Wedding (5/21/11)

On May 21, Dave and I went to Philadelphia for his father's wedding.

It was very hot. Dave and I hid in the shade. Dave had to wipe the sweat off his face many times. At least we realized and got napkins out of the car so Dave had something to wipe his face with.  It was hot out but it was muddy. It was rough going with the heels that I packed. I did not anticipate the muddiness. I checked the weather and no rain during our visit but didn't back check weather to see what the ground would be like.

Muddy but hard to tell

Dave's grandmom, aunt, and dad

Dave and Magen

Jason and Erica

Christopher and Lori

The Wedding Party

The Wedding Party

I didn't take any pictures of us eating but the buffet was just get up and go whenever. Dave and I were at the head table but we were not given food like the bride and groom so then there was confusion on getting food so then Dave and I got food last. And they were out of things. No plain bagels. I still got enough to eat. The omelet was great. We ate around 1:00 PM, but all the food was breakfast food.   I took a picture of Dave's jacket on my chair because it reminded me of a picture of his jacket from our wedding.

I have never seen Dave's dad, Neil, so happy.

The cake was cheesecake. I think they had 4 different kinds.  After they fed each other a bit, Neil ate the rest of the slice. He said he had to have one of each kind.

Jason is Lori's youngest son and he sure loves Dave.

During lunch (but breakfast foods) Jason asked Neil if he should call him Dad or continue to call him Neil. The answer was "whatever you want" with a shrug so Jason said "OK Dad" man it was cute.

The ceremony and reception were outside. The first dance and cutting the cake were in a building right beside the reception tables.

While we were eating, Jason wanted to use my camera. I let him use my little camera. He took one nice picture.

The rest of the pictures he took weren't the best. He did catch me mid yawn.

He took a close-up of my eye too. 

There were probably 150 people at the wedding. At one point Dave's dad said that he didn't know 3/4 of them.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

06:30:04 AM - Up early and cropped some pictures instead of hitting the gym.
02:44:44 PM - I'm already starting to get nervous for @iamoddd's visit. Can't wait to see her.
02:45:05 PM - @wrkngmomscloset why what happened with the redesign?

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.29 - Anniversary Celebration

I curled my hair for my parents anniversary lunch.
Dress: Kohl's -2010 - $25
Necklace: Sears
Shoes: Aldo
Bracelet: Target
Earrings: Target

Normally I wear a cami under this dress but when picking out a dress for the wedding the previous weekend, she told me not to wear it with a cami. So I didn't. I felt like a hussy though.

This might have been the first time I wore this dress without a cardigan.

We ate lunch, then headed to my parents. While at my parents, I changed into outfit 2.

Jeans and shirt: Express
Shoes: Brooks
Jewelry = same as outfit 1

I curled my hair for the celebration. I timed it.   I put sculpting gel in. Then I curled a little. Then I used hair spray on all my hair. Then I curled  it. Then I sprayed it. Then I got out the smaller curling iron and recurled it all since it went straight besides the very bottom. I sprayed everything again at the end too.  It took 33 minutes total.  I basically started over 17 minutes into it.

Poly hung out with me in  morning. She even read my emails with me.

I put 6 bags of mulch down in the morning.  After my shower, Poly almost got stepped on. I didn't know she was in the bag. Then she did some flips and got comfy.

After lunch, we went to hang out with my parents a little. Somehow my mom got to talking about how we should tear down the beams (Styrofoam not wood)  in the family room. She's hated them for years. So my dad got to tearing them down.  My mom has been trying to get him to do it for years.  She said that's a good anniversary present.  My mom thinks that my dad was willing to do it because Dave was sitting in my dad's normal spot. My dad is like me. We are both very productive when company is around. Sometimes I try to get my mom to visit so she can sit there and talk to me while I clean. She thinks I'm nuts. She likes to clean when she's home alone.  Too bad my mom lives an hour away so she doesn't come visit when I need to clean.


