Last Post Of The Year...And Looking Forward

Well, 2012 is officially ending. We all managed to survive the Mayan Apocalypse! (Sorry, had to throw that in there!) I have been giving pretty much non-stop thought to the rest of my monthly "goal" list so that I could have it laid out for this post. I have to tell you, the first six came right out of me all at once. The next four took a little thought, but the last two?  Let's just say they have been a never ending source of trouble for me! So, I'll just lay them out there (or what I have) and know that a couple of these might change if I think of anything better!

January 2013: To run the equivalent of 26.2 miles (a full marathon) over the course of 30 days. I already know I'm good for 6.2 of those miles because I am already registered for two 5ks this month! The rest will be done either outside or on the treadmill in whatever increments I can squeeze in!

February 2013: To complete 20 Zumba DVD (60 minute) workouts in 30 days. This one is pretty much completely do-able (provided the Mr and I don't get into a spat over the living room television. He has a man-cave in the basement, he needs to visit it more often!) This one will be a little bit of a challenge, however, because we usually go to Kentucky for the better part of 1 week to visit family at this time of the year.

March 2013:  To log ALL food for 30 days. Not necessarily to stay under any particular number or to have any goals about it, but just to write down EVERY crumb that goes into my mouth for an entire month. My birthday is this month, so it should be interesting and challenging.

April 2013:  To eat fewer than or equal to 1600 calories per day for 30 days. This is where the challenge really starts to get intense! I have done it before. I can do it again. With the help of the journal I use for my March challenge and the My Fitness Pal website, I will keep track of and actually stay UNDER 1601 calories a day. I can eat as low as 1500 and feel full all day and MFP wants me to eat 1700, so I feel that I can both lose weight and still feel satisfied at 1600. There are no birthdays or holidays really this month, so I think it will be completely do-able.

May 2013:  To complete 16 Yourself Fit workouts on the PS2 in 30 days. I chose 16 because the game actually recommends that you only workout 3 to 4 days a week. I chose the higher at 4 per week. This game is unique in that it alternates cardio with strength training and flexibility. It even has Yoga that you can do just for the relaxation of it!

June 2013:  No soda for 30 days. The only things I will drink are water, tea, coffee, juice and carbonated water  for an entire month. With it being the true beginning of summer break, I should have a whopper of a headache between caffeine withdrawal and the kids being out of school for summer break!

July 2013:  To go to bed by 11pm 20 nights of the month. This is one of the few challenges I am looking the least forward to. I am a serious night owl. My kids don't go to bed until 8pm and they usually aren't asleep until at least 9pm, so I use the time after that as my "me" time. This is the time when I browse Facebook, check my email and even blog! It will be really hard for me to fit all of that in and shower/get ready for the next day by 11pm.

August 2013:  No candy for 30 days. No candy of ANY kind. No chocolate, no lollipops, no Jolly Ranchers...nothing! This one will be hard because I love peanut butter cups and peanut M&Ms. Have to stay strong...have to stay strong...

September 2013:  To lose 5 pounds in a month. I waited to put this one further into the year so that I could get everything rolling. The months that I chose to include these challenges was not random. I have been gradually building up skills and willpower. The very skills and willpower I will need to accomplish this particular goal. By September, I hope to be exercising regularly again and eating the right foods. I also hope to be logging all of my food, cutting back on sweets and not drinking as many sugary drinks.

October 2013:  To drink 64 or more ounces of water every day of the month. I think that water is important for life and important for fitness and weight loss. I am also hoping that by this point in the year, I am already doing this or am very close to or exceeding this goal.

November 2013:  To post a blog every. single. day. of the month. I started out kind of mediocre with my blogging. Then, I was pretty regular. Then, as I fell off of the wagon with my fitness level and weight loss efforts, my blogging seemed to have fallen off the wagon as well. I really enjoy writing a blog as much as I enjoy reading the ones that I read regularly! My goal is to start up the habit with this challenge and carry through until I just blog daily without a second thought. I'd like to build up a regular reader base and maybe get some notable comments!

December 2013:  To maintain these goals and make them lifelong habits. Sure, I'll have candy or soda. I'd be insane to deny myself something like that! I just want to make sure that my world/body/fitness level does not fall apart during the holidays. I want to go in to 2014 looking and feeling better about myself. I want to be maintaining my weight, no still working on losing it. I want to look forward to running half marathons. I want to enjoy my life and stop worrying about setting bad examples for my children.

So, there you have it. My 2013 monthly challenge list. Tune in tomorrow to find out how Day 1 goes!

A Couple More Goals To Add...

I'm getting really excited about starting my monthly goals for 2013! I have added two more goals to the list:

-No Soda for 30 Days- I was standing at work today, feeling slightly sluggish and I wanted something soda-y to go with my lunch, so I popped over to the soda coolers and bought a Coke zero 20 ounce bottle. I don't think this will be a hard goal for me. I gave up soda entirely a couple of years ago. The only real problem is in social situations or going out to eat. Also, there are certain foods that just taste yucky with water or tea!

-No Candy for 30 Days- This one will be MUCH harder for me, but I think with enough determination/will power, it can be done. When I was pregnant with my daughter, nearly 4 years ago, I would eat a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup every single day with a 20 ounce bottle of Coke. I will tell you that there will be certain times when this one will be really hard. First, there's that time which almost every girl within a certain age range craves sugar (usually chocolate). Then, I also eat candy when I am really stressed or really bored (or both!). I think I will make this one of the later goals, just so I have a handle on calories and such at the time. I'm not sure I should make it too close to the end of the year, though, or it will hit Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas...oh noooo!! (It would be more challenging to make it one of those months, though, so we'll see how it goes)

I know that I haven't been blogging very much lately. I have watched my "readers" numbers plummet as of late. Please know that I have been working A LOT lately at my full-time job and I have been trying to be a full-time mommy and do all things supportive, crafty and fun for my kids. Once my goals start, I will be much more into blogging...to let everyone know how my progress is going AND to keep myself accountable. Thanks for understanding!

Glued To the Horror

I wasn't planning on writing a post about the tragedy in Newtown, CT, but I think it's best to get it off of my chest. I feel SO TERRIBLE for the families and even for the entire town. All I have done since I got home from work last night is watch the news (which I normally don't do at all) and keep a computer tab up on CNN.com. I don't completely understand why I am so glued to this horror. As the story unfolds more and more, all I can do is watch and cry.

Probably some of my sadness comes from having a child who is elementary school aged. Then, the empathy. Trying to imagine sending your child to school only to find out that someone has gone in with a gun and killed so many innocent lives. To know that the parents of 20 children will never see their children alive again. To think that those parents had to sit at that fire station and watch every other child be reunited with their families and then realize that they would not have that relief. These people will have to plan funerals for their loved ones when they should be finishing up their Christmas shopping or wrapping up their Hanukkah festivities. It seems like too much for anyone to have to endure. I don't know if I could.

Then, there are all of the people, police and paramedic or firefighters, who have had to walk into that school and see the horror of all of those little bodies, covered in blood. To know that the teachers, principal and school psychologist all died trying to protect those little lives. Something like that is going to stay with them for the rest of their lives. I feel horrible for them, as well.

Last, I am going to go a step further and say that I feel bad for the family of the gunman. His father and brother have lost a mother and ex-wife. They have to endure all of the hatred directed at them because people need someone to blame.

As the days pass, I know I will remain glued to this story. I know I will be watching to see what the investigators uncover. Those families will remain in my prayers for a long time to come.

