Favorite Little Princess

The race is finally over. I still can't believe I actually did it. Not unusual for me, but there was lots of drama surrounding the whole race. Let me start with the morning of the race.  K1 had a Cross Country meet at 8 am in which we needed to be there at 7 am. It's a tough course with lots of hills, washed out areas, deep sand, and mud puddles. Yuck! By the time her group was up to run, the sun was really shining and baking all the kids. She made the 2 mile mark in under 26 minutes - this is actually good for her this season with her IT band injury - but then she disappeared. Her coach and I kept looking at each other trying to figure out what happened. I feared that she hurt herself again, but right about 40 minutes she appeared. I told her what her time was and she still had about 400 meters to go.  She groaned and said, "Darn. I wanted to get under 40. Oh well." Then she trotted off to the finish line with a smile on her face. Bizarre behavior. She was actua...

After many months of waiting and training, the  runDisney Tower of Terror 10 mile run  is finally here. I've been a knotted mess of anxiety all week. Mostly about my ability to stay awake. K1 has a Cross Country meet tomorrow morning and we have to be there at 7 am. Then we will hop in the car and head to Orlando, check in the hotel, and then shoot over to the Sports Complex to pick up my bib (yes!). Disney's race bibs are almost as cool as the medals. I'm not sure if we will go to a park or just hang at the pool for the rest of the day. My race doesn't start until 10 pm. It's going to be a long day. Sleeping in the middle of the day isn't easy for me, so I'm really anxious over not being rested enough. With my thyroid disorder, taking any type of "stay awake" pills can really set my heart to racing, so that won't work either. I'm still nervous about being able to complete the whole race since I still have not completed a full 10 mil...

A few weeks ago we went to the University of South Florida's opening game. Even though I have been employed by the University for 10 years, this was my first time to go to the game. We scored some cheap tickets from the hubby's co-worker who wasn't able to attend. We even took the kids along...maybe not such a great idea. We thought they would enjoy going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneer's stadium. It's pretty cool with the pirate ship at the one end zone.  I think K2 like the cheerleaders - or least their cool boots. Pre-show was treat of some SOCOM paratroopers. Very patriotic and exciting to watch. Rocky the Bull deflated the poor Hooter's Owl. I'm not sure that was supposed to happen. Oh yeah, there was football, too. I have to say this about college football, there is definitely a lot more energy on the field.   And then you get the half-time show. Brought back a lot of memories from my high school and college days.   It w...

Do you ever get the feeling like you have been doing everything but achieving nothing? That has been my week in a nutshell. Let me give you a run down of what I have been through since my last post this prior Thursday. Friday: Up at 5 AM to get K1 to the bus. Get to work at 7 AM. Busy day, but left early to get K1 from school and down to Ruskin, FL for first Cross Country meet.  Lots of pictures and cheering and HOT! Kids ran out of water which made for an unhappy mom. Drove home - dinner finally at 9 PM. Crazy! K2 has friend over for sleepover. Giggling girls all night long. Saturday:  Up around 6 AM. Make breakfast for the troops when they finally get up around 8 AM. Take K1 shopping for new running shoes. Of course, she has to stop at all the cool shops along the way. Lunch at IKEA and pick up new sheets for K1's bed. Laundry. Pick up ice for party and drive up to New Tampa. Party Time! Eh, it was pretty low key. No one got out of control. Left around 9 P...

I am now seeing why the number of weeks for training should be  appropriate  to the distance one is training for. Not a big deal, since I would be running regardless, but I have noticed my desire to complete my long runs has dwindled. Some of that could be due to weather. We seem to either have extreme heat and humidity or dangerous storms. The days are getting shorter which mean that I have less time in the evenings to run after I finish shuffling kids around to their school related activities.  A little over a week ago, I became a little disheartened when I discovered that there won't be any public viewing areas. This means that unless my family purchases tickets ($42-$52) for the after party, they cannot see me run at any time during the race. My parents were planning on coming down from Georgia, but with that news they cancelled. So, it looks like I'm on my own. The good news is that I got a really good deal on the hotel and it includes a round of Disney Mini...

I wanted to send out a quick update to all my readers. I know I have been mostly MIA, but I'm still around, I assure you. I was talked into taking on a second course this fall. I typically only teach, one since I work full-time, and I feel it's about all I can handle with everything else in my busy life. However, strange circumstances arose and here I am to save the day. Just call me "Underdog". Yes, I'm dating myself. Anywho, now that classes are underway, I will only be posting once or twice a week for the remainder of the term. This is also putting a crimp in my " decrap mihouse " challenge, but I'll manage. Want to keep up with my new sporadic schedule? The best way is to subscribe to my blog via RSS feed, or email. You can find both over to the right. This way, when I post, you'll get an email delivered to you and you don't have to worry about missing something. Hang in there and we'll get through this I'm sure.  ...

K1 has been experimenting in the kitchen and recently she came up with a quick salad that she could throw together. Sometimes you just don't want a hot meal, you know? Plus, Cross Country has started up so lighter meals can be easier on the stomach when running in this heat. You only need four ingredients for this one. Tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, and Italian salad dressing (we use fat free). Just slice up the tomatoes in quarters or thin slices - however you want! Then layer with sliced cucumbers. We keep the peel on because you know that is where all the vitamins are, but hey, do what you like. Sprinkle on the feta (we use a lot because we are rebels like that) and then drizzle with the dressing. Quick, easy, and no heating up the house. Perfect as a meal or a side. Thanks, Kassidy. Keep experimenting in the kitchen!