So I'm planning to run a half marathon on April 22nd. I'm a planner, it's how I was designed. I think God finds it humorous to encourage my planning, you know-with my DNA, and then screw the plans all up.
I found out I broke my foot, not sprained it like I thought. That was a mandatory 2-3 weeks of non-running. I about lost my mind. Just as I was about done with my "resting", I got a wicked sinus infection. I mean nasty.
See, guffawing.
So today was my first day of training for the half marathon I'll be running on April 22nd. If you're counting, that is indeed in only 7 weeks. I am NOT in that good of shape. But press on, I will. Running is, I've discovered, what keeps me healthy, sane and my children alive. Ok, that was a joke. But seriously, running is good for me. It's like my husband commented recently. "I just wish you'd get well so you could get back to running. Cause it's just true what they say; when Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Which I guess is not a glowing reflection of my personality when I'm not feeling well....
Because of the lack of time, I will be running at least four days a week. With four small children, this can be difficult. So, we've purchased a family membership at the community center, complete with kid-watch coupons! Yay!
This morning, I prepped my gym bag with all the necessary items for me to shower after my workout. I psyched the kids up for the fun time they were about to have. Schlepped all three of them up there (Madelynn was in school) and discovered that the kid-watch was closed because they were full. I almost cried.
But no. I was not giving up. We put our names on the waiting list and went to the "free room" to play. FORTY FIVE MINUTES LATER, they came and got us. I had exactly 40 minutes to run, shower, dress and pick up Madelynn from school in time. So something had to give, and it wasn't going to be the shower!
I found myself a treadmill, started grooving to my tunes and took off. One song later, realized the iPod was on repeat. While attempting to change that, I misstepped. Yep. Hit the side of the treadmill and went all funny. Caught myself on the bar and managed not to fall all the way off, but I'm sure I looked like quite an idiot! Once I regained my balance, and my breath, I hovered over the still running belt and starting back in like nothing had even happened.
My husband asked me if anyone was laughing at me (while he was laughing). I told him I'm sure they were. I didn't look around to see. I pretended like it didn't even happen. However, because I had my ear buds in, I'm sure I made all sorts of noise! Oh well, I'm sure it made someone's day!
Because my shower was not to be skipped (people, you have no idea how hard it is to fit a shower into the middle of a day with four little ones-it was now or never!), I only had time to run one mile. So I determined to run that mile like my life depended on it! 12:15. Not half bad for the first day and a near tripping!
Went to pick up the children and attempt to herd them out the door, but McKenna had trouble getting her shoe on. Marek, however did not feel the need to wait. And everyone was very accommodating. They held open the kid-watch door for him (I didn't notice, as I was helping with the shoes) and then several kind, elderly people held the TWO outer doors open for him. That's right. My teeny, tiny one year old, strolled right out the front doors. Very obviously alone. I finally caught up to him as he was getting ready to step foot onto the parking lot. Yeah, I don't really understand that either.
So, for a first day of training, I'll just say this: It can only get better!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
My Kind of Valentine's
Since our anniversary is right around the corner, Branden and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day with each other. He gets me flowers, I write a mushy card. That's about it.
(This year I got tulips, our wedding flower. He did good.)
No, this holiday is about our kids. And boy was it a hit this year! I enlisted the girls' help to make cookies for friends and neighbors. Madelynn claimed to be an eggs-pert egg cracker (ahh ha ha!). She wasn't. I declared resting time and finished them myself. For better or worse, I struggle to be the mom that lets her kids make a GIGANTIC mess in the kitchen for the sake of memories. (PS- I don't have a dishwasher....)
For their gifts, I bought the girls a Cuddle Bug. This is a little stuffed bug with a zipper backpack to hold goodies and bendable feet to hold a love note. Madelynn has been asking for one for years. Seriously, since she was 4. I stuffed them full of DollarTree candy and wrote a love note and left them at their breakfast places. The look on Madelynn's face was indeed priceless. Sadly, I had not had my coffee and was not conscious enough to capture said magical moment.
After enjoying our pink, chocolate chip pancakes, Madelynn headed off to school and McKenna and I took the babies grocery shopping. I secretly laughed at all the men buying the last minute flowers and candy. I know, shame on me....
When Daddy got home, he brought the kids an armful of goodies. The girls got beautiful blooming flowers with stuffed animals and Marek got animal cookies and fruit snacks. So appropriate.
In return, Madelynn gave Daddy a Valentine she wrote herself:
Over dinner, Madelynn described what, she believed were each of our God given abilities in this world. Of course, she is a beautiful singer. Daddy has the ability to "love good". Mommy is a "good cooker". And McKenna? In a stage whisper, "She's good at being crazy!"
