a little change

So I'm training for this half marathon and it is consuming me a little. So much that I am suspending this blog for a few weeks, and have started a little running blog to chronicle my journey. I apologize if you don't care about running. If that's the case I'll be back in 16 weeks.

If you want to follow me, here's the link.

Wish me luck!

The Half Marathon Challenge

I was at the fitness center yesterday at work and a couple of girls were talking about doing a half marathon. One said "Amy, you should do it too". My initial response was like - yeah right. The longest I've run is 5 miles. How in the heck could I do 13.1? Then as I sat at my desk the rest of the afternoon, I really started thinking about it. One of the girls emailed me a training plan and told me again I should do it with them. The more I thought about it, the more I got excited about it. So, I have officially decided to run the Tulsa Route 66 Half Marathon in Nov. Everyone needs a challenge every once in awhile. And honestly, if something doesn't come easy for me, I quit. This will not be easy - and I am ready to push myself. I'll be deep and call it personal growth. So, I've got 15 weeks to train. Here goes nothing.....

Date Night Co-op

I can't take credit for this idea. I wish. It is sheer brilliance. We just started a Date Night co-op. Here's how it works. There are 3 families. We each take turns watching all the kids on Friday nights. The other 2 couples get a date night. 2 1/2 hours, no paying a babysitter. You get 2 date nights and 1 babysitting night, with the 4th weekend off. It is working beautifully. The babysitters feed the kids, too. Last night was our first babysitting night. On the menu was mac and cheese and grapes (Chilis to go for Andy and I ). I have to say, we have the best mix of kids. They all played so well together. My kids, of course, were the worst. But all in all, it was easy, fun, and most of all free. Our newest idea is the off week, we're going to split the cost of a babysitter and all go out together. Here's to many free babysitter nights and much needed time alone with your spouse!

Flashback

I'm playing stay at home mom today for half the day. We woke up bright and early and hit the blackberry patch one more time. We love that place. And the blackberries were seriously the biggest we've EVER seen. It rained over the weekend and produced the most gorgeous crop. Now we're hanging out at home and the kids are playing with their 2nd cousins. I'm getting ready to make them a nutritious lunch then I'm off to work this afternoon. I have to say - I do miss the leisurely life of days filled with nothingness in the summer. My grey cubicle that I'm lucky enough is next to a window, is going to be soooooo hard to go to this afternoon. Until Andy calls me with a question and I won't be able to hear him due to all the screaming in the background.

Running and magazines

For those who don't know, I've taken up running. I want to first of all say - I used to LOATHE running. And I'm not exaggerating. I really hated it. I was a sprinter in high school track. I'll run really fast for 100 yards, but then I'm done. I'm also okay with admitting that I really needed to lose some weight. Like 3 kids worth. Once I started my job, I of course didn't know anyone well enough to do lunch, so I took myself down to the fitness center every day, hopped on the treadmill and watched some HGTV. I decided to issue myself a little challenge. Run for a minute then add a minute every day. Well, in a few months time, I worked up to my 30 minutes on the treadmill in a full jog. No to mention, I shed 25 pounds doing it. Thus the obsession has started. I'm now getting up at 5:30 3-4 days a week and hitting the fitness center first thing. Mainly because I wanted more time in the treadmill to see if I could go farther. And I wanted my lunch hour back to run errands etc. Which brings me to magazines. Today, was a rough one. And I needed off campus in a bad way. Lucky for me, there's a Barnes and Noble 2 minutes away. So I headed over there, found a large comfy chair and read Runners World magazine. It was just what I needed. Seriously - there's nothing better than being able to sit and read, then put it back, and leave. So I've decided that's my new thing now. At least once a week, I'm going to head over there and catch up on my running, parenting, and Martha magazines. But now due to Runner's World - I have the half marathon bug.......can I really do it?!?!?!

Annual Blackberry Patch Picking

Today we hit our favorite Blackberry patch for some blackberry picking. This is one of our favorite things to do in the summer. But we needed to start the morning out with some donuts first!

The boy table. Check out that bear claw uncle Chris is eating!

Buckets in hand and ready to go.

Andy is the most serious picker of all. Wispering to Carson on how to find the best ones so that others don't hear his secret. I better not share it here.

Pregnant Aunt Lana decided to park it under the shade tree. So Uncle Chris was left on his own.

Some of the haul. We ended up with 6lbs. Not too bad

Proved to be a tiring day for the girls. It was only 9:15am too.

A bad day

It starts with me getting dressed at work because I got up early and hit the fitness center before work. Its the first day of the month which translates to crunch time for accountants. Its going to be a very busy day and I have got to plan my time strategically to get it all done without being there till 9pm. The "suits" are here from out of town and we are all to be on our best behavior. As I am buttoning my dress, one pops off. Right at the bust. Nice. I strategically make it to my desk without many seeing me and then begin asking those around me for a sewing kit. Note to self - I have got to bring up a sewing kit. Anyway, found one, sewed it on quickly and am ready to start the day. Enter problem employee who is telling me she has messed up yet ANOTHER thing. On the last day of the month. When everything has got to be in. On time. (Insert silent scream) Proceed to spend 4 hours on something that should have taken 1 hour. After lunch, as I'm walking, I hear a crack and am instantly 2 inches shorter. Yep, the heel of one of my shoes has completely broken off. Completely. I peek around the corner to make sure the execs aren't seeing me head down the hall barefoot. I seek out Judy who I know has everything (hoping for superglue), who told me to ask Ken, who told me to ask Jane, who told me to ask Shannon for the glue. None of these people sit by each other so I am peeking around cubicles, again to make sure the coast is clear before the CFO sees me barefoot. No luck on the superglue. Note to self, add super glue to the list that has sewing kit on it. But I scored some spare shoes from Collette. Didn't quite go with the dress, but at this point, really, who cares? Somehow I managed to get out of there about an hour and a half after quitting time. Not too shabby for the kind of day I've had.

There it is. A day in my glamorous life.

Don't' be jealous.