Running

I've alluded to this in other posts, but haven't really given it much time/space on the blog (mostly because I'm waaaaaaaaay behind on my blogging).

Shortly before I turned 32 I started running. It was entirely, 100%, due to peer pressure because in the 31.99 years prior to September of 2013 I hated running with every fiber of my being. I'd done spinning (love), pilates (double love), Zumba (meh), yoga (for 13+ years, j'adore), roller skating (used to love), rock climbing (miss that!), swimming (boring), and weight lifting (double boring). But never running.

In fact, I almost failed PE because I walked the mile. I think I passed the class because I always dressed down, wasn't a pain in the ass (other than my refusal to run), and my PE teacher just got tired of badgering me about the run and didn't want to have to deal with it again the next year.

So it's not really surprising that neither my husband nor my mother ever thought I would turn into a runner. I never imagined it would happen, although I was certain it could happen - if only because I suffer under the long standing delusion that I can do anything I want if only I try.

Anyway, Chrissy harassed me about it enough (ok, she didn't really harass me, but she was very encouraging) and the week before I turned 32 I bought shoes and went for my first run.

I ran a mile. I had to stop three times.

I ran inconsistently after that. Sometimes a mile, sometimes a mile and a half. Then I started getting up early and going for runs before breakfast. These were usually 2.5 mile jaunts. Sometimes stopping to stretch, sometimes stopping to walk for a block.

Then I pulled my hamstring after a 3 mile run and a particularly intense yoga class. I was sidelined for over a week and I started to realize that I kinda liked running.

I know.

Once I got the all clear to exercise, I started running more frequently. Taking breaks after tattoo appointments (because running with a new back tattoo is unpleasant) and taking breaks for holidays (although I did run on New Years Eve and New Years Day).

I've done one official 5K and have signed up for 1 more, plus a 10K, and I'm thinking about a half marathon in August.

If my PE teacher could only see me now. Ha!

I really do like running. I like running with someone best, because you push each other to go farther (ok, Chrissy pushes me, I'm not good enough yet to really challenge anyone). But running solo has it's benefits, it gives me time to think, which is nice. I take the dog on occasion, although she is more than a little annoyed that I don't run faster.

I will say this, I am SLOW. For the 5K I clocked in at just over 39 minutes - that's over a 13 minute/mile pace. I never stopped or walked, but it was uphill for the first half and uphill suuuuuuuuucks.

My average pace is a 13 minute/mile or just under BUT today I ran 4 miles and ran a pace of 11.28.

ELEVEN AND A HALF MINUTE MILE.

Yea me!

It would be awesome to run a 10 minute mile. Ok, it would be awesome to run an 11 minute mile. I'm still stoked that I ran almost a minute and a half under my normal pace.

I will never be fast, but maybe one day soon I won't be super slow.

The One Where I Turn Into My Mother

Everyone becomes their mother at some point.

Luckily for me, my mom is pretty freaking awesome. And every year I feel a little more like her - I find myself saying something she would say, or doing something I've seen her do a thousand times. Like cleaning house while blasting Bon Jovi.

We're both ridiculously adorable in this picture

But today, at the grocery store, I had a moment where I feel like I traveled back in time and inhabitied my mother's body. Or maybe she traveled forward in time and inhabited mine. Whatever, time travel gives me a headache.

I was standing in the personal hygiene section, eating a piece of beef jerky (which I grabbed from the aisle prior and had broken into because I was hungry - and also, beef jerky). I stood, one hand on my hip, the other on the cart, trying to find the razor blades for Bryan's razor. I was wearing my Sunday jeans (they have holes, but they are comfortable) and an oversided sweater. I had on no makeup. I said the following:

"Christ on a crutch, where are they hiding these damn things?"

And then the realization that I AM MY MOTHER crash upon me like a wave and at the same moment I realized that I OWNED that. It's like when Harry Potter stops being afraid of being the Chosen One and assumes the role like a badass. It might not seem like a watershed moment to most, but it was.

