Couch to 5k: Week Three

Photo by emples

Fail!

Sadly, this week definitely didn't go very well for me. 

I don't know if it's because the weather finally got cool or if I was just worn out this week or what. It could also have something to do with the intense yoga session I had with a couple friends on Sunday. Who knows. 

Monday I was doing pretty good. Until I got to the end of the intervals. I ended up walking about 10-15 seconds during the last run time. A friend of mine showed up to walk with me and I think I walked really fast at the end to try to catch up with her. 

Wednesday I was able to run all the intervals I was supposed to. I thought I was doing really great! My time was a bit slower than Monday but I could live with that.

Friday. I woke up early and was tired. I wasn't feeling too well to begin with. And it was super cold that day. By the time my 5 minute warm up was "done" my hands were completely numb. When I started running I could feel that the muscles in my legs were still tight and cold. My last run interval was full of fail. I couldn't run the time at all. I ended up running the straights and walking the curves (remember I run on a track) until I finished the number of laps I like to complete.

Week 3 of the Couch to 5k program:

Warm up 5 minutes.

Run 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds. Run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes. Repeat once for a total of 2 repetitions.

Cool down 5 minutes.

My week:

Monday: 2 1/2 miles 28 minutes 57 seconds (walked 10-15 seconds in the middle of second 3 minute running interval).

Wednesday: 2 1/4 miles 29 minutes 10 seconds (ran all required intervals).

Friday: 2 1/4 miles 31 minutes 19 seconds (could not run second 3 minute running interval. Ran straights, walked curves until completion of 9 laps, then walked a lap to cool down).

So...that means I have to repeat this week. I can't move forward to another week until I've mastered the week I'm in.

I am somewhat disappointed. But, on the other hand, I'm not disappointed at all. 

I know I tried and that's what counts. So my body didn't want to keep up this week. That's okay. We'll try again next week. 

I can only do what I can do. I think I definitely need more of a warm up time though. My body just doesn't warm up as quickly in cooler weather as it does in the warmer weather.

And gloves. I definitely need to wear gloves on those cool mornings. It's just to distracting...and somewhat painful. 

So that's that. I will be repeating week 3 this coming week. Wish me luck!

For Further Reading Check Out:

• Couch to 5k: Week One
• Couch to 5k: Week Two
• Couch to 5k: Week Three (Again)

You Look Like a Monkey...

...and you smell like one too!

Yesterday was my birthday.

Last year around this time I was sad and miserable.

Last year I turned 30.

I thought I was going to be one of those people who would take my 30th birthday by storm. I thought I would approach it with vengeance and be more fabulous that day than ever before.

Then reality hit.

I was SO not excited about turning 30. The Hubble was deployed. I felt old. I just didn't want to do it.

Yesterday...I turned 31.

Though I'm not incredibly thrilled with getting older and being 31...I really like being in my 30's.

When you are in your 20's people tend to look at you like you are a kid.

Sadly...there's a reason for that.

I feel like I know so much more now than I did when I was in my 20's.

I am actually super happy to be in my 30's now.

But talk to me in another 9 years and I'll probably be singing the same tune I was last year!

Yesterday started off kind of off. I had a headache. Little Butt woke up with a tummy ache. But I vowed to have it turn around.

 When The Hubble got home from his workout, I was finishing up my shower. When I walked out of the bathroom I found pretty Halloween-y flowers!

Then we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I am in lust with their new harvest yogurt parfait and I had to have one. It's so freaking good! If you haven't tried it...you must. It was the apple streusel French toast at first but then I started running and decided I needed a healthier option. The meal that the parfait comes with has eggs, a breakfast meat and an apple bran muffin. I think it's only around for a short amount of time so hurry and go try it! LOL!

When we got back from brunch I opened my present! For the last 10 1/2 years I've hoped and hoped that The Hubble would just know what I wanted for my birthday. That.Doesn't.Work! So this year I told him exactly what I wanted. And he delivered!!!

