How is it 2013?

Where have I been?  Living life.  Trying to savor each day as its own.  I end up rarely sitting down at my home computer. (I've already been called away fifteen times just to write this post.) 2011 was the last time I posted and it is almost a distant memory.  2012 had its highlights with only a few lowlights, at least that I can remember, so I'll just go from there.  Then we'll see if I can keep posting on a more regular basis.

• Drove my mom up to MD to meet my sister's newest baby Sloane.  I can't remember the last time I shared a hotel room with one of my parents.
• Ran the Uwharrie Mountain 20 miler for the second time.  Took almost an hour off my finishing time in 2011.  Plus I ran the whole course solo.
• Adrian had back surgery to resolve a herniated disk and bone spurs in his lower back.
• Nick turned 7 and all he wanted was his two front teeth.  And a baseball theme birthday party.  He watched "Sandlot" and had pizza and ice cream cake.
• Attempted (and failed) to break 2 hours in the half marathon, twice.  Stupid heat and humidity in the South.
• Said good bye to the Age 30-34 age bracket by running around the hideous campus of UNC with some of my greatest running friends.  (Go Pack!)
• Went to Central NY to see Adrian's family.  Day trips to the Syracuse Zoo, lower Adirondacks, National Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Celebrated Adrian's 40th birthday.  My attempts to throw a huge celebration were completely shot down.  Instead we went to Adventure Landing as a family to play laser tag and miniature golf.  We let him win at everything.
• Ran the Blue Ridge Relay again.  With the hangover, sleep deprivation, and constantly biting my tongue, I don't think I'll run it again.  It's hard for this wallflower to be "on" for 4 days.
• Travis turned 5.  GranDebbie came to visit.  He scored some action figures, a new guitar with a case and picks.  It was his "best birthday ever".
• Ran the Triple Lakes 40 miler, my second ultramarathon.  It took forever.  And I would definitely run that course again.  It's a beautiful set of trails in Bur Mil Park outside Greensboro.
• Ran about half of the Shut In Ridge trail race.  I was not fully recovered from my ultra and didn't fuel adequately for the mountains.  It was still a great trip to Asheville and I will attempt it again.
• Went to Central NY for Thanksgiving.  We explored for a day in Ithaca, saw family, crashed the local run club's turkey trot.  Took an alternate way back to also visit W-S before returning home.
• Christmas Eve tradition is at home with a big dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, and crescent rolls.  Santa was good to everyone.
• Our friend Jared got married in Chapel Hill.  The boys had a blast dancing with the flower girls all night long.
• New Year's Eve was done at home.  Travis made it to 9 pm.  Nick had a bet that he could stay awake.  He was snoring at 11:30 so I let him sleep until 11:55 so he wouldn't miss the countdown.  Then we all slept until after 10 am on New Year's Day.

I think that comes as close as we can get to caught up.  If I get a chance (ha!) I will come back with more details and photos on some of the bullet points.

Three Four and Easter

I was forced to turn another year older.  Again.  The same as every year I share my day with Earth Day.  And to make it extra special it was also Good Friday and I had the day off.  I had hit the trifecta.  A triple threat day.  Whatever you want to call it.
The night before my birthday we met up with friends for a Durham Bulls game.

On my birthday I slept in as much as the boys would let me.  Once they were up I just dozed off in front of the TV and occasionally said "leave your brother alone".  I left the house to run Easter bunny errands and eat lunch at the Q Shack (no one else likes it so I go by myself and don't have to hear any whining).  For dinner we went to Red Robin where they sang to me and gave me a hot fudge sundae.  Adrian said we should go to the AT&T store to see when our contracts were up.  Then he surprised me with a new iphone.  I didn't know how much I would love it, but I really do.

For Easter weekend we went to my mom's house.  The boys always have a good time there exploring outside and playing with our old toys.  We dyed eggs on Saturday.  Then on Sunday morning before my run I (or the Easter bunny) hid eggs in the backyard.  Note to the Easter bunny, next year Nicholas wants them to be harder to find.

