Run & Shoot

On Tuesday morning, my running group completed our two mile time trial. 

We all ran down to the high school track together (a 1.8 mile warm up), well not really together - the fast people went really fast, but my semi-fast running friend stayed with me. 

The two mile time trial is supposed to be a benchmarking tool to help set goal paces for workouts.  Our coach's instructions were kind of vague - go as fast a pace as you can maintain for two miles (but not further) and try to have something left to push the last half mile.  Turtle translation: jog fast, don't collapse and at the end, jog a little faster. 

Two miles is easy (well, at my normal turtle pace it is), but eight laps around a track is BORING.  Even at 6 AM, it was humid and gross and every lap felt like it took forever.  Finally, I finished (not last, but second to last) - 16:38. I was very consistent:

1st half mile: 4:15

2nd half mile: 4:11

3rd half mile: 4:08

4th half mile: 4:04 (that was as much as I could push it)

If you put my two mile time into the magic calculator - these should be my race times:

Marathon:	04:23:39 (10:03/mile)
Half Marathon:	02:05:01 (09:32/mile)

Those times would make me really freaking excited.  Now (apparently) I need to start training at these paces when ever we do a "mgp" (marathon goal pace) run.  This might hurt a little.

**WARNING - NEXT PART INVOLVES THE SHOOT PART OF TITLE**

My semi-fast friend and I jogged back together discussing our kiddos (she has two) and running.  We were jogging in a neighborhood when we noticed a police car do a really quick u-turn and head towards us (like driving on the shoulder of the road, coming right at us).  Just then, we noticed an injured baby deer immediately in front of us on the shoulder of the road and the police man was parking behind it.

As we passed by the officer and deer, we made "awe" faces at the baby deer who had an obvious broken leg. I wondered (to myself and then aloud to my friend), Is he going to put that deer in the back of his police car and drive it to a vet?  My friend (her name is Tamara) gave me a funny look.  Then the following statement actually came out of my mouth  - Well, I know from watching Law & Order that the police have to file a report every time they discharge their weapon, so certainly he's not going to shoot the deer - think of the paper work. 

Can you guess what happens next?

Step . . . Step . . . Step (that's us jogging by). 

BANG!

We both jumped and I said - Holy s--t pickles, he just shot the baby deer!

I know deer cause a ton of damage and there probably wasn't much that the police man could have done for the little deer, but I still didn't like being so close when he shot it.

***END OF SHOOTING STORY***

Now, the moment Liz has been waiting for - Cub trying to eat an enchilada.  

 

Probably not as messy as she was expecting. 

Wordless Wednesday

A Fine Afternoon

Graby was in a particularly good mood this afternoon, maybe he knew I needed to laugh.

Here are a couple pictures of him playing outside.

No Words

Last night, my dear friend Shannon's (I call her Nana) mother died.

It was not expected.

I spoke to Nana this morning and I just had no words.  I tried to be a good listener. 

I've known Nana's mom, Maria, for over twenty years.  I spent so many summer days at their house - so many childhood memories include their family.  

As an adult I didn't really know Maria, but I still found myself crying today.

I cried for Shannon.  I cannot imagine being a new mother and not having my mother.  

I cried for Shannon's sister (and my very good friend), Colleen (I call her Weenie) who is pregnant and was already planning to name her unborn daughter in honor of Maria.  

I cannot even imagine their pain - all I can do is be there and listen.

Misfit Monday

Buttin has this theory - it's impossible to have three bad work weeks in a row.

Buttin's theory is currently being tested.

In an effort not to dwell on bad stuff, I asked Buttin - What's one good thing that happened today?

Buttin: I came home.

Me:  No, work related.

Buttin: I left work.

Me: No - at work.

Buttin: You gave me a hug.

Me:  No, something to do with work, while at work.

Buttin: We got mail.

Yes, we did get mail.  

Sadly, I don't think I can do much better.  I got an email from a customer that had a smiley face on it.  That was a good thing, I suppose. 