Already Thinking About 2013

As 2012 comes to a close, I can't help thinking about the new year. Now, I actually don't do "New Year's Resolutions." I think they are silly. Why do you have to wait until the beginning of a new year to start doing something? 2013 for me won't be any different. I am not declaring a New Year's resolution. I am, however, starting a 12 month project. If this were any other month than December, it wouldn't seem so close to a resolution. Just know that I would have started this anyway! (The OCD majority part of me thinks that it's awesome to start a 12 month plan on the first of the year!) So, here's what I have laid out so far:

12 individual "monthly" goals. I have decided that I generally try to take on too many projects at once and weight loss/getting in shape is one thing that I really do bite off more than I can chew on. It has generally only gotten me burnt out and/or injured. Take this past year: I ran my first 5k (pulled a hamstring) and then jumped right into my first half marathon (plantar faciitis). Along the way, I quit logging my calories and gained back about 13 pounds of lost weight (not to mention ALL of my toning). And, let's not even discuss the recent addition of the blog pity parties. I will NOT have another year like this one!

The plan goes like this: I will post a blog naming my chosen "goal" of the month at the beginning of each month. I will blog about my progress and in doing this, I will hold myself accountable and hopefully all of my readers will help with that accountability. Here are the "goals" I have worked out so far:

1: To run the mileage of a full marathon over the course of 30 days. (I still have NO desire to actually run a full marathon, but I figure it can't be too bad broken up over the span of a month.)
2: To complete 20 Zumba workouts in 30 days. ( I really miss doing these workouts)
3: To complete 15 Yourself! Fit workouts on the PS2 in 30 days. (It's a full body workout)
4: To log EVERYTHING I eat for 30 FULL days. (Slacking in this area has been detrimental to my success at losing weight)
5: Eat less than or equal to 1600 calories a day for a FULL 30 days. (1700 is what MFP thinks I should eat, but I generally do better around 1500, so I am compromising)
6: Lose 5 pounds in 30 days. (Should be doable, right?)
7: Go to bed by 11PM 20 nights out of 30. (I am a serious night owl and it really drags me down sometimes)

I still need 5 more goals in the next 3 weeks. I am also considering a reward system for each goal. I know that actually achieving the goal and the benefits it will bring should be enough, but come on!! It will have to be something inexpensive and fun. I was considering adding a goal to beat my first half marathon time, but that will take longer than a month to train for and I really don't want to feel pressured. The point of this is to become more fit and try not to sustain any more injuries! Those 7 goals poured out of me pretty quickly, so I fear that the other 5 will not come so readily. Feel free to suggest other goals and/or rewards for my journey. I would really appreciate it!

Sometimes Life is the Best Motivator

Do you ever feel like the world has to be in complete balance? For instance, every good thing that happens has to have a counter "bad" to go with it? I have always believed it. Most of the time, I wish it wasn't like that. Maybe it's only that way for me...I don't know. It seems like every time things are going OK in our (my family's) lives, something comes up and knocks us back down. We've been traveling close to the edge of imbalance for a little while now and I have been waiting for the scales to tip in the other direction. I think it must be easier for men to cope with or they hide it REALLY well, because my husband doesn't ever exhibit the same stress level as I get when things are looking down.

I'm not going into details, but I have been under a lot of stress lately, both at home and at work. I hate looking down at a spiraling cascade and wondering where the bottom is and if there is a way back up and hoping it's an express route. Anyway, the stress in my life is not really what this post is about. The only "good" thing that has come out of this stress is that I was feeling so down earlier today that I decided I needed to exert myself. So, I put on my running gear and shoes, went downstairs to the basement, put in a Guns N Roses CD and hopped on the treadmill for an exerting 1 mile run. I ran hard and I ran fast. It was only a 12 minute mile, but that is actually better than what I have been racing at lately and it is certainly good considering that I have not really had any exercise in a month.

When the mile was over, I could have kept going. Why didn't I? Well, despite the fact that I taped up my right foot, I am trying really hard not to damage it to the extent that it was. Also, I may or may not be running a 5K in 2 weeks and I don't want to jump right into multi-mile training after so much time off. So, I listened to that little voice in my head that said, "stop," and I stopped. I am hoping that the end result of that one run will motivate me to continue at least getting on the treadmill a few times a week and then back to a regular workout regimen. 

A Good Book...A Bad Movie

In case you hadn't realized it yet, I am an avid book reader. I LOVE books! There is nothing that a book lover hates more than to see Hollywood screw up a book with a horrible film adaptation. I am dedicating this post to those instances, starting with the most recent one to me: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

I was SO certain that the film adaptation of the novel would be absolutely amazing. I was so disappointed that I never got the chance to see it on the big screen and I was really happy to see it come out in the Redbox. I have patiently waited nearly two weeks for it to not be "sold out." Finally, I found it in stock and I seized the opportunity. What. A. Waste. Of. Money!

I don't think I was blogging back when I read this book. It was a pretty good read. One of the best things about it was that it actually told the story of Abraham Lincoln, only with a supernatural twist. The history in it was pretty accurate and delivery was as such that it did not bore the way non-fiction can. The only flaw with the story was that it starts out with a narrator and at the end of the novel, it never tells the reader what happens with/to that narrator. Otherwise, great read!!

On to the movie. Right from the beginning they changed the story. I'm actually not SO picky that I can't handle a little bit of change. However, they started picking and choosing the history aspects to leave in the story or scrap all together and THAT started getting to me. When an author tells a story, each bit of the story builds up to the moments that follow. When you start leaving out those bits, it brings down the quality of the story. This is the very reason I stopped watching the Harry Potter movies at the third one. You CANNOT leave out important plot points and still expect the same impact! Just don't do it!!!!!!

Hollywood: please come up with fresh ideas of your own and quit butchering the written word!

Unexpected Visit

Today was a typical Saturday afternoon for our family. Well, one that I didn't have to work (which is always nice). We were out running errands and eating lunch when I received a text from my husband's favorite cousin saying hello and that they were in the area (they live in Florida). Well, my hubby called him back immediately and invited both he and his mother to come and visit us. They said they'd be at our house in a couple of hours.

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but my house is generally "well lived in," meaning that it isn't dirty, per se, but it isn't MY idea of clean. So, we had to finish up our errands very quickly and head home for a cleaning frenzy! I started tackling the guest bathroom, which is also the kid's bathroom. I had been meaning to clean it this weekend, but it was going to happen later that night and Shane started picking up the random toys and such on the floor and vacuuming the carpets. We finished just in the nick of time.

They brought us and the kids some gifts, which was wonderful. We had pizza for dinner and pumpkin pie for dessert. I think they really enjoyed it and I know we did! It seemed like they were barely here for long before they had to hit the road to finish going home. While they were here, though, they helped us decorate the house for Christmas (we had been promising Gabriel that we would) and we watched some holiday movie favorites.

Here is our Little People Nativity set on the mantle. You can also see the garland!

Unexpected visits from long distant loved ones are always great! The kids had a great time and we enjoyed catching up.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, if it is a holiday that you celebrate. We have a pretty small family, so we don't really make a big deal out of the day. Also, the kids are still small and picky eaters, so I really don't go to the hassle of cooking up a storm just to have to a) throw everything away or b) feel compelled to eat the leftovers myself. Therefore, we went out for a late lunch/early dinner at Cracker Barrel. They had a Thanksgiving dinner plate at a reasonable price and it even came with bread AND dessert!! Annnnnd, the portions were just right. Annnnnnddddd, there were no leftovers!!!