It's a White Boxing Day

I awoke in the morning from my food coma.  The weatherman got it right, albeit slightly off in the estimated delivery time.  We had a good blanket of snow everywhere and it was still falling.  The poor shrubs and saplings all crippled under the weight of fresh snow.  The power lines sagging with a couple of inches of snow.
Shortly after we were moving around the house and visions of biscuits with leftover ham were tossed around - the power went out.  Pretty hard to make biscuits without electricity.  Adrian reported the outage (pretty sure they know when it's out with their fancy technology stuff, but this way they call back with estimated times of power restoration).  The boys rocked out with the guitars, fired off the nerf guns, and made a mess with play doh.  I chatted with friends and family via text message.  Adrian surfed the web with his ipad.  You know, all the things people did before electricity was invented.  We ate cereal for breakfast and now we're out of milk.
The power came back on a couple hours later but it was at least another hour before the boys figured it out.  Adrian ventured out to find key survival items like coffee.  A Dunkin Donuts was open, score!
I cooked an omelet with leftover ham and cheese and baked some dinner rolls from the freezer for a late brunch.  And then it was time to check out the snow!  Snowball fight!  (For those keeping track, this is the third snowfall this winter.  I'm sure that's a record.  We really don't get this much snow in NC.  It must be global warming or the President's fault.)

He owns matching hat and gloves, but loses them regularly.

He owns a winter coat and vest, but refuses to wear them.

He starts the snowball fights.

Wrestling in the snow.

On another note, our teenage boy neighbor had a girl over to build a snowman.  Cute.

Merry Christmas

Santa came through this year and fulfilled the boys' wishes.  What a good guy.  The boys were up with the sun and very excited.  Thank you to all of our loved ones.  We had plans to drive to Winston-Salem and stay the night with my mom.  A big honey ham was on the menu.  Unfortunately Jack Frost had snow on the menu.  We got on the road mid-morning.

One of Travis' new guitars.  He's a rock star, you know.

Nicholas' theme for this Christmas: Nerf guns!

Christmas rocks!

 Snow was already sticking by the time we got to Winston-Salem.  We were the first in the family to arrive at my mom's.  Then almost everyone else arrived at the same time.  Mass present unwrapping ensued.  It was a lot of fun to see everyone.  My nieces and nephews keep growing up.  There's talks of college acceptances, dean's lists, graduations, braces, etc.

There was almost an inch by the time we left Winston-Salem.  The side roads were becoming slick.  We decided to go ahead and travel back east to Raleigh and beat the snow.  Halfway back it was just rain and we were safely home.
Since our original plans were thwarted by Jack Frost, we had a big ole honey ham to cook.  And I decided to make macaroni and cheese from scratch.  A friend gave me a recipe off the back of a noodle box and swore it was the best ever.  Every dish was ready at the same time, amazing feat.  Before we ate Adrian paused and said a big thank you for the wonderful meal.  It really was good.  Honey ham is awesome.  And that macaroni and cheese was the next level of awesome.  Sorry mom, you missed out.  Blame the weatherman.
Some lucky stray dog had a good Christmas present too.  We put the ham bone out by the curb.  It was a beauty and if I was dog I would have gone to town on that.

Turkey Lurkey

I don't remember exactly what was accomplished on Thanksgiving Day.  We lounged around watching the Macy's parade.  Finally it was captivating enough for both boys.  Score!  Then at some point later we were all dressed and ready to go to someone else's house where they had slaved away all day making dinner.  Score!
Jared was hosting this year after we had fed him in previous years.  His sister was coming to visit with her daughters.  He was very excited about the whole thing.  He suggested we all make banners.  My concept of banners is of the homecoming variety you hang from the top floor classroom windows in high school for the pep rally.  Adrian let Jared know that my banner was of the awesome nature.  Jared's response, "I didn't know this was a competition."  Hello?  Have we met?  Of course mine had to be the best.  He picked up our banner the day before Thanksgiving so it could be hanging on his deck when guests arrived.  Well we rolled up and ours was the lone banner.  No competition, they didn't even attempt to rival my creation.  Check it out:

The kids sitting still for a moment while dinner is still cooking.

The kids thank Jared for a wonderful dinner and a lot of fun - like whipped cream mustaches.