You may be thinking "where's the fun in that?" if I had to tell him what I wanted. I would know what I was getting right?? No! I was extremely shocked and surprised that not only did he remember what I told him...he actually followed through and went and got it! LOL!

Later that evening, we went out for sushi with some friends. I tried sashimi (raw fish) for the first time and it was SO good. I'm so happy I got it! I think it's going to be my newest obsession. I can't wait to go again.

My friend Lauren made me some cupcakes for my birthday too!

Hummingbird cupcakes with coconut pineapple frosting (the pink) or lemon frosting (the white). Lauren and her husband, John, also gave me a gift card to an amazing liquor store in town. Woohoo! I can't wait to figure out what to spend it on!

Another awesome thing that happened to me on my birthday was that Kristen from That Army Wife Life left me this award:

Kristen is pretty dang awesome and is even a top 3 finalist in the Army Wife Network HH6 2011 Contest. I told you she was awesome! If you have a minute, you should jump over to the AWN site and vote for Kristen in the poll halfway down the page!

And that's how the anniversary of my 30th birthday went down. Yeah...I'm getting older...but I'm loving it!

And many more...on channel four...

Couch to 5k: Week Two

Photo by emples

Success!

Another week of the Couch to 5k program has been accomplished!

I know it's not much but I'm still proud of myself.

Monday, The Hubble had off so he stayed in bed while I took Little Butt to daycare and went to the track. I'm really proud of myself for not letting him deter me from my goals. (Two years ago it would have been a different story).

I don't know what's up with Wednesdays though. Either I lose count of my laps or I just REALLY drag ass on Wednesdays. 

Usually I do 9 laps (2 1/4 miles) during the program's intervals. However, on Wednesdays I only do 8 (2 miles). It happened last week and it happened this week. It's pretty frustrating but I need to find a way to straighten things out on Wednesday. 

Surely I just lose count...right????

Anyway. 

My best friend Insomnia came for a visit on Thursday night so when time to go to the track rolled around...let's just say I was tired. But I went anyway.

Luckily, there were a bunch of soldiers working near the track so that made me stand up a bit straighter and move a bit faster. I couldn't look like a slacker in front of soldiers right?? LOL!

The sky was dark on Friday and I thought for sure it was going to start raining on my head! (It didn't). It was also pretty windy offering me some lovely resistance. But I still did pretty good.

Oh. And taking about 15 minutes to do some yoga stretching at the end of my workout has been helping my recovery time. It's also a really great way to feel calm and loose after running. 

Now for the numbers!

Week 2 of the Couch to 5k program:

Warm up 5 minutes

Run 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes (repeat for a total of 20 minutes)

Cool down 5 minutes

My week:

Monday: 2 1/4 miles 29 minutes 20 seconds

Wednesday: 2 miles 29 minutes 22 seconds (see what I mean???)

Friday: 2 1/4 miles 29 minutes 35 seconds

I thought for sure my time would suffer this week since I was running for a longer time but it didn't. All of my times this week were better than my times last week.

I also have not yet started doing yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Honestly, I'm kind of scared. If I add something new, will that affect my running? Which is more important? 

I think I definitely want to get more comfortable with running. Maybe after I complete this program and am capable of running distances I want then I'll add in more stuff.

One step at a time right??

Have you started a new fitness program recently? How are you doing with it? 

If you haven't started one...do you want to?

For Further Reading Check Out:

• Couch to 5k: Week One
• Couch to 5k: Week Three

When You're Here, You're Family

Have you been to Olive Garden lately??

This past weekend we went to a friend's house for dinner. My friend Lori was having a "clear out my freezer" dinner party before she moved away the next morning and we were invited.

Let me tell you...that was actually a delicious and fun meal. Everything was pretty random but it ended up being a great idea to help her get rid of extra food (without tossing it) and an excuse to get together on her last night here!

