Saturday, March 22, 2014

Summarizes Spring Break 2014


To end the official spring break week, the kids and I went to Iowa to visit my parents last Thursday for what was to be a day visit. The weather was nice, in the 60s. The kids and I checked out the latest updates to my parents house, ate lunch, then went into town to play at the park. While the kids played, I ran the trail with their dog, Kota.

Kota was out of shape! I was tugging at the dog to finish our 5 mile run. It is a pretty trail to run on though (although I could see it getting really hot in the summer). After the run (and giving Kota much of my water), my Dad and I played a few games of horse while the kids played. My Dad rarely missed and I rarely made it. Pretty typical, but it was fun.

After getting back to the farm, Addison and Asher went on farm adventures looking for treasure at my parents' old pig pen. So funny. I never went there as a kid (but there were pigs there!  Yuck!). Alivia chilled inside. I also checked out my parents new shower with 5 shower heads! It was insane!

When it came time to go home, nobody wanted to leave. So, the kids stayed the night while I went home, arriving home to an empty house (Chris went out with his Dad and brother). Pretty quiet.

Friday while the kids stayed in Iowa, I went on my 18 mile run. It was really windy, but my knee held up. I forgot my water bottle. Let's just say, you don't want to ever do that. Luckily, Walnut Creek had turned on their water and I drank from their water fountain at about mile 15. I was so thirsty!

The kids came home Friday afternoon after a day of shopping and eating out with Grandma and Grandpa. They had a blast. It is always nice for them to spend that special time with their Grandparents. They (and we) are lucky they have them.

They had Monday off, too, so we hit the zoo. It was colder than expected and insanely busy, so we didn't stay long. It was sad to send them back to school Tuesday morning. We had a fun break. But, reality had to return sooner or later.

They get a couple a days off around Easter. That will be here before we know it.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Lent 2014

So this post is late. Better late than never.

What did everyone give up for Lent? I have a friend who gave up sweets. Um, crazy! I gave up chocolate one year and thought even Jesus would think that was nuts. :)

Seriously, I stuck to my tradition and gave up facebook. Funny. I like it. I mean, I like not being on facebook. I don't miss it. I find it a relief. Yes, I'm out of touch, yes, I miss coupons, deals and school activities. But I don't miss gloating, bragging, endless baby pictures and selfies. Really, your kids are adorable but they are filling up my news feed. And, your mug is handsome and all but it would be better if I did not see it with a caption of, "am I the hottest man alive or what?!" I mean really, gag me.

So, I didn't delete you as a friend (although it may look that way if you noticed I was gone. And, how sweet or you to notice. :)). I am getting more real life things done, like play Uno with my kids, annoy my husband, or work on redoing Alivia's room for her upcoming 10th birthday.

If I'm lucky, I won't log back into facebook. I don't think I would miss it.

Skating Day!

Last night Addison had a sleepover at our home with her friend Kaitlyn. What better way to keep the fun going than to go skating in the afternoon with them! Alivia met up with her friend Katy and our neighbor Lizzy came along.

We arrived at open skate at 12:15. It was not too busy, thankfully. I even skated, too, holding hands with Addison and then going and tugging Alivia and her friends. Asher wouldn't dare hold my hand in public. :( It was fun. Chris ordered me my own roller blades, and I was so hoping they would arrive in time. Guess I'll wear them next time.

After a couple hours of skating, the kids came home and rushed off to play dates, Addi and Asher went to Kaitlyn and Will's house while Alivia crossed the street to Lizzy's. I looked around, free for an hour and a half, and ran to get groceries! Yah, what fun!

Another day gone. Spring break has been so fun. I hate to see it winding down. I feel so lucky to be home with my kids. So very lucky.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The Lego Movie Review

Spring Break Day 2 brought cloudy, windy skies (followed by some rain currently) and cooler temperatures. What a great day to catch a movie! So, we went to the local movies where they were having $5 Tuesdays with Free POPCORN! What a deal!

We checked in and selected our sticky seat. :) Just FYI, our theater at least, does not allow for sling sports bags. The guy totally checked my bag (luckily missing my water bottle inside). Seriously, he gave me the 5th degree. It was not as big as some handbags! Good to know for my next visit in a year to the movies. Just saying.

