Spring Break

Sometimes blogging is a good excuse to put off folding the laundry just a little longer...

So the kids' last day of school was last Thursday. Friday I made them do chores during the day a little, then we met Tim at Wahooz after work. He had some free tickets he had gotten that were about to expire, so we thought we'd better use them up. The kids had a blast!! And I actually got to drive a go-kart for probably the first time since high school. We always have a baby with us that I'm sitting on the sidelines with. But this time, some friends met us there and my one friend offered to watch Jake. It was pretty fun, and Sydney loved being my passenger. The kids also did laser tag, mini-golf, and arcades, and we ate crappy pizza there for dinner. But I sort-of like crappy pizza if I didn't have to make it, and I don't have to clean up after it. :) It was a fun night for the kids and a great way to start their Spring Break. I took pictures and will post soon...

This week I told the kids that I would take each one of them on a date during the day--during Jake's nap time. Yesterday was Sydney's day, and she chose to go see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie at the dollar theater. An hour and a half of sqeaky little chipmunk voices--what could be better?!? We had popcorn, Root Beer, and chewy Sweet-Tarts (love them!!!). She thought she was pretty cool and definitely hogged the popcorn. So fun to have a little one-on-one time with her and make her feel special!

Today was Brandon's turn, and he chose to go out to lunch at Olive Garden, which was definitely more than o.k. with me! I took the opportunity to teach him a little about how to treat a lady on a date. When we got there I waited til he opened the door for me--it took him a few minutes to catch on. Haha! But then on the way out, he didn't even need a reminder and grabbed the door for me. So cute! Anyways, we stuffed our faces with as many breadsticks as we could stand, then decided to go even further and order dessert. We tried the little Italian doughnuts with chocolate dipping sauce---HEAVEN!!! The only down-side is that now we feel a little sick.

Tomorrow is Ryan's turn, and he wants to go eat lunch at Golden Corral--his tastes obviously aren't quite as refined as Brandon's yet. He's totally excited, though, and it will be awesome to spend a little personal time with my Ry-Ry.

MILE stone

So today I ran 4 miles.

Seriously.

And I didn't die.

I have been amazed at what my pathetic, 35-year-old body is capable of if I really, really push it. I'm not a particularly fast runner, per se, but I didn't stop the entire time. All 47 minutes and 4 miles of it. I guess I just needed to brag a bit. :)

I still have no plans of doing a half marathon or anything. It's more just about proving to myself that I CAN do more than I think I can. And having a fitness/endurance goal, rather than a "number on the scale" goal.

I did three runs this week--3 miles twice, then 4 miles today. Wow! I should be to 5 miles in a couple weeks. O.K. I'm done bragging. Thanks for listening. :)

Little Miracles

So I have never been a runner--NEVER! But I've kind-of always wished I could be. I know most people who are runners are in great shape. But running has always been this thing that I thought only other people could do--not me. It made me gasp for air in the past and cramp really bad.

Well, I have a few friends who are going to do a 1/2 marathon in a few months. Don't be crazy--I'm not doing that! But it has inspired me to push the envelope with what I can do and what I can MAKE myself do.

In the past, the most I had ever run continuously was 2 miles, and I think I only did that twice. The last little while I have been doing Biggest Loser DVDs for my workouts, too, since I was tired of the treadmill, so I hadn't really run for a couple of months. But last night I set a goal (which I really didn't think I would meet) to run 3 miles straight...pretty much a GINORMOUS deal for me. And.....I totally did it! I can't even put into words how freakin' proud I was! Seriously, it felt like a miracle.

It wasn't really EASY, but it wasn't awful either. Thanks goes out to Whitney Houston for her awesome 80's hits that kept me going. I don't know how anyone could run without an MP3 player...

I'm pretty excited to try it again tonight and make sure it wasn't just a fluke. I'm hoping to work my way up to 5 miles--eventually.

In other news, my "leprosy" is finally under control. Since moving to Idaho years ago, my soft, supple skin of my childhood days in Texas has left me. Sniff, sniff... In its place dry, itchy, red, sometimes flaky skin has come. Thanks, Idaho, for your low humidity. By December of last year, it was really bad and I finally called the dermatologist to try and get it fixed. Sadly, it took almost 2 months to get in to see him, but after a month and a few hundred dollars (money well-spent, in my opinion) in office visits and prescription lotions and potions, I'm on the mend. I no longer feel "unclean." So I'll send a shout-out to Dr. Powell for working a little miracle on my psoriasis.