Why Kids are better than Cats

Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE our cat. Many hours and tears have been spent in her name. We are in NO WAY getting rid of her. EVER. But, I have had some time to realize that even though our kids are in Wisconsin with relatives, my house is no way FREE from the 'messes'. I think she misses the kids dearly. She now has a new name. Sassy.

1. The litter box. 'nuf said. I love our litter, but the sassy girl, is messy.
Kids: May 'forget' to flush, or miss the target but they have ears and arms that work to clean it up themselves.


2. The knock off... or over. Don't even think about having a drink, remote, watch or ANY thing on a table or counter top. Soon when you leave it will end up on the floor. Grrrr. At least we are currently renting. I think when we move, we are going back to sippy cups for ALL OF US until she grows out of this problem.
Kids: They don't spill drinks or knock things over on purpose (generally), just to see what happens.

3. Claws. I just couldn't bring myself to de-claw her. She had a rough start, and if she would ever escape from us, I would like to know she could defend herself. Our couch, is for example, sucumbing to her. I picked her up a scratching post. Hopefully more soon.
Kids: Although my kids tend to like long nails, they don't growl at me when I cut 'em.

4. Fly-a-ways. Cats shed. Like most animals. My allergies act up when I pick her up. I always forget how my face doesn't like her hair. But she is sooooo soft!! My eyes and nose itch after a few rubs.
Kids: Have hair, but no shedding and for some reason I am not allergic. hmmmm.

5. Moods. She likes to make sure you know when she is in a 'mood'. Her favorite is to hide under the bed and attack your feet. I hate big feet. (mine)
Kids: The don't talk to me when they are in a 'mood'.

6. The learning curve. I can pick her up off the counter and put her on the floor and she will hop right back up there. Even when I am right there!! 3x in a row.
Kids: They do get the hint. It may be a tone or a grip of the arm or a tap upside the head. (ok. please note. I did not say beat the snot out of them.)

7. Misplacement. I have lost my glasses, my blush brush, and my watch. Just to name a few, due to her 'lets see what happens when I do this' attitude. Re really likes to pull open the top draw of our vanitiy and carry my blush brush to the kitchen. When I ask what happend to X. She sits and stares blankly. Go figure.
Kids: Can either a} tell me where it is or b}help me look for it.

8. Manners. Our cat LOVES to sit directly on my computer while I am typing or reading. As if to say, Your done. It is ALL ABOUT ME NOW.
Kids: Thankfully my kids, since the youngest is 7, do not feel the need to crawl all of tables or my lap when they can tell I am busy.

9.Bedtime. I LOVE ME SOME SLEEP. LOTS. Somehow she feels the need to 'tenderize' our mattress. ... paticularly directly above our heads. Oh yeah, good times. We now had our door fixed. We can lock her out at night. YAY!!!
Kids: My kids no longer wake me in the middle of the night to 'play' or 'tenderize' our mattress.

10. Begging. String Cheese can not be opened without her sitting on top of or bolting toward you.
Kids: They can get their own food. No need to beg. Ok, maybe they do for other things, but sometimes it is the simple things, ya know?

I am so glad to see them soon!! Love you guys!!xxoo

Hi- Ho- Silver!

Tomorrow. I ride.

I feel like it has been FOREVER since I used my road bike. Technically close to it is probably closer to 8 months.

My last ride was over 40 miles with my tri friend Dez. We wandered the roads near High Cliff and Wrightstown, Wisconsin. Weather was beautiful and we were fairly conditioned only months out from our hilly Olympic distance triathlon.

I used to complain, during my training, that I wanted my life back. I felt like all I was doing was biking, swimming or running. Now, I miss it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am looking forward to this. A LOT. But the hills here are intimidating and my ego is annoyed that it, quite possibly, could be humbled.

I have been trying to find a decent place to bike.

I have found some short trails but not really made for faster speeds. I am not that fast. But wide open spaces are a bit, limited here. I am told about some converted train track in Indiana but I haven't gotten there yet.

I will be biking with the 'Head of the board of Directors' at the YMCA I work at. Her name is Becky. She is my saving grace, since I still haven't been able to find my bike helmet or tire pump. She said her basement is like 'MONTGOMERY WARD' so I will shop her stash.

We are trying to beat the heat, as it is said to be in the 90's here again tomorrow, so we are heading out at 7:30 am, that is 6:30 for you Wisconsin folk. Yep. So I should really get my butt to bed so I can muster the strength to haul it up these Kentucky hills tomorrow....

Cha- Cha- Cha- Changes!!

The weather is different here fo' sure.

In Wisconsin, systems (i.e- cold fronts, high pressure) seem to hang on for days at a time. I have been reading on Facebook how sad everyone is that they are stuck with rain. Here? Here we get DUMPED on for an hour or two and then they move on and out comes the sun! (AND humidity, thank God for A/C!)

As I type I watch the TV telling us about a storm system that is sweeping on thru the system. The meteorologists seem to be less professional here, which is NOT really a bad thing... Just interesting. People seem to be a bit more laid back down here. About many things.

We are going to have to brave the heat of our storage unit (especially the upper part) to find our birth certificates, titles of both veichles, Proof of ins and proof of residence so we can get new license plates and drivers licenses.

It occured to me today that our extra school supplies, such as crayons, are in the upper part of the garage... *sigh*... they will be interesting to see.

==========

In other news, Duner began running with me last week. It is giving him a new view of working out. He really likes the feeling when he is done. He is quiet while we are running. I know that feeling....

Brock is now where the same size shorts as Duner. Reece is there too! Needless to say, I have a hard time figuring out who's shorts are whose these days...lol. Reece has had a nice attitude adjustment recently. He has become a model kid to his brothers. He makes his bed, he cleans and picks up things without having to be told and reminds his brothers to do the same. Blink. Blink.

The kids love that school is out. Zeb's tooth is bothering him again... looks like he has to get one pulled.... bummer.... we were given the name of a pediatrician to help us with that. More anti biatics again.

I am currently working with Convergy's but I did recieve an offer at a hospital. It has MANY pro's and con's. Pro's include... flexible 20-25 hr schedule. I would need to work between the hours of 6am and 6pm, I choose! More pay. $4 more per hr than convergys.... Local's rave about Christ Hospital, I would be working in the ER of Christ Hospital as a site coordinator, I would be a go to person with many doctors and making sure health records and info would get where it needs to go. The hospital is known for it's cardiac and ob area's. The crime victims typically go to another Hospital. Some of the Con's are... location. It is within miles from the 'nasty' part of Cincinnati. It will increase in hours to 32 to 40 hrs per week in about 6 months. I wouldn't be able to work from home, I would have to drive into Cincinnati everyday (M-F). I don't know the 'benefits' yet. I am supposed to get the benefits in the mail. It is for a company called Teamhealth. Based out of Akron, Ohio. They are creating this position, so not too much is known about it.
I have asked the HR person, if she knows of someone I can take a tour with before I decide.

Duner and I drove around the Hospital. It is in a primarily Black neighborhood with older homes (not that I am saying they are bad). They were very friendly when our GPS took us a to a one way street. All of them liked to hang out on their front porches. They were not home bodies for sure. It really seems to be a nice neighborhood, just next to a bad one. IT is close to the highway, so I wouldn't really be in the area long and the Parking garage has security guards in it.

So, prayers , excellent vibes and good thoughts would be wonderful as we figure things out these few coming weeks! At least our home has a first floor today!! Hopefully we have a ROOF by the end of the week!! Yay!!!

Unexpected Weekend get-a-way!

So, I am at work on Friday. A co-worker pulled out the calendar and says to me, "So, you have off on Monday.' What? Really?? Color me surprised!! Duner wanted to head home to Wisconsin for the weekend and, now we were both off!

We quickly made some sandwiches for supper and packed a cooler to eat as we drove. We headed out about 6pm. We thought with the 'holiday' weekend traffic would be bad. We were pleasantly surprised. We have learned a few tricks, such as avoiding 'downtown Chicago' with Interstate 294 and going around the big city. We didn't have a lot of CASH on hand since we sort of decided this at the last minute, so we had almost enough money for tolls but found out on our last toll, that they do not accept debit cards. 'WHAT??' So the poor people behind us had to wait while she wrote down out license plate number and gave us a bill for $1.50 with a warning to pay our bill in seven days!!! Yikes.
Note to self: purchase an IPASS for tollways.

Ok, so we arrived and checked into our hotel by 2am and drifted off to sleep. We played the weekend by ear, as soon as I learned we were going to Wisconsin I made an appointment to have my eyes checked (cuz I needed some contacts and haven't found a new eye doctor yet). We have a great eye doc. He worked my oldest boys in behind my visit and gave us a discount. I will miss him. We headed to my parents for lunch, Duner's family for the rest of the day in their campsites. Sunday the boys got to play with there friends from Wisconsin and we visited with some old neighbors and friends. Thanks Sarah (and girls), Andrea, Aaron and Kim, Tammy (and family), Alan and Jaynie, Sandi (and boys) for letting us drop in somewhat unannounced! I am sorry for any family and friends we missed out on seeing this weekend, time goes so fast sometimes!

