10/10!!!!

I did it!! I actually saw a resolution all the way through! Last time this happened I was eight and had vowed not to watch Murder, She Wrote. 

This was not a speed race. This was 2,600 people dressed like Santa. I'm totally making the whole family do it next year (in costume, of course) and there *may* be Jell-O shots. It was SO FUN!

Finished! They gave us cookies and milk at the end of the race. And whole boxes of protein bars which was kind of random.

Cali kids so excited to see "snow"

Catching up

We had the "storm of the decade" and it was underwhelming. I also screwed up chicken noodle soup epically. It was so gross.

I took a spontaneous day off this week. The girls and I hit up the Walmart, then story time, and then picked our Christmas tree in about 2.4 seconds. Basically I walked up to the kid and asked what he had for under $50. 

Turned out $50 will buy you a pretty big ass tree. Is it just me, or are the sparser trees more popular this year? The couple I've seen, I like a lot.

We went out to dinner tonight. A marching band came through and we were stuck between the tubas and the drums. Pretty sure it was the most relaxing part of the evening.

Averson's been wearing that tiger costume as a coat. The preschool moms think C is a genius.

We're off to holiday the f out of this weekend. There's a craft bazaar tomorrow (squee!) and Syd gets to wear her Christmas dress twice. OMG.

9/10

So, there's no pre-race selfie because I ALMOST MISSED THE RACE. This was a marathon relay and I was given the third leg, which started at the halfway point 13.1.) I did basic math, subtracted an hour, and left for the relay point. 

Putting my shoes on outside to trick the dog. Totally didn't work.

So I drove ten of the fifteen miles to my spot and literally couldn't go any further. After driving like a banshee through residential neighborhoods, I managed to gain another two miles. I called a teammate for an ETA of the second leg runner and realized I wasn't going to make it. So I screeched into the parking lot of perhaps the most ghetto sports bar ever, threw on my gear, took a final swig of water, and joined the race. I ended up running 10.04 miles (instead of the seven I'd planned.) My first mile was great, but I really struggled with my pacing for the rest of it, so I alternated running too fast and walking. I think all the adrenaline wiped me out. That and there were a LOT of hills. My legs are aching already. 

But I made it and my time wasn't awful. I beat my Leg 2 runner by about two minutes and found my Leg 4 runner easily. Then I jumped/hobbled onto a school bus to the finish to meet up with the rest of the team.

So tiny! And I'm not a tall person. Also, this bus REEKED.

Our team. I'd only ever met the girl in the skirt, who was not on either side of my run of course.

The shirt is not cute, but this will always be my "Never give up!" race. Also, a reminder that I don't need to do this kind of race again. It was fun, and the course support was amazing, but I think for me running is definitely an individual sport. 

Holy crap. This is going to happen!

You guys! I just registered for my tenth race. Number nine is this weekend. At the very last minute (like two days ago), I was invited to be on a relay team for the California International Marathon. I am so, so excited! Number ten involves Santa suits :)

Out of the mouths of...

Best quote of the day

"You can only stab so many people...Besides, it's like stabbing the beast! You just keep stabbing these guys and the don't die."

Angsty

Sunday nights blow around here lately. As I was putting in a load of work clothes and finishing up a dishwasher-full of travel mugs and benefits, I had the clearest thought that I am not looking forward to work. At all. I HATE this feeling. I can usually find my ray of sunshine, but longish weekends make it harder.

I had to bail on work on Friday when a sick, feverish baby threw a wrench in the delicate ballet of pick-up/drop-off/rinse/repeat. Turns out that meant that I could go to Sydney's "feast." It was really fun, and I'm glad I went, but I was definitely the second string parent. The preschool teacher, who's been her teacher for two years, couldn't remember my name.

