Zoom through my First 1/2 Marathon

There I am....wondering if my heart is still beating.

My gals that ran with me.  

I have been a runner most of my life.  Not a fast runner, but a runner.  I think it started when I watched the movie "Wildcats" starring Goldie Hawn.  In the movie she made a bet with one of her players to see who could out run the other.  They ran what seemed to be day and night and she eventually won.  Goldie is lots older than I am so I figured if she could do it then so could I!  Well, I am 30ish now and have never done a 1/2 marathon.  My good friend and I started by the book.  We had our running schedules on the calender and stuck with them.  When it was race day I was extremely nervous.  Once the race started I relaxed a bit but noticed our pace was a lot faster than it normally was during practice.  "Pretty soon we are going to start running out of gas", is what I thought every time I got an update from my beloved RunKeeper ap.  My friend, Erin, and I trained for the whole race together and ran the whole race together.  I had the perfect running experience, and we beat our goal by more than we thought we were able.  We finished 13.1 miles in 1:57minutes.  Our pace was 8:58per mile.  After the run I was done!  I had to drink four giant Gatorades before I started feeling normal again.  The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa was a perfect place to run the race and relax afterwards, but I opted out of the massages since I wasn't prepared to sell my kidney in exchange for an hour massage.  All that hard work and all for a great cause.  It still amazes me that people pay to torture themselves so that they can better the world....I'm one of them!  Zooma was a delightful first 1/2 marathon, and I got a cute "Z" necklace when I finished.  I plan to do the Austin 1/2 marathon in February and my running partner, Erin, has agreed she would train and run it with me again....how comforting.

I Loved Prom and Now I Love Bluebonnet Ball

Me and the sweetest man I know

 Six proms.  That is correct.....I attended six proms, and I loved every single one of them.  When I entered into the Navy life I realized that this fancy, dress-up, happiness would not be lost since we had to attend formal dining outs and Navy/Marine Balls every so often.  After the Navy life was over I had a sense of sadness as I packed away all my formal dresses, but luckily my lovely town hosts a Bluebonnet Ball every year for local charities.  I love the Ball, because it gives me a chance to dress up again and you get to mingle with a lot of friends and different people that every day life doesn't allow.  This year I was lucky enough to inherit a great dress from my sister-in-law (she's pregnant).  The only problem is that is was a touch too small so I had to starve myself before the ball to fit into it.  Thank goodness I was training for a 1/2 marathon or I would have never fit into it.

Our Shoe Clips

One great thing I learned from my dear friend was the concept of shoe clips!!!  I bought some wonderful shoe clips on Etsy!  Now, I don't have to buy new shoes for the ball!  You can buy all sorts of shoe clips and it changes the look of a simple shoe in seconds.  No more buying expensive shoes for every occasion!

My friend with a heart of gold.  And gold shoe clips.

Another thing that was great about the ball this year was my sweet date.  He doesn't go to formal occasions often so we had to get him a tie, shoes, and belt before the occasion.  He purchased all these things for $70 at Macy's!!!  Love those giant sales there, but you have to get them while the gettin is good (I'm so country).  I picked out his tie....the red matches my shoe clips.  He was a fantastic date and he even donated a set of tires for the silent auction.  He makes me smile a lot too which is totally comforting!  

I was starving!!!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This year Catie is old enough for T-ball and Bucky is in.....sniff......Coach Pitch.  That is correct.  My first born will be standing in front of a grown man throwing a ball at him.  His practices are twice a week from 7:30-8:30pm.  This is no joke.  Catie gets one practice a week at 5:30pm (different day than Buck's practice), and after games start she doesn't have practice anymore.  Not Buck....practice once a week at 7:30pm.  He actually likes the structure and the stern coach.  For being a goofball, he thrives on hardcore structure.  Another problem I faced this year with baseball was different teams.  I had to deal with two different practices AND two different games at two different times, or even the same time.  This was the one time in my life that I actually wished they were twins.  They are "Irish" twins which is comforting most of the time.

Spring Break for the Old Folks

Now that I am a responsible parent of two my Spring Break trips aren't like they used to be, but they are still fun!  Taos, NM was the place to be for Spring Break 2011!!!!  Again, ski school was a must, but we walked into a cluster when we arrived on the mountain.  "Sorry, ski school is booked.  Snowboarding school is available."  That is what we heard when we entered the Children's Center expecting to sign up our children.  My sister-in-law and I looked at each other with wide eyes and we knew what we had to do.....we had to convince our girls that snowboarding class will be just as fun as ski school and if it isn't, then we will enroll them into ski school tomorrow.  Problem averted, and both boys and girls entered into a day of snowboarding class so that Debbie and I could go ski our hearts out.  Catie; however, DID NOT like snowboarding and dropped out.  She was a prize skier by the end of the week.  She even made it down the green that goes ALL the way down the mountain!

This time I rented my skies from a different rental place that writes my name on them in hope that someone else on the mountain doesn't have the name Izzy W.  Luckily, no one stole them this time.  I guess there aren't many Izzy's out there.

