Tired

It's been a busy few days. Friday was an all-day field trip with my oldest daughter's 4th grade class (actually, ALL the 4th grade classes). We boarded 3 charter buses a little after 5:30 a.m. and hit the road by 6 a.m. We arrived at the historic city we were touring about 4 hours later! Then it was a long day of touring and walking, including climbing a lighthouse, before re-boarding the buses for the long ride home. We arrived home around midnight.

Thank goodness my mom was here visiting and could get my youngest to and from school and watch her for me!

Saturday morning found us packing quickly to get back on the road to meet my sister and her family 3 hours away. They had come down to visit the Mouse and we were going to get to visit for just the one night.

The next morning, Sunday, we made a last minute decision to enter the park with my sister's family for half a day before driving home. Mom had 3 tickets that would expire that day so only one child's ticket needed to be purchased. It was a nice time with the cousins, but it was warm and tiring, too! By the time, I finally pulled the plug, got my group out of the park and back to my car, it was around 5 p.m.! I still had to get gas and feed the troops before heading home. We managed to get home around 8 p.m. despite the torrential rains of the last hour of the drive.

Monday, the girls went back to school and Mom and I headed to our scheduled massages. How's that for good planning? As wonderful as the massage was(and it really was!), by the end of mine, my masseuse suggested that I soak in a hot bath with Epsom salts later that night as I was still "really tight." *sigh*

Negative Nellie

I started doing the Couch to 5K (C25K) program last fall. I stuck with it pretty faithfully. For awhile. Then life and the holidays got the better of me. In mid-November, we went to DisneyWorld for a week. The following week was Thanksgiving, with my sister and her family visiting us. Then there was Toys for Tots. Then the kids were off for their winter break and Stretch had two 96's (4-day weekends). All of this threw my routine completely out the window.

But the kids have now gone back to school and there are no more excuses. Stretch and I have a done a workout DVD in the evening a few times now. And I've tried to get back into running, this time outside (I'd always run on a treadmill in the fall due to the heat where we are). The runs did not go well. I walked at least half the time and wasn't going as far.

Today, I decided I needed to go back to the C25K program. I thought I'd go back to Week 4 but couldn't find it on my iPod. So I went with Day 1 of Week 5: 5 minutes of warm-up walking, 5 minutes of running, 3 minutes of brisk walking, 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running, and 5 minutes of cool-down walking. It kicked my behind! And that was only the first 5 minute run!

By the time I was on the last 5 minutes of running, Negative Nellie wasn't just whispering in my ear, she was shouting. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a runner. Maybe those extra pounds around my middle aren't really that bad. Maybe I'm not a runner. Maybe I just don't want to lose the weight/ get in shape badly enough. What made me think I would ever be a runner?!

But I did it. I didn't cheat. I ran when I was supposed to and didn't stop to walk until I was meant to. And maybe I'm not a "runner." Yet. But Negative Nellie needs to go away and Motivated Molly needs to come back!

*This is cross-posted at SpouseBuzz.

Inner dialogue

I'm on week 8 of the 9 week Couch to 5K Program. Today I was supposed to run for 28 minutes. Yeah. I was supposed to that on Monday, too, and it didn't go well. Not at all.
So this was today's inner dialogue while on the treadmill:

You can do this! You CAN!
Oh, my God! How much longer?! I can't do that !
Don't think about it! You can do this!
(about 10 minutes into the run) I really don't think I can make it. This hurts! Need to stop...
Don't stop! You can do this!
Maybe I'm just not meant to run that long!
Don't give up! Keep going!
Hmm.... maybe if I can just make it to 25 minutes. I've done that before. Yeah, I'll just run 25 minutes.
(I wasn't too sure I was going to make even the revised goal, until I put on a certain song a couple of minutes before the new goal) Okay, just make it to the end of this song. You can do that! Feeling better. You can do this!
(The song ended at the 26 minute mark) Yes! Hey, only 2 more minutes to 28. You can do 2 minutes! It's only 2 minutes. C'mon! You can do this!
(Check the time) Oh, thank God! Only a minute and a half! You've got this! You're almost there.
(As the 28 minutes ended) Yes! It's over!

