three things thursday.

Another week done.  I sometimes feel like I am a hamster in a wheel.  But that is okay because Thursday means we're closer to Saturday and Saturday = football.

1.  I am working a 5k this weekend.  My company is the head sponsor for some Children's Healthcare of Atlanta race this weekend and I am snobby and did not want to run since the course is pretty crappy, so I told them I would work the registration table.  Plus, I have always thought about volunteering at a race but never actually have so now I can.  However, having to be there at 6:30 AM is less that amazing in my book.  But I guess that is why someone invented naps and sleeping in on Sunday. ;)

2.  So, the weather is getting gorgeous and we have this golf course by my house and since my neighborhood kinda sucks in the running department (closed off, barely even 1 mile) I have been wanting to run the golf course.  The weather is making me want to run the golf course even more.  But I have no idea how.  Do I ask if I can?  They're gonna say no.  Do I just hop the fence and ask for forgiveness late?  I will take any and all suggestions.  Golf course running is good running because of all the hills and sometimes the course is super shady!!

3.  I was supposed to start traveling at the end of the month and then A LOT for the next 2 months but my work decided to push all the travel back a few months because we want to ensure the new software is 100% amazing and works just the way we want it to.  No need to rush something that needs to work really well.  So that means all my fun fall running spots aren't going to happen.  And with that ... we're trying to condense the roll over into fewer weekends, which means instead of 4 new fun running cities I only get 2.  Sad. 

creative friends are the best.

The best part of having creative friends is that they can design fun images quickly and easily.  And I joke that they're earning their invitation to the wedding.  :D   I have a crazy talented and just crazy friend Lindsay Jo who threw together this logo for our welcome bags and a few other wedding related objects.  I love it for many many reasons.  1.  Because it is of the state of Georgia and we're getting married in Georgia and the heart is actually over McDonough. 2. Because they it is navy and one of our colors is navy. and 3. because I think it will look so super fabulous on our wedding welcome bags given out at the hotel. 

Puppy Play Date with Lola!

Yesterday was a fun little day for Mulligan and Kennesaw.  My friend Tiffany has an adorable little black dog named Lola.  Mulligan has met her in the past, but he really was more interested in playing fetch than playing with her.  But when Kennesaw came into our world, we decided to introduce her to Lola and let them play!  And oh it was glorious.

Mulligan came along too, so the 1st car ride with the two of them in the car was, well, interesting.  Mulligan as usual, barked his little face off.  Kennesaw just looked at him like he was a mad dog and kept trying to escape to the front seat and would put him in his place when he would trample her.  Okay, trample may be dramatic, but still he stood on her.

Lola (left) Kennesaw (right) afther their puppy date!

We got to Tiffany's and oh did the chaos start.  Lots of barking and pulling on the leash and then when they were free there was lots of chasing.  You know... typical dog world stuff.  Then the dogs seemed to not really be all that interested in each other.  Joy.  Mulligan played fetch for oh 2 hours and Kennesaw gave me a heart attack when she decided to escape under the fence.  Yeah. Escape. So I got to jump 2 fences and then carry her back in my arms through the jungle.  (Hey woman in Aiken, I REALLY need that chip info back so I can register her online.  Please and thank you.)  After closing up the hole on both sides with rocks and not letting the Escape artist out of my sight ... her and Lola FINALLY began to play.

And I mean they played.  They chased each other.  Wrestled with each other.  And when it was all said and done, I had 2 tuckered pups.  

When we got home Kennesaw couldn't decide if she wanted to sleep in the kitchen or in the dining room so she slept half in one room and half in the other.   Mulligan, he just crashed on the love seat and these two dogs were pretty much done for the night.

Kennesaw has her 1st day of daycare on Friday and we're really excited to get her "graded" and see how she is behavior wise (we know bad) and see what sort of suggestions the trainers have on how to train her and exercise her.  Oh the life of a spoiled Shanahan-Vines dog!

Running Quote.

… Big Peach Sizzler 2011 Race Recap …

I just may have lost my brain but because I have run this race the past 2 years I decided why the heck not and ran it again this year.  I love everything Big Peach and I have always liked this race so even though I knew I was not prepared nor would I be on race day I decided to run it just to see how it would go and how I would be able to handle 6.2 miles.