I also feel like I spend all weekend recovering from the week (cleaning, laundry) and preparing for the week ahead. I mustang get excited about getting up early to spend eight hours in a windowless office. I know, world's tiniest violin. But as I was whining to C, he asked what I'd rather do, besides stay home since that's not a feasible option unless we win the lottery.  I came up with some fantastical ideas, but there were actually a couple that could work. Like doing community work or opening a used bookstore :)

So that's where I'm at. If I'm going to miss 40-60 hours of time with my family, I'd prefer that it not suck.

Seven years

We found this in an old play wallet today

So then we decided to remake the same shot

Kind of blows my mind

Not Dora!

Ack! I totally forgot to post about Syd's hair. She had a salon appointment for a trim, and at the last minute decided that she wanted it, "short, like yours!" Honestly, it was the end of a long day and I had no negotiation left in me, so after double-checking with C I told my stylist to do whatever Syd/Nina asked for. Guys, she saw the first cut and sweetly, quietly said, "Can it be a little shorter please?"

So when it's all said and done we head home to show off the new look. We walk in and a visible relief washes over C's face. Later he told me, "I was so worried she was going to look like Dora!" 

Not Dora, but very spunky Nina

A day with Belle

A while back, I promised Syd we'd go see Beauty and The Beast. Then I saw the price for tickets. There was no way I was paying $100+ to take a 4 year old to an exceptionally long off-Broadway play.

Luckily for me, the local high school just happened to also be putting on Beaty and the Beast, for a much more kid-friendly price. AND, for an extra $10 we got to have brunch in the library with Belle and her friends. Syd was apoplectic.

And it was great! The costumes were awesome and the singing was great. The girls loved the show, though got predictably antsy about 3/4 of the way through. It didn't matter though, since the theatre was full of other antsy 4 year olds. 

I think we'll look into other high school plays. I want my kids to have some exposure to something other than Netflix and the atmosphere and price makes it totally doable.

Avery Paige is unimpressed

We took the kids to the fish hatchery to watch the salmon today (more fun than it sounds, I promise!) Syd (who goes by Nina now) wanted to take our picture. I kind of love Averson's face an awful lot.

Halloween/Birthday

One of the top fives for sure! The kids' costumes came out great, no one was whiny, there was a surprise googly eyed cake, and I ended up drinking more wine than I meant to. And I was gifted both a schmancy coffee maker and an apple master. 34 is off to a good start!

So fun!

Pizza box, Cowgirl Princess, and Baby Tiger

Trick or treating

Averson loved trick-or-treating! She wasn't so into the candy part, but she loved saying, "Thank you!" and then, "Bye!" In fact, she loved saying goodbye so much that it often turned into an awkward standoff because no one wanted to shut the door in a toddler's face. Totally adorable and it reminded me of Eli trick or treating and giving candy to the people who opened their doors.

Schmanvy coffee maker. V exciting and officially making me a two-coffee-pot person.

8/10

This was a 10k trail run and It. Was. Awesome. I'd never been to the little town it was in, and certainly hadn't ever been on the trail. However, my friend and I grabbed coffees and made the 45 minute trek with the following dialogue: "Hey! Wasn't this area closed yesterday?" "Yes, but that sniper they were looking for out here two days ago got caught." "Yes, I'm sure." "Pretty sure." "Wait, let me Google it real quick." "Okay, were good. Let's go!" "Oh crap. These people look like real runners." "Shit, they're warming up and stuff. They've got gear. Crap! What have we done?!"


Despite our fear of a) looking like idiots and b) possibly getting murdered we soldiered on. It started out foggy and cool, and the trail was gorgeous. And it just kept getting better! This race was full of legit trail runners and I was definitely bush league. We started at the complete back, and one by one passed several people (whispering to each other each time.) We ended up finishing right in the middle, which is completely acceptable to me. I loved this race and it's absolutely on my list of "do again" races.

So fun!

Gorgeous!

