Have You Ever?

I spent all day yesterday with a sick kid.  M woke up in the early morning with a migraine headache and it was downhill from there.  She got sick in the early afternoon and it continued throughout the day.  She was totally miserable and there wasn't anything I could really do to help.  My job amounted to giving her some Tylenol, rubbing her temples, and trying to make her comfortable. 

Oh, and emptying the puke bowl. 

I could live my whole life without ever having to do that again.

There are other things I could live without too...not that I don't want to do any of them, it's just that if I've gone 35 years and haven't done them yet I could probably go another 35 without feeling like I missed out on anything.  So here are some things I have never done:

1. Eaten at White Castle. Or In And Out. 
2. Drank a cup of coffee.
3. Gotten a hot stone massage.
4. Milked a cow.  Okay, this one I totally want to do someday I just haven't ever had the opportunity.
5. Gotten a facial.
6. Owned a brick home.  Although this is my favorite style, our homes have all been sided or rocked.
7. Watched an episode of Jersey Shore.
8. Posted anything on You Tube.
9. Shot a gun.  
10. Been inside a barn.
11.Shopped at Abercrombie.
12. Broken a bone.
13.Seen the Twilight series.
14. Been arrested.  Although in my height of debauchery and wildness I probably deserved to be.
15. Had a king size bed.
16. Eaten Nutella.

Busy Bee

Super busy day today.  Inservice in the morning, ran back to the office for a few minutes and then off to the dentist for a cleaning.  I was a couple months overdue.  Not from my lack of planning - I actually schedule every 6 months, just like I'm suppose to.  But the day of my last appointment they called and cancelled because the dental hygienist was out sick.  And the soonest they could reschedule was now. 

Apparently a few  months makes a huge difference because my teeth/gums were sore for the rest of the afternoon.  And cleanings aren't usually painful to me.  She did say she was trying to be extra thorough but man, my gums looked butchered.  Definitely a lesson for me to get in a better habit about flossing - which is something I totally don't do.  Even though I know I need to. 

Then I ran back to the office just in time to take a few students on a campus visit.  It was a small one - not on our calendar but by special request.  It was nice - these are great students and I'm excited because they really take their academics seriously.  Way more seriously than I ever did.

So I wasn't in my office more than an hour today but I really needed it.  I've been tied to my computer all week and have barely had any interaction - I needed some people time!

Good things were happening while I was out though - we got some new computers for our tutoring/study lab.  We are now officially a tutoring/study/computer lab.  We don't have a lot - 6 student computers - but it's better than the single one that our students have been fighting over.  So yeah for getting our lab set up and done!

It's just amazing because everything that I have envisioned for our program so far has come to fruition.  It's so exciting to see it all come together.  And I have so many ideas and things I want to do. Now I just need to find a way to get a secretary and another staff person and I think we will be set! In the meantime, we'll just continue to work like mad to try to make it all happen...

Completed my short run - 30 minutes of treadmill time. Sunday is 5 miles and I'm starting to get nervous.  Trying not to psych myself out but man, it seems like such a long way...but I can do it.  Right?  Right!  I think.

Now I gotta make a run of a different kind - off to Walmart I go!

On Track

Completed my short run - 30 minutes on the treadmill, nearly 2 miles.  I was really hoping to reach the 2 mile mark but I didn't get it.  Not that it matters to anyone except me - I should be focusing on distance, not speed and I know that. But it's so hard when I get so close to not just speed it up and bring it home.

But I didn't.  I was good and stayed on pace. Well, tried to stay on pace.  And it's funny too because I was sore.  This is the first run of this training program I've had with sore muscles. I had my 4 miles run and then the next day I walked around the zoo all day pushing M2.  And she's a chunk.  But the soreness is a good thing - it just means things are happening!

I came dangerously close to forgetting it was my run day - my days are all messed up from the long weekend.  I was messed up all day too - keep putting things on my calendar for the wrong date...ugh, I'm a mess!

Going to try to get a few things done around the house...or find my bed.  I haven't decided yet....

So It Begins...

So today starts day 1 of no pop for me. 

On this day last year I gave up regular soda and switched to diet.  That wasn’t so hard; I just traded one addiction for another.  But I’ve got to kick this habit – diet or not, I know it’s not healthy to put all that garbage in my body. 

