I'm almost there....

What a great jog this morning. I went to the local high school and used their track. Time to really measure distance, instead of time.

Walked 2 laps, ran a mile, walked a lap, then ran another mile. Cooled down with a final lap walking. Holy cow!!! I never could finish even one lap around the track- even in high school. I actually liked running on the track, too. Less to trip over... Didn't really have to think about much of anything. It's easier to run when I can get inside my head, and not worry too much about what is going on around me. You know, my screaming muscles, other people, cracks in the sidewalk... Just as long as I have a good playlist on the ipod, I'm set.

Today Paige had her annual trip to the fire station with her preschool. The same crew of guys was on today that we met last year. She had a great time, and was way more into it this year. She loved answering questions, and didn't hesitate to approach the lucky one who got to suit up in full gear. I think that's my favorite part of the trip. No, not cause I think firemen are hot.... But because the kids get to see and hear what the (wo)men look like if there was an actual fire, and they were being rescued. It's pretty cool. I guess me and Chris should make a fire plan to teach the kids.

I think I'm going to make a hair appointment today. It's time for a cut, and some new color. And I have to go in to see my GI doc tomorrow. I'm really not looking forward to that. I'll let you all know what goes down.

Hope you're having a great day!

Much better!

Wow! So much better than yesterday! I did Tuesday's workout- Walked "briskly" X10 minutes, jogged 1 mile (without stopping!), walked 5 minutes, then jogged another 3/4 mile. I ran out of route and time. I ran after work, and was tired and ready to come home to bed. The other runs with the 30 seconds in between jogs was just too difficuly- all that starting and stopping. I thought it might just be easier to keep going and pound out that first mile. It was slow, but I was right! I've never jogged an entire mile before.... ever. A pretty big accomplishment for me.

It's off to work for me again tonight. Finn actually called me Mama this morning.

So, overall a good day!

ugh

Shitty, shitty, shitty "run" today... The first time in 7 weeks that I threw in the towel and quit halfway through the workout. Everything hurt, burned, or ached from my toes to my gluts, and 30 sec in between is not enough time. I'll try again tomorrow. I also went at 1030 in the morning when the sun was shining. I prefer either earlier am or evening when the sun isn't so high in the sky. So much as I hate to do it, I'm going to go in the morning when I get off work. As I stand here typing, I can feel the muscles in my bum twitching....

The kids have soccer today. I think I'd better bring the sunscreen. If my botched run was any indication, it's going to be hot today- especially by the time we get to the games.

1/5 tonight. I felt like I was trying to slog thru molasses.... Ugh. The mile time was much better, but I did the "short" course because it was so awful. Tonight my calves weren't tired, but my shins were crampy- that's unusual. Hopefully Saturday's run is better. Though how I'm going to do a 30sec/5min is anyone's guess. 1 minute is barely enough recovery time. But I know it'll happen. I'll push myself to do it.

I didn't make it to the concert tonight. There were all kinds of things going on that conspired to keep me from going. But ultimately, there was just too much going on this week. Luckily, both the co-workers I was going to go with also had other things going on. So, we passed the tickets on to some one else who appreciated them more than we did!

The house is quiet now that we are down to just our 3 kids again. Seem a little strange.... ;)

Went running at dusk; the weather was perfect. 2/5 today. My mile time wasn't as good today, but I ran for a few longer stretches. And I wasn't really trying for time tonight. One good thing.... that left foot didn't go numb!

We've been having a great visit with Jamie and her kids. I love when all the kids are entertained!!!

I'm headed to the Brad Paisley concert tomorrow night with a couple friends from work. Even though we haven't planned our night yet (lol)I'm still really looking forward to it.

Running at noon- no bueno! The sun was HOT, even it is was only in the 70s. Mile time much better today, but it HURT!!! I'm dumping sweat. Of course, I feel fabulous right now. Also did the "short" course today. My second 2/5. Tuesday is going to SUCK.... I drop to my first 1/5. I bet the mile time will suffer. But hey, at least I know I can pick it up if I want to....

Lots ahead

It's starting to get dark sooner. I did a 2/5 today. I thought it felt great, and not slow. But I'm disappointed in my mile time. Oh well- it'll get better. And just about the time my calves stop burning, the bottoms of my feet go numb. I still need to get down to the running shop and have my shoes evaluated.....

The kids had soccer today. They both played great games, as always.

I'm getting ready to work the next two nights. Then family is coming for a couple nights next week. along with dance class, soccer practice and pictures, plus the Brad Paisley concert. Oh yeah, and add preschool, elementary school, Chris' job, and Finn into that mix. And the 5 piles of laundry that need to get done......

And I think me and a friend are still going to try to have a TrueBlood season 3 marathon next Friday.

Busy much???