 

Saturday I had a few errands to run around the Buckhead area and I slipped into Big Peach to pick up my race number and packet.  I like having my number and shoe tag before the race so I do not have anything to worry about.  Sunday night I got my race outfit and gear ready for the next morning and Monday morning I was up bright and early  (after hitting the snooze button about 6 times) to let the dogs out, to grab something quick and easy to eat and then head to Chamblee to run 6.2 long miles. (The past 2 years I lived basically at the starting line, but we moved so I had to drive there this year.) 

The race… it went as well as I expected it to and I expected it to be unpleasant.  No lie, I woke up with a cramp behind my knee that I just could not shake (I’d like to blame Mulligan and him taking up the whole bed for that one…).  I decided to just take the race slow, walk when I needed to walk and run when I could.  I lined up on the right side and in the middle of the pack and was off.  Mile 1 was good.  The hill wasn’t hard (thanks Blast) and Mile 2 went well too (minus the bigger hill that I got 75% up and then took a walk break). Tropical Storm Lee decided to ran on us starting around mile 2 (for me) so needless to say it was a rainy race.  I found a good steady groove around mile 3 but with that said I was doing a methodical walk/run and ran more when the song got me going.  My body started to hurt around mile 4/mile 4.5 but I was kind of picking people off and passing people which as fine in my book.  Mile 5 was the hardest and I was so happy to see the finish line partially because my body hurt and partially because I was wet.

In years past I had complained about water stops not being stocked and that was not the case this year.  I think out of the past 3 years I have run it – this year went the smoothest.  The post race party/expo thing was kind of a cluster, but I will blame that on the fact that they had to move it underground so it was more crowded than it had been in the past.  Truthfully I grabbed my shirt and bolted because the parking deck underground was H-O-T and I needed air and away from stinky runners.  The shirts are a bright neon no cars can say they didn’t see me coming orange (worst than traffic cones) but I will still rock it from time to time.

Once again… Big Peach put on a great race.  =D

Finishing time: 1:15 Average Pace: 12:03

wedding, honeymoon, ugh rant.

of course of course wedding planning can’t just be all fine and dandy and not stressful at all right?  coming off an exciting day of finding out that wedding presents are being bought of course something horrible has to happen the next day.

I should have known something was not right when Kyle got his passport and I did not get mine.  Why didn’t I get mine you ask?  Oh because the Post Office is full of Mo-Rons and they screwed up my application; therefore, my passport application was oh REJECTED.  Yeah. Rejected meaning – don’t pass go. don’t collect $200. start over. go back to the idiots and the post office and start over.  START OVER!

Current mood: steaming annoyed.

So lets explain how and why is was rejected.  It was rejected because I “printed my name” and they cannot accepted printed names on the signature line.  Yes. Yes. I did print my name – only because the “smart” postman told me to print my name next to my SIGNATURE.  so not only did I actually put my signature on there, I printed it as well only because I was told to by someone who was supposedly a “passport professional”.

And now I get to go back to the post office and probably back to the same stupid postman and tell him that he needs to fix what he screwed up.  And with my luck I am going to have to wait another 4 weeks to get an appointment (we need appointments down here) and then hope and pray that they do not screw it up again and then I have to wait the 6-8 weeks to get my passport.

Yeah, I am not so sure St. Lucia is worth all this.  And I cannot wait to pay the post office $25 again at that appointment because they made a mistake. (seriously, this honeymoon is a moneymoon)  Just pray that I can keep my cool with them because I have a really hard time talking to incompetent people nicely.

new addition.

So. I need to update this blog to reflect the fact that we no longer have just Mulligan as a pet ... but we have 2 dogs now.  Mulligan & Kennesaw Shanahan-Vines. 

And being a dog mom and dad to two dogs at times is much more work and at times it is much easier.  Harder times: breakfast and dinner. when 1 dog is puking and the other is curious. when 1 dog barks, the other one barks.  Easier times: playtime and they wear each other out.  dog walks.

And getting 1 dog who has been an only spoiled child for pushing 3 years to love and adore the new addition was a challenge too, but now that they love each other the only tense moments are in the mornings.  Lets just say Mulligan takes after his Mom and Dad and it not quite a morning person, where Kennesaw wants to love everyone.all.the.time.