Back in Michigan, Sigh.

I have to say, normally when I get home from a vacation part of me is happy to be home in my own bed. Not this time. We went from weather in the 80s to weather in the 40s. Fail.

So until it warms up here in MI, I will be staring at this picture

and this one...

remembering what it felt like to be warm and to wake up to the sounds of the ocean...

Splat...

How many posts have I written about being too tired to run or feeling lazy or not having the time for it? Well, I went skiing a few weeks ago and wiped OUT like I've never wiped out before...coming off a jump- don't ask, I got overambitious. And since then, my back and my right knee have been hurting a lot so I haven't been running. I haven't even been walking Laila. The past couple days especially, my knee has been hurting to the point of having to limp a bit. Although I'm disguising the limp by trying to walk normally through the hallways at school, which probably looks even crazier.

Anyways, now that I can't run that's all I want to do! Two days ago I walked Laila and tried to run with her for 5 minutes or so, which was okay at the time. But the next day my knee was hurting like crazy. I'm bummed because I'm not sure that I'll be able to do the Riverbank Run in May because #1 I haven't been running consistently since "The Fall" and #2 I don't know how the knee & back will be feeling by then.

Lesson learned: Do not overestimate skiing abilities!

Warm Weather, Flip Flops, Happiness!

We are having some amazing weather today!! I'm taking advantage by getting tons of spring cleaning done. I <3 a clean house! Once it cools down a little, I may take Laila for another walk...love the weekend!!

Pretty Excited To Be Heading Here...

*images from expedia.com

Vacation? Yes please!!!

"Does the toilet in your basement usually overflow?"

Not a question I was fond of receiving by phone while at work today! Let me back up...

Gil's employer is now offering a concierge service to their employees to take care of everyday needs that employees may not have time for since they often work intense hours. Awesome for us since we had been paying for a dog walking service, but the concierge service offers dog walking.

We met the dog walker last week, parted ways with our French dog walker, Claudine, and were all set up to start with the new service today.

We asked her to come around 12 or 12:30 and walk Laila for about 45 minutes. Around 2:00, I got a call from the new dog walker. She casually posed the previously stated question. Hmmm. Immediately I started picturing ridiculous scenes of our basement flooding and being destroyed. See, like this. Yes, I'm a bit touchy when it comes to the plumbing. The fact that it was already 2:00 and she was still at our house made me imagine a big, disgusting mess.

Plumbing issues? Bad luck? I'm not really sure, but I'm not lovin' the start of this!! Ironically, I hardly hardly ever mop that bathroom floor (I know, bad homeowner) but I just happened to mop it yesterday.

Luckily I'm home and can see that no one dug up our basement and all is well here. I am a bit scared of that toilet now though...and maybe the dog walker too.

Spring Has Been Badly Needed Around Here...

Everything about the end of winter has been long, drawn out, and gray. I am SOOOO happy to be soaking up the sunshine, even if the temps are still in the low 30s.

It's been pretty terrible having indoor recess everyday. Even though my kids play inside pretty well, they've needed to run around for the past couple of months. All of that pent up energy has made teaching a bit tricky! Now that they're able to go out, I feel like we're being more productive in the classroom.

My energy level has been up and I've been getting in some kind of exercise everyday. I hadn't been keeping up with the Riverbank run training schedule and had been skipping the longer runs on Saturdays so I was nervous to do the 5 miler yesterday. But it was a great run and I even had enough energy to increase my speed for the last mile. I've been taking Laila on long walks, so she's been exhausted. An exhausted puppy is always great.

Around the house, we've had some ongoing projects- ongoing as in we haven't made any progress lately. Since we've gotten the treadmill, our desk has been laying on it's side in the guest bedroom. That bugs me. I like things to be finished. Well, today we finally brought the desk down to the basement to make a little work space and it makes me so happy. That office/treadmill/storage room has been driving me crazy. Maybe we'll finally get it organized!!

And today? We finally booked a vacation! It will be our first (besides going up North last summer) since our honeymoon in '08. We'll be heading to Puerto Rico. Can't wait. So far, spring is lookin' good!

Favorite Vacations

Gil and I have been talking about going on a vacation...we're badly in need of one. We went up North last summer, but haven't really been anywhere since our honeymoon in '08.

I don't want to spend a ton of money, so I was thinking it'd be nice to stay somewhere that has a little kitchen so we can buy groceries. It has to be somewhere warm...Florida? Gil suggested going skiing, but I vetoed that. After a long, gray, cold winter I am desperate to see the sun!!

So, any suggestions? What are your favorite vacation spots?