Finish line pizza and cookies

Terrible shot, but I'm a creature of habit :)

Not so awesome is that my tweaked knee from the half started to act up again, and after the race got so bad that it hurt to walk at all. I've self-diagnosed it as my IT band from running on the banked roads. I've still got two races to do this year, and I will crawl them if I have to. Last time I just rested it and for the most part felt great, until I tried to run again. This time I'm going to work on active recovery and strengthening. I think I'm done with long (10k+) races for the year, so hopefully I can baby it enough to not take myself out of the running (ha!)

Ouch

Three kids and this one gets the first broken bone. And if my heart wasn't already breaking, they didn't have a sling small enough to fit her tiny arm.

She's such a trooper but you can tell it hurts. That little "ouch" got her cookies for breakfast and rill probably get her a pony.

Lowered expectations

We set out for the obligatory Fall pumpkin/apple trek last weekend. Spoiler alert: we did not pick pumpkins or apples. 

Taken by a guy in the parking lot who insisted on taking our picture for me. 

Feeding goats!

Seriously. This may be the best one I got.

During our "hike"

Syd is unimpressed by apple cider donuts.

Let's go to a farm and eat hot dogs and GMO-ridden potato chips!

Ultimately I bought a bag of apples to redeem the trip. Apparently drought=no apples :(

How to dress for prison

I'm always striving for the right professional "look." As a line staff I dressed pretty casually in khakis, nice t shirts, and flats. As a supervisor though, I've got to step up my game a bit. It's not a "suit every day" place but it's also not a super casual place. 

Working where I do, there are a lot of restrictions. No blue, no plain white shirts, no red, orange, or loose gray shirts. No open-toed shoes (not that I would!) No denim or chambray etc. Basically nothing that might make me look like an inmate (you'd be surprised.)

On top of all that, I try to dress pretty modestly at work. Not frumpy, but modest. I work around rapists and murderers with less-than-appropriate social skills, after all. A lot of "work style" blogs don't work in my situation since I won't wear skirts, skinny pants, v necks etc. However, I have found an unexpected treasure trove of inspiration in LDS style bloggers. The whole premise is stylish, modest dressing! Which leads me to the tip of the day.

One of my go-tos has been the cardigan/cami combo BUT it's nearly impossible to find high cut tanks that don't cost $20 each. Solution? Wear it backwards! So simple but it totally works. Observe...

 Who would've thought! Such a great trick! Now when I wear them regularly I feel super naked.

What are some of your favorite style blogs?

I'm loving The Mom Edit and Good Life For Less for my weekend styles right now

Any work "uniform" tips?

7/10

My second half marathon of the year! I was grossly underprepared but I still beat my previous time by a full minute :) I had complained to C that Tinkerbell was so "theme-y" that it didn't really feel like a half marathon (despite being 13 freaking miles!) This one was the exact opposite. This one felt overwhelmingly legit. I'm not sure which I prefer. I missed the on course entertainment but I did not miss the ridiculous crowds and the wing dodging.

I ran this one with my brother and sister-in-law and it was so fun. We talked and laughed the whole time.

We also ran, in parts, with my friend D from the Tinkerbell. This was her fifth half this year! She's a beast. A really fun, positivity spewing beast.

This was the first run where I had actual pain, forcing me to go slower than I would have liked. I was on pace to finish between 2.30 and 2.45, and getting very excited about it, until my knee flared up. A few miles of the course were on roads that were banked and I'm sure that's what did it. It was right on the line between discomfort and injury so I held back. Also, it hurt like a B to run too long. I have a trail race I'm really excited for in two weeks so I wasn't willing to risk it. I'm so glad I didn't push myself too far. I'm sore today, but I think I'll be back to running in a couple days.
This was also only the second race that C and the kids have gone to as spectators. He ended up finding me at two spots on the course and then at the finish line. I think my favorite favorite part of the day was high-giving my kids at mile 7 and again right before the finish line.

It occurred to me this morning that this goal is actually going to happen! I can't believe it. Seriously. Three more and I'm done!