November Thankfulness - Installment 4

I'm back again for another installment.

Day 7:
I'm thankful for a reliable car to get me where I need to be and in comfort too.  I used to drive everywhere; then I met Keith, and he started doing all the driving, well most of it anyway.  When I went back to school it was a bit of an adjustment driving 30 miles one way to school nearly twice a week, so with that commute, plus all my other errands around town, I'm thankful for a reliable car with a working radio and comfort amenities.  Bonus thankful, it's fully paid for. 

Day 8:
Vacation days, because let's face it, working full time, isn't always the most fun all the time.  They are sanity savers, especially when spent with darling little boys.

Day 9:
I'm thankful for pie.  More specifically my ability to bake pie, don't get me wrong, I love to eat pie too.  I find something soothing about baking.  It's great stress relief.  Four pies last night, made me feel satisfied. 

Day 10:
Today, I'm thankful for music.  I drove home from school tonight with the radio loud.  I sang along loudly, and that made me happy.

Half Marathon Race Photos

These photos were taken prior to the race.  I didn't stick around long enough after for any photo evidence of it.  I didn't want any photo evidence of that finish. 

My friend Lisa, who finished in 2:09:20!

Stomp the Grapes Half Marathon

I ran participated in my first half marathon Saturday.

The plan was to run it, and I did for part of it, but I couldn't sustain it.

The week before the race, both my kids came down with some kind of cold and a nasty cough.  Being the loving, sharing family that we are; I also came down with said cold.  I could feel it starting for the week, so I took extra precautions and took vitamin c everyday, went to bed early, washed my hands like crazy, and I kept it at bay.  Or at least I thought I was.  I might have been in denial about the significance of it, but it is certainly better than more colds I've had.

I knew it would make the race a bit harder, but I certainly didn't anticipate how awful it would be. 

My first mile was faster than it should have been at just under 10 minutes, so I consciously slowed down.  I managed to run the first 7 miles with my planned walk breaks every two miles, plus the water stops that didn't align because I can't drink on the run. 

Somewhere in the seventh mile, I lost my running groove.  I ran the whole 11th mile, but other than that it was mostly walking, with some spurts of running. 

So many thoughts went through my head.  A short list of them is below.

• Should I or should I not call my husband to come pick me up?  (I did not.)
• I may never run again.
• Why do I run?  THIS SUCKS!
• I think I could be happy fat.  
• I trained so hard to suck this much!?
• Why can't I see people behind me anymore?

I did a lot of watch checking the last bit too, because I wanted to finish in three hours, even with the walking.  Mainly because I vaguely remember them saying something about opening traffic back up around the 3 hour mark, but I didn't pay attention because I assumed I'd be done by then.  Clearly, I needed to learn that lesson!

I finished in 2:56:53.  I was 598th of 620 finishers.  That certainly didn't go as planned. 

I felt awful by the time I finished, and was ready to go immediately.  You know it's a bad race when I didn't even stick around for the wine.  I wanted to go home.

To add salt to the wound of my ego for the race, we ate at IHOP on the way home, and I forgot my race bib there.  I realized it when I got home and nearly cried.  I'm obsessive about collecting my bibs, writing my times on them, and hanging them together in my bedroom.  Now my collection is not complete, and of my first half marathon race. 

It's taken me a few days to be able to write this post.  I was still disappointed in my results Monday at work; it didn't help that all my co-workers wanted to know how it went. 

I'm still feeling bad with this cold, which is worse now.  I haven't ran since either, but it's only been a few days.  What my running plans are next, I have no idea.

I'll post a pre-race picture soon too.

November Thankfulness - Installment 2

I'm back for the second installment of November Thankfulness!

Day 3:

I'm thankful for the opportunity to attend graduate school for my MBA with the support of my family.  Wrapped up in this are so many things to be thankful for, not the least of which is my husband who is so encouraging and supportive of what I'm doing and picking up extra work at home to help out too. I wouldn't be able to do it without him. I'm thankful for the financial resources and the ability to fund my schooling. I'm thankful for the intelligence and skills to be able to complete the program. Although, I suppose I could be getting a little ahead of myself there as I haven't seen my first semester grades or made it far enough to be certain when I'll finish; regardless, I'm thankful for the opportunity to try.

Day 4:

Today I'm thankful for TJ Maxx. Strange? Perhaps, but today, it's true. A good college friend of mine, Robin, introduced me to it a few years ago near her home in New York state. After that I found some back home and when I travel, and I love them! They've introduced me to dresses, which are much easier to shop for than pants. Now, especially in the summer, I'm a big fan of dresses. I've never had a store where I can shop for so much in one place that I've liked so well; I leave with a smile on my face and less money in my bank account.
Tonight, I will spend some time there with a friend for an evening of spaghetti and shopping. With a quick stop at another favorite, Target.
Stay tuned for the next installment!

November Thankfulness

For the month of November, I was thinking about making a list throughout the month.  I hadn't mustered up the motivation to put it down on paper screen.  Then I read this post from Melissa, and here I am. 

So, because it is unrealistic for me to remember to write a post every day about what I'm thankful for the whole month.  My goal is to write them semi-regularly with a few items in each post.

Day 1:
I spent the first day of November as a vacation day.  Keith and I both took two days off over the course of the month.  We picked separate days, and each of the days will be spent with one of the boys.  That's right, one will stay in day care while we have solo time with the other.

Yesterday was Caleb day for me. 

I'm thankful for Caleb time, and the ability to take time off to spend one-on-one with my kids. 

We started out our day dropping Caden off at school and saying hi to his friends and teachers at his request.  Then we headed into Medina for Main Street Cupcakes!  My champagne and berries cupcake was amazing.  We spent the rest of the morning at the library before heading to lunch at a local drive-in, where our car battery died and my mom had to come rescue us with jumper cables.  After that excitement, we spent the afternoon at home in the basement watching movies and cartoons. 

Day 2:
Today I'm thankful for a job that is flexible enough to allow me to work from home on days when we have sick kids.  The kids both have awful colds, and Caden had a fever last night, so we kept them both home today for some extra rest to kick this cold to the curb.  I'm thankful my job is flexible enough to allow me the freedom to be here for my kids when they need me without loosing precious vacation time!

I'll be back soon with more thankfulness!

First Day of Preschool - 2011-2012 School Year

Better late then never right?

September 9, 2011

Caleb, Daddy and Caden

Caden, Mommy and Caleb

Things sure have changed in a year!

Halloween & Christmas

The boys have already started asking for things for Christmas.

While I'm home working on a paper for graduate school today.  Hubby took the boys into town to run errands.

I received and email from hubby while I'm working away.

Subject: "This is what Caleb wants for Christmas."

Content:

A year ago this costume terrified both of those boys.  We were at a Halloween party last year that scared them so much we couldn't be in the same room as the werewolf at the part.  This year, they want to be the werewolf.  Time sure does change things!