Providence Wendy's Invitational - Charlotte, North Carolina

Yesterday, Ryan had a cross-country meet in Charlotte. It is a long way to drive, but it is great for the kids to see what kind of talent is in the region & hopefully spur them on to greatness. On the drive north we saw bands of clouds from Hurricane Irene. The weather was hot & weirdly windy but nothing strong enough to affect the race. (effect?)

There were A LOT of runners!!! (over 1300 in four races - varsity girls, varsity boys, JV girls, JV boys). The fastest runners are incredible - just over 5 minute miles for a race through forests, meadows, and one big ugly hill. Mauldin took 1.5 buses of kids.

Ryan started at the back of the pack (not going out too fast) & ran a great race.

There was a huge hill in the first mile. The blurred background looks cool on this picture, but my camera is misbehaving & I didn’t like it on many of the remaining shots.

He almost went into a drainage ditch when he ran the inside corner & got elbowed by #1540.

However, he turned on the afterburners & sped to the finish line. His official time was 20:06.

Here's a link to the official news report for the school: http://gomavs.net/content/section/team_189_news/mhs-xc-stampedes-at-providence/

Conflicts

The kids have been back in school for a few weeks now. It seems like every.single.solitary.night there is something back-to-school and wonderful. :) The hardest part has been figuring out my new driving schedule.

Chris has his license so he can drive himself to seminary & go pick up pizza for date night. We are still hunting for a car for him to use. We were going to buy our friend’s car but the transmission exploded on the freeway a few days before we were going to take ownership. He is a senior in high school. Last week, we had his senior portraits taken, and I am just amazed at how fast the time has gone!! He is taking a college history class plus a full load (art, English, probability & stats, senior project, etc.). Before school (6:10 a..m) he takes seminary (church class) & after school he runs cross country.

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Ryan is busy with middle school. When I went to back-to-school night, I was overwhelmed with the amount of homework that the teachers were assigning. I pick Ryan up at after school, bring him home for 15”, & then drive him to the high school where he runs cross country. The coach is amazing - hilarious sense of humor but very serious at the same time. (A few examples: “My favorite food after the meets is Mexican food - and I drive the bus so it’s the kids’ favorite food too.” and “Zach, did you write this with your left foot?” (horrible handwriting)) Cross country goes until 5:45-ISH & then on two afternoons he has baseball from 5-7. Meets are the same day as baseball practice & baseball tourneys. Somehow it will all work but so far it’s a little complicated.

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Jared is loving elementary school. He gets to ride the bus home every day - the stop is variable though depending on what time I catch up with the bus. The district changed the route so they drive past our stop, make three stops in the neighboring neighborhood & then one more in our stop before coming to our entrance. It’s pretty ridiculous but does give me plenty of chances to catch up. :) He spends lots & lots of time in the bus & the car. It’s too bad he is not a big reader so he could have something productive to do with all of his riding time.

I read THE FUNNIEST notice to the public education system. It is here: http://beautopotamus.blogspot.com/2011/08/beautopotamus-family-disclosure.html . I truly admire teachers and the work that they do, but sometimes there are unrealistic demands placed on the family & I get what she was trying to say. She has TEN kids so everything is magnified a little, but the principles are still the same. I wanted to stand up & cheer when one of Ryan’s teachers announced that he would not be assigning projects. As I said in the past, projects are Mom-Work instead of homework. Happy to have at least one educator on my side.

Thoughts on running today...

I feel like I have missed a whole summer of workouts. The kids were very busy all summer & scheduling was very difficult. While we were in Utah & Idaho & Florida (posts to come), I went on some walks & hikes & a little running. I even rode the StarTrac spin bike in Bountiful. However, I did not exercise good judgment in eating & I am bloated & fluffy & ready to feel healthy & strong again.

Scott took the day off work last Friday & we went to TR to run 7.5 miles. The first mile was a little tough. The second mile was tougher. And by 2.5 miles I was whining & crying & writhing on the ground saying, "I can't do this any more!!!" ... a little exaggerated but exactly what I wished I was doing. Scott was so nice - he just stuck with me as I ran when I could & walked when I couldn't. Finally, we came to a mutual agreement that I would be delighted to walk the remaining miles back to the car & he would be delighted to run an alternative, longer route back to the car. WIN-WIN works. I felt very defeated but realized that I was just having an off day.

