trip

Other than Pittsburgh being really cold and snowy in the middle of January I had a really nice visit to my home town. Mom and dad treated me to many a yummy meal. And even though I wasn’t able to drive up to see my brother, my sis in law was super great to come down for a few days so that I could visit her and see my nephews…who by the way are super smart and really growing up fast.

Thursday I went on a 7 mile run in (as usual) very hilly territory. I was supposed to be doing a fartlek but I just let the terrain dictate my pace…those hills were killer. There was one really big one both ways. I decided to keep it an out and back…so yeah hit that one coming and going. It was 25 degrees and snowing for this run. Not often do I run in conditions like this, that is for sure. So it was tough but good…

I am realizing that I really don’t think my goal time for the Austin marathon is going to work this time around…like I was saying to my dad it has not been all that long and my MGP still feels hard…not smooth and super easy like it should…so I am slowly becoming ok with the fact that I am just going to run and have fun and not hit 3.40…I have a time to qualify…and I don’t think Boston is going anywhere…yeah…my legs don’t yet feel fresh…but hey we will see…things might change…you never know…

After I got back dad and I headed out to the south side to hit the cigar store before his trip to AZ and we could hit the piper’s pub for lunch…man that place is a lot of fun….good beers, good food and great folks that work there…if you are in Pgh I recommend going there…I mean the staff is really excellent…there is something to be said about people genuinely caring if you are having a good meal and a nice time at their establishment…they do…and we did…

Jessie and the boys got in and came over to play…it seemed that they at least knew who I was most of the time…angus called me gramma once or twice but hey gramma is way cool…so that is fine by me…we played some soccer in the basement and just got to enjoy each other…it has been a year since I saw them…and little guys really grow fast…

Friday was a day with the boys…we went to the children’s museum really for the whole day…got there around 10 am and played until 3!...man those guys can play and play….jessie and I had a really nice time there…we were just able to chill and watch them play and play too…I was totally beat by the end of the day as well…I really don’t know how Jessie does it all the time…yikes!...angus and I had a really nice time playing with the bird seed table…watching it sift through different devices and just digging…

I am just so amazed at what they can do…being 4 and 2 it is totally cool to watch them grow and learn…Isaac was big enough to do stuff that he didn’t feel comfortable doing last year and angus just does not want to be left behind so he just goes for it…love it…

Mom and dad and I were to go to dinner where j and I had our rehearsal dinner…but as we headed out the weather was not really great for driving 25 minutes for dinner…so we stayed local at an Italian place that I had never been to but had been in the neighborhood for years… we saw a lot of kids from my mom’s school…out on a Friday night then going to have a sleep over…ahh to be 9 again…

Anyway…we got our salads…and I started not to feel so great in the tummy…no good…really only ate a few bites of my dinner…and realized that my tummy was not in happy shape…(I’m writing this on the plane and really could go for my dinner right now…hungry…the guys sitting next to me would not be too happy with me but hey)…so I dashed to the rest room…ugh…home for some tea…and for some mom care…always good to be with the parents when not feeling well…they know what to do  started to feel better after a few cups of sleepy time…thankfully…not perfect but better…much better…

Glad to wake up on travel day with the best case scenario with the weather…there was not much over night accumulation…and it was just starting to flurry…not bad…they were predicting a lot of snow…and some sleet and freezing rain thrown in for good measure….great…but all was looking up…it started to snow a little harder and mom made the call that she would rather us be stuck at the airport than not able to get there (it is quite a trek from my folks place to the airport)..so dad and I ended up chillin together at the airport….he on the way to AZ me on the way home…and from what I know we were both on time minus a bit for de-icing…

So hopefully I will connect in Dallas easily and be home for a cocktail with j and mike before 5 …so other than not being able to see my brother…sorry doug…and not having time to hook up with an old high school friend…sorry em…I had a really nice, cold, trip to the burgh…and the yinzers still make me laugh…man…it’s the funniest accent you have ever heard…go steelers