...so big, in fact, that I missed the first big-ticket item!
Today is our wedding anniversary. Fourteen. What is the gift theme for one's fourteenth anniversary? Probably something like patio furniture. It doesn't really matter because my husband and I never hardly ever get each other anything...ever. Birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's Day, wedding anniversary...just another day at the mill. Regarding the kids, it's a different story...but the two of us are content, nay, ecstatic to simply bask in our mutual loving glow :)
I'm so glad my mother called this morning to wish us a "Happy Anniversary" because I had completely forgotten! And so had my husband! So... Happy Anniversary to US :) I only hope I remember to reciprocate the reminding favor later in the month when her anniversary rolls around!
And March is Birthday Month here!
Q-man and Miss C have both been talking about their birthdays coming in the middle of next week, and my brother-in-law's birthday is at the end of the week.
Big G will get a re-do of his sucky birthday party next weekend as well. Here's hoping that it won't be as sucky! This time I will be farming out the younger sibs so that they do not provide continual annoyance for the duration of the party...which is what they did last time.
And High Birthday Season ends right after St. Patrick's Day when one of my stepsons turns 27!
Then at the end of the month, once the family birthdays are over...a little over 3 short weeks from right now...I'm running the second leg of the Oakland Marathon Relay. I ran the second leg last year, and it was damn hard. Well, they made it harder this year. Bastards. Fortunately, it's only 6+ miles and my team is all about fun, so maybe I'll do like Tricia and bring beer in my water bottle. I guess I might want to start running soon... It's so weird to open my calendar and look at my plan for the cast-aside Eugene Marathon...and to see that this weekend I would have had a 20-miler to run. Bailing on that puppy was the best decision ever. But I must admit, I really miss having a Big Goal out there...which probably means it's really good for me to sit with this uncomfortable feeling and be present in the moment :)
Do you forget 'important' dates?
Do you prefer having a Big (or little) Goal to fixate focus on? Or are you good with "one day at a time"?
I rarely drink soda...especially not caffeinated soda, so I really am livin' large tonight.
My husband just left for the party to sing in the New Year. Everyone is to bring a song that will represent their 2012. I told him to pick "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred. Instead, he chose "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof...but he changed the title to "When I AM a Rich Man" and rewrote the lyrics to reflect what he wants to have in his life. Clever man, he.
I do kind of wish I were going, but someone has to hold down the fort. So instead I'm sneakily sucking down Dr. Pepper in a dark corner in the kitchen while watching movies with my older three kids. We are having a slumber party in the family room...they are so excited.
I know they look glazed over...a screen'll do that to a body...
but they really are excited.
Before he left, my husband made stuffed mushrooms as his potluck contribution to the singing party...and he pulled out a Granny's Gadget for their preparation :) Unfortunately, I was not around for the initial usage, but Baby X and I staged a re-enactment for your viewing pleasure...my camera work is not as professional as my husband's...and it was very challenging to ad-lib the narrative and wield the camera and direct the action all at the same time :P
Nonetheless, I give you...
#31
Ooops!
Forgot...it's been a long while so I'm cutting myself some slack...
So I'm a little late with our gadget this week...you should now by now that I am that person who is annoyingly 3 to 5 minutes late pretty much all the time. Sorry. It's how I was raised. It's an issue I struggle with and endeavor to correct, but I no longer beat myself up about it... unless it makes me miss a plane or something :P
How many de-followers can I get for that one? ;-) I'll let those of you who stay know tomorrow.
My post-Apocalyptic training run on Sunday and my wonderful, sunshiny-with-a-cool-breeze-blowing recovery bike ride yesterday filled most of my free time the last couple of days, leaving just a minute (literally) to film the gadget in action but no time to download it and post it. My sincere and humble apologies to all four of you who expect a new gadget video every Monday.
My bike ride was just what I needed after that cataclysmic ordeal on Sunday. It was the total opposite... cool, calm, breezy, easy and fun! I rode for longer than I have in over a decade... a whopping hour. My butt didn't hurt until the very end. I did get a flat tire somewhere around these awesome kites at my turnaround, but the tires are fat, sturdy mountain bike tires and there did appear to be a little bit of inflation going on, so I just kept going since I was headed home anyway.