The embarrassing thing is I may have muttered some of this out loud.

Later, I had a conversation with a good friend who told me about a similar dialogue she had with herself on her local track. When she told her husband about it, he seemed stunned and asked, "Do you really have these conversations with yourself?"

To which I can only answer, "Um, yeah. Gotta problem with that?"

Still on the bandwagon, er, treadmill...

I've never been athletic or even particularly active. Running is a totally foreign concept to me (as in "If no one is chasing me, why would I be running?!"). So, just the fact that I've taken up the Couch to 5K program is a huge step for me. I've been running on a treadmill because the one day I ran outside I wanted to die. It wasn't just the heat and humidity. I have no clue how to pace myself apparently. So the treadmill it is.

Now, factor in the fact that I'm not only married to a Marine, but one who is naturally quite lean without much effort on his part. I finished Day 1 of Week 4 on Monday. It involved running for 3 minutes, walking for 90 seconds, running for 5 minutes, walking for 2-1/2 minutes, and then doing it all again. The thought of running for 5 solid minutes terrified me. So when it came time to run for 5 minutes, I set the pace slightly slower than I did for the 3 minute run (very slightly). I wanted to be sure that I actually ran for the entire 5 minutes and didn't give up and slow to a walk prematurely.

I made it through the work out and told Stretch about it later. He told me not to slow it down too much, I needed to keep pushing. Sometimes, I hate being married to a Marine.

Today was Day 2 of Week 4. I kept the same pace for all the runs. It was at a roughly 13-minute mile pace. Which I know is probably super slow. Heck, I used to be able to WALK a 15-minute mile without a problem. (Okay, so that was over a decade ago, but whatevs.)

My point is that despite the slowness, it was HUGE for me. I kept it up. I didn't stop despite really, REALLY wanting to during the last 5 minute run. I can't help wondering where are the endorphins I keep hearing about? They're probably a myth.

Now if I could just see some pounds and inches disappear...

Just another reason I'm NOT a Marine (just married to one):

I don't like sweating. As in the wet and dripping type of sweat. Nope. I don't enjoy it. In fact, it grosses me out. Now, I already knew this about myself. But I confirmed it this morning.

I started the Couch to 5K program this week in an effort to get in better shape. I want to use some of that extra time I have now that both kids are in school to get more exercise. The first 2 days I followed the program inside on a treadmill in our neighborhood clubhouse. (And yes, I worked up a sweat, just not like today!) When I found it wasn't open yet this morning, I decided to go ahead and do the workout outside despite the heat and mugginess.

I knew it would suck. About half or three-quarters of the way through the 30 minute walk/run workout, I wanted to die. By the time I got back home and stretched, the sweat was pouring off me. Ick. Stretch laughed at me when I asked if you could be allergic to your own sweat. (My chest started itching at some point and when scratched, I found it was covered in a sheen of sweat. Ick. Ick. Ick.)

I also asked Stretch if he could just go ahead and shoot me to put me out of my misery. For some wretched reason, the man refused and kept grinning at me (and probably inwardly laughing).

Go ahead, punk....

Last week, the girls and I returned home a day after Stretch left on TAD (TDY for the Army folks and a business trip for any civilian readers out there). The 2nd night we were home, I heard the doorbell go and a pounding at the front door at TEN O'CLOCK at night. I ran downstairs and flicked the outside lights on and peered thru the peephole. There was NO way I was opening the door. My first thought was that it was someone checking to see if the house was empty so they could burglarize it. I called our neighborhood's security people and reported the incident.

Last night, Stretch and I were relaxing downstairs after the girls were in bed when it happened again. Like any good Marine, Stretch raced for the front door, flicked on the outdoor lights, and was out the door like a shot. In his bare feet. By the time, I got outside, he was half-way down our block. I heard him say, "Gotcha!" followed by "Freeze!" as I watched him running down the sidewalk. I went back inside, again called the security company, went back outside and locked the front door while I waited outside with both the house phone and my cell phone.