I am training for a half marathon. Luckily, the exact race is still a mystery because of the cross country schedules, but in about 18 weeks I will have completed a tough training program. I have the book Run Less, Run Faster by the people at Furman University in Greenville. Last night I completed my first cross training workout – 45-60” of fast spinning & light resistance. My feet were happy to have a break. This morning I went running with my neighbor – we went a slow 3.1 miles but we did it! I took the kids to school & then went to the gym to run track repeats on the treadmill.

Track repeats consist of trying to run a distance (400m – once around the track - 0.25 miles) in a certain time (fast!). I decided to do the workout on the treadmill. I ran 2” at 7.0 mph, then walked 1.5” @ 3.5 mph & repeated this 11-12 times. Why “11-12”? Because I lost track! Once I started feeling pukey (about 35” into a 52” workout), I couldn't keep track of times for a few minutes. When I was done, I knew that I had completed a very difficult workout, even if it was not one bit fun. I usually pass time by listening to music & counting down from 15-1. (15-14-13...) Today, I was living one small moment at a time & counting by 5s again & again & again. When I was finished, I had completed almost five miles.

No pictures yet – haven't figured out how to incorporate them into blog posts with my new Mac. Suggestions appreciated.

Three Things Thursday -

Chris is now a licensed driver! He was able to experience the test at two different D MV test proctors – the city (hard & grouchy) & the country (easy & forgiving). We were so thrilled for him. On his first full day with his license, he drove himself to work, went to the hair salon & got his hair cut, & drove himself home. (Cue choirs of angels!) His friend Christian is moving back to Germany & we are going to buy his car so that Chris will be able to drive himself to & from school. (I am secretly plotting what to do with extra hours every day.)
On Tuesday, July 26th, Chris will get his braces taken off. He will be able to remember them for the next ten years because that’s when he will renew his license and we will be able to finish paying for the rest of his dental work. He still has a bunch of dental stuff to happen in his mouth but getting his teeth in the right place is a great start!

Babies are the best thing ever! One of my good friends had a baby on Sunday morning. I was able to go to the hospital later that day & spend time talking to her & holding her sweet baby. There was a special spirit there in the room as I met someone so fresh from Heavenly Father. Her feet were frequently folded up above her belly button – just like she was squished in her mom’s tummy. She was the newest baby that I ever remember seeing besides my own – and then I was in a daze after pregnancy, childbirth, & delivery. I can see the appeal of being a grandmother. (More on that ahead…)
Her mom was AMAZING & ran several miles several times a week until the day before she delivered. She is a rock star!!


Ryan was attacked by a spider. Lesson learned? Mom really does know best. Ryan, Michael, & Jared were all outside playing basketball. Michael was the only one with any shoes on. I mentioned that the kids might want to get their shoes on because they could get bad infections (MRSA, etc.) from open wounds on their feet. “Yeah Mom, whatever!” Within the next five minutes, Ryan came running into the house, screaming & jumping up & down, & hollering that a spider bit him. He felt something on his foot & looked down to see a big grey & black spider on his foot. He shooed it away & it bit him. Wolf spider bites are VERY painful but not venomous. His toe quickly swelled up as big as his thumb. He sat & iced it & then we visited the pediatrician. The pediatrician’s visit was uneventful until the part where he said, “I guess you have learned that you need to listen to what your grandmother says!!!” OK, I might be 10-15 years older than the pediatrician, but I am not really old enough to be Ryan’s grandmother unless I had his mother at age 15 & she had him at age 15. I was so … humiliated? personally deflated? OLD? … that I made an appointment with my hairdresser & had my coloring & hair cut updated to look like I am Ryan’s mom instead of his grandmother.

We found this lovely black widow (red belly & all) in the backyard under the wheelbarrow a few months ago. Luckily, Ryan didn’t come in contact with her. Notice the ruler? She was ENORMOOUS!

Seriously?

Last November I brought home a shiny new scratch-and-dent refrigerator from Sears. 29.0 cubic feet & a bottom freezer drawer. The freezer drawer has had some issues & while I was on a cleaning frenzy last week I noticed that I have a one-year warranty. I called Sears & made an appointment – today from 1-5. I stayed home today – which isn’t all that unusual as a StaY-at-Home mom – but I wanted to get fresh South Carolina peaches from the peach stand, the boys wanted a new Risk game because lots of pieces are missing, & I wanted to deliver a couple of cute new dresses to my friend for her baby.

