Running With Lumpy

Filanthropy Friday

2012-01-27T08:03:00.001-06:00

Today's suggestion is from my mother (the Mormor).

My mom has a former patient (he was the only cheerleader at our first marathon), Bill, and his wife (another former patient), Judy, works with the mother of JoAnthony Bermea.

JoAnthony was born Septo Optic Dysplasia and is legally blind. When JoAnthony was 6 months old, his parents were told there was no cure or treatment. After years of searching for a cure, the Bermea family found hope from Beike Biotech. His story was featured on Great Day SA.

The treatment is expensive (about $25K for eight injections). In addition to the treatment, they must travel to and stay in China for four weeks. The estimated the total cost is $34K.

Family and friends are hosting a benefit this Saturday for JoAnthony in San Antonio. We will not be able to attend the benefit, but I donated $25 to help. I hope one day he'll be able to see his parents' smiles along with all the other things that children should get to see (like puppies and sunshine and cookie dough).

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T19:58:00.000-06:00

Keyword Searches

2012-01-24T19:49:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while it's fun to review the blogger stats and look at the keyword searches that brought people to Running With Lumpy.

Some searches are self-explanatory like Running With Lumpy or Houston Running Race Reports, but some are just delightfully random - here are some of my favorites:

Little Cub Pee - Why would someone be searching for this phrase?

Is Mitt Short For Mitchell? - See, I am a pundit!

Piranha 3d Diaper - I'm not really surprised by Piranha 3d, but why were they searching for a diaper with a 3d piranha?

Boyrette - This term was searched (with a person ending up on my blog) over nine times in one week and here I thought I made up the word.

Deer Running Across The Road - I take pictures of them while running.

Monkey Poop Game - I do not play games with monkey poop. Monkey poop is very serious.

Cartoon Bears - I've got to imagine that my blog comes up as site number 1,876,957 out of 1,876,958 when doing the search "cartoon bears". I'm shocked someone landed on RWL when doing this keyword search.

Christmas Story Bunny Pajamas (or some variation) - After "Running With Lumpy", this is the most popular keyword search - over 300 times.

Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day and I practically had to force Cub outside, BUT today it was really rainy and cold - so of course - all Cub wanted to do was be outside.

Here's his best "what rain, mama?" face.

Misfit Monday

2012-01-23T20:28:00.001-06:00

Sadly, I don't have any great misfits stories to share.

Everyone seems to be behaving, by misfit standards.

Tomorrow I'm going out with our new(ish) sales girl misfit and I'm looking forward to it. It's been a while since I've been out in the field.

Cub has this really wonderful run. It's a full-body flailing about that's hilarious to watch, but difficult to capture in a picture.

Here is my attempt:

Here he is pointing at something very interesting off in the distance (I think it's a swing).

Unintentional Taper

2012-01-22T19:58:00.003-06:00

I've been sick this past week.

I only ran on Monday.

So, when I got up yesterday morning for my long run - I told Buttin - I might be two hours or I might be four hours. I was gonna be happy with 16 miles, but I wasn't going to push myself (still recovering and all).

My running group doesn't usually get started till 7 AM, but that's way to late for me to start. I left the house at 5:45 and (since I live so close to Cedar Park Rogue) ran to the route. It was a wonderful, chilly 50 degrees.

I got to the first water stop - no water. Hump! Thankfully, I had my own water and still had plenty left (I tend to drink less when it's cool out). I got to the second water stop - no water. Double Humph! I still had some of my water left, but I was now in slight conservation mode. I was feeling really, really good and I estimated that I had gone about 4 to 5 miles.

I checked my iPhone and I had gone 7.2 miles! Whoppee! That never happens. I decided to run to the next water stop because certainly the water would be out by the time I got to it. Got there - no water. OK, now I had to find an alternate water supply. There was no way I would be able to make it back to Brushy Creek Park (water fountains) without water. I headed back.

I found a familiar church. I had run his route many times before and the woods next to this church had become a frequent potty stop. I found a water hose at the church, filled up my water bottle and made a mental note that I should probably donate some money to that church.

As I turned the corner, I noticed my running coach's truck - I waived. I continued running and he came up next to me and we chatted for about 5 minutes. Most of the runners in Austin Marathon group were running the marathon route that morning, I knew this but didn't know if I'd be up for it with my illness, so I just figured I'd run closer to home.

My running coach had not expected anyone on the course to be so far, so early and so he hadn't put the water out yet. I figured as much.

On my way back home, I stopped for water at all the stops (and also pooed twice).

I finished - 19.5 miles in 3:47 (including all my stops). It was, dare I say, the easiest almost 20 miles I've ever run. It must have been the taper.

Here is Cub playing at the park today.

Filanthropy Friday

2012-01-20T08:19:00.001-06:00

It's kind of funny how once you start doing something (like Filanthropy Friday), you start noticing things more (like names of charities). It's kind of how when I got pregnant, I started noticing other pregnant women (much more than I did when not pregnant) and when I had Cash I started noticing other babies.

Well, now I seem to be much more aware of charities (and cookie dough factories). The other day I was having lunch with a friend of mine at Berryhill (they have a very yummy seafood burrito). We've eaten lunch or dinner at Berryhill many times, but this was the first time I noticed a small sign in the same shopping center that said "A Glimmer of Hope". It made me curious and I was convinced that "A Glimmer of Hope" had to be a charity, that or a cookie dough factory

As soon as I got home, I googled them.

Turns out A Glimmer of Hope is a charity.

It was started by a woman in Austin who was profoundly shaken by pictures she saw in the 1980s of the famine in Africa. She wanted to do something, anything and so she started A Glimmer of Hope, specifically focusing on Ethiopia. Their goal is to help transform villages through water, education, healthcare and microfinance projects.

One of their current campaigns is Buy Bricks, Build A School . You can buy one brick for $20 - it takes 750 bricks for a classroom and 3,000 bricks to build a school (For Liz: I don't think these are literal bricks, I'm pretty sure it's the dollar value associated with the brick). I bought one brick and gave it as a gift to Cub.

We're Going To Be Pundits

2012-01-19T20:12:00.000-06:00

Buttin and I are watching some of "The Southern Republican Presidential Debate" (super exciting) and I can't help but think we would be fantastic pundits.

Here is a transcript of a recent and very insightful political conversation.

Me: You know, Mitt Romney, I wonder what his full name is, like what is Mitt short for? Mitchell?

Buttin: Mitten.

And there you have it. I expect that we'll get a phone call from MSNBC to join their team any day now.

I'm still feeling pretty cruddy, so I don't have a great pictures of Cub today. The picture is kind of fuzzy, but here's what Cub does when you tell him to do karate.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T19:38:00.001-06:00

PINK EYE

HAPPY GUY(S)

Five Minutes

2012-01-17T19:45:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I've really gushed about being Cub's mom.

Recently, our nighttime routine has changed - a small five minute change.

Every night Cub takes a bath and then we read books and eat Goldfish (very nutritious vanilla cupcake Goldfish) and drink milk.

The small change is five minutes of snuggle time after we read books.

I love this quiet time with Cubbie. It's not always perfect, like last night he fell asleep on my chest (probably because he didn't have a nap) and then cried when I put him to bed and tonight my hair was soaked with drool and snot, but I wouldn't trade this time for anything. It's really the only five minutes of the day when he is still and I am still and we are just close. It reminds me of all the hours and hours we spent being still together when he was just a little baby Cub.

Here's Cub today giving me his serious look.

Misfit Monday

2012-01-16T19:24:00.001-06:00

It's a busy week, we have a pretty big sales presentation on Wednesday - so that's all I'm really doing.

Today Cub's school was closed for teacher in-service so Cub spent the day at Hannah's house. He decided not to take a nap - none, zip, zilcho, nada.

I figured it would be a fun (and by fun I mean, full-on toddler tantrum mode) afternoon.

This is what a zoned out toddler looks like eating an apple.

After his snack we went outside to play.

I couldn't really tell he was tired. He seemed to be enjoying outside time (not really surprising).

And here he is enjoying the swing - pretty happy afternoon for a toddler with no nap.

Sunday Family Day

2012-01-15T18:58:00.001-06:00

Today we had a really nice time just hanging out as a family. Buttin and I got a little stuff done with the house we played a lot with little man. Cubbie was quite grumpy (defiant, opinionated, temperamental and impatient) after he woke up from his nap, but we took him outside to play and his mood improved (shocking).

Here are a couple pictures from the day.

My 2012 Goals: Updates

2012-01-14T20:04:00.000-06:00

I made a list of a few goals for 2012.

I have a few updates on my progress.

Make at least one healthy meal per week: I made TWO last week - one was steak, potatoes and asparagus and the other was pork chops and asparagus. Not too bad and Buttin ate both meals.
Become more educated about the products I buy and where they are made:

My friend Liz and I love the Lake Austin Spa. It's always a pricey little trip, but very enjoyable. The Lake Austin Spa is ranked #1 Destination Spa by Conde Nast Traveler (which I guess is pretty important). Well, my friend Liz learned (from a former employee) that the spa does not provide (or chip in for) any health benefits for their employees. Considering what I pay per treatment (not to mention a half-day), I would have expected the employees to be compensated like executives. Now maybe this former employee is somewhat disgruntled, but I still plan to write a letter to the Lake Austin Spa asking for clarification and an explanation.
Ironically enough while I was running this morning I listed to a This American Life podcast titled - Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory. It was all about one Apple (as in electronic products, not the fruit) fanatic's trip to China to find out more about how Apple products are made. He did some things that journalist wouldn't dare do - he actually stood outside large factories and just talked to workers - with the help of a translator. He posed as a business man and took tours of several factories. He found some things that were personally (for him and me) upsetting - underage workers, 10 - 14 beds stacked on top of each other in the dormitories, the use of a paralyzing chemical to clean the iPad/iPhone screens (because it dries faster than alcohol) and a few others which I can't quite remember. Apple actually does conduct pretty extensive audits and they try to be pretty forthcoming, kindof. This American Life is pretty fair and they fact checked everything they could and found most of his information to be accurate. They also had some counter-points, including one from Paul Krugman - a liberal New York Times columnist and recipient of the Nobel Prize In Economic Sciences in 2008. He said that the factory conditions in China are not ideal, but in Indonesia they're actually much worse - however, the factories have raised economic conditions for all. I like this quote, " It is the indirect and unintended results of the actions of soulless multinationals and rapacious local entrepreneurs. It is not an edifying spectacle, but no matter how base the motives of those involved, the result has been to move hundreds of millions of people from abject poverty to something still awful, but nonetheless significantly better." I understand Paul Krugman's comments, but I'm still not sure how I feel about the working conditions in the factories where some of the products I love are made. I guess my goal was to become more educated and I feel like (in some small way) I'm accomplishing what I set out to do.