You can see the people on the ground for size comparison...
yes, the tiny white dots under the big yellow kite...
these kites are HUGE.
I returned home from this beautiful morning ride to a house humming with activity... my husband is so amazing... he had these kids working! Laundry, cooking, cleaning disastrous rooms... it was incredible and so needed and so appreciated :)
Usually I wait until the kids are in bed to do the filmwork... whether a gadget or a barefoot outdoor activity... but tonight I had my intricate dinner prep filmed 'cuz I used the gadget in real life!
Here it is:
And if you want to know who is screaming in the background...
This is the very first time I have actually forgotten to do Granny's Gadgets! Space City over here :P Must be the jet-lag... I am getting a lot of mileage out of that one ;-) Oddly, today I received something in the mail that was completely related to gadgety goodness, and I still didn't remember I needed to pick a gadget and make a video. Might have something to do with the gazillion posts I already did today... well, three anyway... one really long one, one cute short one, one about French produce vendors, and one about my hip problem. Another whew for the psycho-ness of all that posting!
After my run tonight, I showered (!) and put on my jammies. My husband was making dinner... as usual (he is a total keeper). When he took a break from the kitchen to go conduct his real business for a few moments, I was languidly slicing the tomato, thinking about the post I would write about the run and the manner in which I would thank Catey from Random Thoughts from the Zoo for the surprise I received in the mail, when it hit me like a rake hidden in the grass... right between the eyes and sharp underfoot.
I need to do a GADGET!!!!!
I looked down at the cutting board, and divine inspiration swept me away...
Here is this week's fine work of gadget-genius from the good people at EKCO...
Contrary to how things turned out tonight, I do think this item will be useful ... on a smaller tomato or a hard-boiled egg... if I had any from Easter, I could have tried it out that way :P
And Catey... you are just so super sweet! I am so excited to try out the replacement :) How on earth you have the time to do an ebaby for me... well, honestly, I am blown away by your thoughtfulness and generosity.
Any of you who have not yet checked Catey out... get on over to her blog! She is one of the prettiest, most inspiring, most fit, incredibly organized, thoughtful and perceptive, funny and fun mom of eight kids you could ever hope to read about. She is the reason I not only returned to running but a big part of why I started blogging. I *heart* Catey.
First, Baby X set off on her first overnight field trip with her third-grade class... 3 days and 2 nights to stay in cabins, hike around, get really wet(it's supposed to rain all 3 days), do the campfire thang(in the rain... yeah, right), learn stuff, yada yada yada...
She is soooooo excited!
The most awesome thing about this girl is that she is almost always up for anything.
She is excited about this trip... EVEN WITH THE RAIN.
Change and challenge?
Bring 'em on!
(I think she takes after her mom)
My husband is chaperoning the trip.
He is also excited.
Two nights of sleeping in a rustic bunkbed,
surrounded by 8- and 9-year old boys screaming and stinking,
keeping those overprivileged kids motivated in the cold and rain...
Of course he's excited ;-)
They had to leave super early. There was a search-frenzy before they could leave... the little camera.
Must.
Document.
Adventure.
It could not be found... it was nowhere. It wasn't even in my car (which is where it should NOT have been anyway... but they did look which meant unlocking my car and going inside of it... this part becomes important in a minute). So they left without the little camera but took the big, honkin' professional-photographer-that-he-is camera.
About an hour later it was time for the the boys and I to head off to school. Miss C had just created a perfectly-timed 'present' for me... so I sent the boys out to go on in the car and get buckled in. I'm in the middle of clean-up when Big G starts asking me where the keys are(do you see where this is headed? I didn't). I very annoyedly give him the verbal list of the places he should look and should already know to look. He looks. He can't find. I finish my job and start looking. We are now late.
And it hits me.
I make the call.
Me: Hey, babe. Where did you put the keys to my car after you looked for the camera? Him: Oh... %^@#! Me: Yeeeeahhhh, that's what I thought. Okay... well, we won't bother looking for them anymore! Good to know! Have fun! *click*
They were in his coat pocket.