Plus, it prevents me from drinking enough water.  Which is kinda important if I plan to run efficiently.  Or plan to run at all, really. 

I’ve never not drank pop, so this is huge for me.  I know it will be extremely difficult, especially since I will be tempted with it at home but I’m committed to staying strong and resisting. 

I. Can. Do. This.



2011 - No regular soda!



2012-No soda at ALL!

Four Miles Baby!

After church today I made everyone lunch and then jumped on the treadmill.  I usually run at night after the kiddos are in bed but today was my 4 mile and I was a little excited.  Plus I wanted to make sure to get it done in case something happened - I didn't want to have any excuses for avoiding it.

That's the longest distance I have ever run in my entire life.  I've done a couple of 5K runs but nothing beyond that.  Even at the point in my life several years ago when I was running consistently I never got further than that.

So this is super exciting for me.

My pace was pretty slow.  I finished in 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 32 seconds.  Which has me running 18 minute miles.  Which is slow.  But I finished and that's what I'm focusing on.

The trainiing schedule I'm doing is really focused on distance over speed because it's a schedule for a half marathon.  Now, I'm NOT running a half marathon.  What I'm actually running is one leg of a half marathon, 6.2 miles (10K). But I want to train for a half marathon.

Even though they have training specifically for a 10K. 

Don't ask me why - it makes no sense. But neither do I.

So next Sunday is 5 miles.

Let's see what I can do...

I Am Electrifying

I carry a lot of static electricity.  Like an unusually large amount.  I am constantly shocking people – from the static, not my behavior.  Although sometimes my behavior too, but I’ve gotten better about that… 

I have no scientific proof but I kinda feel like my static issue is a result of an incident that occurred when I was about 10.  My mom took us to the car wash and there was a cement sign/marquee that had a lamppost coming out of it – similar to this:

Except the cement part was smaller and there was no ocean. Or pigeon.  Well, there may have been pigeons but never when we were around. 

It was just this small little cement block and my sisters and I use to run around and play on it while my Mom washed the car.  I think she preferred that car wash because we would go free and stay out of her way. 

We would jump up there, swing around the lamppost and pretend to be Broadway stars up on stage.  It was so much fun.  Until the day that it all went horribly wrong. 

I jumped up, grabbed the post and the very next minute I felt the weirdest sensation of my life.  I don’t even have words to describe it.  Everything was in slow motion, I had no control over my body and I felt like I was being suspended in the air.  Then abruptly, it stopped.  I was on the ground.  I looked down and saw blood all over my hand - my fingertips looked like they had been popped open.  I didn’t know what happened but I knew it wasn’t good and I was scared.  I just started screaming.

I had received an electric shock.  The current entered the tips of my middle finger, ring finger, and pinky and exited the same way.  The doctors were surprised because apparently it's unusal for a current to have the same entry/exit point. Personally, I found the whole experience unusual.

No one knows how it happened; it wasn’t anything obvious to my parents or to the owner. No exposed wires or anything like that.  It was just one of those freaky things. 

Of course, it ended my Broadway star days.  I never, ever climbed up on that cement block again.  Never felt like pretending to be a Broadway star after that either.

And besides the tiny scars on my fingertips you would never know it happened. 

Well, that and the fact that I attract more electricity than anyone else I know…

Blog Break

I am in avoidance mode.  Really, I’m trying my best not to do the thing that I need to do the most, which is to work on my annual performance report.  I just can’t get started.  I have it at the very top of my to do list but I still haven’t started.  I told myself that I needed to get all these other things out of the way first, so that I could concentrate.  But really, I just keep finding things to do and I could keep finding things to do forever.

So I just need to get started. Now.

I’m freaked out about it though, which makes no sense.  I’ve been doing APR’s for the last 6 years.  In fact, I did my last one during my maternity leave. And if I can do it while being sleep deprived, in between feedings and diaper changes with new mommy brain then this should be no problem.  But, I don’t know.  I’m nervous.

It just seems different to me now.  I just feel such a huge sense of responsibility and I just don’t want anything to go wrong.  Which is all the more reason that I should start working on it now…

Speaking of working – I worked my tail off the other night and made my long run - 3 miles!  I was so excited!  I have a 30 minute run today and I am pumped! 

Next week I’m going to start incorporating strength training on my off days.  It won’t help me run my 6 miles in the relay marathon but it will help me look better in a tank top...