November Thankfulness - Installment 6

Well, I got a bit behind in my Thankfulness this week.  I've been really tired lately; we'll say it's the change of seasons.  It's turning to winter here and getting that chill in the air!  But I'm back for another installment!

 

Day 13:

I'm thankful for blessings in disguise from God.  I may not have become a mother the traditional way, but I'm still a mother.  And my boys, they have two Moms.  My heart breaks for them and the challenges they will face in understanding their unique situation, but things could be worse, a lot worse.  So I'm thankful for my boys and our situation because we are safe, happy and loved.

 

Day 14:

I'm thankful for my Dad.  The 14th was his 59th birthday.  I've always been a daddy's girl, and that hasn't changed over the years. 

 

Day 15:

I'm thankful for my mom.  The 15th was her 54th birthday.  My mom has helped us out a lot with our little family, and for that, we are very grateful. 

 

Day 16:

A few days late, but I'm thankful for Caden time.  I spent a full day with just Caden as I had done earlier with Caleb.  Caden and I too had cupcakes from the cupcake bakery before heading to the library.  Only this time, we went to our small town library, which I actually preferred.  There were less people and actually some people we knew.  Granted that comes with a smaller selection, but we still have access to everything in the larger library as well.  I think we'll be back for future visit to our library!  We headed to lunch then where we at at the "tall seats" at the lunch counter per his request.  We did a few shopping things then to wait until Puss in Boots started that afternoon!  Caden wanted to go to the pet store to pick outa  new toy for our dog, Belle.  And another store to pick a Christmas present out for his brother.  He's so sweet, I melt!  It was a great day of fun, and something I look forward to doing again with both boys.

 

Day 17:

I'm thankful for a job that is flexible.  They understand the importance of family and work/life balance and make the stress of being a full time working mom easier.  Hats off to you companies who understand!

 

Day 18:

I'm thankful no one was hurt last weekend when we hit a deer on our way home.  I'm also thankful for a brother-in-law who fixed the car up for us to pick up today. 

Photo

This photo makes me smile. 

November Thankfulness - Installment 5

Day 11:
I am thankful for our Veterans.  I am thankful for the families that support them.  I am thankful for our freedom they protect.

Day 12:
I'm thankful for my dear friend Lisa.  Today, she moves 7 hours away out of state.  While we are sad to see her go, I am happy for her to open another chapter in her life. 

Laundry

I switched a laundry before I went to be one night this week.

Keith was downstairs playing video games, so before heading upstairs to bed, we had this brief conversation:

Me: I know I'm going to ask you this, and I know you're going to say yeah sure, I can do that.  I also know that I'm going to wake up in the morning and have to do it myself, but I'm going to ask you anyway.  Can you put switch the load of laundry when the washer and dryer are done?

Him:  With a slightly confused look on his face.  Yeah, sure, I can do that.  His comment was followed by awkward laughter, which to me indicated I was right.


Me:  Yeah, I've heard that before, I won't hold my breath.  

Him: I'll try my best to remember.

Me:  I've seen your best; I need better.


Wouldn't you know I woke up the next morning, and the laundry was still in the washing machine?

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.