I find the spare where it is actually supposed to be! (score!)
I find the extra house key... also where it is supposed to be! (double score!)
We leave.
We get stuck in heavy traffic because we have left the house after the "tipping point"... it is now full-on rush hour.
Finally off the freeway, the unthinkable happens...
See that white truck?
That's where it happened...
where I
ran out of gas!
but there were a lot of cars behind me
Two good samaritans noticed that I was standing outside of the car
with the hazards on
in the middle of the intersection
and offered to help push me to the side.
it always amazes me how few people are willing to "get involved"
and how awesome it is that ANYone is willing.
Once we were parked in an actual parking place,
I hoofed on down to this
gas station
where I bought
and filled
this
I then cavorted back to the car
cavorted because I was so
happy
a) that it wasn't pouring down rain,
b) that I had cash on hand to buy the goods,
c) that it was only a block and a half between car and gas station
(this mess could've happened on the frickin freeway, in all that rush hour traffic)
d) that my oldest is old enough to stay in the car with the youngers so that my hoofing only took a couple of minutes instead of a solid hour ;-)
After I returned to the car and put the little sip o' gas in the tank (without any spillage, I might add ;) ),
I insisted on shooting a video to further document the morning drama... as if the pics and the post aren't enough :P
This annoyed Big G because we were already running SUPER late to school.
Like that is different than any other day? but I figured we were already soooo late...
Would this be considered an excused tardy? And excusable one?
Dang.
That's what I thought :P
To all of you punctual people out there... what would you have done differently so that punctuality would have been achieved? – This is an area in which I need a lot of help!
lol... do you like how I made that brown? click on it if you missed the background story.
In my last running update, I mentioned that I would be trying to run on Tuesday. Well, that didn't happen. It was slated to be a tempo run... which I usually like. But I just wasn't in the mood. Not like I always have to be in the mood to go running when I go running, but on Tuesday .... "oh, excuses, excuses, XL. you just suck and are lame and have no biz being on this planet"..."oh, shut up, you." yes, I talk to myself. I can't remember what happened.
I went on Thursday. Just a mellow 5.25. I ran 7 of my little 0.75-mile loopy-doos inside The Gate.It was all that... but we're skipping the side of chips ;-) Very consistent laps... only a 6-second spread between the fastest and the slowest not counting the one lap where I was messing with the iPod... gotta stop doing that... never again in a run for time like my 5Ktwo weeks ago... but it is hard to run to anything by Flight of the Conchords and not bust up laughing, and it is hard to run to In My Father's Eyes without crying, and the seminar on How to Listen to and Appreciate Great Music just wasn't working for me, nor were the little French pronunciation mp3 downloads from the kids' school... you see? I had to search! It still was a very relaxed and relaxing pace right around 9:40 per mile.
Next up... 8 to 9 miles tomorrow. I'll be shooting for the 9 but knowing that, after nearly 2 weeks off, the 8 is probably more realistic. I am a realist. My husband is the optimist.
I know all you running readers doubt that I really run. And those pics from my last 5K were in the dark and I run at night when no one is looking so there is really no proof... I know that is what you're thinking. So here are some pictures of me running in the day a few long runs ago... maybe a month or so ago...
My biggest fans giving me the ol' high-five as I speed past...
Big G in typical fashion pissing me off trying to show me some "new" way to high-five...
that he invented as part of some mythological alien body language based on the last 40 bazillion books he has read
Tomorrow I am hoping to share the new core workout of the century. I started it last week... in my own way... still waiting to see the results. But this routine... if you can do it... guaranteed to give you the core strength of... of.... the guy who is in the video!
I'll let y'all know how that big run tomorrow goes... now that I'm 'going' there shouldn't be any problems ;-)
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And don't forget to vote for my picture in the sidebar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
so WE can win the prize!
did you miss my post about the contest?
Here... click here.
Tonight is the big benefit gala thing for our kids' school. I am not there.
But my husband is.
