7 miles, and a bachelorette party...

This week FLEW by. I cannot believe how fast it went.

Monday I had off work and that was great. I caught up on laundry, and my DVRed shows and just recovered from the weekend in Chicago.

Tuesday I worked in a different department at work, filling in there because they are completely slammed. It was neat to get out and see other people within our company, and do something a little different for a day.

Wednesday I was back to my normal job, and after being gone for 4 work days, it felt great to be back at my desk! I had a ton to do and a ended up with a list of "to do's" that got me through the week.

Thursday I was in an all day training for a program I am going through at work to become a Certified Financial Counsler. We had the exam for the first half of the certification in the morning, and in the afternoon listened to three different speakers. It was really informative and lots of good info.

Friday was just a normal day back at the office, and so was Saturday.

Besides working Saturday from 845 to 315, I woke up bright and early with a plan of running 9 miles. I knew I needed a long run this weekend, and doing it Sunday morning (after attending a bachelorette party) was not an option. I knew I needed to be up and running by 545 at the latest, and when my alarm went off at 530, I was a little suprised to find it was still dark out (that shows you how often I am up that early). I do not have gear for running in the dark, and so I slept for 10 minutes, woke up, and it was still dark. this continued until about 6am and by then I knew I didnt have time for 9 miles, but I could squeeze out 7 for sure. It was a HUMID seven miles, but this longer run felt better than any of my long runs have. I know for sure that if I had had time, I would have done that 9 miles with no trouble (not to say I wasn't tired at the end, but I know I had it in me) and that feeling was awesome.

After work I headed right to Royal Oak to meet up at Shawn's house for her bachelorette party! We hung out at her house for a few hours, played some games, drank some, had Jimmy Johns, etc. Her sisters also arranged for some ...umm..entertainment, shall we say? That was my first encounter with that, and I am super glad that he focused only on Shawn.

Clockwise, starting with Lauren (in the green), Colleen (yes, another Colleen!), me, Krista, Jamie, Sheri, Liz and the bachelorette, Shawn. (Lauren and Krista are Shawn's sisters, and Jamie and Liz are bridesmaids also (Liz is Shawns sister in law))

Shawn and the "entertainer", Nick

At 8pm the limo arrived and we headed out on the town. We went to four different bars through out the evening. We first went to Cowboy Joe's, a country type bar that had a bull you could ride.

Shawn and Lauren on the bull

After that we headed to downtown Detroit. As we were driving around, I could not help but get super excited for the 1/2 marathon. It is less than 3 months away. I saw the shirt design the other day, and I cannot wait to rock that shirt.

ANYWHO, back to the bachelorette party. We went to two different bars downtown (I think they were called Delux, and The Well). I was in charge of making sure Shawn stayed hydrated, and keeping track of her wallet and keys, and I found myself taking the job very seriously. I wanted to make sure she had a great time, and nothing happened that would make the next morning difficult for her (aka lost wallet, lost phone, lost keys, killer hang over...). I think I was mostly successful, so thats pretty good (I do think she had a bit of a hang over this morning, but nothing killer, so thats a win, right?)

A few more pictures from the night:

It was a good night out, and it got me even more excited for Shawn's wedding. This morning I woke up and headed to my parents house for a bit. I talked with my Dad and it was great to hear about how much fun he and my mom had at the Jimmy Buffett concert (My sisters and I got them tickets for his birthday). My mom was over at my sister's new house helping my sisters fiance with that (it basically needs to be gutted and redone completely) and they took a break for lunch and I joined them.

It was good to see so many people this weekend that I dont see as often as I would like to. After leaving there I headed back to Jackson, and made a quick stop at Meijer for some groceries. Headed home with those, got unloaded and then spent some quality pool time with my M-I-L. Shane and I grilled out over at his parents house, and watched the Tigers beat the Twins. The evening was finished out with excellent Sunday night tv (Big Brother, and True Blood) and now here I sit, ready to take on another week.

Shawns bachelorette party marked my last event until her wedding on August 20th. Leading up to that my weeks only consist of work, and no other plans really, and I am very much looking forward to a few relaxing weekends at home.

Now, off to bed. Four miles tomorrow I think :)

PS: Last week I mentioned there was some exciting news but it was not mine to share. Now that this is being shared with others, I will share it here. SHANE JOINED WEIGHT WATCHERS ONLINE!!! I am beyond excited for him. He has already lost 11 pounds in two weeks. I cannot tell you how happy I am that he made this decision. You all know that I am a huge supporter and advocate for Weight Watchers, and I cannot wait to help him with this journey. He is doing an amazing job so far :)

Nighty night!