After lunch, we took the kids to run off some energy at the park and then cruised Wal Mart to scope out the Black Friday items. We were there around 4pm and there were already lines forming around the pallets they had roped off. Shane is planning on going back at 5am to try and get a TV. We're probably some of the few people left in the US without a HDTV. In fact, we don't get TV reception at all! (Sad, right?) Sometimes I think it's better that we don't. There is a lot of unnecessary garbage on TV and I don't want to waste my time on it.

If you use Swagbucks (and I sincerely hope you do), I leave you with some Black Friday specials that they have going on tomorrow:

Swagbucks has some great deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday - first, all of the Jewelry in the Swag Store will be on Sale starting Friday and going all the way through Monday. If that wasn't good enough, you get double Swag Bucks for any purchase made on Shop & Earn on Black Friday and Cyber Monday! For an added bonus, from 6am-9am PT on Cyber Monday, you'll get TRIPLE Swag Bucks for your Shop and Earn Purchases!

Uneventful

I'm still here. Life has just been uneventful.

I'm not sure if the world of blog readers cares to hear about the monotonous things I do from day to day, especially when they don't really involve anything pertaining to the mission statement of this blog. I could reference back to my blog post entitled, Things I Haven't Done and kinda do a repeat of that. I just haven't done much of anything lately to note.

Running: The last time I have run was at The Anything Is Possible 5K. That was 2 weeks ago. My body is going to SERIOUSLY hate me when I get back to it and I'm going to feel like a total novice again. Actually, speaking of novice, I was considering going back and trying out Hal Higdon's 5K training again. You know, actually do it and do it well. I'd really like to work on endurance. I know that most people want to work on speed after they have run as many races as I have, but I really just want to be able to run non-stop, without walking at all throughout the duration of a 5K. I think I may have to settle for treadmill runs until I get a grasp on the work and school schedules going on in this house!

Weight Loss: I have, yet again, stopped counting my calories. I will say that I have not been putting quite as much trash in my mouth, but that's not saying much. I really think that my weight loss was going better before I decided to become a "runner." I wouldn't take it back. I have really enjoyed the races and the fun that comes with them (except for the half). I am going to get it together, though.

Zumba: I really miss doing Zumba. It goes right up there with a lack of motivation and a serious case of the lazies. It's not like I have to go anywhere other than my own living room to do it. I have the DVD!!!

Plantar Faciitis: My foot still hurts. It hurts a lot. I can reference back to the blog post, Excuses and go on another pity fest. Psychologically, I think that my foot hurting has held me back from doing a lot of the things I am not doing. I'm afraid that I will hurt it more or that it will hurt forever. On the days that I tape it up, it feels worlds better, but after a few days, the constant taping starts to irritate the bottom of my foot and it gets sensitive and itchy. I know, I know...more excuses!!

Reading: I am in a reading funk. I finished up, Arch Enemy by Frank Beddor and just haven't picked anything else up. There are a couple of books out that I have really been anticipating and a few series I have been wanting to start, but I just haven't.

I think it all boils down to some serious "me" time. I have been diligently trying to juggle too many things. The dieting, the running, the work and school schedules, the reading and keeping the house clean, even the blogging. I think I may have tackled too much (I will NEVER admit it again) and I just had a huge burn-out. I think what I really need to do is slow things down a bit and take them on again slowly and gradually. I am too stubborn to give up, so please bear with me. I know that there will be days again when I don't blog, but I am still here and I don't have any plans on going anywhere.

P.S. Thanks for listening to what seems like my never-ending pity party and endless excuses! 

Running Through Time

Hopefully everyone remembered to "fall back" at 2am today. I was wide awake and embracing the time change. I ran a 5K last night this morning entitled, The Anything is Possible 5K. The race started at 1:50am (10 minutes before the time change), so when you finished, provided it was within an hour of starting, you finished before you even started, therefore giving you a negative time!!! Talk about a PR! I was really pleased with this race as it truly was "fast" and "flat." If you have ever run a race that claimed to be those things, you understand that it never truly is either of those terms. This race truly was. I did not PR, like I had hoped, but I did better than 2 weeks ago with The Spooktacular Chase (which did have a hill of death)!

I ran the race with three of my friends and we had a blast!

Here we are before the race!

I truly loved everything about this race. The ambiance was awesome, the music was great, the racers were all in good spirits and ready to have fun. Not to mention, instead of a shirt, everyone received Old Navy pajama pants!!

Excuses

Hi. My name is Brandy and I have a food addiction problem. That should be the first step to recovery, right? Well, I've known for a long, long time that I have this problem and it hasn't really helped me recover yet or even made me feel like I was a step closer to dealing with it. I. Love. Food. I can't help it. I love the way it tastes and I love that it comforts me when I am anxious, stressed and sad. A little over a year ago is when I fell off the wagon of my best attempt yet at weight loss. The pounds were dropping and I felt and looked a LOT better. What happened?? Well, a lot of things.

But they are all excuses.

I chose to stop logging my calories because I knew I was going over the number and I was ashamed to face it. I chose to run a half marathon and then stop rigorously training for it halfway in, which I could attribute to Shane's changed work schedule (even though it's better for us in the long run). I chose to continue to eat all of those "running calories" that I was burning. I was under a lot of stress and I succumbed to my fall back addiction to food. The why's are all unimportant because they are all excuses. I did this to my self. I sabotaged my weight loss.

Now, I am sabotaging my fitness level. Yes, I am running all of these races, but I don't think I have to point out that my times are getting slower and slower. Why? Again, excuses, but here they are: I ran a half marathon with no water for the last 6 miles. Was that my fault? No. However, if I had continued my training and conditioning schedule, I could have run it at a faster pace and maybe gotten to the water stations before they ran out of water. I also really hurt my foot at the half. I have recently learned that I managed to develop plantar faciitis. Now that I (finally) know what it is, I have been icing and taping my foot pretty much non-stop. It's slowly getting better, but it has affected my walking AND running (and pretty much everything that involves standing on my feet). It also doesn't help that I stand on my feet at work all day, sometimes for 12 hours.

I'm not sure how I got to this point and I'm having a hard time pulling out of it. I haven't gained a lot of the weight back, but I have lost ALL of the muscle tone that I had developed. The worse it gets, the more I just want to quit and the thought of quitting makes me go for the only thing that makes me feel better...eating.

On a side note, if you are involved with Swagbucks (or even if you aren't), they are having a great deal for the holiday season!

Starting on November 1st, for the rest of the year the Swagbucks Swag Store will be bringing you lower prices and limitless rewards. To break it down for you, all $5 gift cards will now be 500 Swag Bucks, $10 gift cards will be 1000 Swag Bucks, $25 Gift Cards will be 2500 Swag Bucks and so on. This excludes the $5 Amazon.com, which remains the bargain price of 450 SB.            Now you get more bang for your (Swag) Bucks, and with your leftover Swag Bucks, you can now snag even more rewards, because our old monthly redemption limits (except the $5 Amazon.com Gift Card) will be gone. You’re still limited to 2 rewards per day, but you don’t have to worry about which prizes you’re redeeming, because Swagbucks just expanded your monthly SB budget!

http://www.swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-trk&t0=blgTrk&t1=5998522&t2=42

Halloween and the Next Race

Halloween was a busy day! I took the kids to school and dropped them off. They were having a fall festival which started at 10:30, so I had 2 hours to kill before returning for the fun. I spent those hours gathering up the necessary items for my Halloween costume. I had to scrap my original outfit due to non  fitting tights and the weather being colder than expected.

