- Saw Trouble with the Curve with Alex. Pretty good.
- Mostly ran and walked a little for 9 miles on the battlefield with Jessica and Laura and Sarah. Even though Laura and Sarah fell off the wagon and ended up turning around. That was the longest distance I've gone in a long time, so it felt great afterwards.
- Went to the Fredericksburg Pet Expo. Mostly just wanted to go to see my animals. They all recognized me and got very happy to see me. The cats were really freaked out there. I felt kind of sad actually.
- Went to Halloween Horror Nights XXII in Orlando. My 4th time! It was great, as usual. There was one less house than usual this year and they were trying something new with no scare zones and they were really focusing on their intellectual properties, Silent Hill and The Walking Dead and not so much on original creations. But still awesome! Unmasking the Horror was fantastic as usual. We stayed in an amazing timeshare resort with a huge 8 person suite with amazing views and a bed like a cloud. I worked out in the super nice gym every morning I was there. John joined us for one night. I hope I redeemed myself a little from my total freak out last year. I wish so badly that were were still there! I want to work for them. I wish I knew how to do FX makeup or costume design.
- Was scheduled to go back to trapeze after such a long hiatus with our vacation and what not but the traffic was INSANE and there was a huge car accident blocking all lanes of the highway and there was no way I was going to make it in time so I had to bail. It sucked. I was looking forward to getting back into the swing of things...literally! Sometimes I really hate living so far from the trapeze school.
- Went to a haunted house out in Luray. Alex will travel any distance to check out a haunted house. But this one actually turned out to be really cool. And the drive out there was beautiful. Luray is a cute little town.
- Saw Frankenweenie. So good! But I think that a lot of the people in the theater, lots of parents included, did not like it. It had some messages about death and science that I think some people thought didn't belong in a so-called kids movie. But I loved it!
- 39th trapeze class. Probably one of the last times, at least for a long time, that I will see Scout. Sad to see him go. But hopefully I will be visiting Puerto Rico soon and can try out the new school. I worked on my turn-around and roll-up AGAIN. It seems like I am always taking one step forward, two steps back. My turn-around is getting tighter but now my take-off is falling apart again. It's like, I gain a new skill, and then start losing an old one I've been doing fine for a long time. The roll-up isn't going so well either. I can plant my feet for a millisecond but I don't actually do any rolling up or attempting to stand. I don't use my hips. Oh well. Progress is progress.
- Went to Busch Gardens Howl-o-scream. It was a good time, as usual. Not scary but always good atmosphere. They did have some new stuff. A new Root of all Evil/Garden of Evil house and theme. And a cool vampire bar outside that catered more to adults than kids and families. Of course they're no Halloween Horror Nights but they are better than most!
- Jerry passed away Thursday, 10/18. He has been having good and bad spells ever since his big surgery. But for the past week it's pretty much been bad days. His stomach got super distended and full of blood again. He would not get up at all, for anything. He hadn't gone to the bathroom all day so Jessica forced him up and out to the front yard to go to the bathroom. He had bad diarrhea, collapsed on the ground, seized a couple of times and died. Jessica tried to give him CPR but it didn't work. My dad and I rushed over. I got there first. Jessica was sitting pretty blankly on the porch with a neighbor. Jerry was laying on the cold, wet ground in front of her. His tongue was hanging out and his eyes were open. I went to him and laid my head on his chest and cried. I tried to close his eyes and put his tongue back in and close his mouth. I sat with him and cradled his head and pet him. Laura Weidenbach came too. When my dad got there, him and another neighbor guy loaded him on a sleeping bag in the back of dad's truck. I wish we could have treated him with more dignity. They each just grabbed two of his legs like a big dead Hawaiian pig at a luau. I rode with Dad to the animal hospital, Jessica didn't want to come. She said her goodbyes in the front yard. It was just our imaginations, I know, but we both thought we saw him breathe or move. It's scary to think he might have still been alive. I know he wasn't but it's still awful to think about. Anyway, we took him to the emergency hospital and they are going to cremate him and Jessica will get the ashes in about a week. I gave him a big kiss and told him I loved him and left. I know he's with his dad. Paul just wanted his dog back. R.I.P. you sweet, sweet boy.
- Saw Argo with Alex. Crazy that they actually pulled that off.
- Had dinner at my dad's with him, Janette, Jessica and my Grandma who was in town for one day to visit her sister.
- Went to Philadelphia for the first time in my life. Can't believe I've never been there. I loved it. We went to the Eastern State Penitentiary for Terror Behind the Walls. It was cool. Then we went back the next morning for a regular daytime tour. Such an amazing and creepy place. I wanted so badly to see something paranormal...but no such luck! We also went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art where the Rocky steps are. It was an amazing museum and SO big. We didn't have much time to spend there because we had to head back home cause I had work the next day. It was a short trip but so worth it. Philly is my kinda town.
