Her business

Can anyone please tell me how a puppy can pee and poop outside then come back into the house and poop 2 minutes later?!!! Seriously... 2 minutes later?!!! Man, this puppy training business is ever harder than I thought it was going to be!!!! Please tell me it gets easier!

My Pup

Here we are, together at last! She was delivered to me at school today. She whined in her crate for the first 6 minutes of the ride home! She pottied outside when we arrived home, then preceded to whine for about 20 minutes as she explored the house! After trying to get her to play with her toys, I gave up and held her like a baby. She fell asleep in my arms, then I put her on her pillow to sleep. Could be a long first night! But, isn't she cute! I'm still trying to decide on names....Runley Bella, Ruby Bella, Malen Bella, Maley Bella, Raley Bella.....

Surprise Meeting!

Even though it was a cold, windy afternoon; I met my friend Becca for a jog/walk. As I got back into my car, my phone was beeping that I had missed a call. Turns out my friends Chris, Brandy, and their daughter Skyler were passing through town on their way back to Knoxville. So, I went downtown to meet them for an early dinner and a beer. It was such a spontaneous meeting and much needed too! Laughing with friends is often the best medicine! (and good thing they didn't mind my smell!) I had not seen their little one in quite some time and was amazed at all the talking and singing she was enjoying doing! They certainly grow up fast don't they?! Here's to good friends and good times...and watching snow flurries!

Friends

What better way to start a weekend than with friends, drinks, appetizers, and dessert! Friday night, Mandi, Anna, and I went to P.F. Chang's to do just that! Another great girl's night out!

Go Heels!

The Carolina vs. Duke game has been quite the event at my school, or at least on the K-1 Hall. There is a classroom in 1st grade where the teacher is a huge Carolina fan and the assistant is a huge Duke fan. Hence the forming of Rivalry day which occurs when the two teams meet up for the first time during the season. You have to walk through a huge Tarheel to enter the room, the kids all wear shirts for their favorite team, there are math questions throughout the day about who has won more games, more championships, scored more points, etc; and even face painting!
There are several teachers on this hall who are huge Tarheel fans and one more Duke fan...sorry for her! My assistant's oldest daughter is a freshman at Carolina this year; so we are defiantly pulling for the Heels! In fact, I have a Tarheel rug in my room this year! So, I have included two pictures; one of which tries to show my face painting.
In case you didn't know...Carolina 101 Duke 87

Morning Run

My alarm went off at the normal time (5:40) once again this morning. (I'm sure this will prove to get old after a few weeks and the alarm will begin not being set weekly.) I didn't even check the weather this morning, instead I just got dressed and headed out the door. I started feeling like I was getting a cold/cough yesterday morning. You know, the kind you can feel in your eyes and sinuses. This might explain why I feel asleep on the couch around 8:00 last night, woke up at midnight, watched a movie on TV, then got in bed around 2?! (Did I mention I was cool and had a life?!) So, I was thinking that a cold run might not be the right medicine for it. However, I was already dressed and thought that exercise might help "sweat it out of me". So, I have just returned from a cold run with the team. If I had more motivation to run farther than 3 miles this morning, my hair might have frozen as it did before. I could see crystals forming once I got back to my car! Good news is I'm not coughing like I was last night or this morning. Bad news is my ears hurt now. We'll see what happens...

Girl's "Night Out"

This really meant a girl's night in for me since they came over to my house. However, I was so excited to have someone come over!!! Crystal brought Ben (6 months old) and Maggie brought Liam (4 months old) along with pizza from Marco's (yummo!). The two oldest boys got to stay at home and spend quality time with their daddies while the mommies had sort of a break. I certainly gained a better appreciation watching two mommies tackle eating, soothing, and feeding a baby at the same time! We got personal pizzas and we each finished the whole thing! Which turned out great since I had signed up for the WOW (Wellness on Wheels) van that was coming to our school the next day. I had to fast until my time at 10:40,which turned into 11:00, when they would check my height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, and perform an EKG. All my numbers did check out great and they told me I was in great health....I failed to mention to them I had just trained for a half-marathon. I just said "thanks!" and went on my way! My numbers were certainly not as great two years ago when they came! The box of raisins I had stuffed in my pocket before leaving the classroom tasted just like chocolate cake as I shoved them into my mouth walking back into the school!
Okay, back to girl's night...we had a great time. We spent a few hours catching up, eating, telling stories, and watching the babies play. The girls didn't want to take their pictures (not sure why because they looked great!), so I just snapped about 30 pictures of the boys. I loved having them over and we hope to do this again soon. Thank goodness for wonderful friends!

Running again

Saturday morning my alarm went off at the normal 5:40 a.m. time. I slightly remember hitting the snooze button and slept for 9 wonderful minutes. When the second alarm went off, I decided to turn on the Weather Channel. If it said that it was in the 20's, I was going back to bed. Lucky me, it was 30! So, I got dressed and headed out the door around 6:30 to meet the new team. This was their first run of the training. I remember my warm, sunny, August morning that I first met my team. I also remember that I couldn't run the whole 3 mile, hilly course. However, yesterday I rocked it out! It felt great! Of course, it could have been the fact that by the time I met the team it was hovering around 25 and that didn't include the wind chill. Or the fact that coming back the wind was pushing downhill! Either way, I just wanted to get the run done. We ended up running 3.24 miles...it was actually a great way to start my day. I got so much accomplished!