I just signed up for the Jingle Bell Run. Yes I am aware I said I was skipping it. I changed my mind! However, I don't just get a t-shirt for doing this one. I have to raise money. It's for arthritis. I am not sure what they do with this money I raise. But I do want a shirt. So if you love me donate! (:
ps.... I think I have to raise something like $5000 so really people- get that money rolling in.
pss...ok I only have to raise $25. I wasn't really trying to raise $5000 to pay the $25 and then keep 4,975 of it for myself. Really. I wasn't. Seriously.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Great Intentions
Top Ten Funny Things I said before I became a parent.....
1. If they are old enough to ask for the nuk (binky, pacifier, etc) they are too old to still have one.
2. I will never listen to children's music in my car (I haven't yet, actually but it's coming).
3. I will never give in to my child's whining.
4. Staying at home all day won't bother me a bit.
5. My child will not watch more than 30 mins of tv a day.
6. You can force a child to eat vegetables- you just have to try hard enough.
7. I will never let a child of mine scream in a public place.
8. I would never sing Old McDonald at the top of my lungs just to get my baby to stop crying.
9. I will have structured activites prepared every day.
and lastly.....
10. I will never let my baby sleep in my bed! (hahahahahaha....laughing hysterically at that one.)
1. If they are old enough to ask for the nuk (binky, pacifier, etc) they are too old to still have one.
2. I will never listen to children's music in my car (I haven't yet, actually but it's coming).
3. I will never give in to my child's whining.
4. Staying at home all day won't bother me a bit.
5. My child will not watch more than 30 mins of tv a day.
6. You can force a child to eat vegetables- you just have to try hard enough.
7. I will never let a child of mine scream in a public place.
8. I would never sing Old McDonald at the top of my lungs just to get my baby to stop crying.
9. I will have structured activites prepared every day.
and lastly.....
10. I will never let my baby sleep in my bed! (hahahahahaha....laughing hysterically at that one.)
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Turkey Trot
Ok so when I ran the Bass Pro 5k I thought it was cold....wow- it was like a summer day in the desert compared to the Turkey Trot. Seriously, dude, and holy turkey (ok that was a little cheesy) was it freezing cold yesterday! We met at the Expo Center downtown for this marathon. I thought I was well equipped with 2 shirts, long pants, a sweatshirt with a hood, and a ear/head thing but I could have used mittens. Duh. And a scarf. Julie did try to warn me.
There were so many people there! Hold on- I will go see if there is a total number somewhere to report to you. 4,246 people! It felt like it too. We were packed into the expo center lobby waiting to begin and I actually had to move out to the windows to escape being suffocated by the enormous press of people. There were some characters there too. Aside from the actual Tom the Turkey mascot, I saw people with dogs, people with babies! (I wanted to turn them in for child abuse having them out in the arctic chill), people with Indian feathers on their heads, one huge giant guy dressed in head to toe camo, people in shorts, and people with stuffed animal turkeys on their heads. And even some people with hats made to look like actual frozen turkeys. Those were a little gross.
As usual, Julie and I head all the way to the back to find the slow section. The nice people announcing told the walkers about 50,000 times to keep moving down the street (west), keep moving down. Once we finally reached Kansas (thats where the end of the line was) we found the rest of the walkers. Then we stood there freezing our you know whats off. Actually my you know what stayed firmly in place. Unfortunately, my face took most of the wind. Last evening I kept wondering why my face felt hot and a little itchy. Wind burn sucks. Dont' worry- I slathered night cream about 10 layers thick last night so am good this morning.
Not much to say about the actual marathon. It took us forever to get back up to the starting line. Julie and I did this one together and aside from a very short jog at the start, we walked the whole race. It was just too cold man. Don't judge us- you weren't there. I, like a stupid dummy, had walked through wet grass on the way in that morning and gotten the toes of my shoes wet. That part of the shoe is mostly mesh so it went right through to my toes. I was a little afraid they would just break right off my feet when I took my shoes off but I guess they warmed up from all the walking. Anyhow, we just took a nice little walk through downtown Springfield and enjoyed the Trot. It was fun. However.... I think I might skip the Jingle Bell run.
