Synopsis of 2012, to date, for the Blanchard Family

So as I place Christmas cards in envelopes, I feel like I am cheating all of you out there on an update to our family.  Instead of typing this and enclosing it in each card, I figure hey!  Use the power of the blog and just send the address to the blog, right?

Update as written by Patty on November 23, 2012

Todd:    Todd has changed jobs a few times this year, but has seemingly found a happy place working for Northrop-Grumman doing work for the Center for Disease Control.  We are thinking that this job, being mostly remote work, will be able to transfer with him when we move back to Louisiana in Summer 2013.  (Which is possibly NEW to some of you reading this!)  Him and Guinness have been enjoying some quality time during the days, Todd working hard and Guinny Boy laying at his feet.

Patty:  I started working this August at Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy as the technology teacher as well as the technology specialist for the school.  I am also still in grad school; I extended my graduation date until May 2013 in order to take 2 more classes toward my certification toward Online Teaching.  I also ran my first half marathon in October (here's a link to the blog post about that experience).  Taylor and I ran a few races together so far this year, including the Peachtree Road Race in ATL, the biggest 10K in the country.  We are signed up for a 15K in January as well.

Taylor:  Taylor is halfway through her Senior year in high school, and just got accepted to LSU as well as LSU's Honor College!  She made awesome scores in her SAT in the Spring and then recently in the Fall.  She is one of the Clarinet Section leaders in North Cobb High School's Marching Band.  Here is a link to the only video so far on YouTube of their show this year.  She also just found out she made first chair clarinet in the school's most prestigious musical ensemble, the Wind Symphony.  Here is a video of the Wind Symphony from last year playing Rising Sun by Allen Vizzutti, playing with Allen Vizzutti at Kennesaw State.  In 6 months, she'll be graduating from high school and gearing up for her freshman year at LSU.  Keep reading the blog for updates!  (Note:  The marching band made grand champs at the festival in Asheville, NC.  The North Cobb football team is in round 3 of the playoffs... we are looking forward to another win this Friday!)

Camryn:  Camryn is in 7th grade at Awtrey Middle.  She is in her second year of band as a percussionist.  She particularly likes melodics- bells, marimba, etc.  When she is not at school, a lot of her time is spent creating all kinds of artwork.  Check the blog for updates... I will upload some pictures of her Halloween mask creation as well as the clan of dragons she has been sculpting.

Lauryn:  Lauryn is in 4th grade at Kennesaw Charter,  decision she made the week before school started.  She is doing great, making awesome grades.. she is really into her music class at school, which led to inquiring about band for next year, so she is planning to play the saxophone next year. 

Autumn:  Our little toddler  truly makes everyday interesting!  She is happy at her little preschool where she spends Mommy and Daddy's working hours, and her make-believe skills have matured extensively!  She's a very loveable creature that we can't get enough of.  Check the blog for some videos of her doing cute toddler stuff. 


We took a great family trip Labor Day weekend to Cherokee, North Carolina to one of our favorite cabins, Water Rock Retreat.  We have been super busy the last few years, what with a growing baby, three growing girls, and me in grad school.  I know I am definitely looking forward to graduating in May and having a bit of time to not worry about assignments and deadlines with school, although that always turns into other kinds of deadlines.

So keep checking back here for more videos, pictures, and blog entries to update everyone on our lives.

We hope everyone has an awesome Christmas season and a fun and joyous new year!

My First 13.1

So somewhere around mile 8 today I started to think about what I was going to write in this blog post.  There were several different ideas I had...and I ended wanting to tell them all.  So I will try to keep this brief.

I. Scenery & Music
I stood at the starting line in my "corral" of 2:30 race pace people.  The lady next to me chit chatted with me about this being her 45th Half Marathon.. sheese... all in 8 years.  I really hoped to see her at the finish line... what awesome motivation.