I am my Mother.

Voledmort should be very. f*cking. afraid.

#sassy

The Griff

There are some things about our Goofy 3.5 year old that must be chronicled.

Do not eat the cookies he decorates. You have been warned.

The child cannot be trusted around frosting. Or sweets of any kind. This holiday season he took to sneaking a candy cane off the tree and disappearing downstairs for a few moments to hastily cram the forbidden fruit into his mouth.

Of course, the moment he came back upstairs his sticky face and hands would betray his crime. Also, he would confess without even being asked a question. Do not tell him your secrets.

Too bad for him I won't actually let him play football while he's on our health insurance plan.

The child is silly. Like, seriously silly. Always. He has an overactive imagination that, on the one hand gives us this great game of Mama & Baby Penguin (explained below), but on the other hand contributes to his frequent nightmares and deep fear of the dark.

Mama & Baby Penguin
In this game (or reenactment, call it what you will), G rushes straight to his bed after his bath and curls up in a ball with his towel covering him. I come in and envelop him until he's ready to "hatch" and then he pops out of his "egg" and says "Hi Mama Penguin!" At which point I can now dry him off and he can put on his pajamas. This happens every night at our house and is partially based off of a book the kids have called A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton.

Mama's Boy, 1,000%

Griffin loves his Daddy, even though Bryan jokes that he's the last man on the totem pole with his son. But Bubby looooooooooooves his Mama. And I used to find that a smidgen frustrating when he was smaller and needier. But I no longer feel that way.

One day the scales will tip back. Mama is no good at throwing baseballs or playing tackle/tickle (his favorite game to play with Bryan), so I will take my dozens of kisses a day now and hopefully save the sweet memory of them until, many many many many many years from now, I get a grandchild who will love me with the same unconditional fervor. (Or a niece/nephew - hint hint Nic).

Speaking of kisses, G has taken to counting our kisses. I usually get 10 at a time. I think it's because he loves counting. LOVES. He counts everything.

I get flowers at least once a week.

If there is a flower on the grass, Griffin will pick it and give it to me. Without fail. Often, on the way home from school with the babysitter, he'll pick a few pretty weeds and have them in a cup of water waiting for me when I get home.

It is adorable. It is heart melting. It is awesome.

Little boys can be messy, dirty, and smelly. They can play rough. They often forget their own strength. They are quickly swayed by their emotions.

They are also sweet. And kind. And loving.

Because really? All kids are those things.

Resolutions 2014

For the last few years, I've written resolutions posts. Here's 2013, 2012, and 2011.

Common themes? Loose weight, go to the beach more often.

We actually did go to the beach a lot in 2013. So check.

The weight thing? Not so much. BUT I did a sigificant amount of stress eating and took up running (the running probably helped keep my weight gain in the single digits).

I do not want - or need - to lose a bunch of weight. I look fine. I don't feel fine though. And that has more to do with me needing to increase the healthy eating and less about me actually needing to use the D-word.

I will be stressed the rest of this semester. I will stress eat. I should stock my classroom (and house) with snacks that will either prevent me from stress eating or will not make me feel like the Pillsbury Dough-Boy after I am finished.

So I resolve to not buy the delicious but salt laden and high caloric bag of spicy crackers at Costco.

I resolve to run at least twice a week.

I resolve to enter in at least 4 races (5 or 10K).

I resolve to go to yoga twice a month.

All of these things make me FEEL better - the running especially. Which is ironic since I absolutely loathed running up until November of this year.

Our family resolution is to eat out less. (Note: I didn't actually consult the entire family on this one, as the kids are asleep and Bryan is working).

My work resolution is to LET IT GO. I cannot (and should not) take on anything else. Less is more.

So there we have it. My 2014 resolutions which I will hopefully remember because the next time I read this post it will be right before (or shortly after) the dawn of 2015.