The security guard arrived first. I explained what had happened and when he asked where my husband was I answered, "He's still chasing them." At that point, he nervously asked what my husband would do if he caught them. Hmm. Good question. I wasn't too sure, so I went with, "Oh, he'll probably ask where they live and take them to talk to their parents." That sounded pretty innocuous, right? Eventually Stretch returned and we finished giving a statement for the report.

Later, Stretch told me that he'd stopped one teen walking down the street that he was pretty sure was involved. And had a little chat with him. After questioning him a bit, he let him know in no uncertain terms that there would be consequences if the act were repeated and that the kid should let his friends know. Now, Stretch is more than a little tall. He also just happened to be wearing a shirt with the EGA (Eagle, Globe and Anchor) and U.S. Marines embroidered on it.

I'm wondering if the kid made it home with clean underwear.

Mission Completion

My mission for Summer 2009: Survive almost 3 months of boiling heat with both kids at home all day, every day; without selling either child on e&ay. Do so without going bankrupt.

My strategy: a little something I’ll call the reverse deployment. That’s when the family members leave and the service-member holds down the home-front (‘cause they still have a job to do, you know).

The kids and I loaded up the car and hit the road. Except for the 1^st week, when [*gasp*] Stretch actually took leave and joined us, we were on the road and Stretch was left behind to man the home-front. As it turns out, he didn’t enjoy being the one left at home. I can understand that. I don’t particularly enjoy it, either.

We actually reverse deployed twice. The first time was for 4 weeks. It started with a 3-day drive across 6 states to my mother’s home. The first night we stayed at a military installation: great suite and even better price. The 2^nd night we used Stretch’s hotel reward points for a free night. (Guess all those TAD trips had a good side to them after all.) Stretch helped drive half-way across the country and then flew home (or redeployed) on Father’s Day. (Hm-m, that might not have sent quite the right message.) The kids and I stayed another week while the girls took swim lessons. When it was time to go, I drove a day and a half across 3 states, spending the night at another military installation, before reaching my aunt’s home. After reconnecting with extended family for a few days, we hit the road again to join a fellow military spouse for the 4^th of July. We only had to cross into the next state this time and it took only half a day.

Despite not having laid eyes on each other in almost 5 years, we picked right up where we’d left off. Even the kids bonded quickly even though only one of the five had any memories of the others. Because her husband had taken Reserve orders and was gone for the summer, I talked her into making the 10- hour drive to follow me home so our kids could continue to entertain each other. The fact that we hadn’t seen each other in years had nothing to do with it.

We had about a week’s break before reverse deploying again. This time it was only for 2 weeks. I drove for 12 hours in one day to get to my sister’s house. By the way, I don’t recommend this on 4 hours of sleep. A few days later, I drove another 3-1/2 hours to take the girls to my in-laws, where they would stay for almost a week. We went a day early so the girls and I could attend my mother-in-law’s annual family reunion. It was the first time we’d attended. In 11 years of marriage, Stretch and I had never been able to attend due to distance. And the first time I attended (this year), I did so without him. Typical.

The kids and I made the drive back home earlier this week. This time, I made reservations at yet another military installation part-way back to avoid another 12 hour drive. For the first time, I was wishing my oldest (she’s 8) was old enough to drive.

The summer flew by while the kids and I spent time with family and friends. Now we are waiting to hear teacher assignments and I’ve finished buying school supplies. School will start next week. The summer is drawing to a close and the mission was accomplished.

Just don’t ask me to drive anywhere anytime soon. Oh, and if anyone has seen my sanity, could you send it back to me?

(This is cross-posted over at SpouseBuzz.)

Oy!

Somehow, when I told the 5 year old to get into the car quickly after our last errand today, she translated that to mean she should poke around in the grass and find the nastiest thing she could to touch. Maybe Bill Cosby was right and kids ARE brain-damaged.

To be filed under things you really don't want to hear while you're working in another part of the house: "Well, then, don't put things in my underwear!" (shouted by the 8 year old to the 5 year old).

On the road...

We've lost our minds. We're driving for 3 days to go visit family. Oy!

Military weekend

I spent last weekend wrangling the kids and spending more time than I care to think about sitting in a high school theater, forcing short hair into a bun and trying to put makeup on a 5 year old. In the end, she just wore blush. L'il Sis had her dance recital on Sunday afternoon so the dress rehearsal was Saturday. We managed to leave the rehearsal after only 3 hours, older girls had to stay much longer.

