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??

Beach

I may or may not have mentioned here about 1,000 times that I love the beach. And thankfully the rest of the family does too...

We had a great weekend of swimming, boogie boarding, eating and having fun at the beach. I am not too happy about returning to work in the morning....

Today

Today feels like Friday, but unfortunately its not.

I completely fell off the running wagon last week, and finally got back into it Tuesday. What helped was changing it up some, and hitting a local greenway for a mid-week long-ish run yesterday. Anything was better than running in my town again. Ray and I are signing up for the Outer Banks Half Marathon on November 14th again. Ray is actually going to the ortho doc today for his knee pain, so maybe this year he can actually run it.

I am very, very happy with the winner of Idol. Call me a horrible person, I really don't care, but I couldn't get past Crystal's dreads and dreadful outfits. And I am still in denial that Lost is over. I want them to produce another series finale.

Tonight is meet the teacher for Ashley. She has only 8 days of school left, then starts second grade on July 9th. Yes, second grade. When the HELL did that happen?? Between Ashley and Audrey growing up to damn fast, recitals, friends moving, and other drama on my street that leaves me sleepless more nights than not, I am going to be a mess for the next few weeks. Luckily we are heading to the beach this weekend, and I can leave all the my stresses behind.

Duathlon #2

Ashley participated in her second duathlon on Sunday. It was on the American Tobacco Trail, a local trail that runs for miles through our county and beyond. For her age group, she had a .35 mile run, 1.5 mile bike, and a .35 run.

She's the tall one in the middle in the pink. Notice in her right hand my handheld water bottle. She really wanted to carry it with her, just like I do.
Here she is coming to the finish...

And closer. I am not sure of her time yet, I should have timed her myself, but I forgot. She did great, no picking dandelions this time. She said the bike was hard. I think it was because of the surface of the trail and doing and out and back for the bike part. She ran the entire part of the run both ways. And the other thing about this race was it was hot. The start wasn't until 1:00pm, and she actually didn't start until closer to 2:00pm (the other two age groups went ahead of her). And while waiting at the finish line, I got to witness a few kids lose their lunch. The kids aged 11-17 had to do a 1 mile run, 4.5 mile bike, and 1 mile run, and a few of them I guess either pushed themselves too hard or were dehydrated.

Next up for her? A triathlon in July. I think I have this kid hooked on racing!

Lost....