Too Much Bum Time

I spent so many hours in the car driving from place to place to place for things that were fun, and things that needed to be done. I feel sick to my stomach because I sat so much. I even carried my running shoes all around with me hoping I would be able to sneak in a jog, but it never happened. Now, I am still sitting on my bum because it is too dark, so I can't go on a run. (Besides, I am having lame feelings, so my excitement to get off my bum isn't really happening.) I hate feelings, wa wa wa. Feeling words. I've never been good at expressing them.

Running

Running is something I used to do when I was in high school and my freshman year in college. As far as running as a sport or for fitness, my body hasn't visited the activity for many years. For some reason, as mentioned in an earlier post, I agreed to run on a Ragnar Relay team. So, I looked up a training schedule, was more than a month behind, but started in on it anyway. WHAT!? Am I crazy! This is like running a half marathon. For some, who have the marathon achieved already, this is no big deal. But for me, this is craziness! Except . . . after a lot of discouraging emotions and my brain playing tricks, I was able to pass a huge mental barrier today. I ran for over 35 mins straight, and hit a mileage I hadn't yet been able to conquer. I haven't run that amount of time straight through since 1996. I was so happy I felt like I could run another mile, I was actually smiling at the end. Thank you to Callie who sent me an encouraging note with great advise in it. Yeah, may be I can really do this after all.

Spring Snow

Too many days of spring have been littered with snow. Although the crystal snow flakes are beautiful and melt every day, there has been new snow covering the ground every morning for over a week. Spring means, tulips, daffodils, peaking day lilies, flowering fruit trees, fluffy yellow chicks, warm sun, cool evenings, thunder storms and rainbows, refreshed energy, baseball, bicycle trips to the park, etc. The snow blanketing the ground has kept these wonderful spring things from happening. Patience, patience.

I took a wonderful trip with Mike to celebrate our 11 year anniversary in March. It was so much fun, I don't think it could have been more wonderful. I wanted to stay on that fantastic vacation and have my kids shipped out to me. Alas, reality eventually greeted us on our last day, and we came home. The weather was perfect, the water was turquoise, the food was prepared and delicious, and I didn't do any dishes. Mostly, the water was perfect, and the sun was amazing, and it was wonderful to spend a week with my hunny-bun.

I miss the warmth of my sunny Mexico trip; I am looking forward to the warmth of spring days, and the coolness of spring nights. And for school to be out for the summer. I miss my girls when they are gone all day.

Race!

I just committed to being on a relay race team! I haven't ever done anything like this before, but I am really excited. It is a Ragnar Relay. I am behind on the training schedule, so I will have to make up the difference somehow. Scared and excited. This should be good.

I miss my students so much. I normally would have taught lessons tonight; if felt strange to not tune the harps, arrange the music on the stands, settle my kids, etc. Moving to this town was the right thing, I know it was- otherwise I couldn't have done it. But it is pretty dang hard. But, . . . there are much harder things.

Mike is stuck in a snow storm half way to Lehi. He decided not to brave the weather anymore and is ducking low in his truck, working on homework, and trying to get some rest before the morning. So, now I can't sleep because I am worried about him staying warm, and driving safe in the morning. I am making that same drive tomorrow afternoon. I sure hope the weather lets up for us. And I can't wait to get a phone call from Mike saying he made it to his destination.

The joys of moving. We moved into a house that was already full of stuff, that stuff is being carefully packed up and stored away. This has been a challenging few days. I still can't find Emily's tennis shoes!! She doesn't mind since there is muddy snow on the playground at school. I had hoped to have so much more done by this weekend than I do. Progress is certainly being made though. You can see the pantry floor! Anyone who has been in this house knows that the floor in the pantry hasn't been seen for many years. The base boards are actually white, not brown, and the stair well hasn't been painted yet, I just scrubbed the walls! Oh, and yes, the toilets are white- just in case anyone forgot, they are supposed to be white, (they weren't white when I moved in, ooo gross.) Like I said, progress is being made. Samantha is really good at washing floors- this is a new discovery. Emily is really good at setting up bedrooms, this is a great help. And, Andrew really likes chocolate milk- new discovery.

This photo is of us eating dinner last night. What a funny dinner we are having- the pantry wasn't unpacked yet so our food options were very limited. I let the kids pick what ever they could find, within reason, because I hadn't found so much of my kitchen stuff. Luckily, the most commonly used items in the kitchen have been located and have a home where they can be found for tomorrow.

My warm bed is lonely. I am going to get in it :)

Changes? Stressors? ha, I will look them in the eye with a warriors yell!

Life is full of more changes than things that stay the same. Some changes are great, like a good hair cut, or a smaller dress size, or new carpet- even better, hard wood. Some changes aren't noticed, and others, they make the list of top stresses in life.
Top ten stressful life events
1.Spouse’s death
2.Divorce
3.Marriage separation
4.Jail term
5.Death of a close relative
6.Injury or illness
7.Marriage
8.Fired from job
9.Marriage reconciliation
10.Retirement

I only have a few of the stresses listed above, but I just took a test that says if you have a score of over 150 you need to make some serious changes to reduce your stress. Can you guess what my score was? 750, that's right 750! I think that is a load of crap. Let's say I make some changes in my life to reduce the amount of stress I have- what about the changes? changes make more stress, right? I realize now, it is just a circle we go around over and over again. Or, maybe it is just a circle I go around over and over and over and over. . .

As I write this, I smirk at myself, and have to laugh about it. Here I go HAHAHAHHA!

Today was a wonderful day. I made delicious food, had my family over to share it with, put my kids to bed by 8:30, the taxes are finished, and I started a good book. And now, I am going to bed to enjoy my good book.

Goals/Resolutions 2010

Mike asked me, just as 2010 rang in, what my new year resolutions are. I told him that I feel like I am already working on so many things that I am just going to stay on track with what I am already doing. After pondering about the new year for a few more days I have come up with some new things I would love to be better at. Here they are.
1. Focus on the positive attributes in my family members.
2. Give Samantha a harp lesson every week, and practice with her.
3. Practice with Emily on her flute.
4. Enable Sam, Emily, and Mike to nurture and gain new, healthy, friendships.
I have my work cut out for me. These seem like simple things when written on paper, but in reality they will all be difficult to stick to.

Here's to 2010. 2009 was the worst year of my life. Yes, I lost a lot of weight, but beyond that, hands down, the worst year yet. I have hope for a brighter future. Gaining happiness is an action. Happiness has to be made, it doesn't just happen. Happiness is an ongoing process- once it is reached, the striving for it has to continue. 2010 here I come.

Friends Reconnected

I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time tonight. A good friend from long ago popped in to my mom's house with one of my brother's friends. It was so great to see him and catch up a little. Thanks for staying and talking Kevin!

I was telling Kevin how my kids fit into their stereo typical roles of, oldest, middle, and youngest child all too well. My youngest, Andrew (2) came walking over to us and began to jabber about this and that to Kevin. I asked Andrew if he was a big boy. Andrew knitted his brows, looked out of the top of his eyes and said, "I not a big boy, I a giant baby!" with the most seriousness a toddler can muster. I thought I would fall off my chair it was so funny. Of course, Andrew didn't think it was funny, this was serious business.