Why?

Why run? It was initially a pact among friends.  We decided at dinner one night to run a spring 5K for breast cancer.  I did the couch potato to 5K run/walk program and hated it the whole time.  We ended doing a race in April before the one mentioned above because we were all ready and excited that we have gotten to three miles.  It sucked.  I had to walk because of a cramp.  In case you don't know,  I don't walk.  For some obscene reason I find it as a failure.  I think everyone has a running "thing"--it might be gear, gadgets, training programs---mine is the walking.  I ended up running another 5K alone the next weekend to prove to myself that I could do it.  I have been hooked ever since.

Why race? I think they push me to find out what I am capable of more than training can.  I need those fast people rushing past me to make me ask more of myself.  Also, a good friend gave me a great matra to keep in mind....I race to train.  The training is what gets us in shape.  The race is just the culmination but it does not take away all those miles you log leading up to it.  I am now one week from my second half marathon.  I am scared to death that I am going to catch the flu going around.  After all this hard work, I want to experience the race, but I keep telling myself that I race to train. Now I just need to listen.

Why keep at it? I constantly hear how bad it is for you to run.  My dad tells me he thinks I'm crazy and would only run if someone with a gun was chasing him.  It feels great to love something you hated and envied in others.  I can run.  I'm not fast, but I am getting faster.  It is something I can work at.  I love to be outside and I love to feel active.  I love that people at work ask me each Monday what and where I ran this weekend.  I love reaching a new goal....a better pace, a new race distance, trying triathlons, hoping to do a relay.  I love talking about running with friends and having friends that run too.  I love that I have found something as an adult to keep me fit and make me feel young.

Ten Things I Love

1. My girls for being so cute I could eat them up even late at night when I am exhausted and they come downstairs to say cute things that make it so I can't be mad at them.

2.  My husband because he's great and right this moment for helping us get through the sticky tag team deal of managing childcare while Tate is tracked out for three weeks.

3.  My mom for training to walk the OBX half marathon even though she dropped a mirror on her foot at work.  Keep up the good work MOM!

4. My grandfather for being an angel and helping me get a road bike to do more triathlons in the spring and not be at the back of the pack.

5. Ice cream and books because I can think of nothing better to do after 8pm than snuggle on the couch with these two things on my lap.

6. My cat KC for bringing adventure back into the house.  Will he topple the plant today or learn how to get onto the one counter he has not discovered?

7. The flowers of fall still around the lake by our house.  Tate is doing an art project and we have found some great fall flowers (probably just beautiful weeds) to photograph.

8. The feeling of doing of a good deed.  A group of my best friends and I hosted a charity Cornhole tournament yesterday and raised over 1200 dollars for the Caring Community Foundation.  The power of regular people is amazing when you band together.

9.  The holidays...they are coming and I'm getting excited.  Thanksgiving with my brother-in-law and family and thinking of things to buy the girls. 

10. Great friends!  A group of friends from my neighborhood ran the American Tobacco Trail 10 miler on Saturday.  It was so much fun to ride over together and share nerves and jitters and then bask in some great results on a hot humid race day!  Can't wait to do it again in two weeks at the OBX half marathon.

Best Buds

Isn't it awesome to have that best friend that you never tire of?  Tate has found that in Abbie.  They have been in the same class for Kindergarten, 2nd, and now 3rd grade.  Abbie lives only five houses away from us, so it is a great situation.  This year they are also on the same soccer team as you see in the picture from last week's game. 

Last year they used to play at Abbie's all the time.  I felt bad that they never wanted to come to our house.  They would play in Abbie's backyard that backs up to our neighborhood park.  They played fort and made "salads" out of all kinds of things.  Now this year they have migrated down to our house.  Abbie has a baby sister who naps, so I think they can be louder over here.  At our house they are always in the playroom playing with the peekaboo barbies and polly pockets.  They create a world for these dolls with stores and houses made out of the most interesting stuff.  A plastic screw for a baby carrier turns into spinner for one of the dolls.  If they are not doing that they are choreographing dances and plays with all our dress up costumes.  We even tape them so they can play them back.  Luckily they let Paige be a part of most of the dances and plays.

