Eleven

How did that happen? 

He's eleven. 

And that makes me ... lets not go there yet k?

And that handsome kitty - he's seventeen. 

Oh boy oh boy. My fellas are getting on up there. 

Anybody know how to hit pause? 

I kinda like right where we are thank you very much. 

Only Half Crazy

I did it.

I not only ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) but I finished only 4 minutes over my original goal. 

Six weeks before the half I had tendonitis in my right foot which sidelined me and then the snow added insult to injury (literally). Three weeks I went without running. Three weeks before the race I had to carefully recondition my aging body.

But I did it.

I was able to work back up to 10 miles.

I know - 3.1 miles shy of the goal.

It was insane but as they say 

Cute shirt here.

And yes, I plan to do it again. 

When you are crazy, your are crazy - even if only half!

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Hope you join in for Turn the page ... Tuesday on the 31st. I've got some good ones to share and I hope you do too!

Heartbeat

Me: John (he's 8), will you be my valentine?

John: (does his sweet side smile which makes his dimples show) Moooom, well .... I can for now but one day I'm going to have a wife and she will be my valentine.

Be still my heart.

Technical Difficulties

I think our elf on the shelf LeRoy is making mischief. Our internet is down and TTPT is waaay to long to peck out on my phone. Thankfully I have most of my post done so fingers crossed that at some point tomorrow I will be up and runnin!

Stay tuned ... Reviews that you won't want to miss as are headed your way - right LeRoy?!

Trotting

We woke up at the crack of zero-dawn-thirty and braved the freezing rain ...

to run with one of many turkeys ...

one turkey in particular who had never ran in a race much less 3 miles. 

We were more than ready for naps and good eats (and in that order)!

 

Hope you had a blessed thanksgiving filled with every turkey (or ham) that you love.

 

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Trot on over this Tuesday for another edition of Turn the page ... Tuesday! I've got some good ones for you and I can't wait to see where your beak - I mean nose has been.



Hoka Polka

Back in July of 2011 I reviewed a book for TTPT  Born to Run in which I begin the post saying

I'm not a runner. Never have been. I do run though. On a treadmill or on fairly flat terrain. After 3 miles I'm toast. So how can I say I'm not a runner? Well, I don't run races and my 'running' is pretty slow and steady ... and as I mentioned - lacking hills.

Well.

Time to eat crow.

I AM a runner.

I run 4 miles with hills at least 3 times a week.

I've run in several races.

I run against me. No one else. My goal is to finish and try to beat my own personal time. Not what someone else tells me my time should be.

Because I can.

One of which was ten miles (TEN!) and had lots (LOTS!) of hills. The last mile was UPHILL!

And I did it.

Why?

For my Aunt Barbara.

I'm running because I can.

When I was first starting out it was painful. Down right miserable.

And then I'd think of my aunt.

Sick. Scared. Exhausted. Housebound because of chemo.

I can do this.

If she can do THAT.

I can do THIS.

And I did.

I just signed up for my first 1/2 marathon (and it's flat - I haven't completely lost my everlovin mind).

Over the past 3 years I've had a few injuries (one related to an overzealous rendition of the chicken dance) not to mention the fact that I am getting older by the second. I've gotten better at listening to my body and knowing when I need to take a walk break or a few days break. Heck - when to take Motrin and an Epsom's salt bath or when just a glass of wine will do ;-)

I finally feel comfortable calling myself a runner. After all, with the clown shoes on I better claim it. Either that or join the circus.

 

Stinson Lite

 

These babies feel like I'm running on air. Instead of pounding the pavement I am now doing the Hoka (One One) Polka.

Will you join me?

Clown shoes not required.

Circus optional.

Snowed

We had a bit of a treat last night.

Big fluffy flakes just perfect for catching on your tongue.

Just enough make the roads messy.

Just wet enough to mash our box woods.

Our poor poor box woods split right down the middle.

 

Thankfully they are pretty resilient (been there done that and will do it some more).



 Only one little birdy stuck around for the show.

 

While two little boys got to work.

 

 

And worked.

 

Sweet success.

 

 

Blink Blink

How did that happen?

Both my babies are in school now.

Wasn't it just a few days ago that I brought Henry home from the hospital? No? Ohhhh. That was 8 1/2 years ago.

And John? Didn't I just have him strapped on my back in the baby carrier? No. That was almost 6 years ago.

Blink.

Blink.

They are pretty ecstatic.

I would be lying if I didn't say I was too.