Halloween Preps

These guys returned again

Three pumpkins have been painted and placed on the front porch.

One pumpkin is waiting to be carved.  We just need the perfect jack-o-lantern face.

And Sunday night one pumpkin was sacrificed.  Its guts were removed and sorted.  And it was thrown in the oven for a while.  I think it made at least 12 cups of puree (I stopped counting after a while).  Tonight the seeds were roasted with butter, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, and brown sugar.  I am testing them with a bowl of coffee ice cream.  Big thumbs up!

There are many event scheduled in the coming days.  Festival at school, trick or treating at work, costume party, and neighborhood trick or treating.  There will be lots of costume changes - just like every weekend around here pretty much.

Thank You Easter Bunny

We made it to my mom's house in Winston-Salem.  The boys had a blast playing hide and seek in her yard.  Notice Travis's very stealth sneaking stride.

Then we dyed eggs on the deck.  Nicholas was very proud of his handywork.  Travis wasn't into it this year even though he was covered in a good bit of dye.

Easter morning brought a gorgeous day.  They hunted independently and as a team.  The boys were very happy with their loot.  Candy, small toys, and a little money.  (I put dollar bills and quarters in a few eggs.)

Happy Easter from Nicholas and Travis!!

New Year's Q&A

I borrowed this list of questions from another blog. At first I thought about not doing it, but the questions do make you think. It seems like earlier this year was ages ago when I was trying to dig deep for some thoughts.

When you're done go and check out All & Sundry. She's an amazing lady and I am inspired by her posts. I don't personally know her, but she seems pretty cool. And being a fellow runner with two boys - we have a few things in common. Plus she lives in the Northwest, where we'd like to check out the lifestyle one day.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Ran a 10K and a 15K race. Went to a horse race and placed a couple of losing bets. First son turned 4 and second son turned 2. Hosted a kid birthday party at my house. Wore running tights. Had a root canal and got a crown.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?



I don't remember having a resolution last year and I don't want to force one. Here are a few ideas that I've been throwing around for a while that I will put in print.
• Run a half marathon
• Incorporate more whole foods into our diet, and less processed junk
• Try to have a garden with more than just a tomato plant

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?



My baby sister had her first child, a sweet little girl named Blythe.

4. Did anyone close to you die?



No.

5. What countries did you visit?



Nothing outside the US - I need to renew my passport just in case 2010 has something in store.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

More time outside doing whatever - running, playing, hiking.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?



July 12 - running the Boilermaker and Dec 21 - texting with my sister while she was in early labor.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?



Obviously running distances I'd never thought I could do. I was able to that because I was getting up before sunrise to run around my neighborhood. And I have never ever been a morning person.

9. What was your biggest failure?



Forgetting to mail thank you notes and birthday cards to people.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

My usual tonsilitis viral thing a few times and my knee was out of alignment for a few weeks.

11. What was the best thing you bought?



New couch and chair with ottoman.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?



I can't really think of anyone, especially not a celebrity. I'll give credit to my 2 year old for learning that being a good boy does not include biting his friends.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?



Tiger Woods, Michael Jackson's family, and the Balloon Boy's parents.

14. Where did most of your money go?



Daycare, daycare, daycare, and groceries.

15. What did you get really excited about?

Going to Atlanta to see family. Having a great manager who appreciates my work and actually knows what I do all day.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?



Not sure, probably a song from Phineas & Ferb.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:


– happier or sadder? Happier, at least today.
– thinner or fatter? The same but more fit.


– richer or poorer? The same, I think.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?



Slowed down and paid more attention to everything around me.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?



Been in such a hurry to put kids to bed.

20. How did you spend Christmas?



At home and then to my mom's house.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?



I am in love with my boys more every day. But in regards to a new love it would have to be the gyros with fresh tsatsiki sauce in the caf at work.

22. What was your favorite TV program?



Royal Pains. I can't believe I have to wait until next summer for a new season.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?



No.

24. What was the best book you read?

I can't remember all the books I read this year. Currently I'm reading David Sedaris's "When You Are Engulfed in Flames". It's neat when he references where he grew up - because it's where I live now.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?


