Thanksgiving Holiday

Things that didn’t happen over the Thanksgiving holiday

• Ran in a turkey trot
  
• Avoided catching Shana’s cold she brought with her to NYC last weekend
  
• Yelled ‘Roll Tide!’
  
• Ridiculously satisfied with the much too short Harry Potter movie
  
• Yelled ‘It’s great, to be, a Florida Gator!’
  
  

Okay, I’m confusing myself. Here's the real breakdown.

Tassie and I watched Marty (and several hundred other runners) run the Inside Out Sports Turkey Trot 8k. I’m on a self-imposed (really, Shana-imposed) running hiatus to let my calf properly heal. This running-calf hurting-taking a few days off-running-feeling great-running-calf hurting-taking a few days off was just not cutting it. I got a massage last week and he said I definitely did something to my soleus, but it’s really not that bad, it’s just hard to get the blood flowing that deep.

I also caught a bit of a head cold which was more annoying than anything. I hate feeling ‘off’ like you do when you’re a bit sick. Super Marty was not immune and the princess is now suffering.

As my friend Kari said on my facebook status – thank god for second half’s! All I have to say is War. Damn. Eagle.

We went and saw the ‘almost the final Harry Potter movie.’ Marty’s review is much more eloquent than what I could do. I think we’re both just annoyed with it now but are too invested to not go see the final movie. No hot vampires in this one :( Speaking of hot vampires, actually totally not speaking of hot vampires, more like speaking of why does Bri like to read kid’s books – I read the Hunger Game’s trilogy. Very good! At least the first two books. I didn’t really care for the third.

And what can I say? The FSU whooping of Florida made my heart go pitter patter.

Read More

Happy Thanksgiving!

Read More

Trip to NYC

I left after work on Thursday to fly to NYC and meet up with my sister and mom. We all live in different cities but tried to land around the same times so we could go to the hotel together. I was really surprised at how not crowded La Guardia airport was when I flew in. I even ended up in a long hallway completely by myself which was honestly kind of creepy. Where is everyone?! Anyways, we all made it in and to our hotel in midtown without any problems.

Friday we walked around, did a little shopping, then had a nice dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday.

My sis and I at Central Park.



The leaves still had some color left!



Stopping for some cupcakes across from Rockefeller Center.



Saturday morning, Shana and I did some overpriced ice skating at Rockefeller before watching football.



Then it was back to the hotel room to get ready for the Notre Dame/Army game at the new Yankee Stadium. It was going to be a cold night, but it wasn't that bad at all, really. The subway ride over to the stadium was interesting - I don't think I've ever been that smooshed except for the subway leaving Oktoberfest in Munich! Packed to the gills with Army and Notre Dame fans (mostly Notre Dame fans) with some good natured ribbing along the way. Mostly, it was the Army fans yelling things: "Get over Rudy already!" and "Go USA! Go Army! Notre Dame hates America!" Even though we were up high, our seats were really good, and it was a great game with Notre Dame taking control right from the start. Yankee Stadium is also super nice.

Waiting for the subway. My hat is very old but I love it. Plus, retro is in style, right?



At the game.



Coming back on the subway I had to sit next to this guy, who I'm pretty sure was homeless and just riding/sleeping on the subway to stay warm. Poor fellow.



I got back home last night (direct flight from RDU to NYC is short and easy). I really like New York City, kind of feel like if I was younger I may have wanted to live there for a few years and get the whole big city life.

Read More

Another Boring One

This past weekend Marty and I drove to Wilmington to watch and cheer people on in the Beach 2 Battleship Full and Half Irondistance races. It’s always a chilly start for this race, but each year gives way to a beautiful sunny afternoon. Here I am impersonating a cheerleader before the start. I don’t know, was I supposed to not put my hands in fists? Tickle the clouds as they say? I’m also not very symmetrical. Obviously, I was never a cheerleader.




My sister and bro-in-law were in town for the UNC v Va Tech game so we got to hang out with them for a bit on Saturday night and Sunday morning. After they left, Marty and I went for a great bike ride – we’re close to a greenway that runs directly into Umstead so we did a big loop back to our house. The fall colors are absolutely gorgeous right now. I had to remember to watch where I was going and not stare at the trees the entire time.

Even driving into work I have to stop myself from looking at all the pretty colors. The main interstate that runs through Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is one big corridor of trees that have changed color. There aren’t any billboards so it’s really quite a nice drive into work. This is something that I don’t think a lot of people up here appreciate (the no billboards) but after living in Florida for so long where it’s ALL billboards, I try to be thankful for it – and hope that in the future the cities don’t decide that revenue from the billboards outweighs the trees.

Thursday evening I’m flying up to NYC to meet up with my sister and mom. It’s my mom’s 60th birthday so we decided to celebrate in the Big Apple. We’re also going to the Notre Dame v Army game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night (my family are big Notre Dame fans). I just hope we don’t freeze to death.

Read More

Just Some Stuff

You know what’s really hard? A 200 yard all out in the pool. That’s what Marty had us do in the middle of Master’s practice on Friday (our time was then used to figure out our interval for groups of 100’s). I don’t think I’ve ever done a 200 yard like that so…..PR! He had us do them in heats (from a push) so it was sort of like a swim meet. I think I was still breathing hard 10 minutes later.