Here is Cub looking super excited to be wearing his hat today:

Filanthropy Friday

2012-01-13T08:35:00.004-06:00

Part of today's Filanthropy Friday probably cannot be considered philanthropy, but I consider it to be charity.

I don't often get political on my blog, but I don't think I hide my political feelings (way, far out left).

My political persuasion aside, I do understand (part) of the other side - specifically those who are fiscally conservative. Most of these people are extremely intelligent, well-educated and not lacking in compassion (as my side might have you think).

In watching some of the Republican debates and primaries I have found one candidate who I find interesting - Jon Huntsman. He has no stinking chance in pail of poopy diapers to be the Republican nominee (which is why I consider my $10 donation to his campaign to be "charity"), but at least he believes in science. Whereas, three of the candidates still running for the Republican nomination, including the governor of the State where I live, do not believe in evolution.

I do not (and cannot) understand why some of these very intelligent, well-educated and compassionate fiscally conservative Republicans (some of them very good friends and family members) can align themselves with candidates who believe the Earth is less than ten thousand years old and than men walked around with dinosaurs (this is just one of the isssues that I find fascinatingly shocking).

I understand having faith, but I don't believe that faith and science are mutually exclusive. I think you can have both.

In my extensive (wikipedia) research of Jon Huntsman I found out that his father, Jon Huntsman Sr., was a business man and philanthropist (kind of like me - except he has business schools and hospitals named after him). Jon Huntsman, Sr. has given over 1.2 billion to the homeless, ill and underprivileged (so I'm guessing his son probably doesn't need my $10 for his campaign) and in 2008 he was awarded the Medal of Honor for Cancer Philanthropy by the American Cancer Society. One of Jon Huntsman, Sr.'s most notable accomplishments is the founding (and funding) of the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

The Huntsman Cancer Institute is dedicated to finding cures for cancer using genetics (there's science again) while also being a leading cancer specialty hospital. In addition to the $10 I donated to Jon Huntsman, Jr.'s campaign, I also donated $10 to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.

Filanthropy Friday - 2011 Review

2012-01-12T20:09:00.001-06:00

I loved starting Filanthropy Friday.

First of all, it gave me something to write about every Friday (instead of "Fetus Friday" and "Baby-Free Friday").

Secondly, it gave me a specific time every week where I could focus on gratitude.

Thirdly, it gave me an opportunity to honor my family and friends by giving to charities that are important to them.

Lastly, it was a great way to mark time. I can go back and read Filanthrophy Friday posts and remember what was happening during that week in my life.

Here's a review:

Ronald McDonald House - $15
Farm Aid - $15
Personal Donation To A Fellow Blogger's Daughter - $10
Marathon Kids - $10
HAAM - Health Alliance For Austin Musicians - $15
Livestrong - $10
Personal Donation To A Fellow Austin Apartment Association Member's Son - $100
Donor's Choose - $20
The Critter Connection - $10
Easter Seals - $10; The American Red Cross - $10
Texas Campaign For The Environment - $15
Boys and Girls Club of Austin - $15
Rocky's Ferret Rescue & Shelter - $10
March of Dimes - $25
Planned Parenthood - $20
World Wildlife Fund - $25
Beatbullying - $15
Oxfam - $100
Girlstart - $15
Texas Freedom Network - $25
Homes For Our Troops - $35
The Innocence Project of Texas - $25
Kidsave International - $20
Family Eldercare - $20
Cancer For College - $25
The Rose - $50
Polly Klaas Foundation - $25
Harry Potter Alliance - $25
PE3 - $25
Personal Donation To A Friend of a Friend's Child - $25
Unicef - $50
The Cipher - $25
Chicago Cares - $25
Personal Donation To A Childhood Friend's Memorial Fund - $25
Cavalier King Charles Rescue - $25
United Way (Central Texas Wildfire Relief) - $10; Muscular Dystrophy Association - $20; Save A Limb Fund - $10
Texas Alaskan Malamute Rescue - $50 (I still start tearing up when I re-read this one).
A Liter of Light - $23.56
Great Strides Walk For Cystic Fibrosis - $20
Occupy Wall Street - $10
Great Dane Rescue of South Texas - $25
Bookspring - $25
The Center For Reproductive Rights - $25
The Doc & Gayle Young Food Drive - $40
Fisher House Foundation - $25
Green Doors - $25
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute - $15
amFar - $25; Bear Necessities - $25
Next Generation Nepal - $25
Make-A-Wish Foundation - $20
Foundation Communities - Adopted a Family For Christmas
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - $25

According to my calculator math, that's $1,383.56 plus what we spent on Christmas presents and food for the family we adopted in December.

I'm sure that my friend Liz only approves of about 10% of these donations. She'll probably tell me not to waste my time in 2012 and just give the money to her, but I think she had a lot of fun donating money (and ridiculing me) in 2011.

Here is Cub today - proving he's my son - starring lovingly at a piece of chocolate while we freeze our butts outside.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T20:05:00.003-06:00

CSI: Austin

2012-01-10T20:03:00.000-06:00

My bone marrow registry donation kit came in the mail today!

It was a pretty simple process - just like watching CSI.

Here I am doing my best pirate face while taking one of the four swab samples.

I accidentally got a little piece of my dinner on one of the cotton swabs - maybe they'll be able to tell what I ate for dinner (nope, it wasn't cookie dough).

Here is my completed kit!

I have no idea how long it takes them to test the swabs, but I'll make sure to post an update if they send me any information.

Cub is not yet 100%, but here he is doing his "flashdance" pose (according to Buttin) and eating chocolate.

MIsfit Monday

2012-01-09T19:04:00.000-06:00

Today we had another sales misfit start in our multi-family division.

He's not a new misfit - he's a promoted misfit! We have high expectations for him.

Expectations include:

He will follow all of the misfit New Year's Resolutions.
He will sell lots of carpet, even to people who don't need/want it.

Those are about all my expectations.

Cub was a little under the weather today, but you couldn't really tell. Apparently, he's starting the "no clothes" phase. He doesn't really want to wear a shirt, but hats are OK. The picture is a little blurry, but he put the hat on all by himself - can you tell?

Running Today

2012-01-07T20:31:00.000-06:00

This morning I ran 16 miles. I was attempting 20, but I experienced two running firsts that made me call it early.

A bird pooped on me - right on my forehead and on my sunglasses (thankfully, not in my eye). I'm kind of surprised with all my trail running that it has never happened before and I hope it never happens again.
I started to feel very sicky (I don't think it had anything to do with the bird poo). I felt so badly that I texted Buttin to come pick me up. He didn't get the text, so I walked/slow jogged the two miles home.

Here's a picture of Cub today being a goof-ball.

Filanthropy Friday

2012-01-06T08:39:00.000-06:00

First - a couple programming notes:

I still haven't completed my review of last year's donations - I'm hoping to have that done soon.
If you're looking for some counter-programming to "giving", please visit my friend Liz's wonderful blog - The Year of Taking. It's pretty much guaranteed to never make you cry (unless it's with laughter) and to always make you feel like a better person (unless you take more than she does).

OK, now for some giving.

Last week, I mentioned that I wanted to focus on ways to give time (not just money). Well, I didn't really find a way to donate my time this week, but I did join the National Marrow Donor Program - Be The Match. This means that one day I could potential donate marrow and I figure that would probably take some time.

It was very easy to register and I should be receiving a kit in the mail shortly for collecting my sample. I'll get to swab the inside of my cheek (like a real CSI). It'll be very exciting and I'll take pictures. There is no cost to join the registry, but I did donate $25 to help off set costs of collecting samples and to help pay for the uninsured costs of bone marrow transplants.

There are thousands of people with life-threatening blood cancers waiting for bone marrow transplants. The chances of me being a potential donor are slim, but maybe one day I can help.

P.S. (For Liz) I don't think you're allowed to register as a bone marrow recipient just so that you can take someone's marrow.

Little Fender Bender

2012-01-05T19:33:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Cub and I got into our first car accident together (pretty crappy first).

We were rear-ended by a girl in her early 20s. It was one of those rush-hour traffic things were everyone suddenly stops, except she didn't stop. I jumped out of the car to check on Cub and he was just sitting in his car seat, smiling at me. I don't think he even realized anything had happened (except that we stopped and his music stopped).

The poor girl's front hood was pretty dented, but my little swamp wagon of a SUV just had a couple bumper scratches. No harm, no foul. I got her information, but she was just so scared. She told me she had just got her car fixed after she hit a deer.

Cub just wanted to get back on the road and listen to his music (speaking of which, I really need to find him some new music).

Cub spent this afternoon trying to make me more nervous at the park than I was driving.

Here is "little nervous".

Here is "very nervous".

