Put On Your Big Girl Panties And Deal With It...

Where Were You...

2010-04-19T08:44:00.002-05:00

Where were you on September 11, 2001?
What about when JFK was shot?
Or when Elvis Presley died?

There are certain events that will be forever etched in our memories...

April 19, 1995

I have lived in Oklahoma off and on most of my life. April 1995 was an "off". We we living in Aurora, CO, and my parents were managing a mobile home park. It was "Take Your Daughter To Work Day" so I was helping out in my mom's office. Vacuuming actually... She received a phone call from my grandfather. He wanted us to know that there had been an explosion in downtown Oklahoma City. We had family members who worked in that area or had regular business there and he hadn't heard from them yet but he would let us know when he did.

That explosion was actually a bombing - The Oklahoma City Bombing - and until September 11, 2001, it was the deadliest act of terrorism on American soil.

If you've never been to The Oklahoma City National Memorial, I highly encourage it.

Today marks the 15th Anniversary of that tragic event. 168 men, women, and children lost their lives because of this senseless act.

Honor them.

Remember them.

Where were you on April 19, 1995?

So, I Finally Did It...

2010-01-20T14:25:00.003-06:00

That's right... IT... the big one...

I got out of my house and met my running group for... well... a run. What else does a running group meet for?!?! Okay, well mine also tends to meet for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks in between, and any other excuse they can think of - but generally speaking those also revolve around the running.

Friday night, I laid out my attire, and hoped that Nathan would sleep all night. And Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early, silently cursing that he had, in fact, slept all night. No excuse to stay in bed... Damn.

After getting dressed and ready to go, I went and woke him up, fed him, and got him dressed and ready to go out to breakfast with his Daddy. Then I was out the door.

When I showed up to the meeting place, it was a little colder and drizzlier (more drizzly?) than I was expecting. I had a few minutes to chat with some of my most favorite people in the whole world, and then once we got going, it turned out to be perfect! Except for the running part...

What is that I like about this stupid sport?!?!? I couldn't breathe, and today was the first day that my whole body didn't ache... and I only ran 4 miles!

Seriously though, it felt good (mentally) to get back out there. I've been needing that. Now I just need to keep doing it... No excuses.

Heavy

2010-01-15T11:15:00.002-06:00

My heart has been heavy with sadness for the situation in Haiti, and the dense fog this morning has done nothing to lift my mood...

It seems every news report brings more sadness, anger, depression... not just for Haiti, but also for hundreds of police and firemen/women who are facing potential layoffs, and in general just stupid people doing stupid things... I can't remember the last time I saw something on the news that I felt was a "positive" report.

I wish I could have stayed home, snuggled in bed, watching silly children's shows, and playing with Nathan...

How desperately I need to get out and run and get out of this funk... I have no reason not to - Nathan is sleeping well and his daddy can handle it. But I feel like I need a push - someone to show up at my door and drag me out. I just cannot find the motivation that I need right now...

Ugh... when will it be summer time again?!?!?!

Big Bird Learns about Breastfeeding <3

2010-01-13T09:50:00.003-06:00

I know I already posted this on my facebook, but I like it, so I'm posting it here too. Too bad that it had to be from the '70's and not something more recent...

How To Live The Good Life

2010-01-08T13:53:00.001-06:00

A friend emailed this to me this morning and I liked it - so I'm sharing!

Handbook 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.

Personality :
11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society :
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life :
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

New Year's Resolution

2010-01-03T17:06:00.000-06:00

In no particular order...

1. Start running again. I miss so much about it... my peeps, the feel of chat under my shoes, the clarity of mind.

2. Let go of my guilt. Wanting some time away from Nathan does NOT make me a bad mother. This is a huge part of why my running has suffered. I feel like running is a selfish thing, and I feel a ton of guilt when I try to do it. I also have a ton of guilt from Nathan's early months when I had PPD, and I feel like I somehow need to make up for it.

3. Be a better blogger. Ideally, I would post every day - but a minimum of once a week. I have so many pictures on my awesome new camera, but haven't done anything with them! And I must try to remember that this used to be MY blog... before Nathan was even being thought of. Therefore, it does not have to revolve around him! (yeah, right....)

4. Get our stupid office/junk room/spare bedroom cleaned out. Ugh... the crap has now taken over our dining room, and it must stop!

5. Ditto for the garage. It hasn't invaded the house, but it's a mess and my car used to like living in there!

6. Work on getting rid of our debt. Won't be fun (or easy) on my part-time salary, but getting rid of some is better than adding more!

I think that's it for now... I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and I wish for you all to have a blessed 2010!!

Fun With Food!

2009-11-13T10:00:00.007-06:00

I know... you're so excited to finally see pictures of Nathan eating!!

For the record, yes, he is eating "real" food. We skipped the baby food/purees/etc, and went straight to table food. And everything he does is self-fed. We don't actually feed him anything - we offer him food, and he decides what to eat and how much. Also known as Baby-led solids or Baby-led weaning! So far, he has had:

Banana - loved it!
Avocado - need to try again now that he has better control
Oatmeal - mostly plays with it
Steamed carrots - loves these!
Artichoke leaves - yum-yum!
Steamed sweet potato and white potato - need to try again
Shredded chicken - yummy!
Peas - we'll keep working on those... his daddy doesn't like them though, so we'll see!
Apple - yum!
applesauce - even better!
Kix and Cheerios - He likes the Kix better, but both are fun for him to eat
Steamed broccoli - need to try again - practice makes perfect!
Pasta - yummy!
Peaches - mmm...
Mango - I'm not sure he ever actually ate the mango, but he was licking the juice off his hands!

He has also tasted lemons and pickles, and gnawed on some celery. It's a fun process watching him learn and practice! And it makes me more conscious about what I prepare for dinner! It also makes me more conscious about what I order when we're eating out, since he loves to help himself to my plate... No more pad thai for mommy :-(

These are pictures from a couple nights ago.

Chicken and Peas

He loved the chicken! The peas... not so much!

Aaahhh....

Perfecting the Pincer grasp

Sleepy boy!

You have no idea how glad I am to finally have a camera!! Still trying to figure out all the settings and such, but loving it!

FINALLY!!!

2009-11-11T14:42:00.004-06:00

I have my new camera!! It's going to take some getting used to, since it's bigger than what I'm used to and it has a lot of functions that I don't quite understand yet, but it will be fun to learn!

After much research and comparison shopping, I went with the Sony a200. It is actually the 2008 model, but reveiwers preferred it over the 2009 a230 model. It came highly recommended by some photoraphers that I talked with, and is supposed to be great for beginners!

So here are a few shots from last night...

Nathan wasn't exactly cooperative, but that's okay! We'll have plenty of time to play and get better shots... Maybe on a day when he hasn't had a shot, and he's slept a little better!

If just feels so good to have a camera again, and now I will be able to capture his cute and special moments!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T08:38:00.003-06:00

Well... I still don't have my camera that I bought 3 WEEKS AGO!!! I am getting extremely frustrated!

So here are a few pictures from our session at Target a few weeks ago. I hope everyone had a safe (and bountiful) Halloween!

Save The TaTas

2009-09-21T16:52:00.003-05:00

Nathan and I did The Race For The Cure this weekend. What an incredible event! The survivor parade always brings tears to my eyes... I hope I am never faced with breast cancer, but if I do, I hope that I can have an ounce of the strength and courage that I have seen in those women!

And as you can see, Nate is very supportive of the cause as well!

And just in case you can't read that... it says "be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting ta-tas"

And I have a new addiction... babylegs!! Nate is sporting his first pair here. I can't wait to get him some more! I found some instructions for DIY, which is the route I will probably have to take because my hubby isn't too happy about me spending 12 bucks on those... oops!

Hope everyone has a great week!!

Post 100!!!!

2009-08-21T14:46:00.002-05:00

So, this is my 100th post! A little overdue, but better late than never, right?!?!

I've had lots of great stuff to post about, but I felt like I couldn't do it until I updated on Nathan's surgery and our trip to Hawaii. So here goes...

At 5 weeks of age, my sweet boy was hospitalized and had surgery for Pyloric Stenosis. It was very sad and it really sucked. We spent a fabulous 3 days / 2 nights in The Children's Hospital at St. Francis. I do have to say that I was very impressed. The nursing staff was incredible, and Nathan was a trooper. It was so sad to see my little guy with an IV in his head (but not as bad as watching his nonstop vomiting during his ultrasound). And hearing him cry when they pumped his stomach... that wasn't fun either... Now he has a little scar above his stomach which is barely noticeable unless you know it's there. We survived and he was healthy enough to go to Hawaii a few weeks later!

At 8 weeks, Nathan took his very first plane ride, and his 2nd, 2 trips on a ferry, and 3 more plane rides home. We went to Hawaii for my hubby's best friend's wedding in Lanai. Nathan was awesome on the plane (all 5), and everybody just loved him. We spent some time on Lanai and some time on Maui, but mostly just a lot of rest and relaxation!! When we were in Maui, we went to the beach and I stood Nathan in the sand and let the water come up on his feet - he hated it!! Poor little guy was just screaming - I don't know if it was too cold or if it just startled him, but he was not happy! We also went to a Luau which was fun. Nate slept right through it... We really didn't do much else aside from the wedding functions, but it was beautiful out there and it was nice to just take a break!

So there you have it... Not my best post, but now I can move on, guilt free!

Nate's New Trick

2009-07-02T15:03:00.004-05:00

We have been propping Nathan up on his Boppy during tummy time to encourage him to lift his head more, and this is what happened last time we did it...

The little stinker actually climbed over it! He really has some strong legs - just like his marathon mama!!

Nathan's Birth

2009-06-25T12:52:00.004-05:00

So... I have this nice long detailed story of the day of Nathan's birth but it's at home, which doesn't do me any good while I'm pumping/blogging on my lunch break!

Here are a few photos of the big day to tide y'all over until I can get the whole story up!

Me, probably updating my facebook before all the excitement started

After 2 hours of pushing, and an hour of not pushing(but wanting to), I had to have a c-section

Seeing Nathan for the first time

First family photo!!

Randy taking Nathan to the nursery for his first bath

LOVE this pic!

Finally, some Mommy and Nathan time!

Don't Tell Tom Cruise...

2009-06-19T17:59:00.003-05:00

Apparently there is an up-side to being depressed... free meds! I just got home from Walgreen's where I picked up my first prescription of Zoloft - which my insurance company pays for and is "safe" for breastfeeding. That's right... since Nathan was born, I have been suffering postpartum depression - I just wasn't ready to admit it to myself (or anyone else) until earlier this week. So for those of you who were wondering where I've been - I have had no interest in anything - blogging, running, eating... I have really just not felt like myself, and I hate it! I had a long talk with a good friend on Monday and she told me that it was time to talk to my doctor about how I was feeling - but most importantly, that it was okay. Some women bounce back from all of the hormonal changes very easily, and some don't - and apparently I'm in the "don't" group. I knew early on that I didn't feel right, but I thought it was because we were having breastfeeding issues. I kept telling myself that I would feel better once we got the breastfeeding worked out. Nathan was 7 weeks old when we finally got it figured out, and he is now almost 12 weeks and I'm still not feeling better, so I am opting to accept medical help. It will probably take a couple weeks for the meds to start working, but I am looking forward to the day when I can enjoy the things that I used to! So - to all my friends who I have been neglecting - I am SO sorry! It is nothing personal and I'm trying to get it straighted out. Over the next week or so, I will be trying to get everyone caught up on Nathan's birth, surgery, growth progress, vacation, and other happenings, so check back often! I think it will be good for my mental health to get everything out in the open!

I'm headed out the door for some sushi!!!! I haven't had any since before I was pregnant (not "real" sushi, anyway), so this is long overdue! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Little Nate

2009-04-02T07:07:00.000-05:00

It's a Boy!!

2009-04-01T18:38:00.000-05:00

Nathan Charles
2:21pm
7lbs 15oz
21 inches

Not sure when I'll get some pictures up, but he is incredible!! I ended up needing a c-section, so my recovery is going to be a little harder, but he is worth every bit of it!

Gonna try to get some rest before LOST starts - will post more later.

Baby Time! (almost...)

2009-03-30T19:26:00.000-05:00

Well... I had to go back to the doctor today because my blood pressure was a little higher than usual at my appt on Thursday. Thursday was 122/68 and today was 138/80. I also gained 2 pounds in the last 4 days... but I feel a lot better about my weight gain, now that I know it is mostly fluid retention. So anyway, my doctor feels it will just keep going up, and for the health of me and the baby, I have been put on bed rest until 5am on Wednesday, at which point, I will be induced. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now... I thought I would have a little more time to get ready. But it's nice to know that in 2 days I finally get to meet and hold my son or daughter!

Showers and such...

2009-03-27T10:10:00.003-05:00

Wow! I have had quite a week... it all kicked off Saturday morning, when I went to a baby shower for my friend Tiffany. She is due about 3 weeks after me. It was fun and nice to get out for a bit! After that, I had a little bit of time to run some errands before going to my baby shower! It was hosted by Randy's sister, Diana, and their sister-in-law, Kathy. I had a great time! The slide show below are pictures from my mother-in-law's camera. I do have others, but I don't have the energy to sort through and organize them all right now, and hers were pretty simple and to the point. Not exactly very flattering pictures, mind you, but you get the point! Since I had already had a busy day, and this shower didn't start until 3, I was pretty swollen which makes me look even big than I am, and the pressure makes my skin red. Pregnancy is fun!!

After the shower, we had dinner out with Randy's family to celebrate his upcoming birthday, his dad's birthday that just passed, and our impending arrival. Dinner was at The Brasserie, which I love! It's a little pricey, and we probably won't ever go there on our own, but when we're being treated to dinner, we certainly won't turn it down! I had a Beef Tenderloin Salad. So yummy! It had mixed greens, tenderloin, grapes, apples, Gorgonzola cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. Mmm... I'm just making myself hungry thinking about it! And since everyone else was drinking wine, I asked the bartender to make me something fruity (no peach) and alcohol free. I'm not exactly sure what I got, but it was a pomegranate something or other. Also very yummy!

Anyway, I basically left home at 10am on Saturday, and didn't get home until midnight. It was a very long day, and it made Sunday even harder! We got up and went to church (at this point, if we don't show up, people will assume I'm in the hospital and we don't want any rumours floating around!). After that, I headed over to Coach Kathy's house for my running group shower!! Talk about knowing how to throw a party... Chicken Cordon-Blue, stuffed mushrooms, cake, pie, more cake, punch. The food was all incredible! It was so nice to just sit around and catch up on every one's recent and upcoming races!! It sounds like everyone is doing so well with their training! And then, of course, the gifts... that part is always fun too! I don't have pictures yet from that shower but I'm working on it. It's nice to have such awesome friends! I do love all of my gifts, but I have to send a special shout-out to Lisa and Chrissy and for giving me a gift for me and not so much for the baby - they are treating me to a spa treatment of my choice after the baby comes. I thought it was very sweet and thoughtful! My guess it that I will use it for a massage after my first attempt back at running - I have a feeling I'm gonna need it!

The rest of the week has been pretty normal. I'm just feeling more tired than I have been, so by the time I get home from work, I'm ready for dinner, a nap, and then off to bed. Yesterday, I had an appointment with my doctor and she confirmed that things are starting to progress. I have started dilating, and I'm almost at 2cm, and she can feel the baby's head. Now I understand why I have to pee every time I stand up! My weight gain is up to 157. Not too happy about that, but as long as the baby and I are both healthy, I'm not going to stress about it. I know it will come off pretty easily, so it's okay! She is a little concerned though, because my blood pressure is a little higher than it has been. Still in the "normal" range as far as that goes - 122/68, but higher than usual. The blood pressure, combined with the swelling that I've having, are early warning signs of pre-eclampsia. I haven't actually been diagnosed yet, but she wants to keep an eye on it, so I'm going back Monday for a blood pressure check. I guess that is, assuming I make it to Monday! Since we're expecting a big snowstorm this weekend, and Randy's birthday is this weekend, it would be our luck to end up in the hospital! We're hoping he/she holds off until April 2, which was Randy's grandma's b-day (and she lived to be 96!). But we'll take whatever we get and just be thankful for a healthy baby!

