I hate to run.

After this weekend, I will only run when being chased. Why do I let my sister talk me into these things? Why do I come from a psychotically competitive family?

Well, I'm off to New York tomorrow to run that silly marathon on Sunday.



I hope this isn't me:

I KNOW this will be me:

I am taking a camera with me on the run, so, be prepared for some hilarous pictures. There are over 40,000 runners for 26.2 miles. There will be 2 million spectators and 100 bands along the route. Yes, they will all see my pitiful running.

I've waited years for this!

Yay! I finally got to see New Kids On The Block again! I am completely aging myself by writing this, but, it's been 20 years since I first saw NKOTB. They were my very first concert. My sister and a friend of hers drove my best friend and I down to Indianapolis for the concert. Oh, the memories. I loved Joey McIntyre....I may have even written "Mrs. Jennifer McIntyre" in my notebook over and over again. Others will say that they were meant to be with Joey, but, he was MINE.

The concert was as fantastic as I remember from 1988. They sang their old songs exactly the same way (directly to me, of course). They did add a little crotch-grabbing to be able to keep up with the times. And, some crazy lady threw her bra on-stage. Before you ask, no, it was not me. I went to see Justin Timberlake a year ago and this concert put his to shame. I have never seen so many late-20 to early 30-somethings going crazy like that. We had no shame. There was yelling and belting out the words like we were on stage with the boys.

Can you spot the lone male in this picture? Everyone else....female.




Sweet Jordan can still hit those high notes.

Have to save this picture for last. Oh, Joey.

Adventures of Flat Batman - Part 1

I have taken over this blog, so, you can see the adventures that I've been on lately.

Let me explain where I came from: I decided to pick a child who would take me places and have adventures and see things through their eyes. I thought a great place to start this adventure would be at the airport. Adventure city, right? However, I was given to an "adult". Why would an adult get a kid's meal at McDonald's? They have adult sizes for pete's sake! So, I was given as a toy to some chick from Boston and then stolen from her by this girl whose blog I have hacked. I made a four day trip to Lake Tahoe for a wedding and saw many things. Below are some photos of my adventure:

When I arrived at the house where the "people" were staying, I was given a "Welcome to Tahoe" bag. Inside was chapstick, silly string, candy, granola bar, lotion, and a travel mug with some cool photos (or so the "people" said). There were other great things in the bag, but, I didn't see/eat/use any of it. The "people" took it all!

I went to see the "Fanny Bridge" the first night. It's called the Fanny Bridge because when you're driving by it, all you see are butts because everyone is looking over the side of it. Apparently, there are salmon that come and "do their thing" there. I wouldn't know....I am batman and do not care for fish.

In this photo, I am looking out across Lake Tahoe trying to figure out how long it would take me to fly across it. Oh wait, I don't really fly.....hhhmmm....this will take some planning.

I thought I'd show my "robot" dancing skills in this photo.

Those mad dancing skills came after many beverages...like this one.

There was a party the second night...like I said, there was a wedding taking place. I wanted to try the white cake. Somehow, I ended up on top of the cake, I blame those pesky drinks.

I even tried to take a bath. But, I didn't have thumbs, so, I couldn't turn the nozzle on.

This guy thought I was cool....he wanted to be a superhero like me. I told him to get a haircut. Superheroes are ALWAYS put together.

I decided to go for a bike ride on Sunday.

I had to point a young child in the right direction. Somehow, he was on the trail by himself. However, he did pass up the "people" that I was riding with. He looked to be about five years old. It was embarrassing for the "people" to be passed by such a young child. I wanted to go off on adventures with him, but, he was too fast and they couldn't catch him.

On the way back to the house, I thought I'd give a belly rub to an adorable dog that was on the sidewalk.

I had to help the "people" get ready for the wedding. Not sure how they could put on the make-up without me....especially since they had a couple of drinks while getting ready.

Here I am on the aisle. Some people across the aisle looked at me weirdly and I had to give them my "Superhero Eye". They did not look at me again.

I made sure there were no kinks or problems for this nice couple's wedding. They are forever in my debt.

I needed fuel....reviewed the menu and took over the ordering.




I am excellent at ordering....of course. Look at this appetizer....I ate all the avocado stuffed with crab.

I also started to get my drink on again.

And, the final pose....again on a cake. It was good.

