You Come Here Often?

Hey baby, you come here often?

I was a little late leaving my office the other day and The Pilot was going to be landing a few minutes later.  My office is right across the street from the airport so I decided to surprise him.

Usually when he lands, I get a text stating something along the lines of "Cbus" (meaning he's on the ground and I should see him in about an hour), "on the bus" (meaning he's on his way to his car and I will see him in about 50 minutes) or "leaving the lot" (meaning he's in the car and about to head home and I have 30-45 minutes before I see him).

So this time I sent a text to tell him to text me when he was leaving the plane.  I figured he would assume I was trying to gauge what time he'd be home so I could start dinner.  He was deadheading (riding in the back of the plane) and I got a text that the plane had parked.  Due to the delay though, he got my request after his text so he called to tell me he was walking up the jetway.  I debated on whether to answer or not because I was standing just outside of the terminal and it was noisy.  I thought for sure that would give me away.  I answered anyways and told him I'd see him soon.  I hung up as I bust into giggles. Of course I would see him soon.  Very soon. I am HORRIBLE at surprises.

So there I stood with the other families and friends waiting to pick up loved ones.  Has anyone seen Love Actually?  The opening and closing scenes of that movie make me cry every.time.  The first time I saw the movie, I was living in Florida, 1,200 miles from everyone I loved.  I had just returned to FL after spending some time in Ohio with family.  When my mom dropped me off at the airport, we caused a scene.  Both of us were crying.  I didn't want to leave and she didn't want me to go.  Then I went and saw Love Actually with my roommate in FL and cried at those scenes.  There is something about watching people say hello and goodbye to people at airports that is very emotional.

And then I married a pilot.

I watched as people greeted their loved ones and waited for The Pilot to make his way through the terminal...and tried not to get weepy.  Cheese ball.

I finally saw him, chatting with two of the flight attendants whom he had just spent the past 4 days with.  I know I was grinning like an idiot.  As he got closer, I knew he didn't see me.  Of course he wouldn't.  He spends days in airports, dodging travelers who aren't paying attention.  So just as he was about to pass me, I stepped beside him and matched his pace.  He looked at me all creeped out (he later told me he was wondering why some lady was walking so close to him), looked away and then looked back.  Ah ha!  He recognized me, smiled and introduced me to his crew.  

He later shared with me that the FAs thought he was getting the "princess treatment."  Apparently the airline industry calls it the princess treatment when a crew members gets dropped off/picked up at the airport by a significant other.  They quickly realized it wasn't like that as The Pilot got on the employee bus with them and explained that (my words) his wife is a cheese ball, works across the street from the airport and decided to surprise him.

As we parted ways to go to our respective cars, he was still smiling.  It was a very brief interaction but that smile alone was worth the $3 I paid to park.

Race weekend

This weekend is the Columbus Marathon.  I'm getting really excited.  I'll be coaching the race instead of racing which means I could do anywhere from 13 to 20 miles.  I basically start with my fastest walkers and then start dropping back to pick up some others.  Eventually I end up cutting the course (as a coach, we are allowed and we aren't wearing timing chips), usually through an alley or side street, in order to catch back up with the faster group.  Rinse and repeat over and over until your last participant crosses the finish line.

With race weekend coming up though, its a little bittersweet.  It means it is the end of another training season with Team in Training.  This team has been training since May.  I have a couple participants who had never walked a mile before and this weekend they will complete their first 1/2 marathon.  It's like sending a kid to kindergarten.  You teach them all you can, hope they are ready and send them off into the world with their name taped to their shirt.  :)

Best wishes to everyone racing in Columbus (and anywhere else!).  Also, congrats to everyone who completed the Nike Women's Marathon benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Our chapter had an AMAZING team finish that race in San Francisco last weekend.  So proud of all of them!!

Be Nice to Me: Part III (Bonus: I got a good cookie)

I previously blogged Be Nice to Me parts one and two.  And on Wednesday I finally made time to donate blood again.  It's been waaaaay too long.  I'm still struggling to get on a schedule to donate.  The challenge is usually my training schedule.  It's hard to donate while training for a race because I end up feeling run down for a couple days.   But despite having the Columbus Marathon coming up in just over a week (I'm coaching), I had some time to kill before a meeting so I stopped into the local Red Cross.