Okay, now that I've written a short novel, I should probably get off here. If anything happens, I'll keep y'all updated! For now, I'm just resting as much as can, and taking it easy. But I'm ready to get this pregnancy thing over with and meet my baby!!

Nursery Photos!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-20T16:06:00.004-05:00

I know you've all been on pins and needles waiting for this moment... I finally have pictures of the baby's nursery! Okay, technically I had them a few days ago and have already posted them on my facebook, but I haven't had a chance to do a new blog until now. So without further ado...

Valance - I need a different curtain rod. You can't see it very well in this picture, but this one sags in the middle.

Quilt

See... I told you it sags!

Rug - I love the little whale!!

The cute little rocking chair to left was mine when I was little. Maybe it will bring Randy some "girl" luck!

That's it for now. I have 2 showers this weekend, so I'm sure I'll have lots of pics (and hopefully lots of fun stuff) to share next week! Have a good weekend!!

I Should Have Known!!

2009-03-18T14:16:00.005-05:00

If you'll try to remember way back to Christmas, when Randy and I went to Dallas and stayed with his aunt and uncle... (or you can read this post). This is the same family that sent us the Boppy and 2 covers yesterday. So it's pretty safe to say that I'm not surprised that these are the 2 covers they sent...

They are too cute! If I hadn't been so tired, I would have washed them and put the Safari (jungle looking) one on the Boppy last night. The Zoo (blue) one is reversible, which is so fun! I just love getting gifts for the baby!! It's so much fun!!

LOST is on tonight, so I'm not sure if we'll get the curtains up, but we'll see. I'd like to, since I feel like I'm starting to run out of time. Not to mention that I'm in for quite a hectic weekend, with my friend Tiffany's shower, 2 showers of my own, and a birthday dinner for Randy and his dad, but hopefully staying busy will keep my mind off the fact that I'm just so tired of waiting! 25 days.... I can make it... Really...

Crib Pics and "Mystery" Gift

2009-03-17T16:39:00.003-05:00

It's a good thing that I don't love my husband for his "handiness". Tools are just not his thing, so he had it in his head that he needed our engineer neighbor to help him put the crib together. And on Saturday, I finally got tired of looking at the unopened box in our nursery. And I opened it...

Turns out, all you need is a screwdriver. It comes with everything else, and it was actually very easy to put together. I was able to most of it by myself, until I got to the end and the center part of the crib needed to be lifted to be screwed on to the front and back. (At which point I had a hormonal breakdown and started bawling uncontrollably - then Randy came to help!) Here is the finished product...

At this point we still needed to get a mattress for it and wash the bedding and whatnot. We went later that afternoon and got the mattress, and then went to dinner with some friends. We got home and I went to bed, and I guess Randy felt bad for not helping me earlier, so he washed all the bedding and put it all together. I was so surprised on Sunday morning! I don't have pictures yet, because I'm still waiting to get the curtains hung, but hopefully we can get to that tonight or tomorrow.

And today, I received another baby gift in the mail! This one is from Randy's aunt and cousin who live in Dallas.

I feel bad for opening the box, but I didn't know it wouldn't be wrapped! I'll still let Randy open the other 2 packages, even though I'm pretty sure they are covers for the Boppy. I will still be surprised as to which covers they are, so that's fun!

Ok - I gotta get out of here and get to my aqua class. It seems like such a waste of a beautiful day to go to the pool, but it feels so good! Maybe I can get Randy to take a walk with me after dinner... Later!

Tipping the Scales

2009-03-12T16:29:00.003-05:00

Another exciting visit with the doctor today... This one went much more smoothly than the last! My only problem is their scale! They have one of these types...

... and it must be broken. The bottom slider thingy (that's a highly technical term) goes up in increments of 50, and I've always been on the "100" setting. Today, they had to move it up to 150... 151 and 3/4 to be exact. I was hoping to avoid that, but oh well. It probably doesn't help that since Saturday, I have had an incredible appetite (and room to store it). Guessing maybe the baby has started to drop?? Before Saturday, it only took a few bites before I started getting full. And then BAM we went to Steak & Shake for lunch, and I had a Frisco Melt, an order of cheese fries, a cup of chili, a root beer float, and I still had room for more! I didn't eat any more, but I still had room! A week before that I would have struggled to finish just one of those things. Woohoo!!! I guess this means I can go back to the Extra-long chili cheese coney on my next trip to Sonic!

Anyway, enough talk about food - I'm making myself hungry. I'm headed off to my aqua aerobics class, and then home to take care of my sick hubby. Later!

Bring on the gifts!! Updated

2009-03-10T16:39:00.001-05:00

I just recieved a gift from someone who can't make it to my shower!! I can't wait to get home tonight and see what it is! I could be mean and open it now, but I really don't want Randy to be left out. My aqua class tonight will not be over soon enough!!

**UPDATE**

And the winner is...

I can't wait to put our baby's hand and foot prints in this awesome frame!

Yippee!!!

2009-03-04T15:35:00.004-06:00

I got home last night and found this awesome invitation in my mailbox...

I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!! It's much cuter without all of the important info blacked out, but since I don't know who reads this blog, I'd prefer to keep our personal info, well... personal.

This shower will be mainly comprised of the women in our families and my long-time girlfriends and coworkers. I'll be having another shower the following day (the 22nd) for my running group. I don't know where Coach Kathy is on that, but if you're interested, be sure to let her know!

So yeah, other than that, nothing too exciting going on. I'm sick, again, thanks to my loving hubby. I definitely don't have it near as bad as he does, but he isn't dealing with all of my pregnancy issues, so it kinda works out. I do feel bad that he isn't feeling well, but he can't expect me to baby him when I feel crappy too!!

A few exciting things coming up, though... I'm going out with the girls Friday night! Woohoo! It's my friend Krista's birthday, and it's a fairly new club, so I'm looking forward to it. I may not make it past dinner... but it will be fun to get dressed up and get out for a bit!

Saturday, our church youth are having their huge annual garage sale. I need to go home and gather up all the stuff I want to donate and take it to the church. Gotta make room for the baby and we just have too much junk! Anyway, the garage sale is a pretty big fundraiser for the youth and they always have a little bit of everything, so check it out! http://www.faithumctulsa.org/

And Sunday, we're starting a new evening service called Vespers. Here's some info...
(click on the picture to make it bigger!)

I guess that's all for now! <3

Doctor Drama...

2009-02-27T14:50:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I had yet another prenatal appointment. They are every 2 weeks right now. It's sad that I see my doctor more frequently than I see my friends!

Anyway, up to this point my appointments have been very routine. Sign in, pee in the cup, step on the scale, check my blood pressure, listen to the baby's heartbeat, measure my growth, and then I'm out the door. This is what I was expecting yesterday. My doctor had other plans...

Apparently, near the end of pregnancy, women have to be tested for Group B Strep infection. And I guess my doctor figured that while she was down there, she might as well check my cervix to see if I had started dilating yet. I haven't, which is good since I still have a few weeks until I'm considered full term.

I do understand that near the end of the pregnancy, that there are routine checks down there, but I wasn't prepared for it to happen yesterday - and I figured the strep test was just like every other - in the the throat! It's never fun to go to your doctor and unexpectedly be told to drop your drawers... Especially when you can't see below your belly button and didn't have adequate notice for any type of maintenance. For the other preggos due after me, be forewarned - keep on top of the maintenance!! I know the doctors don't care, and they've seen it all, but still... I would have felt better if I had been given some time to prepare!

So after my poking and prodding, I treated myself to lunch at Queenie's (complete with Banana Caramel Cake for dessert! Yum!!) and headed back to work. I did my best to not think about the appointment and just look forward to the next one. And I was doing pretty good on that until this morning when my doctor's office called. There were some white cells in my urine so they sent it to the lab to be checked. And now they needed me to give them a pharmacy to call in a prescription for my UTI... That's right... I have a UTI. What?!?!? I have NEVER had any issues like this, but apparently its more common in pregnancy. So off I go to get my antibiotics. I picked them up right after lunch and went ahead and took one since they are supposed to be taken with food. About an hour later, I get ANOTHER phone call from the doctor's office. Stop taking those antibiotics, we're calling in a new one. My Group B Strep came back positive! Good grief! I'm glad they caught both now before they caused any problems, but seriously... can't we just have one problem per day????

Catching Up

2009-02-26T15:08:00.005-06:00

Hi... My name is Candice and it has been 2 weeks since my last post...

Some of you may remember me as a dedicated runner and blogger! I have to say, days like this really kill me - I would have loved to go for a run this morning. The temp was nice, there was a great breeze, it was nearly perfect! Of course, work must come first - and being almost 34 weeks pregnant doesn't help a whole lot either!
With only 6 weeks left until the baby is due, I figured I'd better get back on track with my blogging since I probably won't have a whole lot of energy for a while after he/she gets here.

On Saturday, we went out to Fuji's for dinner with a group of friends. I did order a couple of sushi rolls (fully cooked, of course...) and then drooled over everyone else's raw choices. I'm not sure what Randy ordered, but it looked similar to a Rainbow roll... I could have killed him!! And all of the bottles of Saki around the table... and the dirty martini's at the table across from us... I do not recommend eating out when you're pregnant! Everybody else gets what you can't have and then rubs it in your face!! Okay, technically, nobody was rubbing anything in my face, but just seeing it all was torture enough.

We ordered/bought our crib on Sunday! Woo hoo! They said it would take 7-14 days, so now we're just waiting for that so we can get that set up and take some pictures of the baby's room.

Monday night we finished our childbirth class. So I guess that means I'm ready, right??? Not so much! Yes, I understand what will happen and I know what to do and everything, but is anybody ever really ready for childbirth?? Anyway, throughout the 4 week class, each of the dad's have had the opportunity to wear the Empathy Belly. (And by opportunity, I mean that they were threatened with bodily harm from their wives if they didn't do it!) So Monday was Randy's turn! Here are some pics...

On Tuesday I did my preadmissions paperwork at the hospital, that way I don't have to spend an hour on paperwork when the "real thing" happens! Then I did a 3 hour breastfeeding class - who knew it was so complicated?!?!? During both the childbirth class and the breastfeeding class, they used some pretty cheesy videos from several years ago. The best was during the breastfeeding class. It was during the segment on pumping at work - this mom goes into a little room and locks the door, pulls out her pump, and then pulls out a picture of her baby. Breastfeeding porn! Seriously, the first thing I thought of was all the TV shows/movies where somebody goes to donate sperm... Again, who knew breastfeeding was so complicated?!?!?

Grr... just got a phone call that my pool class was canceled tonight... how annoying! On the plus side, it means that I get to go by RW tonight and see my people!!! Yay!!!

And on another positive note, I just got a message from Babies R Us that our crib is in!! Woo hoo!!

So anyway, I guess that's enough excitement for today. Later!

Long Overdue...

2009-02-13T14:52:00.003-06:00

For a new post, that is!

With my due date looming just 58 days away, I have so many things going on in my head! We started our childbirth classes a couple weeks ago, and that has been good. I have learned a ton already, and we still have 2 more weeks to go. I also saw my doctor today (I'm going every 2 weeks now, so I've been twice since my last post). Everything is still going well. My total weight gain is now up to 30 lbs - YIKES!! I've gained 4 lbs since my last appointment - 2 weeks ago! I was hoping I wouldn't go over 150, but since I'm at 144 with 8 weeks to go, I don't think that is even a possibility. But my doctor isn't concerned about it, and seems to think I'm right on track, so I guess I'll try to let relax!

I still haven't made any progress in the baby's room. I'm thinking about giving up TV for Lent again this year, and maybe that will encourage me to work on getting everything ready. I've decided not to stress about it though. The baby won't care where he or she is sleeping and whether or not the room is perfect. And the baby will still be coming whether I'm ready or not. Of course, having a baby shower would help too! Then I would have stuff to organize and put away! I'll be having 2 in March. One for my running group, and one for everyone else. I'm so excited!!!

I must say, I am REALLY missing my running group. I had to drop back from 3 days a week, to one day a week because it's just too uncomfortable - and because my prenatal aqua aerobics is on the same days that my group meets. I am absolutely loving the aqua class, though! It feels so good! But seeing my friends only once a week is hard! I feel so out of the loop! And pain - good grief. I've run a marathon for crying out loud - 26.2 miles. And sadly, that felt better than last Saturday's 4 mile walk... Special thanks to whoever that runner was that came and picked me and Kathy up on the side of road! I don't think I would have made it back those last 2 miles! I think from now on, my limit is 2 miles! While I'm not looking forward to the cold weather tomorrow, I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the Poker Run! I won't be running, but perhaps I will be a dealer! I'm thinking about bringing a special little friend with me to keep everyone encouraged and motivated - especially since the marathon group will have already run 9 miles before the Poker Run starts!

I'm also looking forward to Valentine's Day! Personally, I think the "holiday" as a whole is pretty lame, but I love finding ways to surprise my husband. His favorite dessert is Chocolate Mousse, so I'm going to make him some. I don't get caught up in wanting flowers, jewelry, chocolate, etc, but I love surprising Randy!!! I am probably one of very few people who really doesn't need presents (for anything - birthday, Christmas, Anniversary, etc) to be happy. As long as you acknowledge the day and spend time with me, I'm good! But I am always on the lookout for the perfect card/gift for others!!

Ok - I'm starting to ramble, so I'm going to get off here. I'll try not to go so long between posts next time! No promises though...

P.S. Does anybody know when I'm going to be able to breathe again?!?!?

Baby Harper Prayer Request

2009-01-19T08:59:00.002-06:00

Sorry, guys! I know I promised a new post with awards and such, but when I was reading all my blogs this morning, I got some bad news.

One of the blogs that I read, Kelly's Korner, is about a couple in Arkansas who had been expecting their first child, a baby girl who they had named Harper. Kelly (the mom) went past her due date, and was induced on Friday morning. Baby Harper was born Friday night, but she is having some heart and lung problems and was Life-flighted from Fayetteville to St. Francis here in Tulsa.

For more about Harper's birth and journey since, I suggest starting with this post, Harper's Birthday Part 1, and working your way through the newer posts.

Most importantly, please pray for this family. I can't even imagine what they are going through, but having to do it in another city/state must be even harder.

You can also view Kelly's dad's blog for additional updates - http://fbcflippin.blogspot.com/.

90 Days and counting...

2009-01-13T11:24:00.003-06:00

I know I'm a little behind on updates, but there hasn't been much to tell. Work, home, attempt to sleep. That's pretty much all I do. I've also attempted a couple of runs, which haven't gone well, so I've decided to stick to walking. I'm hoping to start some prenatal aqua aerobics this week, which will hopefully help with the sleeping and the random aches and pains I've been having.

Yesterday, I hit the 90 day mark. And I have to admit that I had a bit of a freak-out. There is still so much to do, and so much that I'm not ready for! The fact that my child will be here in 3 months (or less) excites me and terrifies me at the same time. I can't wait to meet/hold my son or daughter for the first time (and find out what the heck it is so we can give it a proper name!), but what if we're not ready??? What if I'm no good at it? What if he/she comes early and we don't have all the necessary gear yet? What if I go into labor at work and my husband doesn't make it to the hospital in time? I have so many things going through my head that I could go on all day... I know everything will work out the way God wants it to, but it would be nice to be in on that plan!

Anyway, enough of that! A bit of good news... Randy's step dad is making some good progress. The link to his website is still at the top of my page, and if you go to the "journal" page, you can see all of the updates that have been posted. He's still not out of the woods just yet, but he is in far better shape than he was a week ago. When he is off sedation, he can wake up and respond to verbal requests to wiggle his fingers/toes, but he can only be off the sedation for short periods because he starts to get anxious and his blood pressure goes through the roof. He also still has too much pressure on his brain, so they are talking about putting in a shunt, and he is having some problems with his breathing so they aren't ready to take him off the ventilator yet. He is definitely making progress, but it seems like for every step forward, there is another step back. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers! This will be a difficult journey for Tom, but on the plus side, he is at the hospital where we will be giving birth, so we're starting to learn our way around!

It's time for lunch, and I'm starving, so I'm off for now. I will post again soon so that I can acknowledge and thank Suzi for the awards she has bestowed upon me, and pass them along to other deserving bloggers! I have so many good ones to choose from, so it should be fun!

So much for optimism...