I have other adventures from my trip....this is only part 1. I am going to hack this blog soon and show you the rest. Stay tuned.

Introducing...........

Abigail Nicole

We went down to Mart this weekend to meet my new niece, Abigail. She was born on September 29th and weighed in at 7 lbs, 1 oz. I haven't been around a newborn in awhile and forgot how tiny they are! She slept most of the time we were at my brother's house, but, I did get a couple of pictures with her eyes open. Enjoy!

Eric so wanted a boy....we're all glad it was a girl. I think he's a little freaked in this photo.

Jen bonding with Abigail.

Cameron and Abigail (I think we caught her in mid-yawn).

Sweet Danielle holding her little sister.

Jackson is a pro! I think he wants a little sister.

Colin was not interested in his new cousin. He was more interested in playing with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle & motorcycle that his Uncle Eric & Aunt Jen gave him for his birthday. He also told his mom that she could look at the new baby, but, was not allowed to "pet" her.

Megan and Chris's Wedding in Lake Tahoe

My friends love destination weddings....well, I guess I should say I love destination wedding, too. So, when Megan said she and Chris had decided to get married in Lake Tahoe, I told her I was definitely in for that trip. We stayed at an awesome house that Megan found online that slept twelve very comfortably. We even tried to get more people to stay with us throughout the weekend. There are so many stories from that weekend that I can only give you a few of them.

Christine, Elizabeth and I flew from Dallas to Reno and cracked ourselves up most of the entire trip. There was a McDonald's incident (which I'll blog about later) and then finding out that Elizabeth crammed her dress that she was going to wear to the wedding into her purse. Yes, she had her dress folded up in her purse. Here's a photo of it:

The first night we all went for pizza and beer at The Lakeshore Bar. Either, we were tipsy and starving or that was the best pizza ever. The rest of the evening was spent laughing, telling stories and making fun of one another (that was pretty much the theme for the weekend).

Saturday, Christine, Emily and I went for a run in the morning. Surprisingly, we felt pretty good running at that altitude (Someone told me that we were about 6,000 ft above sea level). Then, it was off for manicures and pedicures. I love to be pampered. :) We had yummy hamburgers for lunch and our waitress entertained us the entire time. I think she's spent a little too much time smoking the bong. She answered everything with "cool" and thought we were "cool" girls...well, we are, of course.

Saturday night, we had a delicious meal prepared by Megan's dad. There was pulled pork, baked beans, grilled artichokes, and I can't remember what else. Oh, there was also a queso dip that was fantastic. It had a secret ingredient....I cannot tell you what it was.....though, some of us helped make the food so we know. It was YUMMY and someone mentioned they had never had queso dip before. All Texans were appalled by this statement.

Sunday, Celeste, Elizabeth, Colleen, and I went for 9 mile bike ride. I was an exercising machine this weekend! Go me! Poor Celeste was told the wrong way to change gears (we blame Elizabeth) and ended up making it nearly impossible to pedal as she was riding up hills. She thought she was way out of shape and come to find out...they way she was riding, Lance Armstrong would have been breathing hard trying to get up those same hills.

Sunday evening was what we had all been waiting for: the wedding. It was beautiful. Chris and Megan had planned an unbelievable ceremony and reception. The dinner was so good that I didn't want to stop eating and the dancing...oh, the dancing. I have no words to explain the awesomeness of Chris Gaines' dancing abilities. He brought out moves honoring Footloose, moonwalking, and NKOTB to name a few. I know there is video out there of him and Chris Shahan and I hope it's posted. There may have been some running man dancing, too.

Unfortunately, my camera batteries died after dinner, so, I don't have a lot of photos yet from then. Here are what I have so far:

The girls having a toast to Megan and Chris before the wedding.

The aisle that Chris and Megan walked down.

The view for the guests. The picture doesn't do it justice.

I think this is self-explanatory. :)

Boy, do we clean up nicely.

The table-setting. Nothing was overlooked and the meal was fantastic.

Like I said, there are so many stories from this past weekend. Thank you to Chris, Megan, and their families for making this trip so memorable. Congrats and I love you!

Memorable quotes from the weekend:

Brown Chicken, Brown Cow! (my favorite)

It's the altitude.

I squirted myself.

Save that.

I accidently went on a date with a lesbian.

Apple-bottom jeans.