Today we are hitting the pool at the hotel with the boys and their friends before we drop them off and head home to Kentucky. The boys have 1.5 days left of school then they are off til August 17th, when school begins again... They would have gotten out of school earlier this year but Kentucky had so many snow days it extended the year.

I have a busy week ahead of me. My first Arbonne party in Kentucky, working extra at RC Durr YMCA and starting a new Job on Friday. I will be working part-time for Convergy's/Eye Med, answering members questions about deductibles, coverages for their insurance. After the training period, I will be able to work from home. That is what I really like about that. Plus I can get benefits and vacation time!

Have a great week everyone!

Our new healthy life!

I feel like a broken record, but I can not get over how great the weather is down here. It may be only 10 to 20 degrees warmer than Wisconsin, but it really makes the difference.

We have started to walk 3 miles every Monday, Wednesday and Friday's. It has been great. If I am not wanting to walk Duner talks me into it, we try to get the kids to join us, sometimes they walk, but sometimes they bike. Due to the hills Zeb complains easily the most. His little legs just can't do those hills. Even with the bike. We have a special route that we do each time.

Now, we live almost directly behind the Florence Mall. Sort of, like Fox River Mall. Just more hills and woods in the area. In fact, we commonly see deer behind Old Navy. It is very common to see opossum's, turtle's, racoon's, geese (they love the parking lot at the mall), bunnies , and deer. All in our 3 mile loop around our apartment. In fact, we came upon some baby bunnies that we were keeping tabs on until Friday. We could no longer find them. They had a run in with a lawn mower and one was killed, but the rest moved to a culvert and hid, some time, last week.

We have enjoyed so much more time as a family, without any electronics (!) here. I love our walks. I am secretly trying to get some runners in my family. I love to run up the hills and then walk down. (We'll see how long I can keep this up before they catch on, ha. ha.)
We also recently watched some great movies that have opened our eyes on some things that we eat without thinking, that REALLY are not good for us at all. Food Inc. was one and Super Size Me was the other one. We decided to check out our local farmer's market's and watch where we grab our fast food from.
Since we sold our microwave in our last home and don't have a built in here in our apartment, we only have a stove that has 3 burners that work decent and a fridge that can not keep keep celery fresh more than 3 days... we might as well just leave it on the counter top. But I have started to go to the grocery store daily to buy fresh veggies and ingredients that we will use for lunch or supper. I love it. It helps that we live so close to a grocery store so I do not go out of my way. Plus, I don't stock up on 'snacks'. Not sure why, but when I go to the store daily it is easier for me to stay away from the chips.
What ever it is, I hope it continues...
On another note.... we have a foundation now for our home! They poured the cement foundation on Friday, they will pour the basement and soon we should have walls!! Yee Haw! I tried to talk the family into walking from our NEW homesite to Dairy Queen for a treat (2.3 miles one way) but I failed. That will change by the time we move in!! Heck, I'll have them running for it! lol. Have a great week!

Less than Two Weeks...

In less than two weeks we will be doing what I thought I would never be doing ever again.... building our home, again.
Two Months ago, we had picked a home. Nice one, but after some questions rose up with the builder, location and over all value, we decided to back out of that home and look around some more.
Builders in the area are hurting right now with the tax credit out there, all the buyers are quickly going for the existing homes in order to close before the credit goes away. SO, needless to say we are getting a heck of a deal on a beautiful lot.

It is like a dream come true. On Frontier Drive, Deer and other wildlife in abundance will be in our back yard. The lot is almost as big as out last home, just under a half acre, and a hundred acres of trees and wilderness owned by one man that lives a bit behind us.
We love to go to the lot and just stand there. Nothing is there right now, but soon they will be kicking us off the land to make way for our home.

Our kids will get their own bedrooms, which is what they wanted. There seems to be a TON of kids in the neighborhood, hopefully we can make some new friends quickly. We will live just a short ride/ walk from a grocery store, Wendy's and Dairy Queen. Brock is excited to find a job and start earning some money. Zeb and Reece will love having a neighborhood to ride bikes and skate board in.

Until then, we sit and wait... in our apartment, until August.

Kentucky VS Wisconsin : Rachel's top 10

10. Weather. Ahhhh. I can't say enough how beautiful the weather has been. I have worn my winter coat here once, since March 6th. It is only 10-20 degrees warmer but it has really made the difference. We had 2 days of rain. It was a nice solid down pour then nothing but sunshine. We talked to a local that said "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute". Lol. I guess it changes a lot to them. We were trying to avoid using our central air but I broke it out last night. But only for one night.

9. Please? In Wisconsin, when we don't here what someone says we say "Sorry?" or 'What?', but here... they say 'Please?'. I laughed the first time I heard that it just sounded so cute, but now I have gotten used to it. Other words that have taken a bit to get used to are 'warsher' (for washer), ya'll (for you all), and just understanding their adorable twang in some of them. Not all of them have it but, I just absolutely love the accent.

8. Apartment life. Living in an apartment makes me miss having our own home. We are counting down. I miss having a microwave. We sold our built in Microwave with the house and since we are looking at building I don't want to buy one right now. Last week, a neighbor in the next building had a party that really didn't get good until 1am, then it lasted til 4am. Needless to say we both were tired the next day and were afraid to say anything to them, but next time...

7. Schools. All the schools are very secure. All doors are locked except the one to the office. The kids are liking the schools so far. Zeb definitely has much more homework. Brock came home beaming, seriously from ear to ear, when he found out there is lots of girls that ride the bus in the apartment complexes. Reece is REALLY getting a workout in gym class for the first time ever. Reece even asked if we could go to the public library for spring break! Something is wrong with this picture... I know.

6. YMCA. Oh, so many differences. In Wisconsin, we did TONS of laundry, sweat towels and shower towels. Here, you are lucky to have sweat towels. They keep disappearing, so they just don't get more unless someone donates them. More classes are included in the membership, but the cost is $9 more per month here and the joiner fee is double but people don't complain much about it. But the classes that are not included are much more money. Non-members pay $150 for swim lessons that last 7 weeks TWICE a week. Gulp. I have not had anyone shocked by that price yet.

5. Accidents. We live near a Mall comparable to Fox River Mall. We see lots of cops around and hear sirens but we live so close to the main transportation highways that usually the cops are responding to yet another accident. For a while we had a lighted sign above the highway that told us how many deaths were on Kentucky highways. It also reminded us to 'Drive Smart Kentucky'. Oh, and apparently blinkers seem to be optional. Not a lot of people seem to use them.

4. Theme parks. Not only ONE but TWO, no THREE huge theme parks are within an hour and a half of our home! Kings Island, Coney Island and Six Flags in Louisville are all just a short drive away. Coney Island is the smallest, it is bigger than Bay Beach by about 5x, it is the closest. It is by my work. King's Island is about 40 minutes away and 1.5 hours away is Louisville, with Churchill downs horse racing, and a Six Flags theme park. Not to mention the Kentucky Speedway about 20 minutes away! Zeb and Duner are thrilled.

3. Roads. They do not have 'city roads', or many of them. They have lots of curvy narrow roads with lots of hills. Don't get me wrong, it is FUN to drive and beautiful to look at too! But forget bike riding on 'em. I will have to drive to Indiana or Ohio for those I think. But they are both 10 miles from here. It's strange how fast they let you drive on those narrow roads, but I can see why they shut down when it snows. We also heard if they issue a 'code-3' on the roads (meaning bad weather, stay off) and you have an accident, your insurance WILL NOT PAY. Yikes.

2. Shopping. They have some areas with big name brand stores like Kohls, Wal-mart, Target, Toys'r'us, Best Buy,Mejier (like wal-mart), Sears, Macy's, Dillards and of course, my favorite, Starbucks! We live really close to all of 'em. And ton's more. If we need anything it is just minutes away. I really like Mejier. They have a system that makes label reading easier. It scores alot of food on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the number the better. It was very simple to follow and opened my eyes on some of the choices I made. Pop tarts, for example, are about a 4 or 6. I used to get those for a quick breakfast or snack for the kids. BAD!! I wish more stores used the Nuval system.

1. Taxes. Our home we are looking at building is in a county that has CHEAP taxes. 9.98 per thousand (value of the home). We paid $17 per thousand in Wisconsin. Party of the reason is ANYONE that works in the COUNTY will pay a tax for that county. School districts are divided by counties. At first it was a bummer to have that extra tax, but at least our kids are in the district.

New Schools New Job.

Tuesday's challenge was signing the kids up for school. We are living in Florence, Ky till April 26th, when we close on our home in Independence/ Walton. That is the district I want to put my kids into rather than start them in Florence schools and then change them again in April.

Apparently we are going to be in a VERY nice district and people have been known to lie to get their kids in it.

Our new home is on the border for two different counties. Boone and Kenton. One has the Walton-Verona School district, and the other has Piner Elementary, Twenhofel Middle School and Simon Kenton High School. And it is a brand new home, so no one knows the district yet.
Heck, NO ONE could pronounce the sub division. Aosta Valley. (I don't blame them.)

