It's been one of those days

I decided to go to Target after work. So I get on the highway....

And forgot to get off.

I know. Seriously. I ended up on the same road that the old apartment is on, so I decided to pick some things up. Of course, I forgot the cat litter scoop.

I got home and unloaded the car. After taking everything inside, I let out the dog to get her leashed up for a walk.

I opened the door and who went out? The cat.

Yes. The cat. I shouted. The cat froze. She ran in and was pounced by the dog.

That was a perfect summing up of my day. After a day alone in the office, forgetting to run the errand that I left to run, forgetting to pick up the item I went to the old place to get, and the cat getting out.... I needed wine.

So dinner was spaghetti carbonara with a side of wine.

No dishes, laundry and maybe some unpacking.

Race Day!

Yesterday I did this!!

My day started early.  My alarm went off at 6.  I got up and made breakfast, only eating half of it.  I didn't know what to wear.  How hot the day would get.  How warm I'd feel in the race.

I settled on a pair of yoga pants, my cold weather running top, with the official race shirt over it.  I wore my Jayne hat (which I took off half way through the race).

We got there, and I found my friends.  My Weight Watchers group.

(This picture is actually from the end of the race)

Soon after the race started, it was clear that I needed to keep my own pace, so I ran alone.  The race course started out in the parking lot before going into the park.

We ran into the park on the path between Ireland and New France.  On that hill.  Seriously!  The hill felt almost vertical!

We ran through New France, then into Germany.  We circled the tree that is outside of Das Festhaus before heading to the bridge that leads to San Marco.  There were Marines stationed on the bridge in full uniform.

From San Marco, we ran to Holiday Hills.  Around the tea cups (my favorite ride), then down by Escape to Pompeii.  Then through England, Ireland and back out to the parking lot.  From here, the race route snakes back and forth in the parking lot.  The back and forth was rather advantageous.  I'd run into the faster runners from my group.  They shouted encouraging things to me.  I shouted encouraging things to the runners from my group that were behind me.

Now, when I say run I was overstretching the truth.  I half run and half walked the race.  Until the end.  I saw the finish line.  And I saw my Spousal Equivalent.  And I shouted to him (the quote on the button, which, like the hat is from Firefly):

And I crossed the finish line.

1:12:33

I did it!!!

Well, we've done it. We're living somewhere else now!

Well, my birthday weekend was quite the weekend.  Saturday started early.  It was cold and wet.  And I had the pets in the car.  You see, the pets were to be the first of our family to move into the new house.

The next few hours were filled with a flurry of incredible helpful friends helping us pack our crap into boxes and bags and haul it to the new place.  Our old apartment looks like a tornado hit it, and is in desperate need of cleaning.

The new house?  It's coming along.  My books are unpacked.  His are getting there.  We still have random boxes of things.  There are still things that we can't find.

But the living room is put together.  The tree is up.

Everything else will happen when it happens.

As for the rest of my birthday weekend?

It didn't go as planned.  Most of the scheduled activities were rained out.  My race was postponed.  Christmas Town was put off for another day.

Come to think of it, I didn't have any cake....

There is so much to do!!!!

Yesterday and today, around 4pm, it happened. The panic attack. The muscles in my jaw were so tight and overused that my chin hurt. Mind you, I'm not grinding my teeth, just clenching my jaw.

Why am I stressed? Oh, let's see.

~ Thursday is a big deadline at work. This deadline means a massive amount of work in the next two weeks

~ new choir music! and a backlog of work that needs to get done, with no time to do it

~ we're moving!!!! On Saturday!!!

~ I'm running a race on Sunday. Apparently I'll be running it in an ice storm. A storm that will ruin my birthday plans

I have decided that tonight I'll have cake and I'll take tomorrow as it comes. Maybe I'll take an afternoon off of taking things over to the new house.

But now...cake.

December 1, and I have too much to do!

It's official.  In 6 days we move.  In 7 days it's my race.

I can see that we have a good amount of items already out of the house and safely at the new place.

But there is so much more to do!

I've already brought over the lion's share of my clothes, all of my books, all of the clothes in my closet, and all of the items that I have stored.

And it doesn't seem like it's made a dent.

So here's my plan for the rest of this week:

Today: pack everything.  Fill every box that we have left here.

Monday-Thursday: Fill the back seat of my car with said boxes every morning and deliver the boxes to the new place every evening on my way home.

I think along the way I'll make even more bags of stuff to donate.  I have WAY too much stuff!

Now, off to pack.
But maybe a nap first.  We went to Christmas Town yesterday and I am tired!

Invasion of the Kittens: Day 2

Well, yesterday was less interesting.  Orion and Meryl only tussled once.  No cat blocked me from my bed.
 Misty was even more shy and skittish around the cats.  (I think she got swiped at).

Yay for things being uninteresting!

I think the only excitement that we had last night was when Misty got into the cat's dishes!  She had some wet cat food for a snack.  *facepalm*  I mist remember to close the baby gate.

Today I'm off of work, so the to-do list is HUGE.

• clean the kitchen
• clean the bathroom
• find my caches of junk and make them go away (or pack into a box)
• and LAUNDRY

All that, and I need to fit in a work out somewhere.  I think it will be an indoor workout.  It's raining!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and honestly... tomorrow includes cooking and taking things over to the new house.  I'm hoping for three trips!

Invasion of the Kitties: Day One

Our friends went out of town this week, so we're watching their cats.  We've done this before.  No big deal.

Well, yesterday was fun...

it all started at 6am.  The kitties were dropped off.  One of them hid under the bed, while the other hid in her kennel.  Misty decided to try to play.... there was a lot of hissing and growling.  (Who knew cats could growl?)  Misty though this was playing.  Lyra (the cat in the kennel) didn't.

So I went to work, leaving the dog kenneled and the cats to their own devices.  When the Spousal Equivalent came home, our cat met him at the door MOST UPSET!  over the course of the night, we found out why.

A few times, Meryl (our quiet, calm cat) would walk down the hall, or go to her favorite perch.  And Orion (A larger male cat) would be there, hissing and growling and ready to tussle.  And tussle they did.

The kicker was at 10.  I wanted to get into the bedroom.  But Orion was sitting on the latch of the baby gate.  Which was quite an impressive feat in and of itself.

Orion:  *hiss*  *hiss*  *loud growl*  None shall pass!
Me:  Excuse me?  I'm not a Balrog.  Let me in.
Orion: *growls louder*  *hisses some more*  You heard me!
Me:  *gets the squirt bottle*
Orion:  Oh yeah?
Me:  *squirts him, with a light, gentle mist*
Orion:  I've been burned with acid!!!  You'll pay!  *hides under my bed*
Me:  *tries to get into bed*
Orion:  *claws at my ankle*
Me:  Oh no you didn't!!!  *squirts the bead skirt*
Orion:  NNNOOOOO!!!  *goes to hide in the window*

Let's hope today will be less adventurous.

And I hope that Lyra comes out of hiding.  She must think we're mean!  I can Imagine what Orion is telling her!