I told myself the cloudy weather was why I couldn't get out of bed in the morning...this morning the sun was out and birds were chirping as I rolled over and went back to sleep...
This week has been draining - I don't know what it is but it's not productive.

I survived

This was my first Fiesta in San Antonio.  Scratch that, I've lived in San Antonio for 6 years and this is the first time I attended Fiesta for the fun (not for the volunteer work or as a St. Mary's student who must eat at Oyster Bake because the Cafeteria on campus is closed). 


So my first Fiesta and I survived!  Fiesta is on the weekends and the weekdays...I was a trooper and attended weekday events - AND showed up to work on time the next day.

The first weekend of Fiesta it rained, and I was conveniently in Dallas for a bachelorette party.  The neighbors at my house hosted a party, but I missed out. 

My House all Fiesta-ed

 However on Monday I did see the river parade beginning at my HBGCC office and then ended on my end of the river:

 

Tuesday I went to NIOSA with the boys....

 Only to be pinned with my FIRST Fiesta metal EVER by my good friend and fellow #snail...

NIOSA was exhausting...the crowds are ridiculous!  You go for food, drinks and music - but why? when it's you and 30,000 strangers.  I guess I'm a big loner, I'd rather eat, drink and listen to music with a few close friends in the privacy of my own home.  My fellow #snail had a private party in the 2nd story of an art gallery in the middle of NIOSA.  That made the evening 10x better.

I guess I took a break Wednesday, or at least I don't have the pictures to prove I did anything fun.... 

Thursday I attended the SA Current, Best of SA party, thanks to my good friend Choco.


I ran into a few friends and another #snail! 


Pretty fun night.  Lots of characters at the event

Friday I picked up my bff from St. Mary's who moved to Miami...it was Bachelorette party #2 this weekend.  Tons of fun with Maddie...with a little hiccup due to the King Williams fair in my front yard and me eventually losing the keys to my house.

So I guess this was more of a picture blog than a story, but for Fiesta #1, it was safe, satisfying and fun!!

Until next year...

I just kicked genuine love to the curb

When the NCAA Women's basketball tournament was in town the company I work for was to be at the Alamodome all weekend. I was to be with the crew in getting them fed and hydrated. My co-worker was dedicated to the teams locker rooms and all that. But on prep-day I got this HORRIBLE pain in my backside. I showed up to work and walked miles around the dome, but when it was time to put on a smile for the client I burst into tears because of the pain!

That night the pain was so excruciating I couldn't sleep - I drove myself to a Texas Med Clinic was given a steroid shot and a pain killer shot in my buttocks, sent home and passed out. Only to wake up the next day in even more pain! I have no family in San Antonio - only (drinking/college) friends and ex-boyfriends. So I called my ex and he drove me to the doctor - but he needed to be at work and left me at the doctor to find another ride (hence why he's the ex) I called another friend (we'll call him an ex too, even though it was a VERY short-lived relationship). This guy picked me up and took me home. He's old-school and who really believes in that "rub an egg on it" trick. Well, I didn't let him rub me down with an egg, but he did help me.

I won't go into details - but the source of my pain was very awkward. And this guy stayed by my bedside for 2 days and nights. He made a hot bath for me every night to help me relax, he cleaned my apartment, he popped a pain pill in my mouth when I woke up crying from the pain. Seriously - I didn't know I had anyone in my life who would do that - and I especially didn't see these actions coming from this person. I'm not sure if I have anyone in my San Antonio life that I would do that for...kinda sad, I know.

Well that was Sunday. Yesterday after 7 days and 24 hours together I had had enough. I couldn't handle the attention and the service. It was driving me crazy. Aren't I a horrible person? "Hey buddy, thanks for being there when I needed you, but you can leave now."