Luckily, no matter how bad the day - Buttin and I get to come home to this face.

Houses

On Friday, Buttin and I went snooping around in houses (to potentially purchase one).  

It was a much more successful trip than our first excursion.  We expanded our search area by about 5 - 10 miles and were able to find some really nice houses in our budget.  It's making me very excited.

In other house news, ours is still warm.  The a/c works, but cannot keep up with how hot it is outside.  Currently (at 6:45 PM), it is 83 in the main area of our home.  Thankfully, the classy window unit in our bedroom and the portable a/c we bought for Cub's room keep those two rooms closer to 72.  The a/c people are supposed to be out tomorrow.

To escape the heat, we actually went outside - to the splash pad.

Graby decided to flirt.

Here, he thinking - Hey ladies, my mom is a dork but I'll be available in about 17 years.

Speaking of Graby - he's decided to eat solids now, but just a limited selection.  I sure hope he can thrive on milk, cheese and vanilla cupcake Goldfish.

Ewe and Ick

Ewe

My run this morning was dis-gus-ting.  I ran 13.7 slow, sweaty miles (12:23/mile).  We had some clouds this morning (and I even felt a little sprinkle), but with the clouds came an extra special amount of humidity.  My fabulous new lululemon shorts, which were practically dry after last week's 12-miler, were SOAKED after today's run. 

Ick

At Cub's school, they offer the potty chair to him during every diaper change.  We haven't been as consistent at home, but today he made the "sssssssss" noise (his teachers make this noise when they put him on the potty chair) and started trying to get into his potty chair.  Buttin took off Cub's diaper and put him on the potty chair.  We made the "ssssssss" noise, but nothing came.  We let him sit there for a couple minutes and then Buttin took him out of the potty chair.  Can you guess what happened next?  About five seconds later (before we had a chance to get the diaper back on) little Cub pooped and peed all over Buttin's shorts.  

That wasn't really a fun game for Buttin, but he and Cub did play a ton of fun games today.  Here they are playing (Cub likes to squeeze himself into tiny spaces, like the little shelves we have in the kitchen) this afternoon:

Filanthropy Friday

Another Friday and another charity suggestion from Liz - Cancer For College. 

At first, I thought it was some kind of funny/gerbil-esque suggestion from Liz because she sent me the link with a strange Will Ferrell sunscreen speedo picture. But then I thought - cancer isn't very funny, so maybe Will Ferrell is just associated with the charity and is being funny to help them raise money.  My brain works so quickly sometimes.  

In addition to selling sunscreen with pictures of Will Ferrell's butt on the bottle, Cancer for College provides college scholarships to cancer survivors and amputees.  I'm trying not to be too dramatic, but families are often drained of their savings when children are diagnosed with cancer.  I can only imagine that planning (and saving) for college doesn't even enter your mind when all you're doing is trying to keep your child alive. 

My only issue with this charity - it's name - Cancer For College.  It makes it sound like you get to go to college if you get cancer or if you go to college you get cancer, like it's some kind of trade.  I would prefer something like Cancer Sucks, but College is Good or College Beats Cancer or Don't Get Cancer, Get Educated.  It's shocking they didn't ask me for my opinion back in 1993 when they started this charity. 

Regardless of my feelings on the name, it's a great cause and you can also get an awesome t-shirt for your donation (like Liz did). As Will Ferrell says - "I hate cancer . . .but I love college" - so I donated $25 to the scholarship fund. 

Tidbits

So, it's been a crazy week.  Here are a few updates concerning my always fascinating life.

• The A/C has not been fixed yet.  The repair peeps didn't even show up yesterday.  Our landlord has been pretty helpful and some new A/C experts should be stopping by for a visit (and hopefully, a repair) soon.
• I had a nice visit with Nana and her twin girls this week.  Seeing her makes me remember how exhausted I used to feel.  
• We had a misfit give notice (2-day notice, which is actually quite long by misfit standards) this week.  It makes me kind of sad, but I guess not everyone is cut out for the glamorous life of carpet.   The prospect of looking at resumes makes me kind of sad too.
• We're looking at houses tomorrow.  I'm very excited and I think Buttin could probably use a little time away from the office. 
• Graby is wonderful.  

