benjerin.com Blog

I had the entire last week off of work.  My company shutdown due to the slow business in the automotive industry.  I accomplished my goal of going to the gym twice a day.  It was really quite wonderful.  I felt so strong and healthy.  When I wasn’t at the gym, I was trying to be productive.  I did a lot of laundry and cleaning around the house, Christmas shopping and various other chores and errands.  Meanwhile, Benjy went to work all week.  I tried to make it easier on him, by getting out of bed with him each morning…so he wouldn’t be so jealous.

Saturday, I ran in the Santa Stroll 8K.  I am very happy to report that I ran the entire 8K (4.96 miles)!  That is the farthest I have ever run.  Woohoo!  And I was very satisfied with my time, 50:03.  I really take more pride in my endurance rather than my speed.  It was one of my favorite races of the year, not only because of my achievements, but because the course was great (scenic and flat), the weather was awesome (65 degrees and cloudy), and I was able to keep separate from “the pack” during most of the race (which allowed for a more meditative type of running).  I was on cloud 9 when I crossed the finish line!

Saturday night, Benjy and I watched “Across the Universe“.  I, of course, loved the movie with all its Beatles music and references.  Benjy really enjoyed the movie too.  It was definitely his kind of musical.

Sunday was an extremely lazy and non-blogworthy day.

Today Benjy was back to work.  I spent the day having all kinds of fun with Christy.  First, we did some much needed pampering.  We figured with all the running and walking we do, our feetsies really deserved a pedicure.  So we did just that.  We also got manicures.  Then we had lunch at my favorite Italian restaurant, Depalmas.  Next, we drove all over Athens to get some more pictures with the “We Let the Dawgs Out” bulldawg sculptures.  After all of that, I had an appointment to get my hair cut.  It was a long, but lovely day.

Now, I’ve got a lot of work to do.  I have to wrap presents and pack for our trip.  We leave for Virginia tomorrow night.  Then we will drive to Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve to visit with Leah and Darren.  Jessica will join us the day after Christmas.  Then a couple of days later Jessica, Benjy and I will drive to Washington, D.C. to spend a few days and ring in the new year with our friend Glen.  I’m very excited!  But, I do have a lot of work to do, so…

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and we’ll be back in 2009!

I have FINALLY made several long-overdue updates to benjerin.com.

I updated the “About Benjy” and “About Erin” pages to include a few changes, including links to our gift registries.

I updated the “Photo Albums” page.  I have finally caught up on uploading all the photos for this year…except December, of course.

Do I know how to have fun on a Saturday night, or what?!

Enjoy!

Last week, the work week at least, was pretty uneventful.  I tried a new workout: a spin class at Georgia Cycle.  It was awesome!  I have never wanted a class to end so badly.  But when it was over, I felt great!  The first class is free, so if you live in the Athens area give it a try.

Friday night Benjy and I both had our Christmas work parties.  Benjy’s party was at a bar downtown.  Free drinks, music and drawings for prizes.  Benjy won the best prize of the night, a Tannoy i30 speaker system for his iPod.  The iPod was a gift from Benjy’s work last year.  My work party was at the NMC President’s house.  There was a variety of food and drink, and there was plenty of karaoke of course.  I left the party with some leftovers and a poinsettia plant as a gift from the President.  Benjy and I both had a great time, even though we were at separate parties.

Saturday morning I had another new workout planned with Christy.  We met at the UGA Intramural Fields to run on the trails.  We also stopped at a few of the fitness stations that we passed along the way.  It was a fantastic workout.  Next time, we will do the entire fitness trail.  Saturday night we had our annual holiday potluck dinner with our Athens gang.  The dinner was at Laci and Alan’s house.  Benjy made ham, I made corn casserole, Kate brought wine and broiled shrimp, Kasie made cornbread dressing and mashed potatoes, and Laci made collard greens and macaroni and cheese.  Laci also made dessert, a chocolate trifle.  This was the most delicious meal I have had in a long time!  I couldn’t stop raving about it.  Josh and Emily took advantage of the group gathering to announce that they were engaged!  Congratulations Josh and Emily! (And on a side-note, Leslie and Adam have announced their engagement this week also.  Congratulations Leslie and Adam!)  Daniel and Karen joined the gathering later in the evening and we all had a grand ol’ time, with full bellies and lots of laughs.

Sunday, Christy and I participated in the Flip-N-Run 5K.  We decided to do something a little different this time: intervals (jog-sprint-walk, jog-sprint-walk, etc.).  I ended up finishing with my second-best time for a 5K, 29:40.  Benjy and I spent the rest of the day relaxing around the house.  We watched a scary movie, The Descent.  It was pretty good, for a horror movie, but too gory for my taste.  I can’t figure out why I would have put this movie on our Netflix queue, other than the fact that it was set in the Appalachians, Chattooga National Forest.  Unfortunately, it was not filmed there, so it wasn’t worth watching for that reason.

I have this entire week off of work.  My company has shut-down due to slow business.  I’m going to take this opportunity to accomplish quite a few goals.  My first goal is to go to the gym twice a day, to try some new classes and to double up on the calorie-burning to counteract all the holiday calorie-consuming.  I also have lots of projects to tackle around the house.  So I am very excited about what this week has to offer.  Benjy has to work all week, then a couple of days next week before we make our trip to Pittsburgh and D.C.

