The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

My kids this morning instead of attending Church.

Grab a snack.  This is going to be a long post.  In reading in the Book of Mormon I've been trying to impart the importance of journaling to my offspring, so I decided to "journal" in an attempt to make some good of the day.  And, my Aunt Louise cussed me out for not posting enough pictures of said offspring.  I'm also feeling guilty about sluffing Stake Conference.  

The Good: The girls are back in their room with new texture on the walls and ceiling, and new paint.

The Bad: Sans moulding.

The Ugly: Mae fell between the bed and the wall and shimmied under the bed as she wailed at 3:54 this morning.  She came to sleep with me which means that one or more body parts fall asleep, but not my entire being.

The Good: Sunroc had a $5 rebate on their awesome paint.

The Bad: It ended yesterday and I forgot to get the rest of it to finish the rest of the house after it's textured.

The Ugly: It's called "Solitaire"...as in solitary confinement?  Is it grey, is it purple, ugh?  It better look awesome when it's all done. 

The Good: I have a new pantry!   I knocked out a wall, framed the pantry and around the fridge. 

 I even moved an outlet, a light switch and a light fixture.

The door you see used to belong to a broom closet around the corner. 

The Bad: Don't tell a code inspector how low that outlet is now. 

We missed the era when that paint (yes it's paint, not paper) was awesome.

The Ugly: That big new fridge has been broken for 2 weeks.  The compressor that usually lasts longer than the hinges on the doors.  Gone. 

Sunroc and Home Depot have gotten 1/2 of our money this week.  McDonalds and local gas stations, the other.

And my kids look like hooligans.

*Refer back up to the last photo

The Good: She knows the meaning of  "potty", "toilet", and "bafroom", and has the most delicious booty you've ever seen in a pair of Elmo undies.  *we don't say "panties" it sounds so icky.*

The Bad: She will go when I take her, but not on her own.

The Ugly:  She's pooped this week at the library and Isaac's soccer game. 

More Good: Jason and his bro. Jeremy are awesome drywallers.

The  man and his mud.

I found this lenoleum under the carpet in the closet I was working on.  I like to call it "Walking on Sunshine"

The sunshine one gets from fried green tomatoes.  Thanks mom for planting this year since we couldn't!

Homemade bread.  When we were out painting baseboards yesterday, our self-proclaimed nosey neighbor brought us some homeade bread.  It goes swimmingly with our homemade apricot jam!  And I'm pretty sure it tastes better when you cut it on a cutting board that has sheetrock dust on it.

More Good: Jason re-hung the swing and now my kids don't feel nearly as abandoned.

The Bad: I missed pear picking.  Apparently it's not the same as any other kind of picking.  So when I went to see if they were ready I just found them all on the ground already.

The ugly: The project behind the swing that we can't finish without a bobcat.  A dog run that was very well made and very unneccesary.

The Good: My kids love school.

They all got great teachers and are making friends so now it's just Mae and Me in the morning.  We should start a radio show.

Georgia got to go to kindergarten at school instead of homeschool.

The Bad: It was- open the playdough and see ya' mom!

The Ugly: Note the refrigerator pictures once more.  One of those yellow papers magneted to the front lists the school schedule.  While tearing down walls Wednesday last (the second day of kindergarten), I watched the clock intently for 11:30 so I could pick up George on time.  Then I realized at 11:15 that she got out at 11:05!  Then I realized  it was Wednesday, which is early out day so Jorge had been sitting in the office waiting for me since 10:50.

The Ugliest of all:  I've been late to get her twice in two weeks.  I suck.

The Good: Chloe had her 2nd Birthday on September 9th.  Commemorated with a bath and a party.

The Bad: She hadn't had a bath since we moved in two months ago.

The Ugly: She peed on the plastic in the dining room and we had to clean the plastic and the floor.  Ick.

The Good:  I get to do flowers for a really cool couple next weekend.  I did a bouquet for pictures this week.

There is no bad or ugly in this situation!

The Good: Finished my first Half Marathon in 2:36!  No resuscitation or iv fluid required!

Apparently my kids are singing barbershop and Jason is beat boxing.

Everyone was at the finish to cheer me on!  Last time George had to use the can and they missed it.

The Bad: I've only been running once since my race.  If I'm going to make a habit of it I should really make a habit of it.

The Ugly: Which, it turns out is VERY good.  My running pants sagged as I ran.  I spent a good portion of the race tugging them back up :) 

Phew!

On My First Tri

I'm typing this entry to avoid running right now.  Mentally I feel like I should have a vacation after my first race on Saturday even though I've run more that twice the distance of the race and have to run more than 4 times its distance in August.  So there.

