Let The Streaking Begin!

I am so excited for the holiday season that we decided to start all of our December streaks early, why wait for the 1st. Our elf, Edward, showed up yesterday and we started reading Christmas books every night already too. Mini me and I handed up 3 candy canes to strangers today and brought canned goods, tissues, and hand sanitizer to her classroom.

This is Edward, he reports good or bad behavior to the man in red

I got my 7 servings of fruit and veggies in yesterday (serving of craisins, apple, 20 baby carrots, a whole English cucumber, salad for dinner - spinach, pea pods, baby carrots, craisins). I also started my running streak today. It was just a short, slowish, 30 minute run for 2.6 miles, but it was something and it felt really good. Tomorrow will be my long run, a new longest at 11.5 miles, I'm going to do it while all of the girls are at school so I don't have to try to get it in during the weekend. It's been super cold and foggy so it will probably suck a little bit, but it needs to get done and I'm excited to have a new long!
I need to remember to report all of my points earned for the HBBC here every day, which means I'll probably have a blogging streak going on too.  
Tonight is dance, so we'll sit at the dance studio and freeze in the waiting area for and hour and a half, but the girls have so much fun that I can't be upset, they're warm in the dance rooms. We are having pasta for dinner, YUM, with some homemade sauce and peas (because I have to have peas with my pasta, I prefer the peas to the pasta).
Have a great December everyone, I'll be back tomorrow to report how the long run goes.

Question of the day - What's your favorite Christmas song?This is a tough one for me because I love Christmas music, but if I had to pick one song I'd go with Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives, it makes me smile every time! Here's a true confession, I bought the Justin Bieber Christmas album (for me, not the girls) the other day and I love it!

Planning for a December to Remember

I really love Christmas, the whole season and the reason behind it. So, I'm trying really hard to be mindful of what I am doing this season and be more loving, thankful and giving in December (and from here on out). To kick off the holidays we decorated the Christmas tree today, it was a lot of fun. Then we watched Christmas specials and read The Elf on the Shelf. Tonight our elf Edward will come back to watch the girls until Christmas and help make sure they are behaving appropriately.

I've been working on our RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness) list and I think I'm ready! We are also going to be in our town Christmas parade on the 1st, I'm really excited because it always puts me in the holiday spirit.

I've also been trying to figure out what my workout/health/fitness goals for December are, I think I've finally got it straight.

December Goals-
1. Streak - Run/walk at least one mile every day of the month
2. Do my leg lifts and crunches every night while watching tv
3. No mindless snacking, at work or at night while watching tv
4. Drink my 8-10 cups of water each day
5. Get my 7 servings of fruit/veggies each day

This is a big list for me since it's a busy month, but these are all things I used to do so I KNOW I can and should do them again.

Question of the day - What are your goals for December?

Feeling Old

What is the reason I'm feeling old you may ask? Mini me is 5 today! How can my little girl be 5!? It's so crazy! I can remember the Thanksgiving I was pregnant and waiting for her to come and now she's in kindergarten. I miss her being tiny, but I love the girl she has grown into, she's amazingly smart and funny and just such a mini me (the sarcastic part of her).

I am feeling ok today, I think the cold is almost gone, it just keeps lingering, I want it gone!! I didn't exercise today. I plan to get up and run in the morning, I just have to will myself out of my nice warm bed at the crack of pre-dawn! We got most of the Christmas decorations out today and got the tree up so that we can decorate it with the girls tomorrow, I love that!!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, I'm ready for my weekend! I am planning to wrap the presents I already have while the girls are at school. I think I may try to do my long run (11.5 miles!!!) on Thursday while they are at school too, that way I don't have to try to make time for it on Saturday since I work.

Question of the day - What do you want for Christmas?
I want running gear and goodies. I'd also love Amazon gift cards so I can buy books for my kindle!!

