Vermont or Bust!

This evening after work the family is headed out to Collinsville. We'll spend the night and then in the morning hubby and I will be hopping on a jet plane and leaving for Vermont. We'll have a couple days to relax and see the area (neither of us have been there before) and then on Sunday we'll be running in the Covered Bridges Half Marathon.

I'm gonna go ahead and be honest and admit that I really haven't trained like I should have. I planned on it. Just didn't. After my run in April I promised myself that I would do my weekly mileage and cross-train twice a week as well. I was lucky to do even 2 runs a week. I've had shoe issues, shin splint issues, and just flat out motivation issues. But oh well, at least I'm doing it right?

This will be my 3rd 1/2 and although I haven't trained like I should I'm still hoping to improve on my time. My 1st time last year was 2:58. According to last years CBHM times that would put me in at 14 from the end of the pack! I know I'm not gonna win but I'd sure like to be more towards the middle. This April my time was 2:48 (which moves me up to 35th from the end). Brad is going to run with me which is a great motivation for me because he doesn't let me quit. I'm really hoping to finish in 2:45. And the course map shows a mostly downhill elevation with the exception of one steep hill so I'm hoping that will help and not hinder my time.

Hopefully I'll be back next week to report a wonderful mini-vacation with Hubby and a great run!

ABC Tag!

Is it sad that I was reading Brooke's blog and got a little bit too excited to have been tagged? Seriously, that's no lie. I've seen people tagged before in blogs but I've never been tagged for anything myself. It's the little things really...

(Be sure to scroll down to the letter T to see if you've been tagged!)

A. Attached or Single- Attached

B. Best Friend(s)- Best friends from high school (that I sadly don't get to see that much) are Shannon, Sue Ann, and Denise. Then there is my little sister Emily, she's pretty special. I'd have to say my best friends here in town these days are probably Leah and Brooke.

C. Cake or Pie- Cherry Pie is the best!

D. Day of Choice- It'd probably be Friday now that I'm working full time!

E. Essential Item- Computer with internet. Seriously, how sad is that?!

F. Flavor of Ice Cream- I'm not a huge ice cream fan. So I'm gonna say German Chocolate concrete from Shakey's.

G. Gummy Bears or Worms- Bears, I don't think I've ever had a worm.

H. Hometown- Hmmmm... Originally from Loveland, Colorado...grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma...have been in Stillwater, Oklahoma since 92. So I guess at this point Stillwater is probably my hometown.

I. Indulgences- Magazines. And shoes. And purses. It's kind of a sickness.


J. January or July- July, definitely July

K. Kids- Madi (13), Eli (11), Sadie (7), and Teagan (6)

L. Last movie I saw in a theater- I'm not sure I remember. I think we went to see one for Tea's birthday back in March. Yep, we did. Horton Hears a Who.

M: Musician: I don't really have a favorite because I listen to a lot of different types of music. Although I did recently get to meet Paul Wright at his concert in Ponca City and he's awesome. He even wrote a song for me that I gave to Brad for Valentine's Day.

N. Number of siblings- 1 sister, 1 step-sister, 1 brother, 2 step-brothers

O. Orange or Apples- Apples

P. Phobias or Fears- Bridges and heights

Q. Quote- Lot's of them really. I guess the one that comes to my mind first is "Whether you believe you can, or whether you believe you can't,
you're absolutely right." ~Henry Ford

R. Reasons to smile- My husband, my kids, my God...

S. Season- Spring and Fall, I always love the in between hot and cold times.

T. Tag 4- Let's see, how about Eren, Ame, Jana, and Sandi. We'll see if any of them read this!

U. Unknown fact about me- I can wiggle my ears. Without using my hands.

V. Vegetarian or oppressor of Animals- I'm a carnivore. Although there was a period of about a year back in college when I wouldn't eat beef because I fell in love with Norman the Cow from City Slickers.

W. Worst Habit- My negative attitude about things. Why can't I just make the most of things and not get so down?

X. X-rays or Ultrasounds- Huh? For what? Neither of them bother me.

Y. Your favorite Food- Anything Mexican

Tiny Dancer

Madi took tap and ballet classes when she was about 4 or 5 but only lasted a year before I realized it just wasn't her thing. Sadie is my super girly-girl and I put her in tap and ballet a couple years ago but ended up pulling her out after just a couple of months. At the time, she was just too self-conscience about messing up and not doing things the right way. But boy did she like looking at herself in the mirror!