At 10:30, I went back to the school and enjoyed all of the kids in their costumes, playing games and collecting candy. Then, we had a pizza lunch and packed up to head home. 

Once home, we didn't have too much down time since I decided to take Gabriel to martial arts early. There are two classes daily and we usually go to the later class. He was very excited because he was cleared to test for his next (orange) belt!! We're so proud of him. He's been doing a really good job and I think it's been helping with his focus. He still has a long way to go, but it's movement in the right direction!

After martial arts we headed over to a friend's house for trick-or-treating. We also had a pizza dinner!! (gasp!) Trick-or-treating was a lot of fun for everyone. Well, except for my feet! All that walking around in boots will do it to ya!

We definitely have plenty of candy in the house now!

This is loot from school AND trick-or-treating.

My next race is coming up this weekend. It's going to be run when the time changes at 2am. Therefore, you finish the race with a negative time!! It's going to be cold, but fun!! I can't wait!

Also, here's a tidbit from Swagbucks:

Just in time for the holidays, Swagbucks has brought back Expedited Shipping on all of the Amazon Gift Cards in the Swag Store. Starting November 1st, all you have to do is order and verify your gift card by 2pm PT to get it the next business day, select the Expedited Shipping option and chip in an extra 50 Swag Bucks! It's super simple and if you haven't verified your account it can be done easily via cellphone.

Fondant or Fondon't?

This is a completely random post about fondant. OK, that's not entirely accurate. It's not completely random. I make cakes and/or cupcakes mostly for people's birthdays or my kid's school events (when they ask me to). For my co-workers, I will generally make them anything they want...within reason. Based on what is asked of me, I do a ton of Google searches just to narrow down my own abilities in my mind of what I can or will do. I have made cakes, cupcakes, brownies and cheesecakes, to name a few.

This year for her birthday, one of my co-workers has asked me to make her a "drag queen" cake. More specifically, a RuPaul themed cake. So, I was looking for inspiration and, of course, I read several blog entries by bakers/decorators. I love looking at galleries of pictures of cakes people have decorated. However, I have noticed that the one's I like the best are all topped with fondant.

For those of you who may not know what fondant is, it is the really smooth-looking, almost wax-like cake cover. It is completely edible and can be molded into many shapes. I have made fondant before using marshmallows and I have eaten many a piece of cake made with the stuff.

I. DON'T. LIKE. IT.

I'm starting to feel like my cake decorating abilities are limited by my refusal to use fondant as a medium. I feel as though a cake should be both pretty and taste good (both inside and out). I have never really liked the taste of commercial fondant and marshmallow fondant is WAY too sweet. It is, after all, made of marshmallow and powdered sugar!

The debate is pretty irrelevant to the drag queen cake because I will almost definitely use regular butter cream frosting, but do I continue with this trend, or do I branch out into the better-looking but worse-tasting world of fondant?

Get Swaggy With It!

Hello all!

This is not my typical post. I promise I'll get back to regular posting soon, but I wanted to share that I have been chosen to advertise for Swagbucks on my blog.

If you don't already know about Swagbucks, it is a site that you register for and then you participate in internet activities, i.e., surveys, games and shopping. Also, you can get points or "bucks" by doing searches. You can trade your bucks in for gift cards for places such as Target, Walmart and Amazon. In fact, you can also trade them in for PayPal dollars!

So...without further ado...

For all of you fans of Swagbucks, this Monday will be a terrorizing treat: an all-day Swag Code Haunt where you can get multiple codes that add up to 70 reward points that you can use to get free stuff on Swagbucks.com. The fun begins at 4am PDT on their blog and you should download this image - it's got a bunch of hidden images that will serve as clues to help you get codes all day long. New to Swagbucks? Enter CODEHAUNT during sign up to start with 100 Swag Bucks! Happy Haunting...

So that makes NOW a GREAT time to sign up for Swagbucks if you're not already a member!!

**Disclaimer** I do not receive any payment or compensation from swagbucks.com for suggesting their site

The Spooktacular Chase

I have had SO much housework to do since last weekend! Add that to the usual running around and you get me...not blogging. I really need some cleaning fairies to magically appear at my house and stay. I can definitely promise them that they'll never be bored!

This past Saturday, I ran my first race since the half. It was The Spooktacular Chase 5K. I ran it with a couple of co-workers. I won't say that I'm terribly proud of my time. It was actually worse than my very first 5K, but it was a lot of fun and the swag was good, especially the shirt! I'm happy that I now have a long sleeved, technical shirt.

We had been practicing for the race for several weeks leading up to the actual event, using a map provided on the website. Interestingly, once we finally got to running it on Saturday, the course was different from the map! I don't mean different in a good way, either. They moved one turn a street down and, instead of having a gradual incline, it was a steep hill of death!! Let me tell you, that will shave some time off of a PR!!

I finished in 43:12 and ranked 33 of 37 in my age group. Like I said, not the best time and certainly not the best place. Not too shabby considering I hadn't run prior to this for 3 weeks. The reasons behind that are for another time on another day, though.

Source

After the race, we wandered around the goodie tables and picked up freebies, then we headed over to Chick-fil-A for some breakfast. After that, I actually had to go to work for 8 hours. It's a good thing the race was down the street!!

The Ugly Pie

I've been MIA for a little while. Life has been super busy...OK, it still is, but I have a moment and I'm taking it! Remember those apples we picked up in Ellijay? Well, I finally got around to cutting them up and baking them into a pie. Homemade with homemade crust. 

First, let me tell you that making pie crust is not so bad. Rolling it out and expecting it to lift and move and be pretty? Well, let's just say that it's not the most attractive pie, but the crust was really good and the filling, while it could have been sweeter, wasn't all that bad. Shane liked it, which was the important thing since it was his pie.

Definitely not the most attractive pie ever, but it wasn't bad for a first attempt!

So, there you have it. One ugly, homemade pie.

Slim Pickins

Today was another exciting adventure. FYI: I don't usually have an exciting life, nor do I usually have so many activities planned! The adventure today was the APPLE ORCHARD!!!

There was hourly entertainment on the main stage

We are lucky enough to live in a state which produces all kinds of crops. We are, of course, famous for peanuts. Georgia also has plenty of cotton fields and we also grow apples!!! The apple orchards are about a two hour drive in a little city called Ellijay. There are a lot of orchards up there, really close together. We decided on Hillcrest Orchards. Every year, they have an "Apple Picking Jubilee," which is a sort-of festival. You pay an admission fee and you get to do things like hayrides and watch shows and pig races. They even had a demonstration with a bee keeper! Also, every weekend in October, you can purchase a bag in either a half or whole peck size and go out to the orchards to pick apples to fill up your bag.

The only real problem was that apparently there were a LOT of people picking apples recently. The trees were almost bare of fruit. There were several trees that had tiny "baby" apples on them, but nothing you could really expect to eat. Plus, if you've ever eaten a tiny apple, they are really sour!! There was even a sign as you walked in to let everyone know that there were few apples actually left on the trees and if you purchase a bag, try to limit the apples picked and fill up the bag inside the store (which housed bins and bins of large, perfect apples). So, that's what we did. We let the kids pick an apple a piece (mostly for the photo op) and then we took our half-peck sized bag into the store to fill it up.

Picking an apple from the tree

Here is our bounty! The two apples in the front were straight from the tree,
there are two apple-sippers and then the Cherry Apple Cider...yum!

