Not a creature was stiring, not even a blog.

Current mood:  Feisty with a side of Bllllaaaa.

Not much to talk about tonight..other than....

I did chat with Mr. Bill (If you watched Zombieland...*EFFING*) Murray at work on Monday. He is a member at the wellness center. He came in looking for his trainer and we chatted about the equipment being moved and best of all, his piggy wiggly shirt. He told me its a great color and that it would look good on me!!!
Now that I've had the moment, he is like any other guy that works out there and I won't think of it as quite a big deal! I refuse to get his autograph, take a picture, nor even acknowledge (at big status) him since I would hate for him to have to feel uncomfortable like he can't work out there. I even ponder if  this may be why he moved to Chucktown for sake of confidentiality and the least amount of annoying people that do things like I described.

I remember while living back in the ATL, (because that is what EVERYONE refers to it as)..we were out to eat at California pizza kitchen in Alpharetta.
We had just arrived and our server had come over to apologize for taking such a longwhile to get to us. Usher (as in Usher Raymond, the pop singer) and his pregnant wife (this was three years ago) at the time, were sitting two booths behind us. At one point during our dinner, I had gotten up to use the bathroom and even at this part of the dinner, I noticed a bunch of fans crowding the poor man's table.
They had their phones pulled out (this is before smart phones, mainly razors + flips) and were requesting he partake in the photos they were snapping, all while trying to eat. I'm sorry, I realize that fans are who makes it happen, but honestly..I was ready to send over a round of drinks to his table because I felt so sorry for him. Michael assured me, he was pretty certain Usher need me not send him a pity party of alcohol (although he did say it was a nice gesture). Not to mention, his wife was pregnant (NOT PREGOS...I dislike that reference as well!!!)

So, to be a "celebrity" must be pretty tough.
Which is ironic because some people strive and seek such a lifestyle (think Kate Gosselin...she is just treading water to continue with her acrylics and talk show appearances).

Going back to BM real quick, I have heard from other people (heresay, to say the least) that they have witnessed a majority of other members asking about him within ears' distance. I wouldn't be suprised if he didn't mind it for he seems to be a real nice guy, but I'm sure it gets (or has become rather) old!!!

I wonder if making large sums of money as a celeb weigh out all of the other crap: 
The never ending disruption of fans, being on the go, minimum alone time, having to always run from the papparazi, not being able to take a vacation without someone up your ass, or constantly having to make up stories to "lie"  to get somewhere.  Is $$ really everything???! Another thought to ponder, another blog!

Whereas, I'm starting to learn that being alone (because I just HATE when people refer to it as "me" time)....is precious and happiness is all about having things balanced.  Really, happiness to me includes being free from feeling rushed, or taking a second to be caught up in the moment without interruption.

Take for example, we LOVE being hosts since living at the beach. We love having people come visit, but it seems as though it is turning into Hotel Erickson/Bonds.

Currently the guest list is set at twenty three overnight guests while living here. This 23 is over the course of a whopping 15 months. I have people whom I knew years ago, didn't speak to us the majority of time we lived in GA, but all of a sudden need a vacation at the beach????? Although I am (obviously) NOT a celebrity, I understand and relate to the tornadic lifestyle and even on a small scale. Constantly being in fight or flight mode can certainly turn up the stress receptors.

I hate describing it that way and quite so brash, but at the same time it is excessively exhausting to host that many to spend the night.

There is the whole clean up before they get here. When I was a child, my mother cleaned but never went overboard. I also don't want to give a bad first impression..so we are talking major cleaning such as dusting, straightening, organizing, ridding of clutter, floors, bathrooms (we have three!) etc...you get my point.
Next, when the guests arrive, you have to make sure they feel comfortable, enjoy their stay, have everything they need and you are at their beck and call the most you can be.
Whether or not this includes taking time off from work, waking up earlier then normal (not everyone has the same schedule) or simply expecting baggage of some sort (children, dogs..etc..)......a lot goes into entertaining guests.
I would never say No to anyone (especially family) and perhaps this is my problem (again, not to family). 
Like I said, we really  enjoy having visitors (because at the time of arrival, Michael abstained from work for over 6 months...so it was simple) but at times it is so excessive and overwhelming, it becomes extremely unmanageable. It would be MUCH more manageable once every six months or so. That is a good turnover rate. Not 2 persons/month etc...
I wish I could muster up enough nerve to say the big N word!!!!

My New years resolution was actually to start saying NO!  Do you realize how HARD this is to do???!!!
No excuse, no story, nothing...but a nice big (in a cordial way) NO!
Apparently it is quite liberating!!!!
How many of us feel the need to give a nice explanation after using that word.
I'm talking about using it for anything as well, not just visitors.
In any setting....
You don't want to hurt someone's feelings, step on toes, be labeled etc....
It's going to be tough, but I'm going to do it.



NO.



Say it again ; NOOOOOO


Don't worry, I'm not going to get all yoga-like (not that there is anything wrong with that!!!) nor will I start quoting lines out of a book. Shoot me your thoughts....what would you recommend to me for sharing a way to people when you have to decline an offer. Any offer....





Ok, enough of the bitching already.......such a somber tone in this blog already... what the hell??!

Some local events coming and going:

After a night of hard work followed by a weekend of Charleston "marathoning",
(No, I most certainly did not run) things have started to settle down.

Oh and speaking of marathon....here are some stats:

Technically, it was the first Charleston marathon put on (by the famous : Howard Schomer + friends) in over 20 years.
Whereas, there was a similar race last year, but it was referred to as the Riverfront race. They slipped somewhere on a news cast article I had heard after this most recent race and called it the "Riverfront race". I picked up on it!


...Feel free to check out the link for next year or at least to read about it.
 link: http://charlestonmarathon.com/

I spoke to a bunch of people who were from out of town.  I learned a lot by volunteering at the expo. I know in my next life, I will definitely work in a specialty field that involves working alone.
I may be good in customer service, but I'm pretty burnt out!!!
Some of the out-of-towners even seemed to know everything about this area already. I remember one  male in particular on the day of the race. He knew precisely how "cold" or "warm" it gets here and was ARGUINGING with someone who eventually gave him the last word..This was his first time to Charleston. What's wrong with this picture???

This amuses me because these last two winters ('10 + '11) have been uncommonly cold according to the locals.  I recall another guy that was running the full on Saturday and he swore that once he hits the battery (or basically, the point of the peninsula) to begin the race, that it would WARM up because it was down by the ocean. A native quickly corrected him by mentioning this was inaccurate due to the ocean wind.  Not to mention, she was a native from one of the islands. She will know. I would love for people to get off their "high horse" and start acting like it's the real world!
Let's end on a happy note:
I did receive a few (separate) happy appreicatings from people that ran the 1/2 and full and who recognized us for volunteering and wouldn't stop thanking us!!!.


Another GINORMOUS local event coming up soon:

The Cooper River Bridge Run (CRBR)
I do not plan on running it this year. I had a good time doing it last year, but ultimately it was too congested and much too crowded.
Unfortunately, I was unprepared and didn't know much of anything.
Even the expo was pretty populated!
I will partake in such activities if  I am invited into the press truck!
That would be exciting!

CRBR link:

http://www.bridgerun.com/


After all said and done....my main focus is to purchase a car. Perhaps I can start writing blogs and request sponsors to acrue $$ that way. Great idea....


 The moral of the story (for tonight) is to say NO more often and start thinking of ways for me to utilize my "special" time. Gainingg peers and working as a team will certainly be of big help!!!!

Time foe a quick snack (hungry) and then off to the sleep number....Alas, ZZZzzzzzs