Free ride

I like to run.  I used to run a lot and before freaky strange things started happening back in May of 2004 I was actually training for a marathon and would run anywhere from 5-7 miles at a clip 3-4 times a week.  I didn’t ever run that marathon and then my allergies got really bad and I quit running all together.  Not anymore.  I have a dog who needs exercise, running shoes, an iPod, and from 4-5:30 after work to run as much as I want.  We’ll deal with the allergies when I get there.  Which probably means in a couple of weeks.  But that’s okay, I guess it’s about time for a checkup with the doctor anyway.  Today I will go with Roxy on our first official run as dog and owner.  Goal distance for run/walk: 1.5 miles.  I’m not so crazy as to think I can run without stopping for any real distance yet.  But maybe if I’m lucky, within the next 2-3 months, I’ll be able to run a 5K somewhere around here.  I’d like that.

Purple rain

Happy Birthday to Sabrina!  I hope that Sabrina celebrates appropriately today with large slices of cake … and be sure to hop on over to PurpleSabrina to wish her the best!

It just goes on and on my friend

My birthday weekend was the weekend that would not end.  I’m not necessarily complaining but here it is Tuesday and there are STILL people wishing me happy birthday.  Which I appreciate.  A lot.  But it’s been a loooooong weekend, albeit relaxing and enjoyable one for the most part.

Friday night we went to the palace of meat.  We had a lot of it.  We went home.  We had food coma.  So we went to bed.  Saturday we went hiking at Eno River State park.  It was a little muddy but not too bad and it was a good way to spend an hour and a half with JJ and the dog.  Of course, post-hike there was a furry beast that needed to be scrubbed clean.  And no, I don’t mean my husband.    Sunday was church and a nice evening at home, Monday (yesterday) was the State swim meet.  The kids and Krista sang Happy Birthday over and over … by the end of the night I had heard it probably half a dozen times.  They sang Happy Birthday literally all the live long day.  For my birthday I got all sorts of things that make me feel loved – gift certificates to spas (that’s right – spas – plural), gift cards for CDs, cake, a punch pass for free swimming (three guesses who gave me that one ), and a check.  I think I’m going to use the check for a Nintendo DS and then buy me some cute Mary Jane crocs, some new goggles (I need some of those badly), maybe a new suit and then bank the rest.

The swim season is officially over.  I think we’ll probably get the kids together to go see Pride, that movie about a black swim team, in March, but other than that we are officially done and done.  It’s nice to know that at 3:30 I can get a few things done and then go home, leash up the dog, and go for a nice run/walk.  I’m looking forward to that.  And actually being able to spend time with JJ, instead of like … coming home, eating, and going to bed because I’m just that tired.

24 was a pretty good year – got a dog, got a job, got to coach.  25 is going to be even better, I think.   I hope.  I’m sure.

Not just any old Croc

I was never a fan of the original Croc shoes.  I think they’re clunky looking and sort of the shoe-out-of-place shoe.  People wear them with everything and while they look comfortable, they also look … well … clunky.  Until … I saw … one of my little girls wearing Croc Mary Janes!  They take away some of the clunky look because there’s less coverage over the whole foot.  Plus they have these cute little double buckles.  Don’t believe me?  Look at the cute Croc.

Sweets to the sweets

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Historically, JJ and I do not “do” Valentine’s Day.  I haven’t liked the holiday since I was a child and to this day think it’s sort of silly … for me.  I am all for taking a day to show others that we love them, but I’m just not sure that the expectations and everything else that come with Valentine’s Day are for me.  Our first Valentine’s together we got each other cards.  Our second Valentine’s (and first married) together we went to church and babysat for parents’ night out.  This, our third, Valentine’s I gave JJ a card this morning, I think he’s giving me one this afternoon and really … I think that might be it.  I mean, I’m making dinner, but it’s nothing special.

I had also not realized that for elementary students Valentine’s Day can aptly be renamed “Candy day.”  There’s so much candy in my classroom right now that I can smell it.  And envision the sugar highs that will come with it.  Come 2 p.m. it’s going to be every man for himself.

TGI-weekend … soon

It has dawned on me that I never recover. As in, I never recover from the variety of ailments I pick up by working at a school. Oh, sure, in a year or two I’ll have one of the best immune systems around (in theory) but for now, I get sick a lot. And the problem with getting sick a lot is … well, other than just getting sick a lot, it means that I have very little time to recover. Case in point, I was sick last Monday. I spent the whole day in bed and I had just about reached feeling vaguely normal when, surprise!, it’s Tuesday morning. And so I returned to work … and never really felt totally recovered from my bout with the “ick” on Monday. Plus, when I say the “ick” I don’t mean coughing and sniffles … I mean the ick. There are a variety of icks in our hall, and all of them are quite disgusting and involve not being at school.  So I essentially spend a lot of my time these days being both sick and tired.  *sigh* I suppose such is temporarily my lot in life.