Naturally, a day at an apple orchard would not be complete without apple products! I had to have a homemade apple fritter and once inside the store, I filled up the bag the rest of the way and purchased some Cherry Apple Cider and two "apple sippers" for the kids. (They're like little sippy-type cups).

I got mostly Granny Smith apples because Shane expects me to bake an apple pie with them. I suppose that will be my next adventure. I have never baked a pie from scratch in my life!!

I think it was a great day. The kids had a lot of fun, I spent some time with friends and came home with real "country" goodies!

Down On the Farm

Every year, the school my kids go to has a field trip to a pumpkin patch. It has been the same for the past four years and probably even before that. Always the same ole thing. This year, they decided to change things up a bit and we went to a farm instead. A really-real, working, actual farm, complete with animals and corn!

We started our adventure in the "baby animal barn." There, we saw baby cows drinking milk from bottles, baby chicks, hens laying eggs, sheep, goats and pigs. SO CUTE!! Everything was interactive, so we could touch them all and feed some of them.

Isn't she the sweetest little baby cow??!!

Next up was the hay ride! What farm is complete without a hay ride? We loaded up onto the back of a tractor and went through the dairy farm. Then, we went out to a pasture full of milk cows. The cows came right up to the tractor and everyone got to feed the cows all of the hay that had been placed on the bed of the trailer we were riding on! The cows loved it and the kids thought it was great (ok, the parents did, too)!

Here come the cows!

They came right up to us!!

The next part of the day was super exciting for me. We went through the corn maze! I have never actually been through one in 30+ years of existence. The maze was in the shape of the US with the words, "God Bless America" and "Vote 2012" on it. We also had a map with an aerial shot of the maze and 12 numbers. Throughout the maze, there were numbered stations with hole punches. The object was to get all 12 punches AND get out of the maze. We didn't manage to get all of the punches the first time that we found the exit, so we went back through a second time from the beginning. We did finally get all 12 punches that time!

The entrance to the corn maze

The day was great and there was much fun for us all. Before we left, the kids got to pick a small pumpkin from a wagon and there was a playground for them to enjoy.

Tomorrow's adventure? An apple orchard with pick-your-own apples!

Cute Owl Cupcakes

I worked all day today and decided that I would at least blog tonight about something, so I remembered that I had forgotten (lol) that I never blogged about the cutest little owl cupcakes EVER.

I don't know about you, but I know several people that just love owls. Owls have recently become quite popular and it is becoming easier and easier to find owl-themed things. Now that they are popular, I find them even cuter than I did before, but most of my friends were die hard owl fans WAY before the hype and are now pretty unhappy that the rest of the world has caught on to their "thing." I completely understand where they are coming from because I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE black and white milk cows. (Ok, used to is not the correct thing to say as I do still love them dearly and I wish to squeeze them until their little heads pop off, but I don't quite obsess over them the way I used to!)

Anyway, I digress. One of the people that I know that loves owls is Evelyn's teacher. In fact, her entire classroom is owl-themed. Even their nameplates are little owls in the room. Well, it just so happens that this certain teacher's birthday came up recently. It was, in fact, on Monday. The kids were, as I've mentioned, on fall break last week, so they were not going to have the opportunity to celebrate her birthday on the day. So, I decided to make her some cupcakes a week early.

I started with a dark chocolate Duncan Hines mix. My oven runs a little hot and lately my baked goodies have been, in my opinion, a little dry due to that, so I decreased the cooking time. I think they came out moist and fluffy. I let them sit for most of a day and then frosted them with a homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. Next, I piped the frosting using an open, round tip. Lastly, the finishing touches are the cream side of an Oreo cookie (times 2), with a brown M&M in the middle and the beak is an orange M&M. I used the Autumn mix M&Ms to ensure I would have enough of the colors I needed, but I think a regular bag would do the trick. Here is the final result:

I gave them all twenty four, so I didn't get to try one, but  I hear that they were quite tasty and her teacher loved them, so it was all worth while! I also painted an Ikea plain, white picture frame for her which is decorated with owls made from Evelyn's thumbprints. 

Insomnia and a Run

Insomnia. Difficulty or the inability to fall asleep. Yeah, that's been me all week. Even as I type this post, I should be asleep. Last night, it may have had something to do with the half of a pot of kick-ass coffee I made and drank at work around 8pm. I really need to get back on schedule before Monday morning rolls around and I'm not able to function, let alone prepare lunches and drive around since Fall Break will be over. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how hectic my Mondays are with school and martial arts AND dance class, so I need all the rest I can get!

My insomnia could also stem from stress. I know, me...stressed? Get outta here! Seriously, though, I have a ton of things going on (as usual) and I usually worry about every single detail. I also have some work stress that I could really do without, but that doesn't seem to ever go away and it won't until the problem is addressed and, since I know that isn't likely, I'll just have to learn to deal. I know, vague, right? Sometimes vague is good when you have a public blog!


Speaking of work, this is my weekend to work at my job. We rotate weekends on a cycle and it's my turn. Not only that, but on my work weekends (weather permitting) I go for a run with friends. It was especially important  today since it was the last time we practiced the route for our next race. It's a very hilly course over near where I work. I hope I can PR, but I haven't in practice yet. I'll just hope that the inevitable race day adrenaline helps propel me up those hills! We'll see in just a little under 3 weeks!

Sorry for the short, picture-less post, but I actually started composing this one last night during my bout of insomnia and I plan on going to sleep in a little while so I can be well rested (for once) tomorrow.

Finished The Night Circus

I have seriously been horrible at posting lately. Sorry!!! I did, however, finally finish The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern last night and I loved it! I was not completely thrilled with the ending, but it fit the book very well. If you've ever considered reading it, go on ahead and pick it up. My main issues with the book were that the timing boomerangs around alot and there are a TON of characters to keep track of. All in all, the story was good and the writing was AMAZING!! I mean, not only the author but the editor of the book went above and beyond with the writing and the flow of the story. It had the potential to be a hot mess, but the disheveled nature of the story actually works for it.

Naturally, credit goes to Disney/Pixar for the source :)

Today, I had the day off, my kids are still on fall break and the hubs was off from work as well. This is generally a rare occurrence, so we made it into a sort of "family fun day." First, we took the kids to the library to return some books and movies we had borrowed last week and to borrow more. Then, we went to a local burger joint and had lunch followed by a trip to the movie theater to see Finding Nemo in 3D. Although we have the movie at home, I thought that letting them see it in 3D would be a fun experience for us all. I really enjoyed it and I think the kids did, too. I had a hard time getting Evelyn to keep her glasses on through the entire movie, but she still liked it. We also stopped for froyo and groceries from the grocery store.

I have to admit that I don't have a bucket list. I generally try to avoid thinking of my own mortality, so I would rather not have one. However, if I did have one, I could scratch something off of it today. Our grass had been growing out of hand for weeks now (as usual!), so once we got home from the grocery store and put away the food, we all headed outside so that I could mow the lawn. Gabriel wanted to "help" me, so I let him ride through the more level part of our lawn on the riding mower. Since I had him with me, I drove slower than I usually do, so I ran out of daylight pretty quickly. Luckily, there are headlights on our John Deere!! So, I mowed half of the yard at 8pm by the light of headlights!! I can now say that I have mowed the grass in the dark! Shane laughed at me and said that we'll see how it looks in the morning. Pfft! It looks freakin great!

