Monday Morning

Today’s morning can be looked at 2 ways:

Didn’t sleep well because of the storms/humidity/heat

Woke up late

No Coffee

Or:

Wearing a new outfit (thanks to Windi)

Get to have expensive coffee from work

No one noticed my wet hair due to the rain outside

Here’s hoping today ends up being more positive than negative.

Happy Weekend!

The most amazing thing happened yesterday...

 

No, my couch didn't throw up my entire closet.  My good friend Windi did some spring cleaning and gave me some old clothes of hers.  Yes, My wardrobe just doubled in one night!  

Have a good weekend!  Mine certainly is starting off fabulously!

Dream Day

If you could plan your perfect day, in detail, for one day, what would it be??

Dan wrote his day out, and shared it with me.  He detailed everything from how he would want to wake up, his perfect breakfast, activities prior to work, leaving for work, his ideal job, dinner, followed by evening plans.  I have to admit, it sounded pretty near perfect for him.  Since then, we have slowly been working towards achieving this perfect day for him.  I mean, isn’t this what life is about?  Being as happy as possible.  Plus, I got to see his vision for our future, so we are working together towards the same goal.

Since then, I’ve spent some time thinking about my perfect day.  It’s very easy for me to say, well, my perfect day would be sleeping in, breakfast in bed, no chores, and spending the day with the dogs and husband on a beach.  But, this is very unrealistic, and so I’ve had to think about what my perfect realistic, achievable day would be.  I’ve really struggled with this, but I think yesterday, got as close as I’ve gotten before.

I woke up around 6:30, ate a quick breakfast, threw on some clothes, and headed to the dentist with Dan.  After getting a cleaning myself, we were back home around 10am, when I showered for the day, made a very yummie egg and toast breakfast with coffee, and headed out the door for work.  I got to work around noon, worked for 5 hrs, being fairly productive all day, before coming home.

Dan took the day off work, so he had dinner ready for me.  I also received some ebay orders (a new dress and new jeans that Dan said makes my butt look 18 years old).  I changed into a tank top, and we headed with the dogs for a nice evening walk to Daisy field.  The dogs got to run while Dan and I got to enjoy some time together in the daylight.  We headed back home for a some dinner, before we headed out to see a movie. 

After a wonderful date with the husband, we still had time to relax at home with the dogs, while Dan sang and played on the guitar for me.  We went to bed around 11:15 after a wonderful day together.

Something about having a productive morning before work, only working until my job is done with no frustrations/problems, having dinner ready when I got home, and quality time with the husband and dogs, left me feeling like I’m returning to work from a vacation.  The fresh from the dentist clean teeth feeling helps too. 

If I could somehow turn yesterday into motivation to get up and run before work, to Dan being home some mid-week evenings, I think I would be a major step closer to my perfect day.

So, what would your perfect every day be?

Work

Don’t worry, this isn’t really about my work, but more about my work place.  We had an exciting afternoon yesterday.  And since no had said I couldn’t talk about it, I’m going to!

Yesterday around 3pm, as I was just putting my 1^st ELISA plate on to read, the fire alarm went off.  I looked around to see if anyone else is leaving, and decided to go ahead and start my plate, walk back to my desk to grab my coat and purse before heading out.  As we climb down the stairs we start hearing the safety team yell “This is not a drill.  The fire is in our building.”  Umm..what??!!

So, we get outside and immediately start to try and find the fire.  We could smell something every once and a while that went from a toast smell to burnt plastic, but other than a little smoke coming out of the air vent above my desk, nothing could be seen.  This caused a little panic as I didn’t want to lose my desk, until I realized there was a possibility for a few paid days off.

Once the initial shock wore off, I realized I didn’t check in with my safety person (whoops), I eventually found my way to my designated spot.  After checking in, I find out my supervisor hasn’t been located.  After a couple texts and phone calls, it turns out she had an emergency at her farm and had to leave.  Now I know why it’s important people know where you are.

Thankfully I grabbed my coat because it was cold out.  We were outside for about 2 hours before security came out and told us that we could go in to get our belongings, but then we had to leave.  We were instructed not to do any work.  They had to cut a hole in the ceiling to finishing putting the fire out.

Well, I still had plates to read and I wasn’t going to waste a half a day’s work for a stinkin fire, so I finished up reading my plates and left.  I came back to work today to find my desk in perfect shape.  No extra days off, but at least things were a bit more exciting than usual.