Sick and Turkey Trot Deux

So I gave in and stayed home sick today. I really feel like crap, sore throat, stuffy head, cough, etc. But of course as soon as I called in to work I couldn't go back to sleep. And once I was up I couldn't be lazy, no matter how hard I tried!! So, sick hubs and I cleaned the kitchen cabinets out, he cleaned the garage, I straightened things in the girls rooms, vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the guinea pig cage, bathed the dog, and put away the fall decorations. Then I decided to be really crazy and the 4 mile Turkey Trot I signed up for on the Redonkulous Runner's blog. I felt pretty great after!

My treadmill readout when I was done, the time was 43 minutes

With my bib

And finally showing off my shirt from my run on Thanksgiving (love it!)

I still feel nasty sick, but I feel healthier. I made soup and that's what I ate for lunch and dinner, warm and yummy! After I showered I started addressing Christmas cards and trying to work on the list of activities for our RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness), but I gave up and am blogging and watching a crappy horror movie instead.

Thanksgiving and Turkey Trot PR Recap

I survived Thanksgiving! It was a long and great couple of days! We headed to my parents and had dinner. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have eaten a tamale, rice and beans the night before a race. My tummy didn't feel right all night after or when I woke up yesterday morning. After that mini me opened her birthday presents and loved them!

I love how crazed she looks here!!

Then we sang and had cake

This picture makes me so happy, I love my mini me!

Then we played with her presents and got the girls ready for bed. Since they were all sleeping in the same room, with the two little ones sharing a bed, sleep was a long time in coming! We watched Insidious while waiting for the girls to go to sleep and I ended up awake until after 11 (which is late for me on any day!). Then my parents grandfather clock makes noise every 15 minutes and their dog ran around the house all night, not a good night's sleep!

I got up at 5:50 and got dressed, then hubs and the girls all got up and dressed before I left at 6:50. I got to the race and got registered and FROZE while waiting.

SO COLD!!!

The whole family came and gave me hugs and kisses before the race.

Me and my girls pre-race

This race was different than any I've run, I've only done small races thus far and this was big (to me) with over 1,600 runners and at least 1,000 walkers. The walkers and runners had different routes, we went opposite ways down the same street. There were tons of people with strollers and dogs, I saw at least 100 dogs (although hubs says there were only about 25...) They were registering walk ins until right at 8, which meant they were starting late, and then someone sang the National Anthem and she said "let the race begin," which I think we all assumed meant runners go to your area and walkers go to your area. My friend and I started moving to the runners area and trying to get in front of all the people with dogs and strollers. Then I heard cheering up by the start line and people were running!! Thank goodness it was chip timed so it didn't matter that I didn't get through for quite a while. Then I had to run through people for the first half mile(ish), I don't know how far it was because I was so thrown off by the non-start that I forgot to start my Garmin (boy was I dumb!!). So I was running without any idea of how fast I was going or how far. There were no markings along the way either!! I had wanted to finish in 27 minutes or less, but was a bit thrown off by the naked running so I just went with it. In hindsight I definitely could (and should) have pushed a lot harder. I turned the last corner and saw my parents and the girls, I waved at them and was so thrilled! I saw hubs right past the finish line, but he didn't see me!! So no finish pictures from him, oh well! I didn't end up under 27, but finished in 27:52, which I'll call a win since it was less than 28! It's also a PR since my only other 5K was 29 minutes.

The girls waiting for me

After the race we went back to my parents house.

I forgot to take a pic with my Thanksgiving 5K bib until after I showered

Lots of cooking was done. Then lots of eating was done.

Me and my biggest girlie while cooking

We rode bikes around the neighborhood for a bit, all the little girls don't know how to ride without training wheels yet and the bikes at my parents don't have them, so riding consisted of a lot of us holding the bikes while running beside them, quite the workout.

