It's the sport of kings...

...better than diamond rings...football. Remember that song from that football movie that had Goldie Hawn as the coach?

Well, for the record, football is NOT better than diamond rings.

Today I had the pleasure of catching the Giants/Eagles game with Gregg, a recent transplant from Boston who is a die-hard Giants fan (thank God he's not a Patriots fan...I hate them), and Shawn and Nicole. We had alot of fun despite the Giants loss. Unfortunately, I stated to the security guys at work that the Giants and Titans would be in the Super Bowl. Yeah, not so much. Good thing I didn't make any bets with them this year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (yesterday) to my sister-in-law Kristi!! Love you!

Running update: I had a TERRIBLE run on Saturday morning. My mojo was MIA. My legs were weak and my stomach wasn't agreeing with me. We were supposed to run six miles and I could only manage five. I'll take it, but its not a good sign for the upcoming marathon. I have to admit that it was like 75 degrees out with 200% humidity, so that could have been a factor. It wasn't until we all gathered for breakfast at Otto's that the cold front came through.

I'll run once or twice this week, then rest up for Sunday. I have no idea what my strategy will be, other than to take it easy and enjoy the race. I do have the option of following the half marathon course if I don't think I can finish the full by the time I get to the split point. That way I'll at least get a medal even if I don't get an official time. It is, after all, all about the hardware at the end, right??

But I'm going to do my best to get through the full. I have no one to blame but myself for my lack of training the past couple of months, but I had alot going on that took my time and energy, though I certainly should have been more disciplined and focused regardless. Maybe I was burned out and needed a break. All I know is that is two months of my life I can't get back. I need to remember I had a GREAT San Antonio marathon and really nothing to prove in this marathon. I stated in my post about the SA Marathon that if I didn't feel like I could Boston-qualify in future marathons, I was going to pull back and just enjoy the run (and burn calories!!). That is the plan for Sunday.

Marathon weather watch: (un)accuweather.com is now forecasting a low of 46 and a high of 61 with mostly sunny skies. Weather.com has about the same temp range but with rain. I'm still hoping for colder weather, like close to freezing when the race starts. That way my legs will be good and numb and I won't be able to feel the pain.

Shout out: My friend Aimee and I met at the Houstonian on Saturday for lunch, and we ended up having a long, wonderful talk that was much needed by both of us. Aimee and I have known each other since grad school, and she is a fabulous friend. We have definitely had our share of personal ups and downs over the years, and we are always there for each other, lending an ear, providing a shoulder, and telling it like it is. Thanks Aimee!

Buh-bye 2nd generation iPod: Yes, I'm a little behind in updating my iPod technology. My cherished 2nd gen iPod just isn't doing it for me anymore. I would charge it for 24 hours and only get about 20 minutes out of it. So today before the game, I purchased an iPod Nano, in green, which is my favorite color despite my obsession with pink. I just may run with it during the marathon...

Dear marathon weather gods...

Please, PLEASE, let accuweather.com's current forecast for marathon day hold! Its supposed to be sunny to partly cloudy with a low of 33 and a high of 53 as of just a few minutes ago (but its already changed 3 times today). This would be PERFECT running weather. I might actually have a less suckier race than I'm anticipating.

Thank you,
26.2 Princess

On tap for this weekend: An easy 6 miles in the morning, quite possibly in the rain. Then I plan to join my running group at Otto's for a yummy post-run breakfast. Haven't been there in a long time, so it will be good to hang out after the last training run of the season. Its all about NFL playoffs this weekend. I'll be hitting BW3 in Rice Village on Sunday, so readers, feel free to join me and a couple of my friends! The more the merrier, right?

College National Championship Game: Thanks to Ruthie and Todd for hosting a fun party to watch the game last night. I was hoping Oklahoma would win for the sake of the Big XII. But Florida is a great team, it was a good game, and now I could absolutely care less. I hope Mike & Mike on ESPN stop talking about it soon.