Shane has requested that I mention that he made really tasty sub-style sandwiches for dinner. They were on "take and bake" baguettes and each one was custom. We had a PB&J, a ham and cheese, an Italian sub and I had a roast chicken breast cordon bleu type sandwich. Sadly, only Shane and I ate them. (as usual)

Ahhh, Fall

It is officially fall. My favorite season! It also hosts my favorite holiday, Halloween. I love everything about this time of year...the coolness in the air, the leaves changing colors, apple cider, the smell of fire in a fireplace. Yep, I love it all. All except for the inevitable change of the season allergy attack!
My kids have been sneezing. One of them has green goo coming from her nose and a hacking cough. I thought I was OK, until I started coughing yesterday and it is steadily getting worse! I absolutely hate buying medicine, especially for allergies. (Kinda odd, given my profession) I'll probably breakdown soon and buy some Claritin D knockoff.  Hopefully, we'll all get past this soon. The kids are on fall break this week, which should give them time to get well before school starts back up. Not to mention, I have plans on taking them to see Finding Nemo in 3D this week.
Sorry this post is so short. I didn't want to seem like I've fallen off the planet, I've just had a lot going on. I will post more details of the past few days, soon!

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A Pint Low

Today was even more exhausting than my Mondays usually are! We started out with the usual, plus Shane, who usually goes to bed after I leave for school with the kids. I overslept this morning, so we kinda rushed around getting everything ready to go for school. Shane took a power nap in the car on the way.

Once we dumped dropped off the kids, we had some time to kill, so we went to Bojangle's for breakfast. I had a steak biscuit combo and Shane had a couple of biscuits. Then, we went to the Dollar Tree so I could pick up one of those drawstring bags to hold clothes after martial arts when we go to dance or other activities post martial arts (the uniform is white!). Then, we went to Target because Shane wanted to see if they had some of the toys Santa will bring the kids cheaper than Walmart and Amazon. They did and more!! We'll probably go back sometime before October and just go ahead and buy the stuff to beat the rush. I loathe detest really dislike Christmas shopping!

After we left Target it was finally time to head over to the local Chamber of Commerce. The Red Cross had set up a blood drive there today and we are LONG overdue on donations. I actually haven't donated since before my last pregnancy, nearly 4 years ago! I was worried about donating because my iron is generally low, but it was a whopping 14 today!!! We both donated and, of course, had juice and cookies (and a T-Shirt)!!

I literally had enough time to drop Shane by the house and turn around to pick up the kids. When I got to school, I found two of the filthiest children EVER!! I generally allow them to play on the playground for about 45 minutes to an hour after pick up time while I talk to the teachers and other parents. I know, social of me...right?

Once we left the school, I had to come home and get the children into the tub. They have martial arts and dance on Mondays and we can't have filthy martial artists and ballerinas, now can we? So, they were both bathed and I made them a snack and me lunch (FINALLY) and I went about gathering up the things we would need once we left again. Come to find out, the Kindergartner had a book to read and some fire safety homework, so I packed it up for something to do.

I'm really not going into all of the details of the 30 minutes of martial arts plus a drive and an hour of dance. At this point, I am dead on my feet! I brought the kids home, started the final preparations for dinner (beef tips in the crockpot) and began homework assistance. We all had dinner and then story time and now they are in bed. Shane is at work and I am S-L-E-E-P-Y!!! So, I'm off to bed!

The Weekend Review

Now that we've moved on past my still going on pity party, I will post about my weekend doings, or not doings, whichever the case may be!

Friday, after martial arts, the family and I had some much-needed social time with my best friend and her husband for his birthday. We ate at Mellow Mushroom, which was yummy! I will say that portion control is quite simple when you split a large pizza between four people! I also had the Caesar salad, although the dressing was a little too "fishy" for my taste. We followed up by going next door to Yogli Mogli's, which is a fro-yo place. I had a cup of peanut butter mixed with cookies and cream, topped with Heath crumbles and white chocolate chips! Yummy!!! We also went grocery shopping, but I'll spare you the details!

Saturday was an important day for my boy child! He got to test for his very first Tae Kwon Do belt, the yellow stripe belt! First, all of the candidates did forms and drills as a group and then each child was asked questions individually. They were also evaluated by their parents on a "report card" and it was reviewed with them in front of the group. We had given him pretty good grades, the lowest being a "C" and that was for listening and following instructions at home. When the instructor asked him why he wasn't behaving at home, he said, "because my parents love me very much!" Talk about not understanding the question. At least he knows we love him!! Either way, he was promoted to a yellow stripe belt and we let him choose a place to have lunch. He chose Stevi B's (because he hasn't had pizza in SO long). I definitely ate WAY too much. (On a side note, if you have a Stevi B's near you, their new Steak and Potato pizza is really good!) We also went to Walmart to pick up some odds and ends.

Today, we lounged around the house. Shane had to work last night, so he was asleep and I spent most of the day catching up on Facebook and meeting my daily Swagbuck goal. We had sauteed chicken, baked potatoes and green beans for dinner. Yumm!!

I read a little more of The Night Circus last night. The story is a little confusing because it isn't entirely linear and I'm starting to get some of the characters confused, but it is still a good read. I think I will read some more after I finish with this post.

I had planned on going for a run tomorrow morning, but there is a blood drive near us and I haven't given blood for over three years. I am long overdue. Also, Shane wants to give blood and since he's working again tonight, he doesn't trust himself to drive around, especially a pint low. Tomorrow should be interesting since it is my hectic day with the errands and the kid's activities! I will leave you with a picture of the new yellow stripe belts!

Still Adjusting

I think I have appropriately titled this post because that is what I am doing right now, adjusting. I am adjusting to being the mother of 2 children in school PLUS activities. I am adjusting to having a husband that works a funky shift on not-normal days, thus throwing off my entire schedule. I am adjusting to having both not enough and too much "me" time at the same time! Essentially, I have gone from someone with a steady routine to someone with a much more chaotic one. I'm sure most of you know exactly what I mean!

Up until my Mr started this job, I was used to having a lot of time to fit in the things I wanted to do for me. I could run anytime I wanted. I could schedule races and vacations around my own work schedule. Now, that has all changed. I am actually finding a hard time fitting running into this schedule. It seems that Monday and Tuesday mornings and every third Saturday afternoon is all that I can swing these days. Granted, I could run indoors, but if you have ever had the pleasure experience of running outside with changing scenery, it is so hard to go back to staring at the same room, even with the TV on. It is certainly NOT an excuse to stop exercising, but it is a hurdle that I am having a hard time getting over right now.

I also feel like I am constantly on the go. Mondays are especially hard for me because my kids both have activities after school that keep us going until dinner time and then with baths and bedtime stories, I find either not winding down for hours or practically passing out at 10pm! Again, I think activities are very important for them and I'm not complaining, just feeling a little overwhelmed.

Eating. I have had the HARDEST time getting my eating back on track. It should be really easy. I use MFP and it's just a matter of making wise choices and plugging in the food. Don't go over my daily calories...should be easy, but it's not. I find myself with poor choices and no willpower. This one is bugging me the most. A little over a year ago, I had this! I was a machine!! I looked and felt SO much better!! Why am I having a hard time with this?

I think a lot of my problems are due to stress. We are hanging on by a thread until May of next year when we won't have to pay school tuition. I know that one little thing can screw our whole world up and I think that my worrying is causing me to lose control of myself because it is the one thing that I truly have control over! I want SO badly to be able to pull myself back together. I keep reminding myself that as long as I don't take a huge step backwards, I can stay steady until I am able to move forward again. Let's hope I can keep that up!

