Final Paris recap

The last day was an adventure of traveling in the winter time. I'm not sure I want that type of adventure again. We took a taxi from the hotel to the airport and I snapped cool (and not cool) pics. 

That Ferris wheel is giant and it is on the edge of the Christmas markets. 

Found the Louis Vuitton store!

We never made it to the Arc de triumph but here it is from the taxi. 

Since I didn't see it, I couldn't bear to delete the out of focus photos. 

It looked cool and huge. Traveling with just backpacks meant we could bypass the airline counter. The airport was fairly easy to navigate. There was a security checkpoint and border control. Then we went to Starbucks to buy another mug and get coffee. Our flight was delayed by about 40 minutes which meant we were going to miss our flight to OKC. I managed to get rebooked while at the airport in Paris. It's an 11 hour flight and we were traveling back in time. We left 

Paris at noon and got to Dallas at 4 pm. 

There was lunch, ice cream, and a hot pocket snack. They offered all the free beer and wine again but I drank club soda instead. When we landed we had new plane tickets waiting for us, for the following day.

Our flight was canceled due to weather and cue the hours of confusion. Do we go to the gate? Do we rent a car and drive? Do we get a hotel? On and on. We even went to the rental car spot but changed our mind when friends said weather was not looking good. It was 2am in Paris. We got a hotel and went to bed at 7:30 pm Dallas time. The next day we went to our gate to find out that 40 people were all on standby for the same flight. Fortunately, we were near the top of the list and made it to OKC in the morning. We landed at 9:30 am and found no shuttle. I guess we needed to call them since our flight changed. We took a taxi home because I didn't want another day taken from my vacation time. And I wanted to check on my kitties. 

They act like they don't love me but secretly they do. We came home to a sheet of ice. I immediately thought coming home was not a good idea. 

Thankful Thursday

Thanks for the kind comments and words of encouragement. Being a blogger is being part of a great community. 

Am I repeating kitty photos? Sorry (not really. They're cute.) I have lots to be thankful for and I know it. 

It's easy to focus on the wrong things and lose sight of what's important. We may not have wealth but we have our health. Even Kirby is back to normal. 

My struggles are not the end of the world. I do wonder if I make the right decision. I usually assume that I do except for one decision. The student loans. I regret that today, yesterday and I'll continue to regret that the at least 17 more years. I want to be a mover and shaker but I can't because of the ginormous mountain of student loans. 

My current goal is to pay off all the student loans. But I haven't won the peer all yet. 

Half marathon training

I am back at the training for the Route 66 half marathon in Tulsa. 

Some things I took away from the last half were, I could have run faster. I was hanging with someone and I hate to leave people behind. I think I'm gonna have to on this next race. I don't need to hold myself back just to run with a friend. 

Doing the 5k after taught me another lesson. I can run/walk two races in a day. I used the 5k to stretch out and I think it helped me a lot. 

Fall will be here soon and these two cuddle bugs get snuggly when it's colder. 

I'm making plans to practice the piano more. I don't have a recital scheduled but I'd like to be able to play my pieces from memory again. 

Thursday will be the debut of my beer. It's good (I had to try it) and I'm expecting lots of people will enjoy it. Cheers!

My little family.

I'd like to thank Jen at Marathons and Dog Tags for inspiring this post. 

My family is not traditional but I'd have it no other way. We have two sweet Bengal  cats. They are my little talkers. The breed is a mix between a house cat and an Asian leopard. You wouldn't want the Asian leopard as a pet though. 

Pets are important family members because they provide love, entertainment, and companionship. Both kitties have epic battles and love to run around the house. 

Sometimes my little kitties talk too much and that can get annoying but I try to play with them and run them out of energy. Chomps is the gray kitty and he is a little angel. He's so sweet and sniffs all my glasses and water bottles. He looks at me with his sleepy eyes and purrs so quickly. 

Kirby is the dark brown kitty and he is my little project. He has a hard time sleeping through the night and his meow is more of a squawk which is not so comforting at 4:30 am. He is a runt and had a rougher upbringing. It took years for him to accept me. 

I'm not interested in having kids and I love my little family. I love my husband too and we will be celebrating 17 years next month. 

Beer watch day 2

It's important to continue monitoring the fermentation process. While this is terribly boring, it's all part of brewing beer. 