At 4:40 p.m. the repair service calls & says, “I probably don’t need to come out. I’ll just order the part for you.”

SERIOUSLY???

You could not have called me earlier in the day & let me know?

What if I took the day off of work?

My food has been out of the freezer drawer & in coolers for the last five hours waiting for you to show up & fix things.

And now it won’t even be fixed because you are only now going to order the part.

LAME.

… Update?

Yes, we realize that it was inconvenient for you to stay home & wait for us to call you to order the part. As a bonus, let’s just send you the wrong part!!! Still no resolution – “there was a glitch!” – another drawer ordered today. Hopefully, it will really come.

Wordless Wednesday (7-8-11)

Three Things Thursday (plus one)

I didn’t get around to my Three Things Thursday post so I’m posting one more thing and one day later. (It could reasonably be called Four Things Friday but I was trying to start something new last week. This could be similar to the new holiday traditions that get started & then fizzle out after one year for whatever reason.)

THING # 1: The boys really, really love to play basketball this year. They spend many hours every day shooting baskets & playing games (P-I-G & more). Our neighbor is NOT fond of them playing basketball (or parking in front of his house!) & makes frequent comments. Yesterday, he said, “Basketball season is over! You should be playing baseball!!” Jared quipped back, “Yea, but I like basketball!” He can’t growl at Jared in quite the same fashion as he does Ryan.

 

THING #2: We are trying to make progress in scouting over the summer. Chris has everything done for his Eagle project except putting the packet together & two partial merit badges. We went to the downtown library (with genealogy room) yesterday & looked up our ancestor who actually lived in Greenville county, South Carolina! While walking the stacks & perusing books, we found a book called Pocahontas’ Descendants. Jared is pondering why his name is not include in the book even though he IS related to Pocahontas.

THING #3: We have been spending some time at the pool each week. I have good friends who spend lots of time every day at the pool. I admire their tenacity but I just get hot & grouchy & sunburned when I spend too much time there. We went last week with our neighbor (Michael) & three kids from baseball (Kennedi, ALec, & Austin). We had a good time. I was trying to get the kids to do the Synchronized Running Leap pose but Ryan has decided that he’s too cool to be photographed & he quickly jumped in.

THING #4: In a series of exciting events, we have had several things go wrong in the last few months. You may remember the incident of the flying trampoline times two, the transmission that can never be properly repaired, the debit card that was skimmed, and the forever-at-Lake-Jocassee lost camera. Now, we have an air conditioner that spilled water onto the hardwood in the basement. Because we don’t live in the basement, it took 24-hours before we found it & it was quite a mess! Luckily we have an extra box of hardwood & nothing totally disastrous happened. However, it’s just ONE MORE THING!

I didn’t get around to my Three Things Thursday post so I’m posting one more thing and one day later. (It could reasonably be called Four Things Friday but I was trying to start something new last week. This could be similar to the new holiday traditions that get started & then fizzle out after one year for whatever reason.)

THING # 1: The boys really, really love to play basketball this year. They spend many hours every day shooting baskets & playing games (P-I-G & more). Our neighbor is NOT fond of them playing basketball (or parking in front of his house!) & makes frequent comments. Yesterday, he said, “Basketball season is over! You should be playing baseball!!” Jared quipped back, “Yea, but I like basketball!” He can’t growl at Jared in quite the same fashion as he does Ryan.

THING #2: We are trying to make progress in scouting over the summer. Chris has everything done for his Eagle project except putting the packet together & two partial merit badges. We went to the downtown library (with genealogy room) yesterday & looked up our ancestor who actually lived in Greenville county, South Carolina! While walking the stacks & perusing books, we found a book called Pocahontas’ Descendants. Jared is pondering why his name is not include in the book even though he IS related to Pocahontas.

THING #3: We have been spending some time at the pool each week. I have good friends who spend lots of time every day at the pool. I admire their tenacity but I just get hot & grouchy & sunburned when I spend too much time there. We went last week with our neighbor (Michael) & three kids from baseball (Kennedi, ALec, & Austin). We had a good time. I was trying to get the kids to do the Synchronized Running Leap pose but Ryan has decided that he’s too cool to be photographed & he quickly jumped in.