Man the more I look at these pictures, the more I love my hair curled. I should really do it more. I just feel like it's a waste of time. Just curling the ends under looks great and I still never do that and it only takes about 3 total minutes to curl my ends under.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

07:48:01 AM - Only 2 more days of this computer. I can't wait. I'm on my third reboot this morning.
07:49:52 AM - @BL11Courtney BL experience. Your armband
12:24:02 PM - At this meeting I saw they ran out of napkins. I went and got more and passed them out to the tables. Others just sit and say they are out
05:40:39 PM - It is far too easy to spend $500 at Ikea
05:58:03 PM - @angelineevans chair, ottoman, bookshelf, serving dishes, rug, cookies, chocolate (none for me. All for Dave)
06:57:07 PM - @mikecherepko you are in a documentary?
11:24:00 PM - @wrkngmomscloset I'm not. Are you using an old version of IE. I heard google stopped supporting IE7
11:24:33 PM - @wrkngmomscloset last time people weren't having problems with chrome or firefox from what I know.
11:29:44 PM - @angelineevans I sent you one. I have a second. And third. You want them too. Three taps me out though.
11:35:34 PM - @briecs I did know

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.26 (Thursday)

I had a different outfit planned but the other khaki skirt needed to be ironed. Right after I went inside, I tightened the bet a good inch or 2. I didn't even see the pictures first but am glad I did. I usually think this skirt looks nicer. Not sure if it's the angles of the photos or what. Perhaps it was the belt throwing it all off.

Failed Spinning Pictures

Skirt: B Moss - 2005
Skirt: Loft - 2009
Belt: Target - 2010
Shoes: Famous Footwear - 2011
Necklace: Target or Filene's Basement (I have 2 necklaces that are very similar)

The belt was tighter and I was trying to hold my skirt up higher like the paper bag effect that people talk about but it did not stay up. I just prefer the skirt right above my knee instead of right below it. Perhaps that is why I didn't like the skirt in these pictures well. You can't really tell that the skirt is above the belt but it does make me thicker in the waist area.

I took off my gowear fit after the pictures and before heading to work.
(sorry for those of you that saw my last post on google reader. I got mixed up which day I wore this outfit. That's what happens when you get really behind in posting.)

After work I went to Body Pump. I was going to go before work but then wanted to sleep in or something.   Apparently that threw me off because I forgot my gym socks. It was awful to do Body Pump without socks but I guess that was better than trying to run without socks. If only I had work socks instead of panythose on that day, then I might have had something.   I felt good after pump. We did a mix of old releases. Some were challenging. Some weren't as challenging. I did it all.  I need to get back to going regularly or lifting regularly.

After dinner it was time for TV. I watched TV with Dave while Poly was on my lap.  Then eventually Dave went to sleep and I watched TV myself.

Is it Community or Couger Town?!

Dave put my picture on reddit the next morning.

Poly curled up beside me. I was using my computer so she couldn't sit on my lap.

She got comfy and hung out with me for hours.

Poly was cuddled beside me. I had to get up and it caused her to roll over in the middle of the chair. So then I sat (more like squeezed) beside her.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

09:20:13 AM - @DaizyCh I never heard of either of those doubles
12:37:02 PM - watching a movie on lifetime. I'll be watching them all day. Kristen Bell is in this one. Too bad I missed the first 30 minutes.
01:20:33 PM - It's been an hour and Dave still can't get the internet jack working in his new office. He's going to be even madder at the neighbors now.
04:10:09 PM - @stinachristina before what? and where's the after?
08:21:43 PM - @DaizyCh He ended up getting it. Some port or something was not working. I wish I wasn't sick this weekend. Furniture in all the wrong rooms
08:21:57 PM - @DaizyCh How'd you fix it?
09:16:35 PM - @SydneyLiann you decided to go back to formspring again?

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.27 - 9/80 Day off

I got up and immediately put on my workout clothes so I could go running. I never went running.  I did spend a lot of time cleaning. I randomly cleaned a lot of different things so nothing was 100% clean. A lot of different rooms were cleaned a little bit. I even swept the garage (well half of it. My car was still in there.)  I did leave at lunchtime to go to lunch with Dave and Jen.

I ended up making it a rest day since my legs were sore from abduction and adduction 2 on Wednesday and my arms were sore from Body Pump on Thursday.

After work, Poly cuddled with me. She also went on the middle shelf of the end table.

Around 10:30 the thing to play TV stopped working and I couldn't play my shows. So I went to sleep. I was also tired.  That probably saved me from going to bed at 3am.  I had an extensive to do list which is really the same to do list for the past few months that I never end up doing and I didn't do it yet again. One of these days I'll actually do some stuff on it.

5.25

Poly still makes room to sleep on my desk even though there is tons of junk all over it.

Dave mowed half the lawn (the easy flat half) and I mowed the rest. At least he mowed something.  I feel like I never have enough time in my days anymore.
I did run before work and went to PT during the work day, but it was telecommuting day so it wasn't so bad. That probably took up a ton of time.  I don't know how I fit in working out into my schedule before, because I never feel like I have enough time for it anymore. I think I went too long without it specifically part of my routine and now it is not part of it. I need to work on it.

