Monday, January 30, 2012

The Good Life

"Oh this has gotta be the good life. This has gotta be the good life.
This could really be a good life, good life."

I don't think it is a coincidence that I heard this song on the radio several times this weekend. I am feeling very blessed. I'm not sure if it is the fact that I have been going to hot yoga on a routine once a week and carrying over the positive aspects into my daily life. Or maybe I am just looking at 2012 with a positive outlook.

We had such a great weekend. Friday night, the older two children had friends ride the bus home after school and had such a great afternoon/evening with their friends. Saturday, I got a 5 mile run in on the treadmill early in the morning as I watched Glee on the iPad (why haven't I watched Glee before?! It is brilliant!) We went to Pittsburgh for my son's first hockey game of the weekend, in which they only lost 1 out of the 3 games they played. Then we ate lunch at the original Atria's in Mt. Lebanon and decided on a whim to go to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. We had an amazing time. It was perfect for all ages.

Sunday was the second hockey game of the weekend, and the team was unstoppable winning all 5 games. My son got an amazing goal in the 4th game. The team only allowed 4 goals in all 5 games and had about 20 goals but we lost track since they don't keep an official score in the 8 and under groups.

All three of my kids amaze me every day. Oh yes they do drive me nuts at times, and I get frustrated but I absolutely love all 3 of my kids and the ages they are at right now! I wish I could just suspend time!!

So for now I have been trying to look at all my experiences with a positive spin.........and it has been working so far!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

New year, new gadgets!






I'm so excited about using my new gadgets this year. It is always so hard to get up when it is still dark outside and so cold. The new gadgets really help with my motivation here in January.


My loving husband got me a Garmin 305 for Xmas!! I love it. I only have gotten to run outside with it about 5 times since Christmas because it has been cold and snowy the days I planned to go outside and when I run during the week, it is still dark outside so I go on the treadmill.


I also bought myself a lap counter for swimming. I totally lose track of what I am doing when I am swimming and don't remember how many laps I have swam. My triathlon coach suggested getting a lap counter.


It is a little stop watch that goes around my finger so every lap my thumb just hits my finger and it counts my laps!


I was so excited to use it this morning at the pool. I realized I need to get in the pool more often though because the time I swam for a 1/2 mile was a lot slower than last fall!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Holidays are over!!

I'm glad to say the holidays are over.

I love the magic of Christmas. I really do. I love thinking of new places for our Elf to go (most of the time). I love Christmas shopping. I love seeing the magic in my children's eyes. I love counting down the days with the kids. But it is stressful and we had a pretty crazy December.

First, at the end of December an elderly woman went through a red light to t-bone my car in my driver's side. Then she proceeding to back up, wait for the light to turn green, and leave the scene of the accident. Thank god her husband has a conscience and he made her turn herself in an hour later at city hall. She also then lied to her insurance company and said my light was red and hers was green. Thank god for the man in the Coke truck behind her who chased her through town after she hit me until he couldn't keep up and for the woman who stopped and gave me her phone number as a witness.

Next, my daughter ended up with a virus called Henoch-Schonstein Purpura. Her immune system malfunctioned and attacked her blood vessels and her ankles swelled and she got a horrible rash and swelling on her legs. She couldn't walk for almost 2 days. Thank god she is okay now and just has to get weekly urine tests for a few months to be sure her kidneys weren't affected.

Oh and then my husband was hit by another idiot. She was trying to turn left while not using the turning lane that my husband was in. He was not very happy, especially since his car is brand new.

Our final blow was our 9 year old lab Jules had been getting skinny and acting funny. I took her to the vet last week and she is starting to have kidney failure. We switched her food to Purina Kidney Function and changed her entire diet and she has some medications to take. This week she seems like a different dog and is acting like her old self again! She has a re-check on the bloodwork next week but I am very optimistic we still will have a few more years with our little girl!

So, although I am usually very positive and have a smile on my face most of the time, the last few weeks have been trying.

2012 is here and I am ready for positive things again!!

My daughter is now a Girl Scout, my son's hockey team is doing well and he loves it, Tim and I are training for the Pittsburgh half marathon, and our baby is starting to grow up and talk more and (hopefully) get potty trained!!

Smile on my face and I'm ready for positive things!!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

New for 2012

2012

Well, I haven't blogged for months!

Since my last blog, I have done a half marathon in October and got a PR, The Great Race 10K in September and got a PR, and a 5K on Thanksgiving.

September 2011-Great Race 10K

I knew I would PR this 10K. My last one was 1 hour 3 minutes in 50+ mph winds.

My husband and I ran this together (well not actually together). There were 14,000 people in this one. It was awesome. Mostly downhill, a few hills at beginning and one around mile 5.

I finished in 58:20 and was happy with the result.

October 15, 2011-Buffalo Creek Half Marathon

I hurt my ankle about a week prior so I only ran maybe 2 miles before this half marathon. I had no idea how it was going to go. It was on a gorgeous trail that was pretty much flat with only one hill about mile 12. I felt great until about 8 miles. I was thinking I would finish around 2 hours 2 minutes by then! Then my knee and ankle hurt so much! I had to walk at some points and felt like quitting because I was in so much pain.

I ended up finishing at 2 hours 7 minutes, still a PR but was in so much pain. As soon as I saw my husband (who had a PR with 1 hour 49 minutes) I just had tears in my eyes from my pain!


I didn't run for about 10 days after. I knew I was going to do the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving but wasn't sure how it would go.

I ended up getting sick a week before the Turkey Trot and wasn't sure how I would do with "Heart Attack Hill" which is in the 3rd mile of the 5k.

My friend Chrissy and I ran the course the Saturday before Thanksgiving and finished in 31 minutes. I coughed the whole way up the hill. I wasn't sure how it would go on Thursday.


Turkey Trot 2011 5k

I went out fast (for me!) about a 8:30 mile. I was about 17 minutes at mile 2. So I knew I could finish under 30 minutes even if I walked the last mile! I did start to walk up the hill and Chrissy came behind me and gave me a friendly punch in the back to remind me that I was almost done. That was enough to get me to run the rest of the course!

I finished at 28:10, although I thought it would be about 27:58 or so since I started a little farther back before I ran over the starting pad. Some other friends, including my husband, thought the time listed online was from the gun going off, not from when our chips went over the pad. Oh well!