My youngest is in elementary, middle in the middle school and my oldest (who turns 15 today!! Happy Birthday Brock) is in High School. Needless to say, LOTS of schools involved here.

1. Ok. So I go to Piner elementary in Kenton County, because that is what my map and my spec sheet for our new house tells us they go to. They can not find us in their 'approved' list. Which is OKAY.

According to greatschools.org, they are a 5/5/7 out of 10 rating, for they elementary, middle and High Schools. That is the Kenton County schools. The district we just came from was 6/6/5 out of 10.
Boone County is the PREFERRED schools in the area. They are 7/8/10 out of 10.
Piner Elementary vice principal makes 8 calls and tells me to head to Walton-Verona Elementary. (Secretly I am saying YAY!)

2. After Fort Knox type security to enter the school. Really. I. am. not . kidding. I explain to the secretary that I was sent by Piner Elementary to sign up my child. I have to show them proof, and reluctantly she hands me the admission paperwork.

Now, don't get me wrong. They are very nice people but I was so nervous, I was sweating and shaking, I felt like I WAS BEING SENT TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE.

3. By this time the kids are starving since it took me over an hour to talk to them and convince them I am not trying to pull a fast one. So we stop by the home of the world's smallest hamburger. White Castle. The kids loved 'em, but boy are they tiny.

4. Time to try the High School. As I drive up a Boone County squad car is in the driveway. I hope that is not a bad thing. Hmmmm. I was able to walk into the office directly without a locked doorway. I explain why I am there, yes, the long version. The admission's lady said she talked to someone at the Elementary, but of course she too doesn't exactly believe me and calls in a guy to check this out too. Same paperwork, same questions, same answers. Yes, we are in the correct district. If we are not in our home on April 26th, that guy said he is kicking us out of the district. I hope there is no problems with financing. And he said he will be checking. Yikes!
Thankfully the high school and middle school are attached, so she calls over the woman in charge of the admissions for the middle school so we can get all the paperwork sorted out at once.

So, I have about 45 papers now to fill out, with which address, doctors and 'emergency' contacts I don't really know. But I will figure it out.

Now, I am printing some orientation documents for my new job at the Fort Thomas YMCA. I am most likely heading to orientation on Thursday and start after that.

Other than that... so far so good. I LOVE THE WEATHER HERE.

So,December was a long time ago and the last time I was able to post anything on this. Now, I finally have a minute to do it again! Whew.

Okay. After cramming all that we can into a trailer we headed down to Florence, Kentucky and set up are 'temporary' home. At least till our home in Wisconsin is closed and we can close on our new home here in Independence. I never realized how many E's are in that word before. Wow.

Our kids are adjusting well. Brock (the oldest) and Zeb (the youngest) are doing great. They love it here. The weather has been beautiful, I haven't even worn a coat yet! It is supposed to reach 65 here this week!!! We hooked up our computer, washer and dryer. I finally feel like I can accomplish things again. Yay for Laundry!

Today we will find out exactly what schools the kids will be going to. I am hoping to put them in the schools closer to the new home, but we will see. We have to drop off some paperwork for the new home, find the Tropical Smoothie Cafe that is in the area, (priorities, ya' know!) and find some ladies that are in the mood for foot spa and facial parties. (to get my Arbonne going down here)

I also need to get cat food. She keeps trying to squeeze in between me and this computer. I think that is a hint. I better go... have a great Tuesday everyone!

Life is fickle. It can suck.

It can be AWESOME. It can be boring. It can be exciting. I have spent the last year trying to figure mine out.

Last December, when I had my surgery to remove an ovary to make sure it wasn't cancer, I had a chat with God. I said "Ok, if this is not the big bad 'C' word (thanks to family history), I promise to get to know you more. That I did. I also learned a ton about myself. I grew so much this year than I did in the 30 plus years on this earth. And no, it wasn't cancer.

I am not watching as much TV. I don't really want to. I feel 10 times better about not being guilted in the 'missing the best reveal yet' or the 'newest hit of the season'. Thanks to TIVO, I miss all of those commercials that guilted me into checking those out. Now, I still watch my fav's. (Biggest loser, Grey's Anatomy) But I TIVO them. So, I no longer live my life by the tv schedule. Whew. What a relief that is.

I don't want to keep up with the Jones'. They are in debt. They can love you up, or trash talk you behind your back. I want to be real. I don't want to be fake. Ever. Why bother? I don't like to lie, it takes too much of my valuable mind's space to remember who I told what to. We don't have time to use it, either we are working to pay for it or doing some kind of maintenance to it. Why do we bother? I don't care what other people will think of me if a 'talk' to so-in-so.

I love the simple things. I would love to downsize. We built our house in 2005. Great house. Kids love it. In 2008 we finished off the basement, the kids really love that.... but, now we work so hard to 'maintain' it. Recently, my husband told us that he may have a job in Kentucky. They are opening a plant with his company there and are going to need senior operators. We always talked about moving somewhere far away, but we were thinking more like Minocqua,WI. Because it is so beautiful there. I would love to try Kentucky. We are checking things out, but nothing is certain right now.

I am pretty lucky, and happy. I can use my feet to travel miles in a matter of minutes. I am able to use stairs without my spouse or family worrying that I will fall down them. I am loved by a wonderful husband and some pretty great kids who actually listen when I get angry. They don't curse back (ok,yet!). I get to work with (and have in the past) some wonderful people. Good people that are so caring that they cried WITH ME when I got laid off in September. They went to bat to help me stay, which I can't tell you how great that feels. (I miss you guys!)

I am Thankful. I would have never thought of going to Bible camp as a family, if my 7 year old hadn't asked us to go. I was willing to send them for the week, but just never thought of me actually going. I am grateful I did. I have gone myself growing up, but that was kids only, not families. It was a great (albeit) cold experience for my kids and I.

As we look back at the past year, I hope you, yourself can find some great things about each and every one of you. Stop keeping up. Live. This is NOT Heaven, so stop trying to make it one. Someone will always have a 'bigger tv', or better job. But they will also have the bigger bills or more 'junk'.

I hope everyone has a great 2010!

Things I learned recently....
1. How and when to wean a kitten from milk to solids. This is tricky. My kids helped out a lot. Now, we have NO MORE mid- nighttime feedings (!) and no more bottle (or syringe) feedings! Yay for Kitty!!

2. Arbonne is Awesome. I recently also became an Arbonne consultant. All I have to say is 'SWEET!'. Great products, Great rewards, Great Pay! How many jobs can you have in your life that you can help people and feel good about it? I used to say the only job I want is a flower delivery person... other than funerals, they generally are a pleasant sight for the receiver. But no more, I love having Chocolate buffet parties, hearing the great results and working with such sweet women! Oh, and the training trips to Vegas, tropical places and New York are pretty nice too. (Mainly New York, I am really looking forward to that one, since I have never been there!)

3. School still sucks. Don't get me wrong... I have not given up on the personal training gig. I still want to do it! And I WILL. It just won't happen by January, like I had hoped. I always struggled with school, mainly reading. Not a fan. It is sorta hard to do an 'online' or 'at your own pace' type course without reading. I am a SLOW reader. I like to understand what I am reading, which takes a LONG TIME for me.

4. I look good. It's funny. I don't feel differently, and I know we are our own worst critic, but I didn't feel like I looked 'good', until recently. I had a 'mini' reunion at a local establishment and I was pleasantly surprised by the comments I got. I have felt like a slug since I had almost zero working out time in September and October, and really have struggled the past year with trying to get below the 'athena' division
in triathlon. SO, to hear that, was a very nice surprise. I just hope I can keep up the expectations for the upcoming 'reunion' in December, just after the holidays.... I guess I now have my motivation for exercise...
Now , I need to write it in my calendar.

5. How to not have a wedding. Now, I don't mean that in a bad way at all... My sister got married on Halloween, and it was all her. What I mean is, she did it HER WAY not the way 'tradition' says or really anyone says.... IT was perfectly Jill. She made it a day to remember for sure. We all had costumes, it was at a unique local, complete with a skeleton cake, very perfect for her, and the best thing is she was happy. It wasn't stuffy, or fake, or done in ANY WAY like it 'should' be... Which was great, because she was honest and truly enjoyed the day and didn't have to worry about the 'small stuff'. He seems to be a great guy and I am glad she is so happy, finally. It has been a long time coming....

6. And finally, I learned I am getting old and I REALLY love my sleep, but first I must read a book with my youngest.


Good night, sleep tight All

My crazy Life...

So, This week has been a whirlwind of activity!
Began with the Fox Tri Club's meeting with Kristin Steede from the last season of the Biggest Loser. I love that show. As sappy as it is. That girl is so genuine and so enjoyable to listen to. If you ever get a chance to see her I highly recommend it. She even is going to become a TRIATHLETE next year. I haven't been able to get much of any kind of workouts in lately but I did manage a 1.5 mile run on Tuesday and I kept up a pace of almost 9 minute miles!! (Woo Hoo) That was 6.6 for the speed on the treadmill.

