Homecoming, Lazy Sunday, and Whatever Today Was

Sarah and her daughter, Elliot

U of Toledo's Homecoming was this Saturday. Being a good alumni, I went up to the UY alumni tent and hung out during the parade, cheering on my brother and the rest of the UY members walking in the parade with their cow-spotted and 10-gallon-topped short bus. Probably the best part of the parade was seeing one of my former mentees and her stinkin' adorable daughter, Ellie. Sarah kept her pregnancy a secret from all of us so I was a little surprised and hurt when I had to find out from facebook that she'd had a baby, but that emotion is long gone and I enjoyed getting to spend an hour with them. Sarah and I really haven't seen much of each other since Ellie was born, but that's just as much my fault as it is hers. The couple of us standing there enjoyed helping Ellie fill up her Dora The Explorer bag FULL of candy. We MAY have stolen a couple pieces of our favorites out of the bag for ourselves, but I don't think Sarah would ever mind. I made a joke of telling Ellie while I was holding her, "Now, remember to eat 5 or 6 pieces right before bedtime so you and mommy can have LOTS of fun all night long." Sarah laughed and told me that Mitch (Sarah's fiancee [finally] and Ellie's dad)'s mom wanted to take her for the night, so Ellie could eat as much candy as she wanted before Sarah dropped her off that afternoon. Ellie is WAY too young to understand why we all thought that was so funny.

Here they come!

Instead of tailgating or going over to the volleyball game, I decided to head down into my basement lab to get some work done. Well, I ended up curled up on the one semi-comfortable chair in the lab and watching movies all afternoon. Had I known that more of my friends were going to be up tailgating, I might have wandered over to Rocket Hall. Oh well. I know it was a cop-out for me. I have this thing now about not wanting to go places unless I'm invited because I've had too many experiences where I've over-stayed my welcome and wasn't aware of it. Sometimes it's just easier to be alone when I'm not with my closest friends.

The only reason I stayed on campus all day was for the football game. That's all I was really interested in (other than possibly running into a certain guy ... but that wasn't to be, apparently). Toledo stomped on Miami (GREAT football game, GO ROCKETS!) and I got to spend some time with Dan and Annie, which was nice. Actually, I think that was the first time I ever got to have a conversation with JUST Dan, except for when he was showing me the new house first time I was there.

I had planned on getting in a workout Sunday, but it turned into the ultimate lazy day. I slept in late and then laid in bed all day watching football or movies and playing games on my computer. Mom and I made bubble pizza for dinner (Yummy!) and I retreated back to my bed to read the rest of the evening. I couldn't fall asleep until around 3am when the thunder and lightening started, so I didn't hold high expectations for today either.

Today I managed to get myself up at a decent time, despite the lack of sleep, and get some work done. I knew I would be staying home as soon as I woke up. I'm just more productive from home on Mondays when I can go do OTHER productive things away from my computer when I burn out on my paper and schoolwork.

I went through my Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred workout this afternoon. I still wasn't able to keep up with the people on the dvd, but it was better than the last time I did it. I'm wondering if I should use lighter handweights for a while or keep toughing out as much as I can with the 5-pounders. I guess I'll give it a couple more times and just not move on to Level 2 until I feel I have mastered Level 1. You wouldn't think you'd get much of a workout in 20 minutes, but Jillian KICKS YOUR BOOTY. Seriously.

After JM, I decided I needed a run too. I felt so weak and so slow. The first mile wasn't bad, just slow, but my right lower shin decided to tense up the SECOND I passed the 1st mile marker. I toughed it out for another half mile or so until I gave up and stopped to stretch it out and walk for another half mile before trying running again. That seemed to help and I ran most of the way back home. It was a 3.25 mile "run", not including my warm up or cool down, so I guess it was worth it. It was a lesson in humility and injury management, at least.

I guess all I can do now is relax for the night, watch "Castle" (I seriously have a thing for Nathan Fillion), and try to figure out what I'm going to dress up as for Halloween. I was invited to a party Saturday night where I won't know anyone but the one hostess, so I guess I need to find something cute to wear and a guy to flirt with. lol. It'll be good for me, at least. I need a night out and I need to push my confort zone a bit. The other party I was invited to on Monday night would have at least a couple more people I would know, but I thought about staying home to see the trick-or-treaters.