Apple owes me money… or something

After being sick for an entire month, I was a totally off my running schedule. I had signed up for a 10K race for the 23rd of January so I decided to do it even though there was a possibility that I would be laid out in the middle of the road and people would run right over me and possibly step on my face. The week before the race I started to feel better so I had to start running again to get ready. I started off slow, (well I am already slow…) doing only 3 miles, then I went to 4 and finally a little over 5. I had never run over 5.5 miles, so I was a little worried anyway. The night before the race I stayed up late to get my iPod playlist updated so I would have some new music to run to. (Thanks to my awesome sister who got me an iTunes gift certificate for Christmas!) I also dyed my gray hair roots so that if I did die of a heart attack on the course, I wouldn’t look like an old hag doing it. I was prepared!!
When I woke up on Race Day, it was dark outside. I thought my clock was wrong, but it was just so nasty outside that it looked dark. It was drizzling and about 32 degrees. Lovely. I layered up and drove to the starting area. There was no parking anywhere so I had to walk forever in the freezing cold to go stand in line to get my race number and free goods. The lines were long and I got to the starting line about 10 minutes before the big event. I already had my iPod in my arm band and ready to go. All I had to do was press start.
Me- pushing start.
iPod- nothing
Me- pushing start again
iPod- nothing
Me- trying to turn the iPod off to re-start it.
iPod- nothing
Me- freaking out and pushing every button on the stupid thing
iPod- nothing
Me- asking everyone around me if they know what is wrong with this STUPID iPOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone else- “oh, that SUCKS”
Me- “I know this SUCKS. I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED MY iPod!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have NEVER run without music. I CAN’T do it. I don’t know HOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
iPod- nothing.
Me- very tempted to run over the stupid thing with my car. (I might have if I hadn’t had to park so far away!)
So the race started anyway, even without my iPod working! I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to just go home and get back in bed. But I didn’t. I suffered through. For about the first mile, I was running with a girl with her music up so loud that I could almost hear it. But then she started running at the pace of a normal person and took off past me. I hate that girl. Anyway, I guess it wasn’t that bad. I did finish. I didn’t have a heart attack- even after the last mile that was straight uphill. And Devon and Kaela were waiting at the finish line cheering me on! I finished in 1:10. Not bad for my first one….
And at least my hair looked good!

A conversation with a 17 month old…

“So are you hungry?”

“ya”

“Do you want peanut butter?”

“peebudda?”

“Yes! Peanut butter.”

“ya”

“Here you go.”

“eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww. NO!”

“You don’t want your peanut butter?”

“doggie”

“You want to give it to the doggie?”

“daddy”

“You want to give it to Daddy? He’s not here.”

“wher da daddy?”

“He’s playing basketball.”

“peebudda?”

“Do you want your sandwich now?”

“wite, wite, wite, wite” (as she is pointing to every light in the house)

“Stop trying to change the subject. Are you going to eat?”

“eat?”

“Yes, eat.”

“doggie?”

“I give up.”

“up???”

My New Year’s Resolutions… or something like that.

1. I will try to eat more salads.
2. I will try to eat fewer french fries.
3. I will try to focus on the things I like about my job…. once I figure out what that may be.
4. I will try to call my friends more, instead of “talking” on facebook.
5. I will try to send birthday cards to people, instead of sending a birthday email.
6. I will try to give my dogs more kisses and hugs.
7. I will try to be more of a wife to my husband and not just the mother of his child.
8. I will run my first half-marathon.
9. I will try to visit my grandmother more.
10. I will try to make new friends.
11. I will try not to spend all day Sunday dreading going to work on Monday.
12. I will try to get up earlier so my mornings will be less stressful.
13. I will try to judge people less based on their bad shoes.

All I want for Christmas…

Well if a white Christmas is what we wanted, a white Christmas is what we got. After our “blizzard of 2009″ with about 14 inches of snow last weekend, we were still recovering after 4 days with no power.
Anyways, here is our Christmas weekend wrap-up!

10 batches of cookies,
9 loads of laundry,
8 different movies,
7 calls from family,
6 hours of Elmo,
5 plates of peanut butter balls,
4 gifts from neighbors,
3 hour naps,
2 sick parents,
and
1 snot-nosed toddler!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to you all!