All of us

We headed back home and dropped the girls with the other parents and went to see Breaking Dawn. I enjoyed it, but started feeling crappy about halfway through. By the time the movie ended hubs and I both felt yucky so we headed home where I promptly fell asleep while watching a movie and went right to bed after. I still feel craptacular today, I just keep fighting this ickiness off, but have yet to get rid of it fully. The plan is to go to bed early and hopefully feel better tomorrow...

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Question of the day - Did you do a Turkey Trot? How'd you do?



Wednesday Whine

I'm not really feeling whiny, I just felt the need for alliteration. It has been a busy week! The littlest princess was sick Saturday night, she coughed all night and even coughed so hard she threw up once. So Sunday at work was very long. I ended up being a bum Monday and sleeping in and then did the same thing Tuesday. I have just been so tired and my throat was hurting so much yesterday that combined with PMS I was not into doing anything! Today I'm still feeling crappy, super sore throat and I was coughing this morning, but it's mostly gone. I had a ton to do today and got everything I could do so far done. I frosted the cake for mini me, since we're doing her birthday tonight. I went to mini me's awards ceremony at school, got envelopes for our Christmas cards, went to the library twice, got a Christmas gift for my gift exchange with some friends, packed our bags to go to my parents, started on our list of activities for RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness) and wrapped the last two gifts for mini me. I still need to bake pumpkin pie and do crafts with the girls, but that has to wait until hubs gets off work and we get to my parents.

I'm super excited about my Turkey Trot tomorrow, especially because the whole family is coming out to watch, it will be fun for all of us (I think...) Then lots more cooking. I love Thanksgiving and am excited to eat and hang out and watch the parade and do all that family fun stuff!!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving (or weekend if you're in Canada)!

Double Digit Run In The Can

Friday the two biggest girls had a recognition rally, they don't get actual awards for the first two trimesters, so I went to that in the morning and then braved the hair appointment. I did great, no crying! And she, my old stylist's daughter, did a great job on my hair. I went dark and I'm quite happy with it.

New fall 'do

My long run was scheduled for today and it was my first double digit run, EVER! I was a lazy bum and didn't get up and run before work so that meant I was going to have to run after work. I wasn't looking forward to it by the time it came around, I just wanted to be lazy, but I did it. I left home at 3:45 so it was still light out. I had used Map My Run to get a route down so I knew what I needed to do to get my 10 miles in. I felt okay while I was running, I just wanted to get it done for the first 5 miles, but after that something changed and I felt AMAZING! It was fully dark by the time I finished, I am not a huge fan of the super early sunset.

Couldn't get the screen with my mileage to come up so you get to

see my calories, best pace and time instead

That's right I did 10 miles in 1 hour and 48 minutes, that's a 10:48 pace. When I got home hubs was starving! So I took a quick shower and we went out for Mexican. I'm pooped now! Littlest miss is here and isn't feeling well, she's got a cough, so we're watching The Upside Down Show (quality Australian kids programming, I recommend it!) and getting ready to crash!

Hope every one's having a great weekend!

Question of the day - What are your Thanksgiving plans, for my American friends? Running?

Three Things Thursday

It's that time again, I don't know how it is already Thursday!!

1. I LOVE Starbucks!! My favorite cup was my limited edition Jonathan Adler hot cup and then a couple of weeks ago it cracked when I poured coffee into it, I was SOOO upset! Today I went to get a drink for me and hubs and bought a new cup. I love it!

2. I'm SO lazy lately! I can hardly force myself to get my workouts in, I don't get up to run before work either. I don't know what's wrong with me! I'm so lazy!! I need to snap out of it ASAP! And the lazier I get the more tired I feel so then it's even harder to get up in the morning. Vicious cycle!!

3. I finally made a hair appointment. I can't believe how sad I've been that my hair dresser died. I am such a spaz, I cried every time I tried until today. I have SO much gray hair (have since high school) and I have to get rid of it, I look so old with it there! I think that I'm going to make a change, we shall see tomorrow. I am having my hair done by my old hair dresser's daughter, I am sure I will cry tomorrow, but I'm glad I finally got over that first step.