2009-01-05T11:01:00.002-06:00

In a matter of hours on Friday, I went from feeling optimistic about the new year to feeling completely helpless. Friday had been such a great day! I had gone to the doctor and everything was going well, I'd gotten a haircut, and after I got home from work, I had a very nice nap! Randy and I were getting ready to leave the house to go to Chili's for dinner (Christmas gift card!), when a bomb was dropped on us.

Randy's step dad had collapsed at home had been rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. The EMSA tech thought it was a stroke. I had a brief moment of freak-out because my grandfather had a stroke in 2002 and didn't survive. But I needed to be strong for Randy. So I start gathering some books and magazines to take to the hospital with us and as we were getting ready to leave, we received another call. The CT scan revealed that it was a ruptured brain aneurysm and Tom's chances didn't look good. We left home fully expecting to arrive at the hospital to say goodbye. However, the pain medication that he had been for the headaches he was having (which he thought were due to a pinched nerve), had luckily not thinned his blood out. The doctors were able to drain the spinal fluid off of his brain Friday night, and then Saturday morning they performed an angiogram to find the bleed, and put in some coils to stop it.

Tom is currently in a coma, but he has remained stable and is making some progress. The next week will be critical because he will likely start to experience vasospasms, and he is also likely to develop pneumonia. The doctor said that on a scale of 1 to 5 (with one being the best) Tom was at a 5.

Please keep Tom, and the rest of Randy's family in your prayers, as this may be a difficult journey.

A family friend has set up a website for updates on Tom's recovery. I have put a link at the top of my blog, if anyone is interested.

Thanks!!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-02T12:48:00.008-06:00

It's the start of a new year, and I'm feeling optimistic. This year has lots of good stuff in store! First and foremost, the birth of our first child - due April 12 - Easter! A few weeks after that (if all goes well) we'll be heading to Hawaii (with Baby in tow) for my hubby's best friend's wedding at the end of May. I've never been to Hawaii, so I can't wait! Hopefully, by the time we get home from Hawaii (or shortly thereafter), I will be cleared by my doctor to start running again, and I will begin training for a fall marathon (preferably Greece in November) and a 50K (Sunmart in December). I don't make resolutions, but I do make goals!

My short term goal, for the next couple of months is to get the baby's room ready. I bought some more stuff today, and I think the room will be so cute! I just have to muster enough energy to actually do it! The room was already painted a yellowish color when we bought the house, and I think it will go pretty well with the bedding we bought, so at least we won't have to paint!

In other baby news, I had an appointment today. Nothing special - just checking the baby's growth and heart beat. So far, so good! We scheduled my one-hour glucose test which will be in 2 weeks, and then my next appointment 2 weeks after that - on Groundhog Day! I'm hoping for an early spring - winter is not fun! So far, I've gained 20 lbs since my first appointment on 9/4 (which puts me at a grand total of... 134!). I should be gaining about a pound a week at this point, and if everything goes according to plan, I won't go over 150. For most of my life I struggled to be over 100 - so 150 seems crazy to me, but as long as the baby and I are both healthy, I'm not too worried about it.

So that's about all the excitement I have going on for now. Here are some pics from my last days of 2008.

Me and Randy with his cousins in Dallas.

Me, waiting patiently:
A) to open presents
B) to take a nap
C) to go home
D) for the baby to come
E) all of the above!

Me and Randy getting ready to open presents.

Mom, Randy, and Me at Race Into the New Year

While I did have to twist Randy's arm to get him to come, I DID NOT inflict the damage that required the sling. And to top it off, my non-runner husband pulled off a 30:17 5K. It took me several months of training to do that - and he did it with no training/practice at all! I did manage to be under an hour with a 48:44, which is sad compared to my PR of 27:15. But this was my first time racing for two, so I'm not too worried about it.

Special thanks to Roman for keeping me company and keeping me entertained during the run!

And yes, I did shamelessly steal the last 2 pics from the RunnersWorld blog! You should check it out!!

Greetings from Dallas

2008-12-26T09:43:00.000-06:00

Randy's uncle is a big time hunter - and we had the "pleasure" of sleeping in his trophy room last night and probably again tonight.

Yesterday was very tiring and very stressful. I got up at 5am to wrap Randy's gifts and get packed for our trip. The airport was eerily quiet, but at least there were no lines! Our 9:25 flight left on time and was smooth sailing all the way to DFW. And then we landed and were told that we couldn't pull into our gate because there was another plane in the gate having maintenance issues. So we sat waiting for 30 minutes - next to a crazy lady who was convinced that she was going to miss her connection even though the flight attendant assured her she would be fine. And she proceeded to complain to Randy about it for the entire time. They finally moved us to an open gate and we headed to baggage claim. After another 30 minute wait, the carousel finally started moving. And I thought Tulsa was slow... Anyway, we finally got on our way and were informed that we had the choice of the sofa-bed (where we slept) and a blow up mattress. Usuually when we come down we stay at Randy's cousin's house in the guest room - in a real bed. But no - another cousin - a young, single guy got our bed. Even after I was told 2 months ago that we would be staying at Robert's. So, I'm not real sure what the rest of the weekend holds, but I'll be glad to get home to my own bed (and hopefully a few hours of sleep) on Saturday night.

I hope everyone else had a great Christmas!! It's time for me to go eat breakfast. At least the food is good!!

Buddha Belly and Other Ramblings

2008-12-19T14:03:00.003-06:00

I've had a lot on my mind lately, so please forgive me if I wander around a bit!

Buddha Belly -
I DO NOT understand the appeal of rubbing pregnant bellies. I didn't understand it before I was pregnant, and I don't understand it now. Do people think it will bring them good luck? Are they hoping to feel the baby move? What is the point??? Early in my pregnancy, it drove me absolutely crazy. I didn't have the slightest hint of a belly and my baby was probably the size of sweet pea and people were trying to rub my belly. Negative!! I actually got a little hostile with some people - what were they thinking?!?!? Now that I actually look pregnant, and the baby can be felt from the outside, I really don't mind it as much. I really do appreciate the people who ask first, but for the most part it's not as bad as it was in the beginning. Of course - it also depends on who it is. I won't single anyone out or name names (not that it matters - I doubt they'll be reading this), but there are some people in my life that I would prefer to not touch me at all - let alone my helpless belly. I'm not a real "touchy-feely" kinda girl, and some people are overly touchy. You know the ones - they can make a hug last 5 agonizing minutes and they have to rub your back while they're at it. They just linger a little too long. The holidays bring with them lots of "family time" which I generally enjoy - but this year am not so sure about. I know they are excited about our baby, but I am not particularly close with a lot of these people. I can't decide if I should just grin and bear it and let the belly rubbing commence - or if I should follow my heart and always keep something in front of my belly to ward off attacks!!

And for the record, I'm not saying that people absolutely cannot touch my belly. I'm just venting about some people who I'm not particularly close to who have tried and will undoubtedly try over and over again. And also for the record, these people are not in the running group! So if you're one of the few girls in the group who have gotten your rubs in - please know that this is in no way aimed at you. I love the group and consider many of you to be great friends! And Casey S. - you're also free to cop a feel anytime you'd like (of course it might help if I show up to class once in a while!)

So enough ranting for now...

Oh - one more rant - my poor sister is the only person in my immediate family who hasn't been able to feel the baby move. It's driving her crazy! I thought for sure she would get to last night after I ate all those goodies at the Marvellite run, but apparently our 2 mile walk put the baby to sleep - until this morning! I actually had a terrible night of sleep because the little one was not nearly as active as he/she has been lately. That and the fat girl nightmare I had - but I'll save that for another post. I feel so bad for her that she's been left out! I even try to wake the baby up so she can feel it but that hasn't worked either. I know there is still plenty of time, but I think it's hurting her feelings. And unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it. She's just not around when the baby gets active!

Speaking of the baby being active - 2 night ago was absolutely incredible. I was laying on the couch and we could actually see the baby moving. Randy was just in awe. I thought it was funny to see my stomach move like that and kept laughing. He wanted me to be still so he could see it better. He's really so sweet and funny about all of this! I especially love it when he talks to the baby - so cute!!

Since this is getting to be a little long, I will leave you with some pictures from last night's run/walk. Special thanks to Ken for always having his camera!

Here is my adorable niece, Lexie - ready to go!

Me - getting ready to go. Anyone have any exercises to get rid of the double chin??

Me, my sister Alison, and Lexie during the walk.

Me, my aunt Sheryl, my momma, Alison, and Lexie!

Hope everyone has a good weekend! <3

Quote of the Day

2008-12-11T16:01:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine emailed this to me, and I thought it was pretty good. So I'm sharing!!

'Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of sh!t.'

Getting To Know Your Friends - Christmas 2008

2008-12-09T12:35:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season. HO HO HO!!!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like both. I'm not great with paper though, so I usually do gift bags

2. Real tree or Artificial? The tree we have is artificial. If I could find a pre-lit real tree, I'd be in heaven!

3. When do you put up the tree? Whenever we get around to it. This year was the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Again - whenever we get around to it. I think we may have still had it up in Feb last year!

5. Do you like eggnog? Not nearly as much as my husband does!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Wow - that was so long ago! Nothing jumps out at me.

7. The hardest person to buy for? Randy's family. Problem solved this year - everyone is getting a donation to a different charity made in their name.

8. Favorite Ornament? Give me a few years until the baby can make one for me. That will be my favorite!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Several. My favorite is the one made by "Willow Tree" that my parents gave me a couple years ago. That one stays out all the time.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Usually mail, but we haven't done anything for this year yet.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Randy's mom usually gives pretty random stuff. Not bad exactly, but stuff we will never use.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Don't really have one.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Umm.. Christmas Eve!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Food - lots and lots of food!

16. Lights on the tree? Our tree is pre-lit with white lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Growing up my family usually stayed home and Randy's family traveled. Last few years (and this year) we've traveled. Starting with Christmas 2009 we're staying home!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas eve or Christmas day? Growing up we got to open one gift on Christmas Eve (usually pajamas that we wore to bed that night). Everything else on Christmas Day. I'd like to do that with our kids too.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People are petty and wrapped up in the gifts instead of the real meaning of Christmas.

23. Your favorite ornament theme or color? don't have one.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Time with family and friends.

25. Who is most likely to respond to this? Whoever wants to!

Ok - your turn. I copied this from an email, and you can copy and email it out if you like or repost it on your blog (or both)! Just don't forget to change your answers!

Merry Christmas!!

Saturday Long Run and Tuesday's Non-Run

2008-12-03T11:28:00.013-06:00

On Saturday morning, I got up and met my running group at Turkey Mountain for some much needed trail running. I haven't been on the trails since before we told people we were preggo, and I've been missing it terribly!!! For my non-running readers, these are non-paved, mostly dirt, rocks, and roots, kinda trails. Not exactly the most stable running surface - and probably not the best idea for my preggo self! But I needed to do it.

It was actually a very bittersweet run for me - and yes, I did run quite a bit. I think my total mileage was about 5 miles, and I probably ran about half of that (at a nice, slow, easy pace). I've been with my running group for about 2 years now, but lately not feeling much like part of the group. I feel more like the pregnant girl who hangs out with the running group - and Saturday was my last attempt to try to feel like an actual athlete. It is very hard for me to see everyone else running and setting new PRs. I am so so happy for them all, but a tiny part of me wants to keep up - and I just can't!! So while I very much enjoyed my time on the trails, it is clear that it is time for me to hang up my trail shoes (and very soon my running shoes). I wonder if RunnersWorld has any walking shoes that don't look like they were made for someone who is geriatric....

I'm not leaving the group or anything like that, by any means! I will still be out on the paved trails and cheering everyone on at races, but it's time for me to end my little pity party and stop feeling sorry for myself! I try to put on a happy face, but it has been killing me inside to not be running. No more of that!! Running has become a part of who I am, but I have to realize that it is not all of who I am. I need to slow down and enjoy my friends, and my family, and most importantly - my pregnancy. And I need to not feel guilty for cutting my "runs" short (or skipping out altogether!), but it is very hard to admit that my little 5 mile stint on Saturday was a long run for me. I am very much missing being able to get out of bed and run 10+ miles on a whim, but I have new and exciting challenges ahead. And I will run again (with my baby jogger in the lead!).

So enough of this seriousness... Here are some pics from Saturday and last night.

This is me after doing the 1 mile "warm-up" loop - which I ran the whole way! Yay me!! Are we done yet??

Bringing up the rear...

This is the group I followed around on the "mountain". It was very nice of them to wait for me to catch up so I could be in the picture!!

Wondering why Ken is standing out on a rocky ledge that looks very unsafe!

Much thanks to Ken aka Trail Zombie for keeping me company! (and for all the pics!)

Tuesday I went out to meet the group with every intention of at least walking a little bit, but I was still sore from Saturday, and it was cold. So I was more than willing to seek comfort in Roman's jeep and stay warm while we waited for everyone else to finish their runs.

This is me lacing up my shoes before I decided not to run. The whole concept of shoes and socks is starting to get a little complicated and has me wishing I'd timed my pregnancy a little differently. Definitely something to think about next time around - flipflops and sandals would be much easier to deal with!

Here is most of our usual Tuesday night dinner club.

Broccoli and Cheese soup - Yum!

Kathy would have lost those fingers if they'd gotten any closer to my cake!

Basically, just another fun night with friends - only I didn't have to "earn" my food. Apparently being preggo gives me special rights - I even got my food first and I was one of the last to order! WooHoo!

Happy Holidays!

2008-11-30T20:20:00.000-06:00

Ultrasound Pics / Oh So Thankful

2008-11-26T15:58:00.007-06:00

I love Thanksgiving! It is by far my favorite holiday - and not just for the food, although that certainly does help!! It is the only holiday where I can spend time with my loved ones and it just be about that - spending time with loved ones. It seems like all of the other holidays are over-commercialized and it drives me batty! I hate walking into a store in October and already seeing Christmas decorations! Ok - let me get off my soap box now!

Back to Thanksgiving - every year, I always find something to be thankful for. Even if it hasn't been the week/month/year and I'm not feeling especially great, I can always find something - quite a few things, actually, if I just give myself some time to reflect. But this year I have something MAJOR to be thankful for!

Yesterday, I had my 20-week ultrasound and actually got to see the first glimpse of the baby that I've been nurturing for last 5 months (even before I knew it was there!). It was such an absolutely incredible experience and there really aren't enough words to describe it!

As soon as the transmitter-thingy touched my belly, the first thing I saw was very similar to the picture below. Of course, I was so in awe that I couldn't get that actual picture, but after the tech showed us all of the big stuff and took the measurements she needed, we asked for her to try to get a few certain shots. And this was one of them.

Baby's Head and Spine

After that, I had to have a profile shot.

While working on getting the profile, we got another couple of gems...

Thumbs Up!

Deep thoughts...

And last, but not least...

Baby's Foot!

The foot one is especially meaningful to me for a few reasons...
1. It's just so darn cute!
2. I'm a runner - and with the way those feet were moving, apparently he/she will be too! That's why we could only get one foot! (Of course, I would never push any sport on my child just because I like it, but I can hope, right?!?!)
3. I had a crazy dream about the baby's feet earlier in my pregnancy. Don't remember if I posted about it, but basically I dreamed that while looking at my belly, I could see the imprint of these tiny little one-inch feet kicking/pushing my skin. In the dream, I was trying to grab ahold of the feet so that I could take pictures of them for my blog. Very bizarre - but I guess that's what hormones do for ya!

So there you go! I do have lots of other reasons to be thankful, but the baby is my #1. I hope each of you have something to be thankful for - even if it is just as simple as knowing that someone (me) is thinking about you and wishing you a wonderful holiday!!!

Crazy Eights

2008-11-24T13:16:00.002-06:00

I was tagged by Anna last week, so here goes...

CRAZY EIGHTS

8 TV shows I love to watch
1- LOST
2- Army Wives
3- House
4- How I Met Your Mother
5- Two and a Half Men
6- Big Bang Theory
7- Ghost Whisperer
8 – Law & Order: SVU

8 Places I love to eat
1- In The Raw
2- In The Raw
3- In The Raw
4- In The Raw
5- In The Raw
6- In The Raw
7 – In The Raw
8 – Pretty much anywhere else – I love food!

8 Things that happened yesterday
1- Took a shower.
2- Went to Church.
3- Visited with hubby’s brother and sister-in-law in town from KC.
4- Had a nice long visit with hubby’s step-mom.
5- Dinner at Louie’s Grill.
6- Watched TV.
7- Went to bed.
8- Watched more TV.
Exciting day huh???

