Gobbler's Run

M and I ran the Wake Forest Gobbler's Run, benefitting the Boys and Girls Club, on Thanksgiving morning.  I'd been wanting to do this for a while, and I'd also been promising her we'd do a 5k together, for about six months now.

So, off we went, a 7:30 a.m. in the 23 degree wind. We found a parking space, got registered just in time - a mere $55 but it was for a good cause and they still had t-shirts (bonus!) - and lined up with the other 2500 or so participants.  And we ran!  M did great.  I was so proud of her - she doesn't exactly run often.  She stopped occasionally, not to catch her breath but to rest her legs, then kept on going - what a trouper.  We finished in just under 36 minutes.  Awesome!  All in all, it was a great run.  Maybe because there were so many people there, or maybe because it was a new route, or maybe because I was focused more on M, it seemed like a fairly easy 3.1 miles to me.  This is just crazy because a year ago, someone would have had to been seriously chasing me to get me to run.  Anywhere.

Hubby and G and Molson the dog met us at the finish line, where we hung around for a little while before finally taking off.  It was in the shade, the temps hadn't risen to much more than 28 degrees, and we were COLD, COLD, COLD.

This turned out to be a very fun event where we saw lots of people from the community that we knew - teachers, friends, members and trainers at the club where I work.  People were running with their families, their dogs, strollers.  I think we'll definitely make it a tradition going forward.

Rain Rain Go Away

It's raining again today.  It's Tuesday and it's been gray and wet since Saturday.

No, no.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not complaining too much.  It's about 50 degrees out and it's not snow or ice.  Most of the country has snow and/or ice and is dealing with miserable conditions.

But, when you have a one-year-old, 80 pound golden retriever puppy who needs his daily playtime outside chasing squirrels, the rain presents a problem.

We have walked him, twice a day, in the drizzling rain, allowed him to play in the garage, and taken him on a car ride or two.  Ah, but is now day four and he is having great difficulty dealing with the birds and squirrels that are mocking him on the other side of the windows.

Why, do you ask, will I not let him out in the yard off leash?

Apparently, there is quite the mud pit underneath our front lorapetalum bushes, which is also where the little birds roost and where he subsequently loves to play.  My husband let him out on Saturday and he came back caked in mud.  Forty-five minutes later of cleaning up, and I was instructed by hubby to never let him out in the yard unattended again.  Until the rain stops and things dry out.  Fair enough, but here's hoping he can keep it together for one more day.

No TV for You!

I am sitting here trying to write and my girls, who are tracked out, are behind me watching My Little Pony on Netflix.

We got rid of all but broadcast cable because Time Warner Cable sucks, as do all of the other three pay for services television companies.  We figured Netflix would serve our needs, and it has, but clearly I need to put some parental controls on some of these obnoxious "kid" oriented shows.

After telling the girls three times to "turn that crap down" I finally made them turn it off and leave the room, because I simply cannot write anything when Pinkie Pie is whining in the background about her muffins not being baked correctly.

How on earth do we expect our daughters to rise above middle school drama contests that start to take shape in third grade and younger, when they're watching blazing examples of this same drama going on between these day-glo sherbert rainbow colored monsters created by some sadistic Disney wannabe production company????

My oldest stomped away but I don't really care that she's mad at me because she's TEN and I simply can't understand why she would even want to watch that show anyway!

Now, it's quiet, and I can get back to some quality writing!

Bird Dog

So ... dog breaks through the invisible fence this morning (too tempted watching husband walk down the court without him). He takes off. We went looking for him. Dog apparently finds a neighbor way down the street who keeps chickens and gets himself one. While I am talking to the chicken lady, (can't find dog at this point), husband sees dog run back down through the neighborhood with chicken in his mouth. Chase ensues. Dog runs through back yard of new family just moving in this morning. Husband hears new kids say "that dog has a chicken!" Dog brings chicken back to house, drops it at end of driveway, jumps high over invisible fence line apparently thinking it would keep him from getting shocked (it didn't). Husband gets dog inside, comes back out, can't find chicken. Gets in truck to look for chicken, stopping at neighbor's houses along the way asking them if they've seen a chicken. Never finds it. So, the dog did his job - he can certainly retrieve birds! We owe the neighbor some money for chickens, and the new neighbors some sort of explanation. Willing to hire dog out to bird hunters for a fee.

I am a chicken thief.

Vitamins

My husband has decided recently that he is going to kick it up a notch when it comes to his midlife exercise and health routine.  That's good.  I commend him for this, and I must say that he's been looking pretty fine late sans shirt lately!  

Part of his efforts have involved monthly trips to the vitamin store to purchase whey protein (gross), which he drinks in conjunction with his workouts, and combo packs of vitamins.  Some people may be familiar with these combo packs.  They include all kinds of goodies - fish oil, multivitamins, tea tree something or other.   While he was there, I also asked him to pick up a bottle of vitamin D, since I've been reading up on its benefits regarding cancer prevention.

His daily combo pack also includes two multivitamins which he feels is a bit of overkill, so he's been giving me his extra vitamin each morning.  He leaves them on the counter in the kitchen or the bathroom for me to find them when I finally pry my eyes open with the help of contact lenses or coffee.

I have a confession.  I've been having some trouble keeping up with this daily regimen.  

This is the second time in less than three weeks in which little piles of the buggers have started to pile up.  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Everywhere I go, there they are.  My husband keeps adding more every day.  He keeps asking me about them!

I'm supposed to take them, especially the vitamin D, with food and I just don't always remember to do it.  The last time this happened (last week), I ended up throwing the extras away.  Some of them had been exposed to the inevitable water that splashes around the counter each day.  Some were sitting on the microwave for a while and were looking a little moldy.  

That was last week, and damn it, here I am again in the same predicament.  What do I do with all of these extra vitamins?   I'm never going to be able to catch up.  I feel like a hoarder.  Maybe  I should slip them to the kids at the bus stop.  Would that be bad?  Is there a black market for vitamins?  I hate to waste them.  I do not have a solution to this problem.