Fun Falling Off The Wagon

Well, friends, I have officially fallen off the proverbial wagon.  I mean this in nearly every way possible.  In the last few weeks I have somehow managed to fall behind in lots of very very important aspects of life; namely completing work documents in a timely fashion, maintaining the 10-miler training schedule, and keeping our crib in decent shape.

In my own defense- I managed to get myself into a bit of a pickle by volunteering for some extra work requiring LOTS of extra paperwork at the office.  I seriously over estimated myself, as did our scheduling staff because in a matter of 10 working days I did 7 different evaluations all requiring reports.  Translation: weekly notes are seriously suffering.  Whoooops.

As for the 10 miler training- as you recall, I sprained my ankle 2 weeks ago, blah blah blah.  I gave myself a week off-setting T and I another week behind (making the total 2).  I ran 4 miles last weekend- the 6 mile week- and had an amaziiing run.  Tory mapped a new route through Crystal City and Pentagon City so there was lots of new scenery and mostly flat road.  I really had every intention of catching up a week this weekend by running 5 (this week is a light 4 mile week), really I DID!  But we spent Saturday night at the in-laws' and ended up going down to Mount Vernon to see my little sister-in-law play soccer this evening.  We binged on some McDonalds in the car and by the time we got home running was the farthest thing from our minds.  Junk food might be good for your soul every once in a while but it is terrible for your motivation and fitness.  So as 8:30 rolled around T and I pinky swore that we would DEFINITELY run our 5 tomorrow night after mani/pedi's with my fav spring bride-to-be, LMT(E).  Let's hope the pinky swear holds true because we are going to be in big trouble in a few weeks if we don't get our butts in gear!

I don't even know what to say about the state of my apartment this evening.  I don't know how we got to this point with 2 hampers full of laundry, 2 loads of clean laundry on the dresser, a half-full dishwasher and half-full sink basin of dirty dishes, nothing to wear to work tomorrow, and remnants of halfway unpacked duffles from weekend/weekday trips the last few weeks.  I guess we'd better spend the time we aren't spending running tonight working on this situation.  A picture is really required for anyone to truly understand the disarray but I am far too embarrassed to expose my inner slob to the blogosphere so, you'll have to use your imagination.

So what HAVE I been doing the last few weeks when I haven't been taking care of my grown-up responsibilities?

Well, there was wine.  Lots and lots of wine.  First, the Great Grapes! Wine festival in Reston last weekend with some of my favorite wine tasting girls!  Beautiful sunny and warm weather after a week of nonstop rain made this such a fun day of quality-girl time with some JMU alumni I seriously enjoy!  Exactly 1 week after this event, I went to an end of summer Wine-Tasting work party where I had the distinct honor of winning the prize for MOST WRONG ANSWERS in a blind wine tasting.  I am thinking I should have tasted more... and of course, this must mean I need more practice... i.e. more wine festivals?!  YES!

CAGR enjoying a sunny fall girls day out!

 There were also   some of my favorite fall recipes- inspired by all of the rain and cool weather.  This one makes lots of effort to be healthy.  No butter, no cream, 2% milk cheddar cheese, 98% Fat Free, healthy choice Campbell's Cream of Chicken, roasted chicken breast, and mixed veggies make a tasty Chicken Pot Pie.  The crescent roll pie crust is the one indulgence!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Invite Guests!

I also started reading (and nearly finished) an incredible book that I happened upon in Target one afternoon.  Heaven Is For Real is the quick, easily read, true story of one tot's trip to heaven (and back)!  This little boy's simply-stated descriptions of heaven, angels, and Jesus match what we know to be bibical-ly (is that a word?) accurate. His dad's narrative explains these consistencies in a way that is both friendly to a nonbeliever and descriptive enough for those who believe and are familiar with the Bible.  So far, this book has put to rest many of the human, naive fears that I sometimes experience when thinking about eternity.  What little Colton Burpo has to tell the world is simple:  Heaven is beautiful perfection, it is the REAL dwelling place of God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit, and death is nothing to fear for those who are prepared to enter heaven's gates.  I love this book, so far.  Read.it.   Also, you can consider this my unofficial, first-ever, for real, book review.  :)

So while the state of my affairs these days leaves a lot to be desired, I must say that I have had quite a bit of fun falling off the wagon.  I am going to try to regain a little bit of control in the next 48 hours- including running my 5, submitting some important paperwork, and cleaning up the surface of this pigsty.  The only reason I am really feeling the urgency to do any of this is because....

THURSDAY IS THE SEATON-BUDDING WEDDING IN PCB!!!

Translation: celebration of love with my wonderful Peppers family, warm sunny beach weather, and 2-day work week for me!  Also- MommaH is staying over Tuesday night to catch the flight out Wednesday morning with us and I should probably spare her the horror of knowing that her newly wedded daughter and son-in-law can barely maintain the tiniest of households.  

Cheers to the Budding's, ya'll!