A Quick Trip to Jackson, Mississippi

My boss and I took a quick trip to Jackson, Mississippi for work (left on Wednesday, going home tomorrow). We are here to serve as facilitators for an assessment. I've gone to these assessments in the past as a notetaker, but with my boss retiring this summer, I needed to have experience as a facilitator. My boss did the first two sessions and I did the two afternoon sessions. I'm not sure if the people were just in a food coma or they didn't have the knowledge to respond to the questions that were in the assessment tool, but they were not as chatty as they were earlier. I was getting a little nervous, which apparently showed because after that session my boss was like "The only feedback I would give you is that you should probably smile more. You looked scared to death." Oh really? THAT'S BECAUSE I WAS! Heh. The last session went a lot better, so whew, I'm glad that's over!

The food here has been amazing. I had scallops last night and I had scallops tonight too. I also had something called a lemon ice box pie, which is the consisitancy of key lime pie, except with lemons. OMG, so good.

While I loved how cozy my king size bed was (I could lay in it diagonally and still have room to spare!), I'm looking forward to going home tomorrow!

(What I found concerning about Jackson was that there were pockets that looked great and other parts that looked run down. It was kinda sad to see the difference in just a few blocks. The apartments across the street from the hotel were run down, but I heard that they were going to be renovated, so perhaps the city is making a comeback.)

My boss's second grandson was born earlier today...and it's also her birthday today!  What an awesome birthday present! :)

Testing Deadlifts at CrossFit

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! It’s test week…1 rep max for deadlifts. My 1 RM is 170 lbs, but with my back injury last year, I haven’t been able to (or wanted to) lift anywhere near that weight. I stopped at 135 lbs today, and I’m happy with that since the last 3 x 5 I did was at 115 lbs. I can’t wait to see where I’m at the next time deadlifts appear in the strength cycle.

WOD, for time, 15:00 time cap
100 Walking lunges
80 Sit-ups
60 Push-ups (I started with just a black band, but I had to add a red one halfway through because my arms were toast.
40 Wall Balls (10 lbs ball)
20 Pull-ups
Score: I got through 11 wall balls in the time cap. Whew! What a way to start the week! I’m wearing a new shirt I got over the weekend. It’s got hummingbirds on it!

Lip color: Maybelline Creamy Matte in Touch of Spice

Long-Lost Craft Projects

I was looking for one of my stamps with the intention of making cards tonight, and in the process, I found a Ziploc bag with 3 unfinished cross-stitch projects inside! I’m missing some colors, but I hope the craft store has them in stock when I go tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m going to work on the middle project until I get sleepy.

A Donut Card and New Stamps!

I love getting snail mail! Look at what came recently all the way from Bermuda! Thanks, Jen!

I know I told myself I wasn’t going to be buying anymore crafty supplies this year, but I couldn’t resist this Hero Arts tree stamp (on clearance!) and a set of clear stamps (the HELLO stamp was included in that set) when I went to Joann’s today. I put my new finds to good use earlier tonight. It's good timing because Maria (one of my CrossFit friends who has since moved to Mexico) got bit by a dog earlier this weekend. Thankfully, she's okay and doesn't need stitches. I'll be sending her the one on the left to cheer her up. She's been so good about exercising lately, but this injury will have her sidelined for a little bit.

Box Jump Mishap at CrossFit

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! Push press day…3 x 5 at 90 lbs. Maybe I’ll go on Saturday and do 95 lbs to get a star next to my name. We’ll see how 17.3 goes tomorrow, whatever it is.

WOD, 12:00 AMRAP
400 m run
Max set of Unbroken Pull-ups
7 Box Jumps (24 inch box…usually I use the 20 inch ones!!!)
Score: # of pull-ups…24 with green and red bands. I scratched my finger on my box before I jumped on it. Does anyone wanna kiss it and make it better? Or buy me a donut? Boston cream or jelly. Kthx.

Lip color: Maybelline The Bolds Collection in Gone Greige.

International Women's Day

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! 3-second pause back squats today… 3 x 5 at 85 lbs.

WOD:
5:00 Row for max calories
–1:00 REST–
5:00 7 Wall Balls (8 lbs ball) + 7 Burpees
–1:00 REST–
5:00 5 Bear Complex (55 lbs) +15 V-ups/tuck-ups/sit-ups

In honor of International Women’s Day, I’ll be wearing red to work. Truth be told, I’ve had this red dress hanging in my closet for the past, I dunno, year? Never been worn, tags still hanging. Ah, what a perfect day to break this out! I hope all the ladies out there feel strong, beautiful and capable today. Well, any day, really! But especially today.

The new BBQ place near work was open for lunch today, finally! Thank goodness! If I was turned away again like I was yesterday, I would have been super disappointed. I went with 5 of my coworkers, and we enjoyed the good food and company. I got the lunch special: 1 meat and 2 sides (BBQ pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes). I’d totally go back!

Lip color: Maybelline Creamy Matte in Nude Nuance.

Weekend Recap: Jenny's Brunch, New Cards, and New Puzzle

My friend from graduate school (Jenny, far right) was so nice to invite us to her new house for brunch on Saturday. She and her husband made some many improvements to the house over the past year. The house looked awesome and I'm really happy for her because I know it has been quite a labor of love. My favorite space was the kitchen: it was so open, had a large island in the middle as well as tons of storage. She prepared a lovely brunch spread and we caught up with the other graduate school ladies, Cristina and Laura.

My friend from undergrad Page texted me a few days ago, asking if she could order some cards. I tackled that order on Friday, after I shut down my work computer. She requested specific sentiments and that the cards be animal-themed. Ok, easy peasy!

Another friend from undergrad Meg gave me a cat-related puzzle for my birthday a few weeks ago. I started it after I got home from Jenny's brunch and finished it about 24 hours later. The distinct colors in the puzzle made it easier to do.