work
I highly recommend playing hooky…
141 month ago
by Nanci
in 3 Day, aunt, Darlene, dinner, eating out, family, Hooters, hubby, Islands of Adventure, Mommy, Orlando, playing hooky, Universal Studios, work
With my Aunt Darlene in town this week, I am trying to work as little as possible. I don’t address it too much on here because I do my best to keep it separate, but being a small business owner is hard work and STRESSFUL. It is 24 / 7 no matter what, and my brain is constantly “on”. So if the opportunity comes along to skip work for the day (despite how incredibly hard that is), I’ll take it. Hubby surprised us with tickets to Universal Studios and Island of Adventure and we headed to Orlando on Tuesday along with my mom and aunt. It was a PERFECT day and very much needed. I went as far as not taking calls OR checking work email all day long. It was so nice.
After a quick stop at Starbucks, the four of us hit the road towards Orlando. Considering it was in the heart of rush hour, we made great time. We were also anticipating rain, and even with the cloud cover we saw heading towards Tampa, we never saw a drop of rain all day.
We arrived around 10 and made our way thru City Walk. It has been WAY too long since hubby and I have been there. We used to have annual passes and went often. We really need to do that again….
My Aunt Darlene lives in California and has been to Universal Studios there. And just to make you laugh, I’ve been to Universal Studios out there too, in the 80’s when Miami Vice and Conan The Barbarian were big. If only I could find those pictures…. Anyhow, they do not have Island of Adventure out there, so Darlene was beyond excited to go. It’s even on her bucket list. She was most excited about the whole Harry Potter thing. I guess I should also mention that I have never read one single Harry Potter book nor have I seen one single Harry Potter movie. I couldn’t tell you why, I just never have. When we arrived, we headed to Islands first and made a beeline for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, along with every one else on spring break. Of course, we had to walk through Seuss Landing to get there, which is my favorite part of the park.
Clearly, this is still the most popular part of the park. It was packed, The ride lines were really long, as were the lines for Butter Beer, and the stores were packed. When we were done here, we headed out to the rest of the park.
After we walked through Islands of Adventure and had lunch, we headed over to Universal Studios. This is my favorite park. I love ET and Twister, and walking through all the different area of the park like Beverly Hills and New York. The weather was perfect and I was having such a great time with my hubby, mom, and aunt. I was also happy to be getting some mileage in, and even more happy that I could walk just two days after the Sarasota Half Marathon. It’s the little things in life…
On our way out of the park, we stopped in the Universal Gift Shop and my mom bought these key chains for my sister-in-law Jenna and I. Remember how we were Boob 1 and Boob 2 for the 3 Day last year? They were perfect!
We had such a great time being big kids at Universal for the day. It’s always a great time when you get to spend that day with loved ones.
On our way home, we stopped for dinner at the original Hooters in Clearwater. Hubby and I are no strangers to Hooters and Darlene was excited to go too. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the nice breeze, wonderful company, great food, and ice cold beer.
Thank you so much to my hubby for the tickets and a great day. It was the perfect escape and a fun time!
What is your favorite escape? Do you have a favorite theme park?
What a week!
35 months ago
After starting out the week sick and working from home on Monday, it ended up being a very busy week. Thank goodness I was feeling much better on Tuesday. A few highlights from my week…
I took a few amazing pictures at Crystal Beach on Tuesday… I don’t think I will ever tire of sunsets. I know there are breathtaking sunsets all over the world but in my heart, it would be hard to beat the beauty of the ones at Crystal Beach.
After sunset, we went to one of my dad’s favorite restaurants, The Ozona Pig. They have wonderful BBQ and I love the atmosphere there. It was a very nice night.
I brought work home with me almost every night. A necessary evil sometimes. And while it’s not fun, I am able to get more done in a few hours at home in the evening than during the day.
Last night, hubby and I went out to dinner and had a few beers to end the long week. I very easily could have stayed home and firmly planted myself on the couch and not moved, but it was nice to get out and enjoy an evening with hubby, knowing we didn’t have to work the next day. It’s the little things in life…
This morning, we took Blue and Ozzie to the park. We used to do this regularly and life has gotten so busy that it just doesn’t happen nearly as often as we would like. Despite it being a very dreary morning, it was a nice walk and the boys were besides themselves with excitement at being at the park!
At our park, there are trees everywhere that have heart-shaped leaves. I love looking at them, especially in the fall when they are all over the ground. As we walked on one of the bridges this morning, there was one perfectly-shaped one. So pretty!
I’m beyond excited about tonight!! Hubby and I are going to another Yelp event, this time at Lowry Park Zoo for Wild Wonderland! They will have reindeer, and penguins, and lights, and snow, and Frosty and Santa! I have actually never been to the zoo here in Tampa, so I am really looking forward to it. Not to mention another night out with hubby… That’s always a bonus.
I have a lot of catching up here to do in blog land. I feel like I’ve missed a lot on the ones I follow, and I have several posts to do here. Before I go, I wanted to mention a fun challenge I’m doing this month, hosted by some fellow bloggers… Here is the challenge, as posted by Beka at Rebecca Roams. Take a picture each day for the theme shown, tag it #holidayaday, and share on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Social media fun for the holiday!
I’m actually pretty proud of myself for keeping up with it! It’s fun to do, especially since I am forever taking pictures anyway. There is also a Facebook page for the challenge as well. If you are an Instagram lover like I am, be sure to follow me… My IG name is auntnanci.