High…….

Sweat was dripping into my eyes and burning from my makeup that was still left on since early in the morning. There was a pain in my right knee and I can’t stop counting the seconds and each 10th of a mile. My shorts are too big and I have to tighten the draw string over and over again. The basement is damp from the recent rain and my iPod is playing a song that’s just too slow. I feel dehydrated and exhausted and wonder what in the world I am doing running in the basement, (with the spiders) at 9:00 at night. And then…

My breathing slows down. The perfect song comes on and I no longer feel the pain in my knee. I look straight ahead instead of at my treadmill clock. I can feel the music in my muscles. I feel like I could run forever. My mind wanders onto other things. Good things. I feel light as a feather and better than I had all day. Next thing I know, I’ve run for 50 minutes and stop only because it’s so late.

At that moment, there is no place I would rather be. That is why I run. That is why I run at 9:00 at night in a dark, damp basement after working a 10 hour day.

I have heard of the “runner’s high”. I never believed it was real. Now I know there’s nothing better.

A night in the life of Lisa…

My child does not sleep through the night. Ever.

Neither do my dogs. I know, it’s ridiculous.

Some nights I feel like I spend more time out of bed than I do in it. I know that’s an exaggeration, but at 3:30 in the morning….

And… ACTION:

zzzzzzzzzz

12:50am – (Kaela)- “wa, wa”

12:51am- (Me)- thinking I will ignore it and it will stop

12:52am-(Kaela)-”waaaaaaaaaaa, AHHHHHHHHHHH,WWWWAAAAAA”

12:53am-(Me)- out of bed pouring milk into a sippy cup, shoving it in her cry-hole and searching for the pacifier in the dark… shoving that into the aforementioned cry-hole, putting the milk back into the fridge, tiptoeing back to bed trying not to wake the whole street with my creaky floors.

zzzzzzzzzz

3:16am-(Oscar)- “cry, cry, cry”

3:17am-(me)- rolling over trying to pretend he was just talking in his sleep or that I was dreaming.

3:17am-(Devon)- sleep, dream, snore

3:18am-(Oscar)- “mmm, mmmmm, let me pee, let me pee” (okay, maybe he doesn’t really say that, but it sounds like it)

3:19am-(Me)- jumping up to let the dumb dog outside so he doesn’t wake up the baby.

3:20am-(Kaela)-”Waaaaaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”

3:21am-(Me)- “you stupid dogs, LAY DOWN, SHUT UP *$#$&%#$*%#”

3:21am-(Devon)- sleep, dream, snore

3:22am-(Me)- going into Kaela’s room, finding pacifier again- it’s always under her back or her neck, shoving it into her mouth, creeping back to bed.

zzzzzzzzzz

4:50am-(DOGS)- “Cry, cry, feed me, feed me”- they don’t understand daylight savings time and think it’s time for breakfast.

4:51am-(me)- “SHUT UP!!!!”- in a whispering yell.

4:55am-(DOGS)- “Cry, cry, feed me, I’m hungry. Feed Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

4:56am-(Devon)- sleep, dream, snore

4:56am-(me)- get out of bed again so the dogs don’t wake up the sleeping monster-child and feeding them so I can put them outside and get my last hour of sleep.

5:05am-(me)- tip-toe back to bed past Kaela’s room and lay there for 20 minutes trying to get back to sleep.

zzzzzzzzzz

6:05am- (Alarm clock)- “beeeeeeeeep, beeeeeeeeeep.”

6:05am- (me)- hitting snooze as fast as I can and look over at Devon and think about dumping a bucket of cold water on his face.

6:05am (Devon)- sleep, dream, snore.

6:15am- (Me) give up, decide to get revenge later, getting out of bed to get ready for work.

And… scene.

Kaela-ism’s

I never knew that toddlers could be funny. I mean, they are kind of funny looking with their big heads and their drunken walks. It’s fun to laugh at them when they throw a fit and it’s kind of hilarious when they get mad because you won’t let them eat that clump of dog hair or that penny under the couch covered in dog hair. But I didn’t realize they could have these funny little personalities and it’s probably the best part of having kids, so far.

