nine

He may be old enough to swim in the deep end, be the oldest in his elementary school next year, attend summer camps, play night games until dark sets in and only come inside when hunger sets in. Every so often when I carry him to bed and his long legs dangle to the floor I get a heavy reminder that he really is old enough for that stuff. I just feel lucky that he still is a little nervous about thunder at night, not that embarrassed by me yet, watches cartoons in the morning, tells me I always know how to make him feel better, and gives me a hug and a kiss and a "I love you" everyday. These things help me realize he will always be my little guy.....no matter how big. I am grateful for that.

13.1 miles

So It just happens that I just completed my first half marathon. Toward the end of training for this race I was so burnt out on running that I was sort of dreading the race itself. 13.1 miles seemed sooooooo long. But 2 giant blisters, really really sore legs, and a finish line later I am happy that I did it and I finished in better time than I thought I would.{yay!} So here is a little re-cap on how things went down.
3:50 wake up, dressed,other stuff, wheat toast with peanut butter and jelly {yum}.
4:15 off we go
5:00 get on bus to shuttle up to the start.
5:30 arrive at the start...or is it a refugee camp. The start was in a big dirt/gravel space in the middle of the woods. It was pitch black and unusually cold. People were just wondering around in the darkness with garbage sacks and space blankets on huddled together and peeing in the bushes. {porta potties had a long line}. It was so strange it seemed like a refugee camp to me.
6:00 sun starts to come out.. pretty view... lots less refugeeish.
7:00 race starts.
mile 4- feeling good.
mile 7 a 1 mile up hill climb. No better time to try out the GU. It was nasty but I swallowed that slimy clump whole and drank a whole bunch of water. I made it up the hill and back down. Thankyou GU!
mile 11 - tired, tired, tired, sore, sore, sore. blister is coming Ahhhhhhh! Keep running keep running. I kept telling myself that like a crazy person. Maybe I was a little crazy at that point. A little black eyed peas helped me through it.
mile 12- almost done.. pick up the pace lets get this think done already. That is when I heard a honk and saw my kids hanging out of the car waving.....that helped me push through it. {love you guys!!!}
mile 13.1 Finish line. {YAY}

Geez...what can I say I have a love/hate relationship with running. It was fun in a werid sort of way and tormenting all at the same time. But I accomplished my goal for the summer a half marathon and It felt good. However my legs do not... they are soooo sore. Will I be able to walk tomorrow?

p.s. how do runners make it with out music? My music kept me going so many times. There is no way I would have made it.
And how to people run double what I just did and do a full marathon...AMAZING!

I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

sprouting

Over the summer some changes have occurred that make me realize that even though I call her baby she is really not that at all. Opening doors is a piece of cake, the somersault has a new perfect form and the big wheel has never seen such attention. New words are escaping those little lips everyday. Last week was "humus" and "heartburn"....it makes me laugh. She is not only spunky but opinionated now. Especially when it comes to shoes, she wants the blue diamond ones... always. One thing remains constant. When ever it's sleepy time she asks for three things. Ba Ba {bottle} B {blanket} and then she smiles and says "bed" and sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. How can I ever turn that down? It's so easy. I am a sucker. One thing is for sure. That change is going to be a hard one.