Stupid HOA: So back in December, I received a letter from my HOA. I thought for sure they were thanking me for sending in my annual dues in such a timely matter. Oh no, why in the world would they be that friendly? Instead, they told me that I needed to fix/remove the satellite dish on my roof. First of all, its not really my dish. It was the previous owners' dish but now my responsibility. No problem. It was apparently damaged and fell over during the hurricane (well, I know that's what happened because I can see it). And apparently, the powers-that-be just noticed it. I've called a roofing company to remove it and fix any holes or damage it may have caused to my roof. I've called the roofing company three times now. I have yet to have an appointment booked. Sigh. Hopefully I won't get fined. I have until January 17 to fix it, which is unlikely. I fully expect another letter, probably nastier. Ah, the joys of home ownership!

The sun is back!

Finally! I was getting very tired of cold rain. I took advantage of the nice evening and went for a run at Memorial. I ended up running with Joe for a while and it was nice to catch up with him. Plus, he got me to run about 2 more miles than I was planning to. A nice little 5 mile run was apparently just what I needed! And speaking of running, thanks to Alaina for the very nice note she sent to me today.

Marathon weather watch: The not-so-accurate accuweather.com extended forecast currently calls for mostly cloudy skies, high of 63, low of 49. Not too bad. This forecast will change 25 times before then though.

Question of the day: Am I the only person who thinks that restaurants put way too much lettuce on salads? Apparently so. Here is the conversation I had with the girl at CPK when I called in to order a salad for pick-up:
Me: I'd like a BBQ chicken salad with avocado, and only about half the lettuce you normally put on salads.
CPK girl: I'm sorry, what?
Me: I only want a little bit of lettuce.
CPK girl: You want LESS lettuce, on a salad?
Me: Yes, less lettuce.
CPK girl: Ooookay.
Good lord, I'm not a rabbit. I can't stand it when salads are piled up with lettuce, then you stick your fork in and all of the toppings fall off because there is so much freaking lettuce! How hard is this to understand??

This reminds me of an encounter I had several years ago with the lady in the Whataburger drive-thru:
Me: I'd like a grilled chicken sandwich, no lettuce or tomatoes.
Drive-thru girl: You want that dry?
Me: What do you mean "dry"?
Drive-thru girl: Nothin' on it.
Me: No, I still want the pickles and onions but no lettuce or tomatoes.
Drive-thru girl: Okay, that's no pickles or onions.
Me: No, no lettuce or tomatoes.
Drive-thru girl: No tomatoes or pickles.
Me: No, that's not correct. Let's start over. I want everything on it but lettuce and tomatoes. No lettuce, no tomatoes.
Drive-thru girl: Ok, no lettuce, no tomatoes.
Me: Correct!
I pulled up to the window and verified with her that there was indeed no lettuce or tomatoes on my sandwich. She said no ma'am. No lettuce or tomatoes. I got home and there were lettuce and tomatoes on my sandwich, and no pickles or onions. Sigh.

My Wish for You in 2009...

"May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words, may 2009 be the best year of your life!"

Yes, I'd like some crackers with that cheese! If only it were that simple, huh?! A friend sent that to me, and I smiled while shaking my head...wow, 2008 was an unusually rough year for so many people...me, my family, friends and people I don't even know. The economy, Hurricane Ike, job losses, divorce, medical issues, whooping cough. But it was also a great year for so many, with births, marriages, new homes and new jobs, and for me personally, purchasing a home, running two sub-four marathons, re-connecting with old friends via Facebook, becomming an aunt again, my mom's successful surgery and finally finding a good Botox doctor. ;)

Running update: Despite the cold, I will be hitting Memorial Park for a run this evening. Then...drum roll... the Bachelor 13 begins tonight! Woo-hoo! This one is going to be different...he is a single dad who is looking for love. I think it will be refreshing and less lame than the more recent "Bachelors" (okay, all of the shows have been lame, but its really fun to make fun of the girls). Children are such an important part of parents' lives, a top priority as they should be, and a single father who is willing to put himself back out there, looking for a relationship and love again, well, its quite charming. Not that any of these shows result in everlasting love, but still, its sweet. I'll be rooting for him!