8 Things I look forward to
1- Ultrasound tomorrow!!
2- Thanksgiving
3- Working on baby’s room
4- Christmas
5- Picking out baby names
6- Meeting our little boy or girl
7- Going to Hawaii for Steve’s wedding
8- Getting out of debt!

8 Things I love about Fall
1- Leaves changing
2- My fireplace
3- Big cozy sweaters
4- Fall smells – pumpkin, butterscotch, cinnamon, etc
5- Snuggling in blankets
6- Getting ready for holidays
7 – Fall colors (for clothes/decorating) – browns, reds, golds
8- Spending more time with family

8 Things on my wish list
1- A healthy baby
2- A new strap for my heart rate monitor
3- A healthy baby
4- To be debt free
5- A healthy baby
6- Sushi
7- A healthy baby
8- A dirty martini

And at this point, technically I'm supposed to tag 8 more people. But that's just too much effort!

So, if you've read this blog and you want to play along, please consider yourself tagged!

Bring on the Baby Gifts!

2008-11-21T16:35:00.008-06:00

So I walked into my little office this morning, and had a nice little surprise in my chair!

My friend/coworker Melissa (different Melissa from my "tag" a while back) had given me a gift. She's so sweet! We've worked together for almost 9 years, and her son was born 1 week before my wedding 3 years ago. I loved hearing about her pregnancy, and she has been patiently waiting for me to have one of my own.

Anyway, this is a close-up of the little card on the bag. I am totally stealing this idea! Such a fun way to honor the half-way point!

And here is what was inside...

My first official baby gift!! Woohoo!! For the record, last week my friend Susan gave me a sweet little book of "Goodnight Blessings for my Child" but that is more for me to read to the baby. This was an actual gift for the baby. (Okay - there was a little something in there for me too... but now the baby has clothes!)

This is so much fun!

Was That A Kick???

2008-11-19T15:16:00.002-06:00

So, for the past few days, I'm about 95% certain that I've been feeling my baby move! WooHoo! Of course, I won't be 100% satisfied until I can see it and feel it at the same time at my ultrasound next week. Only 6 more days! Followed very closely by my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving!!!! Yay!!!

Anyway, according to babycenter.com "Women have described the sensation as being like popcorn popping, a goldfish swimming around, or butterflies fluttering." I'd have to say that my feelings are much closer to popcorn than anything else. But usually only one or two pops. My actual first thought was that I felt like I was being "flicked" from the inside. I read somewhere that if you drink a soda (or pop, or whatever you choose to call it), the sugar and caffeine will get the baby moving and you can feel it more frequently, but I'm not having much luck. Of course, I've been nursing the same Diet Coke for about 4 hours now and only about 2/3 done with it, so maybe that's why I'm not having any results. Maybe I need to chug it next time???

Maybe I'll do that before my last Financial Peace University Class tonight... gotta do something to keep myself entertained, right??? Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the class, but Randy is the one who does all the writing in the workbook. Watching the sometimes very long videos can get a little boring. If I can get that baby moving in there, it might make the class go a little faster - besides, I promised Randy a shopping trip to Kohl's tonight after class. I guess they're having a big 50% off sale, and Kohl's is probably his favorite place to shop. I wonder how their maternity section looks...

Oooh! And on top of tonight being the last class, on Wednesday nights different groups from the church (missions, youth, etc) take turns preparing and serving dinner for everyone. Tonight, the North Tulsa Indian Methodist Church will be in charge of dinner and they are making Homemade Indian Tacos!!! I am so excited! Most of the dinners have been pretty normal stuff - pizza, tacos, soup, so we usually don't go - we just get some McD's or Wendy's on the way. But tonight, we are definitely eating at the church!!

Ok - I gotta get back to work, so I can get out of here on time. <3

Lunchtime update

2008-11-17T12:21:00.002-06:00

Since I'm a little overdue for a new blog and since it doesn't take an hour for me to make and eat a PB&J, I figure this is a good time for an update!

I had hoped to post updates during the Mother Road 100, but there just wasn't enough time. Yeah - in a 24 hour race, I couldn't find time to update. This is mostly because the runner I was crewing for was just too darn fast! We'd go ahead of her 2-3 miles and it seemed like we'd no sooner gotten parked, there she was again. Of course, I'm not complaining at all. It certainly made it easier to stay up all night when I knew she was on our tail, and it made for an incredible 2nd place finish with a time of 22:48. Kathy rocks!! I was also helping out and keeping tabs on another runner, Trail Zombie, who also got in the way of my blogging plans because for over half the race he was ahead of Kathy by about a mile. So we'd get parked, cheer for TZ and give him his new favorite race food powered sugar donuts, send him on his was, and here came Kathy. It was the 3rd 100 miler for TZ in 6 weeks, and I think it finally caught up with him that night, because after Kathy passed him, she slowly crept farther ahead and we probably didn't get to see him for the last 20 miles or so. He also had a strong finish at 23:35. And for the record, those time are in hours! They both amaze me and while I never intend to do a 100 miler, they both inspire me to push myself and not give up. BTW, you can read TZ's report here.

So, after that, most of last week was pretty uneventful. Tuesday's run came and I realized that I had already lost the strap for my heart rate monitor, so I still am not able to run. Thursday was my birthday and also the group's pre-marathon party. A time of pizza, other yummy food, and last minute race instructions for all of our incredible runners. Friday, I left work early and went and had a pedicure. Very relaxing - I really should treat myself more often, especially now that I'm preggo! I deserve it!! Saturday, was a quiet day at home. Randy had some stuff to do, so I had the couch and TV all to myself! I found something extremely interesting to watch, and promptly fell asleep. Naps are good!

Yesterday was a big day for most of our running group. It was the Route 66 Marathon/Half-Marathon/Quarter Marathon, and it was a first for many of the runners. I got up early and met everyone before the start and was there to cheer them on all day! By the time I got home, I felt like I'd run the marathon myself - I was drained! Who knew that spectating and cheering was such hard work?!?!?! I can't say enough good things about the runners in my group. It is a great accomplishment to finish your first marathon or first half-marathon, and I can't wait to read all of their blogs to see how they felt about it. Its hard to believe that I just celebrated the 1 year anniversary of my own first marathon. Some days it seems like it was just yesterday (especially being on the course and remembering how I felt at those points during my own run) and some days it seems like it's been forever since I crossed that finish line. I am so proud of everyone who made a goal, trained for it, and crossed the finish line yesterday. You are all awesome!

So here I am waiting impatiently for this week to hurry up and end. While I do look forward to Wednesday being the end of my Financial Peace class that I've been in for the last 3 months, next week brings such bigger and better things! Saturday is the last TU home game (and thankfully an afternoon game), Thanksgiving is next week (which I couldn't be more ready for!), and most importantly, Tuesday we have our 20 week ultrasound! I will finally get to see the child that I've been carrying, nurturing, loving, for the past 19 weeks! Truly, something to be Thankful for!!

Mother Road Here I Come...

2008-11-07T12:56:00.006-06:00

In just a few short hours, I will be headed down the highway to Elk City to help support some friends of mine who are running in the Mother Road 100. This is a 100 mile road race - yes, on foot. This will be Trail Zombie's (Ken) 3rd 100 mile race in 6 weeks, and Kathy's 2nd. Ken is hoping to beat 21 hours - and Kathy is hoping to beat Ken, so it could prove to be interesting. Originally, I was going to help be a pacer for one of them, but seeing as how for the last 3 months running has made me want to puke, I am now on the road crew instead. Or I'll work the TATUR aid station. Wherever I'm needed most is where I'll be - but I'm hoping for the road crew. The race starts at 9am tomorrow and will go through the night, so I'll try to post updates occasionally (especially if I can get any good pictures from my phone!).

Anyway, here is what I did this week...

Last Saturday, our group did a Mock Marathon. They ran most of the actual Route 66 Marathon course - and I did the crew thing. Along the run, one of the runners found a barely live 4-6 week old Chihuahua mix puppy thrown in a trash can. She took it out and laid it beside the trash can and Kathy came by and picked it up. After some water, he started to perk up, but then later had a seizure while someone had gone to the store to get him some milk. About the time the milk (and a hot dog) arrived for the puppy, a runner/vet came back to the tent and did a quick check. He seemed to be okay, but she thought he might be blind. After having some milk and hot dog, he was doing much better, and another runner who is a foster parent with the Pet Adoption League took him home in a Panera bagel box and made some calls and got him into another foster home. The puppy was given the name Panero, and should be available for adoption soon on http://www.pet-adopt.org/. I'm so glad our group worked together to save the little guy - he was just too cute!

Monday I had my monthly checkup and Randy came with me to hear the baby's heartbeat! It was such a relief to hear the heartbeat again. As many of you know, I have a friend who was pregnant and due about a week before me. She had gone in for her 12 week checkup and heard a heartbeat and everything seemed fine. When she went in a couple weeks ago for her 16 week checkup, there was no heartbeat and an ultrasound indicated that the baby had probably died a few days after her previous appointment, but her body hadn't yet started the process of cleaning everything out. She basically had no clue that she'd lost the baby. So I've been a little anxious for my own appointment to make sure our little one was still doing okay, and so far, so good! We scheduled our 20 week ultrasound for 11-25, and for those of you who don't know yet, we will NOT be finding out the baby's gender until he/she is born.

On Monday evening, I had my first Prenatal massage, which was very nice. I'm sure I'll do another one in a couple months (hopefully I can wait that long!) I'd love to have a massage every week, but that is just a little too costly!

Tuesday, I met with the running group and walked a couple miles with Susan. We talked with a Kathy a little bit about our plans for meeting up and carpooling this weekend, and after the run a group of us had dinner at Jason's Deli.

Wednesday night was my financial class. Nothing too special. Oh - except for the fact that I spent all day feeling like I'd done hundreds of sit-ups. Apparently my ribs were expanding. It's not fun, and I'm sure I can look forward to feeling it all again in the coming days/weeks/months.

Thursday night I had intended to meet the group and walk a few miles, but a mishap with UPS caused me to be a little late. I work in a small office building, and it even though they deliver here frequently, they couldn't seem to figure out where to deliver my new toy to. So after several phone calls, and a short drive to the UPS Customer Center, I can know officially start running again!

WooHoo! This one comes with a heart rate monitor, so I can safely keep my rate below my doctors recommendation of 140 beats per minute. I can't wait to start using it!

So, now I'm back to today, and I have a haircut scheduled this afternoon at 4:15 and then I'm meeting my people after that to head to the race. Even though I have plenty to do to keep me busy until then, I will still be hoping for time to pass just a little faster!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Friendly Little Game of Tag!

2008-11-03T13:42:00.000-06:00

Thanks to my friend Ken aka Trail Zombie, I have been tagged. I am supposed to post my sixth picture from my sixth file of my "My Pictures" folder. I post my blogs from my work computer or my cell phone, but my cell phone pics aren't in folders and my work computer doesn't have personal pictures on it. I do, however, have a ton of photos stored in Picasa Web Albums, so I used the sixth album that I have saved on there.
This charming photo of (L-R) my friend Melissa, her friend/coworker Mandy, and me, was taken on November 30, 2007 at CJ Maloney's and Jenny Labow was playing. Melissa's hubby and my hubby grew up together and used to watch Jenny perform in bars around TU during their college days. They think she is just the hottest thing around, and now she's big time with a record deal in LA. So whenever she is in Tulsa, they think the world will end if they do not go see her. The thing that made the evening particularly memorable was that although I was there with my husband, I somehow got hit on - twice - by girls. And these were not the type of girls that I would consider re-enacting Katy Perry's song for.
So that's that... now I get to tag someone else to join in the fun. I will choose a runner friend (TaturDave), a church friend (Casey), and a "baby mama" friend (Suzi). Now that you've been tagged, please post your sixth picture from your sixth folder in "My Pictures" (or wherever you keep 'em) and tell us the story. And no cheating!!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:38:00.000-05:00

So I know I'm a little behind on a real post, but I'll have plenty to say after my doctor visit on Monday. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my pumpkin! Our friend Kelly came over and helped us carve this while his wife and kids were out hoarding candy. Now I'm on to my real project... roasting the seeds!! Stay safe!

I Can't Believe They Are Letting These People Vote!

2008-10-16T13:17:00.002-05:00

Ok - I received this in an email today and decided that I felt pretty strongly about it, so it's going on my blog. Please be aware that I am not intending this to spark a big debate. It's just something that rubbed me the wrong way and I feel the need to vent about it.

http://www.bpmdeejays.com/upload/hs_sal_in_Harlem_100108.mp3

First of all, at this point, I am not for or against either candidate. I have not made a decision who I am voting for. I want to make an informed decision. Who I choose will be based on their stance on issues that I feel strongly about. Both candidates have issues that I agree with and disagree with. I just need to decide which I can deal with and which I can't. The important thing is that I am not basing my decision on what my husband thinks, or what my friends or family think, or by sex or skin color. But there are people out there who will. I am aware that this link only shows one side of this, and that there are other people who will NOT vote for Obama because of his skin color.

So, here's my problem... These people (in the link) have absolutely no idea what's going on. Whether you think Obama is the greatest thing since sliced bread, or you think he doesn't hold a candle to McCain, you should at least be able to back it up. I would never criticize someone for their choice if they are able to stand up for their candidate. But when you don't know where he/she stands on the issues or even who the running mate is, you should not be voting.

Just my 2 cents.

That's The Beat Of A Heart

2008-10-03T16:15:00.002-05:00

Wow... What a week! And it's not even over yet!

Monday night we had some friends over for dinner - I made Parmesan Chicken. Technically it was really just spaghetti with breaded chicken since there was only a tiny bit of Parmesan in it, but "Spaghetti with Breaded Chicken" just doesn't sound as appealing as "Parmesan Chicken"! Although making it totally wrecked my kitchen, it was actually quite easy - and very tasty! Definitely something I will make again!

On Tuesday, I left work a little early and Randy and I went to the fair. My sister and my niece were there, so we hung out with them for a while and watched Lexie ride some rides. She absolutely loved it! I have some pictures of the little daredevil that I will try to get posted next week. I'm glad she'll be able to show our baby the ropes when he/she is big enough to play! Now, the real reason I go to the fair is for the food. Yes, I enjoy the rides and was a little disappointed that I couldn't ride any, but really, I was there for the food. I started with a corndog - and I swear it was the best corndog I have EVER eaten. I get a corndog every year at the fair, and this one was the best! I should have have a couple more... Next, I moved on to the Spiral Spud - another of my fair faves. This year, though, it was a little overcooked and the cheese got cold before I get 10 feet from the food trailer. Major disappointment! I may not do that again next year. After that, we spent a long time trying to find a new item for this year's fair - deep fried pears. I REALLY wanted to try one, but we searched and searched and searched and had no luck. Another major disappointment! So instead, I settled on a chocolate dipped frozen cheesecake-on-a-stick. I had one last year and it was incredible - this one was only so-so. I guess I went to the wrong booth! All-in-all, I had the most fun watching Lexie play. After that and the corndog, it all went downhill!

Wednesday was our friend, Jenny's, birthday, so we went to dinner at El Chico to celebrate. My food was good, but I think I ate too much. When I got home, my puke meter went up! Yay!

Last night was a quiet night at home. Much needed and much enjoyed!

And today I got to hear my baby's heartbeat for the first time! Now it feels more real! Now I'm starting to get excited! I wish Randy had been able to come, but he'll be able to hear the heartbeat when he comes to the next appointment. After that, I had lunch with my friend Susan. Awesome quiche from Queenie's and even better Banana Caramel Cake! What a day!

Tonight we're going to my hubby's high school alma mater for their homecoming game, and tomorrow night to his college alma mater for their homecoming. Hoping Sunday is a day of rest!

Have a good weekend everyone!

New Baby Tickers

2008-09-30T14:46:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder to check out my new baby countdowns. The old ones didn't have any developmental info, which is what I really like about these. I can't wait to see what he/she will be up to next week!

It's no wonder I don't feel so great - the little stinker is in there peein' all over the place...

