9.0 miles – first time!

Today I went running at the park downtown. Unlike most mornings, there were very few other runners out on the paths today. Maybe running is designated as a Monday, Wednesday, Friday sport. I was nervous & decided to go run the streets of Greenville. I hated waiting for traffic, but it was nice to see things from foot rather than by car.  Good times - glad it's over!

I purposefully got lost so that I would have to keep running & running & running. It worked.

Frog and Toad Together

 

Last night at youth night at church, the boys caught a toad & asked if he could come home with us. Being the great mom that I am (and being far too busy talking to realize that the toad was large enough to be a challenge for Pacman), I said, “Yes. Go right ahead!” After finally rounding up the boys & driving home, we all bounded upstairs to video the adventure. As Ryan opened the lid of the cup, the toad escaped onto the floor.

Link to video --> The toad tries to escape. You can see the frog’s leg about 4 o’clock on the cup.

Please try not to notice that Ryan & Jared do not believe in picking up their laundry off the floor. We talk about it frequently & eventually (hopefully) it will get better. Maybe knowing that everyone is seeing their skivvies on the floor will be enough to inspire them to clean up.

The next video shows Pacman chomping on the toad. I quit videoing & lost my appetite for an entire day. (I didn’t say that I didn’t eat. I am just saying that anytime I thought of food, I thought of frog & toad...) It really is one of those things that I really wanted to see, but I didn’t really want to see what I thought I wanted to see. (That’s a quote from Kay Montgomery – it applies to car accidents as well as animal encounters.) Pacman is buried in the moss just behind the toad’s left rear leg.

Link to video –> Pacman captures the toad.

Pacman

My kids have been begging me for pets FOREVER. We had a few beta fish. (I took a picture once but I can’t find it right now.) They have loved everyone else’s bunnies, dogs, cats, horses, goats & more. One of my kids even asked me if I was allergic to fish because they were desperate for a pet. The fish weren’t too bad – except Freddie smelled really, really bad after he slowly sunk to the bottom of the tank. (I will amend the post if I find the picture.)

 

Fast forward to the year 2010 & Jared’s 8th birthday. His cousin Spencer & his wife Zoe showed up at our house with Pacman, the frog.  Jared was DELIGHTED! I was unsure but willing to go along for the good of my little boy’s joy and happiness. Just know that I was never born to be the mother of a reptile. Pacman likes to eat – a lot! (And I have a family of hungry boys – I know hungry!!!)  He has eaten a mouse, two lizards, and a gazillion crickets. He stalks his prey – too funny to watch. I now go to PetSmart & buy crickets & pinkies (little dead frozen mice – ew!)

To learn more about Pacman, you can check this article out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratophrys

 

It will all be fun & games until someone has to clean out the cage. Pacman has lunged at some of my boys. I am not crazy enough to put my hand inside.

Labor Day Beach Trip

We drove down to our favorite beach on Friday night so that we could spend the entire day Saturday playing in the sand & the surf. All that our kids require are a few boogie boards & a shovel. We stayed in our favorite condo – the water is just beyond the palm tree over Chris’ right shoulder. The room that we stayed in was officially adorable. The kids were totally freaked out by the stuffed cat – they thought that the owners had stuffed the family pet.  I went running on the beach – and Christopher totally saved the day by bringing me Gatorade & almonds & a granola bar. After I got back, we ate, slathered on sunscreen, packed up the car, & went down to play on the beach. Our best friends (the Barlows) & their family came & joined us on the beach. The sky was a bit overcast so we were able to stay out forever & no one was sunburned. (Hooray!)

Long Runs

I have signed up for the Spinx Half Marathon in Greenville in late October. I have run/walked a few half marathons before but I have never seriously put in the training necessary. While I was talking to my trainer the other day, he asked me what I was doing to prepare. … I was thinking about the possibility of maybe putting some miles in. I have printed out the running schedules. But I haven’t really put in the miles because of injuries. Last Saturday I ran 5.0 miles at the beach – 2.0 miles of running & then 3.0 miles of misery back to the hotel because of an improper breakfast & the heat & water.

Today, I had no motivation for a long run. I think I was scheduled for 9.0 miles but I am behind & decided 7.0 was better than 0.0! I had no motivation as I changed into my t-shirt & shorts. I had no desire to run as I put on two watched (the HRM & the Garmin). I had no desire as I laced up my favorite Asics over my favorite Asics socks. I sat down & ate a snack (a string cheese & half an apple). I walked out the door & still did not feel like running. I walked down the hill & out to the street & started to run.