I don't have any pictures of me or the other Speed Divas on our team from Saturday, but picture me only redder and breathing heavily with my farmer tanned arms bare to the world.  I felt so liberated.  Especially since Shakira was on my ipod keeping her hips honest, when I crossed the timing line to begin my race.

It was mostly uphill at 11:00 a.m. and I'm pretty sure it was 126 degrees.  Especially since I run at o'dark thirty.  Some blessed person on 2nd South and 2nd East put their sprinkler in the road around mile 3 for our relief.  They have probably been translated by now, but you can put flowers on their porch in Salem if you're ever around.  I got passed and then I passed some and when I was certain we were nearly done and pulled out my headphones so I could hear my kids cheer me across the finish line some jovial spectator cheered, "Nice job 10 (it was my number, he wasn't hitting on me), only 1/2 mile to go." 

The other ladies on my team, LuAnn (team captain), and Lori, were fantastic and so much fun.  Thank-you, thank-you for the opportunity!  Maybe next year we can each do it all!  And maybe Georgia will have better bladder control and the fam will be at the finish line.

It was a wonderful atmosphere at the race with a mixture of anticipation, competition, and support.  Potentially addicting.

Lest You Think...

Lest you think...

1. I fell off a cliff while out running.

2.  Cirque De Soleil abducted my children (it's the closest thing to gypsies in SLC).

Well...

A. I ran 6.3 miles down (ish) Hobble Creek Canyon Monday last.
B. I felt wonderful upon completion
3. I jacked up my left foot in the process.  Plantar Fasciitis.  It's icky.  Read more here.
F. I did all of the suggested stretching and dixie cup icing.
IV. I started back today with my shoes "zeroed" re-laced (very un-lacey like) and got 2.5 in (running only about 1.75), but it's a start.

Q. Mae turns 2 on Saturday : (  Unfortunately what she and I have to say about it doesn't count.  When I ask if she's having a birthday she says NO.  That's just fine with me.  She's perfect just the way she is without growing into some rotten kid.

She said, "Bye Bumpa," when we left this guy on the bench.  She loves herself some "bumpa"

Week, er 1

Thanks to Spring Break and my Big Indian being gone, I started again on week #1 run.

And, thanks to Mapmyrun.com I found out didn't go as far as I thought I had, dangit. 

Anywho, you'll be happy to know that my week off wasn't all in vain.  I did some shopping, and on my trips I found two handy products for runners and I'll share my secrets with you...

1. Anti-Monkey Butt chaffing powder - at Sunroc Ace Hardware in Spville hmm.

2. Band-aid like pasties - at AllADollar hmm.

So there you have it fellow runners.

This week #1 part deux I've come to the following conclusions...

-Don't use mapmyrun.com

-There is no logical reason to run uphill.  Walking is faster and you don't look like a LooneyTunes character running in place.

-Running into the wind is akin to running up a hill

-There are no street lights on the 2000N Mapleton hill.

-I can run to Sunroc if I need Anti-Mokey Butt chaffing powder (and it comes in a women's formula)

Run, Week One

Just got done with my day 3 run.  I missed Monday, so technically this is my day 2 (Week 6 since starting, week one of official 1/2 marathon training). 

He gave me a 9 1/2 and said it should feel like I'm running in flip flops.  Oh yes Golden, there's room in there for the fungus to party with the bunyons. 

I'm gonna feel this one.  The Big Indian took me out for a lunch date of sushi and a rendezvous at the running store.  Golden (can you get anymore Mormon than that?), gave me the low down on the running shoe, and just as I suspected, the low down should not be the heel.  Man naturally runs on their forefoot.  I feel best running that way. 

Well, the cobbler hasn't gotten hold of my new Saucony's, so my heel is still right where it started.  I don't like it one bit.   Golden told me I'd be sore and that I needed to make sure I warmed up.  Cute little guy (a runner, so he was built like, *and had the same features actually*, as Howdy Doody), told me that the fastest distance runners in the world, the Kenyans, warm up for 15 minutes at a pace so slow you could walk beside them.  My pride wouldn't allow me to spit out that I run that fast the entire distance.


Speaking of spit.  Now that I'm not too shy to blast phlegm from my nose on the fly, theres a pesky pocket building up in my throat so that I need a lesson from a boy in how to hock (or is it hawk?), a loogie.  I should ask my dad.  The first thing you'll notice upon spending more that 1/2 an hour at my parents' home is that he's ...excuse me, I have to push away and stretch...quite adept at it. 