I will need to take a reading 2 days after the bubbles stop. This could be Friday or as late as Sunday. 

This house is peaceful at the moment and that is glorious. 

Sandals Grande Antigua

This was our fifth trip to Sandals and our second reunion week. Sandals does such a great job of rewarding repeat guests and this trip was no exception.

We arrived a couple of days before reunion week got started. Monday was the welcome parade. Tuesday was the Sandals Select dinner with managers cocktails. That was when we realized we were one day shy of our silver sandals. That will be our reward next year. 

After 35 nights paid, you are rewarded with silver sandals (I think they're plastic but the recognition is most important.) After 70 paid nights the reward is a free week. That will be a sweet day when we get there.

While we were there, there were several light rains. It was nothing too big and didn't spoil the trip in any way. Once we did have to duck into a pool cabana to keep dry. The rain never lasted longer than 15 minutes. 

Wednesday was the offsite excursion. Antigua by land and sea. The trip took us to this gorgeous beach. Apparently Antigua has more than 365 beaches. Nobody has been to them all, not even the Antiguans. (I asked.)

Thursday was the tree planting ceremony for Sandals Foundation. Friday was the final farewell party. The food at the party was spectacular and I wish we had known what was to be served. I'd also like to have known about some of the themed parties. They did the usual black and white but the last night was a retro party. I didn't have the right outfit packed for it.

Blue used this trip as an excuse to get PADI certified. He had to do 8 hours of online work at the hotel business center. Then there was pool work for about 5 hours on Monday. Then after that there were 4 dives over the course of 5 hours on Tuesday and Thursday. I used these days to my advantage at the spa. I used all my spa credit on massages. Now I need another massage!

There were tons of animals there. The resort kitties were well cared for and didn't seem to care about anything. Sampson and Delilah (the two parrots are both guys) would get annoyed at each other and squack loudly. They are adorable and approximately 35 years old. Since they live to about 80, I am sure to see them again. 

The final full day was Friday and we opted to rent a cabana for the day. It was fantastic. The cabana came stocked with drinks and furniture. We lounged, ate, drank, napped and got in and out of the pool all day. It was definitely worth the money. We missed the vow renewal because of the cabana. Next year, we will renew our vows because it's included in the reunion week activities. After all, at Sandals, all you need is love.

**P.S. I have not been compensated in any way for this post. I would recommend going back. Since I am such a huge fan of Sandals, I am going to research how I can be a travel agent for Sandals. I'm hopeful that I can earn extra discounts for selling. Sandals can be an expensive trip but you can trust me that it is worth the money.

*** P.S.S. The next post will be on the food at Sandals Grande Antigua.

Stuff and things

++I'm late in posting and linking with Joey and Kristin. Or I'm early for this week. Whichever. I wasn't very motivated last week.

++It snowed, which wreaked havoc in my life. I couldn't run outside! It's only three weeks until the race and my long run was over two weeks ago and it was only 8 miles! I'm psyching myself out. I can totally run a half marathon. I've done two.

++You deserve a good post on the Red Coyote Pack Pint Runs, which will happen when the creative juices are flowing. And that is not today.

++Even without my long run, I still ate pizza. It was glorious. (As all pizza is.)

++I drank some good drinks this weekend. Last week, I maintained my weight. If I don't lose any this week, I'll blame this delicious concoction.

++Some kitties were very cold tonight. This is their finest hour. They aren't talking. If you don't believe how much these guys can talk, just hit up youtube with "talking bengals". You're welcome.

Half marathon training update and Cafe Evoke

Today, I finished a very cold 5 miles with my friends, Deirdre and Rachel. It wasn't too windy but the temperature was around 20 degrees. I bundled up in tons of layers because it was so cold. 

Me and Rachel after we got inside. 

We went to Cafe Evoke in Edmond Oklahoma. The warm drinks and breakfast burritos hit the spot. 

Hot chocolate. 

They got my name wrong but I'm used to it. 

Breakfast burrito. 

The waffles look good and I may have to get that next time. 

I've been working on nutrition because the same 10 pounds came back. Uninvited of course. I'm in a different place in my weight loss journey. I'm training for another half marathon and I know nutrition will help get me there. I also need some strength training. This should help me speed up and have good form. 

I didn't take a photo because it was dark last night but the kitties have been cold and cuddling closer.