Jill Reese

Abby turned 25 this past weekend! She is a quarter of a century old! Haha. Just kidding, Abby! I missed the dinner part of her party at Guadalajara, but managed to make it to Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar for the REAL party. This place was a blast! So much fun. I was so tired on Sunday, though! And I even left early. Im lame these days!

Blanca, me, and the birthday girl!

Abby and I…something was HILARIOUS!

Every once in a while I go through these crazy bouts of insomnia. Not sure what the deal is! Tonight I will definitely be using the sleeping pills, though.

Signs you need more sleep:

- You stare at the TV for over ten minutes before you realize it isn’t on.

- You close your eyes at every red light you stop at on your way in to work

- Walls jump out at you from nowhere while walking down halls

- You know your crankiness level is off the charts, but you just cant help yourself

- Simple tasks, like answering the phone or filing, become crazy difficult

Okay, so while this was fun, I dont think I would do it again. I think I heard them say this was the first one, so I know I should cut them some slack, but from an event perspective, this was a hot mess. So unorganized. Packet pickup prior to the race was NUTS. Hundreds of people were in line…where there was one little woman, with one little list, trying to check you off, find your bib, and find your chip. Stupid chips. Hopefully next year they use D-tags! Jorge and I were super glad we had gotten into Galveston early and picked up our packets at Fit to Run. Im not patient enough to stand in a line for over an hour to pick up  my stuff. And then they didnt start on time…probably because there were SO many people still waiting for packets. 30 minutes late is a lot, though!

The actual race was kind of scary. Ha. I have too many things wrong with my legs already to be taking chances like that in the sand. Especially since there were some DEEP holes where kids had been playing and digging all day! It was nuts. I was actually feeling pretty good, but I was concentrating so hard on not falling in a hole that I rolled my ankle twice when I ran into mounds of sand. Head lamps dont help my depth perception, obviously.

Also, a lovely volunteer told me and bunches of others to turn around for the 5K way too early. I knew it had been too short as soon as I could see the timer at the finish line. Sucks. I knew I felt way too good for that to be a full 5K. Chad, our coworker, had been told to turn around early, as well. And some people that were sitting next to us on the beach later said the same thing! It was nuts. Jorge was the only one that didnt get told to turn, so he kept going to the REAL turnaround and actually completed the full race. You go, Jorge! I was completely annoyed. What a waste!

At least we had a good day…Galveston was pretty when we were driving around. We had lunch at Shrimp N Stuff, which was really good and not as expensive as the places on the Seawall. Jorge, Alicia and I all had coconut shrimp….YUM. We chilled on the seawall a bit and then went to the hotel to take naps. Of course!

All in all a fun Saturday….but I think I will just be a spectator next time. Ha! I will guard the beer.

My poor hair straightener finally gave up the ghost this morning. *sigh* I have curly hair, which I HATE, and my hair straightener has been one of my favorite things I have ever owned! I have been having problems with the cord and the wiring for a while, but if you jiggled it enough, it would stay on. This morning I apparently jiggled TOO much and this crazy weird burnt smell started appearing and then the straightener was no more.

So goodbye, FHI hair straightener! I will always remember how helpful you were in taming the frizzball that is my hair on any given day. It has been a fantastic 8 years!

P.S. Donations for a replacement may be made to the Jill-Hates-Her-Curly-Hair Fund.

Anybody have any good thoughts to pass my way? Positive karma? Prayers? Anything?

It is really needed right now. Im feeling very low. That’s not very descriptive, I know, but that is the only way I can think of to say it. Low! Im typing a lot of these: *sigh*. Not a good sign.

1. Let an event sponsorship email go out with the wrong location on it.

2. Got stuck on 59 for over an hour this morning

3. Have apparently started waking up at about 3:30 a.m. for no apparent reason

4. Dealt with exhausting people

5. Have said “I hate being DUMB” several times this week related to work items.

6. Missed Zumba and went and bought the hell out of the bath section at Target instead. (okay, that was fun, but I should have made it to Zumba)

7. Having a hard time sticking to WW this week. Even with my motivation!

8. Burnt my turkey bacon yesterday morning.

9. My frozen dinner for lunch today had freezer burn, so I had to spend money to eat.

Lots of trivial things, I know. But they start to add up!

Abby has given me motivation today. I was just complaining about how after a bad food weekend, I was having a hard time today getting back on the weight watchers grind…and then Abby comes along and tells me Im looking good! She has perfect timing, and I appreciate it! So now Im mentally back into the weight loss thing. It’s funny how just one positive comment can change your entire thought process about something. Thank goodness.

My thigh is still bothering me a tiny bit from where the punk kid almost knocked me down during the Dynamo 5K. But Jorge and I ran on the bike trails yesterday afternoon, and I survived, so that is something. I would never be able to ride or run those trails by myself…SCARY. Especially for someone who hates to be scared so much that she wont even watch scary movies. AT ALL. The fact that they found a dead body on the trails recently doesnt help matters any.

I really want to start stretching the runs out in distance. Jorge is going more for speed, so we compromise. One day we do speed, the next distance. Hopefully we are getting better! We have another 5K in less than two weeks. That one should be fun – but I need a headlamp! Im kind of excited for a night run, though…something different! Here’s praying Eeyore does NOT make an appearance at that one. Beach running at night?? That could be a disaster! Ha. *cross fingers* *prays* *knocks on wood*

This past weekend I went with the parents to see SALT. And while I am not the biggest Angelina Jolie fan, I must say, she kicks some butt. This one was definitely fast-paced, and a good action flick. I also was surprised by the ending. Which rarely happens. Not a must-see like Inception, but definitely worth the ticket price. Unlike Knight & Day. Which I really enjoyed, but I dont know that it was worth my $8. That’s how I judge movies…where they worth the cost of seeing them, or would I rather drop it in my netflix queue. Ha!