Yup

I didn't run yesterday or today, but that's ok. It is just what my calves wanted anyway. I was walking funny all day at work yesterday.

Today is all about trying to get the chateau cleaned up before the weekend when I won't have any time. My baby girl turns 4 this Sunday. It doesn't feel like it has been that long.

Also, I'm going to load up my kids + Angie's and we're going to be doing a little crowd control at the Heels and Hill half marathon. Trent and Audrie haven't agreed to go with me, but I bet I can make Angie ground them ahead of time, leaving them no choice.

Work hasn't been much fun this week. We have some up tight folks who keep telling us to be quiet. I think they have sand in their vagina's.

I already have some great sign ideas for Heels and Hills.

Like a Rock Star

Last week I was all bitchy and whiny, complaining about how "hard" life is, blah blah blah.

After I got the negative Nancy out, I decided I needed to make a plan. First on the agenda is finding a time to run, and today was the test launch of operation lunch run. It went really well. I got in a great 4 miles in 40 minutes, leaving me time to change before and after. Then I just snacked on some pita and hummus to appease my appetite. I had to go back to work all smelly, but I don't really care. Who's going to complain? C25Karen? BTW: I'm outing her and at the same time asking for suggestions. Karen hasn't run in an entire week (Bad Karen!) but she says that her legs have been hurting, kind of like shin splints but not shin splints (I have no idea). Any input/suggestions for this beginner?

Anywho, I have decided to rock this whole working mom thing. It really erks me when someone suggests that my life before was just some lazy walk down the effing beach. It wasn't hard or anything, but it was challenging in different ways. Ha! Look at me bitching again.

Oh, I ran in my Vibrams today. They were rubbing a little bit of a blister on the ball of my foot. It will callus over soon, and everything will be fine. Other than that, it was a great run. I can tell a huge difference in my stride. I prance more, but in a good, hardcore bad ass kind of way.

Lets see if I can make it a 20+ mile week.

How bad do you want it

How bad do I NEED it? I'm irritable, whiny, and wallowing in self pity, just in case you couldn't tell from my previous post.

I attribute all of this to my lack of physical activity. The extent of my recent exercise is carrying the kids to and from the car at the beginning and end of the day. I can feel myself getting slower by the passing minute. It has come to the point that I need to decide just how far I will go to get a run in.

Do I try to run on my lunch break at work and just come back all sweaty and stinky? I've almost settled on waking up at 4am to get a run in. That's not much earlier than when Angie gets up to meet Randee. But then the kids would be asleep all by themselves, so I would have to run back and forth in an area where the cabin could always be in view. Ugh, obstacles! But obstacles are all they are, and I simply need to find a way around them. Perhaps I should make a 1 hour sitting schedule with all of the grandparents and plan my runs for after work? I just hate to pick them up after being in daycare for nearly 12 hours, just to drop them off again with someone else. I really would prefer to do all the me stuff when the kids are unconscious. My dad has quite a bit of land behind his house, and if you run the fence line it equates to a little over 1 mile. Do you think it would be irresponsible to run the fence line before the kids wake up? It's basically the back yard... um, a really giant back yard. Or should I just go to work all smelly and nasty? And then scarf down lunch at my desk?

In other news... This is my dog Slim

He's a 12 year old greyhound and my baby before I had babies. Notice how his head is slightly lifted. He must have had a burst of energy at the time that this photo was taken. He lays around all day, not because he's old but because that's just what greyhounds do. But usually he's on his side with his legs straight out. My Dad called me today to tell me that he found Slim in the neighbors yard. I asked if the lady was mad that he got in her yard. He said no, she was just worried about him. She thought he had died.

My shows

Tonight is all about Parenthood and Glee on Hulu!

I'm so excited because I wasn't even expecting a new Glee!

No, but really

I'm about to get all real and deep on you, so this is a warning.

3 weeks ago, I left Charlotte to come to Texas but my husband stayed back. I dove head first into a new life where I wake up for work at 4:45 and my kids are in daycare for nearly 12 hours every day. Yeah, from stay at home mom to that. I came to an intersection and blasted through it. Now I'm finding myself tapping the breaks and seriously considering a U turn. I'm in one of those spots, where I don't know what my ultimate goal is. Nothing is clear.