As the starting gun went off and we slowly merged to the front, Pound the Alarm filled my ears... and it made me laugh as the song reminds me of one of my older students who is always trying to sneak on YouTube to listen to music, this being one of the songs I see on the video title.  (Another kid in this same class said "Mrs Blanchard, don't watch that video.. it's inappropriate." lol)

As I passed through the timer to start the race, I INSTANTLY teared up.... WOW!  I am here!  It has begun!  I am gonna do this!!!  I made myself focus... long road ahead.. cut out the drama, Patricia.
Apologies right now to the lady who's shoe I untied by stepping on her laces at some point in this first mile.  But, you know.. I learned in my first 5K that if I was going to be slower than others, to keep my body to the right to let people pass on the left.  The first 3 miles or so, people would just stop running right in front of me and start walking on the hills... all good, I understand but dang, talk about a road block.

(This brought back a story a friend of mine told me about her first half, which must have been this one based on the scenery, and how people did this to her and it drove her nuts.. that kept my brain occupied for a little while, trying to figure out the last time I saw her and how the birth of her baby went, etc.)

The course wound through neighborhoods near Oglethorpe University.  Beautiful homes in mildly hilly neighborhoods, with trees and lushness galore.  The sun rose while we were in this neighborhood, somewhere around mile 2.  Lights by Ellie Goulding queued into the playlist just as the sun came up.. it was perfect.

And then, somewhere in this 2nd mile, I realized.. I HAVE TO PEE!  lordy me... really?  There were water stations and port a lets every two miles, I believe, but damn, I didn't want to stop.  I decided that I would only stop if I was absolutely about to be in pain.

Somewhere around mile 4, I felt that small pang in my stomach telling me I was hungry.. dammit again.  I had 6 Sports Beans with me (ooo I found watermelon at Big Peach Running yesterday.. my new fave)... so I ate one and realized yea! A water station... didn't have to waste the water I was carrying.

Poster I saw around this time:
"If a half marathon were EASY it would be called YOUR MOTHER."
hee hee
another one was a group of teenagers with a sign that said "You are all CRAZY!"
love...

Miles 4, 5, 6 really were great.  I know at mile 4 I thought "two more like that plus 1 mile" but that didn't really help me any... just kept counting down the miles.  I timed my Sports Beans/water combos well so as not to get stomach aches but not get hungry either.  In fact, at around mile 6, I had this burst of energy that I felt AWESOME.

We had some boring highway miles.  The highlite of these miles was the Wesley Cook band that was set up on the side of the road, jamming out.  I was hoping to remember their name, and I passed them again at about mile 11 and then on the way home so yep... name transferred to memory.

I knew that the race was headed to a park, but didn't realize we would double back at the end of the race.  So on the left of us passed a dude running obviously in the front of the pack for the head of the race.  The next person I saw was a woman... most definitely was the winner in the female category.  Yea for her.. awesome chick.. however I will say this... she was tiny to begin with, and was obviously only muscle and bone. SOOOO skinny, but with muscle tone.. pretty scary, but then the next 20 or so people behind her looked pretty similar.  Maybe they all hang out together and don't realize they look kind of freakish.. in my opinion anyway.. mind of like the Desperate Housewives with all of their collagen and botox :)

At around mile 8 or so, while in that park... gotta look up the name... the water tables were run by a Troop of Boy Scouts.. who also had candy and oranges, and I almost took something but didn't want to chance a stomachache... I would be regretting not taking something at mile 11 when I was SOO hungry :)  They had speakers blaring One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful.  Which mixed well with the techno song on my headphones, and made me smile, thinking of my big 10 year old birthday girl at home (this being one of her fave songs).

Somewhere around this time I saw a woman in front of me with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale shirt on.. yes I was dreaming of the beer I would eventually drink and was pretending she was the beer.. she stopped and I kept going...

Mile 9 started us into the park, which was pretty and on a paved but wooded trail.  And then came mile 10..

Endomondo told me I was at mile 10, but of course I started a good bit back from the start line, so Endomondo was a bit ahead in marking the miles.  Well, the hills started, which I knew from looking at the altitude map when I signed up for the race.  I had no idea how many hills, how big, etc.  So hillward bound I went... each one I went down.. there was some flat land.. and then yet another hill on the other side.. finally I just hollered out "OMG these hills SUCK!"  yet there were still more, one decently big and similar to Cardiac Hill in the Peachtree Road Race.  Really??? at 10.5 miles... ugh...
My knees were starting to not be happy, my feet had been hurting for at least 2 miles, every now and then I realized I had to pee still...

