A Long Weekend Recap with Friends and Family

Tomorrow I go back to work after 5 wonderful days off. I took time off for my birthday. I was feeling a bit more tired than usual from long hours and different events going off at work. I spent half of the time back home visiting with friends and family, then the other half back at home. 

I stayed at my grandparent's Wednesday and Thursday night. I normally sleep like a baby there, but not this time. I tossed and turned all night so I slept in a bit late on Friday morning. It was raining hard and it was very gloomy. I felt fatigued all day. I pushed myself to go to my old work and former gym; The Rush (it was recently purchased by Gold's Gym; bittersweet). I managed to get in a quick workout then drove to Reidsville to visit my mom. She had just arrived home from receiving her first MS infusion treatment. It has been many months since she had one because of her insurance changes. The medication is $6,000 a MONTH and we could not afford it. However, a nonprofit organization has been working with her and she can now receive them. Her health has really been declining lately so she needed the treatments more than ever. 

When I arrived at my brother's house to see her, we both cried a few tears of joy. I then decided we need to go to lunch to celebrate. We went to a place called "The Heffinger". The town I grew up in, Reidsville, is a tiny, southern, farm town with basically nothing at all to do. I was so pleased to see a place like "The Heffinger" had opened. It is a very fun restaurant/bar/pub. They have trivia on Wednesday's, Karaoke on Friday's, and a special room for live bands. Reidsville definitely needs something like that so I hope the bar can make it and last. Our lunch food was delicious and we had a "Sex on the Beach" as mama's celebratory drink. If the menu had a little more variety to it, our experience would have been perfect.

After lunch, mama's pain and fatigue from her treatment was starting to set in, so we went back to my brother's for the remainder of the gloomy afternoon so mom could rest. I redesigned my blog a bit (do you like my new header?) and caught up on emails, then took a shower and got ready. Once my brother arrived home from work I spent time with him. 

At 7, I went back to "The Heffinger" to meet one of my best friends Anna for dinner. I enjoyed it at lunch though I did not really eat, so I wanted to go back and get a good dinner, plus it's Anna's favorite restaurant. Unfortunately our experience did not go as planned. The restaurant was barely halfway full and it took us 45 minutes to receive our food. We both had small dinners order and by the time we received them, they were cold and did not taste good. We smiled for a picture, then bailed on our dinner.

Since our dinner was a bit of a bust, we drove to Eden (where Anna lives) to go get frozen yogurt. That is always an acceptable option to go for if your dinner isn't great! It definitely hit the spot. We were good to go after that.

I went to Anna's after to stay with her and her husband (and my good friend) Mike. She and I have had 15 years of sleepover's and they still continue. Since it was still raining, we decided to find a new show on Netflix to binge watch (our tradition). The two choices were "Scandal" or "Orange is The New Black". By popular vote on my Instagram, "Orange is the New Black" won. Ha! The opening scene had boobies everywhere so we instantly knew we were going to love the show. It really is great, too. I am on episode 4 of season 1 and I can't wait to see what keeps happening.

Friday night at Anna's was another rough night of sleep for me (see the pattern here) so I was up early Saturday and took off to my dad's. When I got to dad's, he and my step-mom informed that his cancer has now spread to his liver and lungs. They are small tumors, but nonetheless, that is not good. If you could please pray for him-- for strength and hope, I would really appreciate it. After spending a little time with my dad, but my step-mom and I left to spend the day together. We went to the eye-doctor for me and I am steadily getting as blind as a bat. I was given a new brand of contacts and my vision seems so much more crisp and clear now, which is great. After the eye doctor we went to Greensboro so Diane could pick up her new glasses and did a little shopping. We had the most delicious lunch at a placed called Tripp's then went back home so I could spend a little more time with dad. I left to go back to Charlotte around 4 and when I finally arrived home, I was exhausted. I had so much unpacking and cleaning to do, but could not make myself do any of it. I spent the evening on the couch.

I got a good night of sleep on Saturday, but was up a bit early on Sunday due to Marty getting sick. He had a bad hairball and threw up on the bed. In a momentary lapse of judgement on my part, I threw my comforter in the washing machine to try and clean it. You can only guess how that ended! It was not good and my comforter was ripped with pieces everywhere. I decided to take off to Anna's Linen's to see if I could find a new comforter, and luckily I did! I have to say, I always love shopping at Anna's Linen's. They make being a "diva on a budget" fun, fabulous, and affordable. I was able to get a 7-piece comforter set for $45. I absolutely love it!

After putting together my fabulous new bed set (along with my little helper), I went to the gym for cardio and an upper body weight ciruct, then came back, took a shower, and got ready for church. It was week number 3 of #DeathToSelfie and as usual, another amazing service. It was a good message about enjoying where you are now -- being content but never complacent. I need to learn to do that more. I focus so hard on what my life could be, all of the things I am working so hard for, and accomplishing my dreams, that I sometimes forget to appreciate NOW and living in the moment. This is something I am vowing to workout on after what I went through recently.

Once church was over, I met my girlfriend Alexis at "Tony Sacco's" for dinner. She treated me for my birthday, which made me feel super special. We each made our own personal pizza. Mine was delicious; I had it with spinach, mushrooms, and Gorgonzola cheese. We then had Tony Sacco's homemade fruit shortcake. It was different and one of the best desserts I have had in a long time!

After dinner I went to see the new Marvel movie, "Guardians of the Galaxy". Initially I was only going to see that movie due my loyalty and love for Marvel comics (huge nerd here, I openly admit it). But upon reading reviews and comments, people seemed to really, really enjoy the movie. It has a very high rating on Fandango as well. I was then excited to see it. I thought it was very good. It had some hilarious parts in it and the cast meshed well together. I really liked the message about the characters being "outcasts" or different. It was not my favorite and it does not compare at all to X-Men or Avengers, but it is definitely worth a watch.

Today has been a really mellow day as I prepare to go back to work tomorrow, which is going to be brutal. I slept late, went to the gym, grocery shopped, cleaned, and prepped food for the week. I am ready to be back on my grind 100% with clean eating and my training regimen. I have had an unusual couple of weeks with working overtime, lots off-site meetings/dinners, and then travelling for my birthday. But now I am back and do not have to go out of town again until the weekend after next, so it's time to focus and drop some fat-- 25 more pounds to go so I need to stay dedicated and push through!