The Hurricane and My Weekend Recap

Before I get into my weekend, I wanted to touch on Hurricane Sandy.  Charlotte was basically untouched by it, save for cold temperatures and a little drizzle last week, but I do have family members that were directly impacted.  My brother lives in Hoboken, NJ, and he, my sister-in-law, and one-year old niece were at their condo when the storm hit.  When I first checked in with him Monday, they were all just home together waiting it out, but by Tuesday, things had taken a more serious turn.  I didn't get the details til later Tuesday night, but eventually he was able to contact me to tell me how things were going.  Overnight, my brother was up almost every hour to check the water level in their lobby, which reached about four feet.  They are on the second level, and he was worried the water would reach their apartment.  Thankfully, it didn't.  Their parking garage also sits on the ground level of their place, so once the water level receded on Tuesday, they were able to check out the damage and see that their car is most likely totaled from water damage.  They, like so many others, lost power at their apartment.  They had a good amount of food and water, but with my one-year old niece they still worried and felt that getting to somewhere safer was a priority.  Word was that the water needed to be pumped out of Hoboken before the power could be turned back on, and this process might take about six days.  Luckily, my sister-in-law's family was able to come get them and take them to south Jersey for the rest of the week.  Last night I talked to my brother and power has been restored at their building, so he was on his way back to check everything out.  He also spoke of wanting to get back up there to help others in some way too- to try and donate clothing, water, or food if he could.  I spent a good amount of time in the past week watching all the news footage of the events.  I donated to the Red Cross, and also made a clothes donation to a friend's family in need.  It wasn't much, but it was something.  Anyway, my heart goes out to those impacted.  I really can't even imagine even what my brother and family have been through, let alone people who have lost love ones, homes, and even entire towns.  It's really terrible.

I have to say, about the marathon, I am conflicted and feel as many others do- it was probably the right decision, but made at the wrong time.  I can't even imagine traveling all the way to NY, picking up my race bib and getting excited at the expo, and then finding out a race I'd trained months for was called off.  That's terrible and heartbreaking in it's own way.  If you've trained for a marathon, you know the amount of time, suffering, and just general effort that goes into it.  For me it was kind of all I thought about for the months leading up to mine, and I just can't fathom throwing that away.  That's why despite the devastation and obvious need to cancel the race, I still really feel for the runners and think that people that haven't trained for a marathon don't quite understand what those runners are feeling right now and should not be angry with them for feeling the loss.  If it were me, I would definitely do as many NYCM runners have done and find an alternate marathon to run so that my training was used.  It's just a terrible situation all around though.

Anyway, speaking of races, Saturday morning I headed to the Rock and Read 5K, to spectate at a slew of my runner friends participated.

(There's a picture with me and Tanya in it as well if you check Kelly's blog).

I was able to spectate with Tanya, who I have not seen since summer and is now 38 weeks pregnant.  We had a good time discussing our pregnancies while the runners were out on their 3.1 mile loop.  Everyone did great!  Tanya's speedy husband was the first to come barreling through of our group.

Next up were Kelly and Michelle.

And then came Caitlin and Cindi.  This was Cindi's first 5k and she accomplished her goal of not walking at all, despite the reportedly hilly course.

I was proud of all my friends, and a little jealous.  I'll have to find a comeback 5K to do in the spring once I get my bearings after the baby is born :)

A bunch of us followed up the race with breakfast at Bad Daddy's.  Though I've been a bazillion times, breakfast is one meal I have never had there.  I got an omelet with cheddar, applewood bacon, tomato, and spinach, with potatoes, and OJ, which went unphotographed- sorry.

After breakfast I decided to check out a local maternity consignment shop I had heard about, called The Womb.  I scored a cute shirt.  I also did a mall run and found a maternity sweater at Gap Maternity, along with a few Christmas presents for some of my family.  We're doing Christmas early this year, so I need to get a jump on my Christmas shopping!

I was going to spend the afternoon with a little downtime, but then opted to check out a local festival with Sara, her husband, and little Elena.  I again neglected to take any pictures, but it was basically a little street fair with food, drinks, and assorted booths.  I scored some free dog food for Clyde, a Publix giftcard, and a chocolate covered strawberry.

Last but not least, I went to Cowfish for dinner with Jen, Michelle, and Dion, along with spouses, and some strategically placed "dates" for Jen, which kept us entertained all night.  We got the always delicious Crab Rangoon dip and some edame to start.  For dinner, I opted for cooked sushi.  I have only had it a couple times since I got pregnant and it seems to fix my cravings for sushi.  This was was particularly special because the roll is named after Dion (she's a TV news anchor).

A closer look at at the roll...  The Neon Dion Roll

Tempura coconut shrimp, kani and English cucumber roll coated in crispy tempura flakes. Topped with fresh papaya, avocado and Cajun marmalade, and dusted with coconut flakes to finish

So delicious!  We didn't stop there though, we ordered two desserts, which was cool because in my many trips to Cowfish, I have never had dessert there.

We got the Mousse is Loose, which was chocolate heaven...

And the Very Berry Tall Cake... which is lemon poundcake layered with berry and ice cream goodness.

The Mousse is Loose was my favorite of the two, but both were awesome.  The group I was with was truly hilarious.  That's the hardest I have laughed in a while.  Hope the baby didn't mind!

Anyway, I had a great weekend, and after all the action I partook in on Saturday, Sunday was definitely more leisurely.  Hope you had a good weekend too!