Finn, 18 months

My, my how the time flies.....

Our Bubba is 18 months old now, and is definitely a full-fledged toddler.

He walks, runs, and climbs. He's figured out how to cart the step-stool around to help him obtain the things he wants. Which, of course, is always something I don't want him to have. We recently found him sitting in the bathroom sink, soaked from head to toe, but happy as a clam.

Finn's exploring the world of verbal communication.... and not just by screaming in different tones, either. He can count to ten, and say hi and bye. His favorite phrase is "Oh yeah!!!" He also says something that disturbingly sounds like "shit", but I don't really think that's what he's saying.....

He's turning into a picky eater, but hopefully nowhere near the quality of his big brother. Although, slather something in Nutella, and he's almost sure to eat it. He's also figured out how to pick all the M&Ms out of trail mix, leaving the rest. Sheesh.

We've decided not to cut his hair until after Halloween. He's going to be a garden gnome, and we figure the wild hair will go along just fine with the costume.

Finn still loves to snuggle- especially during his favorite morning show- Special Agent Oso, that crazy bear found on the Disney Channel. Chris and I don't quite want to load his backpack down with rocks and toss him into Candy Cane river, but it's a close thing some days.

We're enjoying watching Finn grow into his personality, even if I do miss him being a baby sometimes. Currently he's climbing on the couch with a juice box in one of those juice-box-holder-thingies. And I'm praying that he doesn't get the box out and squeeze juice all over my couch. Well, I guess there are worse things.....

Well.....

Wow- let's see if I even remember how to do this.....

Even though the warm weather still lingers, summer is officially over at our house. The kids are back in school, fall soccer has started, and our break from crazy schedules is over.

Aiden started first grade this year- his first ever all-day class. At first I wasn't sure that I was going to like him being gone all day. But you know what? It's not as bad as I though it was going to be. It helps that I know he really likes his school. I'm not totally thrilled at packing his lunch every morning, but oh well....Aiden is slowly adjusting to his schedule, too. He doesn't come home and complain any more that his day was "soooooooo loooooong". This is his second year at the dual language school. I'm noticing more and more of his homework coming home in Spanish. I'm thankful that I know at least a little bit, or I'm not sure how I would ever manage to help him luckily, math is pretty universal, so Chris can help with that.

Paige started her second year of preschool. We have her in class at our local rec center. the year got off to a bit of a rocky start (for me and Chris anyway) because Paige's teacher from last year chose not to return to teaching this year. *sigh* Funny enough, though, her teacher this year was Aiden's class aide at Teaching World the last year he was there. Things are a little different in Miss Anna's class. We are all getting used to it and adjusting. Paige a little better than me and Chris, I think. She is still enjoying the benefits of gymnastics, rock climbing, and swimming that the rec center has to offer.

Finn will get his own post in a few minutes, so I'm going to skip him here. Sorry, Bubba.

Fall soccer started again last week. I think it will be a little less crazy than last year. Aiden's coach is married to Paige's coach, and that means only one practice night a week and our games don't overlap on Saturdays. Woohoo!!!! Both the kids are wearing red and black this year. Aiden's team gets to introduce the goalie position this year, too- which suits him just fine. He prefers to be in the goal box. The kid has figured out that he doesn't have to run on the field as much if he's trying to defend the goal...... Aiden's team this year is the Black Widows, and Paige's is the Red Dragons. Paige;s coach is new to coaching her own team, and likened the first game to "trying to herd butterflies". It was pretty funny.

Paige also started her very first dance class last week. I finally located a dance studio in Nampa where she could do ballet. Well, I guess the credit should go to one of the other soccer moms- her daughters are on Paige's team, and she was telling me how that had been in dance class before. Right now she's in an intro class, so she does beginning ballet and an "intro to movement". We're not allowed to stay and watch, but they do have several parent observation classes throughout the year. She is so excited. And I never knew how hard it would be to find the correct ballet slippers for her....

Let's see..... I have started exercising again, too. I decided to take up jogging. Crazy, right. Yeah, well..... I needed to do something. One of my friends from nursing school is training for a marathon right now- she has made an amazing personal transformation over the last few years. So, she directed me to a beginning running program at runningplanet.com. It's a walking/jogging plan that takes you from basically nothing to jogging 2 miles in an 8 week time period. I'm about halfway through the 5th week. I'm to a point where I can jog/run for a 5 minute span of time, with decreasing increments of walking in between. Today I walked 3 min, ran 5 min. I'm pretty amazed at this point that I can keep up with myself!!! I've come to love my ipod over the last 5 weeks, too....

Well, that's a lot from the Ida'vasa peanut gallery. I'm going to do my best to start updating more regularly again. Even if it's just to copy and paste my run status from the Nike site to here.... :)