I had no doubt I could push my butt to the finish line but dangit, I didn't want to be miserable.. it's too bad thoughts can't make the endorphins release for pain relief!  or can they...

Maybe I got wrapped up in one of my new favorite running songs, Criminal by Disturbed  (thank you, Tay, for having it on your play list.. and thank you, Brian, for the influence.)  I think right after that was Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace and then Bad Religion by Godsmack.

Mile 11.5-ish was Breakin Dishes by Rihanna thank you Andrea!  and my another new favorite song, Kyoto by Skrillex.

Mile 12- Lady was carrying a sign that said "Think of the bragging rights" ... ahhh.. that made me smile.
Passed by the Wesley Cook band again, as well as this duet- two guys one with a guitar and one with a harmonica that were awesome
And I hit the turn back around the start line... and there were photographers.. and I tried to smile but I knew I was a hot mess.. :)
and as I got right to the finish line I hear a bunch of names and then "Patty Blanchard... welcome to the finish line"  and I teared up again.. I had done it!  I ran the whole thing!

I crossed the finish line and forgot to stop running, and then I walked to a girl handing me a bottle of water.. and another one handing me a banana, and then another girl was giving out bags of cookies.. mmm.. and another bags of pretzels... and then another was giving out bagels.. and don't forget the chocolate milk..  and then someone walked up to me and put my medal around my neck, and smiled and called me by name (thanks to my name on my running bib) and said great job.. and I almost cried again
and I walked around till my legs slowed down and I thought I could handle sitting.
and I ate almost ALL of that while contemplating passing out under a tree...
a little girl, she looked about 3 or 4.. was eyeballing my chocolate milk.

II. Randomness

On the course I saw...

• 3 cases of road kill (2 chipmunks and a very flat bird)
• about 100 empty packs of Gu (that runner energy gel stuff I can't handle the texture of)
• 1 Shot Block energy chew (the kind that tay likes.. I hope whoever dropped it had a spare)
• 1 Runner's bib.. I thought about it a mile later, I should have picked it up and carried it to the finish with me
• A good sized group of ladies scattered out throughout the race with "preserve the sexy" shirts on.. oh yeah
• Way too many runners with today's shirt on.. I thought that was bad karma?
• About 8 Natural Light cans all within 10 feet of each other... but really not much trash on the road with the exception of
• a million little empty cups from water and powerade... aw man, the job of picking all that crap up
• only one couple in costume.. bet they will make the highlights
• way too many women with too tight shorts on a the wrong panties.. ouch.. I hope their cracks aren't chaffed (hey you run that long, what else are you gonna look at)
• this one dad with two toddlers, seemingly the same age, on the side of the road in one of the neighborhoods, who worked for the whole time they were in my sights trying to keep one kid and then the other out of the road when the runners passed...poor guy, I wonder how long he stayed out there herding cats.
• lots of "Go Mom" signs on the sidelines, held by kids... made me smile.

III.  Final Thoughts

You guys knew this was going to be a long post...

Something else dawned on me as I was running...

the fact that I did pass so many people that were running together, and here I was running solo.. which I love to do (so Andrea and others, when we get to run together, we start and end together but the middle is a solo thing... unless we are doing some kind of keg run or something... lol)

But then I thought

I am not really alone

essentially, when I run, I have a crew with me... or I should say a KREWE with me.. and this is in no particular order, except for the first one :)