Miranda Lambert / Kenny Chesney Pics

2008-09-26T16:01:00.005-05:00

I have added a slideshow to the bottom of my blog with pictures from the Kenny Chesney concert. This was the only way to do it so that the pictures were big enough to actually see anything. If you want to comment on the pictures, you can do it on this post.

Enjoy!

Pudding Poll

2008-09-23T15:19:00.002-05:00

Well - today I had chocolate pudding - and it just didn't give me the same "warm fuzzies" that I got from the butterscotch yesterday. So hopefully, Randy likes the chocolate better and our variety pack will be well appreciated!

In honor of pudding, I have added a poll to my blog. Rather than voting for favorite flavors of pudding, though, I decided we should vote on who likes that skin that forms on the top of the pudding.

Have fun!

Butterscotch Pudding

2008-09-22T14:54:00.001-05:00

Mmm...

It is my firm belief that butterscotch pudding just might be God's greatest invention ever!!!

At least for today anyway :-þ

Lovely Weather We're Having!

2008-09-17T13:25:00.003-05:00

Since my blog is linked to Runners World Tulsa's blog, I feel like maybe I should post a little something about my "running." I doubt that I'll be kicked off the blog roll if I don't do it, but just to be safe...

Wow! I can't believe the incredible weather we're having. I'm absolutely loving it! Of course, I would love it better if I could actually run... Pregnancy certainly has it's ups and downs - and one of the downs is that the whole up-and-down motion of running makes me sick right now. So instead, I go out and walk. I don't always feel great, and I don't always enjoy it, but it is good for me and the baby.

As I read the blogs of other group members, I am often jealous - but also very proud of them. I remember what it was like to train for my first marathon - the joy, the frustration, the pain, the food... It is a major commitment, and for some of the runners, it may be a piece of cake - while for others, it will be the hardest thing they will ever do. I hope they are relishing every moment of it, because it kills me that I'm not out there with them doing it all over again!

Don't get me wrong - I'm so blessed to have this experience of being pregnant! I don't want it to sound like I wish I weren't so that my running wouldn't have to suffer. But the truth is, pregnancy has effected my running, along with my eating, my sleeping, and most every other aspect of my life. I just wasn't prepared for my transition from "Runner Girl" to "Runner Mommy" to happen so early! I knew there was a possibility of getting pregnant before the marathon, but I totally had it worked out in my head that I was going to just keep right on running until my body said "no". Of course, this is exactly what I did - I just wasn't expecting my body to say "no" after only 1 month! I was thinking more like 6-7 months...

People keep telling me that I'll feel better after the first trimester, which is just a few more weeks. So I guess I'll give running another shot then. But until then, I'll just be walking, and walking, and walking.

By the way, my friend Trail Zombie has a "Tick Counter" on his blog, where he keeps track of how many ticks he picks up while out running, working in the yard, etc. He suggested that I keep track of how many times I puke while I'm pregnant, so I have added "Preggo Pukes" to the left side of my blog - for those of you who are interested in that kinda stuff. Another friend, Roman, suggested that I take pictures of said pukings and post them on the blog, but I just don't think I can do that. Yuck - just the thought of it makes me feel like I want to go puke again...

Pregnancy Tip Revised

2008-09-16T09:17:00.002-05:00

So, yesterday, I didn't eat breakfast and I got sick. This morning, I did eat breakfast, and I still got sick - dang it!! I thought I had this all figured out!

I wouldn't be so bothered by this, if I felt like I was going to be sick. No - I actually feel pretty good today. Felt pretty good yesterday too, for that matter. And the last two weeks, since my doctor changed my prenatal vitamin. I've had a good appetite, been able to eat pretty much anything, so I don't understand why I'm getting sick now.

How annoying!!

Pregnancy Tip Of The Day

2008-09-15T16:46:00.002-05:00

For some of you, this may be TMI. While some others of you will appreciate this helpful info!

Apparently, waking up at 6 am and waiting to eat breakfast at 10 am is a REALLY BAD idea!

Wow! I was feeling okay this morning - a little rushed because Randy overslept - but pretty decent. No hints of nausea or anything. I wasn't feeling very hungry, so I grabbed a package of oatmeal to take to work. Got busy and wasn't really thinking about eating - just working and drinking my water. Maybe a little too much water... Right around 10, I decided I needed a bathroom break, and since I was already up I figured I'd go ahead and heat up my oatmeal. While my oatmeal was doing it's thing in the kitchen, and I was doing mine in the bathroom, I suddenly realized that I was going to be sick. BAM! Just like that! No warnings, no queasiness, nothing. And I was doing so well with the "no sickness" thing...

Guess I won't do that again. Maybe I can get Randy to start making me some toast before he leaves in the morning...

I <3 Kenny!

2008-09-10T23:45:00.000-05:00

Awesome show! Will have a full report next week when I can post from a computer instead of my phone. Good night!

Don't Blink

2008-09-10T15:07:00.002-05:00

We're going to see Kenny Chesney in concert tonight, and it got me thinking about his song "Don't Blink" The chorus:

Don't blink,

Just like that you're six years old

And you take a nap

And you wake up and you're 25

Then your high school sweetheart becomes your wife.

Don't blink,

You just might miss your babies growing like mine did

Turnin' into moms and dads

Next thing you know your better half of 50 years

Is there in bed and you're prayin' God takes you instead

Trust me friend, 100 years goes faster than you think

So don't blink.

Right now, it's hard enough to grasp the fact that I'm going to be a mother in April - let alone the fact that my little unborn child may have children of his/her own someday. I don't want to miss out on anything, but already it seems to be going by so fast! Maybe part of that is that I really am just napping through everything right now! But I can't believe that it's already been over 5 weeks since I found out I was expecting. Our little baby has already grown so much!

From babycenter.com -
How your baby's growing:Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a medium green olive — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

In a previous week I learned that his/her heart is already beating - not even an inch long and he/she has a teeny, tiny, beating heart!! I can't even wrap my head around it!

Anyway, we had a very busy weekend, and I'm going to be off work the next 2 day - which hopefully will give me some much needed rest! If I remember correctly, I had a pretty bad headache when I got home on Friday, so I just went to bed. I got up early Saturday and met my running group and walked/jogged a couple miles. I probably could have gone the full 4 that I had planned on, but it was cold and pouring down rain, so I gave up a little early. At least I made an effort! It worked out okay though, because if I'd stayed any longer I would have been late for my friend's Pampered Chef party. I got an awesome bamboo serving bowl, and some bamboo spatulas. If you haven't seen their bamboo products, you're really missing out! My collection is growing quite nicely! After that party, I headed over to another party. A baby shower to be more specific. One of my running friends is due this month, so it was fun to see her and see what great stuff she got! I don't remember what I did after that, so I'm assuming I went home and went to sleep! Sunday brought Church, and the first Sunday of the month is always communion, which I particularly enjoy. Sunday also brought another baby shower! Actually, it was a Mad-Hatter's Un-Birthday Party for Lindsay's baby-on-the-way. Coach Kathy made a ton of fabulous food and we had fun in our silly hats! If you've never had a sampling of Kathy's cooking, you are REALLY missing out! I was so full, that I couldn't eat the rest of the day. The rest of the day consisted of a cook-out with my family. We had some family in town from Colorado and everyone got together at my parents house to visit. Probably won't get to see my aunts and cousins that came for another year, so I'm glad we went! Monday after work, I babysat a little boy that I've been watching for 4 years - and told his parents the good news. They are very happy for us, but also a little disappointed that they will be losing their babysitter! Didn't get home until after 11, and then had another late night last night, and will be having another late night tonight. So I'm really looking forward to my time off! (And looking forward to seeing Kenny in those jeans....) ;-)

First Appointment

2008-09-05T13:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had my first prenatal appointment! Yippee!!

It really wasn't anything exciting, but maybe that was because I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open! I just went over some general medical history with my doctor, she did a quick exam, answered any questions that I had, gave me a prescription for some prenatal vitamins (with DHA to help with brain development!), and then sent me to the lab for blood work. Having all that blood drawn wasn't a lot of fun, and it left me feeling even more tired. After that, I went back to work for about an hour, and then went and met with my running group to share the news. Some of them had been suspecting something for a few weeks, so it felt good to let them know!

Stopped at KFC to pick up dinner on my way home, and went to bed early. It didn't help much, though because Randy kept me up all night with his allergy problems. So again, I'm tired and I just want to take a nap!!!! He may just have to sleep on the couch tonight - or I will. I have a lot to do tomorrow, and I can't take much more of this fatigue...

April 12, 2009

2008-09-04T16:50:00.000-05:00

Weekend Update

2008-09-02T11:51:00.002-05:00

Sometimes (especially when I first started this blog) I try to come up with creative titles for my posts. You know, something catchy, to draw the readers in. But sometimes, I just go with something basic. This post will be about my not so exciting weekend, so I don't feel that it deserves a great title. It is what is.

Thursday, I met with my group and ended up walking 2 miles with Susan. I'm sure I've mentioned her in other posts, but just to refresh, she has a heart condition that has kept her from running. Her doctor has recently allowed her to start walking, and adding some light jogging, but she has to really watch her heart rate and her pace. I always enjoy having time to talk with her and I'm so glad to see her back out on the trails a little bit more and more! After our walk, we went back to the store, and had some cake - compliments of Ken's wife, Dana. She makes the best desserts! This cake happened to look like a cat, and at one time, there were little mini kitten-cakes to go with it as well. My favorite part was the cream cheese frosting! Yum!! After the cake, I made it home just in time to have burgers with our neighbors! I love cooking, but I also love the days when I don't have to!

Since Friday is soccer practice for the aforementioned neighbors, I volunteered to make dinner for them on Friday night. It's a cycle we repeat often! I had dinner again with them on Saturday while Randy was out playing golf, and then I make pot roast on Sunday, which they joined us for. Sandwiches for lunch and homemade pizza for dinner both at their house yesterday, and we will probably start the whole thing over again with dinner at our house on Friday.

Saturday morning, I went and met my group (at least I tried to). I was running a little late, so I didn't get there in time to lead my group, but I went off on my run anyway. Less than a mile in, I caught up with Susan and my mom! I was quite surprised, because my mom's work schedule has prevented her from coming out and running with us. Apparently she has a new supervisor who is willing to let her leave early on Saturday mornings to come run! Yay!! She's training for the Tulsa Run, but since she hasn't run in a few months, she's going to have to start slow and work her way up. We probably did about 4 miles, and we just took it easy and walked and jogged a bit. It's hard to jog anyway, when we had to keep stopping for her to say hi to group members that she hasn't seen in ages!

I didn't do anything special after my run. Just went home, and relaxed. Randy was gone most of the day, so it was nice to have the house/couch to myself!

Sunday was church, and pot roast for dinner (cooked in my crock pot all day long). I tried something new, and was pretty much just winging it - using bits of what my mom did with her pot roast and bits of recipes from my favorite cookbooks. I was pleased with the results and everyone else seemed to be too, because I only had enough left over for one lunch! Definitely worth repeating!

Spent most of Labor Day doing absolutely nothing! Had lunch with the neighbors and a few other friends before heading off with them to the city pool for a few hours. By the time we got back, all of the kids were starving, so we made little mini pizzas. It definitely hit the spot!

And now, it is Tuesday. I'm glad that I remembered this morning that it is Tuesday and not Monday. Otherwise, I would have forgotten my running gear, and we just can't have that! Hoping for a good run today, and maybe the effects from Gustav will help it cool down a bit!

Response to Trail Zombie's Rant

2008-08-28T09:33:00.003-05:00

This is in response to Trail Zombie's blog about recent trail marking activity at Turkey Mountain. I think maybe it was a little to long to post as a comment, as it was nearly as long as his original post. Please read his original post here so that you'll have a clue as to what I'm talking about. Thanks!

First of all, I cannot believe that people actually go out there and paint the trees... Maybe I'm just a good girl, but the thought of taking a can of spray paint out there and marking the trees has just never occurred to me. However, I must say that Trail Zombie did a great job of covering it up.

Second, I think that whiny biker guy owes Glenn and the others an apology. It's one thing to ask them if they know anything about the markings and ribbons, but quite another to go off on an accusatory tirade. How rude!

On the plus side, it does seem that Turkey Mountain is getting used more for its intended purposes of running, hiking, biking, etc. But just like when we see an increase of activity on the Riverside trail, we also see an increase in lack of trail etiquette, and my guess is that this is what is happening on Turkey. While it is frustrating for those of us who use these areas frequently, I don't think people are intentionally trying to cause problems. They just don't know any better - and we need try to remember that we were new once too, and do our part to help educate others!

Of course, I could be way off base here, in which case, just let me know and I'll keep my mouth shut from now on!!

Tuesday Run

2008-08-27T09:56:00.003-05:00

Well, I got back from Dallas on Sunday afternoon, but wasn't quite ready to get back in the swing of things! I would have loved a few more days off!! I think we had a pretty good trip, though! We saw some of Randy's longtime friends that we hadn't seen in about 2 years, and it's probably been about that long since he's seen some of his family down there. I had been in Dallas for some work about a year ago and spent some time with his family, but he didn't go on that trip. I think we definitely realized that 2 years is really too long, especially when the drive is only a few hours! (Or an hour plane ride when the fare is right!!)

I wish I could say that I was a good girl, and got some running in while I was there, but I didn't. However, we did spend about 3 hours walking around The Galleria, so I think that definitely counts!!

Last night, I went and met up with my group for what turned out to be a very nice run! I had a couple of Newbies that I helped out with, and we did a 1/2 mile warm-up walk, 2 mile run/walk at a nice easy pace, and 1/2 mile cool-down walk. The weather was wonderful, and I felt very refreshed afterwards!

I made another Tuesday night trip to Target after the run, and had a far better experience than last week! The store was practically empty! I purposely kept my selections to a minimum so that I could use the express lane, but they didn't have any express lanes open. It turned out to be okay though, because the other lanes were all pretty empty anyway!

So far, so good this week! Let's hope it stays that way! And I'm really looking forward to another 3 day weekend for Labor Day!!

Greetings from The Big "D" y'all

2008-08-23T10:16:00.000-05:00

Howdy! While I did bring a pair of running shoes (and appropriate attire) to Dallas with me just in case I wanted to run this morning, I opted to sleep in and rest, and update my blog. After the long week I've had, I think a little rest is what I needed!

I had a very busy week at work, and was a little stressed that I wouldn't get everything done before I left for my trip and before my bosses returned from theirs. At 4:45 on Thursday, I was finally able to breathe and I guess there weren't any problems because I didn't get any phone calls.

Tuesday night, I was a little bit unenthused about our group run when I showed up. I've just had so many bad runs lately and I wasn't looking forward to another one! I felt much better though, when Susan showed up and I got to chat with her a bit. I realized that I should be thankful that I can even run at all, even if it doesn't always go my way. I'm sure Susan would trade places with me in a heartbeat. A few bad runs is better than not being able to run at all! I also felr better when I found out we were doing a new route! YAY!!! Instead of our normal out-and-back on the east side of the river, we ran across to the west side, did a little trail loop, and back across to the east side. I loved it! Finally, a good run! Hopefully, I won't be so discouraged next time.

After my run, I stopped at Target to pick up a few things for dinner and lunches. I had more than 10 items, so I couldn't do the express lane. I picked a lane that had 2 other people waiting. One of them was almost done, and the other was starting to load her full cart onto the belt. I figured it wouldn't be too bad and settled in. A few minutes later I was about to start loading my own stuff on the belt, when a girl with a another full cart tries to squeeze past me. Apparently, she was with the lady in front of me. It would have been nice if the lady had mentioned that she had another full cart coming... and now all the other lines were to full for me to switch! Personally, if I had been in her position, and seeing that the person behind me only had 15-20 items when I had a full cart and another on the way, I would let them go in front of me. But that's just me... I hope they enjoy their $425 worth of weight watchers food...

Wednesday night, we started the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University at church. I'm really looking forward to it. It may bring up some unpleasant conversations between me and Randy, but if we ever want to start getting ahead and planning for our future, then it needs to be done.

Thursday, instead of running, I was busy getting ready for our trip. I rushed home after work to get the dog to the vet for boarding before they closed. Then I went over to the store for a few last minute items, went home and fixed some dinner, and started packing. I got in bed at 10 but it was closer to 11 by the time I went to sleep. When my alarm went off at 3, I was up and ready to get going. I finished packing after a nice long shower and then tried to get Randy up when his alarm went off at 4. Shortly after 5 we were on our way to the airport for our 6:30 flight.