Nothing new, just the same old stuff.

26. What did you want and get?



Happy and healthy kids, on most days.

27. What did you want and not get?



A winning lottery ticket.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I don't get to the movies very often. I did see "Run, Fat Boy, Run" this year and I liked it a lot more than other movies I saw this year. So that counts.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

The day before my birthday there was cake for two other co-workers. I said "hey, my birthday is tomorrow, can we have that cake again?" They thought I was joking. The boys gave me some games for the Nintendo DS (that I gave myself). I turned 32.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?



Not having to work as much. Going to the beach and showing the boys how to make sand castles.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?



Trousers and heels for work, jeans and sneakers for home.

32. What kept you sane?



Running, coffee, and happy kids.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Anthony Bourdain, maybe. Simon Baker is pretty fantastic, too.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?



There's been some local stuff like the school board and the governor with their internal corruption issues. Even on that level they have a ridiculous sense of entitlement and power.

35. Who did you miss?



My dad.

36. Who was the best new person you met?



I can't think of anyone that was new this year that was the "best".

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.



People won't change, even when they say they're going to.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.



Keep on truckin.

2009 Close Out

A lot has happened in 2009. I would like to think you have all been reading along but just in case, here's a quick recap.
I ran 5K, 10K, and 15K races and managed to be successful at my job and impress people. We held our first kid birthday party at our house. Nicholas turned 4, Travis turned 2. I turned 28 again. And Adrian turned 37. Adrian attended a couple IT conferences, presented at one, and assisted at another. His lacrosse leagues, camp, and Stick It To Cancer tournaments were all successful. Nicholas is talking about kindergarten and shaving. Travis is starting to master talking in general. We traveled by car and went through North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, and Georgia to visit various family members and friends.



And this is the newest family member of 2009. My niece, Blythe Caroline, was born on December 22. She was in a big hurry to get here and thankfully my sister and brother-in-law made it to the hospital in time. They were released from the hospital and spent their first night at home on Christmas Eve. Now that's an awesome Christmas gift. She is a sweetheart and I can't wait to spend a lot of time with her and spoil her with lots of pink stuff.

We're Still Here

December has been kicking our tails. It snuck up on us real fast. My mind was running like crazy with things to finish, people to see. And the boys were going bonkers with all the excitement.

But we've managed to pull it together just in time. I learned that it's difficult for two boys to stand still and look happy at the same time. Some sort of photo montage was made through Snapfish and holiday cards were sent out with time to spare. Next year I'll try to collect some good photos of our trips and stuff and maybe I'll amaze you with a much better card next year.

I made several secret shopping trips to satisfy people's wish lists. Thank goodness no one ever broke into my car. My trunk was loaded with goodies for kids and grown ups. All presents are wrapped and under the tree - or hiding in a secret location for those who actually live here.
The boys' school had a teachers party one night. They rented normal size tables and chairs so I know they felt it was a very special occasion. My contribution was home made sugar cookies. The task of decorating got a little boring. I sampled a few just to be sure they were good enough. And we saved even more to keep for ourselves.

A new play place has been found in the house. I grew up playing in the basement, ours was huge. We had crazy cars, bouncy things, and lots of camel crickets. Now my kids can play in the garage. There's enough room for short laps with a bike and a tricycle. Nicholas uses the skateboard like a luge. And they throw balls all over. Travis even turns on the radio and dances his heart out. Then Adrian and I sit in the family room watching grown up shows. So relaxing.

I decided to lace up my running shoes again. I took a short hiatus and played chicken for a while. It's too cold and dark outside, I kept saying to myself. Then I woman-ed up (as opposed to manning up) and got some running tights and a cold gear shirt. Hey, it's dark, no one can see me in my running tights. Although I did get a honk the other morning from a work crew, so maybe I am not totally invisible. And you know what, it's really not that cold once you have the right amount of layers and get moving. I signed up for the Resolution 5K on New Year's Day. And I have the Tobacco Trail half-marathon in my sights for the end of March. I should be in good shape for Boilermaker again. It feels good to have the running bug back again.