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-04T20:19:00.003-06:00

Mini-Post

2012-01-03T20:50:00.002-06:00

I had dinner with Liz tonight. I spent much of the evening giving her a pep talk on her awesome new business venture/blog (the year of taking - more on that in another post) and she spent much of the evening trying to convince me not to buy the purse organizer thingy I saw on an infomercial (the one that comes with a free set of Ginsu knives - sounds like a good deal to me).

Graby is having a slightly rough time of it this week. He's in a great mood at home, but school drop off has become a little more dramatic. I think a combination of being back at school PLUS being in a new classroom is a little stressful. When I picked him up from school today, one of his friends (whose mom I know well) was and Cash were both crying (Cash was crying because he had just woken up and saw me), so I spent about five minutes on the floor hugging both of them.

Here is Cash today (at home) having fun opening and closing the door. This picture cracks me up because Scratch looks so menacing - that or really dumb. You decide.

Misfit Monday

2012-01-02T19:55:00.001-06:00

It's New Year's Resolutions time for the misfits.

In all seriousness, we have been setting some aggressive goals for our small business. I'll share some in the near future.

Yesterday I wrote down some of my goals for 2012, so I thought today I would share some of the misfits' goals.

Wear pants (or shorts) with complete pant (or shorts) legs.
Be kind to (or at least don't hit with a hard object) other misfits.
Be kind to (or at least don't curse at) customers.
Scowl less at suppliers/vendors.
Flush the toilet and no leaving poo-streaks (I'd add "in the toilet", but then some misfit would leave a poo-streak on the wall just to be a smart-ass).
Don't blame Riggs for every fart.
Give each day 110% (or at least 10%).
Support other small businesses (by ordering take out for lunch).
No tattling.
Throw away old stuff in the fridge.

I know - it's a list of extremely high expectations, but I think the misfits are up to the challenge.

Here is little misfit Cub today - it looks like he's trying to attack a duck and it cracks me up.

New Year, New Goals

2012-01-01T20:27:00.000-06:00

2011 was a fantastic year.

I returned to running and completed three half-marathons and one marathon. Buttin and I bought a house. We kept most of the misfits out of prison. Cub learned how to poo next to his potty chair (still working on in the potty chair). Plus there was some other good stuff happened.

Time to set some goals for 2012.

Set and maintain a family budget - Buttin and I don't have extravagant tastes, but we tend to buy whatever we want (within reason) whenever we want it. My goal is to set a budget with aggressive saving goals.
Organize, simplify and unclutter - Moving into the new house has really motivated me to throw and give stuff away. I really don't need the box from a pair of earrings I bought in 1997.
Eat healthier and eat fewer processed food.
Make a healthy dinner (something Buttin will eat) at least one night a week.
Become more educated about the products I buy and where they are made - This fall I learned (but was in semi-denial) that some of my favorite Nestle and Hershey Halloween treats come from cacao harvested using child labor. The Harry Potter Alliance (one of my Filanthropy Friday recipients) has asked Warner Brothers to only make Harry Potter candy with fair trade ingredients. I can't be perfect and I'm positive I'll still be eating Hershey's chocolate, but I want to be better educated.
Buy local when possible - Buttin and I own a small, local business. I think it's important to support other local businesses.
Visit and purchase food from the local farmers market - This also helps some of my other goals.
Keep in better touch with family and friends.
Stay in good enough running shape to be able to run a half-marathon without any training.
Continue Filanthropy Friday and find at least four opportunities to donate my time - preferably with Cub or as a family.

OK, those are good enough for now.

In running news, I ran 19 miles yesterday 3:45 - and that included two poo stops (it is not a goal to share less on my blog).

Here is Cub being cute this morning.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-12-30T10:38:00.003-06:00

It's the last Friday of the year.

I was planning a big "Filanthropy Friday" review for this post, but Cub is a little sick so I wasn't able to work on the post. I'll try to get it done in the next couple of days.

I was trying to think of one ultra-mega charity for my last Filanthorpy Friday of the year (a tradition I will continue), but the only one that kept coming to mind (probably because of all the commercials) is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Cub is sick today, but I'm extremely thankful that it's just a little virus. I wish all children with cancer could just wake up tomorrow feeling better (like Cub probably will). One day it might be possible. I donated $25 to St. Jude to help in this possibility.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-28T19:21:00.003-06:00

A Four Hour Nap!

2011-12-27T19:53:00.001-06:00

For me? Puh-leeze.

Today Cub went over to Miss Hannah's house to play.

Apparently, they ran a marathon and lifted some weights because he slept from 11 AM - 3 PM.

SHOCKING - I KNOW!!

I don't think he took a four hour nap when all he did was eat, poo and nap.

I didn't know how I was going to top Miss Hannah's day of fun extravaganza - so we just did a little rock climbing.

Misfit Monday

2011-12-26T19:24:00.002-06:00

Cub doesn't have school this week so I didn't go into work today.

All the misfits in this household are still exhausted. The past three weeks have just been crazy, especially for Buttin. In the last couple of days he has fallen asleep sitting up while we were reading books to Cub and laying down on the bathroom floor while I was giving Cub a bath.

It's 7:15 and we're already in bed.

It was finally nice enough out today for Cub to go outside and he really enjoyed it.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T19:16:00.000-06:00

Wonderful day. Exhausting day.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-12-23T05:01:00.000-06:00

My year of Filanthropy Friday increased (exponentially) my thankfulness for my life with Buttin - our family and friends and our healthy child.

Buttin and I had an extremely busy year and a really crazy December, but it was very important to Buttin that we "adopt" a family for the holidays.

We found a family of three (mom and two daughters) through Foundation Communities and delivered gifts to them on Tuesday.

When I first spoke with the mother a couple weeks ago she started crying on the phone because she didn't know if her family would receive assistance for the holidays. Her gift requests were humbling - food and cleaning supplies for her, socks, underwear and cowboy boots for her 6-year-old daughter and gift cards for her teenage daughter. We found them all some pretty fun presents.

On Tuesday we met the mom and we showed her the gifts we purchased for her daughters. She was extremely grateful.

Christmas has always been extremely important to Buttin, me and our families. I love knowing we were able to make another family's Christmas a little better this year.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-22T19:37:00.001-06:00

On A Thursday.

Medical News

2011-12-20T20:28:00.001-06:00

A couple months ago I went to the doctor for chronic joint discomfort (sometimes pain). My blood work came back mostly normal with the exception of my ANA titer so my doctor referred me to a rheumatologist.

I went to see the specialist a couple weeks ago and he took more blood (and some pee). I got the results back today - basically, I'm normal except for some odd results on a couple of my anti-body tests, which were not indicative of anything specific and in his words "sporadic". The doctor wants to take my blood (and probably pee) again in a couple of weeks and see me ten days later (sometime in late January). At this point, he cannot diagnosis any auto-immune disease.

I guess this just means that I'm getting old. Oddly enough, if I wake up with any joint soreness it goes away if I run.

In other health news I seem to have caught another stomach virus. Not fun - especially with all the yummy eating I should be doing in the next few days.

Here's Cub today playing in the leaves. I'm pretty convinced that our neighbor blew all their leaves into our yard. Their yard has no leaves and the leaves in our yard seemed to have procreated like bunnies overnight.

Misfit Monday

2011-12-19T14:04:00.001-06:00

Misfit Holiday Gala picture (Santa is not a real misfit).

Me, Buttin, Sean and Stacy (new sales girl misfit).

Puppy Kisses

2011-12-18T20:20:00.001-06:00

My Day With Cub

2011-12-17T21:13:00.001-06:00

Today I spent the day as a single mom. Buttin was in Memphis, TX attending the funeral of his great-uncle.

We started our day at the grocery store. Cub was very serious. He had to steer with both wheels.

Later in the morning, in all my infinite wisdom, I decided to take the puppy and the toddler for a walk at the same time. The toddler was a bazillion times better behaved than the puppy. Here's the best picture I could take.

We dropped the puppy back at home and decided to go exploring in the green belt area around our house. We found a SEX HOLE! I have no idea what makes it a sex hole (don't think I want to know), but Cub sure does enjoy yelling in it and hearing his voice echo.

After the sex hole discovery, we walked back to the park and played.

After Cub's nap, we went to visit Aunt Jen and Uncle Mark's house. He had a great time there (and I got a little break), but busted his upper gum while playing on a couch. Aunt Jen was there with a cold washcloth. Cub even tried to share his bloody washcloth with Aunt Jen. She politely declined.

When we got home, we went for a walk (again) to his second favorite place (after the sex hole), the mailboxes. Here he is trying to tell me to run around the other side of the mailboxes - he wants me to chase him.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-12-16T08:08:00.001-06:00

A couple months ago we got a call from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and South Texas asking if we could help make a child's (his name is Isaac) wish come true by providing new carpet for a Thomas The Train themed bedroom makeover.

I asked Buttin (already knowing what his answer would be) and we agreed to provide the carpet, pad and installation at no cost. We are installing the carpet and pad tomorrow.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation folks sent me a picture of Isaac visiting Thomas The Train.

I shared Isaac's picture and story with Buttin and it kind of devastated him. Buttin had to close his office door because he would get emotional thinking about Isaac and his family.

I've said it at least a bazillion times this year, but I'll say it again - Buttin and I are so thankful for the health and happiness of Cub. I cannot imagine being the parent of a sick child - having to be so strong (especially in front of your child) and knowing that the only thing you can provide is love and kisses when all you want is for your child to be health is just too much.

In addition to providing the new carpet for Isaac's room this week; I'm also donating $20 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Also, this week we sent out customer satisfactions surveys. As a thank you for completing the survey, we've offered various treats, but if the customer selects "none" we've told them we will be donating $10 in their name to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So far, we've had two customers select this option. I'm hoping we can make a nice donation at the end of the year to Make-A-Wish on behalf of our customers.