He got all dolled up for the occasion ;-)
He looks pretty awesome in his penguin suit...
whether he is standing in front of the stunning garage door...
or next to the gas and electric meter on the side of the house...
or thoughtfully looking at our minivan his Aston Martin
across the gravel spacious lawn of his estate.
He's been working really hard to look this good. My husband does P90X. Yes, he does. You should see him with no clothes on. Wait. Nevermind. You should see him without his shirt on :) the other is just for me.
He and Tony Horton are like that*holding up two fingers squished together and crossed*
And for the past two weeks he has been doing an amazing and rigorous cleanse program. Last week, it was just brown rice, vegetables, fruits and his special rice-based protein powder stuff. Yesterday he got to add beans and quinoa and oats back in... tomorrow he gets nuts.... he is very excited :)
And he is smokin' hot!
Have you ever been to a fancy tuxedo-y event?
– I think just my wedding.
Have you ever done a dietary cleanse program? How long was it? Did you feel great after?
– I did the one he is doing. It's 28 days long... like rehab. I felt AMAZING and didn't want to stop it when it was over and continued eating "clean" for another 3 months or so until I was pregnant and only wanted Ritz crackers with cream cheese... neither of which are part of the program.
Yes, he questioned the sanity of me getting up super-duper early to drive a long time to a place I've never been to run for a half an hour with people I've never met and then drive a long time home... on Thanksgiving. Hmmmm... might be a shred of rationality in his "concern" ;-)
But when the man then spends the entire morning with 4 children, making pancakes and folding Clothespile Peak (actually successfully getting the children to help with said folding) AND completely and immaculately cleans the kitchen that his running wife destroyed the night before with all of her Thanksgiving preparations and then left for the elves... you know this man is definitely a KEEPER. Clearly, he more than understands... he groks.
This is the scene every morning. I am not kidding. He is The Morning Guy... takes the first shift just about every time. He understands that I take a little time to get going, but that once I am up to speed I am good to go for even the longest of hauls. I am The Night Lady. (I think that's part of why I'm not also The Morning Lady).
When I think about giving thanks... any time of year, but especially on Thanksgiving... truly the first thing that pops into my mind is the man you see in the picture above. My most understanding and loving and hard-working husband.
Recently discovered in the far corners of Western Domesticbliss... the formidable
Clothespile Peak!
as viewed from afar
and up close
and the bird's-eye view.
Ugh. Laundry. It's not that I mind doing it. It's the folding with a toddler in the room part where I get stuck. I can often get it sorted and I know exactly where everything is, so when someone says, "Mom! I still don't have any underwear/socks/pants/shirts! How am I supposed to get dressed with no clothes?" I can say, "It's right there... about a third of the way down in the left-hand side of the pile... under the towels." And *bingo* it's right there! But once I start folding it, little girlfriend pulls it all to heck. She likes to rearrange things. So I put it off. I tell myself (and my husband) that I'll get to it after the kids are in bed. But I started running and that's when I go do that, so.... And even when I get it folded after they've gone to bed and after I've run, I am exhausted or just sick of it all and don't put it away. And then in the morning, Miss C puts it all where she thinks it ought to go... defeating the whole purpose of folding it!
Add to all that procrastination and priority-setting a week of all the kids out of school, a road trip, lice, field trips during the day... I know I have a couple more excuses, but they are eluding me right now... and you have the creation of a real eyesore right in the middle of the living room. Ugh.
Finally having a moment, I began the deconstruction process:
And an hour after that, I had created a masterpiece!
I know you will not believe this next one:
I swear to you that I did put all that stuff away... where it goes! I did not just put it all on the other side of the room, out of picture view. Pinky-promise.
Thought of you last night on my run. Took this for you. Hope it doesn't make you miss it more. In case it isn't obvious (lol), it is a not-very-good picture of the SF skyline at dusk. No acorns or wet fallen leaves to slip on. Just some goose poop from the Canada geese honking overhead.