I hear rustling in the kitchen and looked and saw that it was Poly getting comfortable in her bag.

My weekend (6/3 through 6/5)

Starting Friday evening I started sneezing like crazy. At first I thought it was allergies.  Nope it was a cold. Within 24 hours I went through an entire box of kleenexes.  I'm still sick today.

During all this on Saturday, Dave had me helping switch his office and the spare bedroom because his office is the room that gets the bass the most from the neighbors.  Before we decided to switch, Dave went over to talk to the neighbor again. Before Dave said a word, I could hear the neighbor yelling at him. One of the things he yelled was that he doesn't have to be nice because his wife isn't home.  He also yelled that perhaps we shouldn't live here and that he doesn't hell at us because our backyard is ugly (BTW we are getting it landscaped but the guy won't call us back. it's been 2 months and makes me mad.  Also theirs used to be way worse than ours before this year. Now ours looks bad since they have been working on theirs. Also when their lamp post light goes out they don't replace it for awhile. We don't complain about that because it does not affect us. The music shaking our walls affects us.)

Former office

The problem is not the level of sound. We do not hear their music at all. All of our windows are closed. The bass just travels through all the walls.  Last weekend Dave showed them how to adjust the bass on their ipod and that helped a lot. It made it a lot better. It is still annoying for Dave in his office and sometimes through the rest of the house.

The bass doesn't so much bother me because I had to put up with Timmy for all those years with his guitar amp and the bass shaking the driveway and such.  But Dave can't handle reading with the constant bass. He said when you hear bass you get distracted thinking when the next bass with come and start thinking about music. I don't really understand that so that could be why it doesn't bother me.

They said they checked the township ordinances and they don't violate any.  They do violate the housing plan covenant but we have not told them that.  During all this music / bass discussions, I learned the neighbor is a lawyer.

Their sound system cost them extra money because it is built right into their hot tub.

What would you do in this neighbor / bass situation?

Half before

A little after

I didn't get any good before pictures yesterday. I do have some somewhere. I'll have to take more progress photos.

I just realized the neighbors have the link to my blog based on my email signature. I wonder if they'll ever look at it.

Twitter 6/4

07:32:30 AM - My throat hurts. My nose is runny. No good
12:17:02 PM - Watching mean girls on TBS
03:13:19 PM - We are swapping Dave's office and the spare bedroom.
05:45:40 PM - Failed making a frozen pizza. Burned my finger and the pizza ended up upside-down on the floor
08:59:39 PM - @lisafilipek couldn't it have waited until a weekday to hit. I had a lot I wanted to do this weekend (mainly sewing)
09:01:24 PM - I'm so sick I'm taking off my shoes.
09:07:55 PM - @wrkngmomscloset not at all

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:08:38 AM - My 3 hour nap really is messing up my ability to get to bed tonight.
12:56:47 AM - i just spent 10 minutes looking for my phone and it was where I thought it was (hoodie pocket) weird i tried to call it and VM 1st ring.
01:22:04 AM - I just replied to a few work emails. I hope nobody notices the time the emails were sent. I wish I was tired.
07:27:48 AM - earlier I went in the bathroom to wash my hands and ended up painting my toenails. I found my phone and not tired, so I painted my nails
07:28:03 AM - that last tweet was from last night. guess i didn't hit tweet button
07:28:38 AM - @iamoddd i may have a problem. my knee hurt 2 miles into my run. It felt like a tight muscle not so much like an injury pain though.
07:50:06 AM - I probably should shower and get to work instead of analyze running numbers (3.29 mi in 32:01. pace 9:43.)
09:07:20 AM - So few people are here at work today that I got a parking spot like I arrived 2 hours earlier. Now I think I should have taken vacation.
09:25:56 AM - I think I should buy a scale that sends my weight to my computer or twitter each time. That'd be awesome.
09:27:44 AM - @lisafilipek Well I ended up staying up for another hour so it ended up good. Typing with them wet kind of messed them up a little though.
09:36:54 AM - @TheNewChrissy I've seen that I think. Different versions. I wonder how much they cost. Too bad my birthday isn't coming up.
09:39:31 AM - @angelineevans They do have them. I just don't own them. I want one. I already have 2 scales at home. but they aren't cool.
10:46:57 AM - details on my run today... http://bit.ly/jsPhBg Slow. Lots of traffic and school buses. Good weather.
09:26:16 PM - @lisafilipek I wanted to be outside all day too.
09:28:17 PM - @angelineevans I've never lost a heel tip.
09:32:38 PM - @reedaboutme congrats on 1 year
09:33:42 PM - @reedaboutme I'm actually surprised we Ll haven't gotten bored.
09:50:41 PM - My allergies are so bad. Too bad Dave has all these windows open
11:04:24 PM - My nose is worse than a faucet because I can't turn it off.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Run - 3.29 miles (6/3/11) - ehh