A Couple Photos

2011-12-15T19:55:00.000-06:00

I missed Wordless Wednesday - Buttin and I went to the Austin Apartment Association Holiday Gala and Mormor came into town to stay with Cub.

At school yesterday Cub's shirt got wet (he was in the older kiddos' classroom - more on that in a different post) and apparently, this is the only shirt they had available for him.

Today Mormor taught Cub how to jump down the stairs. Thanks Mormor. I had to take Cub outside (in the cold rain) to get him away from the stairs.

Here he is on the teeter totter.

Playing Catch Up

2011-12-13T21:03:00.000-06:00

We've been so preoccupied with moving that I haven't had much time to write about anything non-moving related.

On Saturday while Buttin was unpacking boxes, Cub and I went to check out the neighborhood Holiday Festival. I was really impressed - they had Santa on a firetruck, a small petting zoo, a little train, bouncy houses and hot chocolate and cookies.

Cub wasn't very interested in Santa. He had NO desire to sit in his lap so I had to hold him for the picture (please excuse my hobo-esque appearance).

Cub both loved and hated the baby animal petting zoo.

He liked the pig.

He wanted to take the goat home.

However, the bunnies were very stressful. His distress signal was strumming his lips with his fingers. It kind of cracked me up.

Now, here's a picture from today. He was playing at the mailboxes.

A Very Good Man

2011-12-12T20:47:00.001-06:00

I'm interrupting Misfit Monday for a sad reason tonight.

Buttin's great-uncle Leon (who was like another grandfather - one of the wonderful benefits to living in a small town) died today. His health had been deteriorating, but the news was still difficult. Buttin will be going up to the panhandle for the funeral later this week.

Leon was goodness - he was generous with laughter, hugs and praise. He was the man you think about when you think of the perfect grandfather. One day Buttin will tell Cub stories about his great grandfather and great-great uncle and that will be a very good day.

Here's Cub today having fun, completely oblivious to pain or loss. I'd like to keep it that way forever.

Quick Trip To Boerne

2011-12-11T21:16:00.000-06:00

Today we went to Boerne to see Mormor and Dadoo.

In all my packing for our day-trip, I forgot Cub's jacket. I improvised and put him in my sweatshirt. It made for a rather interesting outfit.

Here he is following Mormor to fun!

Playing with Mormor in the leaves, much different than last year's leaf fiasco.

A frontal view of the awesome outfit.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-12-09T07:50:00.000-06:00

I listen to books while running.

I listen to everything from short stories to non-fiction to thrillers - my only criteria is that it be engaging because I don't want to be uninterested while running. I need something to take my mind off the hills.

My friend Liz LOVES Jack Reacher books. I just listened to two - Gone Tomorrow and Worth Dying For, but recently I was in the mood for something different.

I really enjoy non-fiction adventure stuff - like Born To Run, Into Thin Air and In A Sunburned Country and I wanted to find something similar. I found an audio book with a 5 star rating (highly difficult, there's always someone who doesn't like the narrators voice) - Little Princes: One Man's Promise To Bring Home The Lost Children of Nepal.

I'm not finished with the book yet - but here's my brief overview.

Guy (almost 30) volunteers for three months at an orphanage in Nepal - Little Princes.
Guy discovers children are not orphans, they are trafficked children.
Guy leaves for a year.
Guy returns for a visit and during the course of his visit finds 7 children who are starving living in inadequate conditions. He makes arrangements for the 7 children to be taken by a relief organization.
Guy returns to US.
Guy gets email from relief organization saying that it took them a month to get to the children (there was lots of civil war-type stuff happening at the time) and by the time they reached the hut where the children were staying, the same trafficker had taken them again.
Guy makes a plan to return Nepal to find the 7 children. Guy is out of money so he starts Next General Nepal to help his mission.
Guy returns to Nepal.
So far (at my current place in the book), he has found 5 of the 7 children.

I'm both anxious and excited about finishing the book. So far, I've heard one reunited story between a mother and her two sons and I started crying while running (not the first time it's happened).

This week, I decided to donate $25 to Next Generation Nepal. Right now, every donation through December 31st is doubled - so that makes it even better.

Homeownership Adventure #1

2011-12-08T20:51:00.000-06:00

Tonight I managed to cut the electricity . . . to the entire house . . . while it was dark. . . Cub was asleep . . and Buttin was away. I was trying to plug in the dryer and obviously, I didn't do it correctly.

Buttin drove up to a pitch-black house, with me stranding at the side of the house shining my iPhone flashlight into the breaker box. Buttin was able to restore electricity by resetting the ultra-mega-master breaker. Oh well, lesson learned no more electrical work for me.

Here's a picture of Cub today playing in our backyard. Well, it's not really our backyard but it's the greenbelt about five steps away from our backyard and Cub loves exploring (and collecting acorns).

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T20:50:00.000-06:00

Nuts & Bubblegum Toothpaste

2011-12-06T20:47:00.001-06:00

First things first - HAPPY 20-MONTH BIRTHDAY CASH! It's been a great month my little sugar man. I promise to write a better letter next month.

I think when Cub turns two, I have to stop counting by months.

OK onto the promised topics.

Nuts.

Buttin and I love our tree-house-ish home. And Cub LOVES playing with all the acorns on the deck. I never gave it much thought as to how all those nuts made it onto our deck/lawn, but Buttin and I learned last night. We were settling in for some much needed rest . . . PLOP. . . . PLOP . . . acorns (or some kind of nut/seed) falling on our roof. Thankfully, the sound never actually woke us up, but we heard quite a few before falling to sleep.

Bubblegum Toothpaste.

My advice to anyone moving (because we're never moving again) is to pack an travel/overnight bag for your first night in your new house. Buttin and I were unable to locate (or had not yet moved) our regular toothpaste last night (or this morning), so we had to use Cub's bubblegum toothpaste. Yum.

It was only 37 out this afternoon in Austin, Texas but of course Cub wanted to be outside. He helped me bring in his puzzle piece mat, well a couple pieces anyways and then he got distracted by an acorn.

Last Night In House

2011-12-04T19:07:00.000-06:00

Tonight is our last night in our rent-a-house.

All of our beds and large furniture are being moved tomorrow so we will be sleeping in the new house tomorrow night. I'm not sure about the intereweb situation at the new house so tomorrow's blog post might not happen.

Today we took Cub to his first kid concert - Yo Gabba Gabba Live! He did really well and was mesmerized by all the activity on the stage and all the other kiddos. Here he is dancing (kind of).

Buttin bought Cub a little light - it was certainly Cub's favorite part of the show.

Run From Hell

2011-12-03T19:39:00.000-06:00

Really, that's what they call it.

This morning I did the 16 mile version of the Rogue Run From Hell in the rain. The Run From Hell can best be described by a metric poop ton of very difficult hills. Even the downhills suck because they're so steep (and they were super slick this morning) that you really have to slow down and brace yourself.

The worst hill is up Ladera Norte. It's a .64 miles long, 300 ft climb with a 9.4% average grade and 21% max grade. In summary - it hurt and I walked most of it. We also ran up Mt. Bonnell Rd which is a long hill - 1.48 miles - with a 300 ft climb. It's a slow, steady climb which almost makes it worse. There were at least five other monster hills and about 15 dozen smaller (but still painful) hills. I did more walking today than I usually do.

Here's a picture down Ladera Norte (after I made it up).

My running group also did this run in July, but thankfully I was out of town that weekend. I have no idea how that run could be done in the middle of summer. Ick.

Crappy hills aside, I really enjoyed the run. I went through some really nice neighborhoods and because I started at 6 AM, there were still some Christmas lights visible. I also got to see a ton of deer.

I didn't take many pictures of Cub today. I spent the morning running and we spent this afternoon packing (Hannah came over to play with Cub). Here's Cub doing his best, "oh mom" face:

Filanthropy Friday

2011-12-02T08:26:00.000-06:00

Today is a twofer, but get your Kleenex ready.

Yesterday was World AIDS Day. In honor of the day, I selected amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research as my charity of the week.

Ironically, earlier this week I was listening to a Radio Lab podcast while running called Patient Zero (the air date was 11/15 so it had nothing to do with World AIDS Day). The podcast had one segment on finding patient zero for HIV. Spoiler Alert - it's not the French flight attendant as portrayed in the mini-series And The Band Played On. No one knows the identity of patient zero - but the leading theory is called, "The Cut Hunter". The story goes something like this - In the early 1900s an African hunter killed a chimpanzee. While he was (how do I say this?) butchering the chimp, he cut himself and the chimp's blood got into the hunter's blood stream. As really, really bad luck might have it this chimp was infected with a strain of HIV (called SIV) that was able to mutate, survive and thrive in humans.

According to the podcast, twelve strains of SIV have passed from chimps, gorillas and monkeys to humans, but only this one (from a chimp) has manage to survive and thrive in humans. The podcast further went on to try and locate chimp zero and they traced it back to two forms of monkey SIV that combined in the stomach of a chimp (apparently chimpanzees eat monkeys).

I found all this research extremely fascinating which is why I decided to donate $25 to amfAR. As a foundation, they are dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, improving treatment for those with HIV/AIDS and ultimately eradicating the virus.

OK, so oddly enough all the HIV/AIDS chimp-eating-monkey stuff was NOT the sad part of today's Filanthropy Friday. (Warning to those with fragile hearts, please do not continue).

My well-known (at least to my blog readers) friend, Liz, has some good friends in Chicago (Sam and Suzie Tinaglia) with a son (Sam Jr.) who has been fighting leukemia most of his thirteen years. It went into remission for a while, but it has returned.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, the Chicago Bears visited Sam Jr. (and other children) at the Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago. It was featured on the local news:

I cannot say it enough (I've said it so many times on so many previous Fridays), there's nothing I wouldn't do to help a parent with a sick child. I'm so thankful that I've never had to experience the pain of a sick child (it actually makes me grateful for Cub's tantrums) - I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy.