I hope you all have a great Saturday! What are you plans for the weekend?
Life is crazy
611 months ago
When I started my blog and decided on a name, I knew that it was perfect. My life is crazy and it just seems to get crazier. This week has been an insanely busy one for me, all work related. By the time I get home and make it through the whole dinner and dishes thing, I’m DONE, hence my lack of posts. I’ve been all over the place every day this week except today. So, I decided to take my snuggle boy Blue to work with me. Nothing like mid-day puppy snuggles to make me smile.
My mom and I work together out of her home so it’s the best scenario for me to take the boys to work. I don’t bring Ozzie as much because he is more anxious. But Blue, well he loves the ride, and loves being out and about.
Since Blue has been stuck in the cone of shame while his wounds take forever to heal, I decided to try and go without today. It’s a Christmas miracle that he hasn’t had the cone on since 8am this morning and he’s hardly bothering the wounds. This makes me so happy! It would be fabulous if he could sleep without the cone tonight. Poor thing tries so hard to snuggle with us despite the cone and we get knocked in the head with it.
Blue has been such a snuggly, happy boy today which has made for fun pictures on Instagram (one of my many obsessions).
I am posting this from my phone as we take a drive south so hopefully the photos post okay… The last two pictures I snapped mid-post. Technology is a wonderful thing!
Till next time…
Health and Wellness Goals for 2012
01 year ago
by Nanci
in accountability, books, goals, health, mental health, rock 'n roll half-marathon, running, scale, stress, walking, weight, wellness, work
Happy New Year! Happy 2012!! I am happy to have a fresh start. Something about a new year that makes me feel like I have a chance to start over and get it right, yet again.
I hate to use the word resolutions, so I am going to use the word goals. I have a few health and wellness-related goals, and what better place to put them then here, where anyone can see them. I am all about accountability, so here goes.
1) Be nicer to myself in 2012. This is a hard one for me. I tend to get mad at my body for the things it can’t do and then I don’t care what I do to it. Mostly, eating. I love to eat, no surprise there, but I go through phases where I just flat out don’t care how much I eat or what I eat. Screw it, I just don’t care. Well, as fun as it is at that moment, I CAN’T DO THAT. I am fortunate to like and enjoy a lot of healthy foods and I should really focus on those more than the bad.
2) Do my best to stick to a regular walking/running routine even when I am too busy. This is another downfall of mine. When I get busy and have too much to do, my needs are the first to go. And ususally, any exercise I am currently into at the time goes out the window. It’s the easiest thing to give up because I can’t give up things like sleep, eat, take care of the dogs, etc… I CAN’T DO THAT. Everyone gets busy and it’s hard to fit everything in. I need to lose my all-or-nothing mentality and remember that even if I don’t have time for a 3-mile walk, 1-mile would be better than nothing. Over time it all adds up and it is good for my mental health.
3) Lose weight. I am having such a hard time with my weight these days. I’ll address the “how much do I need to lose” on a later post. I know metabolism slows down as you get older and I am here to tell you that is true. But I have to find a way to make it work. I can’t continue on this path of eating whatever I want, when I want because it tastes good. I CAN’T DO THAT. My short frame is not meant to be this weight. I can feel it, my body aches, and I don’t like it. I know over time with proper eating and activity it will respond. It may happen slower than it has in the past, but I am confident that I can lose the weight.
4) Do more walking/running events. After signing up for my first half marathon the other day, I am already thinking about a second one. Yes, I am an over-achiever. I would like to do TWO half-marathons in 2012 and I would like to do THREE 5Ks. Here’s the catch…. I want to run two of the 5Ks. I used to be able to run 3 miles at a time and I will get back there. I’m already looking into local events for the year.
5) Read more books. This one is totally non-health related, but it’s something I’d like to do so it falls under the wellness category. With my current Kindle Fire obsession, I have plenty to read and I want to work towards a goal of 40 books for the year.
6) Keep up with my blog as regularly as possible. I’m not sure that when people read this they enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it, but it is so fun for me to do and makes me feel better. It’s like my journal, a way to express my feelings and most of all, I can pretend to be a writer. Thank you to all who read this!
What are YOUR goals for 2012?
per·se·ver·ance
02 years ago
per·se·ver·ance
noun – steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
When my dad went into the hospital on Monday November 8th of last year, work came to almost a stand still. Being self-employed certainly has it’s perks in that I could be at the hospital as much as I needed to during that time. But it also meant no one else could do the work for me. I struggled with what wasn’t getting done when I was at the hospital and if I was at work, I struggled with the fact that I wasn’t at the hospital where I needed to be. I did what was needed to get us by over those 4 weeks, also doing as much for my mom as I could. But each day, we got a little farther behind. The days leading up to my dad’s passing had me thinking very much about how much things would change for the business and how ultimately, it would be me making those changes. Over the last couple years he had really left things up to me to run – and I know he was proud of me because he told me so. But the comfort of having him there if there was a problem I couldn’t solve or needed his creativity or whatever may be…. Well, that’s been a hard adjustment. After he passed, despite our pain and sadness, life had to go on. Things had to be done. I made a very long list of things we needed to do to get caught up. Jobs that had fallen behind, paperwork that needed to be done, on and on. I’ve checked things off as they’ve been done. And this past week, 2 months and 2 weeks later, we are caught up. My mom and I managed to get through the long list one item at a time. That is perseverance… And I know he is looking down on us and smiling, knowing that as always, we did what we had to do just like he would.
