Morning Thoughts...

I still hate running. Uhhh, maybe hate is too strong a word.

I lay in bed this morning as my husband, who is helping me with my exercise program, tried to kindly and gently wake me up this morning to go running with him. Yup, he's running with me to help encourage me to keep up my running (well, I still can't claim I'm running- more like a trot).

I didn't want to open my eyes, move my body, and the thought of going out the door to run 2 miles made me want to burrow under the covers and ignore that I was alive.

I stumbled to get changed and shove my feet into my sneakers. I then clomped out the back door, my eyes not even really open yet, and walked up the street for a while. I finally convinced myself it was ok for my brain to send a signal to my legs to move faster and start running. They responded a little bit, but I still felt like they were covered in lead instead of sweat pants.

It doesn't help to think that I'm also keeping somebody who is over a foot taller than I am from actually running/jogging (our last run he started walking and I asked if he was ok and he sheepishly responded that he could walk as fast as I was trotting... yeah, uh-huh, I was mortified and embarrassed!).

We made it, tho'. Thirty minutes, 2.5 miles later, still with lead weights but at least my eyes finally opened up. Well, I think they did; all the fog this morning made it difficult to tell.

I get home, wash up, and then Miranda (who woke up and came in to use the single bathroom we have in the house while I was showering) started talking about how cool it was to have a swimming pool with bubbles in it. Huh?

The sink was stopped up. REALLY blocked. I tried a plunger- no luck, just splashing. I tried some drain cleaner (not drain-o, but some stuff that is supposed to keep the drains clear, not clear drains). I then tromped down to the basement, grabbed the "snake" and prayed it would work so I didn't have to spend $150, wait 3 +hours, and use a no-sink-bathroom for a day.

Boy, did I fell like singing "I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR!" when I unclogged the massive black goo that was hair and soap and scum stuck to the end of the snake. One more 12-foot length of snake and splashed with said scum, I was successful in opening the drain. Yahoo!!!

Travis commented to me, "I bet you'd rather be running than doing this" as I was covered in splatters of black sludge, trying to pry hair from the end of the scum-coated snake, and realizing I needed to get back into the shower to get all the yuck off.

I reflected maybe 10 seconds and said, "Um, NO, actually. I would much rather be doing this." I would rather be using my brain to solve a puzzle that would result in the free and good use of something, and save us $150 in a service fee, and have the satisfaction of learning something new. I would FAR rather do that than run.

So, why do I still "run" even though I've finished training and finished the 10K? Well, I like how my jeans fit a little better, that I've lost 3 pounds despite my (sometimes excessive) chocolate consumption, and I like how I actually feel better in some ways.

I still don't like the process, but I do like the results.

I just wish I could be at the point where I really enjoyed the run...

Speedy Delivery...

My dear friend who is letting me arrive on her doorstep with 5 little girls and an adult girlfriend in tow this summer, had a birthday on Saturday. She is not shy about making known her love of chocolate, and she's admired my cakes on a few occasions, and has not been reticent to ask for one of her own cakes.

Unfortunately, like many of my good intentions, this cake was delayed and put off and procrastinated until almost the last possible moment. Not having chocolate chips on hand, and having lots of school projects and evening meetings, etc. delayed the cake-making. This also put a crimp on how much cake decorating I could do.

I used The Cake Mix Doctor recipe book to make "Darn Good Chocolate Cake," which is one of my all-time favorite recipes (semi-sweet chocolate chips, chocolate pudding and sour cream added to a devil's food chocolate cake mix... Mmmmmm). I then made chocolate butter cream frosting. And, made marshmallow fondant made into chocolate with cocoa powder. I wish I could've brought the cake in person, cuz then I could've had a slice with her. Still, I almost melted myself when I put some chocolate butter cream frosting on the cake left-overs and sank into a chair to enjoy yummy moon-high-calories.

I made some flowers from home-made gum paste. I fashioned the delicate flowers after the wild honeysuckle that grows in our yard and smells heavenly.

And, I wrapped it up like a newborn in a snowstorm before I tucked it into the freezer. The next morning I took it to the post office and tucked in some plastic bags to cushion the wrapped-up cake and taped it shut and sent it off in the mail. I had hoped it would be delivered on her birthday (Saturday), but I knew that it might not get there until Monday. Still, the cake is supposed to be thawed at room temperature and can last up to a week at room temp. I am just thinking that those delivery trucks aren't kept very cool in the summer...

Still, apparently the cake arrived on time, and wasn't destroyed. Hurrah!

Here's what it looked like before I shipped:

Memorial Day Bike Ride

Sunday evening before Memorial Day, Travis was looking a little green and a little run down. He turned to me and said, "I think I might just take tomorrow off. I haven't had a day off, well, in months." Yeah, he even works Christmas Eve! (Although I don't think he went in on Christmas Day last year....)

I got a HUGE smile on my face, barely containing the urge to bust out into spontaneous dancing, and demurely (Ha!) asked, "So, what would you like to do?"

He said he'd like to go for a family bike ride.

Ahhh, be still my beating heart!