Anyway. While I was there and she was finishing cooking, I caught a commercial for the Olive Garden. Their new four cheese sacchetti dishes had me drooling (and not just because I was starving, the house smelled delicious and dinner wasn't done yet)! These dishes looked AMAZING!

So...The Hubble and I decided to do a little shopping in "town" on Tuesday and while we were there we went to Olive Garden. I had trouble deciding between the shrimp dish or the one with chicken. I ended up going with the chicken dish because it offered a garlic cream sauce over the shrimp dish's Parmesan sauce. (I'm a sucker for garlic).

I would post a picture of it, but I ate it so fast I didn't think to take a picture and the website doesn't have one I can steal borrow.

This meal was delicious! I loved it so much!

We also tried their new mini desserts. Here's a picture!

Photo Courtesy of Olive Garden

Being that we aren't too into chocolate we got the 3 without chocolate. We all ended up liking different ones the best. The Hubble loved the tiramisu, I loved the lemon and Little Butt loved the strawberry. Win, win, win!

Anyway. As much as I would love to sit here and talk strictly about food, I try to save that for my other blog.

No. Today I want to talk about people.

When we were there we were seated in a narrow room with booths lining each wall. Some elderly folks sat across the aisle from us. There were 3 of them. 2 ladies and 1 gentleman. The 2 ladies were sisters and the gentleman was the husband of one lady. LOL! That sounds confusing. 

Okay. I'll name them. Mason (the gentleman) and Mouse (the older sister) were married. Then there was Pistol sitting across the booth from her sister and brother in law.

These people had to have been mid to late 60's or early 70's. 

We overhead them talking to their server about beers and wines. Well...The Hubble knows his beer and I tend to know my wines so I couldn't help but eavesdrop. We even tried to intervene to help answer the questions the server couldn't but they were focused and didn't hear us.

So we went about our meal. Until Pistol caught my attention to tell me how cute Little Butt was. 

Somehow, we ended up talking to these people through the duration of both our meals. We learned a lot about them. These were some awesome older individuals!

We asked them questions...they asked us questions. They talked to Little Butt. We ended up covering everything from politics, military life (Mason is a 30 year retired Navy Captain) and believe it or not...tattoos and piercings (they brought up that topic). 

This was one of the most awesome experiences I've had at a restaurant and I really feel the Olive Garden motto of "When you're here, you're family" is true. We definitely felt like we were meeting up with family members when we were there.

I guess I need to talk about this because early on I heard them toast. Pistol raised her glass and said that as long as she had beer, she didn't need hair. She even mentioned maybe having a head shaving party.

Pistol was here visiting her sister before she starts Chemotherapy. 

I've been thinking about them for days. They really touched me. Especially Pistol. 

She is a spitfire of a woman and I hope that she is able to beat this thing. 

We will probably never see them again...but for one afternoon, one meal, they were family. They were so kind and accepting. They are special.

My thoughts are with you Pistol. Thanks for the great meal!

Tag! I'm It!

Photo by Sudhamshu

You better start running while I count to 10! I'm comin' to getcha! 

LOL! Just kidding. But not really. Maybe.

Anyway. I found out last week that I was tagged by 2 lovely ladies. So I am here to share my answers with them. And since you are here, I'll share them with you as well!

The lady that tagged me was The Annoyed Army Wife. I heart her mucho. She had to answer 8 questions from someone else and now I have to answer 8 questions from her then you have to...are you getting the point here? Let's get to it!

1. What side of the bed do you sleep on?

Well. Do you mean when we are looking at the bed or laying on the bed?? LOL! I sleep on the right side. The funny thing about this is that my side of the bed used to change depending on which side of the bed was closest to the door. I always used to sleep closest to the door. I don't know if it was for a quick get away or what. This is the first place that I've slept furthest from the door and it's kind of weird for me. But I'm enjoying it.

2. Do you have an alarm clock that you can dock your iPod in? If so, which one and do you like it? Yes, I'm in the market.

