The Boy, The Beach and the Midnight Calls

I haven't done any Asperger posts lately because since The Boy went back to school I haven't heard from him much.  No midnight calls telling me he has bed bugs, or all his classes being canceled because of lack of payment (which they had been paid btw), nothing to eat in the cafeteria so he's hungry,  he has 2 papers, 3 tests and a project all due the next day and he needs help NOW or just to tell me he's bored.

It's midnight and he should be asleep, but he's awake and bored and just wanted to make sure I was aware of that fact.

All was quiet until it wasn't.  The first week he needed help on a paper, but what he REALLY wanted was for me to write it for him because he had another one to write.  Then the next week he decides his 2 year old laptop wasn't powerful enough and he needed a new one that was lighter weight and more powerful.  He's decided I could have his old one.  How sweet!  Then the kicker was the call where he needed money for rent because his dad bailed on him that month.

Most of those calls were at a reasonable hour until the midnight call last night.

I still don't know what that call was about.  An emergency was ruled out right away.  He was all caught up on his papers and assignments and there wasn't much I could do about the money situation right now.  I asked him what was up and he said, "nothing."

That was it.

Most of our 30 minute conversation was about "nothing".  I think he must have been returning my earlier call to him.  It has happened before.  I call him around 1 or 2 in the afternoon and he returns the call at his favorite time.  Midnight.  I don't mind midnight calls so much, but Cadence doesn't like them one bit!  The entire time I'm trying to talk to The Boy, Cadence is up on the kitchen counter (a no no!), meowing LOUDLY in my face, letting me know that it's way past his bedtime and he can't go to bed unless I'm there so he can use me as his human cat pillow.

These midnight calls are one reason I can't wait to get moved closer to The Boy.  And it's finally happening!  We are cleaning the house out and getting it ready to put on the market here in Birmingham and moving down to the beach.  Instead of 4 hours away from The Boy, we will only be a little over an hour away.  We've been planning this big move part 1 for a long time now.  The big move is set for April so March is going to be busy packing up things, getting the house on the market and getting the cats moved down to the coast and settled in.

They were very comfortable at the beach a couple of years ago when we lived there during the fall months when The Boy started school nearby, but now we will have Ed with us too.  Three cats!

Depending on how long it takes for the house to sell and finding jobs or other business opportunities will determine where our next move part 2 will be.  Atlanta?  Tampa?  New Orleans?  Somewhere in Texas?

For now I am just really thrilled to be finally moving closer to The Boy.

Having this view is a huge plus too!

The above picture is of The Boy on the balcony a couple of summers ago as we were anxiously awaiting his final ACT scores to see if he would get into the college of his choice.  I was on the ACT site every hour to see if the score was out.  The minute they posted and we saw he had a high enough score we called the university and headed that way for a tour and a meeting with the admission counselor.

After being turned down the first go round because he was one point too low on his ACT score, he was approved for admission on the spot with an ACT score that was 2 points higher than what he needed to get accepted.  I am so glad he stuck it out and didn't give up!

Color Explosion at Target

During our weekly grocery shopping excursion at Target last Thursday, it was hard not to notice the new Prabal Gurung for Target line of clothing and accessories.  If you haven't seen the collection yet, it's worth a look.  It was the bright, colorful florals that captured my attention, but one of my favorites in the collection is a black and white sundress.   Target has the collection strategically located right near the check out lines for all us impulse shoppers out there.  If you don't have a Target nearby then you can browse the collection online HERE.

 

Here are some of my favorites from the collection...

The dress below is not one of my favorite colors (pink, black or white) but I do love it anyway.  The black purse is really cute too.  Oh, and the shoes!

I love the way this shoe looks in the picture.  I haven't seen it in person, but I'm pretty picky about the quality of my footwear.  If it looks like cheap fake leather I wouldn't like it.  I do love this style though and at $39.99 you can't beat the price!

Some really cute Prabal Gurung for Target jewelry too!

I love the collection!  Next time I'm at Target I am going to take a closer look.  Hopefully, there will be some items left!

Read more about Prabal Gurung and the Target collaborations HERE.

     

It's That Vowel That Thows Us Off

Image from health.com

I was trying to explain to the Murph tonight that my friend has decided to get a C-Peel.  He got confused and thought I meant she was taking a vitamin C pill.  After a few minutes of trying to get him to understand C-Peel instead of her usual microdermabrasion, not the vitamin, he finally understood what I was saying.  Our conversation sounded somewhat like the Abbott and Costello skit (who's on first).

Image from drugstore.com

Me:  My friend is going to get a C-Peel.

Murph:   A pill.  She's taking a vitamin C pill.

Me:  No, she's getting a peel.

Murph:  What kind of pill?

Me:  A C-Peel.

Murph:  But you said she wasn't getting a C pill and now you are saying she is.

Me:  She's getting a C-PEEL.    PEEL not PILL!

Murph:  Wait, how do you say pill like a vitamin pill you take.

Me:  Pill.

