Wedding in NS

We went to the most magical wedding (after mine of course!) at the weekend where my Chloe was a flower girl and Lily was a guest as she couldn't handle being in the spotlight AT ALL

It was up in Windsor and meant staying away for the night in a hotel, big hurrah for the girls and we booked the Super 8 - not my thing, I have to say! The carpet and comforters were dark green and screamed 1983, I have realized that I am officially allergic to that style of hotel room décor.

The wedding was amazing, our two friends Sam and Kensa tied the knot outside a magically whimsical barn and I have been banned from posting any of their wedding photos online as they await the official pics.. so here are some of us attending that wonderful day:

It was a really nice venue with a great pool, where we hung out and drank too much sangria. And I mean LOTS of it...
Later on.........

I wish I had gotten more shots of the pool as it was very tropical and being right here in NS means I can have the same ambience in our pool at home, which of course, is also right here in NS!!!

There were tropical looking greenery in very nice planters, and a tiki bar., It was surrounded by some palm tree like trees.... so now I am on the hunt for similar green stuff and plan a massive overhaul of our pool deck next year. I mean, we spent out on the pump and the filter and the liner and new water this year,... lets add some ambience!
I think I may have to draw the line at the tiki bar though sadly, not quite enough space.

Sunday morning

So yesterday morning at a little after 8am I pulled on my sneakers and took the dog and started my run. I planned a 3km run with very little belief that I would achieve it, its been weeks (feels like months) since I ran and that was only 5km.

So off I went and I damn well did it,easily. I feel SO pleased that I can still do this. I certainly felt it more afterwards than I did before, but its still achievable and that means I can get back to 5km and build it to 10

I was stopped in my tracks on one road by a rather large spider. It was just sat there and I spotted it because
a) it was big, and
b) it had wasp like markings colour wise so it stood out on the asphalt

So I went and stared, its wasnt striped like a wasp but rather had almost like a skull on its back that was bright yellow. I was pleased it didnt jump or anything, or actually even move. That would have creeped me out.
I have just googled it to see if I can figure out what it was and now I feel all shuddery from all the images and a little disturbed because I can't find it, there are a number of spiders with yellow markings but nothing the same....

It was hot too, I had started to think that hot mornings were in fact, a thing of the past but not yesterday. The heat was on. Its cooler this morning, of course, so I am going to walk the dog in a moment in complete comfort for him in his husky like fur coat. he did good yesterday though, hes a fit running companion. And he doesnt pull, he runs alongside, long tongue hanging out to one side.

Having almost gone through our 3rd summer and only being in the pool three times this year, unlike last year when it was consistently extremely hot, I have come to the conclusion that we need a pool heater. The pool has to be over 80F for me to want to be in it, its only hit that twice when I wanted to go in and sits at about 76F, tooooo cold for me.
So, I am going to check out solar heaters as our neighbour has one and it makes at least a 5 degree difference. Ideally I really want to extend our pool season anyway, so this may be the answer.
I mean its been hot and humid, but its been *blessed* (according to my friend, but not me) by some slightly cooler days and some rain..... I like Florida hot and steamy like last year.... all summer.

So... thats my next project along with some renos for Lilys room, her closet is too big and in the wrong place, some repositioning and downsizing of that will make a real difference.

Oh and the rain has meant the mozzies have been happily out and biting, I was bitten on Friday night near my eyebrow so now that whole area is swollen and makes my eye look slightly wonky in a most fetching way.
Pfffffffffftttt!

where has my running mojo gone?

Its Saturday morning at 8am and I am sitting here on the old FB (again!) trying to drum up some enthusiasm to go for a run. This running lark that I used to do for fun is now feeling like a potential chore. I am not even sure I *can* run anymore anyway. Maybe I couldnt in the first place, I was hardly fast. I could go for 5km but it was slower than most people run for most of it, I got some speed up after the first 2km. I am a slow starter!

Since I had my surgery my enthusiasm for it has waned, it didnt help that for two weeks I could barely move around the house without feeling wiped out, but now its been 2 months and I am back to working out anyway so there is no reason not to get back out there. The weather is cooler already (whats with that?!!!) the air is warm but the humidity has eased back so its possible to do things again without feeling like you are in a sauna.

So frankly I am nervous of the results, of finding out that actually I am a pussy and cant do this anyway. So whats holding me back? It clears my head, its a great start to the day, the dog is waiting expectantly - hes a great running partner - my sneakers are looking at me. I should go and see how far I can get.....

August 2013

Its been a busy few weeks.
We had some friends stay from the UK, we hung out lots and went out for dinner at the fabulous Stayners Wharf and then wandered along the boardwalk.

When they sadly returned to the UK we had 2 days and then we went to PEI for the Natal Day long weekend with another family. It was great to be back there and I had a flashback to my youth when Ruby and I jumped into the pool in intense rain in our clothes. It was great to be so spontaneous and irresponsible - I had on my new glittery t-shirt (its survived), and the kids loved it! Its not often they witness me being a nut.

We ate out, we had fun, we ate BADLY and I mean really BADLY.
The mosquitos were BRUTAL. they were everywhere and they were feisty.

We drove back on the Monday into a thunder storm, always good fun to drive into the rain you can see in the distance.

Its taken me a long time to get back to any kind of form since my surgery and running has even been on the backburner. Thankfully, I have only gained 5 lbs but thats 5lbs in the wrong direction.

This week has been a return to health and exersize, Paul and I have joined the beachbody plan and our working our way through the Les Mills combat programme.
I will go back to running, just not right now, I am not feeling it.