Bike Week Baby! ohhhh yeah!!!

I look on my left shoulder and there's this devil saying "Leave work, go to bike week, go cole slaw wrestle and live it up". I look on my right shoulder and there's this angel wearing white leather chaps saying "I think you should go to bike week". What do I do????? Ok... I give in =) I'm outta here! I will leave next Wednesday night and come back Saturday night. Then haul butt to Atlanta for the team to perform twice at NASCAR on Sunday. I cant run right now so I might as well find something to do... right??? =)

Yehaww a new week!

This weather is awesome! Still kinda on the mend with the knee. Some how I let Leora talk me into going to Spinning class at the gym this morning. For anyone who has ever taken one of those classes can understand when I say those seats suck! 45 minutes of butt whoopin is what I call it! We then hit a quick abs class that was a lot of fun. Thanks Yora for making me go! I start teaching the new Boot Camp class tonight at the studio. This is where I get a chance to make people hate me =) Wahoooo! Good Luck to those of you doing the Snickers marathon this weekend. I sooooo wish I were going. Instead its the AAU state taekwondo championships. This is usually where our studio kicks some serious tail so hopefully it will be another good year. Have a great week everybody!

Great weekend!

ok this weekend made up for last weekend! Had a great time down in Jacksonville. I hate that I missed the Sweetheart 12k in WR and the Frog Hop in Athens but I said goodbye to that goal of doing 50 races this year. Dr.Pope tells me today that if I have surgery really soon (as in the next week) that I can still fight on March 15th which is a MUST. I was expecting to hear the usual doctor words of "dont push it". The Al Toll races are this weekend in Macon. I had been running the 5k course to get used to it and had planned to PR. Now I will be a "volunteer"... like I had a choice with Deb asking me at gun point! (jk)

Had a client this morning so I took her down to riverwalk for some cross training. I ended up finishing up the workout by walking 2 miles with her. I feel better simply for getting out and moving but my knee is not happy with me. I guess that's called "takin' the good with the bad"? Everyone have a great week!

Florida bound again.... round 2 and this one soooo better be better than last weekend!

After all that arm twisting =) from Deb to go to Florida this weekend I finally gave in. How can I turn down a girls weekend at a condo on the beach.. I mean really? May I just give you all a word of advice from past experiences... Never turn down a girls weekend with a bunch of married women with kids because when they do get away from home they have more fun than anybody else! I started learning that early on!

I had a great Valentines day yesterday. I went and got a bunch of balloons to decorate the studio and gave all my students candy. Then went to Giuseppi’s. If you haven't been there you need to go! It's my new thing to do on Thursdays. I just went with a few friends last night and one of them was bound and determined to see who would fall off the bar stool first. Can I make a suggestion... stay away from shots called a water moccasin!

Well im off the Jacksonville. Monday I go for the xrays and mri. I still cant even attempt to run which really really really sucks but it’s all good. Who knows this might make me slow down a bit at work.. Nah probably not! =) Have a great weekend!

hmmm... am I doing something really wrong???

I guess it's about time to blog! I had to take a few days to chill out after everything that happened this weekend. Incase you havn't heard the story of my wild weekend then get ready. Left here Thursday night and drove almost 7 hours to Tampa. I actually stopped at 3 exits trying to get a hotel just to sleep for a few hours. They were either all booked or over $150. Well for one thing Im cheap! and the fact that I would only be there like 4 or 5 hours just seemed crazy to spend that much $$$. So I decided to drive on down to Tampa and parked on the side of the road in a busy section of town. (where I thought was safe). At about 3am I look up and see 6 or 7 big college age guys who were really drunk. One of the guys walked to the SUV in front of me and kicked it as in hauled off and kicked it. So here I am thinking "oh ____ this is not good and im about to die". Im looking everywhere for my key's (by the way they were in my lap) right as I find them the guy seriously kicks my car. I say again for the 50th time "Thank God I did not get out of that car". I think I would have either 1- gotten raped by a big group of drunk guys 2- gotten killed or 3- I would have f'n killed the guy that kicked my car. It would have been one of the three options. Ok I fight for a living and for me not to get out and want to beat the mess out of this dude... that had to be one of the hardest things ever. I was beyond pissed. So I drive around trying to find a cop, come back to the area and they are long gone. Then I drive about 20 minutes outside of Tampa and check in the most ghetto hotel EVER. They didn't even have hot water ok! I stayed there for almost 3 hours and it cost me $72. (grrrr!) but that's not even the best part. I leave there and check in to my real hotel which cost me $532 for 2 night... just don't ask. It sounds just as stupid now as it did when I was checking in but oh well. It was a kick ass king suite and it was sweeeeeet! The hotel had free cocktails from 5:30-7:30 every night so atleast I got some of my money back! =) The expo was great I brought back enough souvenirs for just about everyone I know! The race Saturday morning was amazing.. well with the exception of tearing my meniscus in my knee. Im not sure yet if it's a full tear or partial but that junk hurts! I did it only .31 miles into the 5k and ran the rest of it and ran straight to a doctor afterwards. Keep in mind that was the 5k that I just did for fun to get ready for the half marathon on Sunday that I ended up not getting to go to. I also missed the BBFC banquet in Orlando that I was supposed to speak at Saturday night. Instead I spent the evening icing my knee and drinking rum and pineapple juice. (remember I had to get that $532 back some how). I spent the day yesterday with my brother up in Atlanta. Went and bought a pizza and sat at my cousins grave and talked her for a while. The interesting part is after I left there I went to my other house over on lake Sinclair. Noones been there since I walked out the door during my divorce and haven't been back. I had actually forgotten that when I left I left all my clothes, shoes, purses, guitar, all my pictures and all kinda of other stuff. So last night was like Christmas. I packed everything I could fit into the car and brought it home. Tomorrow I get to go pay the $190 speeding ticket from a few weeks ago and the taxes are due on both houses this week. Hmm... maybe this is what God calls "tough love"... happy Valentines Day!!! =).

