I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends, co-workers, your TV… whatever you ended up doing. 🙂

I started my day with the YMCA’s 5K Turkey Trot.  I convinced Jessica to run it with me.  It was great to have a partner out there in the FREEZING cold weather.   My top layer consisted of not only Under Armour but also Nike and Target and I was still frozen solid!

 

Soon after Clint and I headed to Clarinda for a couple family dinners.  We started the day at my Gr’pa and Gr’ma Goecker’s house for lunch and conversation and then ended our day/evening at Clint’s mom and step-dads.

Let’s just say I started off with really good intentions and ate more veggies than anything at Grandpa’s.   Alcohol, little smokies and m&m’s won at the Swanson’s.

Good thing I am starting a 21 Day Challenge with 20 other women on Monday.   Hot for the Holiday’s is our slogan. 😉

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving.  The kids had a good time competing against each other in the Bean Bag toss.

And the adults had a lot of good conversation and some serious belly laughs.  Grandma Drakes cookie catastrophe story had a few of us in tears.   Hilarious that lady.

 

I even was able to wrangle the boys into a quick family photo:

 

Poor Kyle will never be an adult in his dad’s eyes when it comes to hugs:

 

We wrapped up the evening on the farm around 7:30 to make our way back to the city life.

 

Once home I got the stare down from Champ, so after 15 minutes of that ridiculous game, I let him up on my lap.

#iamasucker

#spoiled

 

 

Cheers to a wonderful weekend, whatever it is you are doing!    If you are one of the crazies out there battling the black Friday shopping crowds – bless you hearts.

No. Stinking. Way.

 

 

15 hours of sleep.

15!!

WHO DOES THAT?

Apparently, this girl does.

Friday morning started off a little shaky with a burning belly and tired eyes.  Stomach issues are nothing new in my world.  They have a long history with me that almost always tie back to stress/life events, but I’ve learned over the years how to control them.  Or rather, not control the stomach issue itself, but control my reaction.

So, to get my mind off how I felt, I opted for the Harley as my mode of transportation to work.

 

The morning air felt good in my lungs.

The rising sun burning off the morning fog was beautiful to see.

Two wheels was just what I needed to start my Friday.

Unfortunately, it didn’t clear the pains in my stomach and on top of that I was getting this feeling of complete exhaustion creeping in.   I called it a day at 1pm, crawled on my beautiful blue baby and made my way home.

And I was out like a light by 2pm.

Sleep.

Sweet Sleep.

Was to be at a meeting at the YMCA at 6, but the thought of driving 48 miles round trip for a 30 minute meeting, just didn’t seem like a smart decision.   I HATE making those kinds of decisions.

Am I the only one who really struggles with calling in or leaving work early because you just don’t feel good?   It doesn’t matter if I am on my death bed or just feel run-down, I struggle with what other people think.

That’s a downfall.   I shouldn’t worry about what others think.  We are to look out for ourselves, after-all.

A little more sleeping on the couch ensued and at 8pm I called it a night and crawled into bed.    The next time my eyes opened up?

7am

A total of 15 freaking hours of sleep.  I almost can’t believe it. I am the girl who gets 6-7 hours of sleep each night and my mornings always start between 4:15-4:50 on the weekdays and 630 at the latest on the weekends.  It’s just how my body works.

I guess my body had a very different idea on what sleep should be this time around.

Whatever works.  I rolled with it.

And so far this Saturday morning, I am feeling quite alive.  Let’s hope it stays that way.   We’ve got a full weekend of face makeup, costumes, a Halloween Party and packing for my 1pm flight to Chicago on Sunday.  Don’t get too excited.  It’s for work, not play.

Cheers to a beautiful day!