• first and foremost, I always have my family with me... my babies and my hubby... I started this jaunt with running 2 short years ago.  Lots of mornings I would hit the pavement before anyone woke up and y'all would hold the fort down till I got back... also, the expense of the running gear, etc.  (especially the search for the right shoes)  props to my mom for those!  With the motivation of being mom and wife to the best I can be, the running goal might not have gone to this level.
•   Kila and Brandee were my first two running friends.. well I think Angie Kraemer, you might have been one of the first back years ago... and then Kila ran that triathlon which totally motivated me to do SOMETHING.  Kila mentioned Couch to 5K, which my friends Shannon and Tara in Lullwater reiterated.  Tara then talked to me every day, or so it seemed.. did I bore you to death Tara? haha... about her 5K and other running experiences.  We had talked about running my first 5 miler together (it was supposed to be right around Autumn's first birthday) which I didn't register for.. darn it.  Tara ran her first 1/2 marathon in March 2011, and I couldn't even imagine wanting to do that, let alone DOING it...
• my buddy, Stephen, who recommended I run the Peachtree this past summer (oh what fun) which led me to running even further and completing this race
• The main reason I started running in the first place was because Camryn seemed to be into running at the time, and I wanted to keep up with the "Cam-zes" :) and Taylor was also running... and I figured maybe if I started running, and Taylor kept running, we could do a race together one of these days.  We did a 5K in Feb., the Peachtree in July, and we are soon to register for the Hot Chocolate 15K in January. :)
• Charmaine and Jason, Emily and Robert, who did the Rock n Roll Marathon last year in NOLA, who put the bug in my head about maybe doing one myself one day...
• Andrea Marcel, who started running around when I did, and who kept me motivated and gave us yet another thing to talk about and keep in touch about.   
• All my other new friends I have met through running who motivate me daily.
• And then a few that might not seem so obvious:
• I only met him once, and only in passing, and I am surrounded by his presence daily at Kennesaw Charter.  Jay Ingram was a friend to many, and he was a runner, and his spirit has been a spot of motivation on long runs, as I know how much he loved to run and the thought of how many miles he would have tallied.  
• My cousin, Aimee, who never was able to run and who fought for every day of normalcy.  I run in her honor, and the pain in my feet is nothing compared to what she contended with her entire life.  We miss you, Aim.

Also, through my awesome playlists, I run with several memories as songs pop into my ears. 

• My fireside posse was hangin with me during DJ Trashy's Close My Eyes at mile 9 today.
• Maw J was with me for Gloria's 'Conga" and Tom Jones' "Kiss".
• Andrea, "Breakin Dishes"
• Godsmack crew of 2000 during "Bad Religion"
• Brian and Tay= Disturbed's "Criminal"
• Blind Melon fanatics during "Galaxie"
• My Sis, Chrissy, during the Foos' "Monkey Wrench" and green Day's "Peacemaker"
• Any Paramore song brings me back to Tay's 8th grade year, as does Avril Lavigne
• My DMB buddy Brad was with me for "Shake Me Like a Monkey"
• Donnelly from KCSMA was there for "Rush" from Big Audio Dynamite
• Darude's "Sandstorm" made me think of Autie at the North Cobb games

Whew. ok.. all my thoughts are out... If you read this far, thanks for determination to make it to the end!

Puzzle Time

Autumn Ivy, 2 years, 1month, with her awesome Ernie Rubber Ducky puzzle from the mid 70's that I bought at a consignment store.

Rantings

If you know me, you know I am not one to get disturbed by much, really and truly.   WELL, I can honestly say this sincerely bothers me:  the "Digital Copy" 'commercial' at the beginning of Disney movies lately.  Yeah, great idea... till the little 8 year old (ish) looking boy says "I can even download them on my iPOD and watch them ANYWHERE!:
"at the beach"- whoa, partner!  at the BEACH???  really?  unless you live on the beach and it's that boring because you see it all the time, well I can't even imagine saying that!  why in the heck would you be watching a movie on the BEACH????

"hanging out with friends"... yeah that's the part right there..are we really influencing the kids of today that it is so dreadfully boring to just sit around and have a conversation that we have to all be watching movies on our mobile devices in order to not be bored to tears????  Yeah, so the scene is of 4 friends around a table, all staring at their handhelds, watching..whatever.

You know me, all for the technology but dang it, not like this.  Every time we watch a movie with that commercial on it, I ALWAYS make a boisterous disagreement with the thing, very sarcastic, etc.  And if you know me, well, yeah, that fits.

I am truly a digital immigrant who hopes to forever be as close to a digital native as I can be, but with these thoughts I am thinking maybe that will never be... but then again, my kids are digital natives and I want them to always value face-to-face conversation over staring at a screen.. maybe not ALL of the time, because I truly believe some conversations can better progress through digital means... There is a balance.

