What to Write?

I am trying to post every day. Sometimes that is much easier said than done. Yes, I have past posts to get on here still, but I just shut down my computer that has the pictures on it.

Today...

I tried to do something fun for the kids for lunch. I cut up fun stuff like apples and bananas and cheese and hot dogs. I put it all into a muffin pan. In theory, the kids would think it was fun and exciting. In reality, they ate most of it. They put ketchup on apples, cheese on bananas, and all sorts of odd and gross combinations. Then they started launching it across the kitchen. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea.

On a fun note, I have a double jogger. I inherited it and can't wait to try it out. Maybe I can even get back into running again. When I put Jerry in it and asked if he liked it, he said NO. Tough turkey kid, you have to ride in it anyway.

Thomas had Flat Stanley for school over fall break. I'll explain later. We got fun pictures of Stanley doing various activities and Lolly even took him on a road trip. I sent the pictures to Target to get them printed and my fabulous husband was going to pick them up. When he went to get them, they were nowhere to be found. Turns out the online hosting site is having issues. Sorry Thomas, you have to wait 24-48 hours to get your pictures.

Happy Monday!

You're On

Alright Tiffany, may I call you Tiffany? You're on!

Remember that coupon lady/site I blogged about yesterday? Well, she's got my attention again. She offered up a challenge, and I love a good challenge. I especially love a challenge that I can win. Even better, a challenge that is good for me. Ms. Tiffany wants to be healthier. Me too. She needs to be held accountable for working on it. Me too. She is holding herself accountable by blogging about her progress weekly. And, she wants her readers to do the same. Misery loves company, perhaps?

We are all busy, goodness knows I don't even want to see her schedule. It must be color-coded and down the the 20 second interval in order to keep up with everything she has going on. We can all come up with excuses, no matter how bad they are. My latest is "the gym closed so I don't have child care or the chance to take a shower afterwards anymore." Sounds good to me, but also a bit pathetic.

Here we go. I'm still not sure what I am going to do. Even pushing the hooligans in the stroller is doing something. However, you get to bother me about it and keep me going. Tiffany challenged us for 12 weeks. I can do this. My last race was in February, so it's been a while. Even if I don't register and run another race soon, I have my nifty spifty watch that times me.

Enough excuses. I'm going to win this challenge. I can do this. LET'S GO!

Krispy Kreme Challenge

So I am a little slow on getting this up here, oh well. The details don't change, just the reference to "yesterday." This took place on Feb 7, 2009. I originally sent out an email, but didn't send it to everybody, so here is my story for all the world to read.

Yesterday I did my first race of the year. So, it ended up not being so much a race and more of an event. I woke up sick with a nasty head and chest cold, but went to run anyway (I am not about to pay the entry fee then not show up). By the time I got there I was breathing somewhat normal again. As I was waiting at the start line, I ran into some friends and we laughed about all the costumes and crazy people at the race, about 5200 people running in all. There was Superman, The Flash, Santa Claus with a gigantic cowboy hat, lots of donuts with sprinkles, KK coffee cup pair, Duncan Donut and KK coffee cup pair, Richard Simmons, Elvis, Waldo and his buddy Waldo, and a giant gorilla. We can’t forget the crew that was shirtless (or tank topped) and painted “Do It For the Kids” and the other crew painted with the name of some ESPN sportscaster. Yes, the event was so big it was covered by ESPN. There was also a National Guardsman in fatigues, boots, and a 60lb pack. One guy had a broken leg, so he wore a life jacket and rode in a shopping cart; he was the designated eater he said.

Anyway, back to my race. We headed the 2 miles to Krispy Kreme. Right from the start we headed downhill, and as I reached the start I could see the massive swath of people on their way up the other side of the hill. This was not going to be easy, especially on the way back I couldn’t help but think. Once I got to KK, I had to wait almost 10 minutes to get my donuts. Again, that many people can really slow things down. I ate 3 donuts, that was enough. A guy near me told me to cram them all together like a donut sandwich and I could eat more and faster. Um, no thanks, I’m good slowly eating my little 3. There were several people that didn’t do so hot at holding their donuts, but we will just move on from them. Let’s just say I hope the fire department comes by to hose down the parking lot. (Later on the news we saw a reporter at the scene, very obviously after all the racers had cleared. Gross, but it was much worse earlier.) The trip back was more of a jog here and there than it was a run or race. Most people walked the way back. Let me just tell you about the trip back. There were a few hills. OK, there were a lot of hills. Long and slow hills at that. Even my more serious racer friends said the hills on the way back were rough, and add to that the donut weight and the hills were even worse. Today, my legs are definitely feeling those hills. And we just won’t talk about my time. Donuts in the middle of a race really kill your time. On the bright side, I was in the middle of a pack the entire time. I passed some and plenty passed me. My overall time, including food and the delay of getting to the start, was 1:22:28. My run time, based on my watch (my rockin’ new ironman watch that tracks laps and overall runs) was 58:45. Yeah, crappy time, oh well. I had the cards way stacked against me this time.

In the end, I did the race. I made it the 2 miles there, ate a few, and made it 2 miles back, and I kept it all down. The odds of me doing it again are pretty slim. I ran it once, and I can now say I have done it. The whole thing was fun, especially to see everybody there and having such a good time. On to the next race now. Crystal Coast on Feb 28, I will be doing the 5K. I will be sure to keep everybody posted on my new running habit. Thanks for all the encouragement and support!

If you want, go to www.newsobserver.com and check out the photos from the race. My picture is in there, #64. There was a girl riding on a guy’s shoulders and I happened to be next to them when the picture was taken. That’s me, Runner 2009! No, really, my entry number was 2009 for this one. Cool, huh?

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/multi/first-look-the-krispy-kreme-challenge

I can't post the photo here because the newspaper owns the photo. Sorry, if you want to see it, you have to go find it.