I need a Nana.

Christine punched me in the face.

I'm not a lady because I don't have a pashima.

I look like a crazy aunt in this photo.

1, 2, 2....1, 2, 2....1, 2, 2....1, 2, 2....1, 2 2

Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay

If the bartender comes in, tell him that we went to Pete'n Peters. Here's my number.

Sandy White Beaches!

Tom and I jetted to Pensacola Beach for a few days last weekend. I've never been to a Florida beach and had no idea they had such nice beaches. We stayed right on the beach and I even got into the ocean! For those who don't know....I am afraid of fish. Sharks, yes. Fish, yes. Minnows...YES. I can't help it. Well, I sucked it up and waded into the ocean (I always made sure Tom was further out then me....shark would get him first).

We did have a CSI moment, though. We were walking down the beach and came across a "crime scene". Some snorkelers found some bones in the water! Personally, I believe it was the fish that killed someone wading in the water, but, the police say that it was not human remains.

Picture of the beach and our hotel from the pier.

Awesome self picture-taking, huh?

This short story will support my theory: we decided to sit at a beachside bar for a bit and have an icy beverage. I'm sitting there looking out at the massive ocean and I see fins. YES, fins! I mention it to Tom and he thinks it's the icy beverage messing with my head. A few minutes later, what does he see? Fins. He SAYS that it was dolphins, but, I am not a believer. There were sharks in the water and they were waiting for me to get back into the ocean to bite me. You cannot convince me otherwise.

You can't see it, but, there are sharks out there!!!

On our way to the airport, we stopped at the Pensacola Naval Base to look at their air museum. Pretty much it was a monstrous warehouse with as many planes and helicopters they could possibly cram into it.

Kidding aside, it was pretty cool seeing some of the old planes. I have no idea how some of them made it up in the air. Below are some photos of museum.

Tom was very intrigued by this plane.
They had mannequins to show where everyone would sit/work.

All I do is love you and then this.....

Tivo, how I love you. I still remember that autumn day in 2003 when you first arrived at the apartment in Addison. How excited Robin and I were - tearing open the box and trying to figure out how to hook up the cords (it's all very complicated...wall cord to cable box to tivo to dvd player to tv). Then, the wonderful "beep-beep" noises. Yes, I've had my tivo for 5 years and I still will not turn off the noise...that's how much I love it.

Then, in 2005, I got another tivo so that I could have one just for my room. I had a new roommate and didn't know if her TV watching was as crazy as mine. I didn't want to chance a "someone in your home deleted this recording" episode. I am very protective of my tivo. Little did I know, Megan loved most of my shows, plus introduced me to more. Oh, Gilmore Girls, I only had you for two seasons.

In 2006, my newest tivo decided to stop working (luckily it was in the summer and I had kept up with shows so I didn't lose much). Tivo sent me a new "dual recording" tivo. Hello! I could record two shows at once!!! Plus, I still have the single recording tivo in my bedroom. That's three shows!! Holy crap! I was recording everything!


This past year, I have really fallen off the wagon on keeping up with the shows. I'm embarrassed by some shows that I've had on my tivo that I still haven't watched. I reached the one year mark on the last four episodes of Rescue Me. They've been sitting on the tivo just waiting for me to watch them. I even watched all the minisodes that have been on all summer, but, can't gear up for the other four full one-hour episodes.

Fall season premiere is starting soon and I started writing down all the returning shows that I'm planning on tivoing, plus all the new shows that I want to see. FYI, I am all over "Fringe". It's JJ Abrams and I loved Alias and still love Lost.

Here's why I am upset: this whole "digital" craziness that everyone has to go to in February of 2009. Verizon FIOS decided to go early to all digital to make sure their customers are set. Apparently, when it goes to all digital - tivo's dual recording no longer works. WHAT?!@#?!

Yes, that's right. I am now down to only recording one show at a time. What am I going to do? I've got: Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, HIMYM, Samantha Who?, Heroes, Chuck, Lost, Scrubs, ER (I've stuck by it since the beginning, not giving it up now), Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Rescue Me, Oprah, Ellen, Daily Show, Colbert, Letterman, Conan, Fringe, Bonnie Hunt Show (new show and I love her), and whatever else that I've left off the list!! Now, I have to prioritize and I don't like it!

Why tivo? Why Verizon?