weekends are the best

I love the weekends.  I love being able to move a bit slower, not feel so rushed to pack everything in after work.  It just feels go to know that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want.

I took full advantage of that this weekend.  Friday night a friend and I went to a Zumba class.  I hadn't been since New Year's Eve (the flashmob!!) so I felt a pretty good butt-kicking.  Just what I was looking for!  My plans ended up changing a bit after that due to traffic...but I ended up getting home, getting cleaned up, making some yummy pasta and enjoying Thursday night's 30 Rock on Hulu.  How's that for a happenin' Friday night!  Yeah!  :)

Saturday I got up early since it was Long Run Day!  Thankfully there was no snow in sight - unlike last Saturday.  After breakfast and a couple cups of coffee, I headed out for a 6.6mi loop through my neighborhood and around the lake.  There weren't too many people out yet, which was nice.  One thing that does bother me about the lake loop:  walkers who take up the ENTIRE sidewalk.  Seriously, does one person need to take up 3ft of cement?  Sometimes I feel like being the obnoxious person, "ON YOUR LEFT!!!!!!!!"  But more often than not, I just sneak up on them and freak them out.  Ha!

Anyway, I made it back to my house just as my friend was pulling up for the second half of the run.  We hit up a couple smaller hills then headed down into Melrose.  The sun was shining, the wind was only blowing a bit, everything was dry...It was a great run!  We were able to get a solid 7.2mi under our belts.  The only thing I would have done differently on Saturday was to have a Gu before I began the second half.  I was feeling pretty depleted by the time I was done.  But it wasn't that big of a deal.  Next time.

The best part of the weekend was The Paint Bar.  Eleven women from church and I went here on Saturday night and were instructed by the most adorable group of women ever on how to paint a version of Starry Night by Van Gogh.  They made it into a step by step process that anyone can do!  The coolest thing was that while we were all painting the same thing, everyone's came out so different.  We each have our own interpretation and way of painting.  Here's a pic of a few of us:

Sunday was another great day...one that I wasn't looking forward to much.  But God really turned it around and used it for his glory.  No run yesterday, just a 4mi walk around the lake.  It being such a beautiful day I knew I didn't have time for a run but a walk was just what I needed.

Hooray for weekends!