There were so many people there! Hold on- I will go see if there is a total number somewhere to report to you. 4,246 people! It felt like it too. We were packed into the expo center lobby waiting to begin and I actually had to move out to the windows to escape being suffocated by the enormous press of people. There were some characters there too. Aside from the actual Tom the Turkey mascot, I saw people with dogs, people with babies! (I wanted to turn them in for child abuse having them out in the arctic chill), people with Indian feathers on their heads, one huge giant guy dressed in head to toe camo, people in shorts, and people with stuffed animal turkeys on their heads. And even some people with hats made to look like actual frozen turkeys. Those were a little gross.
As usual, Julie and I head all the way to the back to find the slow section. The nice people announcing told the walkers about 50,000 times to keep moving down the street (west), keep moving down. Once we finally reached Kansas (thats where the end of the line was) we found the rest of the walkers. Then we stood there freezing our you know whats off. Actually my you know what stayed firmly in place. Unfortunately, my face took most of the wind. Last evening I kept wondering why my face felt hot and a little itchy. Wind burn sucks. Dont' worry- I slathered night cream about 10 layers thick last night so am good this morning.
Not much to say about the actual marathon. It took us forever to get back up to the starting line. Julie and I did this one together and aside from a very short jog at the start, we walked the whole race. It was just too cold man. Don't judge us- you weren't there. I, like a stupid dummy, had walked through wet grass on the way in that morning and gotten the toes of my shoes wet. That part of the shoe is mostly mesh so it went right through to my toes. I was a little afraid they would just break right off my feet when I took my shoes off but I guess they warmed up from all the walking. Anyhow, we just took a nice little walk through downtown Springfield and enjoyed the Trot. It was fun. However.... I think I might skip the Jingle Bell run.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
One of my favorite quotes
"After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference. " ~ Charlotte Gray
Just another crappy morning....
GROSSNESS WARNING: Dad- you will not like this story.
A couple mornings ago, I woke up and went to let the cat out of the laundry room. As I opened the door a wave of stink greeted me like a slap in the face. Yep, the cat had taken a massive crap evidently right before I went to get her. Keeping it all locked up in the that small room served only to intensify the smell. After I picked myself up off the floor I went in to dress my daughter. Guess what! Poopy diaper time! Yea! Poopy diapers just really are the highlight of my day. Esp now that Anna has reached the age where she wants to toss herself back and forth as hard as she can while I am trying to change her. Or worse, grab the diaper and get ....well you know what all over everything. Been there done that. So anyway, now we have poop smell on both sides of the house. I throw the diaper in a plastic bag and toss it in the garage trash can. Then I retreat to the only room in the house that I thought would be stink free....AH! Wrong again. Evidently Adam spent the entire night farting his guts out. I am surprised the paint hadn't peeled from the walls. For those of you that don't know Adam's history of stink- let's just say I have asked him mulitiple times if he eats garbage. I guess I should be glad I had slept on the couch that night or I might not be alive to tell this tale. What a fun morning that was. There is just nothing like smelling crap 3 times from 3 different sources before you have even been awake 20 minutes.
A couple mornings ago, I woke up and went to let the cat out of the laundry room. As I opened the door a wave of stink greeted me like a slap in the face. Yep, the cat had taken a massive crap evidently right before I went to get her. Keeping it all locked up in the that small room served only to intensify the smell. After I picked myself up off the floor I went in to dress my daughter. Guess what! Poopy diaper time! Yea! Poopy diapers just really are the highlight of my day. Esp now that Anna has reached the age where she wants to toss herself back and forth as hard as she can while I am trying to change her. Or worse, grab the diaper and get ....well you know what all over everything. Been there done that. So anyway, now we have poop smell on both sides of the house. I throw the diaper in a plastic bag and toss it in the garage trash can. Then I retreat to the only room in the house that I thought would be stink free....AH! Wrong again. Evidently Adam spent the entire night farting his guts out. I am surprised the paint hadn't peeled from the walls. For those of you that don't know Adam's history of stink- let's just say I have asked him mulitiple times if he eats garbage. I guess I should be glad I had slept on the couch that night or I might not be alive to tell this tale. What a fun morning that was. There is just nothing like smelling crap 3 times from 3 different sources before you have even been awake 20 minutes.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Just so you know....
