Day 2 and 3 and a winner

Last night at her swim meet, Ashley finally won a heat! She took first in her heat for backstroke. She was ecstatic. And she came very, very close in breast stroke as well (and she is in a much higher heat in breast stroke).

But the swim meet went long, so by the time we got home and cleaned up and the kids in bed, it was almost 10:00pm. I did do the Ab Ripper video, and yes, my abs are sore today. Not as sore as I thought they would be, but sore. And then this morning I ran 5 miles in the heat and humidity. I will not share my time because it was really pathetic, but I did it.

So three days down in the 30 day challenge...

Day One

I ran last night with my friend Wendy. And yes, I am on the East Coast and the humidity stinks, but going out at 8:00pm helped some. That and we were sprinkled on a few times.

4.25 miles done.

No running today, Ashley has a swim meet tonight. I plan on doing the P90X Ab Ripper video and some leg exercises when I get home from that.

New Challenge

Now that school is back and we are back to a somewhat normal schedule and I have to get back into half marathon training again in the middle of August, I have decided to give myself a new challenge for the next 30 days - do freaking something exercise worthy everyday. And it is starting today. Luckily, I have the P90X Ab Ripper and Yoga DVDs, so on days I don't run or go to the gym, I plan on doing those. I will keep track of this here, just to make myself accountable.

I haven't run in a week. Last week was vacation and running around and then this weekend I was hit with a head cold. So I took the wimpy way out and didn't run. But I have conned my friend Wendy to run with me tonight.

We finally had a weekend where we had nothing planned. Well, Ashley did have a friend spend the night Friday night and she had swim team practice on Saturday, but that was it. I pretended I was Betty Crocker and actually made dinner ahead for tonight, made a crapton of pancakes and froze them, and did grocery shopping. I also made Ashley's birthday party invitations and got those out the door (made them with the computer and scrapbooking supplies I had on hand - free invitations rock)(I am taking Ashley and 9 of her friends to see the new Ramona and Beezus movie for her birthday). We hit the pool yesterday with friends and just relaxed. I think it was the weekend we all needed. Especially me. I had a not so good week last week for multiple reasons, so this weekend helped some.

Ashley had a great first day of school and loves her teacher. She has two weeks of swim team left and then she will have a few weeks break from activities until cheerleading starts mid August. Then dance starts in September for both girls, and Ray just signed Audrey up for soccer this morning. Which I think starts next month too. Add in Girl Scouts and piano lessons and Y Princesses, trips for both Ray and I in October and our 35th birthdays (which I am seriously having issues with even though I realize it isn't a big one like 4-0), I think our fall is all booked out. Oh, and a trip to Disney World in September when Ashley is tracked out of school. And a half marathon race in November. GAH! Typing that all out just made my head spin around....

First Day of School

Yesterday, I took Ashley and a few of her friends to get their nails "done".
Because today is the first day of school. Meet my new second-grader who didn't even want me to walk her to the bus stop (although I did).

Almost back to our regular schedule

I took most of this week off since Ashley's goes back to school on Friday and I wanted her to have a little bit of a break from 3 weeks of camps before she started school. And no, I have no idea why they are starting on Friday. So back to school for her on Friday and back to work for me on Friday.

We had a really great 4th of July holiday. We headed back to the beach where we enjoyed full days on the sand (Monday we were on the beach from 8:00am until 4:00pm). Both of the girls unfortunately complained of headaches and sore throats throughout the weekend and today I decided to take Ashley to the doctor. She just has a sinus infection which I thought was going to be the diagnosis. And no, I have no pictures of the weekend...I forgot my camera. I also forgot Ashley's 4th of July shirt we bought at Walmart for her to wear, so of course I won Mommy of the Year for that mistake.

Tomorrow we have meet the teacher since we were finally assigned a teacher and we are remaining on track 1. Yippee!

Today I took Ashley and a friend to the mall, and Holy Hell, I got a glimpse of what the teenage years are going to look like. Ashley and this particular friend really, really like shopping. Ashley is going to need to get a job to support this habit when she is old enough. Thankfully for both of them, all the stores were having ridiculous sales on summer stuff, so I got Ashley an entire outfit for the first day of school for $10 at Gap Kids. I know, I really scored big time. It's not even a store I normally go in for myself or the kids. Tomorrow I am taking the two of them to get their nails done.

So Friday - back to our regular routine for 9 weeks until Ashley tracks back out in September. We have 2 more weeks of swim team, and then we will have a few weeks of no activities until the fall stuff gears back up.

That and Ashley turns 7 on the 21st of this month. I am so not prepared to be the parent of a 7 year old.

Finally an update

Crazy week. Why does everything happen at once?

I ran Monday night at 9:00pm and it was still 90 degrees out (and no Mom, I did not run alone). It was just a big sweat-fest. And I haven't run since even though the weather is actually cooler these past few days (and by cooler I mean 80). But I plan on running at the beach this weekend, my absolute favorite place to run.

Ashley had a swim meet Tuesday night which was rained out and rescheduled for last night. Both nights I couldn't stay to watch; Tuesday night we had friends from Virginia stopping by on their way back from Florida for the night and last night I saw Eclipse.

OMIGOD I want to see it again it was that good. I am still Team Edward.

Ashley is in her final week of camp and according to the school, we will find out her second grade teacher Monday (she starts school next Friday, July 9th) (and no, I have no idea why the hell they are starting school on a Friday). Audrey is in her new Pre-K classroom and loves it. No transition issues or anything. Her teacher actually taught Ashley as well and commented how different Audrey is then Ashley. As in Audrey is so much more quieter than Ashley was.

Ashley is in a Girl Scouts camp this week, and on the way to drop her off this morning, she was singing one of her camp songs which I now have stuck in my head.

I said a Boom Chicka Boom....

Now hopefully I have passed that onto you.

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.