On September 15th we discovered we apparently grew a kitten in our garden. No Mom, with umbilical cord still attached and eyes closed. We have been bottle/ syringe feeding her to help her grow, but she developed some kind of infection and didn't want to eat... ended up getting severely dehydrated and an infection. So, insert 3 days in ICU for animals, hooked up to an IV with antibiotics and tube feedings. I even received a phone call at 3am on Sunday from the vet saying they were losing her. Try that for a nights rest. Useless. But being that she has such a huge WILL to live, we ended up naming her Willow. She took a turn for the better by 10am and began taking her feedings. She is one heck of a fighter. Someone suggested naming her Amazing Grace, which would have fit too.
Now we are feeding her every 2 hrs and meds twice a day.

Enter in Zeb. Monday had a cough. Tuesday, woke up with a fever. Time to stay home from school... as the day progressed he added nausea, neck pain, sore throat, and runny/ stuffy nose. He has just been miserable. Unfortunately, nurse direct said "It sounds like H1N1, but stay home and treat with tylenol, for the fevers. Otherwise you can try cough meds, but they don't seem to be working" She was right. Delsym, didn't seem to help. We have tried sudafed, too. Zeb kept asking for me to get something to help him, but I tried to tell him there is nothing, but he kept asking. Poor kid. He has a bucket constantly by his side now, along with ginger ale, tissues, thermometer, garbage bucket and cool wet wash cloths. Tomorrow he will be missing day 3 of school (and a cool field trip). I told the teacher I will pick up his homework tomorrow.
*sigh*
Thankfully I didn't have a lot of extra things going on today, but I did have to miss work this am for Zeb. Hopefully he will be feeling better soon!

Now the older boys have discovered Ebay and are patiently waiting for some games they bid on. Ok, I have got to try to rest....

Beginnings and Endings

One week A LOT can change.

Last Week the kids began a brand new school year.

Last Week I worked my last day at the clinic. Ending the over 8 plus years I worked there.

Last Week I began to get more hugs and support and realized just how many friends I worked with. Thanks guys, It meant a lot! I will miss you so much. Keep in touch!

Last Week I got to call 9-1-1 for my Dad, thus beginning his stay in the hospital and now nursing home to recover from a cracked hip.

This Week my Dad signed a DNR order. Standing for Do Not Resuscitate. Ending chances to resuscitate him. That was hard to watch.

Last Week I began SERIOUSLY looking at going back to school. Personal Training here I come! (Wish me luck!)

This Week I filed for Unemployment, doubt that I will get it, but I was told to try anyway. So, now I begin to find creative ways to live within a tight budget.

This Week I will end my weekly run to Starbucks. *sniff, sniff*

Last Week I began to beg for good thoughts and prayers for my family, and still do.

I know God doesn't give me more than I can handle.... I just wish he wouldn't trust me so much.
Forever, In his Grip~

I think I need a nap.

Camping + Triathlons = Less Fun.

So, I had what I thought would be a fun idea.

Camp with the kids so we can have fun in the great outdoors before/ during/ and after the big race.

Um. Not So Much.

I LOVE hotels. Especially with pool's and hot tubs!

So, the kids and I arrive late on Thursday night, with barely enough time to set up camp before it gets dark. I am of course without my husband because he has to work. No biggie. I can set up no problem.

Tent Camping Sucks. My top 3 reasons why....

1.We did great. Until 5am. When we woke up to thunder and rain. Thankfully the tent did not leak and we were all good. It was supposed to be isolated thunderstorms all day Friday. I just wish it wasn't Breakfast and Lunch. Need I say more? I did not want to bother with a tarp or cover for cooking so I did not pack any. Needless to say, I was not really interested in cooking outside the rest of the trip and had over packed on food.
2. Oh, and I love the fact that I do not live in a sand pit everyday. It gets EVERYWHERE. I swear I can taste it at times.
3. Ice cold water anytime I want. Ahhhh. The life.
Yep. I have become a wimp with camping.

I love biking on trails and swimming and fishing and exploring... oh, and of course s'mores, but urgh, forget the complete and total immersion in nature. I like controlled temps and beds for sleeping way to much.

Ok, back to triathlons... Reasons to love....
1. My boy Z did the kids tri on Friday night. His was a 50 ft swim (aka water walk), .6 bike and .21 run. He did great. That was so fun.
2. I loved to see and was encouraged by the kids doing this event. The boys in his age group were pushing and shoving a bit before the swim. It was nervous energy. They couldn't wait to get out there and we waited about 20 minutes to start.
3. Transitions. Zeb was less nervous than I was... I put his helmet on before his shirt in transtion and he said to me "Mom, How am I supposed to put my shirt on with my helmet on?" Opps. "Its big I will just push it on." I said with a smirk. At least he was thinking. He really did great and of course he FINISHED! Yaaayyyyy!!
4. Pre Race baked potato dinner.... yummy!

Ok, so on to my triathlon... my girl Dez, let me sleep in her cozy well tempered home (ahhhhh) the night before the race. Yay Air conditioning! I almost felt guilty leaving Duner (yes he made it up for one night and the boys sleep out doors in the heat) Anyway, I woke up exactly 9 minutes before our alarm was to go off. Ate my oatmeal, over ripe banana, (thanks to the heat) and peanut butter. Got ready and headed out.

Dez drove us in her topless (and without doors) jeep to the event. I must say it was so FUN getting there. I was a bit chilly so I used my OFFICIAL Tri Fox towel for warmth on the ride. We arrived in plenty of time, parked in the dump... really it was a landfill. This Tri had 900 participants. We needed the room.

This race was the complete opposite of the last one. Last time, I was in the 2nd wave, almost no waiting, with this race, I was in the LAST wave. My number was 865, Dez 866. We no other waves behind us to catch us or to help us either. That was different for me. Kinda scary. I didn't want to come in last.... not in a wet swimsuit. ewwww! (sorry for that visual)... other than that and my new anti fog goggles... here are my top reasons why I loved this triathlon!

1. The water was so warm!!! It almost felt longer than the 1/2 mile swim at Wausau, but my goggles kept getting water in them. Must be the 'anti-fog' feature of them... they get water in them to rinse away the fog. Hmmmm. Brilliant.
2. I saw a lot of mountain bikers and 'cross' bread bikes. I felt like I was FLYIN' compared to my Wausau bike, this was a breeze!!! I tried to encourage each and every biker I passed, especially if they were bigger. I loved to see them! So motivating to see that! I was a lot of passing. SWEET~ That was a change let me tell you!
3. We headed out on the run together. She was having some cramping issues, but pushed through them. I was hollerin' and talkin' to the crowds cheering us on. I got a group to give us the WAVE! Woo Hoo!!! I was cheering for so many people Dez asked me if I knew a guy or girl that I had cheered for, but I didn't. If they had a Tri Fox Jersey or were heavier or just were struggling, I was trying to encourage them.

We made it through the finishing chute and my family was no where to be found. They had gone to breakfast and didn't realize I would finish so fast. Ha. ha. SO FAST HUH? But it was all good. I had so much fun. I chatted with a fellow tri fox friend Jessie and his wife Angie for a while till my family appeared.

I managed a pretty GREAT PR for my bike. Average speed of 18.5, SWEET!! (My average was 16 mph) It so pays to do that Wausau tri. I may just have to do that one next year!

Results were...
Swim (.25 mile) : 10:21
T1: 4:30
Bike(12.5 miles): 40:31
T2: 1:38
Run : 21:04 (I took it easy too!)
Total: 1:17:51
Placed 45th out of 191 women!!

Woodson YMCA Olympic Distance Tri... Race Report

Ok, so when I signed up for this thing I had no idea we could have the coldest temps for the summer in a long time and the hills of the bike route... Considering I missed 2 full weeks of my 'training' schedule in July alone, (!) I was a bit worried and the weather was not helping.
My last run was a 6 miler in the rain (for 5 miles of it). Let me say that rain does a really nice job of cleaning your shoes!! And my ipod is officially water resistant for up to 50 minutes of rain. I know, SWEET!
I managed a couple of quick brick workouts this past week during the 'taper' week, while I also got some SCHOOL shopping in... Yes, it is that time already...
Ok, now back to the race. Forecast called for 60 degrees and possible THUNDERSTORMS from 7am to 10am... (the race began at 8:30am)... Yep. Great weather for a large metal object between your legs.

Anyway, Duner, kiddos and I arrived in Wausau the night before to get my packet and drive the race course one last time because they had to change the route due to construction (aka- 10 ft sections of gravel I had already ridden on 2x during my training) since it was already pretty hilly I wanted to punish myself a bit more and find out if it would be more hills now that it changed. Guess what... YEP, MORE HILLS.. GREAT! Who doesn't love them more than me! *hint: that was sarcasm... but I am beginning to ENJOY THEM. I know.. sick.
Ok. So we drive the route and scope out the swim, um, I mean the ENTIRE LAKE THAT WE WILL SWIM AROUND. (Ok, so it was a small lake, but figure in the temps in the 60's and 14 mph winds, my mind kept saying BRRRR.)