Monday afternoon, we were happily reunited with the puppies.  I picked them up from “doggie camp” after work.  They were happy to see us as usual, and the “camp counselors” had wonderful things to say about them, as usual.  I am so thrilled that we have found such a great place to take care of our doggies while we are away.  I settled the dogs back in at home, then headed to the gym to work off some Thanksgiving feastings.

Tuesday, I woke up feeling very ill.  I left the house early to vote, then made my way, reluctantly, to work.  I was miserable.  My stomach was terribly upset and I was in the bathroom every hour.  Finally, I left work two hours early to come home so I could at least lay down.  I took a 3 hour nap, but still had a lack of appetite when I woke up.  I managed to eat some chicken noodle soup before bed.

Wednesday, I woke up feeling much better, though my stomach was still cramping pretty badly.  At work, we were starting a 3-day training class that I was responsible for coordinating.  I made it through the day, able to nibble a bit here and there.  After work, I had a quick United Way meeting, then headed for the gym again.

Thursday, I was much better and the day was happily uneventful. 

Friday morning, my company announced that we would be shutting down operations for an additional week before Christmas.  This means I will be off of work for 3 whole weeks!  It is pretty scary that business has slowed so much, but the company is doing everything it can to keep the employees informed and with an income.  I feel very fortunate to be working for such a generous company.  I must admit that I am kind of excited about an entire week at home to tackle some projects around the house and make a significant dent in my “to do” list. 

Friday evening, Benjy started to feel sick.  He was complaining of stomach pains and went to bed early.  By 3 o’clock in the morning, he was awake and violently ill.  Wide awake, and so sweet and thoughtful, he moved out to the sofa so that I could get a restful night of sleep.

Saturday morning, I woke up early to run in the Sleighbell 5K.  When I came home, Benjy was still asleep on the sofa.  I showered, then took the dogs to the vet for their “kennel cough” vaccinations.  Three dogs on leashes…what an adventure!  Home again and Benjy was still asleep on the sofa.  So I took the Camry to the dealership for an oil change.  Home again an hour and a half later and Benjy was still asleep.  Fortunately, he was feeling much better when he finally woke up.  I spent the rest of the day trying to catch up on our budget (which I was 6 months behind on) and suffering from my standard running allergy.  We spent the evening taking it easy, watching television and working some more on the budget.

This morning, Benjy and I both slept in a good bit.  This afternoon, a few friends and I attended the OCAF Holiday Market.  I’m hopelessly addicted to these craft festivals.  I think I need help.  I did buy one gift, and managed to only buy one other thing for myself.  I did good.

I’m anxious about this week at work, and trying to get as much accomplished as possible before I am off for the rest of the year.  Benjy’s job will definitely be keeping him busy, as they have several jobs they are trying to complete before the year is over.

I usually can’t get embedded videos to work, so here is the link.

I had to work on Monday and Tuesday.  I went to the gym after work both days in preparation for Thanksgiving festivities.  I spent the majority of those two days walking around with very sore muscles.

Because the automotive industry has slowed so much, my company decided to shutdown for Wednesday.  While Benjy was at work, I ran a few errands, had lunch with Christy, did some house chores and attempted to pack.  We had plans to leave for Virginia that night.  I got so caught up in house cleaning, however, that I hadn’t even started packing by the time Benjy got home from work.  He had a rough day at work, and was less than eager to hit the road when he got home.  We decided to leave for our trip the next morning instead.

Thursday morning, we woke up early for a seven hour drive to spend Thanksgiving with Benjy’s family in West Virginia.  Uncle Bob / Ba’s house was buzzing as we walked up to the front door.  We were one of the last to arrive, and just in time as food was only 30 minutes away from being served.  The meal was delicious and the company was fantastic!  A few of us stayed the night at Uncle Bob / Ba’s.

Friday morning, Ba cooked us all a delicious breakfast.  The day was spent visiting with Ba, Bill, Susan, Jodi, Miles and Maya.  It is rare that we get to spend so much time with Jodi, Miles and Maya and we really enjoyed the opportunity.   Unfortunately, Jodi was really under-the-weather, but we enjoyed her company nonetheless.  Jodi, Miles and Maya headed home right before dinner.  Ba treated us to another yummy meal.  Bill, Susan, Benjy and I spent the night at Ba’s again.

Saturday morning, after breakfast (Ba really spoiled us!), Benjy and I drove to Virginia to meet up with Ryan.  We had plans to watch the Virginia Tech football game, so we met at a restaurant/bar to watch the game.  After the game, we helped Ryan move into his new apartment.  After all the moving and hauling, we visited with Ryan over beer and pizza.  We stayed pretty late into the evening, before driving back to Bill and Susan’s house for the night.

This morning, we slept in a little later than expected.  We had time to visit with Bill and Susan for a few hours before we hit the road back to Athens.  I’m typing this entry as Benjy’s drives the second half of the trip.  We are in South Carolina right now.  Traffic has been pretty nasty, a lot of slowing down for no apparent reason.  I’ll post this when we get home, maybe some time after unpacking, but before watching some Magnum, P.I.

Benjy and I have so much to be thankful for, and we are well aware that much of that is owed to the love and support of our family and friends!  Thank you all and we hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!