Where did the week go...

Random stuff this week, all pretty much unrelated. Enter in bullets:

• Ashley had her first swim meet Tuesday night and did well. She was fourth in the backstroke in her heat, which is what she cared about (out of 8 swimmers). She just didn't want to be last. I was a place judge for the meet and was on my feet for 5 hours and only got distracted twice with judging to the point I didn't even see the event (oops). Luckily, I was the last place judge, so by process of elimination, they figured out who was last.
• Ashley also has been in dance/drama camp this week and performs this afternoon. I will post a video later since I have the new iPhone and finally have video.
• And yes, the new iPhone is as cool as they say it is. Happy anniversary to myself and Ray.
• Last night, after a long week, being up late, getting up early, Ashley was tired and had a meltdown. During this, she told me I was not a nice person, which was basically a stab in my heart. One of my Facebook friends had an analogy she shared: "As a parent to grown adults with children-that still happens. Now they step on your toes-when they are older they step on your heart." Wow, that put it in perspective.
• Tonight I am going with friends to see Rascal Flatts for the 4th or 5th time (I have lost track). Totally excited.
• Even more excited about Eclipse next week and the possibility of my friend hosting a Twilight pre-show party.
• I still don't know who Ashley's teacher is next year, and she starts July 9th. Everyday I think that we will get a letter in the mail, but no dice.'
• I actually did a sort of brick workout at the gym last night. I ran 3 miles, then hopped on the bike (which was a pathetic demonstration on how I really suck on the bike) and then ran some more. My legs felt really weird running again after the bike.

I think that's it. Summer is kicking my butt (hence the lack of posting). I will try and do better next week...

First Day of Summer

First day of summer my a$$. It's been in the 90s here in Raleigh for weeks. And this week? Saturday will be a high of 90, that is the lowest high this week. Today and tomorrow - 95 and 96.

It's makes running outside kind of hard. I did manage to get out yesterday evening about 7:00pm, and it wasn't too bad. I ran to a local middle school and tried my best to run a mile as fast as I could, but the heat, having eaten dinner just an hour before, and the fact that I had already run a few pretty fast (for me anyway) and hilly miles to the school meant I bonked out on my fourth lap. I think I need someone there to push me.

Yesterday was not only Father's Day, but it Ray and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. We took the girls to a driving range yesterday morning to try out Ashley's new golf clubs, and then promptly went to Dick's Sporting Goods after that to get Audrey some. Ray is determined to have golfing kids.

Ashley is in a dance camp this week and I am glad she will be indoors all day with this heat. Last week she was in a Girl Scout camp and spent all day outside, and it wiped her out by the evening. Her first swim meet is tomorrow night (she had her real first meet last week, but it stormed so it was cancelled). Audrey is transitioning to the Pre-K classroom at school this week as well. Still no word yet whether we will be forced to switch tracks next year for Ashley. Supposedly they only need 5 kids out of about 60 to switch tracks, so I (as should YOU) am keeping my fingers crossed that we aren't one of those 5 families.

Stressed out

Small things stress me out that probably shouldn't. I am psycho about being on time for starters. I had this ingrained in my head from my band days in high school - "to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is to be left out."

Change doesn't stress me out as Ray and I have been pretty crazy about change in our lives. The week we were getting married we bought a townhouse and I accepted a new job. When Ashley was born, Ray decided to forgo his stable consulting job to become a realtor. Nothing like new mom hormones and no guaranteed paychecks to make someone crazy.

So today in the mail I get a letter from Ashley's school. She is on track 1 of a year round school. Most year round schools have 2 class per each of the 4 tracks. She actually has 3 classes in her track. And per the letter, due to "a reduction in the enrollment in 2nd grade" they are downsizing her track to 2 classes. Not only does this mean she is no longer in the teacher's class she thought she was (that teacher is moving tracks), but they are asking for volunteers to move tracks.