Some would worry that she should have more friends. I am just so happy she has found someone who gets her.  She has lots of friends I think, but she and Abbie have a sweet bond.  They laugh at the same things and have a similar silliness.  We should all be so lucky to find that type of friend.  I am lucky enough to have great friends in my life too.  They are priceless to me.

Abbie is at Disney now for the first week of track out.  Tate asks me daily what she might be doing.  She flew there, so the first day we knew her flight got in and when they had dinner reservations.  Since then Tate thinks I know her every move.  She can't wait to have her come back and hear about all the fun things she did on her trip.  She has already written notes and left flowers on her doorstep. Let's cherish the sweet times.

Random happenings

The weather is....beautiful.  I wish I could run but Scott has to work tonight.

The girls are...upstairs playing on the computer we just moved to the playroom.  Now all the educational games are loaded and they are actually using them.  Tate keeps telling me, "Daddy says I'm learning and I thought I was just having fun."

The house is...kinda clean.  I need to do the floors again which I hate.

The cat is....snuggly lately.  Scott has worked a lot of nights lately, so he has been my buddy.  He still attacks Paige at least once a day.  He honestly latches on to her leg and bites.  Maybe since she is the smallest and plays with him the most.

The holidays are....coming faster than I expected.  Mom has already gotten the girls their gifts.  I have ideas but have not made any purchases yet.  I am going to ask friends to take the kids to see Disney on Ice in December.  Should be fun.

The running is...going nicely.  I have a 10 miler this Saturday and the OBX half  marathon is in less than three weeks.  I have not shaved off as much time as I hoped, but who knows what race day will bring.  This weekend's race will be a good predictor.

Scott is...at work.  He worked an overnighter last night and is now back in to close the store.  Then tomorrow is inventory.  I know he will be glad when Wednesday is here.

Tate is...tracked out.  We have lots planned.  Track out camp, reading goals, learning multiplication tables, completing the PTA Reflections project, going to a farm for hayrides and a cornmaze, going to the beach for my half, playdate with friends tomorrow, a charity cornhole tournament on Sunday I helped plan, gymnastics day camp....

Paige is...tracked in at school.  She is on the traditional calendar like me.  She loves it and is learning all about fire safety this week.  She told me her homework was to ask me about our family fire plan so we just did a "test" run through touching the handle, putting a blanket at the bottom of the door and knocking on the window.  She is envisioning ladders and firemen catching her as she jumps out of windows. Let's hope that never happens!

Dinner is...undecided.  I've done chili, spagetti and meatballs, a bbq pork roast in the past few days and tonight I think chicken is all I got in me to make. 

On my side table are...the latest Runner's World, the book I'm reading (Piccoult's The Plain Truth) and the new American Girl catalog that Paige has gone through with me.

Now it is....time to take the girls to the library and then some outside time.  Happy Monday!

I'm in for it with this child!

Paige is obsessed with clothes.  Yesterday she got in the car after school and asked why Daddy had dressed her in hot clothes (outfit #1 long pants and long sleeved shirt).  Holly was watching her for me so I could get a run in rather than wait till 7 when Scott got home, so Paige changed real quick so she could play outside with Georgia (outfit #2 long pants and short sleeved shirt).  When we got home after the run she was OK for a while.  Tate had Abbie over to play and before I knew it she was changed again (outfit #3 long pants and spagetti strap top).  Then when it is jammie time she changes (outfit #4).  The crazy thing is that when Scott went to wake her up this morning we discovered she has changed yet again before falling asleep in outfit #5--a long sleeve shirt and skirt. 

This is actually pretty funny to watch until I go into her room at the end of the day to find the clothes all over the floor.  It is like a dressing room has exploded.  So this girl is going to give me a run for my money on clothes.  She doesn't like adjustable waist stuff because it "feels funny," but the only stuff that fits her tiny waist is adjustable waist stuff.  This morning she tried at least three different outfits on trying to find something comfortable.  I guess I should be thankful she had to wear a uniform to school last year.  Now she is definitely expressing her taste.  Lots of pink, lots of dresses, and elastic waist pants.  I'm going to need to go shopping since Tate's hand me downs don't seem to fit her taste in clothes.  Right now that actually seems like a good idea just to get through the dressing game at home.  She is a mess...and I love it!  Cute as can be and gets away with murder.

