Where's Cadence?

Phantom kept going after the other cats today so I took him out into the backyard to "play"in hopes that he would use some of that stalker energy directed at bugs or something other than my other poor cats.

Cadence wasn't very happy that I didn't let him go outside too.  He watched out the window as Phantom explored the area.  They are both indoor cats and I really didn't feel like chasing both of them around the yard and I don't want Cadence to get use to going outside.

 I wasn't trying to play favorites or be mean to poor Cadence, but I don't think he understood.  Phantom didn't want to come back inside and when I finally managed to get him in the door, the first thing he did was go after Ed.  My strategy didn't work.  Time out for Phantom.

Very Bad Cat!

Was that a bird?

Poor Cadence!

The Case Of The Missing Flash Drive

A couple of weeks after The Boy started second semester, he asked me to bring him a few things he had forgotten at the house.   They were things that were for his computer, one was a flash drive, some miscellaneous stuff and an obscure computer thing that I can't even remember what it was called, but I do remember that it took me forever to find it.   I didn't know exactly what I was looking for so he described this obscure thing to me.  I found a few things that I thought might be it and sent him pictures of them on skype.   I think I must have sent him a dozen pictures of different hardware looking computer items.  I had no idea what they were.  I managed to find everything but the flash drive.  Now I know what a flash drive looks like so that wasn't the problem.  I've even used flash drives before many times.  The Boy sent me a picture of exactly what the flash drive looked like anyway,  just in case I didn't know.

The Boy told me the flash drive should be on the night table table next to his bed.  I looked and it wasn't there.  I looked around his bed, under his bed, even a little in the bed itself, but didn't find it.  I also thought The Boy might be confused as to where he used it last so I looked on his desk and around other areas of his room.  I did find a flash drive, but it wasn't the one he wanted.  The flash drive was just missing in action.   I finally gave up looking for it and had forgotten all about it until today.

The Boy is coming home over spring break next week so I decided it's time to start cleaning down in his room.  I have avoided the area since January so it was about time.   I washed his sheets and pillow cases and as I was pulling them out of the dryer today guess what I found in the bottom of the dryer?  You got it...  the MIA flash drive.  I guess it somehow jumped off The Boy's night table and into his bed and has been hiding in the sheets for the last couple of months.  It's now all clean and dry.  I skyped The Boy and broke the news to him.  The good news is he has clean sheets when he gets home, the bad news is his flash drive had a bath.  I'm not really sure exactly what he had saved on there (even if he told me I probably wouldn't understand) and I asked him if he thought it would still work.  So far, he hasn't responded except for a "grrrrrrrrrr" and a :o (surprise face).

Dancing In The Streets - French Quarter

We were walking in the French Quarter in New Orleans the other night and came across this band playing in a street corner.  Watch as the cars are trying to avoid the street dancing lady.  You never know what you might find in the French Quarter.  One thing I didn't get this time were the beignets at Cafe Du Monde.  I was all set to get them this morning before we headed home, but I was a little ill from all the celebrating last night and not eating anything.  Dumb, I know.

After running 26.2 miles you really need something to eat other than what I had - a power bar, 4 Gu, gatoraid (before and during race) and frozen yogurt, a handful of mixed nuts and a diet coke (after the race).  I really never ever do that.  I usually eat way too much after a race, but I wasn't hungry and didn't know what I wanted to eat so I just didn't eat.  I really shouldn't have had those margaritas on an empty stomach last night either.....

Sunset over Lake Pontchartrain

Band in French Quarter

Rock and Roll New Orleans Marathon

I just finished running in the Rock and Roll New Orleans marathon, formerly called the Mardi Gras Marathon.  This is one marathon I have wanted to do for a number of years, but just haven't for some reason.  I think one of the main reasons was that it use to fall on the same weekend as the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, Al and I usually either do the Mercedes whole or half since it's in my hometown.  I love Pensacola, FL, but I have to say that the New Orleans Marathon is far superior to Pensacola or Mercedes.  It's flat!  No hills, and yes, there are hills in Pensacola.  More than just the two I was told there were.  The entire first part of the course in Pensacola was a slow, steady, calf burning climb along Scenic Highway.  Beauful, but not good for the calves.  Mercedes has hills, but the most deadly ones are no longer part of the course.  I think my calves are happier with a flatter course like New Orleans.  Besides, it is such a beautful, historic city.