LOL! No. But I need and iHome thing for The Hubble so if you could let me know what you hear back I'd appreciate it! We use our cell phones for alarms and computers/stereos for music.

3. Should I get an iPhone when my contract expires on my current phone (in less than a week)? OccDoc has one and I really like it. I think I'd get an iPhone 3 if I do it. 

Ummm....I would never go with AT&T so my answer is no. I've heard the Droid Incredible with Verizon is awesome. My dad and stepbrother both gave up their iPhones just to get the Incredible.

4. What's your favorite cookie to bake, if you bake?

I bake a lot but don't really bake a lot of cookies. The one I've made most often is The Hubble's favorite. Just regular chocolate chip cookies (I use Ghiradelli chocolate chips) with Heath toffee chips thrown in. So good!

5. What's the most annoying noise in the world to you?

Forks and knives scraping on a plate. Just thinking about it makes me cringe!

6. Who was the first person to break your heart?

My dad.

7. What time do you wake up in the morning usually?

Whenever Little Butt wakes up. Anywhere between 7am-8am.

8. What time do you normally go to bed?

Around 10pm or 11pm. But it takes me a REALLY long time to fall asleep.

The next set of questions is from Kaylee from Devil Dog Darling.

There were only 5 questions for hers. Here they are:

1. WHO do you think would make the best celebrity president? 

Eeeeew. I don't really care for celebrities. Ummm...let's go with Gwen Stefani since she's the Captain of my lesbian boat. The country would be insanely well dressed and we would be pretty rad. But we would also probably be taken over and have to learn to speak Chinese.

2. WHAT kind of crafts do you most enjoy doing?

I love baking (is that a craft??). I taught myself to knit a couple years ago. I like scrapbooking but I never do it. I also love to draw. Lately I've been getting into photography.

3. WHEN you were a child, did you ever see yourself living the life that you are now?

Well, considering I lived this life when I was a child I guess so. I don't really remember anything before the age of 12 so I don't know what I envisioned for my life. But it's not incredibly different from the way I grew up.

4. WHERE do you visit most often in your dreams?

No particular place. It's the people in my dreams that really matter. Like, last night I dreamt that I ran into Amber from Goodnight Moon! at some random store. We knew who each other was from our blog pictures but neither wanted to be the firs to say hi. We ended up being really good friends in my dream. Random right?? Good thing she rocks. (And I promise I'm not completely creepy!)

5. WHY is it so hard to come up with these questions? (In place of why... Tell me one thing that not many people know about you.)

Oh geez. Ummm...I have no idea what people don't know about me. How about...I talk. A lot! Like, I talk to random people in stores. I have to catch myself sometimes and tell people that I talk way too much. However, this talking a lot, to whomever, ensures that I make friends pretty easily. So I guess it's not all bad. Unless you are The Hubble and you are waiting for me to finish a conversation I struck up with a cashier somewhere. He tends to get annoyed with me. ;-)

Now. For my questions to you. I'm just going to come up with 8 so I kind of cover both tags.

1. What is an amazing book that you have read recently?
2. Seen any good movies lately? If so, what was it?
3. What are the last 3 songs you have listened to?
4. What is the very first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
5. Do you have a 'before bed time' routine? What is it?
6. What is your favorite snack?
7. Do you order the same thing off the menu every time or do you change it up?
8. What is your favorite hobby?

Okay. Now I tag 8 people. You are:

1. Amber at Goodnight Moon! (You know I had to after that dream!)
2. Gwen at Chew & Digest Books
3. Sarah at Mowenackie
4. Nicole at Flip Flops and Combat Boots
5. Jessica Lynn at Jesstagirl and Her Officer
6. Annie at Nana GoGo
7. Sarah at Confessions of an Untenured Teacher
8. K at Uncork and Unwined

I hope you all decide to play along. But if not, I understand.

And just one last side note. This here is my 100th post!!! Thanks for sticking around!!! 