Anyway, back to the movie. The previews came on...without sound. It was actually kinda nice, peaceful in fact. They remembered to turn on the sound just before the feature presentation luckily.

The Lego Movie was okay. It kept the kids' attention. It did not keep my attention as well as lets say Frozen did, but that goes without saying. The kids loved it, and I guess that is what is important. My opinion does not matter too much.

After the movies, the kids all went to neighbors' homes to play. It was pretty weird having them all out of the house! I took Addison to piano, we ate dinner, and then Addison's sleepover guest arrived. It seems as if we have a sleepover every other night (Alivia just had one Sunday night at our home). I guess it is good the kids like to stay home with friends, at least for now we are fun.

What will tomorrow bring? The question is, will I have any energy to entertain tomorrow? We shall see.



Springing into the Forest


Monday we kicked off spring break 2014. We pondered going to the Lake (aka Lake of the Ozarks) with my parents, but I did not have a plan as to what we would do there. So the kids opted to stay here.

Day one: The forest. It was a beautiful, dare I say, SPRING, day in the mid 70s! The first NICE day of the year! What a perfect way to kick off spring break. We went to the forest, played on the indoor playset, had an outdoor picnic, walked the boardwalk seeing cardinals and deer on our walk, and then played at the acorn acres.

After all the nice fresh air, we met up with friends at the Ralston park. Alivia played with her friend Katy while Addi and Asher played with their friends Kaitlyn and Will. It was so nice we stayed for at least 2 hours!

Back at home, we ate dinner before taking Pippa on her first walk of the year. It was beautiful! Wish it could have continued, but we live in Nebraska.

Day one down...and what a fun day it was!




Basketball Boy

From January through last weekend, Asher has been playing basketball through our local YMCA. His Coach, Coach Matt, was amazing. He had amazing energy and knew the game. Asher learned the basics of the game, since he had never played. Asher remains timid and was the shortest on nearly every team they played against (as well as his own team), but he loved it and did okay. He is already talking about playing next year and wants a big basketball hoop for the driveway.

Here's to keeping active!


Monday, March 10, 2014

Up to 17 miles!

I was not sure what I was going to do for a long run yesterday with my knee the way it was. I was down for 17 miles according to my training. When I saw the weather, I decided to go for it. Saturday night I got onto MapMyRun and found a good 17 mile run from my house. Gees, that seems so far! Anyway, if you are on MapMyRun, let me know. It was a great find through our neighborhood nextdoor. I took some ibuprofen before I went running, loaded up my water bottle and my cliff chews and set out.

I ran from our home to walnut creek, running around the far side of the lake around to turn off behind Jenson tire. There is a tunnel, a long creepy tunnel, that takes the trail under highway 370, connecting up along 96th street on the other side. I ran down the hill, under 96th and headed East towards Halleck park in papillion. I ran past the park until my watch said 8.5 miles, then turned around and ran the same trail back.  Total 17.1 miles.

I liked the trail. Seemed peaceful. I don't like running around zorinsky so many times, so this offered a good balance. The papio trail was busy with bikers. I only saw one runner. The winds were a major challenge, up to 25 mph (although they seemed higher), mostly at my sides and face and a little at my back (not complaining about my back though).

My knee was okay until mile 11 when it started going out a bit. I walked a bit and continued on. I ran out of water (I didn't fill my bottle) and my blood sugar dropped about mile 12. I got home and immediately ate an apple and a larabar and drank a bottle of water. Last week after running 9 miles one day, my blood sugar dropped and I didn't eat quick enough after running, selecting to shower and prepare dinner first. By the time I ate dinner,my body refused it. It was not pretty. And, I had to go to work afterwards! Ugh.

Yesterday, I felt nauseous most of the rest of the day. I spent the evening trying to do as little as possible so I would not get sick, drinking as much as possible after dinner. It worked, but barely. I think I need to eat more chews due on my run. I'll try that next week.

So, next week is 18 miles. I hope to select a nice weather day and run the same run, just running a half mile farther before turning back. And, I'll stick to premedicating. As for this week, I think I'll cross train every day but maybe get one longer run in during the mid week. We will see. My knee is so stiff today.

Moving forward...