Welcome 2009!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a fun New Year's Eve! I spent the majority of my evening at Dennis and Emily's party, which was a blast (thanks y'all!). Good company, good food, good drinks. Can never go wrong with that combination! I laughed at the guys playing Wii golf, enjoyed talking with Greg and Alaina, and had a great conversation with Ruthie about recent family events and running (of course we talked about running!)...she reminded me that no one but me cares how fast I run a marathon; they only ever want to know how many you've run. That's what I needed to hear, as I have been contemplating not running Houston because I don't feel ready to break any personal records. So what if this won't be my fastest marathon? I'm going to go out there and have fun this year, enjoy the crowds and entertainment, and burn a crap-load of calories (which is very necessary given my eating habits since Thanksgiving)! I am re-motivated!

New Years Resolution: Mine is the same as it has been the past couple of years... do one nice thing a day for someone else. This is more difficult that it sounds, believe me, especially before my morning coffee! I find it fascinating that everyone views this one day as a fresh start, an opportunity to develop good habits and break bad ones, a chance to re-assess your life. Its a day of optimism and hope and new beginnings, and if you are superstitious, a day to consume large amounts of black eyed peas. For many, its a day to take down Christmas decorations. All I know is that I'm glad I don't belong to a gym, because everyone will be crammed into them for the next several weeks, trying to honor their resolutions. 99% will fail. I'm just sayin'...

Christmas: I had a great time with my family over Christmas. My brother, sister in law and the kids came to my parents' in B/CS on Friday, and that's when we celebrated and opened presents. Having toddlers around makes it so much more fun! The twins are now well aware of who their Auntie Kiki is, and I couldn't have had a better time playing with them. It was also great to have my mom feeling alot better and recovering very nicely from her surgery. And I got in a few games of pool with my dad (I only won one game, but I did sink an awesome behind-the-back shot). Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of BBQ was delicious, and we had the best filets for Christmas dinner (notice all of the talk about food, which is why I could stand to burn 3000 calories on marathon day!). The only thing missing was our traditional Christmas morning consumption of Bloody Marys, since we had Christmas in the evening. I'm sure we'll pick that one back up next Christmas.

The boys decorating me with Christmas bows, bags and boxes:


Me and my beautiful niece:


The Christmas Ficus:


The boys and Millie:


Running update: I managed a pretty decent 6 mile run on Tuesday morning, and was refreshed and ready for my day. Got home to start some work on the computer, and it crashed. My euphoria from my run was gone in a flash, much like my hard drive. Thankfully, I have been very nice over the years to the IT guys at work, and they wasted no time setting up and installing all the necessary stuff (by stuff I mean computer programs and other things that I know nothing about) yesterday. See, it does pay to be nice to people, hence my New Year's resolution. I had planned to get a run in yesterday too but was at the office all day working while they fixed my computer. I'll get in a short run tomorrow then join my training group on Saturday morning for an easy 8 mile taper run. Today is all about recovery from last night, and bowl games of course.

My less-than-21-mile 21 miler...

Bright and early this morning was the annual Houston Fit 21 miler, the final big run/test before the Houston Marathon in January. This is quite an event, with surrounding Fit groups join us and the two water/food stations go all out with decorations and entertainment (thanks volunteers!). And the runner turnout was pretty decent. Nice to see so many people sticking with it this late in the game.

Since I ran San Antonio before Thanksgiving, and as noted in previous posts, have not been diligent with my training lately, my goal this morning was to run 13-18 miles. Despite the humidity and resulting fatigue, I managed to run what I think was between 16-17 miles. I "think" because my watch ran out of battery power at mile 15.22, and I was about 2.5 miles from the finish. Yes, this irritated me greatly, because as everyone knows, I like to know exactly how far I've run and at what average pace. But what did get recorded by my watch showed an average 9:15-9:30 pace, which I am very pleased with. I took it easy at the start, pushed myself when I was up to it, and did alot of walking (for me) today, and since I stopped my watch when I walked, I probably ran/walked close to 18 miles today. But I will never know, will I?? Stupid watch batteries, but I digress...