The New Orleans marathon was moved to March, which made it perfectly fit in with my marathon training.  I was able to do the Mercedes half (I added 7 miles at the end to do a 20 miler) and then taper for this race.  My goal time was 4 hours 15 minutes and I was very, very close.  I am also now a firm believer in compression socks.  I wore my new Run Love compression socks (the white ones since I still haven't received the pink ones) and my calves are not sore at all.  The rest of my entire body is toast, including not only my quads and hamstrings, but also my back, abs, and lungs.  My calves feel fantastic!  Thank god for compression.  Maybe I wouldn't be sore at all if I had worn a complete compression suit.  (do they even make those?) I'm just joking, of course,  I have compression tights and don't like them much.  I wore them in the half marathon a few weeks ago and they didn't help my calves at all.

pre race potty stop

There were 22,000 runners today, but Ken managed to find me twice on the course and then at the finish while I was stumbling around a little dazed.  I didn't think I was ever going to find him and the security guard was making me go through the gate out of the finisher area into the huge mass of people on the other side of the fence.  He barely made it in time to see me finish because the cab driver that took him to City Park where the finish line was, let him off about 4 miles away (he says 4, probably more like 1 :)) and then he had to figure out how to walk to the finish area.  I was so happy to see him and to be finished!  

After the race we headed over to Pinkberry Yogurt because I was having a craving.  We were lucky enough to have one right near the hotel.  I got the original flavor with granola, yogurt chips and blackberries.   It's my new favorite yogurt.  Yum!

Then it was advil, shower and a nap since I didn't sleep at all last night in anticipation for the race today.

Now I have run a marathon in five states - Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Massachusetts (Boston -Yea!)  Now I only have 45 more states to go....

Me and the Running Nazi pre race

More Race Photos

Ellis Marsalis - Snug Harbor

Last night Ken and I saw Ellis Marsalis play at Snug Harbor jazz bistro in the New Orleans French Quarter.  Ken is an avid jazz fan and while I love music of all kinds,  I am sort of a newbie to any jazz that hasn't been mainstreamed.   It was a coincidence that we had tickets to see his son Wynton Marsalis in Birmingham Friday night, but couldn't make it because my marathon is this weekend.  Instead, we were able to see another Marsalis.  I have to say it was my favorite performance that Ken has dragged me to so far.  Amazing!  While photos and videos weren't allowed in the restaurant, I found this video on You tube.  

Rain Boots And Rolling Bags

Yesterday was another rain boot weather kind of day.  Ken says I will use any excuse to wear my Michael Kors rain boots.  Maybe, but I would rather not have the bad storms and tornadoes that came through Alabama, Kentucky and Ohio yesterday.  It was awful and I feel terrible for all the people who lost everything, entire towns destroyed.  It's so scary this weather lately.  Luckily, we were at the Florida coast which was south of where the worst storms passed through so all we got was some rain showers.  The clouds were still low and we were in the fog for another day.  Very strange.

The very large rolling bag I'm pulling is my awesome toiletry/cosmetic bag.  I purchased it several years ago when I got the "Accredited Staging Professional" certification when I first became a Realtor.  It was meant to hold things like cleaning supplies, furniture moving equipment, picture hangers, and other assorted tools to help in staging houses and getting them ready for sale.  The bag has been sitting in my garage ever since the real estate market took a nose dive.  Now I am happy to put it to another use.  It has all these great compartments, big ones and small ones and rolls right into the condo or hotel and into the bathroom where all my toiletry products and cosmetics are easily accessible.  I am not sure it would hold up to air travel, but it's great for road trips.

Juicy Couture Cover Up

Bebe Dress

Michael Kors Rainboots -similar here

Louis Vuitton Sunglasses

Shit Cyclists Say

In The Fog

It's been so foggy all day today.  Usually it's foggy in the morning, but will burn off when the sun comes up.  Not today.  It was foggy this morning until around noon, then it cleared up for about 30 minutes and now it's foggier than ever.  This is the view off the balcony.  It's so bad now you can't even see the houses down below or the other buildings.  Kind of cool, but creepy too.  Today it's not just my head that's in the fog.