Saturday, March 08, 2014

My Decision

After a few job interviews and two offers, I accepted a job with a local float pool as a nurse. I will be traveling between hospitals in the Omaha area. I still don't get benefits but the pay is better and I can pick the hours I work (so I don't have to work holidays!). For the next two months, I will be working a lot of hours while I orient. In June, if not sooner, I will only be required to work 24 hours a month. I will work more than that during the year and about that during the summer months. I'm hoping this job will provide a good balance without the stress of my previous position. With that said, I have stayed on as a on call nurse at my old job as back up. I picked up one more shift there before I start orientation at my new job.

Getting a new job is scary. I can not see why Chris dragged his feet for so long. Ready or not, here I come!

Friday, March 07, 2014

Asher & Me Day


Today Asher had school off due to kindergarten round up for next year's kiddos. So, we had a Mommy and Asher Date day all day!

I forgot how much energy Asher has. He can go and go and go and go. He is like a little energizer bunny. We went out to the Nebraska Crossing outlet malls. I was impressed. Very nice stores but the set up is weird. It is nice to have so many options close to home. I was wishing I would have checked it out alone though. I wanted Asher to select a gift for Chris for his birthday next month. He ran all over, asking if it was lunch starting at 10. :) Typical boy in that he does not like to shop, but he does like to buy stuff for himself.

After shopping, we used a Groupon I had to Orange Leaf Yogurt. Asher and I used to go there all the time when he was at home with me. Yummy.

We did a little more shopping at Dick's Sporting Goods where Asher insisted on working out on the elliptical, boxing with the bags, and running on the treadmills. Where does this boy get all of his energy?!?!

Back at home, his friend Henry came over to play. They jumped on the bouncer, played air hockey and now have cars spread out all over the entry way. Boys...I tell you. I can never keep up with them. :)

It was fun to have him at home for the day. Next week I get all the kids at home for their spring break. I wonder if I will think that is fun, too. :) Let's hope so...


Down on my Knee

So, I took a few days off of running due to cold and injury.

It didn't help. My knee is still a mess. UGH.

So, I googled runner's knee. That's what I have. Great. Now what? It says to do strengthening exercises. I ALREADY DO THEM!

I am thinking of cross training with maybe a couple light running days during the week and try to pull of my long runs on weekends. I just don't know. At this point, I probably really need to rest it and back off the running. If the weather permits, I plan on running 17 miles on Sunday after having Saturday completely off ( and today I cross trained). I can only hope I can pull this off. If I can't, I will take a complete week off and try to pull off another long run next weeekend and see if rest helped at all. ??? I am not a doctor (not even close) and I am not one for rest. But, I am crying through my runs, and a swear work may come out uncontrollably with the last few miles. Just saying...it is brutal.

What was I thinking? My Dad always said make lofty goals, but this marathon goal is killing me.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Not a big fan of my birthday. In spite of that, another one happened to me yesterday.

After last year, Chris believed he had some making up to do (okay, he did. A napkin holder for my birthday is something he will not live down for a while. :) ).

I worked my last official night at UNMC the night before and arrived home to this...
Decorated Kitchen (Alivia's Idea), with a little cake and balloons!
What a way to come home. I thought it was very sweet. I walked right through it and went to bed.

I woke up in three hours to pull off 8 brutal miles (my knee is a mess). I quickly showered and went to get the kiddos at school. They were super excited to see me and to see what I thought of my morning surprise. I loved it!

We met Chris for dinner at Zios Pizza in Omaha at 5. Traffic was a mess getting there, but Chris had a nice spot and a pizza ordered and waiting by the time we got there. It was really good as usual, too. Dessert of birthday cake and a little wish followed at home. My presents...a running skort and sports bra that will be arriving in a couple days. I can't wait for the weather to be nice enough to wear them!

After 3 hours of sleep, I could not wait to end my birthday and just go to sleep. :) Chris worked and I slept. A perfect way to end my birthday. :) Until next year...God willing.




Wednesday, March 05, 2014

February 2014 in Review

February 2014 and its cold temperatures are behind us! For a short month, we fit a lot into it. The kids had sleepovers at our home (and away), met friends at Mahoney, celebrated Valentine's Day and Addison had her school concert (and was really shy!). Again, I was lucky to get lunch dates with the kids and another day with Chris! I ended the month by accepting a new job in a float pool...so bring on a lot of hours of orientation through May. Yikes! I hope I am ready! Now...let's wait right here for spring. :)

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