THING #4: In a series of exciting events, we have had several things go wrong in the last few months. You may remember the incident of the flying trampoline times two, the transmission that can never be properly repaired, the debit card that was skimmed, and the forever-at-Lake-Jocassee lost camera. Now, we have an air conditioner that spilled water onto the hardwood in the basement. Because we don’t live in the basement, it took 24-hours before we found it & it was quite a mess! Luckily we have an extra box of hardwood & nothing totally disastrous happened. However, it’s just ONE MORE THING!

Lego Machines

Jared will disappear to his bedroom for hours & build elaborate Lego creations. The spaceship is his latest creation.

He really loves all things electronic so I am delighted when he chooses to do something else!

Maggie’s Run 2010 & 2011

Last year:

I was just starting to train with DJ (blue shirt & hat) and Wayne (white shirt & hat).

I was 10-15 pounds heavier.

I had not run many races.

I was almost 10 minutes slower @ 36:53

I started at the back of the pack with the strollers & a goal to complete the race.

I left my headphones home & had to run in silence.

I had nothing left to give for the last 0.5 mile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year:

I am lighter.

I am faster.

I started towards the front of the group with a goal to break 30 minutes.

I made a playlist with a bunch of favorite music (which did not seem to play but at least I put some effort into it).

I felt faster for the last half mile & even raced a lady I’ve seen at the gym.

I yelled for joy when I crossed the finish line.

I am still filled with some self-doubt but I have learned that I am stronger & faster & capable of many things that I never imagined. Mostly I am just weary of getting injured again.

I blew away my 30” time goal & raced at 28:45 & earned a tote bag for 5th place in my age group. (Yippee for small races!)

 

I will post another picture (no light post growing out of the top of my head?) when I find them online. A photographer was there taking pictures & I know she caught me grimacing & scowling as I plodded up the first insane hill.

Compromise

Last Saturday we had a jam-packed day. Chris had his final driver’s training class. Ryan had a baseball tournament & was supposed to be at scout camp until Saturday morning. Scott had a baseball tournament, YSA lake day activity & dance, & a court of honor. Jared just stayed with us as the family mascot. And I was the ride & schedule coordinator.

The toughest part of the whole day was deciding how much time to spend at each event. Baseball is not the most important thing on the planet. However, Scott made a commitment to his friend Tripp to help coach Ryan’s travel ball team. Scott had not been to one tournament (of four) this spring/summer season. Scott was able to sit in the dugout with the kids, keep the books, & teach some of the mental parts of the game. As a bonus, Ryan’s friend Michael was playing in the tournament as a guest player. The boys won both games on Saturday (choirs singing!) & eventually won the entire tournament. The kids were truly able to work together as a team & were not plagued by negativity throughout the day.

Ryan had a great tournament. They played four games & won three – two on Saturday, two on Sunday. [Note: Ryan is fortunate enough to play for a coach that honors our family’s desire to not play on Sunday. One of my friends mentioned to me yesterday that we had never made an exception – I think that this has helped our cause. Many people in the south go to church on Sunday, but afterwards many people go out to eat dinner at a restaurant. Part of my explanation of our belief in keeping the Sabbath day holy has included explaining that we don’t even go out to eat dinner. I am grateful that BYU has always stood their ground – explaining that we attended BYU helps too.]

Chris went to his driver’s training class via good friends driving him to & from the hotel where the class is held. The movie was about the consequences of unsafe driving (alcohol-related) & mentioned nothing of texting & driving (a little outdated). Chris saw lots of blood & gore & reported that he passed out for about 30 seconds & the instructor just laughed it off. (The teachers are all retired police officers.) Now we just need to pick a date & go down & get his license (hooray – Mom is ready!).

After Ryan’s game, we hopped in Scott’s car & rushed down to the lake day activity at Lake Keowee. We always try to be at every YSA activity & dance. We got lost & missed more than half the activity & all of the dance. I feel a little less guilty because there are leaders from every ward that should be there (they know, right?) & there were a lot of great people from the other stake that were there. This activity was the first that I can remember feeling so conflicted about. (… there was conference last year when I drove back & forth between Boiling Springs & home… and the time that we went to Six Flags without our kids… and…) After the lake, we hurried home & attended Justin’s eagle scout court of honor.

How do you balance supporting your kids in sports, honoring commitments to friends, & magnifying your church callings? How do you choose between lots of worthy goals & activities?