I can say without a doubt that today was the warmest and most humid "21-miler" I've run. I hate to think what the Marathon will be like if these type of conditions are present that day. It got me thinking about the previous 21-milers I've run. My first one in 2004 was great. We were still running three loops along Buffalo Bayou back then, and the weather was clear and sunny and cold. Great run that day. In 2005, it was about 38 degrees, with a hard rain and some sleet mixed in. Awesome :/ And because it had been raining all week, there was mud everywhere (still on the Bayou route), and we had to modify the route to avoid the huge mud pit under one of the overpasses. A ton of people called it quits early on this run, but I ran the whole 21 and thought it was kind of funny. I mean, we were so cold, and couldn't feel our hands, feet, faces, that things got humorous when we tried to put on chapstick or hold a cup of water. Needless to say, that run is now infamous. I can honestly say I have zero recollection about the 2006 run, but I know I ran it and it must have been uneventful. I think that is also the year we changed to route to run the Rice and Herman park loops. Last year, which was 2007 in case you are having trouble keeping up with my trip down memory lane, the run was moved to Sunday morning because of severe weather on Saturday. Thankfully, that severe weather brought with it a great cold front and made for perfect running weather. Last year's 21 miler was probably my favorite.

Kudos to all of the runners who ran today, many of whom looked a heck of alot stronger than I did. I got to run with Dennis for a while, and he was having a great run, and I saw Kathleen out there too. Joe and Danny were great on bike patrol, and thanks to Joe for relieving me of my annoying fuel belt. You see, for years I wore a belt for my water bottles, which affectionately became known as my "Bat Belt." This year, I made the transition to a hand-held water bottle, which I love, because the fuel belt never quite stays in place around the waist/hips. Well, I left said hand-held water bottle at my parent's house over Thanksgiving and forgot to buy a new one here, so I had to kick it old school, and it sucked. I think the belt started annoying me at about the 300 yard mark, and I was finally able to get rid of it at mile 4-ish. That was a relief. Stupid water belts, but I digress...

Today also marked the first time my nose ran faster than I did...Stupid sinuses, but I digress.

I'm rendered speechless, and yet oddly fascinated...

...but finding this in a man's bathroom cabinet would be a deal-breaker...

The princess's weekend update...

Running update: Though I didn't make it out with my training group to run on Saturday morning, I did eventually get my butt out of bed and run a quick 6 miles. I must say that my training has been seriously lacking recently (by recently I mean the past month) with everything going on with my family. I have great concern that I will not be ready for the Houston Marathon in the way I want to be. A little disappointing, but honestly, right now I don't care. In fact, I've considered not even running it because I'm so far behind in my training, and its too late to switch to the half marathon. But I'll keep trying to get out and run when I can, see what happends. Since I could use the exercise, I consider this a good plan. I'm going to attempt a run from 15-21 miles on Saturday morning. The distance will be determined by how I feel that morning. This run will pretty much be about burning calories, primarily those consumed this past weekend.

Thanks to Greg and Alaina for hosting a fabulous holiday party on Saturday night! Had a lot of fun as usual. It was a much needed stress-reliever.

Went to the Texans game on Sunday and watched us win a close one vs Tennessee. Its always nice to beat the old Oilers. Add a little tailgating action before and after the game, and it was a great afternoon. Also a much needed stress-reliever (noticing a theme here?)

I also watched "The Strangers" on Sunday night. My friend and I questioned the claim that the movie was inspired by true events. If you've seen the movie, you know its creepy and scary and everyone ends up dead in the end. However, I had never heard of this murderous home break-in, and I'm a news junkie, especially gory news that I can talk about at the dinner table. After some research, we discovered that the events that "inspired" this movie were simply random break-ins of houses when people weren't home, several years ago. I will never be a movie script writer, because there is no way my mind would think "I'm going to write a movie based on these random harmless break-ins, but I'm going to make it really scary and have innocent people murdered for fun." Then again, if I had that twisted of a mind, I might be very wealthy.