As we made our ascent out of Tulsa, I came to a startling revelation. What started out as a cloudy, gloomy day, actually appeared quite beautiful and peaceful when I was looking at it from a different perspective. Now if I can just try to remember that at other times as well...

Since we've been here, I've just been resting and taking it easy. Tonight, Randy's aunt and uncle are having a big fish fry and they're expecting about 90 people, so that will be interesting. Of course, after a couple drinks, anything gets a little more fun!

We fly back tomorrow afternoon, and then it's back to the grindstone. But for now, I'm on vacation! WooHoo!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend!

Rain or Shine...

2008-08-13T15:54:00.004-05:00

Since it's Wednesday, I guess that means I'm way past due for an update!

Thursday evening, I had planned to do Saturday's long run mileage (8) with a friend who wouldn't be able to run on Saturday, along with a couple of other runners. About 2 miles in, I realized that I wasn't going to make it for a full 8. I'm not sure if I was still trying to recover from all the excessive heat lately, or if part of it was the Subway sandwich I'd eaten 1 1/2 hours earlier, or what was going on, but as soon as we got to a spot where I could easily bail out and get back to my car, I did! The others were super nice and made sure I was okay, and made sure I got back to my car safely, which I greatly appreciated! I just hope I didn't mess up their run too much!

Friday, I went and had lunch with my friend Susan! She has a heart condition and hasn't been able to run with us for a while, and I've missed her terribly!! It was great to see her, and I hope we can do it again soon!!

Since I only ended up with about 3 miles on Thursday, I probably should have done 8 on Saturday, but I opted to sleep in a bit instead. I showed up in time to meet the 6:45 group for 3 miles, and it was sooo nice. The weather sure does play a huge role in how good (or bad) a run feels! Part of me wished that I'd gotten up earlier and done a few more miles, but the other part of me was glad to get a little sleep!

So that brings me to last night's (Tuesday) run... which I didn't do at all. I was completely ready to do it - I brought my running attire to work with me (and it's still sitting under my desk). But a last minute dinner invite to Joe's Crab Shack for a friend's birthday was just a tiny bit more appealing! I haven't been there in years! Some may say that I should have run first, and then gone to dinner, but there wouldn't have been enough time for that. Even in a perfect world, I would have started running @ 5:30, finished a 3 mile run by 6, got home at 6:30 (have to pick hubby up - can't drive his work truck out and about) and wouldn't have gotten back to Joe's until 7 at the earliest. And I would have had to skip a shower at that - yuck!! So now that I have completely justified my actions, why do I still feel a tiny bit guilty???

So since I've been such a slacker lately, I vow that "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these runners from the completion of their appointed mileage." See ya Thursday!

Tuesday Run

2008-08-05T22:04:00.000-05:00

Well... I got in trouble for not updating my blog lately, so here it is! To be honest, I haven't had anything interesting to share. Work is busy, weather is crappy, and my best friend (aside from hubby) is out of town. On the plus side, I do have a wonderful hubby, and it is Tuesday, so I got to see my friends and I got to run. And by run, I mean that I walked 1/2 mile, jogged 1/2 mile, and then walked 2 miles. Like I said - the weather sucks. It hasn't made for any easy runs, but at least I'm trying!
So anyway, the picture above is from tonight's run. Seeing Ken and Roman has been the highlight of my week! :-p

Run for Fun!

2008-07-29T10:14:00.003-05:00

I think the Dixie Chicks said it best when they said
"Ready, ready, ready, ready, ready to run
All I'm ready to do is have some fun"

Sometimes running is not so fun, like last Thursday... with a high temperature of 97, six miles was not something to enjoy, but something to do and get out of the way. But I did it, and with a stellar high of 96, today looks like a repeat.

Friday night, on the other hand, was amazing! I had sooo much fun! My friend Ken was celebrating his birthday with an all-night trail run. I've run at night, and I've run some trails, but I've never run trails at night, so this was quite a new experience for me - one I hope to repeat soon, and often!

While I didn't actually run all night, I did run until around midnight when we took a break for some pizza and homemade cheesecake (compliments of Ken's wife!) I got in a little over 8 miles, broke in my new trail shoes, and managed to trip and stumble about 50 times, but contrary to a rumour floating around on Trail Zombie's blog, I never actually fell - and that is NOT my bloody, hairy knee!!

I pulled into my driveway at 2 am, managed to toss and turn and get maybe an hour sleep before I got up and headed out to meet my road group for another 4 miles! What a day!

I met some great people and I hope to have the opportunity to run with them again - of course, I'm sure I was holding them back, so they may not feel the same way about me!!

So anyway, here are some pics from the festivities... Thanks Ken!

In front - Ken. In back (L-R) - Me, Johnny, Glenn, Arnold, Brian, Roman, Kathy, and Bill

I don't actually remember us taking this picture... hmm...

But I do remember this one...

Brian, Arnold, Bee-Sting Bob (??? I just write what I'm told), Glenn, Bill, Me, and Ken

Takin' a break

FOOD!!! Yum!!

Pizza, Watermelon, Homemade Cheesecake with strawberry sauce!

Me and Kathy

Saturday morning - my new 'do

Weekend Update

2008-07-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

Since I had plans to do a race on Saturday morning, I opted to do my long run (8 miles) on Thursday night instead of Saturday. So about 8 pm I headed out with Kathy, Ken, and Roman. I got to see some new sights and even visit the center of the universe! More and more I am starting to enjoy night runs... it is just a different experience. Not something I would ever do alone, but with some friends I felt okay. It was also the first time in a while that I was able to do all of my miles together and at my own pace. Since I am generally training with a group of beginners, my runs are usually dedicated to their pace/distance - but I love seeing their progress each week!

Saturday, I went with Roman, Sloan, Steve, and a few of their friends to the Porter Peach Classic. The town was so tiny that we had to make 2 loops around it for the 5K! It was a lot of fun and I even won 2nd place in my age group - and set a new PR of 27:15. And Sloan, who is pregnant and due in 10 weeks got 2nd place in the racewalk division! Way to go Sloan!! I don't know everyone's results right off, but all-in-all our little group did really well! My only complaint was that the girl who beat me for 1st place was only ahead of me by 24 lousy seconds!

Nothing else real exciting - just a normal weekend of hanging out at home and going to church.

And now, I am sitting in a yucky, smoky bar with my hubby, his best friend who is in town from Singapore, and a few of their other friends. They're playing Golden Tee and I'm trying to give them some space. Mostly I'm just here to drive Randy home. He doesn't get to see these guys very often and it's not usually a pretty site when he does!

Hopefully I can get copies of the pics from Thursday and Saturday on here in the next day or two - haven't figured out how to do that from my cell phone yet.

So that's all I've got for now. I guess I'll just sit here and silently hope that I'll be home before 11!

Happy Anniversary To Me!!

2008-07-17T14:04:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, in honor or our 3rd anniversary, my wonderful hubby sent me this beautiful bouquet! It was comeplety unexpected because he's never sent me flowers before - usually he buys them and brings them home to me. I'm such a lucky girl!!

Still not sleeping

2008-07-12T04:18:00.000-05:00

Well... It's about 4am and time to get up - except I never did go to sleep :-(

I did, however, watch Clueless, Ella Enchanted, and half of 101 Dalmations. I've also eaten breakfast and I'm dressed and ready to go run. Not exactly my ideal evening, but I guess this is what they mean by "power nap!" I'm just glad I don't have anything going on after my run because I have a feeling that I'm going to come home and crash.

But for now, I'm going to watch a bit more of this dalmation movie before I go fill up my car and hit the road.

Trying to get some sleep...

2008-07-11T23:46:00.001-05:00

I'm laying in bed trying to "wind down" so I can get some sleep, but I don't see it happening any time soon - so I'm blogging.

Last night I had a great 5 mile run. I didn't pay attention to my time, but I know I was running harder than usual. By the time I got home, my legs were more sore than they have been in a LONG time. Apparently I didn't sleep very well because I felt like I was dragging all day. There were moments when I thought I could have fallen asleep at my desk! I didn't - but I could have. Randy was out playing golf when I got home, and it was nice to have the couch to myself for a bit. I thought I had found something interesting to watch, but I don't remember what it was so I must have dozed off pretty quickly!! After a little nap, I felt like a new person - but now I can't sleep and I have to get up in four-and-a-half hours.

I really hate having to get up so early on Saturday mornings, but I really do enjoy the peace and solitude during my run. Don't get me wrong - I love running with the group and chatting, but Saturdays are different. Even with the group, I feel like I can be alone with my thoughts. People are still waking up and have a lot less to say than the weekday afternoon runs. And since I seem to have so much to think about lately, I really cherish my quiet time - away from the distractions of work, my computer, my cell phone, the TV, housework, pets - I feel like I can really sort things out and unclutter my brain a bit. So if you see me out on the trail and I seem preoccupied, please don't take it personally! And don't hesitate to interrupt my thoughts - I'm almost always open to chat, it just takes me a little while to wake up!

Happy 4th!!

2008-07-04T21:39:00.001-05:00

Blah Blah Blah

2008-07-01T16:08:00.003-05:00

Well... since I'm getting tired of visiting the RunnersWorld Tulsa blog and seeing that I last updated my own blog over a week ago, I figured I should post something.

Not a whole lot of anything interesting going on...

Saturday I went and ran with my training groups early in the A.M. and then went home and took a long nap. Lounged around the house watching TV until it was time to go to The Full Moon for a 30th birthday party for one of Randy's friends. I had planned on trying to meet some friends for a night run after the party, but after a dirty martini (and a half) I was ready to go to bed.

Sunday was Church and brunch at First Watch. More relaxing around the house.

Yesterday, after work we attempted to go to a screening of Hancock. They had distributed WAY too many passes, so we didn't make it in. They told everyone that there would be another screening at 9:30 and that in the meantime we were free to go to any other movie we wanted. So we saw "Wanted". Bad Ass movie!! It was actually pretty funny. I would definitely watch it again. Since Randy has to get up for work super early, we opted to skip the 9:30 showing of Hancock and we just went home. We know some people that did make it in to see it though, and they highly recommend it. Maybe we'll try to go see that one soon.

I've had a busy day at work today, and I'm looking forward to my run in about an hour. I got some new shorts at Target that I want to try out!!

Later!

Barkley Book Fair

2008-06-21T20:35:00.001-05:00

This is what happens when I attempt trail running... It's a good thing I didn't wear my brand new shoes!! For more info check out the blog at www.trailzombie.blogspot.com

Updates

2008-06-19T14:41:00.001-05:00

Well... I suppose I should take a few minutes out of my busy schedule to update the last few days. Between reading, napping, and watching Lifetime, I just can't seem to find any spare time!!

Monday's qualifier was pretty hard on Randy. The weather caused a lot of delays and it was a very long day for him - mentally and physically. He played well and was well in position to qualify until the last few holes. A 30 minute wait to tee off on one hole and pure exhaustion took him from a score of 3-under to 2-over. Generally in this tournament a par-72 would qualify but several of the tour pros dropped out, so 73 qualified. Randy missed qualifying by one lousy stroke! Hopefully there will other opportunities for him in the near future!

The rest of this week has been pretty ordinary - ortho appointment, new running shoes, laundry. Nothing real special. We did have my parents over last night in honor of Father's day and my mom's birthday. Mostly just relaxing and being lazy... That's what vacation is for, right?!?!

Chasing Dreams

2008-06-16T14:48:00.001-05:00

As I sit here, listening to the hum of the dryer, I can't help but wonder how Randy's round of golf is going - or if the weather has even cooperated enough for him to tee off. You see, my husband's dream in life is to play professional golf, and his dream has become my dream. I too would love to see him play golf professionally. And today is his shot. Today is a Monday Qualifier for a Hooter's Tour event. A good score today will allow him to play in a professional tournament this weekend, and a good finish will let him continue on to the next tournament and hopefully some sponsorship opportunities. I haven't heard from him in 7 hours and it's driving me crazy!! I wish I knew something, anything, about how his day is going...

I got tagged....

2008-06-12T14:06:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my friend TZ, I’ve been tagged!!! I’ll answer the 5 questions he gave me, and then tag 5 people who I want to know how THEY will answer the same questions. I think it’s a pretty fun way to learn a bit about people you run with (or runners that you know, but don’t run with). We all have a motivation behind our running… What’s yours??

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
Well, a few years before that, I ran cross-country and loved it. I then moved to a small school that didn’t have cross-country (or track for that matter). Then my senior year our school started a track team. I’m a distance runner, not a fast runner so I opted for 3200 meter, which equates to about 2 miles. Friends, let me tell you, running 8 laps around a track is NOT FUN. So after the season, I stopped running until a year-and-a-half ago.

2. What was you best and worst run/race experience?
My best race experience was my first ½ marathon. OKC Memorial Marathon in April 2007. It was a beautiful day, I really felt like I accomplished something, I finished strong, and I knew I was hooked! OKC puts on an amazing event for a great cause, and I plan on doing the full marathon in 2010 when they have the 10th anniversary of the race. My worst race experience was my first (and so far only) marathon in November 2007. You can read my previous blog about it here... Marathon Blog

3. Why do you run?
For my health. More for my mental health than my physical health, but it’s all the same in the end! This may sound totally corny, but I feel alive when I run. I feel so at peace with myself, and I am never more aware of my 5 senses than when I run - the rotten egg smell, seeing rollerbladeguy (and wishing I hadn't), the intersting taste of sunscreen and sweat...
I am practically a different person when I run consistently. When I’m not running, I am moody and cranky. I recently took some time off to recover from an injury and general burn-out, and I wouldn’t say that I was depressed, but I was definitely in a funk. Now that I’m running again, I feel much better!

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you’ve been given about running?
I don’t know that this is necessarily the “best” advice, but it’s definitely my favorite! We have a sports dietician that comes and talks to us about the foods we should be eating during training, and she told us that ½ of our plate at each meal should be carbs. Woohoo!!!! I could live on bread and pasta!!! Another great bit of advice that actually pertains to running is from my fabulous coach, Kathy… You can run a lot farther without getting tired if you run slower. This was hard for me to grasp because I always thought you had to be practically sprinting to consider it a run. Nope – by making yourself slow down and building a good base, you will eventually start running faster.
5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.
I am a distant relative of Laura Ingalls Wilder! I don’t remember exactly, but I believe her Great-Grandfather was my Great (x 4 or 5) Grandfather.

And now that I've done my part, these are the 5 people that I am tagging...

Joye (AKA Mom)
Christa
Susan
Deana
Christin

Weekend Update

2008-06-12T08:45:00.003-05:00

Well, now that the week is just about over, I figure I should probably update my very long weekend!

If you'll recall, I left work early Friday so that I could go see Sex and the City - LOVED IT!!! I want to see it again, and again, and again! It's been a long time since I've seen a movie that made me laugh, and then cry, and then laugh, and then cry some more - over and over throughout the whole movie - sometimes they were happy tears, sometimes not. I'm not going to give anything away, in case someone hasn't seen it yet, but it is well worth it! I even went by myself (which I have NEVER done) and it really didn't matter that I was alone, because once the movie started, I wouldn't have even noticed if Paul Walker strolled into the movie theater. Mmm... Paul Walker...

Anyway, after that I went and got my hair cut, picked Randy up from work, went home, took a nap, and then went to my boss' house for a cookout. Nothing special really - just hanging out, eating burgers, and having some beers. Around 10 we all drove over to Riverlanes for Glo-Bowling, which I haven't done since high school. I must say, Riverlanes is much nicer than it used to be! We had a good time, bowled for a couple hours and left a little after 1am. I wonder if Paul Walker likes to bowl...

Saturday morning, I got up bright and early (after about 4 hours of sleep) and met my running group at 6:45. We had our fall training kick-off, and while the group I am leading wasn't starting until 8, I wanted to be there to help out. I thought about getting my own miles in while I waited, but opted to just wait and greet people who were coming back from their runs and greet new people arriving for the 8am run. I ended up seeing a girl that I hadn't seen in about 9 or 10 years. We went to the same church for a few months and she also dated my best friend's boyfriend's best friend, who I worked with. It was good to see her, and I'm looking forward to catching up with her! After I led my little troop on a 2 mile run/walk, I went and did a few more miles with my friend Ken (AKA Trail Zombie) and his wife, Dana. It was the first time I'd gone more than 3 miles since the marathon back in November, and it felt great!

