Finally!

I can safely say that my summer vacation has officially started, finally!! I worked my last full week of work last week, training the replacement for three days of it. Now all I have left to do is go in every once in a while to help finish training her, because honestly there is only so much you can cover in 3 days. And as much as I'd like to be completely done, I will keep going in as needed. I figure its better to help her on this end than to have to be called in again when she up and quits because I didn't train her all the way in the first place. She's a nice gal and seems really sharp too, so I have confidence she'll do well. I also made the offer to my mom that if she wanted I'd go in monthly to do bank recs, and of course, she thought that would be a fabulous idea. It won't be too different at that point than what I do for Erik, and will consist of just a couple hours monthly which should be easy to fit in especially after the girls start school. And I could use that money, what little I'll make in a couple hours, to pay for my race fees!

Erik couldn't believe it when I told him the half-marathon registration was $70 (of course, I didn't get it in early enough to be cheaper!). He seemed confused that anyone would pay to subject themselves to such....as he sees it, torture!

So yes, I did the half-marathon again this year and I still actually have the sore muscles to prove it! It was such a great race this year. Here is a picture of me and my three running buddies before the race, at about 5:30 am. See now fresh and clean we look? We took a picture at the end too, which I don't have yet, but suffice it to say we don't look nearly as clean or fresh! Anyway, I felt so much more prepared going into the half this year--we actually made it up to 10 miles in our long run and that definitely helped, but I think mostly its because I kept running throughout the last year, so its like I had twice as much training this year than last and boy could I tell! We started out the race together, but within the first mile, Coleen & Amber pulled ahead of Sonja and I. Although part of me felt anxiety about letting them go faster (I do have a bit of a competitive streak in me) I felt better about staying with Sonja and taking it easy, we were keeping a good pace of a little over 10 min miles at the time. So I let them go and Sonja and I just kept plugging away, stopping for water or powerade when needed and just keeping our steady pace. I didn't hit the 10 mile wall this year, although I was looking forward to the powerbar gel at the 10 mile water station--after taking it and some water I felt good to go. Even with the majority of the race behind me, I still felt pretty strong. Soon after that Sonja had to walk and urged me to keep on running, and so I did. It wasn't nearly as fun to run alone, but I figured I could do it for 3 miles and so I did. But I also bumped up my pace a bit and started to pass people here and there. At the 11 mile point I checked my watch and new I wouldn't make my time goal unless I sped up and even then I thought it would be close. So I pushed my legs a bit harder and I even ran past the last two water stops, not wanting to lose even a second. Once I new I had less than a mile left I gave that thing all I had left, I felt so strong and capable that I still had something in me to give and that I didn't even feel close to giving up, not like last year at all. I got to the bridge and saw all the cheering spectators and knew I could give it just a bit more, so I did until I crossed the finish line. I probably wasn't smiling in my finish picture, but I was very happy with my finish.

A bit later I was able to check my finish time. 2:21:45. Its slower than last year by about 4 minutes and slower than my goal by about 6 minutes, but that doesn't bother me. I am just so excited with how strong I felt the whole race, it was a great experience and I know I can work harder this next year and push it harder during the race and I know I can meet my goal next year.

As for my running buddies, Sonja only walked for a few minutes and then ran again, so she finished a couple minutes after me and felt good. Amber and Coleen finished several minutes faster than me and had a great time--I was proud of both of them: it was Ambers's first half and Coleen was coming back after an injury. So, it was a great race. Today is the 3rd day after it so I'm finally going to try to workout--that last 2 days my quads and calves have been SOOOO sore that I could barely walk or go up/down stairs...which makes me think I need to do some more strength training for my legs so they are a bit stronger! lol

Now that I've got some more time, I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get back to blogging a bit more often!

Things I miss since I started working part-time...

-blog writing and blog reading

-random and mindless facebook games

-laundry being done a little at a time instead of all in one of my free days

-regular, long and leisurely hang out times with my friends

-non-hurried grocery shopping

-doing fun things with my kiddos during the day

-eating lunch at the kitchen table, sometimes with Erik if he got out of work early

-working in the later morning as opposed to the wee hours of the morning

-not sitting at a desk for a full 6 hours

-volunteering at Lindsay's school

-a clean house

-going without makeup and not doing my hair if I don't feel like it.

Here's the deal....