So there you have it, folks! Not a Hollywood Valentine's, by any means. But I wouldn't trade it for the world!
(This year I got tulips, our wedding flower. He did good.)
No, this holiday is about our kids. And boy was it a hit this year! I enlisted the girls' help to make cookies for friends and neighbors. Madelynn claimed to be an eggs-pert egg cracker (ahh ha ha!). She wasn't. I declared resting time and finished them myself. For better or worse, I struggle to be the mom that lets her kids make a GIGANTIC mess in the kitchen for the sake of memories. (PS- I don't have a dishwasher....)
For their gifts, I bought the girls a Cuddle Bug. This is a little stuffed bug with a zipper backpack to hold goodies and bendable feet to hold a love note. Madelynn has been asking for one for years. Seriously, since she was 4. I stuffed them full of DollarTree candy and wrote a love note and left them at their breakfast places. The look on Madelynn's face was indeed priceless. Sadly, I had not had my coffee and was not conscious enough to capture said magical moment.
After enjoying our pink, chocolate chip pancakes, Madelynn headed off to school and McKenna and I took the babies grocery shopping. I secretly laughed at all the men buying the last minute flowers and candy. I know, shame on me....
When Daddy got home, he brought the kids an armful of goodies. The girls got beautiful blooming flowers with stuffed animals and Marek got animal cookies and fruit snacks. So appropriate.
In return, Madelynn gave Daddy a Valentine she wrote herself:
So there you have it, folks! Not a Hollywood Valentine's, by any means. But I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Fiasco that was Dinner
This evening rang in the start of the Spring semester of ballet for Madelynn and McKenna. This means two hours of sitting in a metal folding chair, in a church hallway for Mommy. Good times!
In true Amy fashion, I totally prepared dinner so that the evening would be smooth sailing. I found a scrumptious looking recipe on Pinterest. Put everything in the crockpot (with a last minute rescue by my dear neighbor! I mean, who runs out of garlic?), and off we went to dance class.
Three hours later, we returned home. I realized that instead of cooking the chicken on high for 1 1/2 hours, or on low for three hours, I cooked it on high for three hours. Pretty dry chicken. In really liquidy sauce.
At this point, Madelynn is beside herself with grief over the (not new) fact that she will not be getting a puppy anytime soon. Sobbing. Hysterically. So, Branden took her to the UPS store with him in order to further discuss the issue. The result? Madelynn will be working to do extra chores to earn money in order to help pay for a fence that will house a future puppy. Hmmmm.....
So I remove the chicken from the sauce and attempt to reduce it on the stovetop. But it's not quite right, so I added some brown sugar and hot sauce (not in the original recipe, mind you) and turned my attention to the chopped salad I was creating. Now, when you're reducing a sauce. It needs stirring. Constant stirring. Especially if there's sugar in it.
At this point, Marek has lost all patience. Its an hour past dinnertime, he is hungry and he wants fed IMMEDIATELY! His solution is to hang on my legs until I give him food.
Still making that salad. There's a LOT of crap in that salad!
You guessed it. I burnt the sauce black. A roiling, boiling pan of nastiness. I just set it outside, closed the door and shut off the smoke detector. Plan B....
Started a new sauce (minus garlic!) and stood by the stove with a whisk! I gave McKenna a bowl of Cheetos and had her entice Marek into their bedroom like you would a little puppy. Hey, it was desperate times!
Just as I was getting the sauce finished, McKenna decided she'd had enough. She too was hungry, and tired to boot. Along with her, came Marek. My tiny kitchen now held me and my two grumpy kiddos, who are both crying.
I finally served up dinner to kids that were not at all impressed, and a hubby that said "That wasnt bad". Spent way longer cleaning the kitchen than I did making it dirty. And cursed the decision to serve rice to my one year old, while I was attempting to sweep the dining room floor.
However, I am so happy to report that this evening did not end in the bottom of a bottle or a storm of tears for me. I was able to chuckle at the absurdity of it all and be thankful that this is not the norm!
I think, perhaps the takeaway here is the next time I get cocky and think to myself, "We've got this. Branden and I are pros!", that I should NOT EVER THINK THAT AGAIN!
In true Amy fashion, I totally prepared dinner so that the evening would be smooth sailing. I found a scrumptious looking recipe on Pinterest. Put everything in the crockpot (with a last minute rescue by my dear neighbor! I mean, who runs out of garlic?), and off we went to dance class.
