Week VI

Deployment Recap:

Emotional: I’m all over the place right now. I’m on an absolute high after finishing the hardest thing I’ve ever put myself through physically. I’m happy, proud in shock, and sad all at the same time. I’m happy it’s over and I ran exactly the race I wanted to run. I’m proud of the 18 weeks I spent training for the race and not letting anything get me off track. I’m sad that it’s over. I’m sad to not have seen Lyle’s face at the end of the race. I’m sad that I haven’t heard from him in a few weeks to share the feelings of excitement and nerves before and after.

Physical: I have never felt better in my life- despite 2 sore spots (my right knee and the top of my left food). I slept for almost 12 hours last night and was a little stiff today, but I’m seriously considering some light running this week.

Communication: None. Lots of amazing support from family and friends has made life a lot better though. Thanks, everyone! 

Something Fun You did This week: Besides the marathon? I went to the North Shore with a friend who was visiting this weekend. We went to the Turtle Beach (no turtles on the beach, only in the surf) and had Shave Ice. It was good to be out in the “country”.

What are you looking forward to next week: The pace of life slowing down a little will be nice. I might try and go swimming also- it’s been a few months and I desperately miss the pool.

What made you happy this week:  Running across that finish line yesterday.

What made you sad/mad this week: Nothing really. Just missing my Sailor.

What do you miss this week: I miss celebrating Hanukkah with Lyle- we usually make Matzo Ball Soup and Latkes and light candles together. He loves Hanukkah.

Favorite song/show/movie of the moment: I caught up on the most recent episodes of Whitney which was fun.

Pictures from This week:

Before the race- showing off my gear! 

Right as I saw my friends waiting at the finish line, I was SO excited! 

My finisher's bling- Official T-shirt, Medal and Shell Lei. Flower lei from my friends and my new necklace I bought myself as my finishing reward. I love it all and wore it proudly all afternoon! 

What Week is this?

Deployment Recap Week 5

Emotional: I'm hanging in there. I've had a lot of great days lately, so that helps. I think I might be at the "numb" stage where I'm just in my zone. But eventually Lyle will pop up from underwater and my emotions will get all crazy again. 

Physical: Resting, eating anything in sight, trying to stay healthy until after the race. I'm tired, but doing well. Someone please remind me to hydrate at every moment possible. 

Communication: None. It's a tough, lonely stretch right now. 

Something Fun You did This week: Beach Day! I went to Bellows Beach with friends and had a great day of lounging in the sun, playing in the ocean and having fun. 

What are you looking forward to next week: It's marathon week! I'm running the Honolulu Marathon on Sunday, December 9th! You can follow me by downloading an app called Sportstat- http://www.sportstats.ca/about.xhtml?tab=6 or you can go to the Marathon Home Page and they will have live tracking up soon- http://www.honolulumarathon.org/?s=home

What made you happy this week: I received an award at our company Holiday Party- they picked me to represent the company value of Collaboration and Teamwork. I was very surprised and excited to be recognized for a lot of hard work over the last year. 

What made you sad/mad this week:  Not much, really. Some general frustrations with people, but overall I'm a happy kid lately. 

What do you miss this week: I miss watching football with Lyle. 

Favorite song/show/movie of the moment: Lots of good new music these days that I'm loving- new Maroon 5, new Bruno Mars, and I'm hoping to catch up on shows I've missed while "resting" this week.

Pictures from this week: 

Glitter tattoos at the Holiday Party

Bellows Beach- my favorite!  

Even Shane got in the ocean with me! It was so fun!

Week IV

As the Deployment World Turns-
Emotional: I miss Lyle a lot. But I've felt a lot less stress than the past 4 weeks now that I'm in the house, been able to say "no" to a few things such as FRG and work. And I laughed a lot this weekend with Dan and Nisha and Shane. 

Physical: I'm good. No sickness. Lots of sleep. Feeling strong and loving the running. (same thing every week, huh?)

Communication: I miss Lyle. All quiet on the Deployment Front. 

Something Fun You did This week: Thanksgiving was fun- playing board games, watching football, just feeling like a normal person for a few hours. 

What are you looking forward to next week: Cable gets installed next Monday! Woohoo! 

What made you happy this week: Finding out that Seren is preggo! And Lindsey in Spokane in having a baby girl! woohoo!

What made you sad/mad this week:  Broken Email. Boooo. And people that don't follow through on anything. 

What do you miss this week: I miss Lyle's smile. 

Favorite song/show/movie of the moment: We watched a lot of How I met your Mother this weekend and I'm totally addicted. Love NPH. 

Pictures from this week: 

The New house! 

Captain Jack Explores the bathtub

I love my car! It hauled every box from the move back to the recycling center in one trip. 

Photo highlights from Thanksgiving #1 with the boat family 

Me! I  love having a full-length mirror in the house again!

Reeeee-cap.

Week 3- 

Emotional: I had a hard night last Tuesday after being extremely excited about the new house and wishing Lyle was here to be excited with me. Since then the only emotion I've felt is stress. But I'm completely moved out of the old house now so I'm hoping the stress will start to fade.