Speaking of Graby - he has this new wonderful thing he likes to do.  He likes anything that is up high (like the ice dispenser or the water faucet) and will point and the object and say/scream/whine "eh, eh, eh" until I pick him up and allow him to play with the object while I hold him, forever.  Today's object was the electric meter. 

Here he is reading our meter - I think he's showing me how much electricity we're using.

For grins, I asked him to kiss the meter and HE DID. I can't wait to show this picture at his wedding slide show. Of course, if I ask him to give ME a kiss; he shakes his head "no". 

Wordless Wednesday

Time Trial Bust

This morning our running group was supposed to do a two mile time trial.  In theory, my two mile time should predict my marathon time or what should be my marathon goal pace.  I already know my goal pace - turtle.

There was a bunch of construction going on around the track and there was a small area (maybe five feet long by the entire width of the track) of sand on the track, about six inches deep.  I would have just run AROUND the sand pile, but I guess the fast runners were concerned about the extra time it would take - so our time trial was postponed until next week. 

Instead we did a five mile easy run and I came in absolute last.  My semi-turtle friend wasn't there today and my other running friend decided to go "faster" and she kept up with the fast pack!  We probably can't be friends anymore. 

In Graby news - he has this new thing that he likes to do - lick the soy sauce container.  I'm so proud.

Buttin has a slight addition to soy sauce, so we buy it by the gallon.  We keep the jug-o-soy on the bottom shelf in our fridge.  Cub has learned how to flip open the lid and now licks the soy sauce residue that's on the lid.  I think he likes the salt. 

Here he is, preparing to attack the soy sauce. 

Misfit Monday

Ugh.  

Today is a Monday I would like to soon forget.  Actually, it's the kind of day that makes me yearn for corporate America - sometimes small business ownership REALLY sucks.    

However, I don't want to dwell on the negative.  Instead, I'd like to talk about one thing that a misfit did that made me happy - well, not happy but at least not unhappy.

Mistakes are easy to make, but difficult to admit.  Today a misfit made a mistake (a fixable one, but not insignificant), but he owned up to it.   Many mistakes are easily blamed on others, but I respect this misfit for taking responsibility.  

Here is Graby's opinion on Mondays like today.

Here he is being splashed in the face (by me) and having a good time.

A quick programming note - my posts might be sparse the next couple of days.  I'm helping my friend, Nana, with her infant twins while she attends a conference at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort.  It will be nice being at the resort as a driver, instead of a runner. 

Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day this year - I sprayed Buttin and Cub with a hose.

It was pretty much a dream come true for Buttin.

Filanthropy Friday

In honor of our semi-working A/C unit, I decided to give to people who really need assistance with this abysmal heat.

I donated $20 to the Summer Fan Drive for Family Eldercare.

The Family Eldercare fan drive provides fans to low-income seniors, adults with disabilities and families with children who do not have or who cannot afford air-conditioning.

I am extremely fortunate and I will now stop my complaining (at least for the next ten minutes) about my 80 degree house.

Operation: New A/C

Operation: Make Landlord Purchase New A/C Unit has begun.

The past couple of weeks has been MISERABLE in Texas.  What I wouldn't give for a little rain and a high of 95.  

Our little rent-a-shack (we've lived here for seven years) A/C unit is operating on it's last spark plug (not sure if an A/C unit has a spark plug).  In the evening (like right now) the temperature inside the house is a balmy 80 degrees.  Maybe (big maybe) by 4:45 AM (Cub's new rise-and-shine time) it'll be 75 degrees.   The A/C repair people came out a couple of nights ago and flushed the unit, but said because the unit is SO old (I mean so old, our landlords could not legally SELL this house with the current A/C unit), it was all they could do.