Murph:  Okay, now how do you say peel like your getting a peel instead of microdermabrasion.

Me:  Peel.

Murph:  (laughing and shaking his head)  Now I get it.  You pronounce those two words the exact same way and you add and extra syllable to both words.  Listen to me and see if you can tell a difference in the way I say the two words.  1.  I have a headache so I am going to take a PILL.  2.  I am going to the spa to get a C-PEEL.  Can you tell the difference?

Me:  Sure.  I can tell a difference.  Can't you tell the difference when I say them.  1.  I am going to take a PILL.  2.  I am going to get a C-Peel.  There!  See the difference?

Murph:  (Laughing and shaking his head)  It's okay.  That's one of the reasons you are so charming.

Wait!  Is that a Yankee way of saying, "Bless your heart"?

Pill or Peel.  Correct Southern pronunciation for both  =  /pi /ul/

I Know It's A Little Late But Here's My Oscar Favs and The Not So Much Favs

I know I'm a little late doing a post on the Oscar's last night, but I've been tired all day, my legs are sore and I'm a little bit crampy.  So I apologize and I almost didn't post this out because of the lateness, but then I decided why the heck not.  It's my blog.  It's random.  I have a touch of ADD.  I can procrastinate if I want to procrastinate.  Besides, I worked out twice today and got a lot of things done around the house even though what I really needed was a nap.

First, here's all my favorites and yes, I'm including Jennifer Anniston's red Valentino gown even though I don't wear red that much.  I love the shade,  I think it looks great on her and I love the full skirt.  

Here are some more of my favs...

If you didn't love Jennifer Lawrence before she tripped up the stairs as she was going to get her Oscar, you surely love her now.  I love this look on her.  Very pretty Dior gown!

I love this one on Charlize Theron too.  Peplum's may not be such a bad thing after all!

My overall favorite was this sparkly Armani dress worn by Naomi Watts.  This would be my choice if I was up for an Oscar nominee.  I'm not holding my breath or anything.

Below are some of my not so favorites although I don't hate them.

This blush pink Prada gown worn by Anne Hathaway was just plain boring to me from the front.  The back was much more interesting, but by the time I saw the back I was almost asleep from boredom.

And another boring one.   She's gorgeous, but the look, "Yawn."

I have always thought Halle Berry was great, but this dress just didn't do it for me.  It actually was kind of scary looking, but there were other dresses much worse.

Like this one....

There were others I didn't really like, but I would rather put gowns I love on my blog so I'm finished for now.  I'm going to go ice my legs.

What was your favorite?

Adams Heart Run

Saturday was the annual Adam's Heart Run held at Oak Mountain State Park right outside Birmingham, Alabama.  There was a choice of distances - 5k, 10k, or 10 miles.  The last time I did this race was probably around 9 years ago and I chose the 5k distance back then.   This time I thought the 10k choice would be better since I haven't run any 10k races in years.  The Vulcan run 2003 was probably the last time I ran the 10k distance.  All my races lately have been either 5k, half marathon or marathon distances.

I mentioned it to L, aka the running nazi, and she was all in.  She even suggested we might want to do the 10 miler.  I thought about it for about half a second and then convinced her that the 10k option would be better since

 1.  it's a very hilly course
 2. we just finished running 13.1 miles at Mercedes half marathon less than a week before.
 3.  My calves still aren't totally healed.
 4.  Mentally, I just didn't like the idea of "racing" 10 miles.  6.2 miles seemed more manageable to me.

L finally agreed.  The 10k distance was it.

On race morning we decided to meet at the park around 8am for the 9am start.  I was running about 10 minutes late so when I got to the park I tried to call her.  My cell phone wouldn't call out without the area code added so I tried to memorize her number as I dialed it with the area code.  No answer so I left a message not realizing I had dialed the number wrong.  Opps!  Sorry, whoever I called.

Disregard message!

I went to register and didn't see L anywhere so I walked back to my car and decided to try to call again.  This time the speed dial worked, but L's husband answered her cell phone because she had forgotten and left it at home.  I realized I had just woken him up.  Opps again!   He told me she should already be at the park so I went back toward registration looking for her.

This time I found her.  She had been looking for me too.  It was a fun race, the ground was a little wet but the rain had cleared up from the night before.  I wanted to do around 50 minutes, preferably under 50 but missed it by a little over a minute.  My total time was 51 minutes and some odd seconds.  I placed third in my age group only 20 seconds slower than the 2nd place finisher!

L did good too and now she's suddenly super motivated and said we should do a race EVERY weekend so we can get faster AND get up a 5am on Tuesdays to run with the "hill" running group.

Hills!

5am!

What have I done??

While the weekend races would be fun, I think I'm going to have to pass on the 5am Tuesday morning "hill" run.


All Images from Birmingham Track Club

Fashion Friday - Coral!