While I was having such wonderful fun, what do you suppose Stretch was doing? On at least one day, he was jumping out of a perfectly good plane. One of his landings was less than perfect and he was dragged across the landing zone. His uniform did its job and he came through relatively unscathed (small scratch on a finger). But the uniform is shredded. Now, part of me was appalled at the sight of that uniform because I much prefer to not have evidence of the dangers of Stretch's job in my face. It's much nicer to think of such things in the abstract -- not quite so "real" that way.

But I'm not gonna lie. Another part of me was thinking about how much it's going to cost to replace that uniform.

Hula girl birthday cake

I told someone I would take pictures and post how I did this cake. Thankfully, it turned out better than I thought it would!

I baked 3 cakes using one pan and 2 bowls. Hmm, wonder which will take the least amount of time to bake? Okay, so it was more like 2 cakes and 1 cupcake.



This is after I've leveled the cakes. I didn't do the best job but our motto around here is "close enough for government work."













Then, of course, I glued the parts together with frosting...




...and covered the whole thing with a layer of frosting to seal in any crumbs. Then I put it in the fridge to harden.

At this point, I'm thinking, "Geez, maybe I should've gone with a volcano cake. It kind of looks like one and would probably have been a lot easier to decorate." (L'il Sis has a thing for lava.)




I didn't wait long enough for the first layer of frosting to set, but it still turned out okay. After covering the whole thing in green frosting and then "combing" it with a decorating tool to get the look of a grass skirt, I thought it looked more like a Muppet's wig.






Here's the almost-final product. The hair and arms are still up because the frosting is still soft. I'll try to do something with the hair and pose the arms tomorrow. I'm also planning on putting crushed graham crackers around the base to simulate sand with chocolate seashells scattered on top of the "sand."


Update: Here's the final product at the party...

Freudian slip?

I just realized that my profile still listed our last duty station as our location. The one we moved from 11 months ago. Almost half-way through this tour and I finally changed it. Maybe it's my cyber-version of those last few boxes that just never manage to get unpacked. Or maybe it's just that I really didn't want to leave the last place.

Why do I bother?

I should preface this by saying that I don't garden. In the past 11 years and 9 homes, we've only had one actual living plant inside our home. It was given to us as an apartment-warming gift when we arrived in Korea. I promptly killed it.

So I was feeling rather proud of myself recently when I planted some flower seeds around a tree near our curb. After watering and feeding regulary, I was seeing some results. Tiny shoots and leaves were making themselves known.

Today, our lawn care company came to do the lawn. And some idiot weed-whacked everything around that tree.

In which my niece gives herself a DIY haircut...

My sister and her clan were here last week. She has 4 kids and one on the way so our house was hopping! The age break-down went like this: 12, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2. By nightfall, I'm not sure who was more tired, the kids from playing with each other all day; or their wranglers, I mean parents.

But getting back to the title... at one point, my niece, the newly minted 6 year old, came downstairs and we quickly realized her bangs were gone. They weren't just trimmed a bit unevenly. They were cut back to the hairline! Questions from all four parents started flying. Stretch and I were convinced one of our girls (the 4 year old specifically) MUST have had a part in the haircut. Oh, the relief when it was determined that no, our niece had done it all by herself. I was also relieved it wasn't one of ours that had cut her hair! Does that make me a bad mom or a bad aunt? Hmm.

Update: Here are the, ahem, bangs:

not a good look

Now, I'm no fashionista. I can usually be seen sporting some seriously unfashionable mommy gear because it's comfortable, darn it. But today, I saw 2 outfits that stood out in their wrongness. One was a young woman sporting one of those trendy sweat suits. The pants were low-cut exposing her flat little belly because the jacket didn't quite meet the pants. But it was the shoes that got me. Bedazzled thong sandals with kitten heels. It just didn't look right, people.

But the wrongest (yes, I know that's not really a word, but it fits this situation) was the woman I saw running in my neighborhood. I imagine her mental checklist as she geared up for her run: Running shoes. Check. Running shorts. Check. Ipod. Check. Tube top. Check.

