Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thanksgiving Fun


Hola Chicos y Chicas!

Last Monday, with our bags packed and arrangements to be absent from work for a week, we boarded the Carnival Ecstasy and set sail for South of the Boarder. This was the second cruise for me and El Esposo having taken one 18 years ago on the Carnival Festival to the Bahamas. This was Bud's first cruise and the first time out of the country. We hoped that he would appreciate the cruise but also get a chance to see a bit of "The Real Mexico" on our journey.

Now I am not one to judge what is deemed to be questionable in taste....oh all right, yes, I do judge from time to time. Heck, I had a mother that I'm sure Martha Stewart took tips from. I had a card carrying member of the Etiquette Police as a mother. With that being said, I do find myself picking up on the things that most people overlook due to the busy society we now live in, the forms of electronic devices that they seem so interested in rather than the people and sights around them, and their own lack of manners from no formal training. A cruise ship is like a wacky shop of horrors for people like me. Here are just a few of the highlights that stand out in my mind:

  1. Is it appropriate for a cruise line to play Celine Dione's "My Heart Will Go On" (Theme song from Titanic) over the intercom and piped into your room before the ship sets sail?
  2. Is it appropriate for the Regge Band on the Lido Deck to play Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me..." ( Honey came in and she caught me red-handed
    Creeping with the girl next door
    Picture this, we were both butt naked, banging on the bathroom floor
    ) where kids are splashing in the pool and grandparents are lounging on deck?
  3. Is it appropriate for the DJ running the cocktail mixing contest on the Lido deck to play the Paradiso Girls " Patron Tequila" (By the end of the night
    Imma have you drunk and throwing up (hey! )
    By the end of the night
    Imma have you so f--ked up!
    ) again with kids splashing in the pool and grandparents lounging on deck?
  4. If your cruise includes wonderful meals why would you eat hamburgers and hot dogs up on the Lido deck or have pizza from the 24/7 cafeteria? Are you too lazy to get a shower and get dressed up?
  5. Yes Sir, I know what you are checking out behind your glasses and I'm sure she is under 17.
  6. No Ma'am, I cannot tell that you have had plastic surgery at all but thanks for trying your darndest to show me that your additions probably cost the same amount as the price of this cruise.
  7. Girls! Really??? Pajama pants and Uggs on a cruise??? REALLY???
  8. Wow, isn't that great that the entire family and extended clan all have the same t-shirts and tropical shirts on each day so they can find each other in a crowd. Very helpful if you get lost somewhere between your cabin and the water slide. (And all the men in the family went along with this???)
  9. Just because it is there and free does not mean that you have to eat it.
  10. As you approach the small round hot tub to climb in, what is the number of people you would think it takes to make a full hot tub? 9? 12? 15??? And you still want to try to climb in?
  11. Why is there a Men's Hairiest Chest Contest? WHY??!!??
Just so that I do not come off sounding like I did not have a good time, I did. I really did. I had some excellent meals and because the other four chairs were empty at our table because the other family decided to partake of the hamburgers and pizza on the Lido deck, we had a nice family meal each time we sat down. El Esposo even rented a tux one evening and I wore a nice LBD (Little Black Dress). I was able to read my book, work on my tan lines, and take it easy. We were so relaxed sitting and having coffee one evening in a quiet part of the ship that some guy passing by sarcastically told us to settle down and not get too crazy. Bud will have to have a vacation from his vacation because he stayed up every night past midnight hanging out with other kids in the Circle C club and doing fun activities. I was a dull girl and was in bed every evening by 8:45 and fast asleep by 9:00 pm and never heard El Esposo come in from the Karaoke bar or the evening show. Each morning I was up and on a treadmill by 6:00 am to get a workout in before breakfast.

In Progresso, Mexico we took a kayak trip through a mangrove "forest" and saw pelicans, flamingos, sand pipers, gulls, and fish jumping out of the water. All I can say is that I am sure there were some sore people the next day after that adventure. I was the only person in the excursion that had a single kayak since we had an odd number of people and I was the only one in the group with any kayak experience. The wind picked up half way into the trip and we were headed into the wind the entire way back. Even my arms felt the burn of the lactic acid but since I am in shape I had no soreness the next day.
Progresso is a sleepy little coastal town. Most people were taking excursions further in to Merida for shopping or to Mayan ruins 60-70 miles away. Only one cruise boat docks per week in Progresso and we were it for that week. Progresso has the longest dock in the world at almost 4 miles long. In the next few years, the pier will be extended out into deeper waters to allow more cruise ships to dock. I am sure the town of Progresso wants the added American dollars flowing through it.

Our next port of call was Cozumel. After some paperwork and wrangling, we were able to get off the boat and I was able to get off with all of my luggage. We met my friend Dennis who runs Casa Deja Blue and he drove us to his villa. We got changed into swim gear, walked down the street, and swam with the dolphins! Seriously, Dolphinaris is two blocks from the villa. The dolphins were amazing! I think I am in love and my new boyfriend's name is Linco.
We got to swim up to and pet the dolphins so many times I lost count.
We got belly rides,
hugs,
kisses,
and hand shakes as well as other amazing displays of jumping and singing. Our dolphin Trainer, Anna, had a degree in marine biology and was very good at answering everyone's questions about Linco, Marina, and the other 15 dolphins at the park. With the dolphin adventure over and fajitas in our stomach, it was time for El Esposo and Bud to head back to the ship. I stayed behind on the island!