After all - I have these caricatures of my children to keep me company ;-)

After I tame all the dust bunnies and tackle the list that has accumulated over the last 8+ years, I hope to be able to spend a little more time in this virtual space of mine. I've got a lot of sewing, picture taking, crocheting, book reading to accomplish.

I have to say, it's awfully quite around here. I can actually hear myself blink ... blink ... blink ... blink ...

It's Electric

....or not. We were hit pretty darn bad by those storms that hit the east coast. Might not have electricity for a few weeks. Seriously. And apparently more storms are on their way tonight. We are fairing ok and by God's grace our home was spared; many, many in our city have severe damage from downed trees. power lines are down everywhere. All this to be said - no TTPT this Tues. unless our power is restored (I'm posting from my phone - technology - amazing - too bad it needs electricity - ha!). Feel free to post and I'll link to you once I am electric ... boogie woogie woogie

An Apple A Day

Rocky and I took the train to NYC for a few days a couple of weeks back. It was the first time in eight years (8!) that we had been away with out our (adorable) attachments.

It was bliss.

The boys and Rocky's and my parents (the caregivers) survived.

We were all spoiled rotten.

Did I mention it was bliss?

Here are a few shots from our 10 year anniversary trip to The Big Apple ~

A sweet subway entrance on the upper west side

The Freedeom Tower

A happy little place I happened to stumple upon in SOHO

They couldn't tell me how to get to Sesame Street ...

.

Times Square from the back of our limo - uh-huh - limo

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Don't forget Turn the page ... Tuesday is tomorrow!

I might be a little delayed in posting but don't be dismayed ~ I will have a review (or two or three!)

Photo Finish

So I finished my Turn the page ... Tuesday post and decided to wipe some of the dust off the ol' blog and bring her back to life ~ Blogger seemed to have a different idea. Did you know that apparently all your blog pictures are stored on Google's Picasa site and once you've hit your limit you have to purchase more space - annually?!

What you see above is my new header - that is what I had intended at least. For some reason Blogger will let me upload to a post but prohibits me from changing my header saying I have met my storage limit.

I'm tired. It's way past my bedtime and we are back at to the regular routine tomorrow ... and did I mention I'm sick.

Insert whining and sniffling.

I'm so stinking frustrated with blogger - anyone have any suggestions? I did attempt to delete some pics from Picasa but it then deletes them from my blog! If I can't figure this out (preferably with out spending money) it looks like Blogger and I will be finished. Suggestions for a blog host?

Oh the tragedies!

Ok.

Enough of the complaining.

Please feel free to share any nuggets of info that I missed while I was seeing red ;-P

See you tomorrow for TTPT. I promise it's a much more upbeat post (smiles and sneezes).

Bags and Bowls

The before I let them pig out on whatever they wanted from their goody bags picture

come to think of it ... they had similar expressions as they were lying on the floor exhausted from their adventure.

I kinda looked like our pumpkin when the festivities were all done.

Good bye crazy October.

Hello November.

Cold weather and warm soup.

Will you join me in sharing your favorite soup recipe?

Pop on over to Jody's on November 7th to link to your bowl of goodness. More info here.

Five

I can't believe it.

I no longer have a baby.

I have a five year old.

Unbelievable.

Time has flown by - kinda like this picture from your birthday party.

Happy birthday Big Boy John.

Love, Mama

PS - you will always be my baby.

PPS - how about those veggies?

Wordy Wednesday

My John.

Who survives on carbohydrates, cheese, and chicken nuggets.

Who is about to turn 5.

FIVE!

Says to me, "You know ........... when I'm five I just might maybe eat some vegetables. You know. Maybe. Because I'll be five."

Hooville

Yesterday was a beautiful day to hit the road.

The boys had a bit of fun pre-game.

And a one 'uh oh' moment when the football went under a car.

Henry loved being resourceful and retrieving it.

To then carry on!

I love Virginia's stadium.

It's one of the nicest ones I've ever been in.

Oh yeah. I'm back in my boot. I got a little too excited doing the chicken dance last week at a women's retreat and wrenched it pretty good. It's nice and swollen. And would you look at how big that darn thing is compared to my foot! I go back to the orthopedic on Tues. to get the verdict. My injury from running (tendinitis) healed pretty well but I guess my ankle wasn't strong enough to handle my dancing ;-)

I took some cool pictures in a cemetery this weekend too ... but that's for another post.

PS - Hooville is what many call Charlottesville, Va because of the school's nickname Wahoo's for it's sports teams (I don't get it but I chant wahoo wa quite a bit!)

It's That Time Of Year Again

Football season.