We are going to KC this weekend and I am going to Santa's Surplus to see if there are any good deals and I don't care what any of you think. I dont'. So there.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Bass Pro 5k
My sister-in-law Julie, and I ran our 3rd 5k this morning. It was cold! This one was sponsored by Bass Pro and benefits the Ozark Greenways. We started the race out of the Bass Pro parking lot. There were not as many people as at the Sunshine Run and they started the 10k runners at the same time they started us. (This is important later in my story). My friend Shannon met us while we were waiting for the race to start which was a great surprise! I love Shannon to death- she is so much fun. And she always makes me laugh- for example, she accidentally signed up for the 10k instead of the 5k! Silly girl- of course she rocks because she ran it anyway! Julie and I have agreed to run one race together and one separate- switching back and forth. This was our first race at our own pace. We lined up towards the back of the pack to stay out of the way of the serious runners and after a terrible rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, we were off.
Oh yes, quick side story.... Julie is a huge rule breaker (: and brought her ipod even though the rules clearly stated she was not supposed to. (I can't take her anywhere...) She put her ear pieces in after we lined up. So there we were waiting in the middle of this huge mass of people, everyone else respectfully looking at the flag, hands over their hearts, listening quietly, when Julie starts TALKING! Loudly! And doing her warm up dance. HAHAHA- she was bouncing up and down saying "Look at me! I'm warming up!" I had to tell her to shush and listen to the national anthem like a good American! Then everyone around us started laughing- it's a wonder they didn't kick us out of the race. See girls and boys what rule-breaking gets you? tsk, tsk...
Anyway, we start running South down Campbell St and I am feeling like maybe I would rather just lay down and die rather than run this race. For some reason the first 1/10 - 2/10 of the first mile is crazy hard for me. Since it was only 8 in the morning, it was blasted cold and my ears and nose felt like they were going to freeze right off my face. And my legs were screaming at me and my lungs felt like I swallowed fire. And then of all the dumb things, my new "running/yoga pants" start falling down. I was yanking these pants up literally every 5 steps or so. I am sure everyone was wondering what sort of medication I was on to make me keep jerking like that. So finally the horrible pain stops and I feel pretty good for the next mile- mile and a half. I mentioned in a previous blog that I am not the best runner so my goal was simply to run the first mile and beat our previous mostly walking time. So I am proud to announce that I was able to run all but about 4 mins of the whole race (two walking breaks of two minutes each). I will admit I was freaking glad to see that 2nd mile marker. I finished in 44 mins and 30-some odd seconds. Now while this is an excellent time for me and I am actually quite pleased with it.... for those who don't know... this is not a great time overall. Remember when I said they started the 10K race at the same time? Well about the last mile to half mile I start seeing all these runners start passing me. And I am thinking, wait a minute...shouldn't all the people running that fast be way way up ahead of me? Or finished already? And these people look like serious runners- all decked out in their running gear. Finally it dawns on me that these are the 10K runners! Passing me by! FAST! Yeah that's right- ran twice as long as me and still beat me to the finish! Ah well, one of these days. For now I am going to enjoy my success and work towards running the Jack Frost or the Jingle Hop or whatever the December race is without walking at all. Oh also, Julie did excellently well- she ran a lot of the race and bettered our previous time by more than 2 mins! I am so proud of her - I know what an effort she put in and she did so great. Thank you Jules, for getting me into this and doing them all with me!