Mom update: So all of my talk about stress is directly related to the situation with my mom. The good news is she is to be released from the hospital. She's feeling really good and getting around well without the pain meds. She has been through so much, and I'm very proud of her for her courage and strength throughout this ordeal. She's been in the hospital for over two weeks and is very ready to get back to her home after she stays at my place for a couple of days. Still keeping our fingers crossed that the surgery will result in her other issues healing on their own. If not, another surgery will be necessary. Regardless, the fact that she is doing so much better has really taken a load off my mind. Thanks to everyone who kept my mom in your thoughts and/or expressed well-wishes to me!

As a result of the events with my mom and her expected recovery time, I have learned that instead of me and my parents heading to Dallas for Christmas to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and my nephews and niece, they will be heading to my parents house the day after Christmas. I'm very excited about this and grateful, because I don't think my mom would be up for a trip at this point. I cannot wait to see the little ones!! Lots of loving from Auntie Kiki is in store!

Speaking of Christmas: How did it end up being just around the corner?! It wasn't supposed to sneak up this fast. I can honestly say I have done zero Christmas shopping except for my Goddaughter and her brother. Nada, nothing. I hope everyone is happy with gift cards this year. This will truly be a Christmas about family and not gifts, though I love to give gifts. Maybe I can manage to find a little something for everyone. Everyone who has been good that is. I also have not done my Christmas cards and probably won't. I wonder if anyone will even notice?

Speaking of buying stuff: You've got to know that the economy is bad when I haven't even been in an Ann Taylor store, or any store in the Galleria for that matter, in a month. OMG! I might actually have to start wearing the same thing twice! The horror!! I hope no one notices...

Belated birthdays: I want to wish my friends Aimee and Karla a Happy Belated Birthday!! They both had birthdays last week and I was unable to round up a couple of cards in time. Sorry ladies, but my thoughts were with you and my intentions were true!

Sinuses: Seriously, what's the deal? Our lovely Texas weather that goes from snowing to 80 degrees back to 40 degrees and should get back up to 80 by Friday has sent my allergies into full attack. As if we didn't have enough ill people in my family right now. Its almost embarrassing. But, I should have known, because this happens to me every freaking year at this time.

Good news!

My mom's surgery went very well today! It only took 1.5 hours, but she is still in recovery after 4.5 hours. She's in some pain, as to be expected, and very groggy, but she looks really good considering what she's just been through. My dad and I were allowed back there for only 30 minutes, but it was enough time to reassure us that she is doing well. Its been a really long day, and I'm going to head back up to the hospital later this evening when she gets put in a room, but my stress and anxiety levels, which have been ridiculously high the past several days, have come way down. I think I will be able to fully enjoyed my action-packed weekend!

Its snowing in Houston!

Tastes like chicken.

Kentucky Grilled Chicken! Best news I've heard all day, since there are more KFC's near me than Chik Fil A's. This is also the most interesting thing I found in the news, which is pretty sad.

On a bad news note, my neighbors will no longer be awed by the beauty that was my red, green and blue light display on my patio. Something happened when the rain came through yesterday, like, I don't know, maybe some water got into the unsealed outlet openings on the extension cord or something, but something is not working anymore. By "something" I mean I have no idea what. Outlet, timer, extension cord, lights, all kaput. Dang it!

UPDATE! Bob clued me in to the outlet reset button. My Christmas lights are back on! This is going to be the best Christmas ever!!

Update on my mom:

Today was a long day for my family. We are all pretty exhausted. Honestly, I feel like I'm going to lose it at any moment I'm so tired and emotionally drained right now, but I also feel this responsibility to be really strong and remain calm, so that's what I'm trying to focus on. Here's the summary: I went to the hospital late this morning to be there with my mom and dad when the doctor came by to discuss the plans. What he said was a lot to take in at once. My mom's surgery is set for Friday morning. They are going to remove her non-functioning kidney and hope that the other issues in the area heal by themselves once the kidney and related infection are gone. If not, another serious surgery is in my mom's future. Apparently, her condition and the surgery are both pretty rare, she still has an infection that has proven difficult to alleviate, and the area where they will do the surgery was heavily radiated during her cancer treatments over a decade ago, so no one really knows what to expect. That's all the information I'm going to provide in a blog. Email me if you want to know more. I will post an update after the surgery.