For Further Reading Check Out:

• I've Been Tagged...and So Have 8 of You!

Couch to 5K: Week One

Photo by emples

Success!!

At the end of last year I discovered a program called Couch to 5k. 

This is a running program that helps you go from the couch (never running) to a 5k in about 9 weeks. 

One of my goals for this year was to be able to run a 5k.

I did a 5k in February. The Race for the Cure actually. It was so much fun! But I only ran about a mile in the beginning (I had no idea I could even run a mile straight). I ran a little bit more at the end but didn't cross the finish line running. I felt like I was going to die at the end so I ended up walking across the finish line. 

I keep starting this program and something gets in the way. 

I think the furthest I've gotten in the program was week 4, trying desperately to get to week 5.

I ended up getting shin splints REALLY badly at one point last year. Then I've started it off and on since January. Butt all the moving and traveling kind of kept me from completing it. 

That, or I just didn't have the dedication to the program that I needed to complete it.

So now, I'm determined. I really want to do a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving this year. I want to run it. The whole thing. That only gives me 7 weeks. 

Can I do it? I don't know. I hope so.

I have started out strongly and I know that doing that kind of thing pushes and motivates you further than you normally go on your own. so I have high hopes.

I think writing about it may help. I hope so.

So this week I did really well and I'm proud of myself.

The program only requires 3 days a week. I figure Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are good since Little Butt goes to daycare those days.

Monday was Columbus day though. The daycare was closed. And The Hubble was home. It's difficult for me to leave the house when The Hubble is home. But I did it! I did my first day on a holiday and left Little Butt and The Hubble to their own devices.

Wednesday there were no issues. Little Butt went to daycare and I did my thing. Although, I was SO freaking tired. I didn't sleep the night before (I have issues with insomnia sometimes). I felt like I was dragging and there was a nice breeze for wind resistance. I sucked bad that day. I got a really bad cramp in my right rib area too.

Friday, The Hubble had his graduation from the Career Course here so I couldn't go to the track. HOWEVER, I went this morning on my own. Yes! I went on a Saturday and it was amazing!

Week one of the C25K program is:

Warm up 5 minutes

Run 1 minute, walk 90 seconds (repeat for a total of 20 minutes)

Cool down 5 minutes

30 minutes total.

I do time and distance. 2 miles on the track is 8 laps. I make sure I do 9 laps. 

Here's how my week broke down:

Monday: 2 1/4 miles 31 minutes 6 seconds

Wednesday: 2 miles 30 minutes 34 seconds (I told you I was dragging!)

Saturday: 2 1/4 miles 29 minutes 57 seconds

I can't believe I shaved about a minute off my time from Monday to today!!! I'm so stinking proud of myself.

Wednesday was really bad. But at the end I took a good 5 minutes or so and did some yoga stretches. That really invigorated me. 

I don't know if my better time today was because of the added yoga stretches or because I had 2 days to rest in between Wednesday and today. 

I guess we'll find out on Monday! 

Have you started any new programs or projects recently that have made you proud of yourself? What were they?

For Further Reading Check Out:

• 2010 Goals: August Update
• My Fitness Page
• Couch to 5k: Week Two

Visits and Family Fun

So my parents came to visit last week.

Now...we live in the middle. Of. Nowhere.

No lie. We really do.

I was pretty worried that they would be bored once they got here. I mean, the mall (or any shopping other than Wally World) is an hour and a half away!

However, as always happens, our schedule filled up at the last minute and we were pretty much busy non-stop. We were even double booked the first day they were here.

The parental units arrive at around 11pm on Saturday evening. We had just come home from a graduation party (can you believe The Hubble graduates his career course tomorrow??? I can't!).

We talked a bit before all hitting the hay for the night. When we woke up it was time to get moving! We were going to a baby shower and a chili cookoff that day so I needed to do some cooking. I made pigs in a blanket (little smokies wrapped in croissant dough) for the baby shower and The Hubble and I worked together to get a vat of chili going (it had to cook 6 hours and the chili cookoff was at 5pm).