Oh yes, quick side story.... Julie is a huge rule breaker (: and brought her ipod even though the rules clearly stated she was not supposed to. (I can't take her anywhere...) She put her ear pieces in after we lined up. So there we were waiting in the middle of this huge mass of people, everyone else respectfully looking at the flag, hands over their hearts, listening quietly, when Julie starts TALKING! Loudly! And doing her warm up dance. HAHAHA- she was bouncing up and down saying "Look at me! I'm warming up!" I had to tell her to shush and listen to the national anthem like a good American! Then everyone around us started laughing- it's a wonder they didn't kick us out of the race. See girls and boys what rule-breaking gets you? tsk, tsk...
Anyway, we start running South down Campbell St and I am feeling like maybe I would rather just lay down and die rather than run this race. For some reason the first 1/10 - 2/10 of the first mile is crazy hard for me. Since it was only 8 in the morning, it was blasted cold and my ears and nose felt like they were going to freeze right off my face. And my legs were screaming at me and my lungs felt like I swallowed fire. And then of all the dumb things, my new "running/yoga pants" start falling down. I was yanking these pants up literally every 5 steps or so. I am sure everyone was wondering what sort of medication I was on to make me keep jerking like that. So finally the horrible pain stops and I feel pretty good for the next mile- mile and a half. I mentioned in a previous blog that I am not the best runner so my goal was simply to run the first mile and beat our previous mostly walking time. So I am proud to announce that I was able to run all but about 4 mins of the whole race (two walking breaks of two minutes each). I will admit I was freaking glad to see that 2nd mile marker. I finished in 44 mins and 30-some odd seconds. Now while this is an excellent time for me and I am actually quite pleased with it.... for those who don't know... this is not a great time overall. Remember when I said they started the 10K race at the same time? Well about the last mile to half mile I start seeing all these runners start passing me. And I am thinking, wait a minute...shouldn't all the people running that fast be way way up ahead of me? Or finished already? And these people look like serious runners- all decked out in their running gear. Finally it dawns on me that these are the 10K runners! Passing me by! FAST! Yeah that's right- ran twice as long as me and still beat me to the finish! Ah well, one of these days. For now I am going to enjoy my success and work towards running the Jack Frost or the Jingle Hop or whatever the December race is without walking at all. Oh also, Julie did excellently well- she ran a lot of the race and bettered our previous time by more than 2 mins! I am so proud of her - I know what an effort she put in and she did so great. Thank you Jules, for getting me into this and doing them all with me!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
No I did not make up my fear of tornados...
So one of my dear friends and her husband who happens to be my old boss read my blog about tornadoes and thought I must have made it up! If they only knew.... Then she actually requested more anxiety stories! So just to give you more proof that I really am like this here are a few more tidbits about some of my anxieties....
I usually have at least one dream about tornadoes a month. Usually this involves me trying to hide from the storm in a basement. Not a normal basement though. It is always a basement that you get into through a door or hole in the wall that is too small for me to fit through. (I am also quite claustrophobic.....) I actually once had a dream that I was trying to get into a basement to get away from a tornado and I got through the small door finally and then men came with guns trying to kill us all and I couldn't get back out of the room. I am sure a pyschiatrist would have a heyday with these dreams. But they also might lock me up!
My Grandma Ginny is the one I inherited this fear from. She used to start carrying food and water down to her basement when they posted tornado watches. She carried several meals worth of food and water, toilet paper, all their medicines, pillows, blankets, books, etc down there. She always said by the time she was finished carrying everything down the storms were always over. I remember her having several large buckets of water that she stored down there for any sort of emergency that might occur, be it a tornado, or ice storm that killed the power, or a terrorist attack. She also eventually went to just keeping old Christmas popcorn cans - you know which ones I am talking about? The ones with puppies or kittens or Christmas trees or whatever on the sides that hold gallons of popcorn in three flavors? The ones no one can ever actually eat all the popcorn out of? She filled 2-4 of these in her basement full of changes of underwear, canned food, extra medicine, and no telling what else. Oh definitely toilet paper. Never can have too much of that around. She might actually still have those down there. I will have to check next time I visit.
Let's see....what other things can I share about myself that will make sure you all don't want to be my friends anymore because I am just too crazy....