That night we met two women at our hotel that were doing the race for the first time. They were doing the sprint part. We had a mini-question and answer session about last minute things they had questions on. I loved that they were older than me and not skinny or athletic looking. Love that! Great motivators for our 'future' first timers out there!

That night I barely sleep a few hours. I was afraid I was going to miss it. My alarm was not going to go off... I was somehow going to sleep in (??), was I ever wrong!
I tossed and turned. Afraid to get to warm or comfortable. I heard the rain come at 3am and leave at 5:50am. I got up and looked out the window and yep... it was CLEARING! I turned on the weather channel and they showed the radar... we just passed the rain!!! YES!

I had to use the coffee maker to heat the water for my 'pre race' tradition' of oatmeal, PB and Banana. It turned out a bit watery but all was good, considering I had to use 2 coffee cups to mix it (since I had no spoon, only a stir straw) and drink it.

We arrived with many athletes already in the transition area. Got all set up, met up with my partner in this crime, Dez. She brought her Dad and Step Mom (I think). He is a big time bike rider so he had all kinds of tips for us. It was sweet to see him trying to be so helpful.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE SWIM:
We were in the second wave of 30. Right behind the 'elite' or champion group. So we only had 3 minutes after the race started to begin. I really liked not standing on the beach a long time. I am going to try that in the future. We had to wear specific colored swim caps for each wave. Ours was white. Champions were orange. The group behind us was Yellow. I was having a hard time controlling my fat from wiggling due to shivering at the beach, so when I was able to get in the water I was grateful. It was WARM! (ok, warmer than the air)

Here is how my swim broke down:
First 5 minutes: Piece of cake... taking my time... nice and easy. Hey I am passing people...
5-10 minutes: Ok still passing people, yuck, curve... ok too much curve, here I go zig zag. Where is the dang line at the bottom of the lake?* just kidding there is no line.
10-15 minutes: Ok, goggles fogging, where am I? That guy had a yellow swim cap.. I am beginning to get lapped. EEK! I just swam into the arms of a life guard that may have been telling me he was there, but I can't hear anyone with ear plugs in!
15 -23 minutes: Ok, my goggles are a nice shade of FOG so I will just look for white and yellow caps to tell me were I am to be. Thank God, I can see people on the shore. W-e-e-e-e! I am done!

TRANSITION 1:
Dez was already dressed by the time I got up there. I hurried up, while she waited for me. Put some chamois butt'r in some select spots, socks, shoes, helmet, water, gu... let's go! Really bad time, but that was ok...over 6 MINUTES!!! I waved to my support crew. We chatted a bit what can I say. As I was leaving transtition Zeb yelled, 'I hope you don't get hurt Mom!'... (everybody say) AWWW.

BIKE: (I thought Chicago was the windy city)
Dez and I played tag the entire bike, which was helpful to make the entire WINDY AND HILLY 28 mile ride go fast. She does hills like nobody's business and I am good on the down and flats. We would ride together at some points but not the entire time and watched for riders coming up behind us. We were being nice about it. At one point 'Wolfgang' (yes, his real name) scared her when she rode up next to me for a bit, then gave her some grief about it in the run. We averaged 16 mph for the bike. Pretty good for me. She motivated me up those hills. One hour and 45 minutes for the bike. All intersections were not controlled by police, so the voluteers could not stop traffic. That was a bit scary. You never knew if the cars were going to stop or not.

TRANSTITION 2:
3 minutes, Not sure why, but I did grab my i-pod for the run to have some music. Grab some water, Hammer gel and my running hat. I had been a very good girl on the bike and drank lots of water and my bladder was begining to tell me that it was ready to go. I tried to ignore it.

RUN: 3 miles into the wind, 3 miles at our back.
The run began by looping in a parking lot, then past the finish line. It was an out and back course with a little side run to a dead end road. It had 3 water stations but no potty's on the route. Bladder still full, I was debating if I should try finding a spot in the woods but I decided against it. Dez stopped to tie her shoe and I kept going. After the 3rd mile I passed Wolfgang, I realized we were close to the last of the finishers. There were not many people behind us. But I wanted to enjoy this race. It didn't matter if I placed, but if I had fun. I was still cheering for anyone I saw coming, or passing. As I reached the dead end turn around part I recognized the two girls from the hotel. One was doing GREAT the other was leaning way forward struggling to run. She was the bigger of the two and not as confident about the race. As I got closer to her I tried to help her out, but her friend was a great support for her and she was going to finish. I loved that she looked AWFUL but was NOT GIVING UP AT ALL. She pushed through the agony and kept going!! Shortly after that I got the burst I needed. My husband and kids were waiting by the road for me, cheering me on! I picked up the pace a bit and pushed into the wind to the finish line! Dez was just a few seconds behind me and followed by Wolfgang. While we were taking our 'finish line' photos Wolfgang joined us wanted in on the picture. It was all good. Shortly after those 'ex-newbies' joined us at the finish line! They did it! Together! I just love a happy ending... Ohhhhh, but that is not quite the end... while we were catching up with some old neighbors that we had 6 years ago (who just happened to be into triathlons, too) I heard my name... yep. It was was the AWARD CEREMONY! I actually placed in my age group.... I ran up there!! Woo Hoo! I got a hat, for a 3rd place finish for Women 30-34!!!
Um, ok, so there were only 3 of us in that age group to begin with... but hey, it just goes to show, sometimes you don't need speed. Just endurance.
P.S. Thank you to any of you women age 30-34 that decided not to do the Woodson Olympic distance Triathlon this year!!!

Long time, Long Write! (Sorry!)

Soooo, I am 'training' for this upcoming olympic distance triathlon. It is ONLY one quarter of what the Ironman race is.
1/2 mile swim (Ironman is 2.4 mile swim) ok, so LESS THAN an Ironman...
28mile bike (Ironman is 112 mile bike) did I mention how hilly my course is???
6.2 mile run (Ironman is 26.2 mile run) ok, so Less than on the run too...

But, I am torn in about 5 different directions.

• Mommy time
• Kids
• Housework
• Computer/Email/Blog/Facebook
  
• Work

MOMMY TIME: I have been in a book study. I have to read one chapter a week... um, I have had 6 days and I still have not done this weeks chapter. I haveALSO started to read the Bible. Once you get past the lineage, it is actually really interesting. I figure the Good Lord is giving me 24 hrs in the day I should give him one (ish) and even that is getting tough. One hour. I do not know how people with kids, full time jobs, and all the other responsibilities do it. It has got to be like 2 full time jobs doing all the training FOR A RACE THAT IS A QUARTER OF A IRON MAN PEOPLE!!!
How come it took me 9 hrs to drive 2 hrs on Sunday to ride my bike for 2 hrs and run for 20 minutes. Wow!
KIDS: 2 kids in woodworking 4 days a week, one in 1st grade readiness 4 x week, 2 x of soccer, 1 x cello practice... THEN try to instill values and morals while they whine about cleaning up the pigsty of a house we live in during the summer months. Which leads us to....
HOUSEWORK: I have created a list in the house, posted in various locations, called the 'Bored List'. If a child comes to me telling me how BORED he is I direct his attention to the list filled with all kinds of helpful suggestions for them... Some how they don't appreciate it much, but they do not ever tell me how bored the are... ~ : )
COMPUTER: Ok, so I am becoming a slacker in the computer dept. I may or may not reply quickly to email if at all... I have little to NO TIME. I do make time for one person and she is my far away Triathlon friend who is do the Oly with me, so we train together. Not to mention makes my cheeks hurt from laughing so much.
WORK: I need money. I must work. I do try to pick up extra hours where I can. Really. 35 (lately) hours at one job 8 hrs every other week at the other is enough. I am TRYING TO WEIGHT TRAIN 2 x week, plus a boot camp every Friday. Well I managed the Boot Camp but getting to the gym was a challange, it is getting better.

Sadly, I must have lost some muscle that I earned when I did the half mari in May. I went for a run that was supposed to be 70 minutes and ended up being a run/walk that went on for 85 minutes!!! Needless to say I was late for my job at the Y on Saturday, and hobbled around til Sunday night. (OK, so the 2 hr HILLS FROM HELL did not help it, BUT they did not hurt it either). It actually felt good. Just as we finished the ride a guy came up from behind us and we chatted for a bit. He lost 180 lbs in the last 2 years!!! YES AN ENTIRE PERSON. All by diet and exercise alone. No surgery, No pills, JUST suckie painful diet and exercise. WOW! Any hoo, he will be doing this Oly distance tri for his FIRST EVER triathlon. How cool is that!!

Just last week, I was biking out by High Cliff and another guy came up from behind me and wanted to talk because he saw my jersey! (Fox Tri Club) He joined me at mile 9 or so and stayed with me til High Cliff. It helped my time FLY!

Ok times up!!! Hopefully I will have time to tell ya about our fun trip to WisconsinDells this weekend! Yes, I am bringing my bike and planning to run and bike while on vacation!!! How sad is that!!
: )

Crank it Up!