After my run, I went and took a nap in my car while I waited for Randy to finish his round of golf at Page Belcher, and then took him to get his hair cut. While I waited on him, I checked out a fairly new store called The Frugal Bookworm. It is a used book store, but it seems pretty pricey. I prefer The Book Place. Then we stopped for some lunch and headed home. After cleaning up, a quick nap, and a trip to the store, I made some mint brownies for another cookout. Another member of our running group was having a little get-together so we can all meet each other's families. It was fun and I got to meet some new people!

Sunday was our new pastor's first day at Church. Technically he'd been there all week, but it was his first sermon for us. So far, I like him. I'm going to miss our old pastor (and one of our associate pastors is leaving as well) but I'm looking forward to having something new!

Nothing special on Monday...

Tuesday I went and met my group. I started out slow and easy with the new run/walk group and then went ahead to learn some names and make sure the faster new people knew where to turn around, then went back to meet/finish up with the run/walkers but there were nowhere to be found. I finally found Coach Kathy, who told me that she had them turn around at 2 miles instead of 3 and that there were already done and resting. So I turned back around and found the last person from the group of newbies and finished the last miles with her. After our group stretch and some resting, a couple of new girls showed up. Kathy went to go run with them, and I decided to go along too. So all-in-all Tuesday I had more than 6 miles, but less than 8. A little farther than I went on Saturday, and it still felt good! Maybe I will train for another marathon after all....

This is the song that never ends...

2008-06-06T10:05:00.002-05:00

Anybody remember Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop?

It's only 10am and I already feel like this is the day that never ends!

I went and met my running group last night, and passed the bunnies off to Stacy and Faith, a mother-daughter running team in the making. I am inspired by Stacy because not only does she get out run with the group, she brings her adorable baby girl and pushes her in a full-size stroller. Sometimes, it's hard enough to get myself out there to run, and right now, I can't even imagine doing it with a stroller. I do hope to, though, someday!

The run was pretty rough - if you weren't outside at all yesterday, you are pretty lucky. The wind was BRUTAL!! At times, I felt like I was running in place. But all-in-all it was a pretty good run. Afterward, I met some other members of our group at Mazzio's to sign-up and discuss being group leaders for the new session of training runs starting on Saturday. I'm going to be helping the beginners who are working up to a 5K, and I'm really excited about it!

So I get home, get cleaned up , and go to bed - only to be woken up by my husband wanting to know if our neighbors gave us a key to their house (for emergencies) - no, not yet. Apparently Kelly (the dad) locked himself out while he was talking to Randy; and his wife and girls are out of town on a Girl Scout trip. I go back to sleep, just to be interrupted again, because Randy can't find a flashlight. I tell him where to find one (and contemplate telling him where he can put it) and then go back to sleep. I vaguely remember him coming back home and telling me that they finally had to call a locksmith before the tornado sirens went off. After watching the news for an hour or so and determining the danger had passed (around 1 or so) I again went back to sleep - until my alarm went off at 5:10.

So now, here I am, working away - I've been at work since about 6:45, and noon cannot come fast enough. I'm taking a 1/2 vacation day and going to see Sex and the City at 12:40, then getting a haircut at 3:30, picking Randy up from work, going home (hopefully with enough time for a nap, heading to my boss' house around 7 for an employee appreciation cookout until we all leave to go glow bowling from 12 - 2. And then I get to get up and start training at 6:30.

So you see... this really is the day that will never end!

"This is the song that never ends,
Yes it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was,
And they'll continue singing it forever just because —> "

And now you can have the song stuck in your head too!

Update #2

2008-06-05T15:28:00.001-05:00

Target just called and my pictures are finally ready. How annoying...

Picture Update

2008-06-05T15:03:00.002-05:00

So, here it is, 3pm and my pictures are still not ready. For the record, I will never again use Kodak Gallery for in-store pickup. After spending nearly 2 hours at Target waiting for my pictures, I was informed by the girl (who had Kodak Tech Support on the phone) that my pictures had been cleared out of the system and needed to be resumbitted by Kodak. And then she proceeded to restart the computer, again, for probably the 3rd time. It would have taken at least 20 minutes for it to reboot again, and I HAD to get back to work. So I told her to call me as soon as they were ready. That was an hour ago. I'm curious to see just how long it actually takes them to call me. I won't be holding my breath...

Target Photo

2008-06-05T13:22:00.003-05:00

Well... I'm at Target right now and I am NOT happy. I sent in some photos online for 1 hour printing at 10:45 this morning and 3 hours later they are not ready yet. I've spent my whole lunch hour (and then some) waiting for these pictures because the girl that works here keeps telling me it should just be a few more minutes. And I haven't even had any lunch yet... I need the pictures before I leave work, or else I would just come back later and pick them up. GRRR......

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kids do the darndest things

2008-06-02T20:33:00.001-05:00

We had some friends over for dinner tonight, and their 2 daughters (6 & 9) decided to play dress up with my dog. He was very patient as they tied bandanas around his waist, neck, and each of his feet. How they got him to sit still for that i'll never know!

Mobile blogging

2008-06-02T10:50:00.001-05:00

just testing my settings to see if i set this up right!

Bunnies on Parade

2008-05-30T08:45:00.004-05:00

Well, last night I went and met my running group at RunnersWorld and got in a few miles. On Thursday nights before we run, we have the passing of the bunny slippers. The bunnies are sort of an inspirational trophy and the holder of the bunnies gets to keep them for a week and do something fun with them before passing them along to another person who has inspired them in some way. So far, the bunnies had a night out on the town, thanks to Carmie; they made a baby bunny, thanks to Brenda; and they celebrated Memorial Day at a cookout with Susan. Now it is my turn! Susan passed the bunnies off to me because she admired my comeback after my break (and later told me that she wants to run as fast as me!) I'm not particularly fast, but it helped to remind me that even when you don't think you're doing anything special, you just never know who you may inspire! I already have a pretty good idea of who I will be passing the bunnies to next week, and I'm sure they will be very surprised!! But in the meantime, what will I do with the bunnies??

PS: If you click on the picture, it will open up to a bigger size and you can see my beautiful teeth!!

Corn-on-the-cob

2008-05-29T15:53:00.002-05:00

So... last night for dinner I had corn-on-the-cob for the first time in 2 1/2 years! That's right, folks! My braces have come off!!!

They actually came of on Tuesday afternoon, but it was a bit painful so I had to wait until yesterday for my corn. And I learned 2 very important lessons yesterday...

1. I need to buy some Corn-Cobbers. If it weren't for my amazing friend, Becky, I would have been eating my corn with my hands.
2. I need to practice my corn-cooking skills. I'm a pretty decent cook, but when you haven't made something in 2 1/2 years, you tend to get a little rusty.

I slathered some butter on it, put some salt and grill spices on it, wrapped it in foil and had my hubby throw it on the grill. Would have been much better if I'd used a little more spices and if it had stayed on the grill a little longer.

But all-in-all it was pretty good. And now that I can actually eat it, I will get plenty of practice. My poor hubby's going to hate me in a few weeks!

I'll try to get a picture posted of my new beatiful smile! I know the mystery blogger over at RunnersWorld Tulsa. Maybe I can get him to take a picture for me!

P.S. Feel free to share your favorite corn-on-the-cob recipes with me!!

Time flies by...

2008-05-19T16:54:00.002-05:00

Wow... Time seems to be flying by. I don't know where the weekend went, because I sure don't feel like I accomplished anything - and May - where did that go?!?!?! I can't believe that Memorial Day is in one week!

I didn't even realize that I haven't posted anything since last Monday. I can't figure out where last week went either! I know I went and ran on Tuesday and Thursday, but the rest of the week is pretty much a mystery!

Anyway, back to the weekend! I had every intention of getting up early on Saturday and going to volunteer at the Aquarium Run 1/2 Marathon and 5K. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well that night and opted to keep sleeping when my alarm went off! I went to the store to pick up some stuff to make for a party on Saturday night, did some work in my garden, took a shower, and proceeded to start making party food. I have decided that I need a stand mixer. I've always thought they looked cool, but now I need one. I have an old (probably from the '70's) food processor/blender/stand mixer, but it is horrible for mixing. I was trying to make Trisha Yearwood's Cheese Straws - which are basically homemade "cheese-its" and I ended up looking like Chester Cheetah puked all over my kitchen. It was not a pretty sight. I finally got the mixture together, but had issues getting it to shape like a straw, so I ended up making what looked like peanut butter cookies. A few people at the party were pretty confused even though I tried to tell everyone that they weren't cookies. I hope to make them again sometime, but I definitely need better tools to work with!

So, the party - which was supposed to be my hubby's coworkers and spouses - was pretty fun. We cooked out, drank, played volleyball in the dark... good times! Unfortunately, some people brought extra friends with them. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with this, but one of the extras was a cop from a nearby town and he was trashed and carrying a loaded gun around. If you're a cop - show some responsibility. Don't bring a loaded gun into someones house - especially if you're drinking! What an idiot. Then, Mr. Responsible's girlfriend tried to steal my sunglasses! Seriously people - grow up! Just because I'm having a good time and goofing around does not mean that I'm too drunk or too stupid to realize that my shades are gone. Whatever...

And even though we got home at 2am, we still got up and went to Church on Sunday, which was a very nice treat. It was "Confirmation Sunday" which meant that the 8 youth who have been in Confirmation this year were graduating into full church membership. They put on the entire service themselves - including a short drama that was a knockoff of "LOST" (my fave show ever!!). They really did a great job and I'm glad I didn't miss it! After lunch I went home to work on my garden, but I didn't get very far. Decided to rest and chat with my neighbor - then we went and got her hammock out of storage and set it up and relaxed while our hubbies grilled some burgers.

All in all, a pretty decent weekend. I'm hoping this week goes by just as fast, since I'm scheduled to have my braces off next Tuesday! I can't wait!!

Happy Monday!

2008-05-12T16:49:00.002-05:00

So, there's nothing particularly special about today, but I'm hoping for a good week!

I did have a nice and productive weekend, so I'm feeling happy about that.

Friday night, we had a trivia night at our church. We did okay... not the worst team, but not the best either. I think we were somewhere in the middle. It was a lot of fun, and I'll definitely participate again. They also had a live and silent auction which was pretty fun too - I "won" a $50 gift card to Panera and 4 tickets to any regular season Oilers hockey game for the 2008-2009 season. I love hockey!

Saturday morning I got up bright and early to take my dog to the groomer and my husband to work - by 7am! I proceeded to go home, get some cleaning and laundry done, and go do some Mother's Day reconn shopping for my hubby and then picked up the dog and hubby by 10am. Went home dropped of the dog, got hubby cleaned up and went to have skin cancer screenings done, went back to the Pretty Penny and showed hubby previously reconned M. Day gift which we then purchased. Headed back towards home with the intent of grabbing some lunch but McD's lobby was closed and drive-thru was way too long. Then attempted Wendy's which was also massively croweded, and bailed on that idea. We ended up stopping at Wally World for some T.P. and got some food to go from the McD's inside. After lunch and a short nap I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up some pictures that I'd had framed for my mom for M. Day, and then went home to get ready for the Full Moon Run!

The run was great! I had a clock time of 30:01 and chip time of 29:25. I had hoped to be under 30 minutes, so I'm happy with it. It was hard and the 2nd half was into the wind, which didn't help at all! We stayed around and listened to the "U2" tribute band for a while and went home around 10.

Sunday brought church, lunch with our moms, and some much needed work on my garden. I've never really felt like it was "my" garden because everything in it was planted by the previous owner and I don't have a clue what most of it is. So now that I've made some headway and removed some bushes that I didn't like - it is now "my" garden (in progress!)

I wish I had taken some before pictures, and I can still get some but you won't get the full effect. I'll still be working on it most of the week, and hopefully planting my own choices this weekend, so stay tuned! I'm sure I'll plenty to say!

Running and Weather

2008-05-08T13:18:00.003-05:00

This time, the 2 are unrelated!

Tuesday's run didn't go so well - in fact I never actually even ran. I did manage to walk about 1.5 miles - so at least I was doing something! I am not a coffee drinker - I can drink decaf but regular coffee really messes with me. I had about a 1/2 cup of regular coffee on Tuesday morning and it was NOT a good idea - I won't do that again! Let's hope today's run goes better!

If you didn't see any of the weather last night around 7pm, you really missed out! No matter how much I try to be a city girl, it won't happen - I am and always will be a country girl. When the news station informed us of a tornado warning and that the storm was headed towards us, I couldn't have gotten outside fast enough! It was too far away to see anything at that point so I very impatiently kept running in and out - checking the TV and back outside again. Something about the tornado sirens really gets me excited! When the storm spotter on the news said that he saw a funnel (not touching the ground) about 2 miles from my house, I was back outside. The storm came through pretty quickly after that and I just stood outside watching in awe as the clouds swirled above me. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was crazy!

I took a couple pictures, but I'll have to post them later - I gotta get back to work!

Hope Rains

2008-05-05T13:04:00.001-05:00

Saturday was my first ever trail race!! It was also my first race of 2008 and my first race since the marathon in November. The weather was a little chilly for standing around but it was perfect for running and after finishing the grueling 5K course we were treated to steak for breakfast! My time wasn't great, but I really didn't put in a full effort. I was really just out there to have fun and experience trail running - I'm hooked!! My mom came out to spectate but everyone in our running group convinced her to run. Even though she didn't have her running shoes or preferred attire, and she hadn't run in months - she placed 3rd in her age group!

Way to go, Mom!!

Trail Zombie has a much better race report (with pictures!) here.... http://trailzombie.blogspot.com/2008/05/hope-rains-trail-5k.html
but I wanted to share my 2 cents! It was a great race and I'll definitely be back next year!

Bugs... Yuck!

2008-05-02T16:52:00.003-05:00

Oops! I left out one very important detail...

We had our house inspected last week and we have termites and carpenter ants. Super Exciting!!

Apparently there isn't any damage yet, and the termites are only in one area but we need to get rid of them - ASAP!!!!

Any recommendations (or non-recommendations) on exterminators???

T-G-I-F

2008-05-02T16:34:00.001-05:00

Wow - this week could not end fast enough! I am so glad for the weekend and I am ready for some down time (after tomorrow's race of course!).

My long week actually started last weekend...

After work on Friday, I went and got my hair cut - yay!! I always enjoy that! I went and picked Randy up from work and we went home and after he cleaned up a bit we went to Bass Pro Shop. They have a pair of shoes that I have had my eyes on for a while, but they never have my size. After 10-15 minutes of being ignored by the man working in the shoe area (he was too busy chatting with an older gentleman and 2 young boys) one of the boys informed him that I needed to be helped. Again, they didn't have my size - not even close! I proceeded to the customer service desk to speak with a manager about the lack of assistance by his employee (and also mentioned that I'd been there twice trying to get the shoes). The manager took my information and told me he would order the shoes and that he would go address the lack of assistance with Mr. Chatty. Then we went and had dinner at Los Cabos - it was okay but not my favorite. I'm certainly not in a hurry to go back.

Saturday morning, I gave much love and attention to my poor, neglected bedroom. Nobody ever sees our room, so it doesn't get a good deep cleaning like the rest of the house. Next project = our home office (also very neglected!) We went out for a round of golf with another couple, and dinner at Osaka. Yummy!!

Sunday was by far the longest day of my life! I woke up at 2:30 am to drive to OKC to watch some friends participate in the marathon and half-marathon. It started out cold, windy, and rainy - but eventually the rain stopped. I met up with someone from my running group and we drove around tracking some of our runners. At one point we thought our coach was going to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but she missed it by 4 minutes! Her husband on the other hand set new PR at 3:27 - only in my wildest dreams will I ever come close to that! After lunch with some members of group I went shopping - which was uneventful and then headed home. Of course by this time I'd been up for about 15 hours and was ready to go to bed - so to keep myself awake for the drive home I stopped and got some sunflower seeds to eat. As long as I'm doing something, I'm okay but if I stopped eating the seeds I would get drowsy. I totally understand how people fall asleep at the wheel!! I finally made it home and had dinner with my hubby and some friends and finally got to bed around 10.