Harley-Quinn and I getting ready to run on the beach 1/1/14

Birthday Girl Questions - Age 5

Last year I started asking the kids a series of 20 questions on their birthday and will attempt to keep the tradition alive every year.

It was amusing to see what had changed and, perhaps more remarkably, what stayed the same.

Here are Sissy's anwers.

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink (no change)
2. What is your favorite toy?   A doll... my Rapunzel doll, the little one (no change)
3. What is your favorite fruit?   Those cutie things (last year: melon)
4. What is your favorite tv show?   Olivia (last year: My Little Pony)
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?   Turkey and cheese sandwich (last year: macaroni and cheese)
6. What is your favorite outfit?   The cupcake shirt and the long skirt with my leggings (last year: owl shirt. Note: the long skirt I actually made her and she would wear it every day if we let her).
7. What is your favorite game?   Twister and the Olivia LeapPad game (last year: Tangled LeapPad game)
8. What is your favorite snack?  Tortilla chips (last year: apple)
9. What is your favorite animal?  Giraffe (laughs hysterically - no change from last year, she even laughed hysterically last year).
10. What is your favorite song?   The Peter Pan song (the one where they're marching, it's the Lost Boys' song, last year it was A Part of Your World)
11. What is your favorite book?  Green Eggs and Ham (last year: The Little Mermaid)
12. Who is your best friend?  Audrey (the only girl in her class, last year it was Hailey from daycare)
13. What is your favorite cereal?   Cheerios (last year: Life cereal)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?   Playing on the plasma cars (I assume that's something from school, last year it was riding bikes)
15. What is your favorite drink?   Milk (no change)
16. What is your favorite holiday?   Christmas (last year: Spring)
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?   My pillow (last year: dolls - all the dolls... she really doesn't sleep with anything anymore unless she's sick)
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?   Cheerios (last year: cereal)
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?   A sandwich (same as last year, which is weird)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  An artist Princess (last year: Astronaut or Alice from Alice in Wonderland)

We had a nice birthday celebration. Dinner out and then a trip to Starbucks. She had fun.

5 thus far has been rougher than 4. She's much more moody that she was before. I'm not used to a weepy girl-child, that's usually the boy. So we'll all be adjusting... She's still usually very happy and sweet and easy going, she's just starting to assert herself and she's she's entering this new stage where she'd rather play by herself than with her brother (which I totally get because he's rowdy and I have a little bother brother as well.) But even though they do quarrel more often than they used to, they still get along well the vast majority of the time, so we're still very lucky.

So happy birthday to our sweet Amazonian child. We love you!

Then:

Now:

An overdue update

I haven't blogged since September 25th, which blogger promintely dispalyed on my login page, as if to shame me from being away for so long.

In my defense, work has been insane. Which is my fault - 100% - because I agreed to take on an additional class, which means I have no prep period, which means I have 5 academic classes plus Journalism (yearbook and the magazine) AND I was crazy and signed up to advise a few clubs (um, 5).

So I brought this craziness all on myself, and it's kept me busy. Really busy. In fact this weekend I finally finished grading essays that I had the kids turn in October 15th. Eep! I still have a giant stack of grading, but I feel good that at least those essays are done.

Finals are in two weeks. Le Sigh. I will enjoy Winter Break.

The good thing is that all of my students this year are wonderful. I really do mean this. Yeah, some of them are obnoxious at times, but they're teenagers. I do love being a teacher, even if the job is the most stressful job I have ever had.

The real reason of this post wasn't to talk about work, although that happens a lot with me lately. I can't seem to shut up about work... the point of this post was to chronicle what has happened in the lives of the kids since I took my unintentional blog hiatus.

Let's start with the youngest.

Griffin goes to school 3x a week and started to like it mid-September. His behavioral reports are always good and his report card for the 1st trimester (which I think is hilarous and adorable) was exemplary. He does well, he behaves well, he's energetic. Pretty much sums up the moster.