So, I decided sometime last year that THIS was the year I was going to do an Olympic distance Triathlon. I am not a great runner. Especially after 28 miles on a bike and a half mile swim. Six miles is not easy to run for me. You'd think after 2 half marathons that it would some how be EASY? I had hoped.

I am still hoping. Especially since I was a friends bonfire on Saturday and someone says "Your doing the Wausau Triathlon?"
I said, "Yes. I am. The Olympic distance".
She says, "Oh, that's hilly."
"Oh?" I said, not really too worried, since everyone's idea of 'hilly' is a bit different.

SO, What did I receive in the mail Monday? My confirmation for the race and a map of the route. Lucky me! I hopped on my computer and figured out the elevation.
*Gulp.*
Ok. Now. I . can. worry.
*Gulp.*
Turns out she had a damn good version of hilly. Hilly may have been a bit under stated. A Hill for me in my flatness of Wisconsin is High Cliff. Which has about 230 feet of elevation change according to Mapmyrun.com. That for me is a hill.... This 'oly' I am now confirmed for on August 1st has OVER 600 FEET of elevation change. In the first half of the ride.
Then after 28 miles I am just so lucky to have to run 6.2 miles.
Lucky. Me.

High Cliff Race Report 2009

The first REALLY FUN part of the summer has officially happened. High Cliff Triathlon was this weekend. I knew at least 3 Brand New Triathletes taking part in this years festivities and I was so happy to be able to have cheered them and the 'veteran' athletes on.

Friday night we had a pre-race pow wow at my house. Dez (aka- my partner in crime with all things triathlon/marathon related) showed up from Waupaca and my friend Angie with the 'newbie-no-more' Jesse... her husband (and kids). We partook in the pre race 'carbo loading' with pasta salads and pizza.

I was thinking of having a kids tri, but we had so much fun just talking that it never came about... but we did watch the Fox Tri Club video with Mr. Peter Victor himself playing the 'Super Athlete'. Good Stuff. We laughed our butts off!!
That video is from 2 years ago and I did not realize how much I have changed since then. WOW!
I would love to do that every year!

Saturday Morning I got to High Cliff just after 6am and felt so rushed, we met Ang and she told us that Jesse already had TWO flat tires! He was panicking a bit running around looking for a new tube! Luckily he found Mark (aka: King of Tuesday night rides) who gave Jesse a new tube for his bike.
While Dez set up in transition, I talked to Jesse, and found out he had ALSO lost a pedal, but that was found by someone and he was able to get it back on. That was MORE THAN ENOUGH drama for the day and he didn't even get wet yet!

I sported my Firecracker T-shirt from last year and flip flops as I ran around with camera in hand trying to get all the pic's for everyone. That was tiring but SO FUN!

I didn't know until later that night but someone I went to school with did the half IRONMAN for his first ever race!! HOW CRAZY IS THAT! He not only finished he did amazing!!!

Oh yeah, and by the way...
Jesse ROCKED High Cliff... finishing in under 2 hrs.
Dez shot right thru.... finishing in just over 2 hrs.
Dr Al, did great (of Course) ... finishing just behind Jesse.
Tammy (Dr Al's nurse) was hoping for an under 3 hr finish and SHE DID BETTER THAN THAT!

WAY TO GO HIGH CLIFF FINISHERS!!! YAY!!!

I am sorry if this is a duplicate, but if you have not seen the pictures from the High Cliff Tri, I highly recommend it. (Turn up your volume!) Great pics!

Go Here
or
http://picasaweb.google.com/duners2/Movies#5349995646317199090

Journey's Race Report

After I began to pack for my half Marathon this weekend I rechecked the weather for Eagle River.
Crap.....
Thursday it said a high of 50 with a chance of rain.
Friday it was saying 40's with a chance of SNOW.
Crappity crap, crap, crap.
.........
I added a few extra items like mittens, stocking hat and more shirts to layer, while hoping to not need them. I drove up there Friday night, meeting a friend, Dez at the hotel. She did her first tri the same year as I did and now she was doing her first half the same year too!
..........
We woke up at the hotel that morning to the sound of rain chunks hitting our window. I cringed as we peaked outside. As we began breakfast it slowly faded, pretty soon it was just a mist.

As we walked to our car we tried using reverse psychology to talk ourselves into not freezing. It was in the low 30's as we boarded a bus to take us to the begining of the race. By the time we arrived, flurries were now falling.

They had some music playing to help us get our heart pumping so we would not be so cold. I watched in amazement as people seemed unfazed by the lack of clothing some of them had. BRRRR!

Just after the first place full marathon finisher, Dean (using a hand powered chair), passed us we started our half marathon. That was one hour and fifteen minutes after the full marathon started.

It took place on some of the most curvy wooded roads I know. It was great, overall. For your enjoyment... my thoughts during the milage...

Mile 1: Dang... I should have used the port-a-potty.
Grrr. Nervous bladder...
I think I am warming up. Yay!..
cough...
really not swine flu people....
Mile 2: Hmmm. Ok, I am getting warm.
What the heck? Is that maybe the sun??...
ok gloves are coming off! ... cough, cough....
Mile 3: Ok. Now is the time to lose the tri fox winter hat, but I will leave the running hat on. (Don't worry Dr Al, I tucked it in my waist... I didn't lose it) ....
Wow, some old people are fast! REALLY FAST!... Only 3 miles down, no problem... I feel great! Nice temps... hack.... cough... I like this speed, I am going to stick with Dez for a while...
Mile 4: Ok, now my bladder really needs a break!....Gee, this seems a bit more hilly than the elevation had said on the website.... hmmmm.... I LOVE THIS SONG... glad to have my ipod! (Thanks Sara!)...bark.... cough.... Those guys are obvisiously the marathoners.... I bet they hate us....
Mile 5: I would love to see a port-a-potty about now... ohhhhh! yay!! potty!!! Only 2 people in line, no problem... I will just have some water while I wait.... Um, this is taking a while.... Why on earth do they only have one potty??? How long it this going to take? FINALLY!!!....cough.... cough.....
Mile 6: Ok, one top layer is gone.... (I took off my long sleeve T and wrapped it around my waist.) Ouch.... I am getting stiff.... That took way too long! ... Now to catch up with Dez.. What I was lapped by a powerwalker?? See Ya.... Wow, no shirt and cut off jeans for a marathon in the 30's... go man go!....
Mile 7: Wow... these hills just seemed so small on the computer.... that can't be right... Oh, is that Dezz? Breathe. You can slow down soon... Ok buddy, you should have to wait like me for the potty man.... geez, I have 3 boys I don't need to see that now!.... Guys have it way to easy.... ouch... I better take in my GU.... Yay! Dez!!
Mile 8: Water and GU... Yay GU!!! .....Whew... the last big hill says the girl on the bike... it must be true!! Yay! .... ok, i *cough* REALLY hate this cough.
Mile 9: Only 5 more miles..... I know some people are finished already... Glad these roads are curvy.... That old lady has been in front of us for a while... she is doing great... hate my cough....
Mile 10: Is that a new cramp? Whatever.... Yep that is a new one.... just think of all the calories you are using.... Old lady is still there!... Nice work woman!...
Mile 11: These roads are getting not so curvy.... hey, this is beginning to look familiar....cough...cough.. at least my butt doesn't hurt...AT ALL.
Mile 12: This so sucks.... why do I do this?... Dez is doing great....legs feel like lead.... really? .... are these roads getting longer??? grrrr....
Mile 13: Ok... I just want to stop.... ow....cramping in abdomen sucks..... damn cough. Maybe I pulled something with my cough... how do people do this for 26.2 miles?... just .... want... to ... stop.... or .... at least transported.... wait... do I hear the finish line?
Mile 13.1: Woo Hoo! I can do this! Almost there I hear people. We are getting close. There it is!! Wooo hooo!!! Scream people scream!!! Oh.... there are my kids and Duner!!! Yay!! Where is that timing mat? Yesssssss!!!! Oh, breathing is hard to do...stupid cramp.... I am so happy to see my family!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++
No awards (obviously!). But I did manage to PR by 10 minutes, jerky stick, beer opener, shampoo, soap, t-shirt and a nice medal. I will take it.
==============
It really was a great race, fun times thru the entire event, at the hotel, and registration... I loved doing this race. I don't know if I want to do it every year, but I was a true Journey... properly named.
I am still in awe of people that do these things after 56 miles on a bike and 30 plus minutes of swimming... OR MORE.... AMAZING, Just AMAZING!!!

Oh Boy! er... Joy!