All that I do know is that I was really, really, incredibly tired by the time everything was finished.

Three Things Thursday

Sunday was Father’s Day & the kids had a blast goofing off with Scott after dinner. His day was pretty uneventful – we went to church, he went hometeaching, & we had home evening with the YSA’s. Scott is a great dad to our boys – I didn’t even know that I should be worried about that when I got married.

The YSA’s had a lake day activity at Lake Keowee on Saturday. We weren’t able to be there for the whole day because of a baseball tournament & a court of honor, but it was fun for the short time it lasted. Our friend MR invited Scott to take out his fun toy. (What are they called? jet skis?) I was able to ride behind Scott & had a blast!

This is what the sky looked like (without the crazy vertical lines where I merged the pictures from my iPhone) when I dropped the kids off at Mutual at church on Wednesday night about 7 p.m. The contrast between the stormy areas & the non-stormy areas was dramatic – the lighting on the far left image is more true-to-life. The clouds were moving faster than I could drive home. The wind was moving MY VAN across lanes of the freeway!! This has been the weirdest year for weather. I was very freaked out for the whole drive home. Scott & Ryan’s team were on the baseball field when the front moved in & they were soaking wet before they could gather up their gear & hop in the cars. (Ryan was at young men’s.)

Oh hail! Another storm…

We have had A LOT of freakish storms this year. The first one that stands out is the Mother’s Day storm. We were sitting beneath the windows with the YSA’s having home evening & watching the cool lightning storm. Suddenly we saw a flying trampoline hit the side of the house & then fall back down through the deck & land upside down on the lawn. If we would not have seen it, it would have been hard to believe. (And seeing a flying trampoline isn’t exactly common.) Miraculously, the trampoline hit between the windows on the back & only dented the eave of the roof. (Is that what the white edge –thingy is that is under the rafters?) If you look at the number of windows on the back of the house, you might be impressed at how miraculous it was that the trampoline did not hit a window. A few days later we had hail that fell like stones from the sky. (Jared’s pained face tells you that the hail was cold!) The insurance company visited us & agreed to buy new siding for the back façade & a new trampoline. They looked at the roof & decided that it was good enough to not buy a new one.

On the way down to Florida for Memorial Day, the skies were very impressive. We did not suffer any effects from it, but I took pictures because they were very amazing clouds.


Almost every day starts sunny & hot. Each afternoon the clouds roll in & the magic starts to happen. The winds blow & swirl & the rain comes. Lightning crashes. We get nervous. Last week the backyard was SUNNY & raining while the front yard was dark & raining. When the storm went away, we were happy to see the trampoline still firmly planted on the ground. The kids & I went downstairs into the basement to continue watching TV & playing on the computer, but we stayed far away from the windows until everything stopped.
Last night I drove up to scout camp to see Ryan & take him some snacks. I mentioned to Nikko’s dad that the sky was looking darker & a storm was coming. He told me that he was pretty sure the storm was already passed & that we would have no problem. I stayed a bit longer. We heard noise from the other side of the field we were sitting behind. IT WAS HAIL!!! We hurriedly ran to the nearby shelter & watched an amazing storm. For a 0:10 second video of the hailstorm, click here. (Turn your speakers down!)

When it was finished, it looked like the ground was awash with Dipp'in’ Dots. (in my dreams!!!) We tried waiting out the storm but the lightning & the rain were pretty constant. We finally borrowed the scoutmaster’s umbrella & trotted to the car. (How fast can you run holding an umbrella, a cooler, & be followed by an 8-year-old with holey shoes?) This morning as we looked out in the backyard? Our trampoline had taken flight again – this time into the grove of trees in the backyard. The big basketball hoop had tipped over onto Scott’s parking space and a lot of trees lost their branches.
Chris is finally down to his final orthodontic adjustment. The power was out in the office this morning because a tree was on the power lines. The hygienist (?) said that she had softball sized hail last night.
I never ever want to see a tornado. These storms are very localized & it seems that they are all localized over our backyard. Crazy! We have had more crazy weather this year than ever before. I have always scoffed at the tornado warnings… now we have a plan & know where to go & plan to hang out. My friend’s little boy was thinking about all of our storms. “He said,  I hope [the] Smith's house is okay after that storm last night!” Sweet – we hope it stays that way too!