mini-reunion 2006

abby and janelle spent the weekend here in florida. yep, mega-mini-reunion kami kaya medyo nawala ako sa blogs at emails. =)

Tuesday
abby arrived tuesday night. je and i picked her from the airport, and since there's no A&W resto in NY, we had dinner there, and spent the rest of the night watching AI and Jeopardy. impressed din si abby with my hubby, he answered a lot of items eh. hehehe! what can i say, i'm one proud wifey! ;-)

Wednesday
abby and i went to the Florida Aquarium. je wasn't able to join us coz he doesn't have any vacation leave credits left, and the few ones he's earning, he's saving for when my family will be here.

after the aquarium, we drove around Tampa area to check the marathon's route on sunday. we got lost! =P but we got home in one piece, thank goodness!

Thursday
Universal Studios in Orlando!!! abby and i went to the Island of Adventure park. grabe, we took every cent's worth of the ticket that we paid for... we went to every freakin' ride in the park! well, almost every adrenalin-pumping, heart-stopping ride. the only "subtle" ride we took was the carousel. it has been almost 15 years since i last had a carousel ride. it was fun!

Friday
janelle arrived early in the morning. abby and i picked her up from the airport, then we had breakfast in a little cozy cafe in the middle of bustling downtown Tampa.

then we went to the Convention Center to pick up abby's number for the marathon. we got home a little past lunch time, so after taking lunch, we had siesta. =P when we woke up, abby and janelle decided to have their nails done. so off they went.

we (abby, janelle, je and me) then had dinner at Roadhouse grill, it was heavenly! i looooved my 12 ounces flat-iron steak. =D when we were finally able to stand up, hehehe, we went cosmic bowling somewhere nearby with je's bros, Levin, Chris, and Chris' friend, Sean. we also had a couple of billiards match. janelle wanted to try the dance-revo thing, but the spotlight made her chicken out. hehehe! =P

we wrapped up the night with coffee and some of the free yeast bread from Roadhouse grill. pan de sal! yum yum!

Saturday
all four of us were still a little sleepy when we left for the Clearwater Beach. the weather was perfect for beach, but not one of us wanted to swim. hehehe! so we just went to the beach, ate ice cream, people-watched and took pics. =P abby and janelle tried the bunjee trampoline. i didn't have the energy to do it, and i'm a little afraid of "bouncing heights", so i passed on that one. je and i had a great time laughing at, errr, i mean, laughing with janelle and abby, especially.

close to 4pm, we left the beach to hear mass. well, what can i say about the mass, uhmmm, 90% of the people who heard mass were senior citizens. hehehe!

after the mass, we went to St. John's Pass, where janelle splurged money to buy souvenirs for her lee. =D i thought she went panic buying, but i later learned that that's her normal shopping spree. hehehe!

to give abby the carbo load she needed for the marathon the next day, we had dinner at this nice italian place, Carrabbas. the food was great, which makes up for the 30 minutes wait time although we already have a phone-in reservation. the place was busy! but we were busier coz we called up Lhaila to make chika. =P we spent 40 minutes passing the phone to each other, and lhaila willingly obliged to feed us with the latest chismis. hehe! i wouldn't disclose much here, anybody interested, send me an email. =P

to wrap the night up, we went to walmart to buy a balloon and some safety pins. pins for abby's number, and the balloon, for our marker. we figured there will be a lot of people watching the marathon, so to give abby an idea on where we are, we'll use the floating balloon like a kite. =D smart eh?

Sunday
we woke up before the rooster cocked, and was in Tampa before 6am. while abby starts at the marathon, janelle, je and i were sleeping in the car after a McDo breakfast. hehehe! 8am came and we went to "position" at the 8th (?) mile marker. as soon as we got there, before we could even catch our breath, abby came rushing towards us, handing us her shirt. geeez, we have to take a pic of her! since she wouldn't stop, we have to RUN WITH her! je sprinted ahead and took a couple of shots. we were laughing our asses off, because we were the only non-marathon participants running on the sidewalk! imagine what we have to go through to take a pic! =P

when it was close to 10am, we headed to "position" near the finish line and waited. it was windy, and our balloon did not cooperate when it loosened itself from the rail where we tied it. it floated away, which means abby will have a hard time locating us, since the balloon is nowhere to be found.

and true enough, abby didn't see us when she crossed the finish line. good thing we were at a nice area, we were able to take a video of her crossing the line, after running for a little more than 4 straight hours! she had a real nasty blister on her "pinky toe", but other than that, she was fine.

we had lunch at a Thai place, and afterwards, we headed to the airport to drop off janelle. we had coffee at the airport starbucks and waited for janelle's boarding time to come. and then she was gone, and then there were three. =P

we spent the rest of the late afternoon and night sleeping, eating and watching TV. i can't imagine je and i were more exhausted than abby, when she was the one who ran the 26.2 miles non-stop!

Monday
well, i dropped off abby at the airport, just 45 minutes before her flight. she was just in time to check-in her baggage, grab a copy of the Tampa Tribune newspaper, and board. she called me 4 hours later and she was already back in NY. she said she finished 30th among 1000+ runners within her age bracket of the 26.2 miles marathon. that was something! =P

and although marathons are nice, i think i will stick to cheering from the sidewalk than actually run. i will find other ways to prove my patience, perserverance and determination. =P way to go abby!

until next reunion...