Father's Day 2012

EDIT:  Have to add in here that Taylor, Camryn and Lauryn woke up at 6 to make Father's Day breakfast.

Taylor and Lauryn, bringin home the bacon, fryin it up in a pan

(Camryn was busy creating decorations and her biscuits were baking.)

On to the rest of the day:
I hate that I have no pictures from yesterday, because we all had a fun time, even with the tremendous crowds.  We decided to FINALLY take the girls to White Water, which they were extremely excited about.  Camryn, Taylor, and Lauryn planned their attack on the slides, and all agreed they would ride "Cliffhanger", which was the first slide of the day and Todd went with them.

Autie and I were standing there when they each came down, and I can't believe I didn't hear Lauryn scream!  I don't think she had time to!  

While the big girls and Todd were waiting in line, Autie and I checked out all of the kiddee areas.

This was cute.. a lot of water spraying everywhere which Autumn is not too crazy about.  She was ok with it once I was carrying her and splashing through it.  We headed over to the next kid-friendly area.

This part was a lot more fun.. although she wanted nothing to do with the house part in the center with all of the water falling unexpectedly.  (She has never been one for liking water poured over her head, and now she only likes it if SHE is the one doing it.)  There were three regular looking water slides that moved real slow in this part, and she loved em all, when sitting on our lap. 

So we headed, Autie and I, to the next upgrade of kid areas called the Treehouse.  This spot had some kid slides that moved a little faster, which she would have LOVED I have no doubt if it weren't for the fact that the entire structure had water shooting out, spraying, or falling out of some part of it at all times.  This is the part with a huge 500-gallon bucket that fills up and spills every couple of minutes.  This bucket was a love-hate part of the day for Autie.  She could sit and watch it from a distance where it didn't splash on her all day, I think, but don't get her anywhere near the fall out!  Therefore, we never could get to any of these slides, no matter how fast we'd try to run through all of the water as Autumn was kicking and flailing her limbs to get away from the splashing water and the freakiness. :)

So Daddy took over with Autie for a bit.. well a GOOD LONG bit as it took FOREVER to get through the line to ride The Tornado with the big girls.

Well worth the wait.. all four of us on a raft.  Doesn't look like much but the first drop out of the chute and up the side of this thing... I am sure the people waiting in line were laughing at the insane look of fear on my face as the centripetal forces took over the raft and therefore, all of our bodies.  Fun stuff...

The girls rode Run Away River together 

while Autie played for awhile with Me and Todd and then took a MUCH NEEDED power nap.

Then the girls and dad rode Dragon Tail

while me and Autie discovered her love of the Lazy River, where the water pushes you along.

I traveled the whole loop squatted down so she could "swim", and she was happy as can be the whole 6 or 7 lengths we traveled during various parts of the rest of the day.

The Dad/girl foursome rode Black River Falls= more Lazy River fun for Autie plus ice cream time.

As it began to grow late, we decided to try Bahama Bob with Autie, as all of us fit in one raft, and she was BASICALLY tall enough to ride.  (Doctor appointment had said Thursday she was 35+" and the limit for the ride was 36".)

 

So you ride in a raft side by side, which Autie sat on Todd, and barrel down this white slide, which looked calm enough from the outside.  And it really was, but it went a bit faster than I was expecting and Autie had a look on her face like, well, like she might not trust us again the next time we try to get in anything in water that is different!

The girls had plans of riding more, but it was 7 and the park was closing.  The chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot was calling our names; It was a fun day, and our toes were tired!

Fridays aren't supposed to be crappy!

DISCLAIMER:  If 'poop talk' makes you squeamish or you think it's gross and shouldn't be discussed, do not read any further!!!

OK, if you're still with me, then you are like me and a funny story about bodily functions grabs your attention and lightens your world a little bit with humor.  So here we go with my latest escapades with a potty-trained almost-2-year-old.

Autie and I had a great morning, and then lunch at Panera Bread, followed by a quick hop into Rue 21 for an Easter present for Camryn, and a glance at shoes in Famous Footwear due to $15 off coupons I had been saving.  So probably an hour or so later, we head back to the van before running into Target for a few groceries, and lo and behold, I can't find my keys.  Yep, a glance in the window confirms that somehow, they never made it into my purse and are sitting there on the van seat.  (Yes Janice, I know.. I should have had an extra key made...)