So this year she decided she really wanted to try dance again. Only she didn't want to do tap and ballet. She wanted jazz and hip hop. So we did it. And she loved it! She may be the only child to inherit my rhythm. At least one of them did!




Last weekend was her dance recital and she just loved it. She was really nervous the week before and was worried about how many people would be watching her. I assured her that because of the lights she wouldn't be able to see much more than the first couple of rows. After her rehearsal she was so excited to tell me that I was right. Of course I was sweetie! *grin*

Nana and Grandpa came up for the special event and we all got dressed up to watch our own little Tiny Dancer. She did a great job. I picked her up backstage after her second dance was done and although everyone else was ready to head home she wanted to stay and watch the "big girls" dance a bit. She didn't last long because she was so tired but the small amount of time that we stayed she was a joy to watch. She just loved it!



Her face when we gave her flowers (from us and then Nana and Grandpa) was just amazing. It sure has paid off to have worked at a flower shop back in college. I still have my connections and Steve at Little Shop of Flowers totally came through. They were gorgeous!

In the car on the way home she told me she wanted to do more than just jazz and hip hop next year. Now she wants to add tap and ballet in too. As well as staying on the SYFA cheer squad. Wow. We're gonna be busy. She is definitely all girl!

Proofreading isn't always enough

Way back when I just had Madi and Eli and they were both under 3 years old there was this sweet little girl at church named Tarissa that watched Eli's class in the nursery. One Sunday she approached me and introduced herself and said that if we ever needed a babysitter she'd be glad to do it. She was just 11 or 12 at the time.

Now sweet Tarissa is 22 (or maybe 23?) and has graduated college and will be getting married next month. I can't believe how the time has flown! I am co-hosting her wedding shower and offered to be in charge of the invitations. I've been working on them all week. I've stayed up late each night to put them together and get them ready so that I could get them in the mail. I proofread, had Hubby proofread, and proofread again. I was certain that everything was in order.

I mailed all 100 invitations out yesterday and received a call from Tarissa this afternoon. She said her uncle received their invitation and wanted to know if the shower was on Saturday June 7th or Sunday June 8th. Yep. I put Saturday, June 8th as the date. Ugh. It's actually a Sunday. I knew it was a Sunday. I'm so frustrated with myself!

All the proofreading in the world wouldn't have caught that mistake. I need some bon-bons. Lots and lots of bon-bons.

And so it begins

Apparently the kids called hubby several times this morning to tattle on each other. He got each one of them on the phone and told them that if we needed to we would make a rule where they sat in a room by themselves all day long while we were working and they could just read a book. That seemed to get them motivated to be nicer to each other. At least for a little bit.

Right around noon Madi called to say that Eli was being really rotten. Apparently he was making himself Ramen for lunch and Sadie asked if he would make her some too. Would that be much trouble? I mean, it's just boiling extra water ya know? Well he refused too and was being a turd so Madi called me. I asked to talk to him and he gets on the phone and says he was going to have Ramen but then he decided not to because he thinks since Madi is the babysitter she should make him lunch. Are you kidding me?! I told him that he needed to help out too and he balked about how Madi was going to be getting paid so he shouldn't have to do anything so I said if he helped out as much as Madi was going to then I'd pay him too.

Then get this, in the worst-ever na-ne-na-ne-boo-boo voice he says, "Well, how
much are you going to pay me?!"

I'm not sure we're going to make it through this summer.

Is this anything?

I noticed this morning at Eli's graduation that Teagan had a bit of a rash. Just on her chest area under her chin. I've heard of several kids around school that have had fifth disease so I sort of wondered if that's what it was.

This afternoon when I got home from work Tea was passed out on the couch. Apparently she came home from school and cried and cried because she missed her teacher's so much already. Bless her heart! Anyway, she was sleeping on the couch and I noticed that her cheeks and arms were covered in a rash.

Her cheeks don't have the "slapped" look like fifth disease describes but if that's not what it is I just don't know what it could be. Then at Eli's baseball game tonight I had a couple people look at it and um, they saw nothing. No rash. Seriously? Can you not see this? I know it's not the best picture, I had trouble focusing on her back but click on it and it'll get bigger. It's all over her face, trunk, and arms. She's covered in it, I swear. Are my eyes broken?

Summertime

Yep. It's here. The start of summertime.

Today was the last day of school and I spent most of the morning at the elementary school for Eli's 5th grade graduation. He was pretty excited about it. We went yesterday and got a new hair cut for him and some new duds to wear. Poor guy, the girls always seem to be getting new clothes and he's always wearing just the same old t-shirt and jeans/shorts. Dressing guys just isn't nearly as fun!

