First Day of School and a Humid Run

So stinkin cute!

Today was the first day of school for my kids! I actually woke up BEFORE they did. (That never happens). I was dressed and made their lunches and was about to head to E's room to wake her when Shane got home from work, so he went with me. We got her started on getting ready and then woke up G. He was a little resistant to wake up, even with the prospect of seeing his friends, but he did get up and demand a Nutra Grain fruit bar! I dropped them off and took pictures and such, then left to go for my run.

I had planned on running 8 miles seeing as how my training has been really non existant slack the past 6 few weeks, but that's not really how it played out. There were a ton of walkers out. I don't mean single walkers, either. I mean pairs and small groups. They were taking up the majority of the lanes on the trail. I'm generally OK with passing a single walker with my sad little jog, but passing clusters of people really hits my social phobia nerve. So, while I did manage to pass several "couple" walkers, there were these two women that I was behind for over two miles!!! No matter how much I gained on them, they never moved over and I swear they slowed down little by little as the miles passed. By the time they finally decided to turn around, my left shin was really hurting from the power walking I was doing to pass the other walkers. Still, I jogged from then on.

I went about a half a mile and then came upon one of those memorial crosses, like the ones you see on the side of the road. It was for the woman, Jennifer Ewing, who was killed on the trail (apparently in that very area) in 2006. Now, I know I've mentioned that my hubby doesn't like for me to go on the trails alone. I take mace and a heart-attack knife with me every time. However, the further I got away from that site, the more remote the area was and I wasn't passing any walkers or joggers anymore. The few bikers cyclists that did pass by were kinda creepy looking and it just seemed that the area had a bad mojo about it. Almost as if the aura had been damaged too bad. Needless to say, it gave me an uneasy feeling and I turned around at about 3.2 miles. I jogged a lot of the way back before I got behind, yet again, more clusters of walkers. I kinda gave up at that point and just resorted to power walking back to the car for the last mile and a half. I'm considering it a fail of epic proportions.

The movie, Beastly, was actually pretty good. The writers veered a little from the book in some areas, much to my dismay, but it wasn't a bad movie. If you get the chance, I recommend it, even if you haven't read the book!

Tomorrow, Shane and I are dropping the kids off at school and enjoying a "daytime date" at the movie theater. We are going to the last week of "free summer kid's movies" at the local theater. (Complete with free popcorn and $1.00, free refillable sodas). We are going to see Megamind, which I have not seen yet. Then, we'll kill some time and then pick the kids up, then it's off to work for me!

Still Goin

Hey everyone! I am still here. I haven't really had much to write about other than the mundane daily routine of work and home, so I just haven't posted anything. The half is drawing nearer. So near, in fact, I can now do a countdown...exactly 2 weeks (14 days) until the race!

Went for my usual trail run today. We went exactly 7 miles. It was super humid outside, which made it a little unpleasant. I'm starting to really notice the fact that I have been eating like a ravenous fiend and not exercising lately. I was more out of breath and tired than I usually am. I also felt really heavy. I don't know if I can properly explain that one, but trust when I say I did!

The great thing is, my kids start back to school on Monday! We are going to open house tomorrow for the meet and greet and then on Monday morning, I will drop them off and go for the runs I used to go on before summer started! The kids are super excited to be going back, especially E since she will be attending for the first time! I hope they have a great school year. So, I will drop them on Monday morning and then try to go 8 miles. I really don't think it will be an issue. The only thing I don't want to do is over-exert myself or injure myself 2 weeks before the race.

Source

Since my last post, I finished Beastly by Alex Finn and also read Beastly: Lindy's Diary, also by Alex Finn. They were good books. Very easy to read, not too involved and not overly dramatic like so much YA fiction is these days. The characters were well developed and very easy to relate to. When the books were over, I found myself yearning for more of their story! I am actually about to watch the movie adaptation of Beastly when I finish this post. Perhaps I'll mention it tomorrow! For now, I'm going to relax, drink a pouch of Arbor Mist and then take a shower and go to bed!

I FORGOT My Shoes!

We have been as busy as ever here getting ready for school to start back. We went to Target and bought all of G's school needs. I still need to get shoes and dance supplies for E.

On Thursday, we went to Stone Mountain again to catch the laser show before the end of summer break.      I am happy to report that it did not rain and we also rode the train! We met up with one of my co-workers and her family there and made an evening of it. I think the kids had a great time! Unfortunately, my camera battery is still dead from vacation (shame on me), so there are no pictures. In fact, that's why there have been no pictures in my posts lately. I'll get back to it, I promise!!

Today, after work, we went for our usually Saturday walk/jog. We cut our time so close last time with the time that Shane had to be at work that today, I wasn't concerned with going a certain distance, just going for X amount of time. Well, that would be a whole lot easier if I hadn't left my running shoes at home (an hour away)!!! My life has been so scattered these past couple of weeks that I just left my shoes at home. I wasn't going to let it stop me, though. I was actually willing to go in my work Mary-Janes. Lucky for me, my running buddies had just gone to buy new shoes and there were some old shoes in the car that fit me!!! (LOVE MY FRIENDS) So, despite the fact that they were old and worn out, it beat trying to go 6 and a half miles in MJs! I can tell you that my feet DO hurt, but I'm grateful to get the training time in since training hasn't been going as steady as it should be.

Source

I have actually started and finished an entire book since my last post. The name of the book is Beastly by Alex Finn. It is (yet another) YA book. I really liked it! It's a modern re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, but not the Disney version! I thought it was well-written and not too angsty. It has several sequels, so I imagine they will be my future reads for a little while.