Being the thoughtful person Liz is, she wrote to Suzie (Sam Jr.'s mom) and asked if there was a specific charity they would like money donated to in Sam's honor and she selected Bear Necessities. Their mission is to the eliminate pediatric cancer and to help those families (both financially and emotionally) dealing with it.

Reading about Bear Necessities absolutely breaks my heart. It was started by a woman who lost her eight year old son (Barrett "Bear") to cancer. Prior to her son's death, they had discussed starting the organization because her son (at such a young age) had more concern for other patients than himself. He and his mother realized there were gaps in the emotional treatment provided to families dealing with cancer.

I donated $25 to Bear Necessities in Sammy Tinaglia's honor. With all my heart, I hope he beats the crap out cancer.

At Wits' End

2011-12-01T20:29:00.002-06:00

Today was just one of those days.

It was capped off by the mother-of-all Graby meltdowns.

Thirty minutes of full-on fist pumping, red-face turning, all-out wailing (very dramastic) - a full blown toddler meltdown, the likes of which I have never seen. He wanted to go outside. It was 5:30 (time to stay inside).

I tried to remember everything I've read about toddler tantrums:

Ignore the tantrum, but stay close so they don't feel alone - tried it. If the goal is to make me feel like a crappy parent and hurt my ears, it worked.
Try to talk the child through their frustration - tried it. I did quite a bit of talking, Cub did absolutely no listening and lots and lots of crying.
Try distracting the child - tired it (lots). I took him to the microwave (his new favorite toy), turned on his favorite tv show, hugged him, tried to give him candy - nothing worked. I even tried jumping up and down and dancing like a crazy person. Cub continued to scream.

Eventually it got to be 6:00 PM (past bath time). I gave him a forced bath - it was not pleasant and extremely short. He screamed the entire time - I'm sure there was still some soap in his hair when I put him in bed. I started to dry him off and he ran (naked) to the front door all the while, screaming.

I scooped him up in his towel and took him into the bedroom where I rocked and sssshhhhed him for about ten minutes (he actually calmed down and stopped crying after about 30 seconds). After all that, we read books for about twenty minutes and he went to bed without a peep.

I guess the afternoon was stressful for Cub, he got his second haircut and he was really good for the first 5 minutes and then he was just done; however, the lady kept chasing him around the place with scissors. Buttin and I kept saying - it's OK, his hair is fine - but the lady insisted on adding a couple more layers.

Here he is outside this afternoon (obviously, pre-meltdown).

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T20:27:00.002-06:00

New Favorite Food: Daddy's Protein Bars (Buttin doesn't really like sharing)

Not THAT Mom

2011-11-29T19:47:00.000-06:00

I really like Cub's preschool.

I especially love his current classroom, but most children move up to the next classroom by around age 19 months (Cub is almost 20 months, faint). They've had some space issues in the older classrooms, so I hadn't really given much thought to Cub's moving up (especially because like I said, I love, love, love his current teachers) because a couple of his buddies (they all started school together when they were around 3 months old) were also still in the classroom.

Anyone guess where this story is going?

I found out today that Cub's two buddies have moved up into the next classroom - which means they've actually been transitioning for the last few weeks (they don't just have them in one classroom one day and a different classroom the next day).

So, when I learned this factoid - my first thought was - Why hasn't MY CHILD moved up to the next classroom? My second thought was - Oh geez really, Stephanie?

Cash is technically older than the other boys (one by two days and the other by a couple of weeks), but I know the other boys have hit certain milestones before Cub (they walked earlier and started eating solid foods earlier) and I don't think the other boys have biting issues (ahem, Cubbie). I'm honestly not sure why Cub hasn't moved up yet and I kind of hate myself for wanting to know.

I know all children develop at different rates and that Cub is super smart (at least when it comes to pushing rockets into fire hydrants). I've never once had a concern about the timing of his development and I find benchmarking-type parents to be irksome. However, I just can't help wondering. Then, I hate myself for wondering because Cub is happy and healthy and loves his teachers and I really shouldn't (and don't want to) rush Cub's toddler-hood. I don't want to be that mom.

Side note: I'm quite sure my friend Liz will have a field day with this post. She'll probably say this is all my fault because I ate too much Splenda while pregnant and because I don't do enough physics problems with Cub. She'll also throw in some grievances for good measure.

Here's the non-physics doing, Splenda fueled toddler on the swing today.

Now a little something that made me smile. Our new house has only had one other owner and they actually built the house. We just took up the flooring (we're going to put down tile in the entire downstairs) and found a little drawing that the parents and children had done when they were building the house:

I took a picture and sent it to our agent (who in turn sent it to the sellers' agent who in turn sent it to the sellers) because I thought it was something they might like to see (I have no idea if they even remembered doing it way back in 1999). I got an email back (from our agent) saying that the sellers LOVED it and were very touched that we took the time to send them the photo. It made me feel good.

Misfit Monday

2011-11-28T19:12:00.001-06:00

Today was the first day for our newest misfit, a sales girl,who I'm sure we'll get a nickname soon.

We've never had a sales girl before and my expectations are very high; however, she'll probably get Touchdown Duck soon (I honestly forget who had it last).

A Weekend Of Good Movies

2011-11-27T19:12:00.002-06:00

This weekend Buttin and I saw three movies (two in the theater and one on-demand) and that must be some kind of post-Graby record.

Last night, we saw Hugo with Liz and Jonathan. I loved it. It was beautiful and I cried. FOUR COOKIES.

It took us two nights to watch Crazy, Stupid Love on-demand (I fall asleep early). It was funny and fantastic and I cried. THREE POINT FIVE COOKIES.

Today Buttin and I went to see The Descendants. It was indescribably amazing. Not surprisingly, I cried. FOUR COOKIES.

Today while Cub was feeding the outside cats he decided to eat some cat food. He was pretty proud of himself.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-11-25T19:35:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so fortunate and I'm reminded daily of how lucky I am to have such a healthy family and wonderful friends.

OK, enough of the sappy.

Yesterday, Liz decided to start a new Thanksgiving tradition - go around the table and say something for which we were un-thankful.

Liz's #1 unthankfully thing was that there are no more flaming hot Fritos at HEB (it's a pretty tough life). I am really unthankful that Keebler stopped making Magic Middle cookies. So, I did some extensive (google) interweb research and found that Nabisco (whose parent company is Kraft) is Keebler's #1 cookie competitor. Kraft's largest philanthropic endeavor is The Kraft Family Blood Lab at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute so I donated $15 to them.

Nanny-nanny, boo-boo Keebler - my $15 Filanthropy Friday money could have been yours!

I'm pretty sure this is the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T18:58:00.000-06:00

We had a great day of park time, eating and hanging out with friends.

Here's picture of Cub at the park this morning.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T19:35:00.000-06:00

My Crappy O'Craptastic Piece of Poo Car

2011-11-22T19:25:00.001-06:00

I'm starting to think that any good deeds (however small) I might be doing are somehow being undone by crimes I'm committing in my sleep.

When I went out to my car this morning (we had storms last night, can you guess what's coming?), there was about an inch of standing water on the driver and passenger side floor boards. Oh goodie. The smell in my car has gotten even better.

Today was delivery day for the food drive I've been working on for the past couple of months. While driving between the first and second stop - my car stalled and wouldn't accelerate. I was delivering food to abused women when my car decided to stop working - ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??!!! Like I said, I must be committing some pretty heinous crimes in my sleep.

When my car was towed to the shop (it was around 2:00 PM) and the mechanic started it up, he said (apparently) "oh no, that was a bad noise - I'll have to look at it more tomorrow". Fun stuff.

Cash has decided that anytime I take out my phone (which I use as my camera) that he wants it. I haven't had much luck taking good pictures today, here's the best I got.

Misfit Monday

2011-11-21T19:37:00.001-06:00

Turns out we owe the State of Texas money.

Our accountant pretty much said we owe the money, but we are still going to argue the auditor's final number. Oh joy!

In other misfit news, we have a new misfit sales person starting on Monday - and she's a girl (woman)! I'm very excited.

Today I took Cub to the new house to let him play.

Not surprisingly, he loved the stairs.

He also enjoyed the slide the previous owners kindly left for us.

It was too much to ask of Cub to sit still by the front door, so I thought (incorrectly) he'd take a picture with me under the deck to show off all the pretty trees. Isn't this a super cute picture?

Funksgiving

2011-11-20T19:15:00.000-06:00

This afternoon we went over to Baby Mama Heather's (Isaac's mom) house for Funksgiving. It's an annual tradition for them - they invite all their friends over the weekend before Thanksgiving for a little party. Heather mentioned that the "party" has changed somewhat over the years, but fried turkey is still on the menu.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay and eat (because Cash is in the bathtub by 5:45 and normal people don't eat dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon), but Cub had a ton of fun playing with friends and inspecting Heather's new sliding glass door (seriously, in and out no less than 523 times).

Heather and Todd have been remodeling their house for the last couple of years and they just finished an awesome balcony and patio. Buttin was upstairs on the balcony with some of the other menfolk and Cub had fun pointing at him (this was during the time when Cub was testing out the front door).

Running & Moving

2011-11-19T19:32:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning and discovered that my Garmin did not charge (I think my Garmin is dying). I quickly found a free iPhone app, appropriately called - iRun.

I wasn't able to look down at my phone (like I normally do with my watch) periodically (it was stored away in my armband), but it was somewhat freeing not to have the watch. It was freeing, but I'm not sure I want to do without my watch forever.

Here were my results from iRun:

Trip Time: 03:08:50

Trip Distance: 15.8 mi

Average Speed: 11:57 min/mi

That sounds about right.