This weekend is the official opening of 'Inland Fishing' aka Trout fishing in Wisconsin... as every year Duner loves to make a weekend of it and go fishing and camp out. He talks about it for WEEKS and gets so excited. Since he was working til 10pm on Friday, I was the lucky person to get everything ready for the big trip. Food, Bedding, Tent and cookware were all piled in the garage with the help of some very excited boys...Zeb and Reece. Brock did not want to go with. He is not so much the outdoors type.
So Friday after work we ate supper at a newer place called LUCKYS. It was Grazies Italian Grill, but now it is more variety type place with burgers, fish, steaks, some Italian and Pizza. A pub like atmosphere but also with a 'family' type dining area (smoke free!). We headed for the family dining room and that is when the kids FELL IN LOVE with the place.... yes. IN. LOVE. At one end of the dining hall is 5 Huge flat screen tv's with either an X-box, PS3 or some other game system attached to it. Each one with controls and diffrent games on them... Guitar Hero, Madden 09 are the only two I knew. Reece gave it a '2 THUMBS UP'. Brock said it was ' FIVE STARS!'. Zeb said this was 'so cool'. All of them said 'We have to come here again!'
Me? Personally it was the HAND DIPPED BEER BATTERED CHEESE CURDS that will bring me back. Have you ever been to the county fair? Have you paid way to much for those all too yummy morsels of soft, squishy SAVORY grease balls? I have! I figured it was a once a year deal right? Well NO MORE... I will have to try and avoid those suckers at this place. We ordered a batch and between Brock and I we almost ate the ENTIRE THING! Yep... BAD. Very. Bad. *sigh* ~guilt...guilt~
Ok... so now I am finished with work... I worked 10 hours today at the Y. I have only one of my kids... but 2 of the neighbor kids spending the night. Hmmm. Let's see, so I lost 2 kids... then I pick up 2 more. Kind of like nothing really changed... except, they are older and don't plug the toilet with too much TP and leave stuff laying all over. Good times. ~ : ]
It was cute. Brock called me today to see if he could go over to his friends house and said " Hey Mom, know what? I actally enjoy picking up the house when my brothers aren't here. I have been doing MORE than what you asked me to! I even moved things around rather then go around them!".

Only 7 more days til Journey's Half Marathon in Eagle River. Duner and the boys are going to head up to cheer me across the finish line. If you have nothing to do feel free to come on up and join 'em!
If I ever stop with these various butt and leg cramps I am hoping to come in at 2hrs and 15 minutes. I did my last long 12 miler last Saturday, but over did it with 400 lunges and 100 crunches. I was fine that day, but I couldn't walk right til Tuesday. I was on my way to Baskin Robbins for some ICE CREAM THERAPY (~what? you haven't heard of that??) when I pulled into the parking spot and noticed a Max Muscle store. As I struggled to exit the truck, I decided to ask them for some recommendations for relieving the pain in my lower body. (Do you know how many muscles in your lower body you actually USE TO ROLLL OVER IN BED?? LOTS!! Believe me I know!) Anyhoo, One hour and $$$$$ later he tells me the joys of protein shakes and glutemine. I tried 2 different kinds of protein shakes and wasn't so hungry for the ice cream. I didn't need those extra fat calories anyway...

I had a 4 mile tempo run on Thursday that my butt cramp was aimed and ready to fire the entire time. It ended being a pretty crappy tempo run, but I did it. Tomorrow I have a 6 mile long run on the agenda, and today my left hamstring decided to act up on me. What did I do to deserve this? I STRETCH!! Really!! Come on!!!! Wish me luck!

Spring has SPRUNG!

I can not tell you how happy I was this weekend. The sunshine and warmth was a welcome and missed feeling. I had to work all through most of it but I lucked out on Saturday and only had to work a half day, so I was lucky enough to get my 11 mile run in AND take my youngest to his first soccer practice ever. He was super excited.
----
My run was enjoyed with my oldest son for the first 2 miles. He joined me on his bike as I ran. I warned him I would not be able to talk much. He was ok with that. He said he wanted to join me with the Fox Cities Half marathon in September. I had a killer tempo run on Thursday, so I was a bit nervous about my long run for Saturday. I had maintained a pace of 9:40 for 6 miles on Thursday. I was supposed to maintain a pace of 10:52 for all 11 miles. I didn't study my route for mile markers and I wasn't sure how slow or fast I was going. I was sweating a lot. I never realized how sweat can turn into sand as it dries on your face. I would wipe off some sweat only to feel pain. It was almost too warm for me, but I was delighted to have kept a pace of 10: 40!! for the 11 miles. I will be researching new hydration fuel for my next Long run, 12 miles next saturday... I am in the midst of 'HELL' week for me. I put in almost 30 miles last week. This week consists of a 4+ speed workout, 8 mile tempo run and a 12 mile Long run... Then begins the wonderful taper....ahhhh... oh, yeah! I guess could be worse... I could be running the Boston Marathon on Monday.... : ) Good Luck Jaynie and Alan!!
~ Then begins full on soccer season! I just learned on Saturday that between my 2 kids in soccer I will either be a practice or soccer games every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for a good long while.... but I am looking forward to it! I love to see my kids outside and moving instead of sitting on their butts!! Have a Great Week... I will see you after HELL WEEK! (Maybe)

Random Thoughts

Today I debated about doing a 10 mile indoor run, but given the temp said it felt like 26 degrees and my allergies are kicking in (not to mention 17 mph wind) I opted for an indoor run. All 10 miles. Indoor. run. slowly.

These were my random thoughts for your viewing pleasure...

Ok. Here I go.

Only 0.38 of a mile? Is this thing broken?

Lets slow this thing down a bit and see if that helps.

Ok, since my i-pod is low on battery if it dies ANY TIME during this run I will just take that as a sign from God that I need to stop.

Ok, ANY TIME can happen soon.

*sniffle* grrr. Allergies. *sniffle*

I will just leave the machine running, jump off and grab a tissue... I mean, I am still moving right?

This is better than running out in the cold wind.

i-pod can die at anytime.

Woo hoo! Almost 4 miles in.

Oh! Good Song!! Crank up the machine!!

Bummer song over, but *Yay* slowin' down.

Oh Yay! ANOTHER good song!!

Woo Hoo! 5 treadmill miles done, now to the track for the last 5.

Now, don't forget to click. (my lap counter)

Okay people it says JOG for a reason. If you want to walk move your feet to the WALK lane.

Hey, I am the only one running... I will just use the run lane til the faster runners come.

Ok. Back to the Jog Lane now. Grrr.

did I click?

Slow person. going around. grrr.

i-pod die. please.

slow person. going around. grrr.

*sniffle*

slow person. going around. grrr.

I clicked right?

slow person. going around. grrr.

slow person... GEEEZ... are you not done yet!!!

lovely MORE SLOW PEOPLE.

now more FAST RUNNERS.

I would be ok, if you stopped i-pod.

Ok. Only 40 more laps to go. ( Was 57.5)

*sniffle*

Ok time to change direction people.

(look at watch) *sign* it will be nice when I only have 10 laps to go.

*sniffle* grrr. stop and blow your nose.

opps, I missed my stop, one more lap. *sniffle*

at least i have a nice breeze as I run up here.

did I click? How is this i-pod still working? It said low battery MILES ago!

Water break.

What??? I forgot to restart my watch?? I missed like 11 minutes?
How did I not check my watch for that long?

Hey! We lost the Fast runners and slow people! Yay!

Ok, *sniffle* and water break.

Only 22 laps left.

Oh!! Good Song again!!

Weee!~

Ok... only 10 laps. I should be achy right?

Stretching will feel good!

I am done!
Ok, now to figure out my time since I missed 11 minutes. Grrr.

Pouring Down

They say when it rains it pours...

Drop one... Our Durango decided it hates us. Both Driver and passenger windows are not working. In fact, we have duct tape on the Driver side, and a metal hanger holding up the passenger side.... I know, Classy!!

Drop two... Our Saturn, that we just bought in August, needed $3000 worth of repair (according to the Saturn dealership)... Thermostat, wheel bearing, and AWD shaft. Nice. I. Know. But Good news! The dealer we bought it from - not Saturn- is going to pay half (even though we did NOT have the warranty) doing the repair at his shop... Yay!

Drop three... Duner is off of overtime... I knew it would not last forever, but it sure lasted longer than many companies around here. They have taken emplyees off their 24/7 rotation. They are taking volunteers for lay off, and working M-F 40 hrs only.

Drop four... My work (a health care facility) is no longer matching our 403b (aka 401k). And is delaying our annual raises due to the economy. *sigh* At least we have our jobs, Right?

Drop five... I am quickly losing steam as my half marathon is approaching... I need some NICE weather to help me want to get out there and RUN! *Reece told me the other day "Mom, since you've been back it has been all cold and dreary." Um, thanks Reece. Do you mean weather or ambience? -he meant weather... Really!

Drop six... We woke up today with NO HOT WATER. Lovely. You don't know how much you use it til it is gone.

Then again, water helps things grow too!