In other news, JJ is taking me out to dinner for my birthday on Friday night.  We’re going to Chamas.  I got to pick and I figured it’s been awhile since we’ve done the Chamas thing – since my birthday last year actually, now that I think about it – so I’m not riddled with guilt because Chamas is definitely not a regular eatery for us.  If it were, I would be dead by 30 and JJ by 35.  Too much red meat and goodness.  I fully intend to sleep late on Saturday morning.  Then, JJ and I are going hiking at Eno River and … we get to take the dog!  I’ll try to take some pictures and then figure out how to post them.  I’m all excited about this weekend and it’s only Tuesday.  C’moooooooon Friday!

Love is …

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, this week my third graders were asked to answer the question “What is love?” for their journal entries.  One of them wrote the following:

Love is when you tell somebody you love them.  Love is when you forgive somebody.  Love is when you say sorry when you do something unkind.  Love is when you do something nice for someone.

So simple, yet so true, and so insightful.  So I say, Amen to that.

Party people

We went to baby Joyce’s birthday party on Saturday night. She turned 2 last week. It was a good time and not only that but we got to watch the birthday girl throw tissue paper and wrapping paper around. Last night we went to a Super Bowl party at JJ’s boss’ place. It was complete with every heart-clogging appetizer known to man. There was queso and salsa and chips, chips and ranch dip, fried cheese, buffalo wings, beer, wine, and I’m sure I’m leaving something out. Plus, chili and cupcakes. The Colts have finally won the big one and for that I’m very pleased. Don’t get me wrong, I would have rather the Steelers played, of course. But since they couldn’t, a Colts win was nice.

I realized, after visiting 2 homes in 2 days, that our house looks vaguely like a really nice hotel suite. As in, there’s no evidence that we live here. Sure there’s evidence that people live here. But nothing “us” specific. No pictures, no distinct style (like Jamie’s house or Sabrina’s house), nada. Part of that is because, by nature, JJ is an extremely plain person. He prefers Monet prints to real life photos and simple, non-dramatic paintings or wall colors to vibrant ones. I’m not so much … I’ve always sort of thought that Monet prints, unless you’re an honest to goodness Monet fan who would go to the exhibit, travel to see his stuff, are the non-descript sort of things that you can put in library lobbies and “family” restaurants and the like. That’s just me. I’m all about getting pictures and paintings that are both original and pleasing, ones that show what great family and friends we have, and so on. So I’m a woman on a mission. Once the swim season is over, I’m poring over old albums, digital albums from the last couple of years, and the pictures we have in stacks in the closet and I’m fishing out the good ones, having them printed, and hung on the wall. After all, if I can’t have my dream kitchen, nor my dream living room, nor my dream TV, I sure as heck can make my apartment a place I’d want to be, right?  That being the case, I’ve also decided that I don’t take and/or print enough photos.  I really need to back up the 150+ China photos off my camera post-haste so I can take more, print them, and make my house a happy place.

Tough on grease …

While I was cleaning up after dinner tonight (enchiladas and Spanish rice) I noticed the most foul odor coming from both the dishes and the garbage disposal.  Normally, this is the sort of thing that would make me wrinkle my nose and then call JJ because he’s much less faint of heart when it comes to things that stink.  Some women’s heroes save them from flat tires, or being locked out.  Mine?  From the smell that comes out of my sink.  Anyway, JJ was off taking his friend, Greg, from work home (we had Greg over for dinner) and then swinging by Sabrina’s to borrow Veggie Tales so he wasn’t here.  I dug around under the sink and pulled out …  Palmolive Oxy Plus … it really works!  I had noticed the stuff when I babysat for The Girls last time – Rachel had it in her kitchen – and I have to admit, when I first saw it I thought “Oh, sure.  Another ‘power of oxygen’ cleaner …” because supposedly this one not only cleans off caked on grease using the “power of oxygen” but it also releases “odor eliminators” into the air to get rid of the stink of cooked food and the aromas in the kitchen.  So, originally, didn’t buy it.  But then I washed dishes at Rachel’s and it was true! Fresh smelling air and clean dishes to boot. So I went out and bought some of it, but we had about 1/3 of a bottle of our usual detergent left and we’re still working on it.  When my dish-and-disposal issue came up tonight I decided to pull out the bottle I had bought and started to scrub.  It worked!  Nice, squeaky clean dishes and no more Mexican food stink!

Snow Day … again

Well, today was called on account of frozen precip. again.  And this time there was at least a legit amount of snow, and the wet, icky stuff – as in rain, freezing rain, and snow – came down for the better part of the day.  Unlike last time, this was not necessarily the restful, peaceful day off that I had last time.  The morning went well, but around 11 a.m. and just after I came down with a blistering migraine, thanks to apparently, teeth grinding in my sleep.  Excedrin Migraine made me functional again but we’re thinking that I need to get me a mouth guard so this doesn’t happen again.  Ick, ick, and double ick.

Tomorrow, I promised my kids a party if they behaved themselves this week.  And most of them did, so party we will.  I need to go out and rent a Veggie Tales movie.  I borrowed one from Rachel, but I brought it home to discover it was a full length feature film and with us missing another day of school today I don’t think we have time to watch the whole thing, even though we originally did.  So a rental it is.

I’m craving a really good grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.  I don’t know why.  I’m not a big fan of tomato soup, but grilled cheese and tomato?  Yum.