It's so warm, I couldn't bear to put Cub in his pjs tonight (get it - bear . . . Cub, I'm a dork), so he's sleeping in a no-sleeve romper.

 

Luckily, we're in the rental housing industry so we contacted our attorney.  Our poorly functioning unit is (of course) not as bad as a non-functioning unit, but we still have some recourse - especially considering that our A/C has not stopped running ofr the past two weeks (never, ever once turned off).  Would you like to see our electric bill?  

So, I wrote a letter (per our attorney's instructions) and planned to send it today via email and certified mail, but Buttin had a better idea.  He thought we should try the get more with honey approach (my letter was perfectly pleasant, but most people immediately get defensive when they get something  via certified mail).  Instead, Buttin sent off a nice email detailing the situation and explaining (yet again) that we have a small child whose health and well-being concerns us (I say, if you have a kid, use him/her as a weapon in these situations) in these warm conditions and so on and so forth. 

Our landlord's response, while quick, wasn't super satisfying.  They're going to send the A/C people back out to check on the duct work and insulation (of which, we have none) and then we'll move forward.  If this does not happen in a timely manner (like, immediately), then we will send a certified letter and take that fun wherever it leads. 

Graby was really, really grumpy today (maybe he's hot).  Here's about as happy as he ever got:

Here's what he looked like most of the day:

Wordless Wednesday

Best Dressed Turtle

This year for my birthday, my mom gave me a $100 lululemon gift card.

It usually takes me a while to use gift cards (what with a toddler and all), but this one I spent immediately and I just got my stuff in the mail today!

lululemon is pretty much what all the cool (or fast) runners seem to be wearing these days.  I figure since I'm no where near fast (or even non-slow), at least I can look relatively good (minus the red face, dripping sweat and gasping for air stuff).  I would never actually BUY lululemon for myself because their clothes are on the expensive side (around $50 per item). I usually purchase my running attire in the Target athletic section or in the clearance rack at the Nike Factory Outlet. 

With my $100 gift card - I got ONE pair of shorts and ONE skirt.  They're called "speed shorts" and "speed skirt" so I'm hoping they make me go AT LEAST one minute per mile faster (if I was buying them myself, I'd expect three minutes plus a feature that made me less sweaty) so I can be one of the faster turtles. 

Speaking of turtle running, I did 7 miles today with my group.  Although, I only ran about 50 yards with "the group".  My running friend wasn't there today so I ran by myself.  It was a slow (but not too shabby for me) pace, about 11:21/mile and that included three water stops and some talking with the coach. 

Next week, we're doing a two mile time trial.  Apparently all the fast runners stress out about the time trial.  We're supposed to run the two miles at - as fast a pace as we can maintain for two miles.  Our coach said we should be very tired at the end, but not throwing up.  That might be a fine line for me.  Rogue has all these charts and you plug in you two mile time, then some magical equation is calculated, and you get your goal marathon time/pace.  We'll see.  I'm just hoping not to throw up on my new cute skirt.

Here's Cub playing in the water today. I imagine he's saying - Mom, I'm in a Christmas t-shirt and you spent how much on a pair of shorts?  

Misfit Monday

The other night I was having dinner with Liz and she asked me what the misfits would do if I asked them to staple everything on their desk and bring it to me.

Out of 10 misfits, these would be the results:

5 would immediately run into a wall,

2 would staple a fellow misfit,

1 would just wipe everything off their desk and then use a crayon to write "I staple nuthin" on their desk,

1 would wonder why staples weren't coming out of the toilet; and

1 would bring me ham.

Seriously, these past couple weeks have been full of priceless misfit stories.

One misfit started a conversation with Buttin by saying, "I'm going to tell you what happened, just in case you get a call from the cops.". Shockingly, I don't think it's the first time we've heard that phrase.

Turns out he was doing a measurement when he was attacked by a dog, he kicked the dog, he was then attacked by the dog's owner and then he kicked the owner.  

