Birthday Vacation

Ahhhhh.  It's my birthday.  I'm sitting outside on the deck soaking up a MOST beautiful day without a care in the world.  Now this is the way it's supposed to be.  I need days like this, and I'm so lucky to have them every now and then.  :)  Later, Carl is taking me to dinner for my birthday.  We're going to an oldie, but goodie - Texas Road House - oh yeah.  And maybe, just maybe, if I can fit anymore food in my tummy, we will hit up Cold Stone Creamery for some cake batter ice cream afterward.  Mmmmm.  No, no, I promise to be reasonably "good" while eating out.  I will probably get a sirloin steak, a baked potato with just a tad bit of butter, and a side of broccoli.  We'll skip the appetizer, and I'll order a salad with the dressing on the side instead.  And, I will only have one piece of bread...okay MAYBE two but that's it.

Right now though, I'm chill-axin, and bloggin in the sun.

Vlad is heading down to the yard to do some sniffin and explorin.  It's hard for him to relax, because he is constantly on the look out for bugs to eat.

Rewind to earlier in the day...

CHIRO APPT

Though I am on vacation for my birthday today, I did have to do some "things."  I went to the chiropractor for an adjustment around lunchtime.  My lower left back is still bothering me a bit.  It must be getting better though because it doesn't ache and hurt all the time like it used to.  It only hurts when I sit for long periods of time, or when I cross my legs, which I do quite a bit because I wear skirts for work a lot.  Dr. Angela said that this is normal, and that the ligaments are weakly trying to hold my sacrum in place.  When I sit, it puts a lot of stress and strain on the ligaments.  Crap.  I go back in a month for her to check things out again.  One good thing that came out of the visit was that she totally released the stress in my shoulders and upper back.  Ahhhh.

GROCERY SHOPPING

After the Chiropractor, I hit up Super Target for some food.  I got lots of fruits and veggies - practically the whole cart was full of them!  I didn't get anything new or special this go round except for some Zyrtec for my seasonal allergies.  I came home and filled my fridge with goodness.  MMMMM.  I love a full fridge.

I had a pretty simple but yummy lunch - grapes (not all of these grapes, hehe), carrots, and an Arnold Wheat Thin with peanutbutter and banana.  mmmm.  I also had a glass of almond milk.

HALF MARATHON TRAINING UPDATE

Yesterday (Thursday) was a REST DAY, and boy did I need it.  The combined 11 miles I ran on Tue and Wed really kicked my butt.  My body was really tired, and my hamstrings were aching.  Today I only had 4 miles to do, which is easy now that I've been running 5, 6 and 7 miles!  Tomorrow I have a 9 mile run scheduled.  YIKES!  Overall, I feel like I'm doing a decent job.  I think that with the 3 weeks I have left to train, I can manage to groom my body to do the 13.1 miles within a reasonable amount of time, and running it all the way.  I'm going to have faith in myself.

While I ran today, I chewed on this gum that I bought when I went grocery shopping.  Brittany has me hooked on it.  It helped to keep me focused a bit.

A FEW COOL BIRTHDAY GIFTS

Thanks to my family and friends who have sent me (and sang me over voicemail and on the phone) birthday wishes.  You have truly made my day special!  :) 

Here are a couple of cool gifts I received...

Carl got me some awesome New Balance water pro shoes!  I've been wanting a pair for a couple of years now.  He also got a pair so we can run in the lake and river with Vlad!  Pretty awesome huh!?

They're my favorite colors too!  I love gray and light blue together in a shoe...

These are the holes where the water drains out of the shoe.  NEAT!!!

Elaine gave me a VLAD BAG!  Look at this bag!  It has a picture of Vlad on it!!!  NEAT!

Uhhh, awesome SPA gift certificate!  I'm going to need this after my Half Marathon.

I got these for myself... stainless steel drinking straws.  Pretty cool, huh?  Trying to be green even when I drink smoothies!

Now I'm going to continue to relax and read a book.  Hope you all are having a great day, and have a wonderful weekend planned!  Thanks again for a great birthday!