May your holiday be full of fun and tasty patriotic treats.
Happy Fourth of July!
Tag Archives: Wordless Wednesday
Oldsmar 5K
At 5:00 p.m. two hours before the start of the Oldsmar 5K, terrible thunderstorms began rolling into the Tampa Bay area. It was ugly. Sporadic flashes of lightning lit up the gray skies and rain drops like Christmas lights.
As much as I don’t like running in the rain, I’ll suck it up for a race, but lightning is a whole other story. Then, I heard word about a flooding watch in the area and I began to worry about soggy shoes. “I have another race in the morning. What if my shoes don’t dry out and I have to put them in the dryer. What if they shrink?”
I must have looked so worried because my friend Mike asked what was wrong with me. I believe his exact words were, “D, what’s your deal?” Later I learned Mike was already three beers into the drinking portion of the evening. I should have started drinking when I saw the lightning to help calm my nerves.
I decided to distract myself by reading the quotes on the back of the t-shirts included in the race bags.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.”
“I drink to make people interesting”
“I’d tap that.”
“You can never buy beer, you just rent it.”
Then ten minutes before the start, the race officials canceled the race due to inclement weather. Oh thank God!
Given that news, we found a dry spot inside the House of Brews and officially began the beer run part of the program by running back outside, dodging through drops of rain and jumping over puddles to wait in lines for beer and food. We ate and drank as if we ran a race and worked up an appetite. Well, we were really thirsty and hungry.
Rumor has it that a group of runners ran the race despite being canceled. It must be true because results and photos have been posted online. The rebellious runners all finished under 20 minutes. I wonder if the lightning made them run faster?
However, yours truly was not one of them. I was too busy stuffing my face with beer mug-shaped sugar cookies, which I enjoyed more than the free beer.
It just goes to show you. Race or no race, my friends and I always have a great time. Have party. Will travel. Rain or shine.
Teacher Gifts
I totally flaked for Teacher Appreciation Day, which is just a sin having been a teacher once. Hopefully I redeemed myself on the last day of school with these creative gift ideas and small tokens of our appreciation.
My oldest daughter’s teachers love Dunkin’ Donuts. Gift cards seemed the easiest route. Allana made them doughnut shaped cards that read, “Donut forget about me.”
Potted plants are one of favorite gifts to give because they are beauitful, green, affordable gifts. They never break the bank even when gift cards eat up most of your gift budget.
Emmalynn made flower cards for each teacher and then taped the cards to bamboo skewers to stick in the soil. The cards read, “Thank you for helping me bloom and grow this year.”
Then I thought it would be a nice gesture for the girls’ to give their classmates inexpensive gifts and I had a lightbulb moment when I spotted these in Wal-Mart. Now, I know these Little Hugs aren’t the healthiest drinks for kids (actually they’re probably the worst), but there’s no disputing the sheer, creative genius of them and all for under $3.00! I printed labels and taped one to each little juice barrel which read, “Here’s one last hug until I see you in August. Have a great summer!”
Did I redeem myself or what? What gifts did you give your child’s teacher?
Pumapunku
When you give a toddler an iPad, he’ll perform a Google search.
I need to stop watching Ancient Aliens with him.
Happy Birthday to Me!
Birthday jazz hands!
Put your paws up for the Birthday Princess!
Groovy guns.
This MILF is now a FILF.
Life still feels fun at forty.
Forty feels good.
Excuse me, I believe you have my sparkler.
Although I tried my hardest to snap some high-tech firework photos with my fancy SLR camera, I just couldn’t get the settings right to capture the fireworks on the Fourth of July. The show was over by the time I figured it out. Oh well. At least I captured some awesome sparkler shots.
Springtime
Springtime
It has a nice ring to it.
Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do.
I’m half crazy all for the love of you.
It won’t be a stylish marriage,
I can’t afford a carriage.
But you’ll look sweet,
Upon the seat,
Of a bicycle made for two.
I’m Tri-ing
I want to be this woman again.
I want to get over my fear of crashing or falling off my bike and get back on it again this year.
I want to compete in at least one triathlon this summer.
Chaotic Coteeman 2008
But most importantly, I want to be this fit again. I want these abs back.
Babes and Bums 2009
Keep Calm and Rock On for Epilepsy
Kirsten of Gone Bananas is a Chick Gone Purple for Epilepsy Awareness and she is asking others to support this cause by posting a purple themed photo. Link up your purple picture post at Gone Bananas and you’ll be automatically entered in her Passionate Purple Day Giveaway.
The “rules” as stated on Gone Bananas
The only rule is to be creative!
You can take pictures of your family decked out in purple, purple jam, kids painting with purple, flowers, balloons, etc. The more creative the better!
The competition will run until March 28th, which is when Meg will pick a winner and we will send them a purple prize!
To show my love and support for Kirsten and Meghan, I’ll be a Chick Gone Purple for Epilepsy Awareness over the next two Wordless Wednesdays with purple themed photos.
I encourage you to keep calm and rock on do the same.
Something Fishy About This One
I’ve previously mentioned about my slight obsession with manhole covers ever since my husband decided to collect cuff links that resembled city sewer works. While visiting Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in Downtown Tampa for the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, my family and I stumbled upon another fancy manhole cover that I hadn’t noticed before.