A tube top for running?! Seriously? That sounds like asking for an injury.

Disappearing teachers

L'il Sis had a preschool field trip last Thursday. I'm so thankful it is the last one of the year. Parents have to transport the kids. Not so unusual in a preschool setting. That's not the problem.

For this last field trip, there were 2 moms to chaperon and drive. Between us, we had 5 kids because 2 were not there that day. (Yes, it is a very small class!) The 2 teachers drove in a separate vehicle. We met another, larger class at a nature center and combined the 2 classes for the field trip because ours was so tiny. Not a problem. After the tour was over, the guide allowed the kids to go in the nature center display area. Shortly after that, the other class left. The other mom, the kids and I wandered into a side area with the guide who continued talking to us and the kids about things.

I was waiting for the teachers. Finally, I walked out to the entrance area, looked out the front doors and saw them walking in the parking lot to their vehicle. There were only 4 cars in the lot at this time. The director of the preschool was also getting into her car and leaving. The other 2 cars belonged to the other mom and me. By the time I was able to call the other mom's attention to the fact that the teachers were leaving and round up the kids to get them out to the cars, the teachers were gone. Seriously.

Back at the classroom, the other mom asked about it and the lead teacher said she didn't see us and thought we'd left. Hmm. Their car was parked between ours and our cars were still in the parking lot when they left the nature center. So, I'm not buying it.

The field trip before this one, we had more moms along but again, the teachers disappeared at the end. We all came back to the school and classroom because some of the kids needed to be picked up or were staying for extended care. The rest of us stood in that room waiting for the teachers who never showed. We theorized that they went to lunch and just never bothered to say anything to anyone.

Maybe I'm over-reacting. For the most part, I really like L'il Sis' teachers. But this seems to be a serious lack of communication.

*update: I had a chat with the Director of the preschool and she agreed it was an area of concern and that she would address it.

seriously?!

It's 5:20 p.m.
I'm in the midst of making dinner for my family when my cell phone rings.
It's the rental car company calling to tell me that today is the last day that my insurance will be paying for the rental.
What?!
(I'd taken my car in for repairs last week.)
Apparently, the repairs had been completed last Friday.
Again, WHAT?!
No one had called to inform me of this little nugget.
I ask when the rental office closes.
6:00.
Of course.
I call the repair office, confirm that the car is indeed ready and ask what time they close.
6:00.
By now it is 5:30.
And, oh, by the way, I live about 30 minutes away.
(The only good part was that both offices were located at the same dealership location.)
Fortunately, Stretch was home.
I told him how to finish dinner as I launched myself out of the garage.
Somehow, I made it to the repair shop in record time, with time to spare! Let's just say that I put those Korean driving skills to good use. Ahem.

I think I need a bubble bath ...or wine... or both...

Punky Brewster

L'il Sis dressed herself today, as she does most days. The headband is supposed to make her hair look "fancy." I wondered a bit about some color choices but decided she was channeling Punky Brewster. So this is how she looked as we headed out the door to preschool this morning.

Just the fact that she would willingly choose to put on tights suggests she might not be my child after all. As a child, my sister was known to ask for tights and change her clothes several times a day (something else that L'il Sis does). Somehow I ended up with my sister's child.

don't go in the water....

Last month there were over a thousand sharks off our shores near where we currently live. Apparently, it's an annual event, with the sharks following migratory fish. (You can see aerial pics here.) Then, there are the gators. I saw 2 from the highway when I drove to Orlando to pick up a friend who came to stay a few weeks ago. Last weekend, we drove to another part of Florida and saw some small alligators in a pond in our relatives' neighborhood. I kept my eyes peeled the whole way home at the canals lining the roads and eventually saw several more on our way home. Stretch laughed at me, asking, "Made the whole hour you spent looking worth it?"

Okay, so this particular alligator wasn't in the wild. I took this while on a field trip with my daughter's pre-K class. But still...

I'm just saying: This is NOT the state to get over your fear of water.

Eww

...And today's celebrities think they get no privacy.

*Sign was on the wall of "Grossology" exhibit at our local science museum. L'il Sis PreK class had a field trip there last week.