Life in Charlotte and Life in Dallas are polar opposites. In Charlotte, I casually woke up when my kids did and proceeded with a relaxed, but lonely day. I would spend most of my time in my own head, no one to talk to, nowhere for all my thoughts to go. However, now I haven't the time to even think about where my next meal is coming from. I rise before the sun and rush to get everyone out of bed and at the daycare door no later than 6:05. For the next hour I'm on the highway until I see the Dallas skyline. I meet C25Karen half way and we car pool, so the last half of my drive is actually kind of fun.

I really like my job. The people I work with are lots of fun and the hours fly by. I just wish I weren't spending so much time in the car. The 2 1/2 hours that I spend in the car everyday could be spent getting in a good long run every morning. Don't even get me started on little I've been running lately.

Even with the long hours away from the kids and the crappy commute, I think I could be totally happy if only my husband were here. The four of us only had each other in Charlotte. Now, the kids are with friends and teachers at daycare, I'm with coworkers, and he is on the other side of the country. It makes me wonder if I'm doing the right thing by moving back here. "Home" is getting more and more difficult to define. I currently live in the town where I grew up. 18 years of my life were spent here and yet I feel like a total stranger.

I do know that I have a tendency to constantly seek greener pastures without realizing the greatness of what I already have. I just need to find my happy medium.

Warrior Dash in a nutshell

This past weekend was warrior dash... and it was awesome!

It was, by far, the funnest race that I have ever run. The obstacles were impressive. There were a few where I thought to myself, "whoa, this is actually pretty dangerous." For instance, the junk cars seemed a bit treacherous. Also, there was a straight wall, about 15' high, that you had to climb up with a rope and then back down the other side by the open studs.

I decided to wear a Goodwill prom dress. I found a guy with a suit that could be my date. And his tie matched my dress!

Angie went military style in her camo shorts and my husband went redneck in hunting camo. We also had a few more Bitchy Runners with us, Brittany and Talia.
I talked my husband into to running this race. Leading up to the weekend he was constantly bitching about how much stuff we had going on "and then we have to run that Warrior Dash" he would say. Surprise, Surprise, he ended up loving it and even thanking me for making him do it. Hmmm. Who is always right?

Check me out gett'n some mad air in my prom dress. I tried to make this the picture my header but I haven't quite figured it out yet.

Brad actually did pretty well. He did say at one point, while heaving and hoeing, "I didn't think there would be this much running". But he flew over the obstacles so fast that he was able to get a good walking break after each one while the rest of us caught up.


Here we are hand in hand leaping over the flames of love. He now regrets offering to hold my hand since I keep calling it that.

Bitchy Angie and Little Brother Brad making their parents proud. Cute kids, aren't they?I think this may have been Angie's favorite race yet.She has a really great obstacle by obstacle recap here. I'm sore today, mostly in my back and shoulders. You know, all those climbing muscles. It was hard to just chill out and stay with my group vs giving it all I had and seeing what kind of a time I could get. I think every runner should have at least one mud run on their list. I'm already thinking of a costume for my next one.

I can't wait to chill out and get muddy again next year!

Semi-famous guest spot

Hi all, Karen here of C25K(aren). Yep that's me, I'm kind of a big deal since being mentioned in this amazing blog several times. Sergeant Taylor whipped my butt for one whole week.... and then well, life interrupted. But, I'm sure that next week we will right back on track. I am a first time runner who hasn't really found my stride and it's a little embarassing. I've got the "shin splints" (I think that's what the young people are calling them) which make my attempts to run very slow and painful. It's a little hard running next to a gazelle like Sargeant Taylor, especially when I sound like a herd of elephants. But in order to make me feel a little better about myself she wears things like leopard running skirts. It takes the attention away from my awkardness and totally puts the attention on her... strangeness. And if it's not the skirt then it's probably those weird "toe" shoes she wears. Can't wait till next week when I am back on track and hopefully in less pain. I need Mrs. Taylor to push me. She's a great inspiration with just the hint of bitch that I need. Would you believe she actually hit me this week? Yeah I know, I ran faster though. So if anyone needs a trainer just give her a call. She is the wind beneath my wings.

arm pull

My sister in law is celebrity today! The Bitchy Runners were featured on Skinny Runner's cat lady segment. I mean, it's no Tin Can Treader plug, but it'll do I guess.

I'm finally re entering the blogesphere on a somewhat regular basis. I don't have internet in the chateaus (tiny cabin) so my method of keeping up with all my favorite blogs is to pull up all your pages while still in range and then read while i'm in bed. So I don't get to comment much, and that stinks because I love throwing my 2 cents all around the internet.