It took a few trips back to the house (diaper change kit, water, sunscreen) before we got underway. We headed along the river trail that runs from our house to downtown area. Sadly, they had it ripped up, so we had to turn around and head back by our house. We then decided to keep going to ride our bikes to St. Mary's Lake at Notre Dame and eat a picnic and feed the remaining (stale) bread to the birds.

Ahhh, heaven! It was sunny, warm, the ducks were sleeping in the shade, we had a great picnic! Miranda chatted the entire trip as she pedaled on the back of Travis' bike. Veronica was happy to be sitting in the bike trailer, just enjoying the breeze and the view. Megan was riding her bike really well, and trying to keep up with Zoë who was waaaay out in the lead.

We then came home and while 'Nica was taking a nap, we played with the water (sorry, no pictures of that). We then ate grilled hotdogs and toasted GIANT marshmallows (made into gooey s'mores) for dinner. A Perfect Day!

Taking a break before feeding the swans.

Ahhh, he looks so much more rested!

See that smile?
I sure do love this man!

Eating Ginger Snaps that Travis made. Yummmm!

Miranda posing with the swan she just fed. She got brave enough to even let the swan take the bread right out of her hand!

Megan ducking out of Zoë's camera shot.

Yeah, I'm on the phone.

'Nica is a little more comfortable with a water bottle in hand.

Tossing rocks, drinking water, and feeding/watching the birds.

Our Beautiful Daughters:

Yeah, I love spending time with my family!

Rum Village

No, it isn't a place to act be a pirate and drink lots of liquor. But, it is a place to run around, have adventures, and explore new places.

Rum Village is a little (controlled) wilderness inside the city of South Bend. It has biking trails, nature hikes, playgrounds, pavilions, and a Nature Center. We met up with some friends there last week, and played. The weather was perfect! We ate a picnic lunch, ran around the playground, played on the swings, and watched a Raccoon scavenge for food.

Megan did not want to smile for the camera

Miranda and Veronica were happy to be outside!

'Nica is growing so fast!

Miranda's posed smile.

Megan was glad to be able to run!

Veronica loves to watch other kids playing.
She really gets a kick out of their adventures, laughter, and fun. I love hearing her giggle when she sees other kids playing.

Miranda "chasing" her bigger sister.

Megan acquiesced and gave me a nice smile for the camera.

She was excited to see this stone with writing and pictures on it. I think it was a memorial stone.

Megan and Bijoux loved swinging together. They tried to push themselves for a while, but it was much better when they got one of us moms to push.

'Nica loved the swing!

Xena is a dainty and gentle girl. She does everything so delicately, and that includes smiling and swinging.

Xena has such a sweet little mischievous smile!

This was the "Ariel Rock". You know the one from the Little Mermaid movie? Miranda is pretending to be Ariel here.

Miranda and Bijoux also had fun on the swing together.

Xena and her mom. I loved hearing them laugh together!

'Nica loved the attention, too.

Bijoux waiting for Miranda to catch up with her on the play ground.

Swinging Together

Sunburst Race: 10K

It was hot (probably in the upper 70s at this point).
I am at mile 5 of 6.2.
But, I'm still RUNNING...
and with a smile on my face, too!
(The smile was there because I saw my daughters and husband cheering me on).




Zoë took my picture as I ran by our house.
They were waiting for me to run past and then they jumped on their bikes to meet me at the finish line.

Look at my awesome family!
They were so great to cheer me on and give me lots of smiles when I finished.

I finished my first 10K. It felt good. I finished my race in 1:06:43 (not bad, really). I am still not a runner, and I don't know if I'd do it again, but I can say that I've run it, and I'm proud of myself. It's also inspired Zoë to want to run in the 5K next year! Hmmmm, what have I started?

Freezer Paper Stencilling

As part of a baby shower a while back some friends decided to decorate onesies and bibs. They didn't quite finish the project, and invited me to join them to help finish these little treasures for the twin girls that were born.

I offered the use of my Silhouette to cut out the freezer paper so we could stencil some cool designs. These are what they came up with:

Rebecca is an artist. She is amazing and has such cool ideas! She used illustrator to make these vector graphics:


I loved Melissa's selections. She was also ingenious to google search for silhouette images to use for the stencils.


I used the Silhouette cutter's software to make some designs. I wish I'd had more paints to work with, but I was still happy with the results:

Logos

I luv luv luv my new machine!

A good computer and awesome software is essential to have even more fun.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I made a design for some shirts so a group of us friends from church could match during the Sunburst Race. During a book group we discovered that there were over 15 of us that had signed up for various events in this race (1/2 Marathon, 10K, 5K, Fitness 5K walk), and some of us were in agreement to get matching shirts.

My good friend, Tara, was awesome to undertake this feat. She found the most inexpensive but NICE shirts, and we were going to leave it at that, but I got my new little toy to play with.

So, with some hours spent on Illustrator, and some research and purchasing of awesome heat transfer vinyl from this company (couldn't beat the 1-day shipping price, either!), we got these great shirts to show our solidity and support of each other in this awesome undertaking:


Hopefully we'll get a picture with all of us ladies (and one gentleman, but he opted for the decal on a grey shirt he already had) wearing our shirts.