I ran 3.29 miles before work today.  It is my longest run since my 3.8 mile run on April 7 (9:24 pace). I guess I should be glad I got a longer than my normal.  But I'm a bit disappointed for a few reasons.

1. I have been looking forward to pacing Callie for her race for a year. It is in a week.  I don't know how ready I am.
2. My knee hurt about 2 miles into it. 
3. I'm slow now.
4. I'm slower than I was before when I thought I was slow.
5. I barely run now. 
6. I did all that stretching and strength training at PT and my knee still bothers me.  
7. Since after PT, usually pain would be the least it'll ever be, does this mean I won't ever be a runner anymore? 

Using "Time"

Mile 2 was going up hill so I guess it makes sense it was slower but man was it rough and it should not have been that slow.  I hit the lap button at 3.1.  that is no good for a 5k. But now I have a goal and have to beat that next time.

The weather was a little chilly when I started. It was hot when I was done. By hot I mean accuweather told me it was 46 degrees. I ran in a tank + a long sleeve shirt with capri pants.  I'm not going to do well this summer if 46 is hot.

I made my 2.5 mile loop a little long by going in some side housing plans. I did run around culdesacs and I hate how the Garmin things I just ran to a point and turned around.  So I ran a little longer than it said.  Next time I should try to use iMapMyRun and the Garmin to see how close they are.

I passed 7 school buses today while running.  I ran past a few bus stops. One kid yelled "Run. Run. Run." to me. Running by all the bus stops was my fasted .25 split at 2:05.

Friend Friday: Vacation

Now that summer is in full swing here… and vacations are coming up, let’s talk about what you’re packing to take on vacation. Check out what Katy and everyone else said too.

1. When it comes to packing for vacation what’s your mantra?
I pack so infrequently. Actually all my packing the past 15 years have been for work except once.  But when packing I will sick with things that go with either black shoes or brown shoes. Shoes take up far too much room when packing. I may take 2 black pairs but then I have options.

2. What are your must packs?
Laptop, good camera, purse camera, spare camera batteries and battery chargers, gameboy, KenKen book, phone charger... oh that's probably not what you had in mind.  Perhaps clothes appropriate for the weather is the must pack. Lately I have to pack a ton of accessories.

3. What are you happy to leave behind?
Nothing. I don't even know why I travel. Oh wait. I don't.   I am sitting here staring trying to figure out what I'm happy to leave behind. I am coming up with nothing.

4. Any packing secrets that help you get everything into one suitcase?
Fewer shoes. Get everything out that you need to pack before starting to load the suitcase.

5. Beach reading… what are you taking with you to read in the sand?
Well this assumes I travel to somewhere I can read. I barely read. I'm staying at hotels and busy doing touristy things on my vacations (OK vacation...) and I read blogs in the evening.  I won't even stay at a hotel if I can't get internet. The last time we visited the in-laws we stayed at a different hotel because the internet wasn't good at the one we used to stay at.

I've flown a few times and I have never checked a bag. I fit everything into my carry-on.  When driving, I pack more but still never feel like I pack enough. I don't have enough options. I do remix while traveling but sometimes you don't want to wear things again like the last time I traveled, I picked up trash at a park for community service and didn't want to wear those jeans again.  Or if I'm walking outside in the humidity, I feel like my clothes get too gross.  I do often forget to pack a hoodie to sleep in. If I travel with my husband, he keeps the hotel rooms far too cold and I have trouble sleeping if I don't have a hoodie.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

10:16:03 AM - @lisafilipek it goes to my junk email address so I never see it. it's better that way.
07:59:08 PM - I came home from worked and changed clothes into a dress. Thought it was too early for PJs. Then proceeded to nap for 3 hours.
09:20:50 PM - Just went on a 35 minute walk with @polahbea
09:35:31 PM - @BodyMediaFIT funny I didn't finish reading tour tweet before thinking I'd buy exercise equipment.
11:17:24 PM - My left arm has a (slight) dent from wearing my @BodyMediaFIT for almost 2 years.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.24

I'm so behind on posting that I already forgot that I wore my red skirt for a 2nd time. My toe nails are painted red matching my skirt and necklace.  Well I'm still at $30/wear on this skirt so I need to wear it some more.

