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Check one off my bucket list

This weekend was one of those really good weekends - we didn't have much planned, the weather was great, and we enjoyed good friends and good times all around.


Friday nights Ashley has dance class with a few other girls on our street, so right after dance we all headed to our local watering hole in the downtown part of our town. We were able to get tables outside so we enjoyed relaxing and eating and the kids didn't have to be on their best behavior since we were outside.


Saturday mornings are my long run mornings and I got to run with Carmen and another new-ish neighbor to our street. I was doing 10 and they hung with me for 6 miles which was great. And the new neighbor has twins (a boy and a girl) who are Audrey's age, so we set up a playdate for later that day. After the run and eating lunch at home, Ray headed out with Audrey and I headed out with Ashley. Since Ray had been on two weekend camping trips recently with Ashley, we figured some bonding time with the girls was in order, so he took Audrey to a park and I took Ashley ice skating (I had purchased a groupon months ago that was about to expire for ice skating). We headed back home in time for Audrey to have a playdate, and for Ashley to have a friend from school over as well.


The other local bar/restaurant in our town was having "Rocking at the Crossing", with bands playing, bounce houses and such. After dinner we headed there and Ashley's friend's parents met us there. We hung out until after 9:00 at night. On the way home, Audrey looked like this:

But I have saved the best for last! Ray's company helps with marketing and selling houses in a neighboring golf community in town, and they were having a family festival on Sunday with a 5K race. Ray, myself and Ray's brother Sean were all signed up to run. Sean had been mouthing off for the past month that he was going to beat me and that he was in better shape than me. Ha!


I won 1st place in my age group (35-39), was 4th female overall AND I beat Ray and Sean.


Yes, it was a very small race. I would have never won in my age group otherwise. There was only about 150 registered, and I think less than that finished. It was hot (92 degrees at the 2pm start time) and crazy hilly. I saw one lady taken away on a stretcher. Not good.


But it still counts as an award. And not just any award, $20 to a local running store. Yippee!

Audrey's dance recital

Conversation with Audrey

Last night while tucking Audrey into bed:

"Mommy, let's talk about when I'm a teenager."

"Okay, what are we going to be doing when you are a teenager?"

"You might die. And if your hand is bigger than your face, you will get cancer."

I want this shirt....

Running 5 days a week with my new training plan has been a huge adjustment. You wouldn't think going from 4 to 5 days would be, but it is.

Mother's Day and Birthdays

Mother's Day weekend started off on Friday at Audrey's preschool where I enjoyed Muffins for Moms for the last time there. I am very happy not to be paying $1,000 a month for preschool and Audrey is ecstatic about not wearing uniforms any more, but it was sad to be the last event like that. She has been at that school since she was 4 months old, and what it really means is she is almost a kindergartner. Very scary.

So anyway, she had to answer some questions about me...see the picture.
And let me just clarify #7. It says my favorite thing to do for fun is to "have a party Friday nights". Which is partly true. Ashley and 3 other girls on our street have dance class Friday nights (which yes in fact that does suck and I will never sign up for a dance class on Friday night again). So while they are in dance, the rest of us get together for a happy hour of sorts. And since Audrey isn't in dance class, she hangs out with us.

In other exciting news, Ray got some new shoes. Specifically these:

Yes, he is going to try vibrams to see if that helps his knee pain. He spent all weekend walking around the house in them.

So I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day and Happy Birthday to my Dad today!

This is the beginning of a crazy month...

I finally bit the bullet and got a real running coach to do a training plan (it's in plain sight at my desk at work) for me (versus finding random training plans online that weren't customized to my paces). And it is awesome (although running 7 and 8 milers during the week scares me). Go check Tonia out and give her some words of encouragement, she crashed her bike this weekend and is out of commission for a bit.


So running is back full force and for the first time, I am going to try and keep up with strength training as well. We shall see how that goes.


Audrey's dance recital is on May 14th; Ashley's dance and piano recital is on June 4th. Between Mother's day, birthdays, and in general craziness, we have started on a crazy month. I am looking forward to getting away to the beach Memorial Day weekend.

Few minutes...

I only have a few minutes to post as I have to go pick up Ray at a Starbucks near our office since he took the hard top off his Jeep without putting the soft top back on AND without looking at the weather today. So he is parking it in a parking garage a couple of blocks away and getting Starbucks.

Just an excuse really for me to get a Venti Iced Black Tea.

Easter was good - Ashley fought off a slight stomach bug, but was okay otherwise. It was warm enough on Easter for the girls to enjoy a slip and slide at a neighbor's house. I went all of Lent without drinking one soda, and I still haven't had a soda. And I don't think I will. No more diet cokes at bedtime for me.

The pool opens Mother's Day weekend here...I really need to order a bathing suit. I need to update everyone on my boot camp adventure these last two weeks, next time. Need to go get my Starbucks...