Thanks

Dan and I have some of the greatest friends who we can count on for anything.  I could give any one of them a call and they would drop everything for Dan, or me.  They proved this when Dan was in the hospital, and are always there to support whatever crazy scheme Dan comes up with.  I don’t thank them enough for all they do for us.  And, I can’t say enough by how great of a Girl’s group I have.  I’m very lucky to have 3 great friends who are spouses/fiancés to Dan’s friends, and I also have an ever expanding group of girls who are all amazing, beautiful, and talented.

So, to all of you out there: Thank you for being awesome and understanding when sometimes Dan and I are just too worn out to visit and have to cancel after a long day.

Photo by MLP

Tournament Time!

Dan made weight Friday night!  He actually weighed in at 184.  He looked pretty tired and drained when he got home.  He recovered very quickly (with the help of some good cookin and gallons of fluids) and back up to 187 the next morning.

Saturday morning, Dan had his EGO tournament in Greenwood.  After a very early start to the day (7am) to make a huge breakfast including German pancakes, toast, bananas, coffee, and a shake, we started packing for the day.  You’re never quite sure how organized things will be, and who will compete first, so you have to be prepared for the long haul.  A few necessities for Dan include: Gi, belt, MMA shorts, rash guard, cup, mouth piece, iPod, foam roller, G2 pre-workout drinks, fruit, nuts, and lots of water.  For me: dressing in layers as you can never predict the temperature, blanket/padding for the bleachers or ground, camera, video camera, snacks, entrance fee, a huge purse to carry everyone else’s stuff all over the place.

After many confusing looks from the dogs as to why we are up and out of the house so early on a Saturday, we loaded up the Jeep and headed out of the house at 9:40.  The tournament ran very smoothly and well organized.  It started about 20 minutes late (which is normal) and had an hour long rules meeting including demonstration and a Q&A session.  First on the list was a Team competition amongst the team’s highest ranking competitors.  Dan’s team did really well and it was really neat to see some high level grappling.   Plus I got to finally meet people on Dan’s team.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a tournament for Dan’s MMA.  There are several parts of this life style that I’ve forgotten about:

• People have to be instructed to wear shoes into the bathroom
• Walking around shirtless/pantless/shoeless is the norm.
• The women competitors could whip most men I know.
• The kids competition is a glimpse into my future.
• The concessions only sell junk food while competitors are munching on their favorite protein bar and shake.
• Granny knows more about submissions than I do.
• After a match, everyone is good friends, sealed with a hug or handshake
• A match of wits for men on the mats is equally competitive as the beauty show amongst women on the sidelines.
• Seeing blood on someone’s clothing, a dislocated shoulder, or someone who has been chocked to sleep isn’t something to cause alarm.

Dan did really well.  I am very proud of him for just getting on the mat and competing.  It’s only been 9 months since his surgery and to hold someone in your guard for 6 minutes while they are as heavy as possible on you is quite impressive after having your abs torn apart.  Dan didn’t win (6-0), but he did stuff a take down and defended himself the whole 6 minutes with no submissions.  His opponent won 2^nd place in his division, but had previously beaten Dan’s instructor 4-0.  I’m looking forward to the next one.

Weigh In = Cheat Day

Today Dan is cutting weight for his jiu-jitsu tournament tomorrow morning.  This will be his first time competing in almost 2 years.  I have to admit, the 2 years went by fast.  Before his last fight, we were traveling all the time for weekend seminars, training sessions, and competitions.  I’m going to try and video some of his matches, but I’m not great with the video on my camera, so hopefully it will turn out ok.

Unfortunately, Dan needs to cut 6lbs for his weigh in.  He can either weigh in tonight by 9, or tomorrow morning.  It’d be best if he weighed in tonight so he has time to rehydrate and rest.  Earlier this week he was at 191and he needs to be at 185.  So far, he’ll be ready to weigh in tonight which means…

I get to make pasta!  I’m so excited.  We are going to have chicken parmesan with spaghetti, garlic bread, and caeser salad.  And we are talking the Texas Toast garlic and cheese bread.  Yum!  So, after a quick stop at the grocery store, I’ll be going for a run, if the rain holds out.  Nothing gives me more motivation for a good run than getting to eat pasta afterwards.

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