Here is a picture of Graby today.  If you ask him, "where is your belly-button?" this is where he points.  I think 9 out of 10 misfits would agree.

It's Hot

It's 80 degrees in our house right now - at 6:45 PM

We have the most inefficient semi-working AC unit.  At 3 AM, it might get down to 74, might.

I think the AC people are coming tomorrow, but our ridiculous landlord will probably only approve some kind of band-aid fix.  

A story I forgot to tell about my run yesterday.

Rogue has many running groups.  The half marathon and beginning running programs started this Saturday and those groups started running around 7 AM (we started at 6 AM).  The ran along the same route that we did, but just not as far.  As I was passing some of them on my way back (they were walking, slow), I turned my head to say "hi".  As I did, my ponytail sprayed them with a line of sweat.  Sorry.  

Here's are Cub's feelings about the heat.

My Sister Is Brilliant & I Ran

Last night, Buttin and I went to see Super 8 with our friends, Liz & Jonathan.

My sister, Emily (I call her princess, but don't dare call her Em), sweetly offered to babysit. 

I gave her the rundown of the house - the remote works like this, if Cub cries try this, this dog stays here, this dog goes there, the cats will sit on you, etc.

When we got home she was washing our dishes and she said Cub hadn't made a peep.  I noticed Molly was hanging out with Emily in the kitchen (hoping to score a piece of partial chewed food, I'm sure) and as I walked to the bedroom to get ready for bed (after all, it was 9:30 - well past my bedtime), I noticed Cartman on the couch.  I did a quick double take (as a brief refresher, Cartman and Molly have lived in the same house for 7 years, but have almost never been in the house at the same time) and ran back into the kitchen to make sure I wasn't going crazy.

Nope, not crazy - Molly was in the kitchen.

I asked Emily why both dogs were in the house together.   She said Cartman was barking (he was in the garage) and Molly didn't want to go outside so she just had them both inside the house - AT THE SAME TIME!  

Were they OK?  She said they just left each other alone the entire time.  There were no obvious injuries to either dog and both seemed content.

Oh sweet miracle!!! So guess what?  Today, Cartman and Molly have been inside the house together pretty much all day.  

My sister is brilliant.

Onto the second part of my title - my run.

I went for a 10.5 mile run this morning.  I felt pretty good, but not as good as last week.  My pace was 11:42/mile, but this included some pretty lengthy water stops.  I ran the majority of the way with two of my new running friends, but one of them turned around at the 4 mile marker (she was only planning to do 8 miles) and the other I told to run ahead of me at about the 8 mile marker.  All in all, a pretty good run.

Here is Cub from today, being his usual super cute self.

Thirty Second Movie Review - Super 8

Super 8

Loved this movie so much - I saw it twice in less than 24 hours.  It's an example of perfect story telling.

There is one line in particular that just stuck with me.  I'm paraphrasing, but the main character (a pre-teen boy) says about his mother (who died) - There was a way she would look at me and in that look, I knew I was there - that I existed.

It got me the first time and got me even worse the second time. 

Filanthropy Friday

Once in a while, a friend (Liz) will suggest a charity for Filanthropy Friday.

A few weeks ago, Liz and I were having dinner and we discussed a breakfast she had with, Keith Ferrazzi.  He's a networking/relationship expert and he said that one way you can thank a customer, client, associate, etc. is to GIVE to a cause that means something to them.  I really like this idea.  I'm sure some might think of this as a "non-gift", but I would LOVE it if someone donated money in my name (or Cub's name) to a cause that means something to us.

This week, I donated $20 to Kidsave International in honor of Liz's friend, Keith Ferrazzi.  Kidsave is dedicated to helping orphan children around the World find permanent homes.  

I spent a little time on their website this morning and after just a few minutes of reading; I wanted to adopt all the children.  I've always been a big softy for kiddos, but now that I have Cub - it's even worse.  I will not be surprised if, at the end of the year, the majority of my Filanthropy Friday recipients have been children-centered charities. 

Why Won't You Eat?