I was planning to run about 18 miles, but when I got to the water stop at the 8 mile marker, I looked down at my shoe.

I decided to turn back. I guess it's time for some new shoes.

Buttin and I spent this afternoon packing, throwing stuff away and taking a couple truck loads over to the house. We're exhausted.

Cub spent the afternoon being silly with Hannah. Here he is being silly with me.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-11-18T08:25:00.000-06:00

It's house closing day! It's also the start of 24 hour Christmas music playing on our local radio station! Coincidence? Nope - it's just a very happy day for me!

In honor of house day - I donated $25 to Green Doors.

Green Doors is a local charity determined to prevent and help end homelessness in Central Texas. Green Doors was founded by a formerly homeless woman and they focus on veterans, disabled, seniors and families with young children. Their housing is well-maintained and they strive to use energy efficient components.

In addition to housing, they provide a food pantry and social services for residents. Their goal is to have all residents return to self-sufficiency.

I thought the best way to celebrate our new home is to help others with their home.

Just To Recap

2011-11-17T19:14:00.000-06:00

This week, we've had:

One stomach bug
Two flat tires
One (legitimately) missing diamond
Two mornings where someone (and therefore everyone) was awake before 4:45 AM; and
One nasty little cut to the forehead

I'm hoping that all crappy stuff has happened because tomorrow is going to be SO AWESOME - it's house closing day!

Proving the adage that you should get right back on the horse (or rocket), Cub was full-speed (seems even faster) ahead on his rocket today.

Wordless (Mostly) Wednesday

2011-11-16T20:29:00.000-06:00

For the Mormor, Gigi, Dadoo, Bubie, Nana and countless others' sake - I couldn't make this a Wordless Wednesday.

Cub and his rocket had a head-on collision with a water hydrant. Cub got a cut (that bled like crazy) on his forehead. Cub cried for about 30 seconds, then stopped, then cried when he realized we were heading (running) home (without his rocket). Hannah's (our babysitter) mother is a nurse, so we went straight to their house (it was also closer to the accident scene than home). Cub didn't like their house very much, but Laura (the nurse) cleaned up his cut and said it wasn't very deep (just bled a bunch) and that he would be just fine. She also brought over some small little sterile bandaid-ish things to close up his cut.

I promise (especially to family), Cub is great and I hope this picture proves it.

And if not that one, hopefully this one.

The Great Diamond Caper

2011-11-15T19:30:00.000-06:00

Well, not such a great caper.

Today at work, I looked down at my ring and noticed one of the stones in my ring was missing! So sad. We can get it replaced (it's insured), but my ring still looks like something from a prize dispenser.

Ironically, a few hours after I discovered one of my stones was missing we got a call from a customers claiming that $12K worth of diamonds were stolen from a ring - the ring wasn't stolen, just the stones in the ring. Apparently, one of our misfits was one of the last people in the apartment. Buttin handled it as best as he could, but we're pretty sure that this person is lying. Buttin also got the impression that the police didn't believe the dipsy-doodle either. Oh well, just another fun day as a small business owner.

Here's a picture a Cub today - happy guy.

Misfit Monday

2011-11-14T19:05:00.000-06:00

This misfit is a little under the weather. I'm recovering from yesterday's pretty mean stomach bug.

In other work related news, we received the results of our Franchise Tax audit - UGH! The auditor believes that we owe double what was paid, so Buttin and I are in the process of drafting a letter requesting a hearing. Oh just one more lovely thing that I didn't really have time for this week.

Here is Cub today. I thought he should try M&Ms. You can't really tell from the picture, but he liked them!

Running & Cleaning

2011-11-12T19:39:00.000-06:00

This morning it was back to marathon training. I ran 14.4 miles and I did my half marathon split was almost a PR (2:24 vs. a 2:23 back in 2009). It was a very nice run - I think my body enjoyed the couple weeks off from a long run.

This afternoon we had Hannah come over to hang out with Cub while Buttin and I threw stuff away in preparation for our move. We started in the closets. I found some real gems - including a bag full of scrunchies. YUP, SCRUNCHIES! I don't think I've worn a scrunchy since junior high, but I was keeping a bag of them in case they every come back in style (I guess). I also found a piece of clothing (a skirt, I think) that was still in it's dry cleaning wrapper. Here's the receipt.

Yup - 2004! I haven't worn this skirt since 2004! Guess it's time to donate the skirt.

Cub seems to have a little bit of a cold, but he and Hannah still had a great time.

Here is Cub this evening (with Cartman in the background).

Filanthropy Friday

2011-11-11T08:15:00.000-06:00

It's Veterans Day.

I could never have been in the military - aside from all the discipline, obeying, shooting and stuff - they don't serve enough cookie dough (or so I've heard). I have immense respect for those willing to serve in our military. It's a sacrifice I was not willing to make.

I'm extremely pro-military, but I'm not delusional - I don't think many of our current foreign entanglements are keeping us "free". In the past ten years we've put our military families at risk unnecessarily.

We should be doing a lot more for our veterans. Veterans should receive Wallstreet CEO pay - their sacrifices are greater than those of most business people.

In honor of all Veterans and one in particular, my dad, I donated $25 to the Fisher House Foundation. Fisher House provides homes (there are currently 54) for the families of veterans while their loved ones are being treated at major military and VA hospitals. The families never pay to stay at a Fisher House. Annually, the Fisher House program serves more than 12,000 families.

Thank you to all our active duty service men and women, veterans and all their families.

Pet Integration

2011-11-10T19:37:00.000-06:00

Also known as: complete failure.

So the dog (Riggs) and cats (mostly Scratch) becoming one big happy family isn't going very well. I contacted Riggs foster family to see if they had any suggestions (apparently they had cats too).

Riggs was OK with his foster family cats, but I guess none of them were as aggressive as Scratch. His foster mother recommended a squirt bottle or a quick tap on the butt with a kitchen towel. Today we tried the squirt bottle and it seemed to annoy him enough to take his attention away from Scratch under the bed. I wasn't in the house when all this was going on, but Buttin said it sounded like something from the exorcist was under our bed.

In other pet news Buttin and I have been discussing the new house and how we're going to organize our four-legged children. The entire upstairs is carpet and Cartman is notorious for peeing (everywhere). We've decided to invest is a couple dog diapers - one of them is the PeeKeeper. I'm actually pretty excited to try it out - I'm sure Cartman is considerable less excited.

Here's Cub from today - giving me a funny, double-chin look.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T19:07:00.000-06:00

Running Alone

2011-11-08T19:21:00.000-06:00

Most Tuesdays (at least during the past few months) I write about my group run.

I dropped my weekday group run, but am still doing the long Saturday run. I also dropped running entirely on Tuesdays and have returned to a M/W/F/Sat running schedule. I know this is all very fascinating.

Next week I am supposed to meet my Tuesday morning running group for dinner and a recap of our marathon running (speaking of which, I really need to finish my race report). It should be interesting to see everyone in normal clothes plus I might actually get a chance to speak with some of them since I never got a chance to when we ran (I was too far behind).

Today, Cub decided to throw his bagel in the water. Thankfully (although I certainly would have taken pictures of it) he decided not to pick it back up and try to eat it.

Misfit Monday

2011-11-07T19:49:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it's a very small world.

Last week, I saw one of our sales misfits driving on our street while I was outside playing with Cub. The next day, we noticed a sales order was written up for one of our neighbors - Hannah's (Cub's babysitter) house. They had no idea that they purchased their flooring from us, so it was kind of fun telling them.

Cub has this new thing he likes to do. We can't tell if he's going to be a ballerina or a karate-ist (not sure what a person who studies karate is called) but he likes to lift one of his back legs up when he's pushing on the door.

Or while he's pushing his rocket.

Buttin and I have pretty much decided that our kiddo needs a real haircut - he's now sporting what I like to call a "Farrah mullet". We haven't made an appointment and I'm not sure I'm ready to say goodbye to his curly blonde mop, but we will eventually.

Dog vs. Cat

2011-11-06T19:22:00.002-06:00

We love Riggs. The cats don't really love Riggs.

Mouser avoids Riggs. Scratch antagonizes Riggs.

The dog trainers told us to just let the cat and dog interaction happen organically. Their theory is that Scratch will scratch Riggs on the nose a couple of times and Riggs will get the message. Riggs doesn't seem to be getting the message.

The main issue with "organic" interaction between Scratch and Riggs is that we don't want Cub around while there is cat scratching and dog growling. This afternoon Cub was playing with the front door (sounds like a fun kid, right?) and Scratch and Riggs met for Kitchen Death Match 5.

It went on for about three minutes. I still can't tell, but it looks like Riggs wants to play. Scratch (for the most part) was the one chasing Riggs. It was pretty funny. Scratch was vicious and I had no idea that fat kitty could move so quickly and jump so high. We had to eventually break up the interaction when Scratch jumped up on the entertainment center and we didn't want Riggs to hurt the tv (I mean, the cat).

Here are a couple of pictures from today.

This is Buttin pulling Cub and me in the wagon while walking Riggs at the same time - it was like a workout.

Cub woke up from his nap after only 45 minutes so Buttin brought him to the couch where they slept for another hour. It was pretty freaking cute.

Long Day

2011-11-05T18:55:00.000-05:00

Cub decided to wake up at 5:00 AM (actually, I heard him fussing a little at 4:45 AM) and then he only took a 45 minute nap.

He woke up kind of grumpy and pretty much stayed that way.

Here he is in a brief happy moment this afternoon (not surprisingly we were outside).

Filanthropy Friday

2011-11-04T08:09:00.000-05:00

I'm a member of the Austin Apartment Association community outreach committee. Our largest project of the year is The Doc & Gayle Young Food Drive. This year we have a very ambitious fund raising goal - $50,000. This amount of money will buy food packs for 1,250 Austin families during the Thanksgiving holiday season.

