A Year of Dates: April

Man, the wheels really fell off my blogging wagon last month!! As usual, I blame life.

I didn't blog about it, but we did our April date.  (Want more details about The Year of Dates?)

April 2012


The Date: This was our first date of the year that wasn't date specific. So of course we waited until the last Sunday of April to squeeze it in! We went out for frozen yogurt at a new "local and organic" fro-yo place we had heard a lot about.  Then we headed to the park for a walk and a little friendly game of "Do you know your husband/wife?"

The Envelope: Along with the ever-present "witty note on blue stationary", the envelope contained 2 small booklets...



And it went a little something like this...


Honestly, it was just nice to get to spend a little time with Eric. April was a BUSY month!! We had been hearing great things about the new, "we only serve local, fresh ingredients" frozen yogurt place in town.  I was even prepared for the fact that they don't have any candy or other refined sugary goodness to put on their organic, clean eating fro-yo.

Here's Eric, with the mandatory "Me and my envelope" photo

He has obviously practiced being "thrilled", but this is still a weird picture of him. Sorry, Eric. But, look at the beautiful farmstyle frozen yogurt.  I can't remember what flavors he got, but I was crazy and got chocolate and... vanilla!!  (I have since heard from my fro-yo connoisseur friends that the chocolate is not a favorite.) I had 2 initial reactions to the healthy frozen yogurt. First, it was yogurty. Clearly NOT ice cream. Second, I accidentally chose a spoon of recycled wood or bamboo or something ("accidentally" because I did it on purpose but only because I didn't realize there was some other option that was also environmentally friendly but more like plastic).  The woody stubble feeling on my tongue was not a good chaser to the frozen yogurt. I got used to the yogurt, but not to the spoon. Eric, who had the plastic-ish spoon, made fun of me, but did attempt to use my spoon once too.

Then we headed off to the park.  We went for a walk along the river, which was nice. Quiet and peaceful. Except for that couple being inappropriate together on a blanket in the grass.

Our couples quiz books were pretty cute. 100 questions ranging from the very difficult (what is his mom's phone number? who were 3 of his childhood friends?) to simple (what color is her purse - which was right next to me? who cuts his hair?). We did 25 questions at a time, and then read our answers and mercilessly teased each other when we got one wrong.

Then it got cold, so we moved to the sun about 200 yards away. Guess who also moved there? Yes! Inappropriate blanket couple! So we joked that they probably thought we were following them to watch the show. Only, we really weren't. Not attractive people, the blanket couple. 

I got a bonus shot of the envelope and quiz book!!! 

So, if you know me, you do not even need to ask who "won" the quiz book "game". Because I refuse to lose!!! =)

On our way back to the car, we walked past the marina and saw some super tiny baby geese. Those Mamas were keeping the babies in line! Hello spring!

Next Month: Since I am posting this on the day of our May date (yes, I am cheating and back dating to April so it will be easier for me to find later), I can tell you what we are doing. Dinner out and... Third Day concert!! Hooray!

Hey! It's (the middle of) April!

Welcomed back into the open, waiting arms of my blog.

Things here are as they were. Office still isn't re-done. Backyard still doesn't have raised planter beds. I still intend to do those things, someday.

The last few weeks, and the next few weeks, are going to be BUSY. And, hopefully, fun.

It's nice enough to play outside!! I cleaned out the disgusting backyard toy storage container and threw away the empty/broken/gnawed on junk inside and replaced it with cool, new outside toys for Pippin to chew on.

**Interruption by Little Man, who refuses to wear shoes in the backyyard and now has a splinter in his foot. Cool Snoopy bandaid to the rescue!**

It's also softball season! Normally this means coaching the middle school girls softball team. This year, it means that + me playing on a women's church softball team.  I admit I am a little skeptical about the whole thing. I have never played slow pitch softball, or on a "women's team", and I am having flashbacks to high school PE. But, first practice is Monday and I am looking forward to it. Eric and the kids have never seen me actually play softball, so even though this will be a far cry from my college softball days, it will be something new for all of us!

I have been in a workout funk.  I had a mystery ailment for a few weeks that left me nauseous and really tired (and, no, I am not pregnant), and I lost all exercise momentum. Truly, ALL. EXERCISE. MOMENTUM.  I combined that with truly horrible eating habits, with the lovely result of having pants that are almost too tight! High five!

So, that is my new news. I am more consistent with exercise when I have a goal, and a plan. So I now have a goal and a plan.

The goal: the Tough Rhino Mud Run on June 9th

(I guess that means I have some characteristic in common with a rhinoceros? My aggressive disposition? Scaly skin? Large size? Actually, I am not sure if rhinos have scaly skin. But I sure do!!)

The plan: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer

The first 4 weeks of this 12 week training program actually specifies NO CARDIO. It's all about weight training.  I actually started with the training program first, and then decided the mud run would be a good goal because it is a 5K but also will require strength.

I am finishing up week 1 this weekend. It's pretty rough: "rest days". I do have "before" pictures, but trust me, those will never see the light of day until the "after" shows some serious change. Or unless I become a celebrity, and my dino-computer gets hacked.

Happy spring everybody! I hope you are enjoying beautiful, get your booty outside, weather!