Little Cub seems to be going through a phase.  Well, a couple of phases really.

One phase I call, clingon - as in - he's being extremely clingy and has started crying when I leave him at school.  It breaks my heart, but I know that he starts playing about ten seconds after I walk out the door.

The second phase I call, not eating (hence, the title of my post).  One of Cub's friends, Henry, went through a phase where he didn't eat any purees, only solids.  Cub seems to be going through this phase right now where he wants nothing to do with purees, but the problem is that he isn't swallowing solids yet.  He chews and chews and then spits the food out.  I think he does (sometimes, rarely) swallow SOME solids and he's still drinking lots of milk, so I'm not concerned.  I just really, really wish he would eat!

Here is Cub eating/gumming a pancake this morning.

Wordless Wednesday

Programming Notes

Blog post may (or may not) be published in typical fashion this week.

I have family in town, Buttin is going out of town for a couple of days and things are super busy at work.

I know that I'm behind - I still need to post a couple pictures from last week's visit with Nana and her baby twins and Cub's 14 month letter.  Hopefully, I'll have time later in the week. 

In random running news - I did 6 miles this morning with my group.  My pace was 10:34/mile (speedy for me) and that included a water stop.  My new running friend admitted to being slightly tired with today's pace (although we still finished way behind the pack).  I guess we can still be friends. 

Here are a couple cute pictures of Graby today.  

Misfit Monday

We have some new misfits - gnats!

I returned to work today (after a couple days of being in Houston) to find gnats buzzing around the office.  Honestly, I think it's my fault - I left half a cup coffee in my mug.  Apparently, gnats like coffee. 

I promised (Barbie) to clean up my office by Friday at noon or I'm buying lunch.  Side note:  I did clean up the coffee today, but my office could still use a little scrubbing. 

Here is where I would usually post a picture of Cub, but the Blogger server is having issues so no picture today.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I'm now the young age of thirty-three.  Geez, I remember being eighteen and thinking that any 30-something age was SO old.

I spent most of the day relaxing with my family, but managed to put on a little make up and go to brunch with my baby mamas group.  I ate so much, I needed a nap (which I got).

Here's a picture of Cub today playing (not at all biting) with Scratch.  

OK, I'm off to eat my melted birthday cupcake.  Buttin tried to surprise me - guess the surprise was on him. Surprise! If you leave a cupcake in a truck (when the temp outside is 100), the icing will melt.  I think it'll still taste good.

Filanthropy Friday

OK, so technically it's Saturday.

The past few days I've been in Houston visiting my friend Shannon and her twin girls (born on Cub's birthday). 

We spent quite a bit of our time feeding, cuddling and watching the little girls sleep in her living room.  There's not a lot on TV during the day so we found ourselves somewhat glued to the Casey Anthony trial.  It was difficult to watch, but also impossible to look away.  

Buttin and I enjoy watching true crime - although now that I have a little boy, some of the shows are more difficult to watch.  Some of our favorite shows involve the wrongly convicted.  If Casey Anthony is convicted, I don't think it will be wrongly. 

For this week's Filanthropy Friday, I donated $25 to The Innocence Project of Texas to help the wrongly convicted. 

Playing Catch Up

I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog.

I'll start with today and work backwards on subsequent posts, that seems to make the most sense - kind of.

Today I went for a surprisingly good 9.7 mile run.  It was warm and sticky, but I still managed an 11:26/mile pace.  My new running friend (the one who says my panting pace is easy for her) wasn't there today, so I came in very, very, very last place by myself. 

This afternoon, Buttin, Cub and I went looking at houses with our real estate agent. It was kind of a bust.  Looks like we'll be staying in our current location a few months longer than we originally planned, but now we have lots and lots of time to look and we'll probably need to expand our search.  

Later in the afternoon, Cub went outside in his swimsuit to play with the hose.

Soon after this picture was taken, he pooped in his swimsuit.  I won't publish a picture of the event, but it did happen and I do have a picture of it.