Almost There

When I saw this picture it really resonated with me.  I feel like I've been climbing up from the depths of despair for quite some time....where work is involved.  But today, there is light at the end of the tunnel : )  I'm almost there!

I'm taking a lunch break today.  I'm eating.  I'm acting like a normal human being, who takes lunch, because I'm tired of acting like the world will come to an end if I stop working for 1.5 seconds to do something else.

So much has happened since we last chatted.

I purchased a treadmill.  TEN and I picked it up yesterday.  We used TWW's truck.  It was a stick shift.  I drove.  Funny stuff :)

My new treadmill has all kinds of fancy pants controls and such.  I wanted to hop right on, but I'm trying to relax more.  I'm doing one "chore" per evening.  The rest of the time is mine.  (thank you Erin Condrin for helping me plan my life with my new Life Planner)  So, we parked the treadmill in the basement and went for a cocktail :-o

I need this treadmill in my life for various reasons.  For example, the 4-day Bachelorette Party for Marilyn Monroe I left for last Thursday.  Copious amounts of food and alcohol do NOT do a body good :(  I feel like I've aged by about 20 years.  BUT...it was worth it.

Thursday morning Marilyn Monroe and I rented a mini-van so that all 5 of us could have plenty of room driving up:

(me in the mini-van)

What should have taken us 4.5 hours, took us 9 hours.  We stopped a lot for photo ops :)

(we each purchased a new ring in honor of Marilyn Monroe's impending nuptials)

(a scenic overlook off the side of the interstate.  we couldn't miss that.  clearly)

And then we saw this:

And we knew we were almost here:

Thursday night was pretty low key.  Cocktails.  Hot tub.  Oh, did I mention we were staying here:

Yea.  It was pretty nice.  Thanks Evie and Tom!!

Friday we decided that we were going to go white water rafting.  It's something I've always wanted to do.  We all put on our "water shoes":

We signed these:

And I wasn't scared.  I was very excited, actually.  You can see my enthusiasm here in this fine picture taken with a water proof camera....

And then I fell out and got stuck under the boat and sucked into the current and almost died.  I am no longer a fan of white water rafting. 

Moving right along.

I'm not sure if it was due to my near death experience on Friday or what, but we all were in rare form that night.  I wish I could access the pictures from my camera because they really tell the story.  But alas, I don't have my cord.  I'll have to share those tomorrow :) 

I will share with you that a friend of a friend passed away Friday evening.  While we were getting ready.  She had been ill, and we were waiting for her to be called home.  It was a sad, and happy, passing.  But the most amazing thing is that when she passed away, this appeared in the sky:

Beautiful!  Word is that the same thing happened back in Smalltown, VA at the same time.  Wow.

Before we heard the news, we had made our way to Circle Bar to live it up!

And when we heard she was gone, we all made a toast.  Even the guys from the bachelor party that we ran into joined in. 

(excuse my face.  i'm not really sure what i was so worked up about)

And sadly, all of those pictures are on my camera.  The pics of the guys.  And my new fur coat.  And well, that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

We got back to the house at 4:30am.  We slept until noon the next day.  Or later.  We aren't really sure.

When we woke up we headed out into the sun....

After a few hours we had recuperated, and we jumped for joy.  Literally.

And then it was time.  To do it all again.

Sunday we felt much better than we had on Saturday, and so we were up early and ready to head back to Smalltown, VA.  It's always sad when such a wonderful trip comes to an end...

More tomorrow...unless I fall back into that deep dark hole.  Let's hope that doesn't happen :)  On that note...

"I'm takin this coat and these Doritos, and I'm leavin. Y'all have a good night."

- The Hangover Part 3

T