Napoleon Exhibit (Friday Five Edition)

For my parents birthday (they both have a birthday on the same day) last month we celebrated by going to dinner at Amuse which is in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and then see the new exhibit about Napoleon. 


Since it was my dad's 80th birthday, I wanted to surprise him with a bunch of balloons that said "Happy 80th Birthday".  It turns out that I couldn't take them in the museum with me.  So I had to run back to my car and leave them there.  Dinner was amazing as usual.  We love going there for dinner.  After dinner I told my mom that I would take the presents that I had given them and put them in her car.  With my hands full I went to the parking garage and to the top floor to their car.  I went down 3 levels to my car to get the balloons.  Then back up three flights to their car to put the balloons in their car.  Wow that was exhausting.

After dinner we went to visit the Napoleon exhibit.  This was a very interesting exhibit.  I never knew much about Napoleon except he was short, always stuck his hand in his jacket, and tried to take over a lot of Europe.

There were a lot of paintings.

And more paintings. 


And clothing that was featured in paintings.


And the hat.


It also had a lot of explanation and history throughout the exhibit.  I felt like I learned more that evening then I had in some of my history classes.  They even had an Emperor's seat where it videoed you and put your image on the wall like a painting.

Me in the chair.

Me and my dad watching the video of us, which was used to project our image on the wall.


My dad in the fake painting on the wall.


The VMFA always brings very interesting exhibits to Richmond.  I'm glad we were able to see this one.

Do you have a favorite or memorable exhibit that you have seen at a museum? 

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Weekly Update (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

It's been a crazy week for me!

Monday I was supposed to run before work but it rained.  I even saw snow flakes in the air as I drove to work.  I don't run when it rains and it's below 50 degrees.  Too miserable.

Someone at my work has gotten a standing desk.  I was going to wait till I was full time to ask about it, but she said that she could get one, but the company wouldn't pay for it.  I had a standing desk for years and loved it, so I checked Amazon just to see what they had.  I wasn't planning on buying one right away, but I found one that had a 25% coupon.  That deal was too good to pass up.  It arrived Monday and got it all set up.  Love it!

Tuesday I went to my FT class at the gym.  Just a normal class.

I got a call the day before from my eye doctor who said that I was going to have to reschedule my May appointment I made last year.  Either I could go Tuesday to the office across town or wait till the end of June.  Since my contacts have been crazy dry, I opted to go on Tuesday.  I schlepped across town in the middle of the day for my appointment.  He has me trying new daily contacts (my last ones were monthlies).  These are of the latest technology and a lot more expensive then the ones I've had for years.  We will see how they work for me.

That evening I went to a meetup for those that do the same thing I do.  I don't know if they have it for other industries, but in IT there are monthly meetups for everything from .Net to SQL to Networking.  Mine is about the Agile community.  Each month there is a different speaker to discuss different aspects of the community.  The topic interested me, and while I didn't feel like I learned anything new, it made me feel better that I was on the right track.  I also saw someone there from my last job.  It was interesting to catch up and hear what's happening over there now.

Wednesday I got out and did my 5 mile run.  It was around freezing again and I wore my new fleece tights I had gotten a couple weeks ago and it hasn't been cold enough when I ran to wear.  I was worried that the waist was a little loose and I'd just spend the run pulling them up, but it never did that.  They also had a draw string that helped as well.  These are definitely a keeper.

While my knees started feeling better on my runs last week, Wednesday it felt tight again.  No sharp pain to make me stop running, but it nagged at me the whole run.  I probably shouldn't have done the full 5, but I haven't been running much lately and felt like I needed to get them in.  I had a PT appointment that evening and he worked a bit on the same area as last week and found some interesting spots around the same place, but on the outside of the leg.

Wednesday night I had another bad night's sleep.  I hadn't been able to sleep through the night and am up for 2-4 hours in the middle of the night.  My mind is just racing so much that it wakes me up and I can't get it to stop to be able to fall back asleep, even with all my little tricks.  I still dragged myself to the gym for my class.

With the Ukrop's 10k on Saturday the Expo is held Thursday and Friday with no packet pickup the day of the race.  I headed there after work on Thursday.  They had changed venues and I had to go across town to get there.  I understand why they changed venues as the race has grown and where they normally have it, there isn't enough parking.


Of course I got there after work with most people, and I knew it would be a pain to get in and park.  I have done several events there and knew that there was plenty of parking.  What I didn't understand was, with several entrances, why they had the cars come in where people had to cross the traffic to get into the building.  So there was a lot of stopping to wait for pedestrians as well as when you were walking to the building a lot of waiting for cars to pass.  That could have been done a lot better.

The expo itself looked identical from the last venue.  I got my bib, shirt, and shuttle ticket.  I ran into a running friend and said hello.  I didn't see anything interesting at the official merchandise section.  And all the other booths were the same.  I dropped off a pair of used sneakers.  Looked to see if anyone had my shoes with a good discount (they didn't).  And then I couldn't find my way out!  This was not a very big Expo, just everything was high enough not to see any doors.  And there were no signs for exits.  I asked a volunteer and he pointed me in a direction.  I still couldn't find it and eventually after looking around a corner I saw a door.  I was free!

Thursday night was another horrible nights sleep.  It even got to the point where I just got up and started getting things ready for the race on Saturday.  Awake for another 3 hours in the middle of the night and falling back asleep just in time for the alarm to go off.

