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Showing posts from October, 2013

Embarrassed at Myself

 It's 12:54pm and I'm wishing it was bed time. Of all that has happened so far today, it's the generous outpouring and the near collision with the reckless driver at the grade school that has me thinking. We live in a low-income neighborhood.  About half of our neighbors are home owners, with the other half being high turnover rentals and a couple of crazy college houses on the block to make life interesting.  Our grade school has an 87% qualification for free/reduced lunches. I sometimes feel badly.  We drive a very old car, I coupon and cook from scratch.  We wait til the last possible moment to hit the thrift store when the seasons change because money is just always that tight.  Christmas is quite stressful, car insurance is due that month also, so - you know. I get jealous, though I know I should not, of our peers that seem to do so much better.  We have more children, less education and at least as much debt than many people we know.  We are working on the debt

Failing Upward

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The longer that I am a Mother, the more I realize that I don't know anything. My skin gets a little tougher and I'm not as easily rattled, but I am no closer to knowing how to figure out my kids. One thing I do know, is that they need even more attention as they grow older.  You would think that a two-year-old is at the pinnacle of need.  They need to be diapered, dressed, bathed and fed all by your hands.  They no longer sleep 20 hours per day and that afternoon nap is all you get for a break.  Food must be cut in to appropriate sized pieces, gates must be secured, doors latched and bodies of water observed with hawk-like attentiveness. I always felt like things would get easier when the kids got older.  Don't get me wrong, it's really nice to have all four of them able to feed, dress, wash and toilet independently.  What I'm finding is that parenting is way more than my physical time investment.  Even after the day is done, as they get older, I think and pla

Ladies Retreat Weekend

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Yesterday, I had David pick me up short from from a long run. :(  The weekend was very full and I, erroneously, thought that after all that I could run 8 miles with no problem.  Hmm.  I turned early on my route to shorten in because I was feeling tired.  Then as I neared the zoo (about 1.25mi from home) I called for a pick up.  I then saw this sign, which made me laugh and think of my little sister and her sharp wit. Where does one get a sticker that even says that!? Looking at my stats, I could see that I was barely trudging along.  I made it about 3.75 miles - so at least I burned off some weekend calories! Our church's Ladies Retreat was Friday night through Saturday afternoon.  My husband took Friday off to do my job and I went up early in the afternoon to help set up. Several of the gals had arrived even earlier and had it mostly done.  Our theme this year was "From Pieces to Peace" so the table decorations were quilts and puzzle pieces...with Reese's

Running Solace

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This week has been hard.  I had a shot of Lupron Depo on Friday of last week, and by Sunday the pain was ON.  It's actually gotten better since then, but I'm still experiencing a level of pain that ibuprofen cannot handle.  Now, I'm not crazy and I'm certainly not any tougher than anyone else, really - but I have continued to run.  It doesn't make it any worse, and in fact it makes my brain feel better.  I do have to lose a little sleep to get it done - but there is something wondrous about that quiet time in the early morning all to myself. I have a couple of events coming up and am glad to be run focused again.  I really like triathlon, but my first love will always be running.  The Governor's Cup on October 19th marks the 7th anniversary of the first race  that I ever ran.  I did the 5k back then and ran it in 32:23.  I don't remember following a training plan but I do remember running around my neighborhood keeping time on my watch.  I had no idea how

Fish Oil Experiment Results

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During the month of September, I started taking 6g  fish oil per day.  I took 2 pills (2g) at each meal.  I didn't change much else - I noticed that my weight was creeping up, so I did cut out some treats.  September was a hard month with my health - and I missed most of my workouts in the 1st and 2nd weeks of the month.  My motivation for trying the fish oil was to see if I could cut some body fat.  I'm slightly less concerned about the number on the scale at this point.  I guess I will play the "genetics" card when it comes to that.  Sounds like BS, probably is. I should probably note that I eat about 1700 calories per day, eat lots of whole grains, low fat dairy and fruit and veg - and drink plenty of water.  I was pretty pleased with my results - especially given that I had less than perfect adherence to my workout schedule.  I actually missed my "A" race of the Triathlon season due to illness.  Okay on to my findings: Weight: -3 pounds Hip Measur