The baby shower was the first stop. It was a lot of fun actually. We did the game where you were blindfolded and had to try to find itty bitty safety pins in rice. We also played "pin the diaper on the baby" which was a more suitable game for a girl baby than my original "pin the penis on the baby" game I came up with for a friend who was having a boy a few years ago.

I was extremely surprised to find out there was going to be running games as well. They had an egg race game (you ran with an egg on a spoon and tried not to drop it). I am a clutz so I opted out of that game.

But I did participate in the 3-legged race!

Can you believe I allowed that to happen? LOL! It was fun...we came in third of 4 couples. Lame. Oh well...at least we weren't last. And we didn't fall (although we almost did). I think that's a feat in and of itself.

Even Little Butt gave it the ol' college try. That didn't last long though.

After the baby shower we ran home to get the chili and showed up only an hour late! Everything was delicious and I ate WAY too much. Mmmmm...chili.

The next day was Monday. I made my mother get up and go for a walk with me. She did well. I made her walk with me on Wednesday as well.

We did a lot of hanging out with friends. We had a playdate with B and Princess. We had a spouse coffee to go to on Wednesday but I started getting sick and decided to stay home and have a screwdriver to stave off the sickness instead of going to the coffee.

We watched Iron Man 2 and Little Butt is obsessed! We even went to Wally World and she got a sticker from the greeter. She put it on the palm of her hand and "shot" people as we walked through the store. I won't lie...it was pretty awesome.

The other super fun thing we did was that we finally had a fondue party! I've been wanting to have a fondue party for almost a year now but I didn't know anyone who would play along with me. I found out my friend L (the one who is having the baby) has a fondue pot. So we enlisted a couple other people and had a party. OMG it was good!!! I bought The Melting Pot Cookbook and we had the most amazing meal! Bourbon Bacon Cheddar fondue to start. Coq au Vin cooking style with chicken, shrimp and beef for the main course. With the main course we also made dipping sauces: an her aioli, a roasted red pepper sauce, a spicy cocktail and a spicy honey mustard sauce. Yum!!! For dessert I ruined an entire HUGE bar of melting chocolate (in two attempts) by trying to add some Bailey's to it. It just curdled. No fun. On the second attempt I even tried to add cream to it but it just started separating. So I ended up making a white chocolate amaretto fondue that we dipped strawberries, marshmallows, rice krispie treats, and pineapple into. Did I say it was DELICIOUS??? Because it was.

The fondue was on Friday night. Oh, my parents watched Little Butt on Thursday so The Hubble and I could go on a date. It was nice. We went to a local bar/bistro with some friends. I'm glad we got to do that.

On Friday I also did a bunch of baking so I could send some treats home to my sisters back in Texas.

The parentals left on Saturday and we had the rest of the weekend to relax.

All in all I would say it was a really good visit. But sadly, the only picture I thought to snap was when I was introducing my parents to Dexter. All I had was my phone. Here's how much Little Butt loved hanging with Pawpaw:

And that was our week!

Do you enjoy it when your parents visit? When was the last time you had a family member visit? Was it fun?

Wordless Wednesday: The RAWR Edition

CYS Registration Revisited

Well...here I am again...another week without a post. Grrrr... I'm totally annoying myself.

I actually get really annoyed when blogger's say "I'm so sorry I haven't posted in forever" and here I am doing the same thing. Oh well...what can you do??

Oh that's right! I can post more! LOL!

I kind of have an excuse though. My parents visited this past week so I really didn't get on the computer at all.

But today is not about the visit. Today I wanted to share some good news with you.

If you have been around for a while I'm sure you remember the hassle it took to try to get Little Butt registered with CYS.

Well...I FINALLY got her records! It took a couple tries. I had to request the records to be sent to me after they all made it to the local hospital, which took another week. When I got them in the mail they were ONLY that hospital's records, not the total package.