I did a slow run yesterday after not running since Saturday, I'm just so lazy!! I was going to do sprints today, but I've yet to do it... I have 10 miles Saturday and then I'm going to try to get myself back in gear! I need to, I feel lazy and crazy when I don't work out! The girls have been great, we have awards assemblies and parent teacher conferences this week and next, so they're out early and I'm rushing around like a crazy person! I bought everything for what I'm cooking for Thanksgiving today - cranberries, green beans, pie crust (I've decided to be lazy on that too) and yams. I am very excited for Thanksgiving, I love it! Also, the whole family will be at the finish line for the Turkey Trot and that will be the first time for the girls. Hope every one's having a great week!

Virtual Thanksgiving 5K

Daily Vitamin F is doing another virtual run in her holiday series. I'm running on Thanksgiving already, but am thrilled to participate in her virtual run and share it with all of you! So, let's get our tail feathers shaking!

Veteran's Day 10K and The Parade That Came After

Going back in time to Wednesday, I spent the day volunteering in mini me's kindy class, grocery shopping, cooking and doing chores. Then the girls had dance in the evening. Thursday I went to our youngest's preschool class and took our guinea pig for a visit, then I finished my 4-H leader paperwork (I'm official now!), and went shopping! I was with my mom and it was a nice day. We had dance last night too and had yummy pasta (with my homemade sauce!) so I could carb load. We went to bed relatively early after having a mini Goosebumps marathon (one of our favorite shows). The at 1:30 I woke to a strange sound, one that was familiar but couldn't place, then I realized it was puking! Mini me was puking EVERYWHERE! Poor little poppet was a mess! I got her cleaned up and cleaned the floors, rugs and bed as best I could and threw her into my bed. She threw up, in a bucket, once more before falling asleep until my alarm went off at 5:45. I was nervous about leaving my sick baby, but was going to have to go to the parade an hour later either way so hubs sent me on my way.

Pre-race

I got to the race and it was perfect weather until about 10 minutes before and then it got windy and even rained a bit. But it cleared up and felt pretty great at race time. I went out too fast and had trouble slowing down because it felt great, for 2 miles, then I got a bit tired. But I'm happy to say I stayed under 10 minute miles (except for one short bout). Once I figure out how to connect the Garmin to the computer and download my stats I will. I pushed hard the last mile and really hard the last half mile, so hard in fact that I almost puked on the poor woman removing my tag (embarrassing!). My friend was waiting for me right outside the chute but I had to wave her off and walk for a minute. After that passed I was feeling no pain! I don't have the official time yet but my Garmin says it was 58:25. 

Feeling good

I had to book it about a half mile to our float and get into my costume.

I know I look good

It was a long ride and a lot of standing and I was very sore after!! I walked quite a ways back to my van and came home to a Teriyaki Chicken Bowl from Jack in the Box (YUM!), a nice bath and now we are watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 (I expect to cry again!). A very good day, minus the puking baby who is feeling much better now.

Tech (un)savvy Tuesday

I am quite annoyed with myself today, I STILL can't figure out how to respond to comments. Seriously, I have even gone as far as reading the blogger FAQ's. Very annoyed with my lack of tech savvy!!

So I'm home sick today (major mope!), I feel yucky! I've got a migraine, sore throat and upset tummy. Not sure what my deal is!! I have not be useless though!! I did sprints on the treadmill about a half hour ago in an attempt to use endorphins to rid myself of my headache, to no avail! I've also changed everyone's sheets to the yummy flannels for winter, I adore them!! I washed my comforter since someone (me) thought their clumsy self could drink coffee in bed, I couldn't! I also threw a chicken in the crock pot and vacuumed. I'm very industrious today!! I plan to do very little more today, besides be a mom when the girls get home from school.

