Looooooong Weekend Update

Long referring to the fact that I had 4 days off.  Not at all related to the length of the post.  Although with 4 days to recap no promises!!

Thursday - Finally got my kitchen cleaned up and a little laundry one.  Then it was off to Sam's Club to stockpile and pick up the world's largest jug of laundry detergent.

Friday - A run, some house cleaning, and then Jay & I headed to the University town to pick out tile and fixtures for our bathroom remodel.  We came home empty handed, but I think we got a great idea what we were looking for.

After our shopping was complete, we headed to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse to enjoy our belated anniversary dinner.

We took our signature arms-length photo and headed in for one of the most expensive meals of my life.  Wanna see what $151 worth of food looks like?  (Tip not included)

Caesar salad and a glass of Guinness

T-Bone steak, shoestring fries, 2 more Guinness, a filet, mashed potatoes, and a glass of red wine.

The world's tiniest cheesecake with raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry garnish

with chocolate pecan bark on the side.

We had the waiter snap a picture of us with the river front in the background then we headed home.  I had to get up early the next morning for a long run (don't tell on me for the glass of wine 'kay?) and Jay put on a documentary that had him snoozing before 9 o'clock! 

Saturday - Woke up at 4:30 for my long run.  Jay told me that it would take 2 hours to get to Cades Cove from my house.  When I arrived in the park - this is what greeted me:

Due to the lack of traffic on the Parkway, I had arrived an hour early, before the picnic area or loop road was even open yet.  Thankfully the campground bathrooms were open, so I got to take care of business before heading out to my run.

I brought my new camera along (an anniversary gift) to see how annoying it would be in the pocket of my jacket.  I want to get pictures of Disney, but didn't want to bring it along without knowing how it would feel.

Most of the pictures were taken early on in the run, before the hills had sapped my energy.  Before I questioned if I had enough to finish 26.2 miles at Disney.  (The rest are on Facebook if you want to check them out.)

After my run I caught a quick nap then met my parents along with the Princess and Little Man to head to Dollywood.  They have their Christmas lights up now and this past week was only a $5 entrance fee for residents.

Sunday - All of my dad's  brothers and sisters met up for lunch - there are 8 of them (including my dad) still living.   As per my standard, I took a to-go plate so that I could cart off some of the best mac & cheese ever.  My cousin makes a big pot and uses a box and a half of Velveeta!  Since the Princess and LM were with us, I had a run for my money on the mac & cheese, but there was still plenty left over for me to have for leftovers this week.

Then it was time to take the kids back to my sister and BIL.  We met at a restaurant, but since we were still so full from lunch we just got salad (I boxed half up and will be eating it for lunch today) and soup.

THE END

Is it any wonder I'm still exhausted 2 days later??