I decided to stay in the neighborhoods because of the lack of shoulders & sidewalks out in the real world. And fast cars & dogs & no bathrooms & … I just liked staying close to home. I ran in & out of culdesacs, past a lunch following a funeral, and into the rain. I mostly ran, but when my heart-rate would reach 165-167, I would stop & walk for a little bit. I have been doing a lot of spinning classes, tried Body Jam, and did a little yoga. My endurance is much better now that I have thrown off the 20-pound jacket of fat that I wore everywhere I went. The misty rain made everything look lush & green & manicured. I mostly enjoyed the first 2.5 miles.

I crossed into the neighborhood across the street & said hello to Jared’s friend playing with some neighborhood kids. And I just kept going. I had talked to Scott about running for a while on the streets & then going home to finish out on the treadmill. At about 3.5 miles, I decided to just keep going. I thought about a quote by an ultramarathon runner (over 26 miles, sometimes over 100 miles at a time – crazy!).  “Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” I don’t think I was into crawling – I don’t like scraped knees – but when I was tired I slowed down & walked for a while. I had to add culdesacs to my path (sometimes long, hilly ones unfortunately). When I finally reached our house, the watch read 6.97 miles so I had to run back down the hill, down the block a few houses & back before the Garmin chirped a jubilant hallelujah at the 7.00 mark. I did not run one more step after the mile marker was reached.

In the end, I feel accomplished. Some people can go knock out 14 or 15 or 20 miles with the same amount of effort & time that I finished 7 – maybe someday my body will allow me the same privilege. But I am happy that I went out, stuck through the chafing, the hills, & the monotony to be able to say I DID IT! I still LOVE My shoes & my inserts & my socks & Glide.

I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was too tired & sore & disoriented to do anything like that. Instead, I took a nap!  It is pretty angry right now. I have tried ice, ibuprofen, rest, physical therapy, massage, and stretching. Next week? 9 – but I am in search of a flatter place to run & happiness for my hamstring.

Happy running! Thanks for reading my ramblings.

My Aching Back!

 

A few months ago I started working out with a personal trainer, eating much healthier, and losing weight. MFT (my favorite trainer) prescribed four days of cardio with my heart rate in the 140’s for 55 minutes plus strength training (mostly weights) on two days in the week. OK. I started going to classes, eating clean, going to more classes, & even running. My speed was getting faster. My endurance was getting better. I could even go to the hard classes at the gym & mostly kinda keep up. I loved spinning! And the best part of all was that I had lost over 15 pounds in two months.

Last last Monday while doing an Intense Body class, I bent over to do frogs (sort of a leap frog in place) & my back started hurting A LOT. When I got home, I limped to the computer and emailed MFPT (my favorite physical therapist) & he quickly emailed me back to let me know that I had probably tweaked my sacroiliac joint. I earned a referral & have been going to physical therapy since. And I have been feeling much better.

But I am on restriction. I feel like a kid who has been grounded from recess – exercise was really my best stress reliever. My workouts went from daily intense pushes (running, intense body, spinning, the reformer) to two yoga classes & a 20” walk in the park (literally) last week & yoga once this week. I am grouchy grouchy grouchy. So if I snap & bark when you walk by, please know that I am on the road to recovery. My back is mostly better & my right hip is trying to conform to MFPT’s regimen of stretching & stuff. I even get to go try Spinning tomorrow – cross your fingers!

A kind older gentleman (much older!) told me yesterday that I should stick to swimming & yoga. I just can’t do it. I like the wind in my face, plus I really, really, really like to eat my exercise calories & the 127 calories that I earn in one hour of yoga just don’t quite take the cake. Maybe yoga takes the omelet.

OMELET – pour 1/2-3/4 cups egg beaters into hot omelet pan, move stuff over to allow uncooked parts to get to the hot pan, allow to set a little, top with the good stuff.

Toppings: sautéed mushrooms & onions, tomatoes, spinach & probably artichoke hearts.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my omelet pan. It was a special purchase deal @ Bed Bath & Beyond & has the perfect finish & shape for making awesome omelets every time.

Time for School! Time for School! Time for School!

Last Monday Chris started school but this morning was the first day of seminary. This picture is from some time before 6 a.m. He really wasn’t as unpleasant as the picture might suggest. He has a busy schedule that will hopefully change just a little bit today – he will have college world history, math 110 (college algebra), English, chemistry, … and some other stuff. They have eight classes per week – MW, TTh, & then an alternating Friday schedule. We are happy that he is able to attend a charter school & take college classes while in high school. After school he is running cross-country & runs some super killer workouts every day. We can’t wait for the meets to start.