It got me thinking about this thing I recently heard: The 5 languages of love
This guy’s love language is "quality time" all he wants is to be with you....no need to talk, no need to touch, no need to do anything - just be together. I'm NOT a quality time person. I don't have time to be a quality time person. I'm an "acts of service" person - do something for me and I'll appreciate it and likewise, when I love you I'll provide acts of service for you.
Then it hit me - is this was marriage is like? I mean when you're married you spend all your time with that one person, maybe not all your time, but they are there when you go to bed and there when you wake up (AHH!). Do I need to become a quality time person? I can't just throw out my husband when he isn't doing acts of service like I did to this poor guy. I know there's compromise in a marriage, but yikes! I might need to *gasp* change. or maybe when the right person comes around I will be a quality time person... because I will want to spend time with the person I'll spend the rest of my life with. Let’s hope that’s the case – if not I’ll be calling my ex’s until the day I die.

Places I've never been

New York City
Yep, never been to New York City....I've never had the opportunity to go. "but Rachel, you're the kind of girl who makes her own opportunities" Ok, this is true...Real Answer - I'm afraid if I go I'll never come back!  But it's definitely on my to-do list and I have a friend with a boyfriend there, so I could totally couch surf.





Cumberland Island
My friend recently visited and posted these photos as such a teaser! 

I can already see myself walking along this beach with little pieces of sand picked up by the wind dropped in the crevese's of my ears only for me to find them later in the day on my pillow after an afternoon nap. 


Little Rock, AR

I've heard Little Rock Arkansas is a beautiful land.  Lots of greenery, hills and mountains of tall trees.

Like this from Norwood Creech










Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX)
With all the weddings this year and my love life at a stand-still.  My girlfriends and I are thinking of taking a single girl vacation to OBX. 

With town names like Duck, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Whalebone Junction, it seems like the perfect place to escape with true friends, a great book and plenty of wine. 



That's all I can think of for now, but let's see where the wind blows.

Cupcake for breakfast

Last night I fell asleep to the sound of rain on my window. 
pit  pat  pit   pat  pit   pat 

This morning I woke up unable to see the sun through that same window, instead only dark rain clouds.  I prepared for my walk to work by stuffing my dress pants into my pink knee high rain boots, buttoning up my rain coat and not even attempting anything special with my hair - humidity wins on this one.

I took all the precautions - I stayed under awnings whenever possible, I avoiding being splashed by cars driving through puddles, I even sacrificed my short cut through the grass just to ensure I wouldn't slip and fall. I stuck to the sidewalk and made it into my office nice and dry.

Headed up the stairs, changed shoes, went to the copy room, poured a cup of water from the water cooler and then... SPLAT my cup of water falls from my hand - water flows all over my pant leg and even shoots up and hits me in the face!!  So much for staying dry today....

that is why I had a cupcake for breakfast

.

Best Morning I've had in a long time!

I was visiting this health website and there was a poll:

"Why do you work out?"

Options included:

a) I have a big event coming up and I need to look good
b) My body is in pain because of the extra weight, so I'm doing it to help myself
c) I don't like the way my body looks
d) Just to stay healthy
e) Oh Hell, all of the above!


Umm yea - I totally chose (e) and 60% of the poll did also. 

"SLAP"

That's the sound of me slapping myself across the face and telling myself to stop putting off running and just go out there and do it!
Holy - shamoly! 
I went running yesterday on my beautiful San Antonio River and it sucked!  I was in so much pain!  I ran with a friend, who helped push me but the actually running process has never been easy for me. 
However, waking up with my alarm this morning - was very easy, walking that same 2 miles with my dog this morning - peice of cake, and coming into work not needing coffee just to be pleasant....well that's just the way it is supposed to be right?

This is a good thing.  I'm not going to let this feeling go

I'll be exploring different running paths throughout the river and this great city of San Antonio.  I'm really looking forward to running Eisenhower Park.

 

Kinda what my running path looks like:

By @ColleenPence

http://colleenpence.wordpress.com/

white cat foggy street

This morning I was walking my dog down the foggy streets of my historic neighborhood and on the sidewalk catty-corner from us we see a white cat with a gray marking on his face.  We begin to cross the street and the cat does the same.  I stopped in the middle of the street and the cat did too - I look down the street and it was covered in an erie fog that made the green of the trees stand out and the eye search on until it was impossible to see and feel anything but fog.  My eye snapped back to the white cat who was looking right at me.

"Hello cat" I said

"click" went my brain camera

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gismaster/4127718574/ It was kinda like this - but not really