I go back and check to make sure my garage door is shut probably 1 out of 3 trips out of the house. And I mean trips around town- not trips out of town.
I can't read scary books anymore because I woke Adam up one too many times to check the house for murderers. When I used to read them I would sit in a corner with my back to the wall right outside our old bedroom door so I could yell for Adam if I got too scared.
I once called the cops on an innocent man because when I got up to let the dog out I saw that he was trying to break into my neighbor's house to murder them in cold blood and then proceed to my house to murder me and Adam because he saw me watching him and couldn't leave any witnesses alive. Or I guess maybe he could have just been visiting his parents and have stepped outside on their porch to smoke a cigarette. Either one.... Who needs neighborhood watch when you've got me available and ready to overreact any time of day or night?
The movie Jurassic Park scares me if I watch it at night by myself. Not because I am scared of dinosaurs but because the spooky music makes me start thinking bad things are going to happen. Don't even get me started on the movie Signs. And you better believe the movie Scream is going nowhere near my tv no matter what time it is.
I have a secret fear that there is a snake coiled up in whatever toilet I happen to be using. Sometimes I actually stand up really fast and whirl around to make sure there isn't actually one there getting ready to bite me.
ok well that is all I can come up with at the moment- Julie B- I will post more stories for you when I think of some!
I usually have at least one dream about tornadoes a month. Usually this involves me trying to hide from the storm in a basement. Not a normal basement though. It is always a basement that you get into through a door or hole in the wall that is too small for me to fit through. (I am also quite claustrophobic.....) I actually once had a dream that I was trying to get into a basement to get away from a tornado and I got through the small door finally and then men came with guns trying to kill us all and I couldn't get back out of the room. I am sure a pyschiatrist would have a heyday with these dreams. But they also might lock me up!
My Grandma Ginny is the one I inherited this fear from. She used to start carrying food and water down to her basement when they posted tornado watches. She carried several meals worth of food and water, toilet paper, all their medicines, pillows, blankets, books, etc down there. She always said by the time she was finished carrying everything down the storms were always over. I remember her having several large buckets of water that she stored down there for any sort of emergency that might occur, be it a tornado, or ice storm that killed the power, or a terrorist attack. She also eventually went to just keeping old Christmas popcorn cans - you know which ones I am talking about? The ones with puppies or kittens or Christmas trees or whatever on the sides that hold gallons of popcorn in three flavors? The ones no one can ever actually eat all the popcorn out of? She filled 2-4 of these in her basement full of changes of underwear, canned food, extra medicine, and no telling what else. Oh definitely toilet paper. Never can have too much of that around. She might actually still have those down there. I will have to check next time I visit.
Let's see....what other things can I share about myself that will make sure you all don't want to be my friends anymore because I am just too crazy....
I go back and check to make sure my garage door is shut probably 1 out of 3 trips out of the house. And I mean trips around town- not trips out of town.
I can't read scary books anymore because I woke Adam up one too many times to check the house for murderers. When I used to read them I would sit in a corner with my back to the wall right outside our old bedroom door so I could yell for Adam if I got too scared.
I once called the cops on an innocent man because when I got up to let the dog out I saw that he was trying to break into my neighbor's house to murder them in cold blood and then proceed to my house to murder me and Adam because he saw me watching him and couldn't leave any witnesses alive. Or I guess maybe he could have just been visiting his parents and have stepped outside on their porch to smoke a cigarette. Either one.... Who needs neighborhood watch when you've got me available and ready to overreact any time of day or night?
The movie Jurassic Park scares me if I watch it at night by myself. Not because I am scared of dinosaurs but because the spooky music makes me start thinking bad things are going to happen. Don't even get me started on the movie Signs. And you better believe the movie Scream is going nowhere near my tv no matter what time it is.
I have a secret fear that there is a snake coiled up in whatever toilet I happen to be using. Sometimes I actually stand up really fast and whirl around to make sure there isn't actually one there getting ready to bite me.
ok well that is all I can come up with at the moment- Julie B- I will post more stories for you when I think of some!
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