Three hours later, we returned home. I realized that instead of cooking the chicken on high for 1 1/2 hours, or on low for three hours, I cooked it on high for three hours. Pretty dry chicken. In really liquidy sauce.
At this point, Madelynn is beside herself with grief over the (not new) fact that she will not be getting a puppy anytime soon. Sobbing. Hysterically. So, Branden took her to the UPS store with him in order to further discuss the issue. The result? Madelynn will be working to do extra chores to earn money in order to help pay for a fence that will house a future puppy. Hmmmm.....
So I remove the chicken from the sauce and attempt to reduce it on the stovetop. But it's not quite right, so I added some brown sugar and hot sauce (not in the original recipe, mind you) and turned my attention to the chopped salad I was creating. Now, when you're reducing a sauce. It needs stirring. Constant stirring. Especially if there's sugar in it.
At this point, Marek has lost all patience. Its an hour past dinnertime, he is hungry and he wants fed IMMEDIATELY! His solution is to hang on my legs until I give him food.
Still making that salad. There's a LOT of crap in that salad!
You guessed it. I burnt the sauce black. A roiling, boiling pan of nastiness. I just set it outside, closed the door and shut off the smoke detector. Plan B....
Started a new sauce (minus garlic!) and stood by the stove with a whisk! I gave McKenna a bowl of Cheetos and had her entice Marek into their bedroom like you would a little puppy. Hey, it was desperate times!
Just as I was getting the sauce finished, McKenna decided she'd had enough. She too was hungry, and tired to boot. Along with her, came Marek. My tiny kitchen now held me and my two grumpy kiddos, who are both crying.
I finally served up dinner to kids that were not at all impressed, and a hubby that said "That wasnt bad". Spent way longer cleaning the kitchen than I did making it dirty. And cursed the decision to serve rice to my one year old, while I was attempting to sweep the dining room floor.
However, I am so happy to report that this evening did not end in the bottom of a bottle or a storm of tears for me. I was able to chuckle at the absurdity of it all and be thankful that this is not the norm!
I think, perhaps the takeaway here is the next time I get cocky and think to myself, "We've got this. Branden and I are pros!", that I should NOT EVER THINK THAT AGAIN!
Friday, February 3, 2012
The Dinner Menu
I typically do not provide a secondary option for my children at dinner. They can eat what I serve, or go to bed hungry. Madelynn frequently chooses hunger.
Thursday night, I prepared lasagna roll-ups for dinner. Why yes! You have seen these on Pinterest! When Madelynn asked what was for dinner, I told her, and her face fell. She doesn't do pasta. She asked me if she could have a peanut butter sandwich. I told her "Probably not" Rather than the dejected pout I was expecting, she looked at me, full of hope and said, "Are you close to yes?"
I couldn't help it. I started laughing. And I fixed her a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. For the sheer creativity of it!
Thankfully, this turned out to be divine intervention in the middle of the night. You guessed it, Madelynn threw up that peanut butter sandwich at 2:30 in the morning. I was so glad it wasn't lasagna roll-ups!
So I spent the entire day inhaling unsafe amounts of Lysol and Clorox fumes. Everything that could, has seen a cycle or two in the washing machine. And I've even scrubbed the children til they're shiny.
Dear Lord,
Please allow my children to sleep all night (and by extension, their Mama).
Please, oh please let all of those scuzzy germs have died a painful death of burning by Clorox, before any person in this house inhaled a single one.
Please let the puking be over.
Amen
Thursday night, I prepared lasagna roll-ups for dinner. Why yes! You have seen these on Pinterest! When Madelynn asked what was for dinner, I told her, and her face fell. She doesn't do pasta. She asked me if she could have a peanut butter sandwich. I told her "Probably not" Rather than the dejected pout I was expecting, she looked at me, full of hope and said, "Are you close to yes?"
I couldn't help it. I started laughing. And I fixed her a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. For the sheer creativity of it!
Thankfully, this turned out to be divine intervention in the middle of the night. You guessed it, Madelynn threw up that peanut butter sandwich at 2:30 in the morning. I was so glad it wasn't lasagna roll-ups!
So I spent the entire day inhaling unsafe amounts of Lysol and Clorox fumes. Everything that could, has seen a cycle or two in the washing machine. And I've even scrubbed the children til they're shiny.
Dear Lord,
Please allow my children to sleep all night (and by extension, their Mama).
Please, oh please let all of those scuzzy germs have died a painful death of burning by Clorox, before any person in this house inhaled a single one.
Please let the puking be over.
Amen
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