I need to fill out the Team Refuel application to get on the list to try to win $$ for my race in January. I am a bad fundraiser!! I really hate asking for money and consequently I only have $300 of the $800 I need to raise. I need to get on it soon. I'm thinking of getting few things donated at having raffles, then I don't feel like I'm just asking for money!!

Question of the day - How would you fund raise if you were me?

Long Run DONE (again)

I did it! It felt great too! I am on a true runner's high right now!!

I'll back up to last night, we had pizza (I needed the carbs for the run this morning!) and played Just Dance 2. Then after I dropped the girls with their dad, hubs and I watched a silly horror movie, 9 Dead, and bagged up weights (fishing weights, he pours them and then they get sold at a local sporting goods store) and went to bed pretty early. Got up at 5:05 (hit snooze twice) and made hubs coffee and sandwiches for fishing. Hubs left and so did I. It was freaking COLD! Only 45 out. I was wearing my compression stockings, capris and a long sleeved shirt (my bamboo one with the thumb holes), I also had my ball cap on. I really needed some gloves, or I shouldn't have had my requisite ice cold water in my Nathan bottle, and a beanie so I could cover my ears. I felt great, I did a modified Galloway style I ran 9 and walked 1. I listened to Kevin and Bean the whole time (my favorite!) and laughed a lot! I messed up trying to light up my Garmin and reset my laps, stupid freak I don't know how to work my own Garmin!! But I ended up doing my route (that I mapped on Map My Run yesterday) in 1 hour and 28 minutes. Felt so amazing!!

Got Milk?

When I got home I threw milk in a pot to make hot cocoa, threw the glutamine in with it, and then I poured the ice in the tub. I wanted to give the ice bath a try so that hopefully my right quad won't kill. Got the cocoa ready and a cup of coffee and my book and jumped in the tub.

Stupid reflective zipper, it was hard to get a shot since I jumped in and was

FROZEN!!

So I braved my 20 minutes and then took a scalding hot shower! I feel great now, just hanging out in my compression stockings and catching up on DVR'd TV. Have to go to work later today, but first the littlest bit and I are going to buy a birthday present for mini me (after her mom drops her off) and then we're giving Miss Foofa (our doggie) a bath. Then my mom (yaya) is coming to watch little miss until hubs gets back from fishing (crossing fingers they win!) so I can work. Hope everyone is having a great Saturday.

Question of the day - How do you recover from long runs?



Friday Fly By

I'm just stopping in to drop off Halloween pictures, finally. I'll be back to report how the long run goes tomorrow.

The whole gang

Olivia the pig

Frankie Stein from Monster High

Pippi Longstocking

Miki from Shugo Chara

Sookie Stackhouse

The tooth fairy

And one more of us all because we're that cute!

Three Things Thursday

1. I'm a slacker! I tend to get lazy the colder it gets. I don't want to do anything, except sit on my butt (in the bathtub preferably) with coffee and a book. Because of my cool weather slacking I've had trouble making myself blog.

2. I'm stressing about Christmas presents already! I spent a half hour staring at toys in Walmart and then another hour staring at them at Target. I am really freaked out about getting the girls the right things, while staying within my budget. I bought a few stocking stuffers, but that's it. I have ideas about what to get them, but we will see what I end up buying.

3. I am very much looking forward to my 10K on Veteran's Day. I'm excited to kill it, to do way better than I did when I ran my first 10K on the 4th of July. I am not so much looking forward to the Veteran's Day parade RIGHT after the race. Since I have to be in it for work and I don't have time to get home and get clean in time for the parade I'll be rocking this during the parade

Won't I be adorable!?

I have Halloween pictures that my laziness has kept me from uploading, but I'll share one or two soon! We had a great night!

I got in 3 yesterday and really pushed myself and did it in 30 minutes, it felt great. I am excited for Saturday, I have 8.5 scheduled, my longest run to date. I think that I may have to brave the ice bath after because I think my quad will probably need it. Scary!!

Question of the day - Do you get lazy when it gets cooler out?