I was annoyed.

So I went back and let them know how frustrated I was. The lady I talked to went to the back room and within 3 minutes she handed me a copy of all of Little Butt's records.

Really??? It was that easy??

So I went back to the CYS office and rescheduled the special needs training that I had missed since I didn't have the records the time before. Unfortunately, I had to wait another 3 weeks until the training. Boo!

I called the nurse and left a message to set up a time to meet so she could go over Little Butt's records. She called me back a few days later. I explained the situation to her.

Me: My daughter has a food sensitivity to fresh shellfish.

Nurse: Does she have an epi-pen?

Me: No.

Nurse: Does she take medication for it at all?

Me: No. She just gets diarrhea if she eats it, it's not like she'll die or anything.

Nurse: Tell me about the nursemaid's elbow.

Me: Her left elbow pops out of socket if you yank on it really hard.

Nurse: That's it?

Me: Yup.

Nurse: I'm going to call and see if I can get you out of the special needs training.

Me: Really? Thanks!

A week went by and I still didn't hear anything so I left a (what The Hubble called "condescending") voicemail basically asking her what was up. The next day I got a call from CYS and they told me I didn't need to go to the training and I could come in and complete the registration any time.

Are you kidding?? 3 months worth of work and waiting for them to tell me never mind?? Awesome!

So I go in the next day and get her registered. We went to orientation the next week and I scheduled her for the following week (which was the week before last week). She goes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for 3 hours.

So...Little Butt had her first 2 weeks of daycare and we both survived!

The first day I dropped her off I was a nervous wreck! After I left her at daycare with strangers I met my friend Emily at the track for a walk. I got out of the car and said "I don't have a baby!" and I started crying. Yes...I'm that loser.

Emily and I walked, I went home and showered and got ready then headed back to post to pick up Little Butt.

I tweeted about this the whole time and asked my tweeple if it would be weird to take a camera for the occasion. Luckily, my dear friend Penny told me I definitely should take the camera! So I did. Here is Little Butt after her first time EVER at daycare:

Leaving the CDC we stopped to look at the fish.

Doesn't she look super happy to have gone to school???

The second day I didn't have my camera handy so I only have crappy Blackberry pictures. I picked Little Butt up from the CDC and she looked like this:

She was apparently a puppy. Since we were out and about we decided to stop at my favorite place in the whole world!

I figure I have to train the girl early right?? And no...that isn't coffee. It's a kid's hot chocolate and she loves them and the passion iced tea with half the sweetener.

So that's it. We have made it through our first few days of daycare. I've actually gotten to the point where I like my time alone. I know it's only been 2 weeks but it's nice. I'm even planning on starting up my running again.

Have you gone through any life changing or emotional events lately? What were they? How did you cope? Did you cry like I did??

For Further Reading Check Out:

• CYS Registration Take One

Wild Mind Monday #2

Welcome to Wild Mind Monday! This is a virtual writing group in which we are going to be working our way through Natalie Goldberg's Wild Mind. The link each writing assignment will be posted here the first Monday of each month and will remain up for the duration of the month. If you are interested in joining in, leave a comment with your email address and I will send you this month's assignment. I also ask that you go to each linked blog and make comments on each other's work. When critiquing and making comments, please remember there is a person on the other side of the computer and we need to be kind and respectful while helping each other develop our writing skills. So let's have fun! 


This week we were prompted to play with the idea of returning home. Either return physically or mentally. We were asked to write about home in detail and try not to become sentimental. If need be, we were encouraged to write from a different perspective such as a pet, parent or friend.

"Let me see. Where to start. I would like to start with the concept of home. What is home? How do you know that you have found it?

The majority of the population has a clear cut understanding of home. But I am different. Home is usually where your family resides and where you grew up. Well...most of my family lives in a town I've never been to and in a house I've never seen.

The one place that I return to in my mind as home is my grandmother's house in Oklahoma.