Twilight is a really awkward time for me to run. First of all, visibility isn't great. Second of all, I would much rather be eating dinner! But rain had been threatening all day and I really wanted to get the run in before it started. Lately rain hasn't bothered me, but I was needing to wear my glasses because of the trichiasis and subsequent epilation with forceps (see yesterday's blog entry). Glasses and rain-running are just not a good combo. Add in the dusk lack of visibility and you may as well be running blindfolded.
I had been wishing I could run before the usual 9 p.m. because of the weather. Wishing without much hope... Then my husband came home early! Yay! But he still had some work to take care of at home. Boo... But he said he just needed about an hour, so I got the kids fed (sort of) and changed into my gear. It was just getting to that lack-of-light point that I was hoping to finish before... but no such luck. I headed out to the bayside trail, put my music on and started going.
I ran for 30 minutes. It was a little over 3 miles, I'm guessing. It was a good run. Not great but solid anyway. And I did beat the rain... it started falling as I was stretching out in the front yard! Hip seems to be holding up alright. Looking forward to a longer run on Sunday (thinking of going for 45 minutes... doing time instead of miles) and a timed mile at the end of the week (just to mix it up a bit). I haven't got "it" back yet but it sure feels nice to be on the right path!
Sunday was planned to be a big running day... well, big for me anyway. The plan was to run 3 miles. Three miles is farther than I have run since November 2001. I was nervous. I was going about getting ready as if I were heading out for a significantly longer run. Finding the perfect top layer took on monumental importance.
You see, it had started to rain... for the first time in a very long time. My friend, Stephanie, had given me a lightweight fleece pullover with a half-zip that would be ideal for a drizzly run... staying warm even when wet, easy to get off when too warm, all that jazz. I could not find this pullover ANYWHERE!!!! Oh, man. I tore the hall closet apart. Not there. I went through my car. Not there. I tornadoed through the laundry... dirty AND clean... wet AND dry. Not there. It was nowhere to be found.
So I decided to find a different shirt. A plain black, long-sleeved cotton t-shirt. Not too big, not too small. Not too heavy, not too light. Not going stay warm when wet like the fleece, but whatever... it'd do. Went through the same search drill. No black t-shirt.
All of this searching took at least thirty minutes... about the amount of time I was planning on running. Finally, no longer amused by my searching frenzy, my husband said, "Just put something on already and GO! What is the big deal? A half an hour after you finish running you aren't even going to remember what you wore. Get outta here!" For once I listened to this smart man the FIRST time he told me the best course of action. I grabbed a heavy cotton sweatshirt (the antithesis of what I wanted) and left.
I started off in the nice drizzle. It was such a nice change. It's finally feeling like fall here... although the whole summer was pretty fall-like actually! About 10 minutes into it the mind games started... the slowness, the "shortness", the raininess ... and all of the comparisons that one should not be making at this stage in one's life and level of fitness. I had forgotten all about "just happy to be here" and finding joy in being able to run AT ALL and what a glorious place I get to run and how good it feels to breathe hard and break a sweat... I had started tanking big time. I just wanted it to be over. The sooner, the better.
My music wasn't helping. When I run alone I listen to music, and it had been just sort of droning in the background, providing no inspiration, no motivation, hardly even "white noise" to remove the voices in my head... About one mile out, the temptation to turn around was huge. Hey, 2 miles is about what I was up to and isn't so measly and not much more measly than 3 miles...
Enter: The Funky Bunch.
There is nothing like a kick-ass song to kick your ass into gear! I smiled and sang and ran kind of fast for a little while. I started to feel like I used to feel when I ran... like it was easy. And when the song was over, I wasn't. The "Good Vibrations" from that one tune carried me through to completion. I was able to notice how beautiful it was out. I was running past one of my favorite places...
It may not look like much, but I LOVE this slough!
The run ended up being 3.8 miles... in 36 minutes! Go, me!
He has his health. He has good looks. He has all the cameras he could want (ha ha). He has 10 loving children, each of whom cherish their relationship with him at this point. He has an adoring wife (me!).
Babe, since you're "off" cake at the moment, here is a picture of last year's celebration. Imagine another candle on there and you're set! Love you! Happy birthday and many happy returns!
