Lost Weekend

Last weekend, I did the opposite of being healthy. I participated in an awesome event called Lost Weekend.

It is called thus because by the end you have no idea what day it is and where your weekend went. I drove 4+ hours to Winchester, VA to watch 20 films in one weekend. Yes, TWENTY films! The local film club at the Alamo Theater put on this event and a friend of mine invited me. Though I was worried about not being able to walk because of my back after sitting for more than 40 hours, I went for all 20 films. And I'm so glad I did. They were awesome. All independent films, including a couple of animated and some foreign films. Some were ones that I would not ordinarily watch on my own, but turned out to be do good.

First film called The Lobster. Yes that is a Lobster bib and a Lobster Costume.

At The Alamo they serve food, not just popcorn and nachos, but actual food. Which I loved. We don't have one of those, but I wish we did.  But I ate the most unhealthy options all weekend! It began with Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes with a side of fruit on Friday morning (which I then had on both Saturday and Sunday because they were so good), the popcorn (of course) with unlimited refills (awesome!), turkey club, some cheese fries, and then some mozzarella sticks and fries. I had a pizza at some point as well. It was all kind of blur. But it's obvious that I went to town. Afterwards the bad eating kind of reminded me of eating while by myself. It was okay to eat all that junk because it was dark and no one could see me. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, including the Makers Mark Milkshakes that I had! But I just wonder if I would have chosen differently if I hadn't been in a dark theater. One thing is for sure, my legs and feet did not thank me for all of the salt! My feet were quite swollen by Sunday. I did a lot of stretching and used a pillow for my back though, so I was actually okay on that front. I did take some ibuprofen a couple of times when I started to feel stiff. 

We got crowns for watching all twenty! They will also have a small gathering with food where people can buy the next tickets early if they watched all twenty which was cool. I got some great swag as well. Including a cloth bag, a wine glass (with a sample of wine), candy, and coupons. Here is a list of what we saw:
Thursday
The Lobster
Friday
The Vanished Elephant
Macbeth
Where to Invade Next (Michael Moore Documentary)
45 Years (really good)
Wild Tales
Nina Forever
Men and Chicken (probably one of my favorite strangely)
Saturday
Boy and The World (Animated)
A Tale of Tales (another favorite)
An Honest Liar
Sea Fog
Louder Than Bombs
Monster Hunt (Animated, so cute)
Victoria
Sunday
Youth  (Really Good)
Mustang (Another good one)
Men Go To Battle
Carol (Fantastic)
Liza The Fox-Fairy (This one was funny, but I was happy it was a Hungarian film, since I lived there!)

There were a few Oscar Nominees in the line up which was fun. We went to a small Oscars party after the last movie on Sunday. It was nice knowing at least some of the movies that were nominated, haha.

Yesterday I did another thing that I've been wanting to do. My nephew, niece, sister and I went to an Indoor Climbing Gym. It's been open a few weeks. I don't have a lot of upper arm strength so I was a little nervous to try it, but it was a lot of fun. My nephew only tried it once, but made it about half-way up the wall. The wall goes about 35 feet up and there were endless variations. There are different color variations to follow with different levels of how hard it is. We of course tried some of the beginner ones. My niece and I both made up all the way on one of the easiest sections, but only about half way one the slightly harder one, haha! We both liked it and definitely will go again. Maybe my sister will try it next time. The belayers (those who hold the rope and kept us from killing ourselves) were really friendly and encouraging of us newbies!

After getting shaky from climbing we enjoyed some hot drinks there and played a board game of 'Would you Rather'. It was a fun little night and the kids really enjoyed it.

My sister and I also tried making soap for the first time. I've started using Essential Oils (DoTerra Brand) and we decided to give it a go. The first batch turned out pretty well. We used Melaleuca (Tea Tree Oil), Frankincense, and Lemongrass. I think it will help with dry skin. We also used a Shea Butter base which should help with dry skin. We bought the supplies for it at Hobby Lobby. It was rather easy and kind of fun!

Today I enjoyed a nice trail run with ol' pup. It was a really nice day out and we had a good time in the mud. Did three miles today with lots of sniffing stops.

The annual AmazingRace that I have tried to do most years in Tennessee is coming up the first of May. I would really like to get my 5K time down closer to 30 minutes like it used to be. I'm not sure there is enough time, with only about 8 weeks left, but I think I will try. I'll have to look if there are any plans that are short enough. But I'm hoping if I buckle down, add speed work and more strength training that I can get close. I would have to really improve in those eight weeks though. My last 5K was around 35 minutes! If I don't reach it then, maybe that will be a good goal for the coming summer.

Well I should get packing, I'm off to Washington, DC for work tomorrow!