Last night the Murph and I went to Peg Leg Pete's and had raw oysters.  The Murph ate most of them because I am only good for about three. They always start off tasting good, but after about two oysters, the texture starts getting to me and I can't really swallow them very well.  That's why I rarely eat more than two or three raw oysters.  I can eat dozens of baked or steamed ones though.  Yum!

This sticker was over the bar at Peg Leg Petes.  I liked it.  Just a reminder for the smarty pants non-blondes out there.

More fog pictures....  This was when you could still see things a bit.

Boy Genius

Whenever I come across anything on computers, technology or asperger's that I think The Boy might be interested in reading, I will email or skype him the link to the article, blog, whatever it happens to be.  This morning I was reading and came across a blog that had a link to an article on the "9 Ways Geeks Have Inherited The Earth".  I thought it was a cool and accurate article on the ways technology has impacted every one's lives and most of this technology has been invented by "Geeks".

 The article stated that "Geeks are behind the wealthiest companies in the world." I am keeping my fingers crossed that one day the Boy will be behind one of those companies.  Geeks rule!  I wish I were a Geek, but I still screw up my html code whenever I try to copy and paste pictures on my blog.  I made a D in the only computer class I ever took in college.  (One class was plenty to let me know that wasn't my field).  I don't even know how to get my printer to work when I try to print wirelessly from my lap top.  I thought The Boy would love the article, but instead I get something that went like this:

Me: (sending the link to the boy along with this note)  Interesting article I thought you would like to read

A few minutes later The Boy skypes this back to me......

The Boy: A bunch of bull crap

Me: So Geeks don't rule??

The Boy: They missed a lot of major details

The Boy: and they used a lot of words incorrectly

The Boy: It sounded like someone in high school wrote it...

Me: It came from a blog

The Boy: hmm...

 The Boy: They will let anyone write anything these days...

The Boy: Whatever happened to having to get your papers published before people can read it...

The Boy: it got rid of all the idiots out there

Me: It's a freedom of speech country (and writing)

The Boy: Just because they say it doesn't mean anyone should listen

Me: What did u say.....      

Sometimes saying less is best with The Boy.  From now on if he gets all smarty pants with me or says stuff I don't like, I'm just going to pretend I don't hear him.  After all, he's given me permission now not to listen.  I don't have too!   I think all those good grades in writing are going to his head.  We've always known he was a computer genius, but now a great writer too.  Before long he really is going to be a "know it all".  We're getting our money's worth at that college.   Who can stand it??

My Favorite Oscar Night Fashions

Last night The Murph gave up control of the tv remote so I could watch all the fashion at the Oscars.  My favorite dress of the night was the white, sparkly Elie Saab dress worn by Milla Jovovich.  I would love to wear that as my wedding dress.  Beautiful!  However, I already have a Reem Acra dress picked out that is very, very nice too.   I liked Cameron Diaz's Gucci dress and Angelina's black Versace.  Those three were my top picks of the night.  Too bad we couldn't see a little more shoe action.  Would love to have seen more shoes.

All the talk today has been on Angelina's right leg and J Lo's nip slip.  I love Angelina, but I did think that walk was a little strange and the sticking out leg pose thing was odd.  As for J Lo, I liked her dress and the designer stated that there was no slippage, just an optical allusion.  I don't know...  looked like slippage to me, but just a slight hint of slippage.  The leg and the slippage were the most exciting things that happened last night unless you count the kiss George gave Billy. You can follow Angelina's leg and J Lo's nips on Twitter now if that's something you would want to do.  I'll pass.

I was really excited about Alabama native, Octavia Spencer winning supporting actress for her role in "The Help".  I loved the book and the movie and was thrilled that a fellow Alabamian won the Oscar last night.  I liked her dress too, although it wasn't a style I personally would wear.   Tonight we're back to Hockey.  Go New York Rangers!  (that's for the Murph)

Also, great news from The Boy from college.  He made a B+ on his English paper and a 93 in his Information Technology class.  Could he possibly make a 3.7 GPA this semester?  I sure hope so!  He is working on a speech for his public speaking class now.  He skyped me a couple of hours ago trying to con me into doing the outline for him.  Sorry, but he is very capable of doing it on his own.  I always help by proofreading, but that's about it.  He is has become a very good writer this year after spending most of high school struggling with writing.  Or maybe just trying to get somebody else to do it for him...