Not to mention nipple chafing.  Ha!  I don't have it (according to my book, not yet).  Golden gave me a roll-on anti-chafing/deoderant just in case.  It's funny to hear somebody say "chafing" at a store.

Have you noticed how crass I've become (hehehe) since I began writing about running?  Just keeping it real.  No one else will tell you these things....

Another thing I've learned is that when you meet someone on the road you never say, "Hi."  It took me a few engagements before I realized why everyone was saying, "Morning," or giving me the cowboy nod.  If you say, "Hi," you expel that much more breath and it takes some serious time (especially if you pant like me), to re-up the stores enough to get back to steady breathing.

Also, I don't know if it's right, wrong, or indifferent, but I will not run with traffic in Springville City.  I've dodged cars while I was facing them.  Imagine if they snuck up from behind?

On Top of the World...Or at least Utah!

Next week officially starts the 1/2 marathon training (Top of Utah). I'll log it here. I'm following a marathon training schedule (in The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer), so I should really kick some tail at this by the time Aug. 28th rolls around.


Week 1
Day 1: 3 miles (Monday)
Day 2: 4 miles (Tuesday)
Day 3: 3 miles (Thursday)
Day 4: 5 miles (Saturday)


I'm up to running 3 miles before stopping and then I just take 20-50 steps and start again and run the 4th mile. It seems really silly, but I need those 20 steps. I've got to be careful because I think it's becoming a habit.



Got the farmer blow down in my left nostril just in time for Spring when my nose no longer runs when I run. It's just as well, my right nostril has some sort of deformity, causing snot to spray erratically and form crusts on my awesome running pants from my sis-in-law Lisa.

Got my playlist, but it needs some tweaking. When I run without music I don't do so hot, but with it I can't hear my own panting, so I go farther. Some of these songs slow me down though, so I've got to tweak them a bit.

Playlist:



Just a Girl- No Doubt






Girls and Boys- Good Charlotte






Sunday Mornning- Marroon 5 (soon to go the way of the dodo)






3 a.m.- Matchbox 20






Yeah!- Usher






Sexy Back- Justin Timberlake






Hey Mama- Black Eyed Peas






Jack and Diane- John Mellencamp






Dancing Queen- Abba






You Shook Me All Night Long- AC/DC






Cruel Summer- Bananarama (sadly, it may be out too)






You Spin Me Right Round- Billy Idol






Uptown Girl- Billy Joel






Livin' on a Prayer- Bon Jovi






Karma Chameleon- Culture Club






Pour Some Sugar on Me- Def Leapord






Out Last Night- Kenny Chesney




I need more suggestions. Jason has nearly every song known to man on his Itunes, but I only made it through the J's and then skipped to Usher because I remembered YEAH! And since I stopped listening to R&B and HipHop when my husband got satellite radio (which seems to know NO bounds) I'm really the same loser I thought my parents were when they listened to music from the 70's.

So help a sister out and get me running. This benefits you too, ya know. You won't have to witness the two heifers I carry around at the local pool. Although I still can't promise you they'll be any color other than pasty.

Wind Through Her Hair

13.1

That's my new Indian name.  I gave it to myself.  In case you're new around here, I'm entitled.  My husband and kids have adopted me into their tribe.

Anywho, that's not what this is all about.  Just got done running.  I went by myself because I was supposed to go this  morning but it was much to slick for my taste.  It's good to go alone once in awhile because I can then perfect my farmer blow without embarrassment.  It's even better to go with someone who does this as a way of life.  It gives me the extra threat of embarrassment and the urge to push myself so that someday my endurance may come within 1/10th of hers.  Thanks eternally Edris! 

Can't feel my thighs because I think it was 21 degrees below zero.  These heifers still don't move much, but they create a friction that sends heat down through my calves and into my feet, which keeps me running that much longer in the cold.

I spent more time running (than walking) this time around.  Mostly because I thought someone was behind me most of the way and it takes a lot of energy to whip your head around with enough authority to put off whatever serial rapist is in pursuit.  Kudos to me for being stupid enough to do it several times before I realized that the combination of moonlight and streetlight create 4 shadows instead of one, and I was chasing myself.  That way I got more exercise.  It does remind me of the website graphics I used to do for my husband for some security products companies.  They wanted "simple elegant" graphics of someone getting tazed and a couple strands of barbed wire running crosswise, just so.  But I digress.

I think I better retire these running shoes which are 4 years old but have seen only a week and a half of street running.  They've done enough to make my toes numb, and I won't lose a toe.  Can't support these thighs with only 9.