Saturday I went with Marty to Kernersville where the NC high school state cross country championships was held. It was a chilly, sunny day (perfect for running!) and it was fun to watch the different races. But wow, I don’t think any of these kids know how to pace themselves! They all go out WAY too fast, which I guess is all right since they all die the same death and there’s not a whole lot of place changing going on, but I would love to see some kid who goes out with even splits and just mow through the field the back half of the race. I know I used to do the same thing in high school, but I only ran 2 miles for cross country so it was a little easier to handle.

On our way back home from the race, we stopped in Carrboro (right next to UNC) to watch the 2nd half of the UNC v FSU game. Oh ugh. FS – Who? Because I want to talk about MY Alma Mater – UCF!! Who, for the first time is ranked in the BCS top 25! And in the USA Today Coaches Poll they are ranked right ahead of those super annoying Gators! Go Knights!

Today is Marty’s birthday. I couldn’t help myself and gave him two of his presents yesterday (The Resident Evil Trilogy – he proceeded to watch all of them yesterday) and a Zombie Apocalypse T-Shirt. Marty likes Zombies.

My calf tightened back up again last week so no running for me for awhile. Bah.

Read More

I Voted

I went and voted today. Walking in, I shook hands with a judge who was hoping to be re-elected (eh, I don’t know anything about the judges, but sure I’ll vote for you). I was also handed a list of who to vote for from the Republicans and the Democrats. Everyone was all smiles.

Then I walked inside to the row of tables filled with several nice older ladies who were in charge of looking up people’s names. First off, I’m so surprised that all you have to do is walk up and tell them your name and address and you’re good to go. No ID, no proof of identification…I mean for USAT you have to show your USAT card and your license and that’s just for a little race. I would’ve thought for something as important as an election it would at least warrant a picture ID. (I know, I know, it probably has to do with insurance and liability and suing if you get hurt at the race). This isn’t the first time I’ve voted, but in Orlando I could’ve sworn we had to show our voter registration card or something. Here we never have to show anything.

Anyways, I walk up to the F – L line and already know what will happen, but I roll with it since these ladies are so nice. One of them already told me she loved my necklace (Tiffany heart necklace – bought by Marty a couple of years ago when he was obviously going through a bout of insanity and was not his usual fiscal conservative self). Had to throw in a little political jargon :)

Me: Last name is Gaal. G – A – A – L.
Nice old lady: Oh my, hmmmmm.
Me: G – A – A , two A’s…
Nice old lady: Oh, I thought you said Hall! G – A – L
Me: No, it’s two A’s, it’s probably the very first G.
Nice old lady: Hmmmmm
Me: (pointing to my name at the top of the list) It’s actually right here.
Nice old lady: Oh! There you are, dear.

She then proceeds to fold the paper slightly so I can’t see it. Really, I still can and I could see it before but this is security at its best apparently.

Nice old lady: What’s your first name, dear?
Me: Brianne
Nice old lady: What’s your middle name, dear?
Me: Hayley
Nice old lady: Brianne Hayley! That is such a lovely name. And you look like a Brianne! A lot of people don’t look like their names but you look like a Brianne.
Other nice old lady: (murmuring) Such a pretty name.
Me: (smiling, how can you not love these people?!)Thank you!
Nice old lady: What’s your address, Brianne?

I got to vote after that. I really did vote for that judge.

Read More

Weekend 5K's and fun

Several weeks ago, the Gautreau’s told me about a 5K that was about 2 hrs away that had prize money and hardly anyone was signed up. But then I strained my calf so wasn’t running hardly at all so I could give it some rest. Last weekend I ran for 40 minutes and didn’t feel any pain and thought maybe I could still do the race. The entry list was still very small. I did a workout on Tuesday to see if I had any fitness left and it went pretty good so I decided to go for it. I didn’t have anything else better to do Saturday morning!

Not surprisingly, others caught wind of this race and some fast people showed up. I snuck in for 3rd place and the last money spot ($100) so all was not lost. My first mile was 6:15, my second mile was 6:15, and my third mile was 6:15! (total was 19:20) How’s that for consistency?! The speed is always the first thing to go and I could definitely feel it – no other gears except for the one I was running in. I’m pretty happy with that time, actually, for the amount I’ve been running. On the men’s side, holy crap did the fast guys show up! Here were the top 5 times: 14:09, 14:09, 14:41, 14:49, 14:58. It was kind of funny at the start – the race only had 70 competitors but the lineup was all these crazy fast guys. The race was held in a small town in the middle of nowhere. This was the first time for the event and the town really got into it. I don’t think they have any idea how fast those times are for a road race…probably one of the fastest fields for any 5K in the country that morning! Results

Marty had a successful morning with his cross country team at the regional meet. He had the overall girls and boys winners and both teams finished second, qualifying them for the state meet next weekend.

On Sunday, Marty geared up for a local 5k, the Monster Dash, in Raleigh. It was a gorgeous day so we decided to ride our mountain bikes to the race. Kari tagged along and we had fun cheering for the competitors, who were all encouraged to dress up. A lot of dogs were also dressed up. This poor thing was mother goose.




Here we are waiting for the finishers.

Was Marty:

A) Superman
B) Bald guy in pajama’s


This gorilla chased the banana the entire race.

That night we went to a pseudo-halloween football party at the Mayhew’s. We all dressed up, then watched the official Doughman DVD that had been reedited with music and graphics. Then we kind of watched the football game while stuffing our faces with yummy food.

Read More