Bottom left picture = no idea what I was up to or showing off.   I forgot to take off my armband until I was done taking pictures so I had to go and take more.  My legs are a bit pale aren't they.
Does anyone out there use sunless tanner? What is good?

I worked really late to make up for all my time at PT. I get home slightly after 7:15 and the power goes out. It was out until about midnight. No power = no fun. We missed so many season finales too. Sucks.  I ended up going to sleep around 10. I tried to do KenKen in bed by flashlight but that was really hard.  It was hot.

Funny thing is I got home from work and the garage door went up but before I got out of the car, the power was out. Boy am I glad I didn't get home seconds later. I would have had to figure out how to open the garage door without power. But then I wished I had stayed at work another 20 minutes so I could have been a little more productive in some way.

Note the power went out for everyone in the Cranberry area and all surrounding areas... it wasn't just us.

It was hard to figure out what to eat for dinner without having power. Luckily Dave bought bread the day before. That was an added surprise and I ended up making PB&J.

My latest addiction

A Day's Worth of Twitter

07:58:22 PM - It took 5 years but I know where my RPI diploma is.
08:14:53 PM - @FatGirlvsWorld it is so hard to keep up on them all.
08:38:08 PM - @BodyMediaFIT #BodyBurn My calorie burn. Body Combat almost killed me. http://lockerz.com/s/106853963
08:50:04 PM - @FatGirlvsWorld You added a lot more detail from the original one you posted. Good job.
08:53:14 PM - Now I'm really disappointed I got sick and couldn't run. RT @whoatemyblog: Happy National Running Day!
08:54:50 PM - @BodyMedia In the suburbs we don't have public transportation. :(
08:55:59 PM - @lisafilipek I just bought some new nail polish. got a nice purple and a nice pink.
08:59:43 PM - @BodyMediaFIT I love pushups because I could still work on them when my knee was bad. http://bit.ly/lQZoZe a little awkward to hide my face
09:01:12 PM - @stinachristina You could look as easy as me. I never even look at openings for me. Check brassring.
09:04:01 PM - @BodyMediaFIT How is it possible to just pick one? I feel like doing a wide variety of things helps me stick with it.
09:09:45 PM - @wwanw I often wonder that. There are many things in life I want to do and never get around to doing them.
09:11:59 PM - Spring would work too. RT @whoatemyblog: I'm making a motion to move National Running Day to late Fall or early Winter.
09:14:44 PM - @wwanw I fold. Putting it away is another story. how about mailing a card to someone or organizing my closet, sewing my skirts, etc.
09:16:09 PM - @lisafilipek when you paint your nails how long does the polish last? Less than a day for me. lasts longer on my toes.
09:16:55 PM - @mikecherepko this is the first time my toenails are painted pink. all other times they were painted red. fingernails are polished at all.
09:17:40 PM - @BodyMedia It's so hilly around here and still some roads are pretty dangerous.North Park is my favorite running place but switch directions
09:37:26 PM - @lisafilipek mine are chipped and look awful after less than a day. even with 2 coats and a top coat. my fingernails are thin
10:46:20 PM - @lisafilipek I wonder how many I have
10:47:17 PM - I just figured that out as you tweeted it RT @lisafilipek: @SmilinColleen 6,378
10:52:41 PM - @polahbea is staying up late and it confuses me.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.23

Shirt: Kohl's
Pants: VS
Shoes: Famous Footwear
necklace/earrings: Target

I finally got to wear my new shirt from Kohl's. It finally got warm again.  I rather like this outfit. I think I needed a darker necklace.

I went to PT after working out and still had a slightly red face even with putting makeup on.  I ran 2.5 miles in 23:15 on the treadmill. My longest run since April 7.  I wanted to run 3 miles but didn't have time before PT. I didn't dry my hair and just threw it up so then I would have had a few more minutes. Then they made me wait wait wait. I was so annoyed. 

dinner: Boston Market TV Dinner + instant mashed potatoes.

Poly enjoyed resting  on me.

I watched some TV when I eventually got home. It was a late night at work. I didn't even blog when I got home.