Now many of you know what is going down this weekend on the island! If not, you will need to stay tuned to all the details that will be coming.

For now, Adios from South of the Boarder and from the island.

Later Gators!

Liz

P.S. Sorry for any typos. Here in Mexico, spell check does not work so well with all English.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Imagine No More!


Today at lunch I was checking my e-mail and found a message from Carol Nash, the Advancement Coordinator from the Awty International School. My blog had popped up on her Google Crawler and she was nice enough to send me some of the photos from the Ram Run 5K. Thank you Carol!

So imagine no more and look at me run:
In both photos you will notice that BOTH of my feet are off the ground!!! I really look like a runner!!!

Leave it to my buddy Shawn to comment that he was glad that I was able to pass that 10 year-old behind me. There were some fast kids at this race. The female overall winner was a 12 year-old with a pace of 6:05! The organizing committee did a great job of putting on this event. There were fun activities for the kids, guest appearances by Ronald McDonald and Pepe the Parrot from Fiesta Grocery, lots of great food and drinks at the post race party, and a DJ that was awesome. Everyone was dancing in the street in front of the stadium. El Esposo's boss had two kids who graduated from the Awty International School so I decided to give back to the school and support their athletic program.

Tomorrow is the Kingwood HS Rock the Band 5K and the money they raise will help send the band on their trip to New York. We shall see how I do. Check back in for details.

Later Gators,

Liz

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Ooops, I Did It Again....


Ok, so I'm no Brittany, but I did it again.

This is from the Awty International School Ram Run 5K this past Saturday...

Overall Female Masters Winners

Place Name Bib Age Overall Time Pace

1 Elizabeth Garcia 63 40 22 22:15.3 7:11/M

And this is crazy because I am NOT a runner. I would include a picture of me running in the rain in my bun huggers and arm warmers, but the photo proofs cannot be copied. Sorry, you are just going to have to use your imagination of me running down the road.
Try really hard on the running part because again, I am NOT a runner.


Swimming, biking, and running adventures are just around the corner! I will document as best I can and make sure that I don't leave any of the excitement out.

Later Gators,

Liz

Friday, November 12, 2010

He's at it again!


Hey boys and girls,

As the holidays approach, have you looked back to see what list you are going to end up on??? Have you been good and done all of your workouts your coach gave you or did you skip one too many? Did you increase the amount of fruits and veggies in your diet or did you increase the amount of beer in your diet? Did you get 7-8 hours of sleep a night or did you pull a few all-nighters?

There is still time to turn things around! Head on over to DCRainmaker's blog and get registered to win a Garmin Forerunner 210 and get your training back on track. Do it now!!!
Have a great weekend kids!

Liz

Monday, November 8, 2010

AND....My 2 weeks of recovery are over...


I was told by a very wise person that it is hard to have an interesting life and still have time left over to blog about it. Well, for the last two weeks, I guess that has been the case. Each morning I opened my daily coaching e-mail from Coach Woofie and saw, "You have no upcoming workouts." At first, I felt a little lost. But, then I started to think of all the fun (er, trouble) I could have (er, get into).

So, in order to keep it short and so I don't get too wordy, here is what I have been up to the last 2 weeks:

1.) I baked some cupcakes and sent them off in the mail to some very worthy runners...


2.) I carved a pumpkin...


3.) I ran a 5K with a 5'4" (or taller) banana and I really gave myself a fright...a good one!

Time of 22:13, pace of 7:09!!!
Getting my Frankenstein head trophy with Overall Female Winner, Rebecca Marvil.


4.) I attended the symphony...


5.) Went trick-or-treating with the 5'4" banana...



5.) Got rid of both of these hideous wall papers in my downstairs bath and and got paint instead...




6.) Got a treat of my Zipp 606 wheel set!!!


7.) Did a bunch of knitting...

Sleeves on a sweater I am almost done with.


8.) I bought more yarn...(you have permission to yell at me if I buy more)

Alpaca, angora, and just some fun chenille yarn...

9.) I did a little shopping...

Swimming adventures are on the horizon!

10.) I spent a weekend at my kid's swim meet...


And then today in my mailbox was this message...


Elizabeth Hi

I have your next four weeks up in TP. Next week is testing, mostly. I am holding your TRX workouts and foam rolling but I have added a couple of TRX workouts. I expect you to find the challenging but this is more in my campaign to bulletproof you and keep you injury free.


I will re-send all your exercises that we are re-using together with a PDF that has links to films of the new TRX exercises.

R/Woofie.

PS: You will see I have added 5Ks with expectations :-)


So today it was back to TRX and foam rolling goodness. I know I am going to be a little sore in the next day or two. Tomorrow is swim testing and run testing. This weekend is another 5K. We shall see how it goes...


Thanks for stopping by.


Later Gators,


Liz