Dress - Bebe color block dress calypso coral;  Shoes - Steven by Steve Madden;  Similar here Pink pearl necklace;  bracelet from Cache (old)

It seems like I've gone from nearly no coral items in my wardrobe, to several different dresses in just a couple of months.  Both of these dresses were Christmas and Valentine presents from the Murph.  I've had the Steve Madden shoes for a couple of years with nothing to wear with them because they seemed to clash with my pinks and silver.  Now it seems I have plenty to wear with them and I'll take advantage of that this spring and summer.

Dress - Victoria's Secret crossover bra top dress;  Mac Lipstick - Impassioned;  Similar here John Hardy bracelet; silver cuff bracelet - old;  Shoes - Colin Stuart (old)

Trying to get Cadence out of the "photo shoots" is next to impossible.  He's incredibly clingy and demanding.  Maybe he was trying to remind me that he's sort of coral too, but sort of not.

He's kind of orange, not coral.  No pink, unless you count the ears.  Sorry Cadence!

Now I need to find an OPI shade of coral for my nails.  The OPI South Beach collection has a couple of options.  I'm open to suggestions.

Image from Jasminebeautysupply.com

Coral is one of those colors that I'm not really sure about.  Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't.  It is a pink orange color and I LOVE pink, but orange, not so much.  As long as the coral is more pink than orange, I like it.  Both of the dresses above pass the test.

The Murph did good!

Wanted: Faster Running Shoes To Make My Legs Go Faster

I've been looking for a light weight racing shoe for running marathons and half marathons to replace the Zoot triathlon racing shoe that I sometimes wear. I love the Zoot tri shoes, but I want to save them for when I do triathlons and get light weight racing shoes just for runs.

During the Mercedes Half marathon I wore my regular training shoe, the Brooks Glycerin 10.  It's a great shoe for me to train in,  but it's a little heavy for racing.  I wore the Zoot Tri shoe in Mobile for the half and the Brooks Glycerin Sunday and could tell the difference in weight.  I thought that by wearing the more cushioning Brooks shoe that the bottoms of my feet wouldn't feel so beat up after the race as they did in Mobile, but there wasn't much difference than when I wore the Zoot tri shoe.

The choices I am considering for a light weight running shoe are the Newton Women's shoe which is only a little lighter than my Glycerin 10.  I love the color!

Image from Newtonrunning.com

Newton Women's Distance U

I also found out there is a new pink performance running shoe coming out this Spring by Karhu.  The Karhu reps were at the Mercedes marathon expo and had pictures of it.  It is very cute and pink and worth checking out before I purchase anything.  And did I mention it's PINK!

I love the Brooks Glycerin 10, but as I said before it is pretty heavy for racing at about 9.6 oz.  I really want something under 8 oz for a racing shoe.  I wore the Glycerin 10 in the Chickamauga marathon and the Mercedes Half marathon.

Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon

Brook Glycerin 10

For most of my races the past couple of years, I have worn these Zoot triathlon shoes.  The difference between these and regular light weight running shoes is that these have built in lace locks that makes it easier to pull on in the transition area after taking off your biking shoes.  All you have to do is pull them on, give the laces a quick yank and go.  No time wasted trying to tie them.

Similar one here - Zoot Tri Shoe

Before I got these to do triathlons in, I had to put lace locks on my regular running shoes.  They weren't as easy to deal with as already having them built in the shoe itself.  The Zoot tri shoe itself is designed to tug on quickly and easily.

Image from Profile-design.com

I've worn these Zoot tri shoes at Rock And Roll New Orleans Marathon,

Heading to the Port a let where all well hydrated runners hang out pre-race

At the Buster Britton Triathlon,

Buster Britton Triathlon

Mobile Half marathon, and many other races throughout the past few years.

I have two other pairs of Zoot Triathlon shoes that I don't wear as much.  One pair is turquoise and the other is white and pink and very similar to the ones above except the laces are white instead of black and they are a little stiffer than the ones above so not as comfortable.  When I went to Hawaii two years ago to do the half ironman triathlon in Kona, I absent mindedly packed up one of each.  The right Zoot shoe with the black laces and the left Zoot shoe with the white laces.  What's worse is they made it all the way into my transition bag like that.  I didn't realize I had two different shoes until I was in the transition area ready to put them on race day.

Imagine my surprise after swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and then reaching in my transition bag and discovering what a stupid mistake I had made.  I said a short prayer right there in the middle of transition for God to PLEASE make one of them a lefty and one of them a righty or I was going to have to

1.   Put two right shoes on and run "awkwardly" for 13.1 miles hoping nobody would notice

2.  Run barefoot for 13.1 miles and hope there was skin on the soles of my feet at the end of the run

or

3.  Abandon the entire race right then and there and that would have been a toughy because I'm not a quitter and I had just flown thousands of miles all the way to Hawaii just to do this race!

Lucky for me I had a lefty and a righty so the entire run part of the race became a science experiment to find out which Zoot tri shoe felt the best and most comfy to me during a race.  It made the run go by just a little bit faster since I was going over in my head which foot was crampy, which one felt all cushiony like it was in a glove, etc.

Guess it's easy to see which pair won!  Unfortunately, they are getting a little worn out.