Monday was just another day at work, as was Wednesday. Tuesday and Thursday were run days which I rather enjoyed, especially Thursday. Everything just seemed right! I ran my first 2 miles at about a 9 min pace and while I was a bit winded I didn't feel like I was running hard. I just got into a rythym and went with it. I chose to walk my last mile because it was so nice out and I just wanted to enjoy the weather a bit. I also got to see my momma and my precious niece Lexie for lunch on Thursday and our neighbors had us over for dinner when I got home from my run, so all in all it was a pretty great day!

And that brings us to today and the end of another week. I'm planning on running the Hope Rains 5K Cross Country run in the morning and then sitting around and relaxing.

Have a good weekend!

Golf Fore Missions

2008-04-22T15:44:00.002-05:00

So, just an update to tell anyone who's interested... my weekend was pretty uneventful.

My husband, on the other hand, played golf on Sunday for our church's annual Golf Fore Missions fundraiser, and his team won 1st place!!! His team actually tied at 59 with another team, but after the tie-breaker his team won! Yay!!

Going running today... it's hot and the air is so thick you can practically taste it. I can't wait!!! I'm so glad that I can finally just throw on a tank top, slather on some SPF 30, and get out the door. I hate having to wear layers, and I hate searching for my headband, gloves, and other cold weather gear. This is my type of weather!

Is it Friday yet????

2008-04-17T13:58:00.003-05:00

This week seems to be dragging by... Today seems pretty slow in particular. It's 2pm (and yes I should be working) but I feel like it should be 4-4:30. I think a big part of it stems from the fact that I didn't leave the office for lunch. And I spent my lunch hour at my desk, catching up on the episode of Bones that I missed on Monday. So I have been at my desk way too long!

Anyway, Tuesday I went and ran with my group for the first time in a couple months!!! It felt so good to get out in the sunshine and fresh air (plenty of fresh air... in 30mph gusts). And I got to see all my people! I've missed them all so much and it was good to catch up with them! So now that I've made the first leap, today is supposed to be another group run day - and of course it's crappy and supposed to start storming right around the time we're supposed to start running. Now don't get me wrong - I thoroughly enjoy running in a nice summer rain - but it's not summer and it's likely to be storming - complete with lightening and the possibility of hail. No thank you! Of course that's still a few hours away - a lot can change between now and then!

Yesterday I had a checkup with my orthodontist and I still need a few "minor" adjustments. Apparently his definition of minor and my definition are not the same. When I can't bite into a soft puffy french fry from Braums without excruciating pain, we have extended beyond "minor". And since we are still making adjustments, I can't move up my removal date. (see my blog from March 10 for more info). Basically, I will still not be able to eat corn-on-the-cob on Memorial Day... GRRRR.

I gotta get back to work. Later!

New week...

2008-04-14T10:45:00.003-05:00

Well, it's the start of a new week, and I'm feeling pretty refreshed. I opted to stay home in the comfort of my warm bed most of the weekend. With all of the storms lately, I haven't been sleeping well, and it was nice to just relax and sleep in and rest.

Last week, I heard that Trisha Yearwood would be signing copies of her new cookbook at Barnes & Noble on Sunday at 2pm. I had been wanting to get a copy of the cookbook anyway, so I figured I would just do it on Sunday and get it signed. I had never been to book signing, so I had no clue what I was getting myself into!

I showed up around 1:30, after Church and lunch and there was a note on the door that they would begin distributing tickets at 11:00 am. Tickets??? What???

I made my way inside to find it a complete madhouse! I had no idea that so many people were interested in Trisha Yearwood - and many of them had 2+ copies of the cookbook. As I attempt to make my way to the register to buy a copy of the book, I overhear someone leaving the register tell the other members of her party that they are sold out of tickets and that people started lining up at 8:30 that morning. Wow! I like Trisha and all, and it would have been nice to have her autograph my book, but it's not THAT important. I decided to browse around the store for a little while (the side that was actually maneuverable) and waited for the checkout line to go down. All-in-all, I was probably there for 30-40 minutes. In that time, they had only called ticket holders in group A to get in the signing line, and I know the groups went to at least F. People actually waited there ALL DAY!!! There is no person/celebrity/band, etc that I would ever spend that much time on. I have better things to do with my time - like sleep! Anyway, I did buy the book, and I'm glad it did because it's a beautiful cookbook with some great recipes that I can't wait to try.

Of course, I seem to be a collector of cookbooks. I have dozens of other cookbooks that I can't wait to try out too, so I'm making a commitment to myself (and my husband - he just doesn't know it yet!) to try at least one new recipe each week. And not all from the same cookbook, either. I have to spread the love among all my lovely cookbooks! I'm getting tired of eating the same things week after week, and I have no one to blame but myself. So we'll see how it goes!

So, here I am at the start of a new week, feeling refreshed, with a lot to look forward to. Hopefully the weather will be decent so I can get out and run. Wednesday, I go to the orthodontist for my final check (hopefully) and then my next appointment after that will be for removal! Saturday brings the Remember the Ten run in Stillwater, which is near and dear to the heart of my sister-in-law, as one of the people in the plane crash was a friend that she grew up with. If I don't run, I would at least like to go out and support her as she runs. And Sunday brings Golf Fore Missions, an annual fundraiser/golf tournament put on by our church to raise money for various missions throughout the year. I don't play golf, but I will be running the registration table and hopefully getting to know a few more people from our church!

I'll let ya know how everything goes!!

Weather... Grrr...

2008-04-11T11:11:00.002-05:00

Well, so much for my running break being over. I was really looking forward to getting back on track (back on trail, actually) with my running, and I still am looking forward to it, but the weather is not cooperating with me! If it's not hailing, then its freezing, or the wind gusts are enough to knock me down. This has definitely been an interesting week!

Here is it mid-April, and while I expect tornado weather this time of year, it is actually supposed to freeze this weekend - ridiculous!! A friend of mine is doing the Heart Walk tomorrow morning, which I've considered doing, and some of my running people are going to Stillwater for a 25K/50K trail race which I'd like to check out. I have no interest in running it this year, but maybe volunteering at an aid-station would be fun. Of course then we're back to the freezing again - I've become quite a weenie lately. If it's not sunny and above 75, then I don't want to be outside. I am definitely a summer girl and it can't get here fast enough!

So anyway, the point of this is that the Masters is on this weekend so my hubby will be camped out in front of the TV and I have to find something to keep myself occupied. I just wish I could think of something that doesn't involve 3 layers of clothing!

I finally ran!!!!!!

2008-04-04T10:43:00.002-05:00

So, after my marathon in November, I was injured and couldn't really run. It was KILLING me. I hated every minute that I couldn't run. After a few weeks off, I went back out to start running again and I hated every minute that I was running. I think it was a combination of being scared that I would get hurt again, suffering from major burnout from all of my pre-marathon mileage, tired of running up and down the same trail, wanting to sleep in on Saturdays, and not wanting to keep turning down invites from my friends because "I have to run". The weather certainly played a part too. I really needed a break!

And I am now pleased to say that the break is over! I went out after work yesterday to a strech of the trail that I had never been on, and while I only got in a couple miles, it felt great! It was really hard, but great!! I don't ever remember having such a hard time with a 2 mile run, but I should be back up to a some decent milage in no time.

I just have to allow myself to not feel guilted into running, and not feel guilty when I don't want to suffer frostbite, wake up way too early, or miss out on something with my friends/family. Running is part of my life, but I can't revolve my life around running.

And with that being said - I've decided on my next marathon!!! May 2009

http://www.ftcollinsmarathon.com/

Check it out! It looks amazing!!

GRRRR.....

2008-03-10T15:43:00.003-05:00

STUPID BRACES!!!!

I am sooo tired of having these braces on my teeth. I've had them on just over 2 years and it should be time for them to come off. I had an ortho appointment today and the girl that works on my teeth told me to go ahead and schedule my next appointment at 4 weeks and then my removal 3-4 weeks after that - so I could be done in 7 weeks!

But then I get up to the front desk to schedule previously discussed appointments, and that girl told me that the next available appointment is in 5 weeks, and the next available after that (for removal) is another 6 weeks after that.

So now I'm looking at a total of 11 weeks before these suckers come off. I was so excited about the 7 week option - why do they have to have so many other patients?!?!?! I'm running out of patience!! By the time they come off, it will have been 2 years and 4 months and I'm ready for some corn-on-the-cob - darnit!!

The Boys are Back in Town!

2008-02-28T14:41:00.003-06:00

My husband's best friend has been living/working in Singapore for the past few years, and this week is back in town for some meetings and to let all of his friends and family know that he got engaged last week!!! I have yet to meet his fiancee, since the few times she's been to Tulsa, I was out of town. We went out to dinner with him last night, at my favorite sushi restaurant (ok - its my fave restaurant in general, but they happen to have the best sushi I've ever had!). It was great to see him so happy!!

I'm looking forward to having a quiet night at home tonight, since it looks like a pretty busy weekend is in store.

Tomorrow night I have happy hour after work to say goodbye to a coworker who is leaving to go to another company. I know that he'll be happier, and I know that I'll still see him around (he and my husband have known each other for years, and I love his wife and son), but it's still kinda sad.

Saturday will start off bright and early at a garage sale that the youth in our church are doing. I'm on a mission to find some bookshelves, and maybe some other treasure that I haven't seen yet! Then I'm off to buy concert tickets for Kenny Chesney and Leann Rimes - I want to be near the front of the line so that I can get great seats!! I imagine once I get home, I'll do some laundry and take a nap then get ready for another going away party. One of my husbands coworkers is being transferred, so we're all getting together to send him off in style.

Sunday brings church and then a cookout at my aunt's house. I have some cousins coming in from Colorado, and that side of the family never passes on an opportunity for a party! And its usually pretty crazy.

So check back next week - I should have plenty to blog about!

I LOVE SUSHI!!!

2008-02-19T15:34:00.003-06:00

So the sushi party on Saturday turned out to be a lot of fun! It was great to spend some time with my friend, and the sushi was a lot easier to make than I was expecting. In fact, I used my newfound skills last night and made sushi for dinner! I can't wait to get myself a sushi cookbook and try some new recipes!! It's safe to say that I'm hooked. A few years ago I learned that I love it, thanks to my hubby's best friend, but it's usually few and far between that we go out for sushi - it's not exactly cheap! But now that I can make it at home, I can have it whenever I want! Of course there will always be some things that I just can't do quite the same as my fave sushi restaurant, but I'll have fun trying!

Anyway - another thing I love is getting a massage - which I'm doing this afternoon. I haven't had one since right before Thanksgiving, and I am LONG overdue! I've never been to this particular spa before, but I won the massage (and a facial) in a drawing - so I figured I'd give it a shot, afterall it's not costing me anything! I'm really having a hard time focusing on work this afternoon (hence the opportunity to blog) and I just can't wait to get out of here and get to the spa.

Hopefully I will get home to find that my hubby has dinner and a nice glass of wine waiting for me... That would be the perfect end to this beautiful day!!

Takin' a break

2008-02-15T12:10:00.002-06:00

Well... the week and a half since my last post has been pretty uneventful (and I'm quite enjoying it!). I gave up TV for Lent, so I've found time for all kinds of other things. We did finally get our Christmas tree down last weekend (I know some of you were concerned about that). It seemed like every time I planned to take it down, something else came up. Of course, I don't feel so bad because I know that one of our neighbors didn't get theirs down until Saturday, too. I've also been reading a lot. I have a bad habit of reading 2 (sometimes 3) books at a time. Most of the time it's not so bad if they're different enough. Right now I'm working a Nora Roberts book - kind of a mystery/love story, and a book called Ultra Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes (I hope I spelled that right). I'm not very far into either, but I have to say that Dean is just cracking me up! I'm really looking forward to his story! Who knows? It just might inspire me... I could really use that these days.

In my last post, I commented on not feeling like myself when I run, and I've decided that it's because I'm not enjoying it. For the most part, since the marathon, every time I think about going for a run I get a knot in my stomach. Don't get me wrong - I love running - but right now it's not fun. I've been feeling like I'm out there because I "have" to be, not because I want to be. And I feel like if I'm not there, I'm letting people down. So I've decided to back off and run when I'm ready to run for me, because I want to. While I love the comradarie of running with my group, running is something that I have to do for myself. And even though I miss my "people" and have moments where I miss being out on the trail, my heart just isn't in it right now.

So enough of that... I'm going to a sushi making party tomorrow night with my friend Melissa. I'm so excited! I love eating sushi, but I've never tried to make it myself - it just seems intimidating. So we'll see how it goes! I'm even more excited because Melissa and I haven't done anything together (without our guys and other usual suspects) since before I got married (so at least 2 1/2 years). Of course, we always manage to find trouble when it's just the 2 of us - so this should be interesting!

I should have some pictures and something worth blogging about on Monday. Have a good weekend!

New Beginnings

2008-02-06T10:52:00.001-06:00

Wow! I finally have a chance to get on here and update - but since I've slept since my last post, I've decided that it's not going to be much of an update. Rather than try to recap everything I've done over the last 2 months, I've decided that I'm just starting fresh. And since Lent started today, I think it's okay for me to do that. Lent is basically "spring cleaning" for the mind and soul, and why shouldn't that include my blog??? No sense in cluttering up my head or my blog with stuff that's not all that important in the long run!

Speaking of long run... I've really been slacking. I was sick during Christmas, and I just don't feel like myself when I run these days. It seems to take a lot out me, and my lung capacity is terrible! I hate being winded when I've only run 1.5 miles. So far my longest "long run" this year has only been 4 miles. The weather hasn't helped much either - I just can't bring myself to get out there when it's just downright crappy. I'm ready for spring and sunshine and warmer weather...

In other news, my hubby and I think we have found our "church home" and I am looking forward to our first Easter/Lenten season in our new "home." I plan to use this time to really evaluate and make sure this is where we really want to be and where we want to raise our family. It is a nice sized congregation, and they have a lot of different programs, Sunday School classes, activites, etc for all ages. It's quite different from the church I went to in high school, and also quite different from the church my husband grew up in, both of which we've decided aren't right for us. We both feel comfortable at this church and can see our family there long term. Of course, we've only been going there for a few weeks, which is why I'm looking forward to the coming weeks. I think it will really give us a feel for what we're getting ourselves into!

Put On Your Big Girl Panties And Deal With It...

Where Were You...

So, I Finally Did It...

Heavy

Big Bird Learns about Breastfeeding <3

How To Live The Good Life

New Year's Resolution

Fun With Food!

FINALLY!!!

Happy Halloween!

Save The TaTas

Post 100!!!!

Nate's New Trick

Nathan's Birth

Don't Tell Tom Cruise...

Little Nate

It's a Boy!!

Baby Time! (almost...)

Showers and such...

Nursery Photos!!!!!!!!!!

I Should Have Known!!

Crib Pics and "Mystery" Gift

Tipping the Scales

Bring on the gifts!! **Updated**

Yippee!!!

Doctor Drama...

Catching Up

Long Overdue...

Baby Harper Prayer Request

90 Days and counting...

So much for optimism...

Happy New Year!!

Greetings from Dallas

Buddha Belly and Other Ramblings

Quote of the Day

Getting To Know Your Friends - Christmas 2008

Saturday Long Run and Tuesday's Non-Run

Happy Holidays!

Ultrasound Pics / Oh So Thankful

Crazy Eights

Bring on the Baby Gifts!

Was That A Kick???

Lunchtime update

Mother Road Here I Come...

Friendly Little Game of Tag!

Happy Halloween!

I Can't Believe They Are Letting These People Vote!

That's The Beat Of A Heart

New Baby Tickers

Miranda Lambert / Kenny Chesney Pics

Pudding Poll

Butterscotch Pudding

Lovely Weather We're Having!

Pregnancy Tip Revised

Pregnancy Tip Of The Day

I <3 Kenny!

Don't Blink

First Appointment

April 12, 2009

Weekend Update

Response to Trail Zombie's Rant

Tuesday Run

Greetings from The Big "D" y'all

Rain or Shine...

Tuesday Run

Run for Fun!

Weekend Update

Happy Anniversary To Me!!

Still not sleeping

Trying to get some sleep...

Happy 4th!!

Blah Blah Blah

Barkley Book Fair

Updates

Chasing Dreams

I got tagged....

Weekend Update

This is the song that never ends...

Update #2

Picture Update

Bring on the gifts!! Updated