I've been reading about a lot of bare footers here lately. I ran 1 1/2 miles in mine this morning for the start of week 2 C25K(aren). Yeah, I just made that up all by myself.

Well, computer time is over now. Got a kid yelling at me to hold him. Now he's pulling on my arm.....

5 and 3

Yesterday I ran a 5 mile loop around Denison and learned that A) blackberry Gue is disgusting, and B) I should get to my mom's a lot earlier because the last part of that run was HOT.

Today I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and considering I HATE the treadmill, well, I'm pretty darn proud of myself. I think the machine does most of the work for you though. But maybe that's just the mill hater in me.

Oh, and it was 3 miles in my Vibrams! Lov'n these shoes!

Steak and Dong

Week 1 of Karen's C25K completed yesterday! We are pressed for time on Thursday and Friday mornings so we opted for an after work workout. The place we ran yesterday has a small portion of trail with some small, but steep inclines and declines. I think it may have a bit soon for her to be trail running. She confessed that there was some pain being felt.

However all pain was gone when we got to Outback for steak and dong night. Steak and Dong is an exclusive gathering of women at Outback Steakhouse for the purpose of venting about the dongs in their life. This was my first time at steak and dong, an interview really. Erica, the acting president, suggested that initiation should include saying something inappropriate the next time that the waitress came to the table. This had already happened before Erica arrived, when I suggested that a seafood outing should be labeled "snatch and catch". The end result, is I passed and now know the secret steak and dong handshake.

Today has been a little less pleasant so far. This morning was pancakes with the kids, or "brats and jacks". In all honesty they were brats at breakfast. They were loud, wouldn't sit still, and kept opening those little jelly's. Then we went to the Green Market, the closest thing to Trader Joe's that Exists in Grayson County and Baden wouldn't quit screaming and crying. "Hode me, hode me!" is what he says every minute of every day! This was the second time that they have acted this way in that store and I'm thinking that maybe I can't go back there anymore. Then, just now, my 4 yr old daughter who knows damn well how to use the potty, crapped her pants at my mom's house. Ugh!!! This day had better improve!

I did clean my car though. That's one good thing for today. I think tomorrow I'll drop the kids off with my mom and run around Dennison. I need a good long run for my sanity.

Oh, and this is what I came home to last night. June bugs. I won't be leaving the porch light on anymore.

Week 3 of Working Mom

This week is getting off to a pretty good start. Karen and I completed the first day of her C25K program on Monday. I cant' wait for her to finish that very first race! She'll be so proud of herself.

I also haven't been as exhausted this week. I still haven't found good blogging and running times, but I assure you, I am working on it.

I took a spin on Dad's treadmill last night. A whopping 12 minute spin. I did not enjoy myself at all. It was the longest mile that I have ever not traveled on foot. So the "kids can play while I run indoors" plan is out.

After work today, the kids and I, made some time to hang out and have a couple cups of tea. Then I went for a not so quick 3 mile run. It was supposed to be 4 miles and it wasn't suppose to be 11.5 minute miles. I don't know if it's the wind, or that I just don't have enough energy after work, but that measly 3 miles wore me out.

Tomorrow morning is another C25K run with Karen!

The little things

I have a feeling that this coming week is going to be the turning point.

I now have a tea pot, meaning I can make tea and my own coffee in the morning. That is a HUGE deal to me. I don't like paying 1.65 for a cup of joe every morning and I also like to drink green tea like it's going out of style. My little tea pot is cute too. It's antique with little red roses. It plugs in and heats the water. I love it! I swiped it from my mom's house along with two cup and saucer sets. I aslo shouldn't have to eat out for lunch. Eating out has been horrible for me lately. I can feel it.

I just went for a half mile run with my Dad behind his house, trying to map out a good trail. I think the Vibrams performed perfectly across creeks and hoof prints. And although I was worried about it, no thorns punctured my creepy shoes.

I can't wait to start running with Karen tomorrow morning!

Short post

Karen and I going to start running on the Katy Trail in the morning before work. We're doing a couch to 5k and I'm going to use this as an opportunity to break in my vibrams. Hopefully this will help me get into a good routine.

Things I need to do:

• Find Dad's air compressor and put the yoga ball back to daily use.
• Figure out when my running time will be (other than my morning runs with Karen)
• Get some pots and pans. I really don't like eating out so damn much.
• Clean my freak'n car out. It's so gross.
• Figure out when my blogging time will be. Yes. It is that important.

My mom is hanging out with the kids right now. I should probably use this time to knock the fourth item on my list.