I DO NOT WANT TO MOVE TRACKS. And the unknown now about who the heck will be her teacher (she starts 2nd grade on July 9th if she stays in track 1) stresses me out. As does whether or not we will be forced to move tracks. Ray is of the mindset, eh, wait and see what happens. Me? The unknown drives me crazy.

So the 2 mini-cupcakes I just inhaled did not help with my stress. I am not sure anything will at this point.

Running and Leaving

The end of last week we spent at the beach, and I had great intentions to get some miles in on a flat surface, much unlike Raleigh. Instead, I caught some bug and spent a good part of Thursday morning in the bathroom and decided running was probably not a good idea. I attempted to again that evening, but a storm hit us as we were heading home from taking the kids to a playground. Friday morning we wanted to spend as much time on the beach as we could since we were driving home at lunchtime, so no running then either.

But I did do the Race for the Cure on Saturday (check out LMC's Race Report). I signed up for the women's only race, which is not chip timed and follows the competitive race. The course is hilly, and it was hot, and due to some stomach troubles again (this time caused by me being a female and that's all I have to say about that), I finished the 5K in 29 minutes and some change, according to the clock at the finish line.

This week I hope to get some more miles in. Of course it is again a crazy week (I sound like a broken record lately) with Ashley's first swim meet tomorrow night and other random stuff.

And on leaving...on Sunday morning, our good friends/neighbors left to move back to Texas. We were able to hang out with them on Saturday night at our block party (which started at 4:00pm and the kids actually stayed up until 11:00pm). My other friend sent me a quote that was perfect:

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened ~ Dr. Seuss

I think I can finally breathe....

Ashley's two recitals - piano and dance - are over. She did so well at both of them, but of course I am most proud of the piano recital. Here she is, six years old, getting up in front of a crowd and playing two pieces from memory. She was nervous, but she did it. And yes, I am proud of her dance too, but music was and still is a big part of my life. All the girls in Ashley's dance class did so well, and they were all so pretty (Ashley had 4 neighbors/friends in her dance class with her this year). It might have been just me, but I felt like they all looked younger with their hair in a bun and makeup on.

After her dance recital, we came home and hit the pool as the perfect end to our weekend. I finally feel like it's summer, especially since Ashley's last day of school is tomorrow (don't speak to me about how I will have a second grader, I am not ready for that yet...). We are heading to the beach Wednesday - Friday, and then we are coming back in town so that we can have another crazy weekend - Race for the Cure, Ashley's first mock swim meet, block party, and a sad farewell to friends who are moving back to Texas. GAH, I cry just typing that. Moving on....

I did get some HOT miles in this weekend running - I did 3 miles on Saturday morning where at 7:30am it was 78 degrees out. And then Sunday I met up with Ann for a 7 mile run. It was so much fun to run with someone for a change. I am pretty sure she might think I am crazy though as I think I talked her head off. I greatly appreciate her meeting me so early that morning to run though. I don't plan on running the Race for the Cure this weekend as I have to take Audrey with me, but I am sure it will be a workout as I am sure most of the time I will be carrying her or have her on my shoulder (no strollers allowed in the race we are doing). But I do plan on getting in some flat miles at the beach this week.

Heat

I really like hot weather and am kind of a wimp in cold weather. And by cold, I mean anything below 70 degrees. So knowing this you would think I would embrace running in the heat.

But of course it's not the heat that gets me, it's the humidity. I was dying on my morning run yesterday. It felt like I couldn't get a deep breath in and like I was cutting through the air. Not fun. I got a little over 4 miles in and called it quits. I think for my longish run on Saturday morning, I will have to get up before 6am to get it done.

Ray had his first physical therapy appointment today. He over-extends or hyper-extends his knee (I can't remember which), and he needs to strengthen his quad muscles. Which he needs to do soon because I just signed him and I up for the Outer Banks Half Marathon on November 14th.

Who's in with us??