Normally it's a really quick process.  You answer the questions, they poke you, drain you, feed you a cookie and you are off.  Normally I'm in an out in less than 45 minutes.  Which is why I figured I could easily pop in, donate and get to my meeting with plenty of time to spare.

I warned the nurse that my veins are tricky to find and pointed right to where they were able to find one at my last donation.  She went right for it...got in and then nothing.  It wouldn't bleed.  She called over another person to help.  And then they called the charge nurse over.  I don't know why I don't just ask for the charge nurse from the start but anyways.  She told me it wasn't cooperating and ask if I wanted to try the other arm.  Sure.  I was already there and still had plenty of time.  Besides, it really doesn't hurt that much for those weenies out there who are cringing right now just reading this. ;)

The charge nurse was finally able to find one on the side/top (?) of my elbow on the other arm.  She stuck me quick but then that poor vein didn't want to give it up either.  They re-positioned my arm and got it going but it took forever.  Normally it's a matter of minutes to fill up the bag but I think this was one drip at a time!

While I waited, the charge nurse told me this incredibly bizarre story about how her family rescues possums. For real.  They usually nurse them to health and release them but they actually have one as a pet.  It lives in the house, wanders around.  It's house broken apparently.  I'm an animal lover but I tend to draw the line with rodent-type pets.  She was a really sweet woman.  You can definitely tell she has a big heart for animals...of all kinds.  They have a goat, lots of cats, dogs, a hedge hog and "whatever else the kids drag home."  :)

By the time I gave my pint and they were patching me up, I was running really tight on time to get to my meeting.  Usually I feel fine right after I donate.  I sit in the canteen, have some water and it the road.  Well because they had so much trouble, they wanted me to sit a little longer and ice my arm.  Crap!  I did as I was told though and enjoyed my free cookies.  (It turned out that was my dinner.  Sigh.)

Waiting....

When I absolutely had no time to spare, I thanked the volunteer in the canteen (it was the same old lady who was there the first time I blogged about the donation) and bolted.  But not before collecting my free t-shirt.

I don't really need to be bribed to donate blood but I can always use an extra t-shirt.  They also do raffles each month.  When you donate, you are entered into the monthly raffle.  I actually won once!  I got a free Kindle last year.  Unfortunately I already have a Nook and didn't really need a Kindle also.  But fortunately I was able to donate it to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to raffle off.  Hopefully that was legal.  One blood related organization donating to another, right??

The sticker says "I Gave Blood Today....and I got a good cookie."  :)

Warning.....generally light-hearted blog post is about to take a serious turn.

Recently a friend from college had a very premature baby (somewhere around the 26 week mark I think) and posted a thank you on FB to those who donate blood because it had saved her little girl several times over already.  There are a lot of situations in life when I feel like I am at a loss of what to say or do.  This was one of those times.  Same as earlier in the week when I was at calling hours for a friend's dad who lost his battle with a blood cancer.  There isn't much I can say or do directly to help my friends through what they are going through.  What I can do though is donate blood.  I can donate time/money to organizations that are making strides towards finding cures for cancer.  And you can too.  Don't just sit there and let it happen.  DO SOMETHING.

The reason

So the blog has taken a hiatus if you haven't noticed.  I've noticed that a lot actually with the other blogs I follow.  Summer is a busy time, plus my blog is never going to be taking priority over my "real life."  I've been busy living life lately....and busy hauling dirt and mulch.  Besides coaching with TNT (our races are this month!!), we've been doing "a little" landscaping at the new house....

Front Yard Before:

 Front Yard Before:

Side Yard Before:

Other Side Yard Before:

Front Yard After:

Front Yard After:

Side Yard After:

Other Side Yard After:

We weren't planning to do all of this at once...or even this year.  But they delivered a lot more dirt than we ordered so we just kept creating flower beds.  Then those beds needed plants...and then mulch.  I'm glad that project is finished.  That was some seriously hard work.  

Two of the major work days occurred after I completed 13+ miles in the morning and then came home to play in the dirt....this is one reason I didn't participate in any of the local Mud Runs.  Why pay to play in the dirt somewhere else when I've already paid to have dirt delivered to my house and I can play at home.   I'm telling myself that all this work/working out gives me the right to overindulge in Halloween candy.  Don't judge.