Not so terrible, but crazy

Stephen and I have no doubt the Christmas tree will have help falling sometime between today and Christmas.

A few nights ago I found the gum drawer open. The kids had been playing with flashlights which come from that same drawer, so it didn't surprise me to find it pulled out.

It wasn't until I saw shiny paper on the dining room floor that I realized Jackson had once again found the packs of gum.

As I bent down to pick the wrappers up, I saw his little face trying to smile at me from under the dining room table, only he coudn't smile because at least five large pieces of gum were in his mouth. As I reached for him, he backed up and swallowed the massive gum ball.

After making sure he wasn't going to choke, I spent the next five minutes searching for my neighbor's phone number, who happens to be a nurse. In the two minutes it took me to call her and make sure I did not need to call our pediatrician, I turn around and find this





Marker all over his face, hands and clothing.

Stephen found him pouring cup after cup of water onto the floor from the bathroom sink. Last night he was squeezing Avery's ACT mouthwash and shaking it all over the same bathroom.

HE is CRAZY. Any guesses on the date of us finding the tree horizontal instead of vertical??

Put down the pom poms

Remember all that optimism from my last post? The highschool cheerleader channeling through me? I feel prepared, blah, blah, blah. Well, I'm singing a different song today.

I think running 13.1 miles on Saturday was one of the hardest things I have ever asked my body to do. I accomplished my goal, but not without anguish and pain. I ran the whole race, YAY! But I can barely walk today, YAY!

I have likened running long distance to childbirth. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, so I was nothing but excited. Now that I know what it is like, not sure I want to ever do it again. And while I had all these plans (like many women with birthplans) to pace myself with people, I had to throw out all of those plans at mile 6 when the third person I tried to pace left me in the dust.

People have their advice and stories, but I am one of those "oh, that won't happen to me" types. My friend Aimee (who completed the full marathon on Saturday) prepped me Friday night telling me I would hit a wall at mile 10 and not want to continue. I hit that wall at mile 8. She warned me I would have bloody toes, or even finish without toenails. My bloody sock proved her right.

I did not feel prepared. It was a battle to the finish and when I did finish, Stephen had to hold me up because I was so lightheaded and nauseaus. Saturday night while trying to sleep, my legs repeatedly reminded me how much I worked them, waking me with aches I have never felt before. And even still, going up and down stairs is super painful. Fun times.

But just like I continued having children after our first, I will continue to run these long distances. I am hooked and already have my sights set on two more half's in 2011 with interest in shaving minutes off my time. Aimee prepped me that it gets addicting and that the more you do, the better you know how to train. I know she is right and it is good to know I will *hopefully* never feel this horrible after a race again. The satisfaction of achieving the goal far outweighs the temporary pain. And the achievement will stay with me forever, the pain will pass. I think once I can walk again I may even look back on this first race as my best ever. But not today.

Big thanks to Stephen who was such a support, not only holding me up after the run, but driving, entertaining and just overall managing the weekend.

Here we go

Leaving shortly for our trip down to Richmond. After 10 loads of laundry, the house is feeling back to normal and cleaner. And my running clothes no longer stand on their own.

Everyone keeps asking me if I am nervous about running a half marathon. Truth be told, I am not. Being my first long race, I have no expectations. I have a timeframe in my head based on my long training runs as well as a friend's time from a half marathon she ran last week, but I am not going to panic if I see I am slow.

My goal for this first race is to run the whole 13.1 miles. I feel prepared. Last week I ran 11 miles by myself and while it was hard, it was great. I was slow, slower than I think I should be, but I decided to throw in some hills towards the end and also didn't have to keep tempo with anyone. I know during the race I'll find people to run along side who will keep my pace where it should be.

I have come to love running. I NEVER thought I would say that. I feel like I can get away from life for a bit. I enjoy the time outdoors as well as the company of fellow runners. I have loved the training for this race, especially increasing mileage. I couldn't run more than 2 miles last spring without feeling really winded. But running with friends and using the training schedule from www.halhigdon.com has allowed me to increase slowly to the point where I am very comfortable running 6 miles. I especially love the peace I feel after a run. My mind is clear, my attitude adjusted, those endorphines sure do a body wonder.

I have a lot of good music to play during my run, many of the songs remind me of people in my life who love and support me, of great times we have had together. Not to mention they are just good ole funky beats.

I am excited to accomplish a new goal, another perk to this whole new world of running. Mentally and physically challanging, feeling on top of the world when I cross the finish line.

I took the photo from this site, thought it had a pretty interesting article with it.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/crazy-life/200904/exercise-good-depression-whose-bright-idea-was

Even being conservative

and making the kids wear pants at least two if not three times before throwing them in the laundry basket



we have accumulated so much dirty laundry. Ten days ago the previous owners of the home came and removed their washer and dryer. I painted the laundry room and finished the first coat of paint in the bathroom to cover the builder white.

Two days later the laundry room and bath across the hall were tiled. Told to wait until this past Monday to make sure the tile and grout were fully set, we made an appointment with Sears to install our washer and dryer we have carted around with us since leaving Holly Springs. They have not been used in close to two years...

Installers arrive and tell us they can't install due to the drain pipe (for overflow) not extending far enough beyond the floor. He tells me the tile needs to be pulled up...the tile that was just put down.

So today I finally talk with the guy who installed our tile (who has built three homes) and he tells me there is no need to pull up the tile, a plumber will be able to extend the pipe easily.

Not only did the plumber extend the pipe, he was able to flip the washer with the dryer so loading wet clothes into the dryer will be easier.

Needless to say, we are VERY ready to have the install tomorrow. Ten days of laundry, including very stinky running clothes is enough.



This may be a "to be continued" if two years of storage has not been kind to our appliances!

apple harvest

About a mile away is a family run apple orchard that has been here in town for a long time. The town is moving forward with a planned road right through the orchard, taking out many fruitful, mature apple trees, and limiting the farmer easy access to his entire orchard. The road would ease Main Street traffic especially after the two concrete shopping centers are built both adjacent to the orchard. As much as I loved Harris Teeter in NC, do we really need a third grocery store in our small town?

I took the kids to pick apples, but to also meet Farmer Brown.