Friday I did get up for my run.  It was now in the mid 50's which meant shorts and a shirt.  So different from Monday and Wednesday.  I wanted to get another 5 miles in, but I told myself that if my knee hurt I would stop.  And if it was tight I would only do 3 miles.  Within the first 100 feet it was tight, just like it was on Wednesday.  So 3 miles it was.  As I was heading round to finish the second mile I kept thinking of the fact I had a 10k the next day and a weekend of running next weekend.  I looped around the block and called it quits at 2 miles.  This close to races I'd rather rest then get the miles in that I need and hurt myself further.

That afternoon I had to take my old lady cat to the vet for more blood work.  While a month ago we found her kidneys are doing wonderful, her liver numbers were very low.  She doesn't act like a cat that has something wrong, as she has just been her normal self.  The vet has her on a daily pill and wanted to see how the numbers were as well as check her thyroids.  Well the pill was helping and the issues is definitely her thyroid.  So she doesn't have to take the daily pill anymore, but has a daily liquid now.  We will be back in a month to see how that is doing.


After the vet I dropped her off and headed downtown to meet my parents for dinner.  We have a yearly subscription to local plays around the city.  This play was Romeo & Juliet and it was at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which also has a really good restaurant in it.  We had a good dinner and a wonderful bottle of wine.  We were taking our time as we thought the play started at 8 and by the time we made our way down a little after 7:30 we found that it did start at 7:30.  Thankfully the people there know us and there were no assigned seats so we made our way down the side to some vacant seats.  I've seen this play many times, but I have to say the lead actors were very good.  And looked very young.

Saturday morning I got up and headed down to the Ukrop's 10k.  I met up with friends before the race.  I ran it on my own and while it was very hot, I felt very strong for the whole race.  My knee was a little tight the whole time, but nothing like it was Wednesday or Friday on my training runs.  There might be hope for the knee next weekend.  We all met up after the race for brunch and to catch up with everyone. 


I went home and showered and took a nice nap.  After a long week, a hot race, and a few mimosas at brunch I really needed it.  Then I went out to dinner with a friend.

Sunday I did nothing!  Well I did get my laundry done, but really that was about it.

See what a busy week I had?  I get to turn around and do it all over again, but this time heading down to Florida for a runDisney race weekend.  I'm going to need some time off when I get home just to rest from these last couple of weeks.

How was your week?  Did you run the Ukrop's 10k?  Was it hot or what?  Have you seen Romeo and Juliet before?

I am linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!

Christmas in Denver (Friday Five Edition)

Before I get into my Friday Five, I wanted to take a quick moment to share my sadness for Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds.   Carrie Fisher is best known for her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars.  She was a princess but could kick some ass.  Princess Leia was a role model for girls before the Lora Crofts or Katniss Everdeen.  She was a Princess that did more then wait for her Prince to save her.  Carrie Fisher was also an advocate for those with mental illness.  May she rest in peace.

So it's been a busy week.  We spent Christmas with family in Denver and had a good time.  I grew up here but moved to Virginia when I was 12. I've only been back once and that was 20 years ago. So I only remember a few things. But as we go around town I am getting flashbacks.  Here are five things that we did.

1. On Friday we went to the History Colorado Museum. It was a very fun museum to visit. They had a special exhibit about awkward family photos. You know those pictures you have on the wall which you wish you could hide in the attic so company would never see?  A bunch of those that just make you laugh.


They also had a bunch of things about Colorado that reminded me of my childhood. Like the Barrel Man. He would wear this barrel and hat (and nothing else). On a $10 bet Tim McKernan was supposed to get on TV. To do this he wore this outfit and won. He then continued to do this for every game for 30 years. No matter how cold.



2. We went to dinner at Casa Bonita. 

 

This place I totally remembered and it hasn't changed a bit. This place is a Mexican restaurant that has a tons of entertainment. They have shows like gun fights, magic shows, and diving.  

 

If you have never been there, it's kinda hard to describe.  South Park had done an episode about it that captures it pretty well.  I think it was the one thing I remembered best from my childhood in Denver.


3. I did a 10 mile run through downtown Denver.  I started at the Coors Field, the ballpark for the Rockies.



I then headed down to the 16th Street Mall which is about 1 1/4 miles long.



I then headed down to City Park, which is a very big park that includes the Zoo, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and even a golf course.  

 

I didn't realize it during my run, but the high school that my dad graduated from was right across the street from the park.  And then I headed back the same way back to Coors Field. 


4. On Christmas Day we ventured out in wind gusts of 70-75 MPH and went to Black Hawk.  It's a place where there are a ton of casinos.  We hung out and I lost money, my Aunt won and then we ate free at their all you can eat buffet.

5. We ventured into the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which I had ran by a couple of days before.  I didn't think I had been there before, but there were a few things that I remembered.  The outside of the IMAX.  The growling sabertooth donation display.



The animal dioramas.



I didn't remember the exhibit, but they had a really cool dinosaur exhibit. 

Bonus - I know it's only Friday Five, not Friday Six, but I wanted to add the last place we went.  The Old Spaghetti Factory.  It is another restaurant that has not changed a bit since I was last there 30 years ago.



Did you go anywhere for Christmas?  Have you ever been to Denver?  Do you try to run when on vacation to see different sights?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0