Another ever so busy weekend, with me!

That's right, I spent this entire weekend with me. Just me, and it flew by like crazy.

It started on Friday. I had called Mel to see if she wanted to join me for a little sushi. She did, but couldn't'. A friend was coming over to fix her ice maker. Oh well, sushi for one.

I have to say, it was kind of liberating sitting there by myself. I got out my books, studied and listened to the group next to me. They were all speaking Chinese and it fascinated me. Also, the toddler that was with them kept sneaking over to my table. Just to stare at me. "Why, hello there little guy." His mom would constantly apologize. "Don't worry, he isn't bothering me," I said each time that she would try to herd him back over.

Then, after finishing my food and laughing hysterically (inside that is. I know that I am eating alone, but I don't want to seem crazy too!) because "Happy Days" came on. Really, a Japanese place is playing American 1960's television theme music. It was time to head over to Jittery Joes. I had a test and a paper due that weekend, so I had to be prepared for it. I sat there for two hours, studying, drinking multiple cups of tea, and tried to get a start on my paper. Finally, it was time to head home.

It was time to watch my latest from Netflix. Woo, four hours of fun. Then I placed it back in the mailbox and headed off to sleep. Why so early? Well, it wasn't really that early, it was at least 12, but I had my adventure in the morning.

I got up at 8:00, had breakfast, cleaned, did the dishes and waited for my stomach to settle. I got my gear, phone, keys, and out I went. I started walking towards the front of the subdivision and then hit the gas. I was running like the wind, okay, may be not, but I was doing pretty good. As I was coming across the last part of the fire station a car pulled out in front of me and rolled down their window. "What is this joker doing?"

It was David. He just looked at me and said, "You look like Mere." "And you look like David." He asked how I was doing and stated that I must live nearby to be out running. Oh what he didn't know. He told me that he was on his way to see another friend of our's. Courtney is a really special lady and a real trooper. I mean that. Back in December of '07, she was stabbed multiple times while on duty at a local grocery store. The man took off and the police were chasing him down and eventually caught him.

Luckily, one of the shoppers nearby was a nurse. She started grabbing paper towels and anything she could off the shelves to help stop the bleeding. In fact, by the time the stabbing was over, she had almost already bled out.

When they got her to the hospital, she went comatose and was for a week if not more. Her recovery was a long one, but its amazing that she is even here today. She really is a huge role model for me. David told me that she has gone back to school to get her masters and is looking forward to coming back to work. Amazing!!

Anyway, after that little stop and chat, I kept on going. There were so many people out that morning. I finally came to my normal stopping point, East Campus, but this time, I kept going. I crossed the RR tracks and started making my way up the hill towards the stadium. I ran into a few detours here and there. Because football season is upon us, they were all in a tizzy to get the facility ready, pouring new sidewalks, which meant that I had to dodge traffic to cross the street. All was well.

I cannot describe to you how amazing I felt when I reached an old spot. So many times I had driven there to drop off Matt for school on my way to work. Now, I was running past it and my heart was about to jump out of my chest. Then I saw sitting on top of the hill, the Georgian. One of my favorite buildings here. I had tried once to move into it, but the rent is simply too high.

I made it up the hills of downtown and then I ran straight to my office. Never had coming to work felt so good.

What do you do when you accomplish something like this? You call your mother of course! As I was talking to her and drinking water, I kept on looking down and finding pennies. I made three cents off that trip. The real significance, to me at least, is that it made me feel like someone else was telling me that they were proud.

When we were kids, and even into her adulthood, my sister, Tara, would always hand someone a penny when they looked upset. "A penny for your lots." To this day, people leave hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of pennies on her grave. So, every time that I find one, its like a little "hello."

Well, then it was time to head back. I then realized that I shouldn't have called my mother until I got home because she then preceded to call me almost at every mile. "Where are you now? Call me when you get home."

Each time I stopped to answer her call, my stomach would cramp up. And she called about five times. Once, it was my dad. "Where are you?" "About fifteen from home, I promise, I will call when I get there."

What should happen when I did finally reach home? They didn't answer. I called three times while I was stretching, and trying to kill the mega cramps in my legs. Finally, they picked up. Geez, people.

I ran a total of 10.2 miles and I think that might be my limit. For now anyway. That last mile really did hurt. My legs felt as though they were ready to give way and tighten up like a board all at the same time.

I laughed to myself when I was heading back and crossing the bridge. As I was getting down from it and was getting ready to run again, I saw a man run down to it and then turn back around. Why stop there, why not keep going? I did. It made me feel really good about myself. That I am willing to push myself further than others will.

The rest of the day was spent at the coffee house. And I mean that literally. I was there for six hours straight. Lots of tea. I finished my test, and then looked and discovered that I had gotten them backwards. The test was due on Sunday and the paper was due that night. Okay, time to get cracking. Considering that it was absolute, slopped together crap, I'm pretty impressed that I got a "B' on it. Woo. It was golden crap I guess.

Sunday was my lazy, time to recuperate, and take spin class day. After spin, I went home, cleaned the grill, killed some spiders with the water hose (yes, I am evil) and did a little painting. I saw this article in a magazine of mine about things you can do to spice up your space. One suggestion was to add metallic accents. I started thinking about it. I have a pretty neutral base going on throughout the house. Everyone tells me how comfortable it feels when they walk in, but there really isn't anything visually stimulating. So, I fixed it. I painted this metal tin I had (originally pink) with this sliver metallic paint and placed it on the coffee table with the remotes inside. Then, I glanced over at my garbage can. I have had that for three to four years. It is the most basic beige trashcan that Wal-Mart has to offer. It simply blends in with the wall. Let's fix that shall we?

The scratches on it actually made it look like brushed steel. Its really kind of cool looking. I might think about painting my table next. Not silver, but a more industrial darker color. Who knows, we will just have to wait and see.