The ceremony was nice and I love that our school gives the parents time to come take photos of the kids after an award or diploma is handed out. You'd think this would add a lot of time to the program but it really didn't, which was an added bonus. Eli received the President's Eduction Award for having a 3.5 gpa for 3 semesters. He was also the recipient of a Student of Today award presented byt the Masonic Fraternity of Oklahoma. The Student of Today is one who has demonstrated outstanding scholarship, leadership, citizenship and integrity. Go Eli! I can't tell you how my face must have been beaming when they announced his name.

After graduation the entire 5th grade had a big celebration with moon bounces, a caricature artist, and all sorts of other fun stuff. I was able to stay for a bit but then had to get back to work. Then Eli was invited by a girl in his class to be picked up from school in a limo and drive around for 45 minutes before going out to dinner. I can't imagine what that must have cost with the price of gas as high as it is! I figured this girl had invited a big mix of kids but found out last night that it was tons of girls and...Eli. That boy! He's definitely well liked by the girls.

I went back to work this afternoon with a bit of a heavy heart. I have been with the kids every summer until last year when I worked part time. I started my current job just a couple weeks before school started last August so I was still pretty much with them all summer. So this will be the first year that I'll be working full time since just after Madi was born. I'm having a hard time dealing with it. I want to be home with them. They can sure drive me insane but it makes me sad to think of all the things we won't be doing this summer because I'm at work all day. I have them all enrolled in some fun summer camps but it's just not going to be the same.

This morning as Tea was getting ready for school and her usual grumpy morning state I tried to encourage her by saying, "Today is the last day of school!". She started crying and said, "I wish it was your last day of work. I want you to stay home with me." Man. Way to break a Mom's heart!

May 15

How is it that when you're a child the time just creeps by but then as we get older years are gone in the blink of an eye? I'll never understand that. Today marks 15 years since my Mother passed away. Looking back through the May 15th entries here on my blog it seems as though the most common word or phrase I have when talking about how long she's been gone is just "wow". That's how I still feel. Fifteen years. Wow.

Coming back from Madi's volleyball tournament back in February, we stopped in Tulsa to eat and I decided to make a visit to the cemetary. I hadn't been there in years and my children have never been there. At least not that they can remember. I had Madi, Eli and Sadie with me and they were all so sweet. I told them some stories about the Grandma they never got to meet and how much fun they would have had with her. They asked questions both about her life and her death and it was just nice to talk with them about her in a way that we hadn't really done ever before.



I've been thinking a lot lately about the whole BRCA gene issue that I
discussed a few weeks ago. I received my copy of Jessica Queller's new book and have now finished reading it. In her book she mentions the FORCE website and I have since been there to look around. I'm still uncertain as to what steps I want to take but I plan on getting as much information as I can and making a decision soon. I just know that I want to be here for my kids and my future grandkids. I want to be with Brad as long as I can. I don't want my life ended early by something I could possibly prevent.

A good giggle

It's been quite a day. Heck, it's been quite a couple of weeks. The last days of school are always this way but I think it's been even more crazy than lately usually. I started out this morning knowing that I had a million and one things to do today and also knowing there was no way to accomplish everything. I've made it through though and just got home and have a very limited amount of time before I have to get Sadie from dance and head to Madi's volleyball banquet (while Brad is with the other two in another town at a baseball game...divide and conquer!). I sit down to check my email and I find this from my friend Terri. Man, did I need this today. I'm not sure where the email originated and it could be a spoof for all I know but it sure made me giggle. Probably for the most part because this sounds exactly like something I might actually do.

Enjoy!...



Regards,


All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax.


Read on...


My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours:


'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet' So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be?


I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out.
It's two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works!


OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north.


After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRRRIIIIPPP!!!


I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!! OH MY GAWD!!!


Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP!


Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious.


Do I hear crashing drums!?! Breathe, breathe...


OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy - a wax-covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip! There's no hair on it. Where is the hair? WHERE IS THE WAX!?!


Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. I am touching wax. I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet! I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.


Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself. 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!'


What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right? *WRONG!!!*


I get in the tub - The water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.


So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!


I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter 'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'


There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal, but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?'


She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!! Right! I should be the joke of someone else's night.


While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!


By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace ... the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.


What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY STARS!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. 'IT WORKS!!!


It works!' I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair. THE HAIR IS STILL THERE...ALL OF IT!


So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.


Next week I'm going to try hair color...