"Tampa... here I come"

This is a pretty big weekend. I leave tonight for the Gasparilla 5k and Half Marathon in Tampa as well as the annual BBFC banquet in Orlando. This coming up week will be the 2 year anniversary of losing someone really special. Almost every day I relive getting the news that my cousin had committed suicide. I lived with her and her family during my junior and senior year of high school and I thought she was the exact person I wanted to be. They own Lake Lanier Islands, the Georgia Force football team, air planes, a helicopter and everything else money could buy. To a teenager I thought they had it all. She was also the person that taught me about God, showed me how to treat and love people. She opened the Boys and Girls club in their town. Took in 3 elderly families after the Katrina Hurricane. She was an amazing person with so much to give to this world. On February 13th (the day before Valentine's Day) she walked out side of their extravagant home and shot herself. My mom drove to Macon to come tell me in person and I still remember falling in the floor and crying the hardest I had ever cried. Within hours I was on my way to her house where I just sat in my room there and asked God why something like that could happen to someone like her. I believe that it's by her death is the reason why I chose to LIVE. Every single race I run, I run it for her. She was always so proud of everything I ever did. This race this weekend will be an emotional one. Not only is it my first half marathon but it's just a few days before the anniversary of losing her. The amazing thing was just a few months before her death she had paid me $1,000 to make a video to celebrate her and her husbands 20th anniversary. Because of it I ended up spending alot more time with her and it also gave us a video to watch of her life and the many accomplishments they had made. I wouldn't trade that time together for anything. I thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I hope in some way it causes you to tell someone you love them or maybe just appreciate what you have.

"Oh Snap"

This post goes with the one I did earlier today. Well, the fashion show went GREAT. 400+ people so the energy was rockin'! The stress levels were mad crazy. 10 seconds before everyone went out im yelling "oh shit give me your gum", fix your dress, pull that up, tighten that... can someone hit the lights, wheres the spot... What the hell is he wearing". It was great. People tell me all the time that I thrive on chaos and stress... I think they might be right! =/

How do I get myself in these things???

Alright so here's the deal. My friend that does run way fashion shows called me last week and said "hey I need a really big favor. I need help running this high school run way next week". Ok that's cool I can help not a problem. Somewhere along the line I missed the part about how she wouldn't be there. Then I have another friend who is the assistant manager at Men's Warehouse and was taking care of all the tux's. Sunday night she calls me hysterical crying because her Grand father just killed himself. She shows up at my house Monday morning to load up my Navigator with 12 Tuxes. The interesting part is she told the school that I would be there to take care of everything for her. I found this out after getting to the school. You can only imagine the words going through my head when I found that out. So here I am trying to run everything back stage, do the entertainment long enough for 12 girls to change into new dresses and take care of tuxes. Let's just say it's been an interesting week! Then there's the studio... let's just say tax season and leave it at that. Point is I am REALLY ready to leave for Tampa tomorrow. I booked a room at the Hilton Embassy so all I have to do is walk down stairs and show up at the starting line. The fitness expo is Friday, 5k is Saturday, banquet in Orlando Saturday night and then the Half Marathon on Sunday morning. Wahoooo!!!

Bubba Roast

My brother's surprise party was so awesome. My big ol' 45 year old 6'4 brother cried like a little girl. It was great =). Here are some pics. Enjoy. By the way... this is where I lived from Friday to Sunday of every week while Monday to Friday I went to school in Atlanta. No wonder I can't decide if I want to be a city slicker or a country bumpkin!











My brother and his family
Me hugging my dad after he agreed to book the Swinging Medallions for my bday party =)
My brother crying
Dad, nephew and Mom
Elvis sang
Nephew Zac
me and my 94 year old g' ma
Horses
My sister in law being her usual self
April again

Tobys new name will be tripod...

Tonight is our annual studio banquet. Last night was "oh so fun" unloading 150 chairs and a butt load of tables! Tomorrow im headed to good ol' South Georgia for my brothers surprise birthday party. By the way... it's being called a Bubba Roast. yes, my brothers name is Bubba so I guess that considers me a red neck! BUT the good thing is im going to go get my bike out of storage this weekend. Ohhhh yeahh!!!! This is the pic of my 94 year old grandma sitting on my bike. Notice the bedroom slippers =)

This week has been really productive at work but I have done almost NO running. I have yet to have a night this week where I left the office before 1am. I have joked about putting a bed in considering im here about 16 hours a day. So pretty much my 8 pound dog enjoys our 2 story 4 bed room house all to him self. Which I don't even think he likes me! Speaking of my dog... His (3rd) surgery is scheduled for next Thursday. I will officially have a 3 legged dog. Look how cute he was and then look how pissed off he looks in the other picture.