Debbie and I had a great week skiing.  The weather was perfect and the snow was awesome.  We even got to ski with our children at the end of each ski day.  We may be older, but we had the best Spring Break EVER!  Spring Break is comforting.

Goodbye Hair

One of my friends, who had Catie in her 3-4 year old class, mentioned to me that my lovely Catie was voted most likely to cut her own hair.  She is five now and every time I brought my sweet sunshine into daycare with all of her hair intact I felt a small sense of accomplishment.  This accomplishment lasted until President's Day (insert dramatic music here).  Catie and Buck were having a grand time on President's Day since school was out, but I was trying to get ready to go see one of my customers that day.  They are a child friendly customer, of course.  Then I noticed the pencil box full of hair.  "Catie, what is in that box?"....."Hair"....."Whose hair?"..."Me and Buck's".  Greeeeeaaaaat.  Hair dressers do not work on President's Day.  I was then forced to take my hairless sunshine to my friend who originally told me that she would cut her hair so that she could temporarily fix it until I could get a hair appointment.  Sigh.....

The good new is that she looks terribly adorable with her hair short.  When people ask her why she cut her hair her response is "I like it showt".  Now, she has decided that she wants to grow her hair out again.  Perfect.  At least I will be able to fix her hair again, and giant bows are comforting!

Pinot's Pallet Woke the Inner Artist in ME!!!!!

My delightful friend, Jamie, wanted to get me out of the house for some "girl time".  She booked us a spot at Pinot's Pallet to paint one of my favorite paintings, Starry Night.  Well, I'm no Van Gogh (mainly because I have both ears intact), but I'd say it came out nicely.  It was fairly easy too.  The painting has my personal hidden meanings in it and is proudly displayed in my living room for all to see.  Jamie placed hers in her bathroom which makes the loo experience especially nice at her house.  After the experience at Pinot's Pallet I decided that I was an artist/painter.  Jamie bought my paint supplies for my birthday and I went to work on my first painting for my mother.  Mother's Day was approaching and it is virtually impossible to get a woman who has everything a gift she would really enjoy.  Her place of happiness is in Taos, NM and it is her sweet house.  I took a picture of it when I was there last in hope that I could copy it in paint.  One thought before I painted it was to "grid" it and make it look exactly like the picture, but I felt it was more "artistic" if I did it without the grid (plus, the canvas didn't measure out equally to the picture so I couldn't do it anyway without distortion).  I think it turned out ok, but Suga (my mom) adored it!  Mission accomplished.....how comforting!



We Are Dog People

I grew up always having animals in my home.  My mother was told by numerous friends that we (kids) all had allergies and should get rid of our pets, but she believed it would make our immune systems stronger.  Plus, she adored our pets and wouldn't think twice about getting rid of them.  I am so grateful she instilled the compassion in me that I have for animals.  I can only hope that I will give that to my children as well.  The dogs in our house are just like our fellow family members.  It isn't odd that they are found lounging on the couch during the day or sleeping with the kids in their beds at night.  The dogs are a great affection back up too.  If you feel like you need a hug and all the humans are crabby that day then you will always have a dog who will be happy to snuggle up with you.  I'm sure other animals are too, but I'm having trouble crossing over to the cat world.  It seems every day I'm chasing a cat away from the little bird nest in one of my hanging plants, and it reminds me how innocent and kind my dogs are to other living things....at least they are when I'm paying attention to them.  Dogs are comforting!

I'm a Dog Owner; Therefore, I'm a Vet

My long time driving partner, Marty, likes to go with my other driving friend, Pinto, to my neighbor's house for a play date with their dogs. When I know I'm going to be driving for a long time for work that day the dogs will get their beloved play date. One day my friend rang me and sounded frantic on the the other end of the phone. Apparently, there was a dog fight and Marty got the tip of his ear ripped off. When I went to pick the dogs up, my friend was frantically mopping her house and her hair and clothes looked disheveled. She was panicked and afraid I would be angry with her, because my sweet dog got his ear ripped off. I was ok with it, but it was my friend who should have been the frustrated one. Every time Marty shook his head blood would splatter about her house. I tried to ease the situation by making a band aid for Marty with scooby doo band aids and gauze. I also informed my friend that if there should ever be a murder at her house the CSI investigators will be very confused by all the canine blood remnants. She wasn't entertained.

When I got Marty to the vet they admired my scooby band aid fix on Marty's ear. They stitched him up and when two weeks went by and he was supposed to get the stitches out I took them out myself to save money. I'm thinking I missed my Veterinarian calling. At least I know that I don't panic when my dog gets hurt and needs my assistance, and that is comforting.

The Art of Marshmallow Roasting is not Lost

I can not remember the last time I had roasted marshmallows with my children. Luckily, my neighbors had the goods for the job and we were able to enjoy the warm, sweet, goo of marshmallows again. Another positive, no one poked their eyes out with sticks. That night when we got home I felt a slight drip in the back of my throat. The kids seemed to be coughing a little more too. I immediately went to the store to prepare for the allergy season that was approaching. Spring is great except for that pollen that makes my family and I miserable but makes the the world prettier. No problem....I'm prepared this year. I'm comforting.