Alrighty, I knew I'd been busy lately, but I didn't realize how busy til I figured out it has been almost two weeks since my last post here! I guess that is what happens when someone so use to being a stay-at-home mommy goes back to work. You see, about two weeks ago my mom mentioned that she was really desperate for me to come back to work part-time for a couple of weeks and after some thought I decided I could handle part-time, temporary work to help her out. Well, as soon as I got in that office I knew it was going to be more than I had anticipated. And so what started as two weeks of part time has evolved into part-time until the position is filled (which hopefully and prayerfully will happen within a couple months). I like the work, and I really like how the job has evolved since I left it, its much more manageable. Everyone else working there is great and I'm grateful that I can help out my parent's in their bind, especially since they've helped me out countless times before. I think I will still be able to play a lot this summer with the kiddos & camp as a family (I think we've agreed that my max will be 2 days/week once school is out). BUT its still quite the adjustment to go from not workign at all to working 2 to 3 days a week. I've fallen behind on cleaning, laundry and other things around the house. I'm not getting near as much time with friends during the week like I was before and I'm feeling a little pickier about how I spend my "free" time since its kind of limited now. Let's just say that I'm glad this isn't going to be a long-term arrangement!!

So, a few interesting things since I last posted:

Spring has been rather slow in arriving, here is a picture Erik took during one of his last snowmobiling trips at the beginning of the month:

Its gorgeous country back in there and that little building is an abandoned fire lookout.

The school year is winding down, Keras last day is actually this coming Thursday and Lindz's is the second week of June. But one of the things Kera's preschool does at the end of the year is throw a ice cream party/concert so that they kids can sing and recite bible verses to show their parents how much they've learned through the year. Kera was really excited for it and my Grandma actually ended up being in town, so we had her, my mom, nephew and us all there to watch her. Unfortunately, when the time came for her to go with her classmates up and sing, she refused and held very tightly to my neck. One of her teachers (bless her heart) took her from me, took her out in thehall to pray and then brought her back to sit with her. She didn't stand up with the other kids so I couldn't see her, but she sang all the songs. Seems she has a small social anxiety and performance fear...gee, doesn't sound like anyone I know! Poor thing!

Lindsay turned seven on Wednesday, believe it or not! So I've been spending a good amount of time planning and doing errands to prepare for both girls birthdays---since they are pretty much back to back it saves me time and energy to do it all at once, but its still time consuming! I can't believe my girl is getting so old, its crazy.

She got a scooter, an art book and a new Webkinz for her birthday and will have her party next weekend since we didn't want to compete with Memorial Day. She was stoked about the scooter--that girl is all about riding things lately. She actually went with Erik when he drove over to California/Reno last week for a family funeral and he hauled their bikes and gear with them. They spent some great time with Erik's sisters and ended up riding their bikes all over Reno and up at Lake Tahoe too. Its amazing to me how brave she is--she's tumbled several times (and has the road rash to prove it) and yet she still gets back on that bike and goes as fast as she can. That girl amazes me. I love her!

Kera has been busy with field trips--her class went to the John Deere dealership on Monday and then yesterday to the Carousel. I was able to help yesterday and itwas pretty fun. The kids got to ride that thing for an hour straight and although I could barely stand to watch them go around and around by the end, Kera only sat out one time for a snack. Her little preschool class is so cute and so much fun for her, I love to watch how the kids interact--they really are all friends to each other, its so sweet.

Today I took her to Kindergarten Roundup--its where she gets to interact with seven other incoming kindergarteners and the teachers so that the teachers can place kids appropriately. When we first got there she was being very shy--not talking to anyone or answering questions directed at her, clinging to me and stuff, but by the end she was doing great. I talked briefly with Lindsay's Kindergarten teacher about how different Lindz and Kera are, and they are like night and day. Lindsay is so outgoing and loud and Kera (although she can be loud too) is often quite shy until she gets to know someone. (Again, does that sound anything like her mother!?!). It will be really interesting to see Kera go to school next year and to watch the differences in how the girls "do school" unfold.

On the running note....I'm still in training for the half...this weekend we'll be up to 8 miles and I seriously feel more prepared this year than I did last year. I even bought the exact same electrolyte drink and the energy gel they use in the race for the gals and I to try with our training. I really am curious to see how the energy gel affects those longer races...maybe, just maybe, it will help with the "wall". Last weekend there were seven women total who showed up for the run on Sunday--it was so encouraging. Besides Amber and Sonja who are training for the 1/2 with me, there was a mom and daughter who are getting back into running, a newish mom getting back into it and one gal who had never really run before. It was awesome to see so many of us out there, and it worked out great that we were all at different levels of training. Its really fulfilling to me to be able to encourage other women to run and be healthy. I look forward to seeing the "newer" runners improve!

I've got to go make a salad and do some cleaning in preparation of a dinner party Erik is throwing for his crew! Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend--get out there and enjoy the beautiful spring that has finally arrived!