Physical: I ran the fastest half-marathon of my life on Sunday- 13.1 miles in 2 hours, 16 minutes. That is much faster than I thought I was capable of running, especially after being on my feet and hauling boxes and furniture for the 48 hours prior to moving. I'm feeling very ready for my marathon in 3 weeks. 

Communication: There was email. But now there's not. 

Something Fun You did This week: I went up to the North Shore last night and had a nice dinner on the beach with a friend. It was a great way to relax after the stress of moving all weekend. 

What are you looking forward to next week: Getting the new house more unpacked and liveable. 

What made you happy this week: My race on Sunday, the new house. Both are amazing. 

What made you sad/mad this week: Time Warner Cable. They are the ONLY option for cable/internet out here and they have no appointments to re-establish my services until December 3rd. Seriously?!

What do you miss this week: Eating real food at home. Now that I'm in the new house it's my goal to start cooking real meal again for myself and anyone that wants to come share a meal. 

Favorite song/show/movie of the moment: Die Young by Ke$ha. Total pop junk and I love it. 

Pictures from This week: I'll have to upload later since I don't have a cord to connect my phone to the computer right now. Lots of pictures of the new house to come. 

Only week II?

Week II (only that long? feels like for-ev-errrrrr)

Emotional: I miss Lyle a lot. I'm highly stressed right now so my emotions are running pretty high. A couple times last week things just felt really overwhelming and I had to take a deep breath instead of just bursting into tears. Because crying wouldn't solve the problem. Or make it any better. 

Physical: I'm feeling great- starting to taper (reduce) my weekly running mileage for the marathon and I'm feeling strong. Lots of hydration, hand-washing and vitamins. Gotta stay healthy.  I had a great run on Sunday with my training group, met a new gal and we carried on conversation for about 8 miles. Pretty impressive. 

Communication: Lyle has been amazing with writing emails. I love getting email so frequently! I need to get better about sending them more often.

Something Fun You did This week: Spending time with Dan and Shane while watching terrible movies from 1992 was really fun. 

What are you looking forward to next week: THE NEW HOUSE!!!!!

What made you happy this week: Reading emails from Lyle and family, the election results, the Cowboys beat the Eagles yesterday. I also got a haircut which was some nice "me" time. 

What made you sad/mad this week: Feeling stressed/anxious about the move, wishing Lyle were here to help. 

What do you miss this week: Cooking and eating meals together. I ate fish 4 or 5 times last week because it was easy. I wish he was here to grill some delicious meat. 

Favorite song/show/movie of the moment: I'm so guilty of rocking out to ridiculous music this week- new song from Taylor Swift that is super cheesy. Lots of peppy pop music happening these days. 

Pictures from this Week: 

 New haircut. I LOVE IT! 

 Stuck in traffic (as usual) but the view was pretty. 

 Less than a month to go now! Woohoo!

Huge full rainbow Saturday evening. Never gets old. 

Deployment Recap Week 1

The first week on my own:

Emotional: Goodbye day was SO tough. Even now thinking too long about those last moments together gets me teary. But after that first day apart I've done really well. That is, until Sunday night. Sunday nights always were tough during deployments on The Old Boat and apparently still continue to be that way. It was all I could do to not randomly burst into tears at the grocery store Sunday night, just because I was feeling weepy. 

Physical: Mostly good- my right foot is a little tender, I think from being on my feet so much in the kitchen last week when I was packing boxes. I had another long run for my marathon training today and it was great! My running group planned for 16 miles and I felt strong and amazing the whole time, even though it was hot and hazy. 

Communication:  I feel lucky to have gotten a couple emails so far. I know that soon we won't have email and the silence will be tough. Lyle also left me a stack of cards to open at certain times and I got to open a card on Halloween. It was cute and fun and made my day. 

Something Fun You did This week: I ran a 5k on Saturday called The Color Run- it was an untimed, FUN run where you wear white and get colored powder thrown on you at various points along a race course. See pictures below. 

What are you looking forward to next week: It's going to be a busy week so I'm looking forward to it passing quickly, I guess? 

What made you happy this week: Email and my Halloween card. 

What made you sad/mad this week: Hearing about the devastation on the East Coast is tough. 

What do you miss this week: My old job in South Carolina. I miss having 4 day work weeks, being basically my own boss, my office and the people I worked with. Not that I don't enjoy my work out here, but I miss BCI. 

Favorite song/show/movie of the moment:  Nothing new to report. I rarely watch TV, I haven't been to the movies or a RedBox lately. The only TV I watched this week was football. But there are a few shows I'm excited to watch- The Next Iron Chef Road to Redemption and Whitney starts back up again in 2 weeks. 

Pictures from this week: 

 Halloween Inspired Mani! 

 Snuggles with Captain Jack

 How I spent my Friday night- updating rosters and Phone Trees.

 The Color Run! With our friend Dan before and then my shirt after the Colors!

Pretty sunrise this morning on my way to go running.