Quality Time

There are million things that need to be done everyday, okay maybe not a million. If you're a stay-at-home parent though, you know what I'm talking about. There are always chores like laundry, dishes, cleaning, errands to be run, bills to pay, kids to taxi, etc...I am a guilty of trying to get all of that done at the expense of my kids some days. Today I have a sick kid at home, a sick husband resting at home when he can, a mountain of laundry to be folded and put away, and a house that needs to be disenfected. My husband, in his best pathetic voice, asked me to make some apple banana muffins when he spied the ripe bananas on the counter. I meant to make it a couple days ago, but didn't find the time. And really, today I have other things that need my attention, namely catching up on school work. As I started preparing to make the batter for the muffins, I asked Katherine if she wanted to help me. She couldn't wait to start. As the youngest of four, she often takes a backseat to her sisters as I take them from one activity to another. So today we had some fun together making muffins and jello jigglers. She learned an important lesson today too...never lick the spoon and put it back in the batter!! Good thing I caught her before it went back in. Never a dull moment!

24 Day Challenge: Day 4

So techinally today is day 5, but the flu gave me a slight setback. Now I'm back on track and down a pound so far. I was a little worried today about running an 8 miler and being able to stick to the eating part of the clense,  but so far so good. I don't feel like I planned as well as I should have for the dietary part, but I'm doing my best. Ready to start the Max phase, so pushing through the next 6 days.

24 Day Challenge: Day 1

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Ever felt like you just can't lose those last 10lbs.? This is how I feel at the moment. My goal is to PR in my next half-marathon and dropping those last few pounds will help me increase my speed. Easier to run when you have less to carry around! And really...I hate that picture of me, but it's great motivation to keep going.

So today I'm starting the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge. Here I am on Day 1 at 136lbs. For those of you unfamiliar with this program, the first ten days are the cleansing phase that focuses on getting rid of unwanted toxins in your body.  I managed to drink the fiber drink this morning with breakfast, but wow was that thick! Good thing you only take for 3 days at the beginning and again the last 3 days of the cleansing phase!  I'm also using Spark, OmegaPlex, CorePlex with Iron, and Catalyst. Today's workout included a 19 minute 2 mile run and a modified CrossFit Mamas WOD. Tonight I'll take the first round of Herbal Cleanse.

DD#290 Out of place

Being surrounded by couples is always hard for the wife of a deployed soldier. For me it's worse when it's an event that my husband would have enjoyed. I know had he been with me last night, that we would have been all over that dance floor two steppin'. Now on the tail end of our third deployment, I'm somewhat used to this feeling and so I just push it to the side and keep going. I still had fun with some good friends last night.

What really made me feel out of place though was my run in with a woman with no ties to the military. Our kids go to the same school. I probably never would have talked to her except that I was watching a friend play blackjack with several of our other friends. All of their husbands were on the other side of the room when this woman goes and sits down in the middle them and starts talking. She has a dress on that's way too short and of course she's showing some cleavage. Oh and she seems to be drunk. So I thought I would go distract her a little bit and strike up a conversation. I went over and introduced myself and told her our kids went to the same school. So we got to talking about what grades our kids were in etc..Then she asked me something that caught me off guard..."So what do you do? Or do just really support stuff like this?" At first I said something about being a stay at home mom, but before I could mention that my husband was in the army, she was distracted by her friends who had been trying to find her.

On my drive home that night, I realized she wasn't really asking me what I did...she wanted to know how I could afford to be at this fundraising event. It hit me then, she's seen me around the school and was obviously trying to figure out how we had the money to attend something like that. It's good thing she wasn't nearby when this revelation struck. I don't get all dolled up to go get my kids from school and we don't go to the country club. I'm still slightly reeling from the fact that she even asked that question! It's a good thing our kids aren't in the same grade. I love the school my kids go to, but I think some of the parents need a good attitude adjustment!!

DD#260 Refreshed

Well, it's been forever and a day since I blogged last. I've thought about it many times, but I really just never sat down to do it. I have to laugh as I look at the title of my last post "running log"...I was planning on logging all my runs on here, but May and June were one big blur. I was still running a couple times a week, but everyday was filled with something and blogging obviously wasn't one of those things!

I hadn't planned on running this morning. I'm still nursing a hamstring injury, so I was planning on taking it easy for another couple of days and just focus on stretching and loosening up my muscles. One of the kids woke me up around 4:45 and then between hunger pangs and a mind with too much to think about I never went back to sleep. For an hour I ate, stretched, and used a heating pad. As I did all of this I read a few more entries from Mile Markers by Kristen Armstrong. The last one I read really caught my attention. Here is the quote the whole entry was based on:

Do the same thing you have always done and you will get the same thing you have always gotten.

It hit me like a hammer. It pertained to so many areas of my life, not just running, but parenting, relationships, overcommittment, etc... The list could go on and on. After that I decided to get up and lace up my shoes and head out the door. I only ran two miles and two very slow miles at that, but it was one of the best runs I've had in a long time. Maybe God knew I needed a little refreshing because I walked outside and realized it had rained. It was really humid, but I set out anyway. Anyone who has run with me knows I love to find a sprinkler along the route. I'll run through them all day long. This morning God turned the sprinkler on for me in the form or a nice gentle soaking rain. It had almost a cleansing quality to it. As I neared the driveway I felt refreshed and excited.

So what is the rut in your life? What is that you do the same way over and over without achieving the results you are looking for? Maybe it's dropping the weight you gained over the winter or from vacation, spending quality time with your kids, clearing out the clutter in your house, or a problem in your relationship with your spouse or a good friend? I know all these things hit home with me or have in the past few years. The point is: Change doesn't come about from doing nothing. What are you going to change today?

DD#179 Running Log

As I was struggling through my run this morning, I realized that not only should I keep my running log on paper, but I should start keeping track of it in my blog. So I might as well start with today...

Actually I'll backtrack a little...Sunday was my long run day. For me at the moment that was only 2.75 miles, but you have to start somewhere right? It was a really good run. I was at a Girl Scout camp with Megan's troop so I managed to get up before everyone else and slip out quietly. The camp wasn't very big so I felt like I was running in circles repeatedly, but all in all it felt good. Well except for the really steep hill to get back up to the Lodge.

I managed to wake up early to run this morning. I am not a morning person. Before kids I could easily sleep until 10am and stay up until midnight. I have noticed myself slowly changing and now I seem to wake up early, usually before the kids or alarm start making noise. I still struggle to go to bed earlier because at heart, I am a night owl. I am not looking forward to the summer months when I'll have to get up early to run before the temperatures get to hot. Anyway...today I felt really sluggish. I'm pretty sure it was because I was dehydrated and not prepared for the humidity. It really made me realize that I need to reach for water or a Lifewater more often during the day especially the night before a run.

I have 2 weeks until the 5K out at Milford and I'm not too worried about being able to run it. On Sunday I probably could have run 3, but I didn't want to run back down the hill! Wimpy, I know...Then it'll be time to start training for the 10K. It's all about having attainable goals...

DD# 164 Keeping my head above water

There are just some days when it feels like I'm good if I can keep my head above water. Trying to do all my normal things plus the things my husband would normally do. The yardwork seems to take as much time as the housework. The kids need to be everywhere all over town. And to top it all off I can't seem to say no, so I have my own commitments to see to as well.  I think we have something every night during the month of May. This wouldn't be so bad if there were two of me. Maybe in my spare time I'll work on cloning... Until then, I'll just keep treading water...