The Doc & Gayle Young Food Drive is awesome in many ways - but truly outstanding in one very unique way - 100% of all donations go directly to the families. In my year of doing Filanthropy Friday, this is truly an anomaly. Most of the charities rated four stars (highest) by Charity Navigator give about 85% - 90% of all funds raised directly to the beneficiaries - there are always some administrative and/or fundraising expenses. The Austin Apartment Association and their members absorb any costs associated with the food drive and that's amazing!

This year - I donated $50 to the Doc & Gayle Young Food Drive. It wasn't completely self-less, $40 bought a food pack for a family and $10 got me a t-shirt!

Maybe one day, someone will name a charity in my honor - I'm thinking - The Stephanie Cookie Dough Outreach Project or The Stephanie White Trash Christmas Spectacular-a-Thon.

The House

2011-11-03T18:50:00.000-05:00

It looks like the house will be ours!

The option period ended last night and we came to an agreement (with the sellers) on some money for repairs. Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!

It seems like everyday Cub learns a new game.

Here he is playing a new favorite - Throw stuff in the trashcan even though mama says no.

Then make a cute face so that mama goes into the trashcan to retrieve the golf balls.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

Updates

2011-11-01T20:20:00.000-05:00

Update on me:

I got my blood tests back from my doctor visit last week. Apparently, my "joint soreness" wasn't just in my head. One of the blood tests, the ANA Titer (pronounced tighter not tit-er or teet-er), came back 1:320. My doctor said that this test is not very specific and not indicative of any disease (but most people who have lupus have elevated ANA titer tests), but did refer me to a rheumatologist. My doctor also mentioned that the specialist will probably tell me that my test results are no big deal, but we'll probably repeat them in a year or if my symptoms worsen.

Update on Riggs:

Riggs is a farting, disobedient puppy; however, he's very cute. We had a follow up visit from our trainer today and she got to see Riggs in full defiant mode. I was thankfully that he was acting up even with her around because I thought his "special" behavior was reserved for only me. We have lots of practice.

Update on Cub:

He's healthy, happy and silly.

A Little Scare

2011-10-31T20:17:00.000-05:00

I'm interrupting this week's Misfit Monday to bring you HALLOWEEN!

Our Halloween started off with a little scare.

I got a call from Cub's school. Cub fell off a small chair outside (from a standing position) and landed on his head. They called to let me know they were applying ice and that he seemed like his normal self (they knew because he was stealing balls from his friends). They called me back again (about five minutes later) and said he was starting to get pretty tired (it was 10:30 AM - pretty close to nap time) and they brought him inside just to observe him. They recommended that I call our pediatrician. I called the pediatrician - the nurse was not concerned. The school called back again (another five minutes later) - they strongly recommended Cub go see a doctor - he just wasn't acting right. I called back the pediatrician's office and they made an appointment for 2:00 PM. Just as I was finishing up with the pediatrician's office, the school called back to say Cub had thrown up. I talked to the pediatrician's office and they said to take him Dell Children's Hosptial.

When I picked Cub up from school they said he seemed better after throwing up. I met Buttin and Gigi at the hospital. Cub was checked out rather quickly (and played most of the time, except for when he was crying when they tried to take his pulse). They kept Cub in a room for observation until around 1:45, but he was eating and drinking and there was no more throwing up so they didn't do a scan (because of the radiation).

Cub spent his time emptying out all the drawers in the room and stacking the pee cups.

We got home from the hospital around 2:15 (Cub fell asleep on the way home) and I put Cub down for a nap. He woke up and played with Gigi and then we got ready for Halloween - here's the train conductor running down the street.

Cash only got about five pieces of candy, but he wanted to open and taste every single one as we were walking down the street. Eventually, it was a little too much.

Here he is with chocolate all over his mouth, he didn't seem to like chocolate very much - just wanted to try it, chew it and spit it out.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-30T20:04:00.000-05:00

Today - we did many things - including a very fun trip to see Aunt Jen and Uncle Mark. Their house is meant for kiddos and their two kiddos played with Cub for a couple of hours. Cub was pretty tired when we got home.

We also carved a pumpkin - Cub wasn't very interested.

Here is my awesome pumpkin carving skills on display.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-10-28T08:05:00.001-05:00

**CAUTION - CONTAINS INFORMATION OF THE LADY SORT**

(I know Liz will make fun of me for this one)

I was SO excited to run this morning. It's cool - like 50.

I woke up and went to the bathroom. OH MY GOD - I'm bleeding. Yup, after not having a period since JUNE of 2009 (that's over two years ago - I'm good at math), it started again this morning.

Unfortunately, I had nothing in the house to (how do I say it nicely?) catch the flow (except for the butt-sized pads I used after Cub was born) so that kind of put the kibosh on the cool morning run. Rest assured, I went immediately to the store this morning and am now prepared for a nice, cool run tomorrow morning.

So what does this have to do with Filanthropy Friday? Well not a lot but it got me thinking.

In honor of my period returning, I decided to donate to The Center For Reproductive Rights. I know the previous couple of paragraphs are silly (or disgusting or both), but CFRR is dealing with very serious issues affecting women's health and reproductive freedom - they are the only "global legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing women's reproductive health, self-determination, and dignity as basic human rights."

I donated $25 and I hope they use my money to take someone (a state or agency doing something bad) to court or to buy tampons.

Inspection Completion

2011-10-27T20:02:00.000-05:00

Actually, the inspection was completed (but that just doesn't sound as good).

I met with our inspector, Roy, this morning as he was finishing the inspection. He walked with me around the entire house and pointed out all the things that weren't quite right. It was actually very interesting. Bottom line - nothing catastrophic, but we may ask the sellers to make a few fixes.

Cub had a particularly cute and happy afternoon. We spent the entire afternoon outside while the cold front was blowing into Austin. Here are a few pictures:

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T19:16:00.003-05:00

Reunited!

2011-10-25T19:38:00.000-05:00

Riggs is back home!

As you can see, both of the dogs are super excited.

Lots going on today, so I'll write the short story:

We met with Riggs' trainers and they taught a bunch of commands. Riggs knows sit, down, heal, place and here quite well. According to the trainers, Riggs will test us in the coming weeks (he's already been doing it some this afternoon). The trainers will visit our house next Tuesday at to evaluate our progress.
I went to the doctor today. I've been having some joint soreness almost daily the last month or so. The doctor doesn't think it's arthritis, but he took some blood just to run the tests. He thinks I just have (wait for it) "joint soreness". The therapy for "joint soreness" is ibuprofen, cookie dough and weekly massages.
We are officially "under contract" for the house we want to buy and the inspection is schedule for Thursday. We're still being cautiously excited.

Here is Cub playing with Riggs this afternoon, they are getting reaquainted:

Misfit Monday

2011-10-24T20:19:00.000-05:00

OK - this is going to be a quick one.

Two things about misfits.

1. We have a water cooler in the office. Invariably the water is all gone at exactly the moment I am thirsty. I posted a little sign next to the water cooler asking that when the water was out (meaning you can't see any water in the jug) to please replace it or ask a fellow misfit (a guy with muscles) to replace it. Seems simple enough, right? Well, Misfit Patty believes that even when there is no water in the see-thru jug; tiny little water sprites (or maybe they're fairies) keep creating water inside the cooler that cannot be seen by the naked eye, but is magically still available. Misfit Patty has now been caught twice (once by Barbie and she turned herself in today) taking the last visible water from the jug without calling a muscley misfit. Her defense? There was enough water for her to fill her cup and it still "looked like" more was coming out.

2. We're hiring another sales misfit (we had one leave). Reviewing resumes is still depressing - nothing has changed since the last time I looked at resumes.

Here's a silly picture of Cub to make all the misfit woes better.

Sunday This And That

2011-10-23T19:13:00.000-05:00

A few updates:

Cub woke up early again today (yesterday - marathon day - he woke up at 4:30 AM) - 5:15 AM. He must be teething and/or have a little cold because he is kind of a grump.
Adding to the grumpoticousness - only a 45 minute nap!
Buttin and I went to see Paranormal Activity 3 (2.5 cookies) this afternoon and when Hannah (babysitter) walked in the door - Cub started crying. He was pretty dramatic when we left but he was fine after about three seconds.
I'm sore and my armpits hurt like the dickens - for some reason all my chub-rub consolidated in my armpit area (sexy, I know).
One small teeny-tiny thing -WE PUT IN AN OFFER ON A HOUSE! We are so excited but are reserving full-jump-up-and-down excitement for when they accept and everything goes well.

Here is Cub today playing one of his new favorite games - Daddy's Truck. It's a fun game to play in the morning when it's cool outside, but Cub doesn't let us turn the A/C on so in the afternoon the game is not so much fun.

Race Report - Short Version

2011-10-22T19:08:00.000-05:00

Starting temp - 67

Ending temp - 83

Unofficial time: 5:10:ish

I really wanted to break the five hour mark, but I played a little with friends (two baby mamas even ran with me for a little while) and it was pretty freaking warm.

Overall it was a fantastic race and now I'm very tired.

Here's Cub this afternoon - thankfully he let me sit down quite a bit while we played in the street.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-10-21T11:14:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow my mom and I will run in our 2nd marathon - Frankenthon.

This will be my 1st non-pregnant marathon and my mother's 2nd non-pregnant marathon.

Most races have a cause or beneficiary. This year, Frankenthon's cause is literacy and they have partnered with the Cedar Park Library to raise money for new books. I think books are pretty good and am fairly pro-literacy (unless it's reading something dumb) so I donated $25 to Bookspring.