I feel fall coming ...

and Turn the page ... Tuesday! I've read so many books that I haven't blogged about. I might just have to have a 'clean up' session. I don't know that I could give a decent review on some of them now because it's been so long since I've read some of them! Don't forget the challenge still exists to pull something of your shelf to read that has been staring you down ;-)

For you observant ones who happened to notice the very stylish (and hot) black boot that I am sporting in the picture don't be alarmed. It's only tendinitis. I say only because I originally thought I had a stress fracture (from running ... that will teach me to exercise!). Hopefully in a few weeks I will be up and running (literally) again but in the meantime ibuprofen and frozen peas (for an ice pack - it's the best!) are my new best friends.

Here's to cooler weather, football, and good reads! See you Tuesday.

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

John: I'm the one who loves you
Me: Thank you John, I love you too. And Daddy, and Henry ... and they love me too ...
John: BUT, I'M the one whooooo LOVES YOU.
He's gonna make a great hubbie one day!

Henry: Mama, come QUICK!
Me: (Running down the hall nearly breaking my neck) What - what is it? Are you ok?
Henry: I think I just did magic. I'm not sure but I think I did. There was a bug and I went (waves hands around in front of him) woosh ... and now he's gone.

Henry:  Are we there yet?
Me: Not yet. Only 3 hours more.
Henry: Hey John, did you here that ... only 3 hours more. We are practially there! (I guess after our haul to Fl this summer - 3 hours is a walk in the park!)

John: (Following Henry down a dark hallway) No don't be afraid ok ... God is always with you.

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 Don't forget Turn the page ... Tuesday is this Tuesday. Where has the summer gone? You still have time to pull a book off the shelf that has been staring you down for a few months ... or years!

Say Hello To My Little Friend

We had these metal chairs ... that were once green but had turned brown (as in rusty). It was time to give them a face lift.

Say hello to my little friend:

We had a good time getting acquainted.

Once we are below 100 degrees and 100% humidity I will glady share some after pictures. In the meantime ... stay cool my friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS - The winner of Leaving Protection is Ruth! Congrats!

PPS - I forgot to mention on the last TTPT post that Born to Run was one of those TBR books - that challenge is still going on! All year in fact! Don't forget to pull one of the shelf that's been staring you down ;-)

The Games People Play

I'm always looking for something other than electronics to entertain my boys in the car.

I finally broke down and called it one day.

You know ...

PUNCH BUGGY!!!

Dangerous territory if you have two boys I think.

But I was despirate.

And it worked.

And no one got punched.

Success.

Then that got a little old.

I had to up the challenge.

Hello Mini.

WHOOP COOP!!!

So if you happen to see a woman driver and two (very handsome boys ~smile~) pumping their arms up and down like they are pretending to pull a train whistle take a look around ... there's either a buggy or mini in our midst.

What games do you play?

Possibilities

I am always amazed at how much mulch we need and how bad my back aches every spring.

Our yard is not that large but we have quite a lot areas that are "landscaped". I put quotes around landscaped because there is so much we need and want to do. After 7 years in this house we have only done what we needed to to the outside. Our focus (and for those of you who have been following this blog for a while will know) has been the inside of our home ... ok ... well, with the exception of fencing in the backyard and widening our driveway (you get the point).

We have been so busy that we only were able to get the front mulched (4 scoops!) and half the back (6 scoops!) done before we ran out of weekends with free time.

As you can see, it takes little time for the weeds to take over.

And as you can see ... one of our little helpers was not too pleased with his call to action.

Both preferred watching to pulling weeds, laying newspaper, and throwing mulch.

Actually that's not entirely true. Henry would have loved to throw mulch ... and he did until we realized that most of his 'load' was landing in the grass ;-)

While Rocky was off getting mulch, I contemplated our next project.

I had already dug up these irises that were crowding my lavender bush ...

and intended to move them to here

that is until Rocky and I realized that our roots run deep.
Wire grass roots that is.
Rocky spent the good part of a bit  tilling this section for me the other day and we still could not get all the roots.
So I began to dig ... and rake ... and hit rocks ... and pull roots ... and dig some more.

I'm not discouraged though. See those herbs ... I'm dreaming of pesto frozen for the winter and fresh tomatoes with feta and basil during the summer.

And while I was waiting for Rocky to move the truck to finish the mulching ... I decided to see how hard it was to disassemble a side patio that is no longer of use (never was). I want to use the slate stones for, you guessed it, more landscaping.

Ahhh ... so mulch to do and so little time.

Oh the possibilities!