Today was the first day of school for Ryan & Jared. Ryan is in 7th grade & Jared is in 3rd grade. They are both most excited to see their friends.

So now the craziness will begin. Three kids, four schools. Two kids playing baseball. One kid running cross country. Plus piano and scouts and cub scouts.

Only 179 school days until summer vacation.

Eight is GREAT!

 

Yeah! Hooray! Jared’s eight.

He had a super fun day. He proclaimed several times, “This is the best birthday ever!” His cousins gave him a frog. This is not just any frog though, it is a Pacman frog a.k.a. an ornate horned frog. The crazy frog will even eat MICE! The kids spend time every day catching grasshoppers & crickets & putting them in his cage. He was baptized (related post below). He went to lunch at Moe’s & dinner at Lieu’s. And he had a friend party. Jared invited several friends over to come swim in our neighborhood pool. As luck would have it, it was cloudy & overcast so we had the pool to ourselves!!! Perfect.

 

 

Jared’s Baptism

On Monday, Jared turned eight! He was excited for lots of reasons – one of them being that he was able to get baptized into our church. Before he was baptized, he had to talk to the bishop. Jared was so excited! Scott’s brother & family came up from Florida to help share in this special day with us. 

We had lots of friends who came, too. At one point, I wanted to turn around & take a picture of everyone who came. I hemmed & hawed & then didn’t. Now, I wish that I had pictures of everyone – I was so touched that people took the time to support our family on this very special day that I had many, many tears streaming down my face for much of the day.

Chris gave the talk on baptism. Mikan gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Brother Waddell talked to Jared specifically about what a special day this was & how to always remember it.

We had fruit in the gym for a snack after.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the baptism, we went to Moe’s as a big family to eat lunch & to celebrate Jared’s birthday. Uncle Bret & Aunt JeaNette gave Jared a fun baptism-related present with a backpack, a light, and a cuddly blanket.

The food was yummy! Moe’s is always good. And Jared’s cake was also WONDERFUL – I don’t think I could even accurately write down how I made it, but it was very chocolaty & decadent. Basically, I followed the Perfect Birthday Cake recipe in the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor with a vanilla cake mix but added 1 square of melted bitter chocolate and some Ghiradelli ground sweet chocolate (1/4 cup?). For the frosting, we used 1/2 cup butter, 3.5 ounces of Ghiradelli melting chocolate, 1.5 ounces of milk chocolate chips, 1/2 cup milk, & 2.5 cups powdered sugar – melted together & then whipped. … I made Scott take it to work the next day because I would have eaten every single leftover piece (before breakfast).

A Miracle

         

 

State All-Star Tournament in Seneca, South Carolina. More details to come. The score was not the miracle.

 

Update (August 2010): Where on earth does all the time go??? When Ryan agreed to play on the all-stars, we did not realize that it would be a full-summer commitment. We mentioned to the coach that Ryan would not play on Sunday. The coach said that he would not keep anyone from playing due to their religious beliefs. Luckily, the district tournament was on Father’s Day weekend so Sunday was not an issue. Ryan’s team won the entire tournament – a big deal because Mauldin has never (?) won the district ozone tournament.

Fast forward three weeks to the state tournament – we received the packet of information which included information about a mandatory worship service on Sunday morning from 10-11, a mandatory banquet on Sunday morning from 11-12, and then a game Sunday afternoon. The way the materials read, any one player not attending all three events (worship, banquet, & game) would eliminate the whole team. We told the coach that Ryan would be there if the team would be eliminated. He talked to the director at the state level & we were given permission to miss everything on Sunday. Yeah!

When I was driving to church that Sunday, I was thinking how nice it was that we didn’t have to be at the ballpark. I was taught that it was not just nice, it was a miracle. The director’s heart was softened so that Ryan could be excused from everything. As it turned out, everything in the afternoon was canceled because of rain. The rain would let up long enough for the fields to be cleaned up & then the rain would start all over again. This meant that Ryan would be able to play in the next (& final) game of the tournament. The final score was 11-19 but Mauldin had come back from a 5-11 deficit. The kids did great, played to the best of their abilities, & would have been clobbered in the next round.

 

Ryan had Rick & Tony as coaches for three regular seasons (fall, spring, fall) and two all-star seasons. Neither has a kid on the team but they love to develop great baseball players. Rick even coached one of the kids on the National Championship USC team. Ryan had Jeff as a coach this spring & learned a lot there too. It is nice to be involved in sports & meet so many great people.