Picture of the day: Here are my holiday light plans for next year. Please, don't even try to out-do me...

Meh.

Don't have a whole lot to say today, but thought I'd post an update on a couple of things so my reader(s) wouldn't think I've disappeared from the blogging world forever. I know, that would be devastating to a few; a very, very few. Anyway, its going to be a busy week around here, personally and at work. Let the games begin, I guess.

My mom: Still in the hospital. Still fighting a fever and infection. She is getting some tests done today and meeting with doctors tomorrow. Hopefully we will all finally get some sense of where all of this is going (ie, surgery, no surgery??). All I know is that my mom is frustrated that there aren't any answers yet. Soon, mom, very soon. And she's got to be bored. She hasn't even turned on her TV in the week she's been in the hospital. WHAT?? I'd be the one in the hospital if I went a week without TV. A mental hospital probably.

Running update: As much as I did not want to get out of bed on Saturday morning because it was c-c-cold, I did and ran a pretty decent 10 miles, much to my surprise. I've only run once or twice since the SA marathon, so I wasn't expecting to pick up where I left off, and even questioned my ability to finish, but I ended up with a 9:04 pace. No negative split though. I had no idea we went out as fast as we did and it was a hard pace to maintain for the entire run. But I felt good and am getting back on track. I'll be getting back on my regular training schedule during the week too I hope. I've slacked off lately for several reasons. Refocus, Carolyn, refocus!

It was great to see several running friends whom I haven't seen much of lately because I was training with the Fall marathon group. Now that I'm back with the Houston marathon group, Saturday morning was a little reunion of sorts. Best of all, I saw my long-lost friend, Jamoosh. He and his wife host an awesome Beer vs Beer event at their house each year, at which I have had the honor of serving as a beer wench. Good times.

Party time, excellent: Speaking of good times, my friend Beth threw a very fun holiday party on Saturday night. I know she reads my blog, so thanks! I had a great time, and I loved the fondue ;). And I'm very much looking forward to Greg and Alaina's party this coming Saturday. Super fun times!

Question of the day: Why do some drivers, when they are the first in line at the red light, stop at least one full car length before the white line? For whatever reason, this drives me insane. Makes me want to pull around in front of them just because they left that space. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll draw a diagram for my next post.) And why do people insist on crossing the street when they have the "don't walk" red hand? I'm going to run one over just to make a point. Okay, that was two questions. Sue me.

A shout-out and a couple of updates...

Congratulations to my friends Angela and Jason on the birth of their son last night. Travis James weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds and is 23 inches long. Dang! He's a beautiful baby and I can't wait to meet him!

Update on my mom: She was admitted to MD Anderson on Monday and we are not really sure when she gets to go home. They continue to run tests and see what steps need to be taken. As I said before, its not cancer, but her current illness is a result of the cancer treatments she had many years ago. It breaks my heart to see her not feeling well. Fortunately, its a 5 minute walk from my office to the hospital, so I plan to see her as often as I can. She had a rough day yesterday, which caused me to have a rough day yesterday, but she was doing much better last night. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Running update: I actually got about a 4 mile run in on Monday night. Felt good to get back out there. I didn't set any time records, but didn't want to. I just wanted to get my legs moving again. Hope to run again tonight. If we get storms as predicted, I'll be hitting the elliptical. No, I'm not doing a weekday run in the rain. Saturday morning, yes, otherwise, no.

I'm back!!

I know you all missed me terribly. Your lives can now return to normal now that I'm back to posting. I have alot to say today...

First, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Mine was interesting. As I posted before, my mom has been ill. She is now staying with me in Houston and has some appointments at MD Anderson today and tomorrow. Her surgery should take place soon. Please keep her in your thoughts. So, after I went home for a couple of days to be with my mom in Bryan, I came back to Houston to work a half-day on the Monday before Thanksgiving. As I was packing Monday night for my trip back to Bryan, I received a call from my mom that my dad was in the hospital with heart arrhythmia issues. They kept him there until Wednesday morning and everything seemed fine. Apparently, once they get his heart back into its normal rhythm, he's, well, normal.

So we spent Wednesday afternoon getting ready for our trip to Dallas the next morning to visit my brother, sister in law, nephews and niece. This was the first time I'd meet my niece and I was excited beyond words. Thursday morning, I heard the words I was not expecting: "Carolyn, you are going to Dallas by yourself." My dad's heart was out of rhythm again and he needed to go back to the hospital. My mom and I drove him there, and once he was stable, at my parents' insistence, I drove to Dallas, with my mom's famous stuffing in hand. Thankfully, my dad was released later that day and continues to do well, but Thanksgiving just wasn't the same without them.

Gotta love kids: When I got to Dallas, I just couldn't get enough of my adorable nephews. Being the awesome aunt that I am, I immediately presented them with two toy trucks, which are their favorite toys. What I wasn't expecting was that both would like the same truck, and they started fighting over it. Within 5 minutes of my walking in the door and giving them their toys, my nephew Koen was in timeout.

Koen looking innocent:


Hayden having a fit:


The boys continued to play with the trucks throughout the day, changing their mind often about which was their favorite. Unfortunately, both declared the same truck as their favorite every time. After some more crying and bickering, they started playing nice and really warmed up to me (see, bribery is the best way to gain popularity!). They are definitely the cutest boys I have ever seen.


Meeting my niece: As I was playing with them, I hear "Carolyn" and I turned around to see my niece for the very first time. She melted my heart immediately. What a beautiful baby girl. She is almost two months old now and is already making her presence felt on a regular basis (ie: crying at the top of her lungs, and doing a little squeaking sound that my brother finds adorable). Yes, a princess in the making! My brother and sister in law didn't like my plan to make her a shirt that said "Future Aggie Tri Delta," but I might sneak it on her anyway. After all, she is a legacy!

Later in the day, my heart was melted again when she fell asleep on my chest after a bout of crying. And this girl can cry! Not only is she automatically a princess, but she is also going to be a drama queen, just like her aunt!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my brother's in-laws, then we watched the A&M/t.u. game which wasn't the disaster I thought it would be. Yes, we lost as expected, but not as badly as expected. I am so glad the season is over. And I won't even go into what I think about the BCS mess, but I will say this...If t.u. had made it to the Big XII championship over OU, they would have been singing the praises of the BCS system. Because it didn't work out for them, it sucks now. Funny how things work. I'm just glad Tech didn't make it. But I digress...

A couple of fun videos of the twins: I may have accidently encouraged the boys to do some things they probably shouldn't have. What can I say, I'm their aunt, and I think everything they do is hilarious.



Running update: So, with all of this drama post-SA marathon, including huge meetings at work that resulted in a major change in leadership, I have had no time to run. I have had two solid weeks off and I'm ready to get back out there. I hope I haven't lost any of my strength, but I think I'll be alright. I'm going to get a couple of runs in this week (not only to get back up to speed but also to work off all of the Thanksgiving food I stuffed my face with) before rejoining my training group bright and early on Saturday. The Houston Marathon will be here before I know it!

Christmas decorations: After thinking I wouldn't have time to put any up, I buckled down and got everything set up this weekend. I even put some lights out on my patio, though they don't come close to competing with the, in my opinion, gaudy display across the street. (Actually my neighbor's place looks really good. I'm just jealous.) I put up those old-fashioned colored ceramic bulbs because I like those. The ones I bought came with red, green, blue, orange and white colors. I spent a while changing out all of the orange and white (remember, I'm an Aggie and cannot have anything orange and white anywhere) so I have a lovely, yet simple, display of red, green and blue lights. I personally think it looks good, but now that I've sized up the competition, I'll be ready for a bigger light display next year...

"Picture" of the day: This is one of my all-time favorites...