He's lost most of his lisp/stutter and talks up a STORM. Between the two of them it's a miracle B or I ever get to talk. Our dog, Harley-Quinn, is his very best friend, but I'm not 100% sure if she feels the same way.

The tantrums one normally expects of a 3 1/2 year old are becoming less frequent - which is awesome. Looking back, the Terrible Twos and Terrorist Threes were pretty tame compared to the stories I've heard of these ages. Insisting that he use his words to express his frusrtrations has started to bear fruit and he's much better and talking about why he's upset instead of just disolving into tears.

He's grown a lot. In 5T and some of his 5T clothes are starting to get a little short. Which is insane because we just bought him clothes. He's not quite as tall as Sissy, but on occasion people will ask if they're twins.

He's still a big snuggler and asks for snuggles all the time. And while he does spend a few nights a week in his own bed, most nights he crawls in with us anywhere from 3-6am.

Penelope

She is growing up too fast. She'll be 5 on Thursday. She lost one tooth in October and another two are loose. She's in size 7. She reads. READS.

We had her parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago and she knows 34 of the 100 1st grade sight words - the words 1st graders are supposed to know at the end of 1st grade. Thirty four.

She'll sound out words and read signs, books, and my text messages. She would still prefer to sit upstairs and read (or color) rather than go outside and run around. She is defintely my daughter.

Her teacher also said that Penelope is a very enthusiastic learner: "Sometimes very bright children will get bored, but Penelope is always so excited for whatever it is we are doing in class, she loves to learn."

And she's really social - she knows the names of her friend's parents and will greet them when she gets to school or on the way out. She loves everyone, they're all friends she hasn't met yet. And her memory is crazy - she remembers what she wore to Griffin's brithday party in April. She remembers playing with friends she hasn't seen in over a year. She remembers things I promised and forgot (which, boo).

I am planning on having her do the 20 birthday questions - last years are here.

In other news, I ran my first 5K and didn't die. I didn't walk or throw up either. Woot! My time was something like 39 minutes, so I ran the slowest 5K in the history of 5Ks. My next scheduled 5K is in March, running it with my Journalism kids.

The back tattoo is in progress. I have the outline and a little over 1/4 of color done. It hurts, a lot, but I love it.

And I think that's it. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of things, but I should probably get to all of that grading I have. The pile is staring at me accusingly right now.

Everything since August 6th...

No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

School started. Was good. Took a 6th period. Am going crazy.

Took up running, sorta (been 5 times). Can run 1.25 miles and have now run more in the last 3 weeks than I ever did in high school PE.

Kids love school, especially Penelope. She has 16 boys and 3 girls in her class. Makes me thankful that I teach high school.

Griffin goes on his first field trip in a few weeks. I get to go (hooray for fortuitous scheduling and random Mondays off!).

Penelope went to my 1.5 hour yoga class with me and did everything except for Triangle pose. Everyone loved her and she's been invited back for other classes. She adores this. She is also surprisingly inflexible, I blame Bryan.

Griffin is now 90% night time potty trained. Huzzah!

I got a full back tattoo (well, the outline is done). It is made of awesome and I will post many pics as color is added.

I'm co-advising the Mock Trail team this year. It's fantastic, but also means Tuesdays I'm on campus from 7am until 7pm. No joke. See note re: "crazy" above.

We've been to a wedding and a birthday party with an Elvis impersonator (those things did not happen in the same weekend).

Bryan's job is going well, he loves it.

His hockey team plays tomorrow for the championship.

I turned 32 and didn't freak out (actually, it was fun. And so far 32 is infinitely better than 22 & 12 combined. Although at 2 I was in New York, so we'll see if 32 makes it to the top of my "years ending in a 2").

And now, goodnight. It is time to sleep. So I will sleep with my pet Zeep. Today was good, today was fun. Tomorrow is another one. Everyday from here to there, funny things are everywhere.

(P.S. if you don't get my two allusions, then I'm not sure we can be friends anymore).