Best. Neighbors. Ever.

We've lived in our house now for one month.

We just received our first "Conditions, Covenants, and Restrictions" violations.  We broke two rules on the same day and they were kind enough to take a picture for us.

1.   Trash can/receptacle in public view on non-trash day.

2.   Unsightly articles left in view (Cub's wagon and rocket ship). 

Honestly, I'm surprised it took us a month to get our first (and second) violation.  Thankfully, we were not fined this time.

Cub was super happy this afternoon. Here he is being cute wearing what I like to call "daycare chic" (it's a mish-mash of the random clothes I put in his basket).

Misfit Monday

Today was not a great day (especially for Buttin). 

Instead of dwelling on it, I am going to change the paradigm. 

For 2012, I'm going to compare misfit behavior to toddler behavior and only expect a misfit to behave as well as a toddler might in a similar situation. 

Here is an example.

SITUATION:   How would a toddler show/prove his identity?

TODDLER BEHAVIOR:   Scribble incoherently on a piece of paper, the wall, the cat and himself.  Add some drool, snot and partially chewed food to the piece of paper and cat.   Show the piece of paper as proof of identification.

MISFIT BEHAVIOR:   Photocopy a library card, use scissors to cut out photocopy (in a semi-rectangular shape) and laminate the semi-rectangle with scotch tape. Show the paper laminated with tape as proof of identification.

CONCLUSION: Misfit Wins! 

I'm hoping that my new expectations can greatly improved my mood.

Here is Cub's interpretation of our day at work.

Mini Race Report - 3M HALF MARATHON

It was Mormor and my first time to run the 3M Half Marathon. This was our first race since Frankenthon (last October).

Overall I give the race a solid A.

Packet Pick-Up: A

Goodie Bag Stuff: A  (lots of 3M stuff like post-its and tape and glue but we also got a crap cookie and some yucky pretzels)

Technical Shirt: B  (not very cute)

Race Day Organization: A+

Course: A+

Water Stops: A

Crowd Participation: B

Post-Race Food: B

Post-Race Transportation: A

Mormor and I picked up our race packets on Saturday.  We were in and out in less than 15 minutes.

Thankfully, we received our shirt IN our race goodie bag (instead of waiting until the finish - I hate that).  The shirt isn't quite the message I want to project while running, but it's sufficient.  Here is Cub modeling the shirt.

We woke up 5 AM and were out the door by 5:35.  It was a chilly morning (around 39), so Mormor wore her bathrobe (she actually got a ton of compliments on the idea to wear a bathrobe) and planned to drop it once she warmed up.  Here she is modeling her outfit pre-race.

We made it to the start line around 6:15 and walked around trying to stay warm.  Here we are:

The race started right at 6:45 (I didn't even hear the start).  Mormor said that I should make my goal time something in the 2-teens.  My fastest half marathon time to-date was 2:23:43 (Austin Half - 2009) and I have been training pretty well, so I thought it was doable. 

The first 10 miles was relatively uneventful.  The course is mostly downhill, but not very scenic.  The first few miles of any race I have to concentrate on running my own race - I get passed -  ALOT.  I ate a Gu at mile 5 and was feeling great. I decided that if I was feeling good at mile 10, I would switch from listening to my book (Bill Bryson - At Home) to listening to music (I usually run faster when listening to music).  At mile 10, I ate another Gu and was feeling great. I switched to music and started to pick up my pace.  I started passing people (never mind that many of the people were walking). 

It's difficult to describe the feeling I get when listening to music while running in a race.  There's something kind of emotional that comes over me (always has).  It doesn't matter what song I'm listening to, I just smile and start to tear up a little.  I know, it's strange but it's happened to me in pretty much every race where I've listened to music.  

OK, back to the race. The last three miles, I felt fantastic and was running pretty speedily (for me).  I crossed the finish line at my iPod said 2:15:04 - whoppeee!! My official time was 2:14:59.  

My Garmin died a couple of months ago, so I've been using a free iPhone app.  It doesn't give me as much detailed as my Garmin, but it's good enough for right now.  It said that my average pace was 10:18 and that my fastest mile was 8:33 (that is very fast for me). 

I checked the official results and it said that my 10K time was 1:06:25, which means I negative split my race.

At the finish line, I waited for Mormor.  She was expecting to run it in about 3 hours because she hasn't been training as consistently.  She ended up running it in about 2:45 - which is right around average for her.  Great job - Mormor.

Mormor and I got a banana, took a picture and headed for the buses to take us back to the start line. It was a very organized process.

It was a fantastic race day! I will do this race again.

Race Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is 3M Half Marathon Race Day so naturally Mormor spent the day playing basketball with Cub.

Filanthropy Friday

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

Keyword Searches

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.