Grow one... After almost 2 months with out it I should be getting my Saturn back tomorrow! (Cross your fingers!)
Grow two... We are getting our Durango fixed hopefully this week.
Grow three... All of my boys are healthy and growing quickly. Reece and Zeb have started Soccer practices. We have high hopes this year!
Grow four... I was lucky enough to have a M. A. S. S. A. G. E today... I can't tell you how nice that was. She said she found some knots... go figure. Knots!
Grow five... We were able to finish some long overdue projects in the basement this past week... all molding is 99.9% done, and Brock's window is framed in. (Amazing how much that warms up the room!)
Grow Six... Thanks to the hot water heater repair (under warrenty) I had the guy quickly put in a water shut off that we needed for a outside faucet we enclosed.
Grow Seven... I had the best presents given to me today. Zebbie wrapped up .27 cents and a bunch of paper money and gave it to me. FOR NO REASON! Love it! He knows how to treat a girl!
Grow Eight.... After removing the boys from Cable TV for a quarter the grades have improved. Not to mention somebodys attitude too!

I have more to be thankful for than not. I am one lucky Mother.

We managed a peak at Fremont Street to Check out the large screen over head. I hope you have access to this video. If not, go to wienandt.blogspot.com and check it out. The very ending is the best.

Day 4

Wednesday we slept in a bit after such a late show last night with Blue Man Group. As we walked back to our car we passed MANY people celebrating the luck of the Irish, to the point of intoxication. It was about midnight when we left the show, so many on the strip were pretty wasted. One of them was getting frisked by the police.

One thing that I don't like here is the amount of nudity thrown in your face. It is really every where. Every night there are at least 30 plus people on the strip handing out cards with women on them like baseball cards. Then they get discarded on the walkway for all including the kids that are there to freely see. And there is NOTHING left to the imagination. Don't get me wrong, if you like that great... but geez.... even it out a bit...why are there NO GUYS on those things!

That and all the trash all over the city. On one corner, there is a 3 ft of trash and bottles between a chain link fence and stone pillars,

But other than that It has been pretty nice. We learned how to avoid the beggars.

So we decided to see Titanic exhibit, Carrot Top and Zumanity Wednesday. We are driving back from Hoover Dam. It was interesting to see. We did a quick tour because we had a security point that made the last 4 miles take about 45 minutes. Yep. I could have ran faster than that.

Titanic was cool, Carrot Top was Fun and Zumanity was... um.... different... Not sure if I like the cirque shows so much. Loved Penn & Teller! Blue Man Group got a bit long...I liked the Price is Right Live, once I knew I was not going to be pulled up on stage. (Whew!) Duner was called up to contestants row, but was out bid by one dollar on a guitar. Grrr. He could have played plinko if he would have won.

Thursday is bowling at 8:30pm, so we are just hanging out at the hotel and pool. We are taking it easy. I am getting in a 5 mile run, then we are going to Hooters Pool, because ours had to shut down the day after we got here to fix the drain to be compliant with the new federal regulations. At least we can use the Hooters pool/ hot tub. I guess I better go hop on the Treadmill before it gets up to 83 degrees today.

Las Vegas Day 2 and 3

Day 2 and 3.

Monday we spent the early hours at a ticket seller to get tickets for Penn & Teller, Blue Man Group and we also got some discounts on dinner at Planet Hollywood. This particular retailer has a VIP line that you can use if you purchased your tickets the day before, rather than stay in a line for an hour. (Yay!)
We also stopped by a grocery store to get some beverages and fruit for our room.
We were pretty tired yet from our flight. Getting up at 3 am just does not help your system. We spent a lot of Sunday napping and some of Monday.
Our show for P&T was for 9pm. We weren't sure how traffic would be so we got about 5pm and began to head over there. We had a rental and it was actually really easy to do. We found ourselves killing time at a Starbucks nearby the Penn & Teller Theater.

We just finished a sandwich when I glanced over and they were coming out of the theater. So I quickly grabbed my camera and headed out of the Theater and they actually stopped for me.
I thought that was great!

We had a great time at the show and afterward they hung out so we could get pictures with them...


Tuesday we used the VIP line at the Ticket place to purchase some more for Bodies Exhibit, Titanic and the Price is Right LIVE.
We hurried to the Luxor hotel to check out BODIES. I had seen a similar exhibit in Tampa with my sister, so I was a bit disappointed with this one. I think the one in Tampa was better, but Duner liked it.
We left there, grabbed some lunch and headed over the Bally's Hotel for The Price is Right LIVE. That was when we saw this little number for Zeb.


Then we just happened upon the statues that come alive in one of the hotels. They just had finished and were leaving to the escalators.


We killed time watching the Treasure Island Pirate (Siren) Show. We also found the Mirage Volcano, which I managed to get on video... in the video you hear a siren, but that was not part of the show. A firetruck just happened to drive by at that time.

Las Vegas Day 1

My Oldest is officially 14. He is now able to work part time in limited areas, he can now use the lifestyle center at the Y by himself, and he can now pump my gas in the freezing weather. (YES!) Ok, so maybe that last part I added, but I am SO glad to have a gas boy. *wait -- that did not sound right.**
Ok.
Given that I was able to do my speed run earlier in the day we were able to work in Brock's favorite new place to eat in the valley here. FUDDRUCKERS. He loved it. The place just opened up last Monday, but they were doing pretty good. There was probably 70 people there and we got there about 5pm! After a short wait we ordered and found our seat. I tried to get a nice pic of Brock but that is next to impossible when he was giddy with delight.
He had gotten a package from my sister, a game for the Wii, but I was making him wait to open til his birthday on Tuesday. He asked me everyday if he could open it. I let him have only one guess as to watch she got him, but it was wrong, so I didn't let him open it any earlier.
Tuesday we had the classes at the YMCA, so we didn't have much time, but I picked up a nice cheese cake for his birthday cake. He REALLY likes his strength class at the Y, there is a really nice looking girl in it. He is looking to impress as many as possible.
Tonight I had to do a 4 mile tempo run and he begged to join me at the Y. Cool! Ok! I thought. Then we got there. He changes his pants and heads to the vending area. (??) I begin my workout on the treadmill (so I could make sure I was maintaining my pace) and I didn't see him for the first 3 miles. At about 3.25 miles he hops on the treadmill next to me and begins to talk my ear off while he jogs, even though I have my ipod in. Short time later he hops off. That was quick, I thought. He said he had to go to the bathroom and would be back. I looked at the distance on the machine.... it said 0.14. What?? That's all? I didn't see him again till I was almost done. Then he worked on all the weight machines, mainly for his arms.
After my cool down I move to the wall to stretch and he magically appears telling me how sore his arms are and how much he LOVES to 'workout'.
I think his mouth did most of the work.
But I am glad to see that I am not the only one in my family that is using our membership. Willingly!

The next big thing.

It has been officially 2 weeks since the Florida adventure and life has just FLOWN BY! It took almost a week to get back in the grove, two weeks to get my house in order and laundry caught up, now I found myself preparing for the next 'big run'. Officially I begin my 'new' training schedule on Monday for my May 9th Journey's Half Marathon in Eagle River.

It will involve some speed runs, tempo runs and just LONG runs.
Speed runs --Monday's-- are basically 1/4 mile sprints (aka 400's) with jogs between for recovery. Monday will be 4 x 400's. (so just over a mile of running) at a pace that is 75 seconds faster than my Half Marathon Pace. Basically 9 minute miles... yikes!
9:07 for 400's (1/4 mile sprint)
9:17 for 800's (1/2 mile sprint)
9:42 for 1600's (1 mile SPRINT)
Tempo runs-- Wednesday's-- are from two miles to eight miles--at faster than normal training pace, or 15 seconds faster than my targeted half-marathon pace.
My Targeted marathon pace is 10:22 (that equals a finish of 2hrs and 15 minutes). I finished in 15 minutes more than that last time.
Long Runs -- Saturday's -- The Runners World website said this "Without the strong, steady, endurance-boosting long run, speed workouts and tempo runs would gradually wear you down. Start at seven miles and work up to 12, long enough to give you that all-important "mileage confidence" for race day."
What I love is you need to run at 30 seconds SLOWER per mile than your marathon pace for the long runs. Which makes them more enjoyable.
Sample Long Run: 10 miles
Long Run Pace: HMPace + 30 seconds per mile

Now that is your education in Runners Talk for the day!

I have Reece and Brock in some classes at the Y. Reece has been in the Fit and Fun classes (basically gym class) for 8 wks now but will go for 6 more, and Brock is now in the Strength and Conditioning class so he will be able to use the Lifestyle center (aka...workout room) will the rest of us boys and girls. I could n't find much during that time for Zeb to go to otherwise I would have put him in a class. Zeb and I will read some Junie B. Jones, First Grader books while we wait during that time, so it is all good. He LOVES those books. For fun last night I took him to Barnes and Noble and he got to pick out 2 'Junie' books, since Brock and Reece were at Ski Club.

Brock is really excited because he is going to do the Fox Cities Half Marathon with me in September. I was going to have him join me in May, but I want to do more training outside with him.

Now my weeks will be...
Sunday--Swim day... maybe... (I might do my swims on Mondays with the Master Swimmers in our Tri club.)
Monday--Zumba, Speed Runs. Maybe Masters Swim...
Tuesday-- Spin Class....
Wednesday-- Tempo runs.....
Thursday-- Spin Class....
Friday-- OFF...
Saturday-- Long Runs.

But thats ok... I like to eat and I will be able to do that once again.