  The thing now is that while I have the breath to run more, my legs are just too tired after that distance.  I totally had plans to go ride my bike on Monday to work on my leg strength, but since I'm pretty good at falling off of it in good weather, it was probably a good decision to keep it in the garage and out of the rainy weather!  Fingers crossed this stuff blows out of here tomorrow.