Alyssa's internet bog thing

 In my last post, I shared that my wonderful grandmother passed away, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the kind words and comments. After that, I took a little break from blogging. 

(Side note - I've had to start moderating comments because you would not believe the amount of spam you get when you include "50 shades of grey" in a blog title).

Unfortunately, I'm assuming most of us have been through the loss of a grandparent, and therefore have a pretty good idea what my week was like. On top of that, apparently life still goes on, and I'm a week out from my students taking their state test, which is pretty much the Super Bowl for teachers in terms of pressure and anxiety, without all the confetti and rings and monetary compensation for doing well. So even if I'd had time to blog, I really couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't all "woe-is-me" or whiny and complaining. Based on my extensive perusal of the internets, there's no lack of whiny, complaining, woe-is-me posts, so I figured that was already covered and no one would miss me. But if you did, don't worry, I am posting a horribly embarrassing picture of myself as an apology.

So, running. For all the above listed excuses, this wasn't my strongest week of running, but I managed to complete the all 41 miles required in my first week of tapering. 

Here's the breakdown.

Monday: 6 miles (no Garmin)

Tuesday: scheduled for 4 miles. Pushed snooze repeatedly. Didn't run.

Wednesday: 10 miles (no Garmin). I swear that the fact that this happened was a true miracle. 

Thursday: scheduled for 4 miles. Pushed snooze repeatedly. Didn't run.

Friday: 15 miles at a 9:45 pace for my long run. Began at 5am. Enough said. 

Saturday: Finally did the freaking 4 miles on the hotel treadmill. 8:54 pace.

Sunday: Speedwork on the treadmill - 6 miles with 3 at 10k pace (7:50). Overall pace 8:30. 

This weekend was Gram's funeral, so Eric and I left Friday night to drive the 3 hours to Williamsport, PA (where I spent last weekend with her in the hospital). Once again, we've all been there, so I won't get into details, but let's just say Chocolate is My Life played an unexpected, starring role. The minister Gram wanted wasn't available, but the guy we chose instead made a huge effort to "get to know" Gram through our family. My mom sent him the post I wrote about Gram a few years ago. After the opening prayer, he announced that he learned so much about Gram through "Alyssa's internet bog thing". He shared tons of stuff about Gram that I wrote. I would have loved to share stories myself but 1. I hate/am terrible at public speaking and 2. I'm horribly emotional and would have just been a sobbing mess, so this was just perfect. 

I don't know how my family would have survived this thing without our little saving grace, Harrison. 

He loves his Uncle Eric!

This face feels weird. 

He cheered us right up with his first swim in the hotel pool. 

I hadn't brought a bathing suit, but if you've been reading this blog for awhile I'm sure you predicted that there was no way in hell I was missing this. There was a Kohls next door to our hotel, so I went over determined to get a bathing suit at any cost. Except I really wanted to spend the absolute minimum amount possible, since I had like 7 bathing suits at home. 

Adult bathing suits were at least $40 on clearance. A child's bathing suit was $15. Which would you choose?

I figured all eyes would be on the adorable baby and no one would even look at me, but this suit was ridiculous enough to provoke ridicule even with Harrison kicking around the pool like he owned the place. I agreed to a picture so we can all share in the laughter. 

Then there was that awkward moment where you go swimming with the mother of a six month old and she has the perfect body and abs of a supermodel and you have....a blog dedicated to your love of chocolate. And you can't even be like "oh, that bitch just has good genes" because it's your sister. 

This is seriously not me fishing for compliments, it's me complimenting and being slightly jealous of my sister. Trust me, I've come to a happy medium where I can fit into all the pants I already own while still consuming the mass amounts of chocolate I need in order to maintain a good quality of life. My husband regularly threatens to leave me if I lose my whooty status, and then I'd have to carry my own heavy stuff, and do my own car maintenance, and do all sorts of other tasks that I don't want to. So that would suck. 

Well, I tried not to get too sappy or whiny in this post. At least you get to mock me in a ruffled child's bathing suit.

What's your go-to solution when you need to cheer up? Other than dessert, because that one's obvious.