OK, pity party has ended. Thanks for listening! I am still reading The Night Circus. I haven't made any real progress due to the busy schedule. Also, we've been doing a lot of house cleaning lately. Since I haven't posted a picture in a while, I will leave you with a project I painted today. It's a picture frame for my daughter's teacher's birthday. The owls are made out of fingerprints!

This is a plain Ikea frame with acrylic paint decoration.

The Night Circus

Today, after work, I walked the course for my next race, The Spooktacular Chase 5K. It definitely has rolling hills, but it was a breeze compared to the lengthy runs of the past! I think it will be a great run even if I do have to go to work immediately after it. I'm even thinking of having the kids and the Mr come to watch! (The kids have really been wanting to see me run).

Sorry I've been away for a little while. Life, as usual, has been really hectic lately. We seem to have sprung a leak in our water heater closet. We called out a plumber who immediately diagnosed it as a cracked water heater. We ended up having it replaced (700 dollars later), but we are still having water issues and cannot think of where they could be coming from. So, Shane is calling the plumbers out again on Monday to take another look at the issue.

Source

On the reading front, I have started to read, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  Since it is a one-book read, I will tell a little about the plot (well, as far as I have read). It starts out with a very talented magician and a circus that is only open from dusk to dawn. The magician is actually not a trickster, but appears to be truly magical. One evening, a little girl is sent to him with a note attached to her. Apparently, it is his daughter and the mother has committed suicide. The little girl seems to be talented like her father, so he begins to train her.

In the meantime, he calls a friend and fellow magician and makes a bet that his daughter can beat whomever the other guy picks at random as a pupil. We get the impression that it will be a duel to the death. The other man ends up picking up a hopeful pupil at an orphanage and begins training him until he reaches adulthood.

Unbeknownst to anyone involved, the girl and boy meet each other and end up spending a lot of time together. I am pretty sure (because this is as far as I've gotten) that they are falling in love with each other and have no idea that one will have to kill the other because of a stupid wager between two grown men in an essential pissing contest.

I did end up baking Tres Leches cupcakes about a week ago. I did like the way they turned out, but in the future, I think I will actually inject the milk mixture into the cupcake to get a more moist cake. It was a very easy recipe and one that I will definitely repeat and perfect. The only problem with them is that tres leches is traditionally not very sweet. So, if you are looking for a regular-type cupcake, this is not the cupcake for you! Also, I made my first batch of homemade whipped cream to use on top as the "frosting". It turned out really well, I think!

Things I Haven't Done

Here is a list of the things I haven't done lately:

1) I haven't run since the last blog post about it. Partly because of the weather being icky on the days that I could run outside. I really have no excuses for not running indoor, considering that I have a treadmill!

2) I haven't started reading another book yet. Every now and then I just don't read. It's not that I don't feel like reading or I have too much to do, I just don't really get around to it. It's probably a good thing, though. Usually when I feel like reading, I read like my life depends on it!

3) I haven't baked a single thing since those cheesecake brownies I made back in July. I did, however, copy down a recipe for Tres Leches Cupcakes and I will buy the ingredients and make them this weekend!

4) I haven't visited with any of my friends outside of my co-workers. I don't know if it's because we all lead such different lives and/or our schedules don't mesh, or maybe something else entirely. It kinda sucks, too, because I really miss just hanging out sometimes.

Oh, I also haven't uploaded (or really taken) any pictures lately. I promise I will rectify that soon. I would upload one tonight, but the battery on my camera is, as usual, dead.

I feel like my blog posts are usually so full of the mundane stuff I do from day to day that I would shake things up a bit and talk about the things I don't do!!

Whoa Zumba!!

Today, after I dropped the kids off at school, I came home, put on my workout clothes and popped in my Zumba Exhilarate DVD. I can tell after today that I need to put it in more often!

Two years ago, when I really began being serious about losing weight and getting into shape (not to mention not looking like a blob in a bridesmaid's dress), I started by counting calories using My Fitness Pal  and then incorporated exercise. I actually started by doing a couple of Playstation workout games that I had and a few old DVD and VHS tapes. They were working OK, but I was starting to get bored/used to them, so I started walking on the treadmill. Then, I began to jog on the treadmill (although nothing like I do these days).

 I don't know if you remember, but Zumba was all the hype a couple of years ago and I really wanted to do it. I had two small children and a full time job at this point, so going to the gym was out of the question. The DVD set is really pricey and didn't fit into our budget. Finally, someone (I won't give names) graciously sent me a copy of the Exhilarate DVD, and my journey into  Zumba began.

When I first started, I could barely follow the steps (with the prompting) and I was always out of breath before getting halfway through. Gradually, I started picking up the steps and I could keep up pretty well. It's also a REALLY good workout. It burns more calories in a hour than an hour of running, plus you get a whole body workout.

As I started taking running a little more seriously, I gradually stopped doing Zumba altogether. I found, after a while, that I missed it. It's actually quite fun to do! However, I was starting the training program for the half and the moves just aren't conducive to cross training. In fact, I almost injured myself trying to do them both. So, running won and  Zumba was out...until today.

Since I am only going to be doing 5Ks for a while, I can incorporate different kinds of activity into my work-out plan. I find the treadmill to be SO boring and I need variety, not to mention the all-over toning and burn.

So today, I put on my clothes and popped in the DVD and went to it. After doing it for so long before, I still pretty much remembered the steps. What I didn't anticipate, however, was the amount of soreness I would experience! I guess there are a lot of muscle groups I just haven't been using since I started running. Strangely, one of my biggest sore areas was my legs! Despite my efforts, 23 minutes into it (it's 50 minutes total), I had to call it quits. Haven't had that problem in a long, long time!

I will definitely be incorporating Zumba back into my regular schedule and, hopefully, I will start to see some definition in my figure again. It's hiding under a lot of gross and it needs to resurface!

Rain Delayed

Thanks to Hurricane Isaac, my walk/swim today was rain delayed. I should have gotten on the treadmill instead, but I think I'll give my foot a break today. Plus, I'm sleepy! I stayed up last night and finished The Little Lady Agency and the Prince by Hester Browne.

It was a longer read than the other 2 books, but enjoyable. I was pleased with the way things ended up for Melissa, but the ending was rather abrupt. I suppose it didn't need to be all that detailed, all things considered.

I realize that I am quite cryptic in my book "reviews," but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. I'll provide much more detailed reviews for stand alone books or first books in a series, but I really don't want to give too much information on a book later in a series or, in this case, the last book of a trilogy.

Source

I think my next read will be, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It's apparently about a circus and two rival magicians that fall in love.  It was one of the top reads of last year and I think the hype has sufficiently died down so that I can enjoy it. It seems that everyone is still on a Fifty Shades of Gray campaign.

As for the rest of this rainy day, I am going to pick the kids up from school in a little while and then head over to work for the evening.

Feels Good To Be Back

This morning was a routine that I have greatly missed. I dropped the kids off at school and headed over to one of my favorite sections of the trail for a run. I completely forgot my MP3 player, but after the half, it's really not a requirement for running anymore. I do like to have it on so that I don't have to hear myself breathing. (It really bothers me!!)

I originally planned on doing a 3 mile run, especially since I'm going to be doing a series of 5Ks over the next few months. I was also concentrating on trying to run as far as I possibly could without stopping to walk. I think I am still having issues controlling my pace because I am usually pretty good on my way out, but I start to get super tired and out of breath around one and a half miles. Also, my shoes, as I mentioned before, are pretty shot and my right heel still has not completely healed from the half.