- 40th trapeze class. My turn-around itself has become quite solid. Still not extending out over the board very much and still don't get enough height except on my first try to even do so. Didn't work on my roll-up this time. I think Mandy forgot what I have been doing and she had me do a half-turn. I knew I had done a half-turn before but couldn't remember if I had caught it so I just went with it and pretended I had never done it. I actually didn't even end up catching it because I was traveling too far and would have run into the catcher so they told me not to try it but when I came back home and checked my records on the computer, I had caught it. Oh well. I am back on the trapeze after too long away.
- Ran my first half-marathon, the American Family Fitness Half-Marathon which is part of the Richmond Marathon. I did pretty well, about as well as I thought I would do. 2 hours and some change. But I didn't know how hard my body would be hit. By mile 8 or 9 my ankles were aching, my hips were starting to ache and by the very end, my knees were shot too. Immediately after the race, I felt a little nauseous but it wasn't TOO bad. It got worse and the walk back to the car was painful. During the car ride, I really felt like I was going to throw up. My stomach was in knots. Sam, Paul and Jessica's friend who ran with us, felt the same way as me. We actually had to stop the car so he could throw up a few times. We both skipped the planned brunch because we both felt too bad. I drove straight home, ran upstairs and went to the bathroom. I tried to make myself throw up but not much came up. Turns out the stomach pains weren't throw up nausea, they were diarrhea nausea. I have been home over 4 hours and have been on and off the toilet. My knees are killing me too. But it's bucket-list crossing off material. A full marathon is not out of the question in the future. But now that I see how physically tough a half is, I would REALLY have to train hard for months for it. I didn't train at all for this and I think that's why I'm feeling the way I am right now. But I did it. I finished. And I am glad for that.
- Had a little bad spell with Alex. We got in two fights in one week. Over stupid things. No one apologized and we never addressed what happened, we just kind of gradually got back to normal.
- Saw Lincoln. It was great. Although, I feel like after this election, Republicans who saw the movie are going to be like, "Look! See what we did? We are great and not racist!".
- Went to another Battle FC fight with Alex and Dad. It was a much smaller crowd than normal and a lot of the fights were over super fast in the first round. But still, all in all, a good time.
- Had an okay Thanksgiving. I ran the Turkey Trot, as usual. It wasn't downtown this year. It outgrew it so it was moved to Central Park. Not scenic at all but obviously much bigger and could accommodate a lot more people. I saw a lot of people from high school but of course, averted my eyes and avoided them all because I am stupid. On the way home from the Turkey Trot, I stopped to get gas. I put my wallet on top of my car and what do you know? I drove away with it still on the roof of my car. I didn't realize it was gone until a couple of hours later. Had to cancel all my cards, apply for new ones, apply for a new license, etc. And fast forward two weeks, the lady who found it finally got a hold of me and I got it back but I had already got all new cards.
- Went to Owen and Christin's wedding in Dunn, NC. It was a beautiful wedding at the Barrington House. The food was delicious and I took a lot of pictures. I hope Christin likes them even though she had a photographer of her own. I met all of Alex's remaining family that I hadn't yet. And spent more time with the ones I have met, like Ryan and Jackson and Stephanie. I had a great time.
- 41st trapeze class. Another 3 week hiatus in between classes like last time, unfortunately. STILL working on my turn-around and roll-ups, etc. Did my best roll-up to date and starting the beginnings of learning a face-off.
- 42nd trapeze class. Still working on the roll-up. Had a couple pretty good ones but nothing perfect yet. Kim has moved ahead of me now, skill-wise, and her roll-up was so good she was able to do a remount to the board. Ugh. Happy for her, but wish I was catching on as quick as her. I did, however, do several face-offs and my instructor said they were awesome and that I caught on really fast! Wooo! I wish I could go weekly all the time. There is another woman who only started trapeze less than a year ago and is already at my level and will probably pass me soon, too. Ugh.
- Saw The first installment of the Hobbit! It was fan-fucking-tastic. I had to see it in 3D and I normally hate 3D movies but this was great. I can't wait for the other installments to come out.
- Went to Christmas Town for the 4th time. This time Owen, Christin and Natalie came along. I love Natalie! She makes me want to have a child. And I like that I am getting closer to his family and becoming more of a member. I took some good pictures and fun was had!
- Finished my drawing of Paul just in time for Jessica to send it to George and Gloria for Christmas. I had never really done something so detailed before and I was not THAT happy with it but I hope I did his memory justice and I hope they like it.
sep 20 2012 ∞
feb 4 2013 +
feb 4 2013 +