Running for it!

Two cute stories from yesterday....Tate had a soccer game in the morning.  After the game (they won by the way), Tate and I were walking back to the car with her coach nearby.  He was teasing her saying that he would have them running the whole field at practice on Wednesday.  Tate looked back at him and said, "That's not far...my mom just ran 9 miles."  Then she told him that she ran a mile in PE this week and was breathing really hard at the end.  I'm glad she understands what I am doing and sees how the hard work I'm putting in is paying off. 

Then last night at dusk the girls set out to "Boo" two neighbors on our street.  If you don't know what booing is it is when you create a goodie bag of Halloween treats and leave it on a neighbor's doorstep, ring the doorbell and run away.  It was absolutely hilarious to watch the girls from our front porch.  Paige left with the intention of booing her friend Anna Kate but when it came time to do it I think she got nervous so Tate did the drop off part while Paige waited in the bushes.  Tate carefully planned it out.  She put Paige around the corner in the bushes.  Then she creeped around looking all over for anyone who would be watching her.  As she went up the steps she stopped and took off her flip flops for a fast getaway.  Then she put the bag down and peeked in the side window of the door.  Then she hit the button and took off like a light.  I wish you could have seen her fly.  It was like someone was after her.  My Dad always says he would only run if someone was chaing him with a gun.  Tate looked like she was being chased for sure.  Anna Kate and her mom came to the door and found the surprise.  The girls waited extra long to come out so that Anna Kate would not know it was them.  Mission accomplished!

Paige is Kindergarten Ready

Last friday Paige got her kindgergarten vaccinations. I absolutely positively incredibly hate needles. I am so much better now than I was before getting my college shots. I used to get the sweats, nausea, etc. just thinking about it. So knowing she had three shots to get make me very anxious. She did awesome! My belly was flopping the entire appointment waiting for the dreaded tray to arrive but she just kept looking at books and talking about all kinds of stuff. That morning she asked me how many she would get and where they would be. With those answers in her head, she seemed to be at peace. Me not so much. I picked her up from school and took her to Wal-Mart on the way to pick out a special toy. We had done the same for Tate when she got her shot. Usually we get a frosty at Wendy's after shots, but getting three in one sitting is a much bigger deal to me, so I get them a toy. It is more for me than them I think. Paige picked out a barbie on roller skates that is pulled by a dog. It is pretty cute and something I would have vetoed if she were not getting shots. I have a barbie ban on our house since we have some many. I was so proud of her. She is still bragging to people about her shots. She let the bandaids stay on until they fell off just so she could tell people. Can't believe that means I can now register her for kindergarten in February.

The infamous remote has resurfaced

This story will show everyone definitely how cheap I am....more than two years ago our downstairs remote vanished. We assumed after many attempts to find it that one of us had thrown it into the recycling with the newspapers that are often on the coffee table. I assumed replacing the remote would be expensive since it operated the tv, satellite, and dvd player so we just used the buttons for over a year. Scott would make cracks on a weekly basis about missing his remote but he nor I made any attempts to order another one from DISH. As a joke for his 40th birthday I ordered the remote and felt ridiculous when it only cost 19.99. It was a big hit!

Well, yesterday I was searching for a box to mail my best friend her birthday present. I keep spare boxes in my closet, so I pulled down an old sneaker shoebox. It felt heavier than normal, so I opened it up lifted out the cardboard shoe insert still there and there that pesky remote was smiling back at me. One of the girls must have put it in there at some point before it made its way into the closet. They are always turning the boxes into home for their dolls or stuffed animals. Who knows! Scott had just left for the airport (he is in Vegas for the rest of the week) so I called his cell (new cell by the way--we have entered the texting world). As soon as I told him that I found something, he immediately knew it was the remote. I guess now we have a spare.