It was a little humid outside and that did not make for a great run, but the temperature was tolerable. I didn't feel concerned with bringing water for such a short run, so I didn't. I think I will eventually invest in a hydration belt and just wear it for all runs, just in case. Like I said, I was going pretty strong for at least the first mile and it passed rather quickly. (13 minutes, to be exact). I went out a little over a mile and decided that I just didn't want to push it. It actually took me a little time to convince myself that this was a leisure run and I didn't have a set distance or time goal to meet. I was a little slower on the way back, but I still managed to run a lot of it. When I finished, I had gone just under two and a half miles.

My husband participates in SwagBucks and that is how he funds his obsession hobby of collecting movies. He's been wanting me to participate for a long time now and I just haven't seen the need. Well, I now see the need. You see, I need new shoes and I need money to buy those shoes.  So, I think I will sign up and start earning points towards Amazon gift cards.

Tomorrow, I am going to do something a little different. I am going to meet up with a friend after I drop the kids off at school and go for a hilly walk followed by a swim. I haven't really had a chance to swim all year and I actually miss it. Plus, it's a great workout! Oh, and I also managed to log and stay under my calories today on My Fitness Pal. I'm hoping I can keep it up!

Ready To Run Again

Well, the week is over and things are winding down on the healing front. My toes still hurt as does the bottom of my right foot. Sadly, I think my Asics running shoes have reached passed their usable mileage. I can't really afford to replace them right now, so I will continue to use them as long as I am able to do short runs in them without serious foot pain. The worst part is, they still look brand new!

Now that it is not immediately following the race and my body has had some time to settle down, I'd like to write a little bit more about the half marathon. I noticed that a lot of my page views have come from Google searches for reviews on it. First, I'd like to mention that this was an inaugural run for this race. It was also completely full. I follow the host, Zulu Racing, on Facebook as well as the actual race itself. My concerns about the water have been repeated by many people, so I'm sure that it won't be an issue next year. Zulu has stated on their web and FB pages that the concerns with the race will be addressed for next year. I would certainly not want one of my blog posts to put anyone off of running this, or any other, half marathon. It was a learning experience for me. I know now that even though I shouldn't have to bring water with me, it's better to be safe than sorry. That being said, I'm sure that 90% of my issues would have been non-existent had I been properly hydrated. I also was not as conditioned as I should have been. In the future, that won't be an issue. Basically, I was not so turned off from the experience that I won't do it again. In fact, I will probably do this same race next year. I would love to see how much it changes after constructive feedback is evaluated and acknowledged.

If you have looked at my races page, you will see that I have already scheduled myself for two more races. They are both 5Ks. (I seriously think I can only handle 13.1 miles of running once a year!) I am going to start running this Monday and more frequently than I have been since I have time after dropping the kids off at school. My next race will be the Spooktacular Chase 5K. It is very near to my work and it is on a Saturday morning that I have to go into work, so I'll be right there at work when I'm finished. I'm excited to get back to running. In fact, I am hoping that I will get my nutrition and exercise back on track to finally reach my goal weight! Also, I am hoping to start doing my Zumba DVDs again. I really like that they provide a full body workout. (The calorie burn is WAY more than running, too!!)

Hand Foot and Mouth Equals No Fun

I have spent this week recovering from the half marathon. I am a lot less sore, but my left small toe is still swollen and bruised. It also hurts. I think I may have actually either jammed or broken it. The week was, basically, business as usual (without the running). I dropped the kids off at school on Monday and got some things done around the house. When I got to the school to pick up the kids, however, Gabriel wasn't running around very much and he immediately ran up to me (something he rarely does). I could tell just by looking at him that he wasn't feeling well, but I was assured that he had an OK day. I like to give them time to run themselves a little ragged on the playground so that they burn off any excess energy before going home or going to activities. Gabriel just wasn't playing. In fact, we didn't stay on the playground long because he ended up laying across a picnic table. Just laying on it. I picked him up and gathered up his sister and we headed home.

When we got home, I laid him on the couch while I went in search of the thermometer. Once I got him settled down and checked his temp, it was almost 102 degrees! I covered him up and put in a DVD. I had to tell him that he was definitely NOT going to martial arts. I had to wake Shane up earlier than usual so that he could watch him because it was Evelyn's first day of dance. I got her dressed and we took off for the studio for an hour. I'll just say that I don't know that I'm cut out to be a dance mom. They aren't terribly friendly to new people and they hogged up the viewing windows the whole time. However, she had a great time and is looking forward to going back next week. When I got home, Gabriel was lying in bed and according to Shane, had been throwing up for some time. I dosed him with some meds and got him into a bath to cool him off. It seemed to help a lot, so I just sent him to bed for the night.

Gabriel was still feeling bad on Tuesday, so he didn't go to school. He stayed home with his dad while I dropped off E at school and also when I went to pick her up in the afternoon. After that, I had to go to work. When I got home, he was feeling a little better, but still not 100%. I remained hopeful that a good night's sleep would have him up and going the next morning. On Wednesday morning, I woke the kids up and checked G's temp only to find that it was still near 100. I was told on Tuesday that one of the kids in his class recently had strep, so I checked the back of his throat for spots. It looked NASTY! I still planned on dropping E off at school and going to work. The pediatrician doesn't open until 8:30am, so I was calling them on my way in the car. The soonest appointment they had was at 9:20, so I called in late to work. We went to Chick fil A for some breakfast and he was actually hungry. Of course, I had given him some Tylenol that morning, so his fever was down. It was good to see him eat. He hadn't really eaten anything since Sunday.

When we got to the doctor, they checked him out and gave him a strep test. We waited for a long time! Finally, the doctor came in and asked us questions and did an exam. She didn't seem to think it was strep, which was good. She took one look at his throat and said immediately that it was hand, foot and mouth disease. You should have seen the look on Shane's face! He didn't know how to process that! She explained to him that it's just a virus and he was almost over it. In fact, if we could keep the fever down, he could go to martial arts that day! (Shane decided against that in the end) So, I went to work and the boys continued their day. He was still in pretty good spirits when I arrived home that evening!

He finally got to go to school on Thursday and I was off from work and Shane was awake, so I came home and mowed the lawn while he went to help a friend move some furniture. Then, we met up for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. It was almost like a date day!! Later, we picked up the kids. I told Gabriel's teacher what he had and she told me that she thought E had brought it home to him and I agreed because she had a fever last week. Apparently, there was a child in her class with hf&m LAST WEEK and the parent JUST told the school about it. They had to sanitize EVERYTHING. I truly hope that my children didn't spread the disease to anyone else, but at least the school knows what's going on. Some parents are just irresponsible! 

We have managed to go to martial arts every day for the rest of the week to make up for Monday and Wednesday. Hopefully, life will be back to normal. I was thinking earlier this week that I would have to take a second week off from running, but I feel good enough that I believe I will commence 3 mile runs starting on Monday after I drop off the kids. The great thing is, I don't have to worry about weekly long runs and I don't have to take time off between days to recover. Now that the half is out of the way, I plan on focusing on speed and also watching what I eat again. My diet became HORRIBLE when I was training. I am a stress eater and life was really hectic for a while there. I know it is going to take some time to get back to eating well and within portions, but I have done it before, I can do it again!

Sorry that I rambled on and on tonight, but I had a week's worth of life to fit in. I will leave you with a happy picture. I ordered a 13.1 sticker for my car and it arrived yesterday!! I had Shane take a picture of me putting it on the car! I know I said I was going to get a really fun and pretentious sticker, but I opted for a very gender-neutral one to be fair to Shane, who drives the car as much as I do.

OK, I might look a little too happy in this picture!