I call Todd twice.  (Usually one call from me during the day and he assumes it is a 'butt call' because I never call him on his phone, always text.  Two calls usually means I need to talk to him.)  No answer.  OK... so I text him... no answer.. must be in a meeting, I think.  Hmmmm....

So I text Taylor, since she is the only one with a Momma and Autie transport device and a key to the house.  She calls, says she will check out... which I have to ok 10 minutes later with the office at school... and come and get me.

Now all we need is a car seat for Autie, since her's is strapped in the locked van.  Oh well, I think, either I will bring it back tonight when we come back for the van, OR I will just keep it if it's not too expensive because we really need two of them.

We enter Target, and Autie tells me she's got to potty.  No problem.  YEA!  She poops... better out than in, I always say.  We wipe, wash hands, on to business.

We scoop up a handful of things we need (forgetting coffee for in the morning as we are out.. DAMN ME IF I FORGET LATER TO GET COFFEE!!!)<-hoping this helps me remember!
And I must also scoop up Autie and place her on my hip so we can get our butts through the checkout and outside to wait for Tay.

So there I stand, waiting to enter my PIN on the debit card machine, when... I smell poop.
Now, I know she had pooped in the potty, and it was a pretty massive amount for a little body, so I'm thinking MAYBE I didn't wipe as good as I thought?  Surely whatever is left is residual...

Autie stays on the hip (amen I had the sense to know she wouldn't want to get in the buggy and left her on the hip) and we head to the door.  As we exit, I switch hips, and lordy me...
on my white t shirt are skid marks... (let me say Autie had on a skirt with the little pants underneath today).  Obviously what I thought was just a butt crack smell is much more (yes, Miss Brandee, Autie and I were both smelling "Buttish!"), and I've already switched hips.. So once I get out of the door and away from the pedestrian traffic entering the store, I put Autie on the sidewalk and look down.  YEP... my other hip is just as nasty.  I proceed to look on her thighs, in the back of her skirt and there it is... the mess that I squished upon putting her on my hip, which went through the pant legs of the skirt and was threatening to go up her back.

And let me remind you I am locked out of my van, have no wipes, no extra clothes, and am waiting waiting for Taylor...
with a carseat I intend to return, possible...
with a kid with poop everywhere..
and with myself, equally full of crap, literally because dammit, I can't make this stuff up.

Autie plays in the puddles.. i think, hey at least it quit raining.. and we are both smiling.
Tay drives up and I send her inside for wipes, cuz there is no wiping this off with the napkins from Panera Bread nor the 18 rolls of Charmin I just bought.
we need clean wetness.. maybe I could have dipped her in a puddle?  Didn't think of that...

Taylor comes back out with the wipes, and I proceed to the back of her car with a Target bag for reinforcement to lay her on (lord help us if poop gets into the carpet of Tay's trunk), the wipes, a Target bag for disposal and catching of poopy clothes.. and I proceed to clean my sweet baby girl as best I can and as quickly as I can before my back breaks from being bent over.
So I am trying to meld into the trunk and be inconspicuous, when I hear the squeaky wheels of a buggy approaching.  "please don't talk to me.. or better yet, please don't look this way".. knowing that the poop undoubtedly is showing through my rolled up white t shirt, and hoping my daughter's poopy butt isn't pointed her way.

The woman.. YES!.. proceeds to talk to me.
How does Taylor say that "There goes Momma.. talking to random strangers again."
(Maybe this will make me think twice about talking to 'random strangers'.. maybe they don't want to have a conversation with me while cleaning up a serious mess.)

The lady says "Well that's an interesting use of a trunk."
I say "Well, whatever works sometime, right?"
(not enough for her, evidentally)

She says, "Yeah, when my kids were little, that's why I always had a big station wagon."
I look and smile and say "That was a good idea." (I think that's what I said.. please tell me I didn't say "Can we just not talk right now??")

