On Friday night, Nelson hurried home from work to come get me for the Boys & Girls Club of Austin Annual Gala. RetailMeNot had sponsored a table, and the GM of Gift Cards asked Nelson if we wanted to go. I don't think it's exactly what he wanted to do on a Friday night after a tiring week, but we never go to stuff like this, so it'd be a fun experience - plus I was pretty sure the food would be on point. So we dolled up (Nelson in his suit and me in a big dress with high waisted belt to accentuate the pregnant belly versus Pad Thai lunch) and headed to the Hyatt Regency. A couple highlights / things I took with me from the night:
- Before it started in the ballroom, we were all hanging out in the Silent Auction space in the foyer. There were Boys & Girls Club kids dressed up and talking to attendees, sharing their experiences with the club and how it's impacted their life. Cue the waterworks from the pregnant girl. Nelson asked if I wanted to talk to them and of course I could not because my tears would probably turn to sobs. Ugh.
- Rich people don't stop talking for programs to start. It was kind of sad how many times Jim Spencer, the emcee, had to get people to tap their glasses to get others to stop talking. Rude.
- Never wear a belt that is fitted and just-not-snug to something where you'll eat a lot, especially when you know your belly grows after eating. That belt couldn't come off fast enough (read: before we were even in the parking garage).
- From the live auction and paddle donating alone, almost $500,000 was raised for the Boys & Girls Club of Austin, which was so amazing in itself. It was great being around so many selfless people who were dropping $13,000 on a trip to France at the drop of a hat.
Saturday was pretty much reserved for errands: Old Navy, Target, HEB, Warby Parker. You get the gist.
Sunday morning, we woke up early to head downtown for Run For The Water. This is an annual 10 mile and 5k run that The Gazelle Foundation hosts. Each registration provides 1 person in Burundi, Gilbert's home, clean water for life. I knew I was already pregnant when I registered, so Sarah (also pregnant) and I did the 5k. We headed over to the start together, took some pictures, went potty, and got ready to run!
It was so different from all other races we do: we weren't insistent on getting up to the front to avoid all the walkers and neither of us was wearing a watch (or even looked at the race clock when starting). We were running this purely for fun! Nelson, our cheerleader, was there at the end to support us through the finish :)
We chatted the whole race, mostly about pregnancy and baby stuff, made sure we didn't trip, and didn't even notice the time when we crossed haha :) Nelson looked it up later and we ended up running a 31:43 5k, a 10:10 pace. Definitely not what we're used to, but those tummies are new to us, too. The whole point of races is to have fun, and we definitely did! And it's also a good feeling knowing a couple people in Burundi now have clean water for life <3