I can talk about the many road trips we took to go 'home' in my childhood.

We would usually arrive in the wee hours of the morning. We would stumble out of the van or the car groggily. Since it was summer in Oklahoma it was hot and humid even in the dead of night. We wouldn't be wearing any shoes.

We would walk up the few stairs onto the porch. A blue glow would be shining on us from the bug zapper as the sound of mosquitoes being zapped filled the air.

The front door was always open but the screen door was locked. My grandma would be sleeping on the couch. A crisp white sheet would cover her makeshift bed.

Through the front door, looking to the left was a squat bookshelf. I believe it was under a window. Next to the book shelf was a tree-like plant. In the corner a little further from the plant was a desk. I'm sure there was a chair at the desk but I don't remember what it looked like.

Next to the desk was the old school television complete with knobs. I do believe it had a remote control to it though. On top of the television I remember there being the shell shaped ash tray that housed my grandpa's pipe and tobacco.

Next to the television was a chair. It was true upholstery. Almost like a tweed fabric. Plain. Boxy. Wooden legs.

Across from the television was the couch. In front of the couch was the coffee table. There was almost always a glass dish of candy on that table. Either lemon drops or jelly beans.

Next to the couch was an end table then my grandpa's leather recliner. He almost always had his jelly beans on the table next to the recliner. Black were his favorite.

A small open area separated the living room from the formal dining room. To the right of the open area was the kitchen; to the left, the hallway with the three bedrooms and the one bathroom.

The open area had a black grate in the floor. It had to have been about 2 1/2 to 3 feet long and 1 1/2 to 2 feet wide. It was rectangular in shape and when the heat was on it would get hot. A gate had to be put around it to prevent little feet from getting burned on that vent.

In the dining room was the formal dining table along the left wall. It was never used but for holidays and remained pushed against the wall. Straight back was a window and an air conditioning unit. On the right wall was a wall unit or curio cabinet.

Walking through the door to the right of the open area was the kitchen. A phone hung on the wall to the left of the doorway. The kitchen table was there to the left, the refrigerator to the right. It was a normal kitchen; fridge and oven along the right wall. Sink and counters/cabinets on the back wall with a window above the sink. There was a door leading outside in the back left corner of that back wall. Along the left wall was a window, a metal rack and a wooden box that housed potatoes.

Back out to the open area and across to the hallway. Enter the hallway, my mother's bedroom to the left. That bedroom was pink and white and never changed. I don't remember a lot of detail about it. The pink and white quilt that was on the white bed. The octopus yarn doll that sat on the bed. Small deer figurines that adorned the bookshelf like headboard. In this room there was also a ceramic washing basin and pitcher. I remember loving that.

Walk out of that room and the guest room was along the left wall. Dark cherry wood furniture with a green comforter. All my grandma's clothes and nice church dresses hung in that closet. The bed was so tall we had to climb up onto it.

Further down the hallway on the right side was the bathroom. Tub to the left with a small window high up on the wall. Rag doll tissue box covers. That's about all I can remember about that room.

Finally, at the end of the hall was my grandpa's bedroom. There was a small bed that the holiday pies used to hide underneath. A small television was in this room and it had an air conditioning unit.

Oh. There was also a built in bookshelf in the hallway on the right wall when you entered the hallway and turned right.

The bedroom windows were all on the left side of the house. There was a fence around the yard and tons of weeds and tall grass on that side. The windows were left open at night and the bugs would chirp and sing their nightly songs.

There was a doghouse in the back yard, a shed and a clothes line. My grandma's huge garden was fenced off from the rest of the yard. There was a coffee can buried into the ground right inside the garden gate where they dumped coffee grounds, egg shells and fruit peels. In the garden were vegetables and fruit trees.

And that's about as much detail as I can remember about that place. There have been so many houses and states over the years. That was my one constant."

Thanks for reading my writing prompt for this week. I look forward to getting comments from you all and I hope to read all about your homes soon!