She finally gets in and drives away, I finish with Autie and put her clean new pair of Elmo panties on (at least we had bought THAT while in Target), put her in the car seat (which is new and I had to figure out how to adjust to fit her.. sheese) and I get in and we drive off, in poor Taylor's car, who gets grossed out by bodily functions of any kind lately.  Oh well, yet another one of those days we both won't forget.

OH and I have to add this.. almost forgot.. I get home to wash all of this nastiness and, whatdayah know?  The fancy washing machine that the home owners left in this house has a setting on "Stain Inspectors"  for "Personal Stains" and THEN a LIST! of which "feces" is one!  LMAO!

And for a refresher on the last time this happened to us, ironically also when I locked the keys in the van, read this: Wanna Hear About My Crappy Morning?

Path to a HALF- first entry of my running journal

    So on Sunday I made a decision that I would have never in a million years thought about doing prior to a few weeks ago:  I registered for a half marathon which will take place on 10/7/12 in ATL.  The road to this decision probably began when my buddy Tara ran her first half last March, and then when my Stoufflet friends ran the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in New Orleans last March as well.  But I never imagined I would actually WANT to run that far... 5K was enough, right?  And so I began running again after Christmas, seriously, to get ready for the Cupid's Chase 5K in February with Taylor.  Hills and all, it seemed to be hard.  But the next day was Sunday, and I found myself running AGAIN, for another 3+ miles.  My awesome Endomondo app on my Droid uploads my runs to Facebook, cuz where would I be without encouragement from my friends?!?  A friend of mine, Stephen, asked if I was training for the Peachtree Road Race, a thought I hadn't really contemplated since the damn thing is in JULY in the dead heat of summer, and I know I am not a summer runner.  So, what the heck, my buddy Callie said she wanted to do the Peachtree, so I asked Tay if she would, and now we have 10 people awaiting this Thursday to be able to register and hopefully get in together as a group for the 7/4/12 run 10K run.

    Alright, so now my goal is 6.2- another distance I thought would surely take me awhile to reach.  Well, one Sunday while running early in the morning, with no worries about kids or house since Todd was home to hold down the fort, I just kept running.  My goal was 4 miles that day, but then a really good song popped up on my random mix ("Walk" by Pantera I believe.. thanks Miss Pam and Keith for the suggestion!) and so I kept on.. and then "Perfect Insanity" by Disturbed played right around mile 5 (thanks Brian) and so I kept on, and then I said "I wonder if could make it to 6 miles" and so many steps later and some really good tunes, I made it to 6 miles and some change~!  So awesome to know that I can run a 10K.. although "Cardiac Hill" and the heat and humidity of the Peachtree (if we get in) will prove to test that.

    So fast forward to this Sunday, time change and all, I hit the pavement at 6:30 AM... cool clear day, quiet... my mantra kicked in throughout the run.. "Carpe Diem" I kept saying to myself.  A possibly overused and cheesy selection for a running mantra, but it popped into my head one day while running- influenced by a recent viewing of The Dead Poet's Society no doubt.  These moment of quietness and alone time do not come frequently.. seize them and milk them for all they are worth...  So, without the aid of my mile tracking on Endomondo (something was up with the audio coaching)  I only knew when I had reached the set goal of 4 miles (which I knew I would keep going).  I was no where near home when I hit the goal, which is great and easy to keep going.  Which I did.. and I hit 7 miles!  And through those last 3, with the pictures of victorious friends from the NOLA Rock n Roll 1/2 still in my head from the week before, I told myself that I need to find a half marathon to run sooner than Feb 2013.

    So home I went, to a glass of chocolate milk and an "ice" bath (my butt has not been that cold in a long time!  I think since I swam in the Pacific Summer of 99), I searched for a 1/2 and found one on 10/7/12.. my Lola's 10th birthday.  I would love for her to be on the sidelines cheering me on when I cross it that day.. race time is 7 AM so we will see, plus it's her birthday and whatever she wants to do...

    SO, Carpe Diem indeed... I am signed up and there is no turning back!   So begins my journey to chase my first Half Marathon medal

3.1 miles this morning

Jimmy Fallon - TEBOWIE by jakefogelnest

Jimmy Fallon - TEBOWIE by jakefogelnest