Bookspring is an Austin non-profit determined to get children reading though various programs. One of their programs - Reading Is FUNdamental - provides three books per year to 21,000 Austin area children at no cost to their family. My $25 donation will provide three books to three children - I highly recommend Harry Potter.

Quick Pic

2011-10-20T19:55:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T19:12:00.000-05:00

Last Group Run

2011-10-18T19:19:00.000-05:00

Today was my last group run before the marathon.

As was the case with most of my other group runs, I ran it alone. Although today I ran alone because I'm the only one doing a marathon this weekend - so my workout was different.

It was a total of five miles.

1 mile warm-up

3 mile MGP (Marathon Goal Pace)

1 mile cool-down

Sadly, I had to estimate the mileage because when I woke up this morning - my Garmin wasn't charged. Double sadly, when I got home this afternoon (after putting my Garmin on the charger) it still wasn't charged - as in a completely blank screen.

Tonight I asked Buttin if he would take a look at my Garmin because I MUST have it for the marathon.

Buttin's response: Isn't a marathon like one gigantic Garmin - don't they tell you how far to run and time you?

Buttin is a smart-ass.

Here is Cub today doing his little pose (Buttin and I think Cub is adorable in pants - he looks like such a little person).

Misfit Monday

2011-10-17T19:29:00.000-05:00

I've said it before - being a small business owner is like being a parent.

Sometimes it's upsetting - like when a misfit is struggling, we feel pain - AND sometimes it's funny - like when we hear every excuse invented as to why a misfit needs money (an advance).

We've heard some doozies - but my new favorite is: I need $50 because it's my grandma's birthday this weekend.

I have to thank the misfits for preparing us for Cub's teen years.

Here is Cubby today - watching (and talking to) traffic.

Squirrel Chasin'

2011-10-16T18:48:00.000-05:00

In my squirrel chasin' boots with my "I'm gonna get you squirrel" face.

It Failed Me Again

2011-10-15T19:29:00.001-05:00

My car.

Today Ghetto McFlood-Mobile failed me.

I was on my way home from a very nice, brisk 12 mile run. It was 8:10 in the morning - apparently peak trouble-making time in Austin, Texas.

I got pulled over by a policeman. Ugh. I wasn't speeding so I was a little perplexed.

Here is a very accurate transcript of our conversation.

Me: Hi very nice policeman, how are you?

Policeman: Ma'm (double ugh), your windows appear to be very dark. (He takes out window-tint-meter-o-reader thingy) Yup, your windows are .25% and the maximum allowed by law is 20%.

Me: OK.

Policeman: Can I see your license and proof of insurance?

(I hand him my expired license, but can't find my proof of insurance).

(Policeman goes and looks stuff up on his computer and then comes back).

Policeman: Here's a citation - you need to call the judge by November 5th.

Me: Really? How am I supposed to know my windows are too dark? (I did know that they were dark, but didn't know they were illegal dark, OK maybe I kind of did.) I'm just a sweet innocent mom tying to get home to my very cute little 18 month old boy who totally wants to be a policeman when he grows up.

Policeman: Well, when you sign your license you are saying that you will abide by all Texas Highway Laws.

Me: I do abide them - at least all the ones I know about, but I don't have a cool window doo-dad. Do they sell them at Home Depot?

Policeman: I don't know, but I think if you get the windows fixed - you can make the citation better (whatever, that means). Have a good day and drive safe.

Good grief - a ticket and 8:10 in the morning for my windows being too dark! I didn't have a dog or child with me (I've been able to get out of tickets before with these family members in my car), but apparently my red-face, sweaty smelly self wasn't doing anything for him.

Did I mention that he didn't even notice that my license was expired??

Oh well - yet another reason why my car is so awesome.

Here's Cub working on his truck so he doesn't receive a similar citation.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-10-14T08:02:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, we adopted Riggs from the Great Dane Rescue of Southeast Texas.

Great Danes are the 17th most popular dog breed in the United States. Their popularity (unfortunately) means a lot large dogs in shelters or abandoned or worse (things I can't even think about). The GDRST takes in about 3 - 10 Great Danes (or Dane mixes as in the case with Riggs) per week! Many of them aren't surrendered - they're found roaming the streets of Houston or worse (again, things I don't want to think about) and don't have names. GDRST gives them names (example, Riggs was originally Griggs which is the name of a street in Houston).

Last week, I sent GDRST an update on Riggs including pictures of him with Cash and Buttin. This past weekend, they took in six Danes and one of them they named, Cash!

Appropriately, Cash (the Great Dane) is a black Dane.

GDRST liked the name Cash and when they met the black Great Dane, they thought it was an appropriate fit. I was just tickled!

Cash (the Great Dane) is still a puppy, but he's already 125 lbs. He was found by animal control tied to a pole on a concrete slab and his collar was so embedded - it required surgery. Cash (the Great Dane) is doing much better now and almost ready for a home.

Since he is my child's namesake, I donated $25 to the GDRST to help Cash.

My donation also gave me an idea (I'm sure other rescues have come up with this idea) and I told my new friends at GDRST about it.

I think they should offer a "NAME A DANE" donation. For example, if someone donated $100 they could name the next Great Dane that entered rescue.

I was delighted they named a puppy after Cash. I'm sure other people would love to name a dog (either after themselves or any name) and would be willing to donate money to do it.

School Fundraiser

2011-10-13T19:55:00.000-05:00

Buttin and I love Cub's school. It's very nurturing and educational, but some of the hippy-dippy things crack me up.

As an example, we have a school fundraiser - For Small Hands. Essentially, it's a catalog of experience facilitators (toys) for Montessori education.

I hope Cub wants his own composting pail and replacement filters for Christmas.

Here's Cub giving Buttin kisses today.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T19:41:00.002-05:00

Running & Riggs

2011-10-11T20:15:00.000-05:00

Today was my first team work out without my running buddy.

She ran the Chicago Marathon this past Sunday - did it in a 4:07 (we definitely can't be friends anymore). If I go a 4:57 - I'll do something (can't think of anything right now) crazy and uncharacteristically me.

It's difficult to believe that my race is less than two weeks away.

This week we did a pretty long workout - 8.3 miles.

1.15 mile warm up

3 x 2 miles (alternating .5 mile HMGP and .5 mile MGP)

1.15 mile cool down

I did alright - my average for the entire workout was 11:05/mile.

In other running news, Rogue is looking for volunteers for this new heart rate/zone training method they're tying. I love training in zones, so I volunteered. I was rejected because (get this) I'm too fast! I wonder if I'm just so slow that they're trying to let me down easy.

Today we got an update on Riggs at puppy boot camp. Apparently, he's playing very well with all the other dogs and responding well to their "calming signals". His first day at boot camp he wasn't taking "no" for an answer when other dogs wanted to stop playing - they called him an obnoxious child. He wasn't aggressive, he just wouldn't let the other dogs stop playing - he'd keep bouncing around trying to get the other dog to play. He likes to party, but I guess he's gotten over it. They also said he's a big goof ball when playing, but smart when it comes to his training sessions. I'm sure they say this to all dog parents, but it's good to hear.

Here's our other little goof ball today in his wagon. Notice the tears? He had just fallen out (well kind of jumped out) of his wagon and didn't really like the result.

Misfit Monday

2011-10-10T12:47:00.002-05:00

No work for me today because Cub's school was closed.

However, we did make a trip to the office because when I got in my car this morning (Cash and I were taking a trip to target) - it was FLOODED.

Yup, that's right. What are the chances that two cars in a row would flood? My windows weren't cracked so I have no idea how the water got in, but I do know that my car smells fabulous.

Thankfully, one of our cleaning technicians was able to perform a quick water extraction (thanks misfit!) and on the upside it made me clean out my car (lots and lots of half eaten Goldfish crackers and smushed bagels).

This morning we played a little with Archer. The boys had fun racing down driveways. I think my son gets his awesome running expression from me:

**UPDATE**

Buttin decided to get creative at work and here's how he modified the picture:

No doubt he has a career in graphic design if this whole flooring thing doesn't work out.

A Quiet House

2011-10-09T19:21:00.000-05:00

On Friday we dropped Riggs off at puppy boot camp for two weeks.

Even with two adults, two cats, a dog (more like a hamster) and a very active toddler - the house is kind of quiet.

We miss the big stinky puppy - well maybe the dog and cats don't.

This weekend has been pretty relaxing - Buttin and I got out to see a movie - The Guard (solid 4 cookies) this afternoon and the entire family has been enjoying the rain.

Here is Cub talking at the trucks (he LOVES watching traffic and talking to the trucks) while we were on a walk.

Running In The Rain

2011-10-08T19:16:00.000-05:00

Cub and I both ran in the rain today.

I ran 17 miles in the muggy, warm weather.

Cub ran for about half a block and I'm pretty sure he a lot more fun than I did.

Filanthropy Friday

2011-10-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

I'm pro-protesting (the peaceful kind).

During the past week, I've been fascinated by the Occupy Wall Street movement. Their major position is that they are sick and tired of the greed from the top 1% of our country. The movement represents the diverse group Americans who comprise the bottom 99%. They are peacefully protesting in Liberty Square.

I've read a few articles that say this is like the Tea Party for Democrats although the movement claims to be non-political (there is actually a Occupy Party website, but the Occupy Wall Street group is not affiliated). I do feel that regardless of the political party in power our government is run by a small number of corporations.

Occupy Wall Street doesn't seem to have clearly defined goals (although, one should be - free cookie dough for everyone), but I'm excited to see people doing something (even if that's just standing in the streets with clever signs).

This week I donated $10 to Occupy Wall Street. I hope they use my money to make signs and buy cookie dough.

The movement is spreading and there's an Occupy Austin - marching today on Bank of America at 4 PM. I donated $5 to them. I hope they use my $5 to make it rain (like real water falling from the sky).