My Favorite Dress From Oscar Night
pic from stylefrizz.com

Run Love

I finally received these Runlove Compression socks after much anticipation.  They matched my Brooks running shoes perfectly.  I bought a pink pair as well, but they are on backorder.  I hope they arrive before the marathon in a couple of weeks.  I am thinking about wearing them during the race unless it is really hot and humid.  I don't think I've ever been so excited about buying socks before.  It's probably because I have cut down on spending this month and am trying my best to be good.  It's hard not to shop especially when I need to replenish my beauty/skincare/haircare supplies.  February is thankfully almost over and I've been pretty good.  It does feel good to use things you already have instead of going out and buying things you don't really need.

On the top of my list to purchase next month will be my Obage C Clarifying serum.  I ran out a couple of weeks ago and switched back to some Estee Lauder Perfectionist serum that I had laying around in the bathroom cabinet and never used up.  I'm also out of my Frederic Fekkai protein shampoo and have been temporarily using a drug store brand shampoo.  I hate it!  I love FF Protein Rx shampoo and conditioner.  I have plenty of conditioner left, but no shampoo.   Funny how I almost never run out of conditioner, but the shampoo disappears like magic.  The credit card feels very neglected, but my sore, beat up calves are very happy and I am slowly cleaning out the bathroom cabinets.

The Jazz Cat's Happy Mardi Gras

The Jazz Cats partied all night last night in honor of  Fat Tuesday.  Ed and Phantom even wore their Mardi Gras masks for the occasion.    Boo took one look at the mask ran for his life.  Cadence, yeah right, him wear a mask?  No way!

After all the fun and merriment last night, today they are ready to give up hair balls for Lent.

What will you give up for Lent?

Ken and I are undecided.

No animals were harmed in the shooting of these photos.  The only casualty was one sparkly Mardi Gras mask.

"Beam Me Up, Scotty"

I put this outfit on yesterday and when Ken sees me wearing it the first thing he says is "Beam me up, Scotty," the famous quote from Star Trek.  This somehow reminds him of what Spock and Captain Kirk were wearing in the shows.  Kind of a stretch I think, but Ken had fun with it as we ran our errands yesterday.  Everywhere we went I heard "Beam me up, Scotty!"  

I actually bought this dress from Bebe's about two years ago.  Either I've gotten bigger or it has shrunk so now I wear leggings under it unless I'm at the beach.  The leggings came from Cache, BCBG shoes from Saks Fifth Avenue and Louis Vuitton handbag and sunglasses, also purchased at Saks Fifth Avenue.

"Beam Me Up, Scotty!"

Cowboy Phantom

 

He doesn't look very happy to be wearing a pink Cowboy hat, does he?

QGT3NEXFDM99

Missoni

I have been wearing these new Missoni over the knee socks whenever I can since they were delivered last week.  No, they aren't compression socks, but they are much cuter and just as comfortable.  I got three pairs of them from Zappos last week and love them.  I am even thinking of getting some pink ones as well.  I bought them to wear under the Jeffrey Campbell lace up boots I recently purchased online from Free People.  Didn't really think I would wear them all that much otherwise, but they are great to hang around the house in when I'm not in the compression socks.

The Running Nazi and I did our long run yesterday morning in the cold rain.  Thirteen miles in the dreary cold at 6:30 a.m. so she could get to work by 10:30.  We were out there for 2 1/2 hours and were soaking wet by the time we finished. The only ones out there running in that weather were the hard core runners and the freakishly insane.  While The Running Nazi might fall into either one of those categories on any given day, I was only out there because I have a marathon coming up and I am trying to stay on the training schedule.  I never want a repeat of the way my legs felt while running in the Pensacola marathon last Fall.  Yes, I can finish a marathon without properly training for it, but I never want to experience that much pain again.  Just because I did an Ironman the year before meant nothing.  My legs didn't remember it at all, but they didn't let me forget the pain I put them through afterward.  From now on, I'm doing the proper marathon training.   It was great getting back home and into these warm socks.  My legs felt happy.

The Murph kept making fun of my outfit and thought I was wearing these colors in honor of Mardi Gras.   He kept laughing at me and followed me around taking pictures.  Now I know how old Boo feels when we come after him pointing the camera.  Don't worry, I'll get some pictures of my own of the Murph.  I'm still waiting for my new Runlove Compression socks to be delivered.  Keeping my fingers crossed for them to be delivered today.