Example 1:

Instead of being insane baby-proofers, we decided to just teach our little smarty-pants where she is allowed to go in the house and where she can’t go and what she can’t touch (the fire place, the wine bottles, the dog bowls). She understands “no” and for the most part, we thought our little plan was working. The problem with our logic is that anything we say “no” to, becomes the most interesting thing in the room and so we are not as smart as we thought we were we may have to come up with a plan B.
The good thing is that whenever she decides to break the rule and go play on the fireplace or splash the water out of the dog bowls, she tells us she is about to do it. When she is about 5 steps away, she looks right at us and says “no, no, no, no, no” in the cutest little baby voice. She gets this big smile on her face and then I just have to pick her up and hug her and tickle her. I’m sure I am rewarding the behavior, but I can’t help myself.

Example 2:

Everything is a phone to Kaela. She picks up random things around the house and holds them to her ear like a phone. Then she says “Hewo, Hey!” (she can’t say the “L” sound). She uses the TV remotes, a corn holder, her blankie and anything else that will fit in her little hand. She will probably want a cell phone when she is 3. Of course when anyone is really on our phones and wants to talk to her she stares at the phone and is completely silent.

Example 3:

Kaela has a pretty big vocabulary for her age, but her favorite saying is “I know”. She says it all the time. It usually comes out when she is tired or upset about something. She will fall down and say “I know, I know”. It cracks me up.

She also gets some of her new words confused. She uses the word “baby” for so many different things. She knows that a baby is a baby. She also calls her blanket a “bebies” and she calls books “babbies” and every child, regardless of their age is a “baby”. She shouts it out too. Some times these big kids hear her and seem a little offended.

She has also been calling Devon “mommy” a lot lately. I think it’s funny. He doesn’t.

Well, for the real reason you are reading this… pictures!

” You can’t tell me what to do”

“I will eat that off the floor if I want to”

“Get that camera out of my face!”

“I’m not doing anything…”

7 years…

When I think back to October 7, 2002, there are gaps in my memories. I remember getting ready for the ceremony and struggling to get my fake eyelashes on with my fake nails. (I’m one of those natural girls!!) I remember my dad walking me down the stairs and trying not to trip on my new heals. I remember thinking how odd it was to wear heals in the sand… on the beach. I remember trying not to cry and hoping my husband-to-be didn’t change his mind at the last minute and hop a boat to Cuba.

We stood together in the scorching heat of the Keys and said “I do” to each other and to our flamboyantly gay wedding official and it was a beautiful day.

So much has changed and so much has remained the same. We still constantly make fun of each other and we laugh a lot… mostly at ourselves.

7 years isn’t very long, but after moving 7 times in 2 different states, one fat cat, one skinny cat stolen by our neighbors, 2 dogs, trips to Costa Rica, FL, GA, SC, VA, NJ, NY, DC, VT, WV and multiple layovers in so many airports and hundreds of miles in the car, and hundreds of great meals in fantastic restaurants and hundreds in those that are not so great, bottles and bottles of wine, at least 6 different jobs, and one beautiful child…..

I can’t wait to see what the next 7 years brings.

Breathless…

Tomorrow I’m running in another 5k race. I have not been very excited about it or even set any goals for myself to run faster or run harder. I signed up. I was going to show up and it I did better than last time, fine. If not, whatever. I was unmotivated.

That was until yesterday.

I received some horrible news that someone so special and close to me suffered a horrible loss. Only someone in her shoes could possibly understand how she feels. She was expecting a child in January and had a very late term miscarriage. She wanted this child so badly and had spent years trying to successfully conceive. This was supposed to be her turn, her baby. And everyone will say there is a reason this happened. I know in my mind that this child was not right for this world but in my heart I think nature is cruel and why her? I feel like this pain is too much for her to handle alone. I want to take some of it away. I guess it’s like when your child is sick and you wish you could just be sick for them so they don’t have to suffer. But I know there is nothing I can do. There is nothing I can say. I hate feeling so helpless.

So tomorrow morning I will get up early, I will put on my running shoes and I will run for her. I will run because she can’t.. her heart is broken. I will run hard and fast because maybe if I am struggling, she won’t have to. Maybe if I am out of breath, she will be able to catch hers, even if it’s just for a moment.

One Year…

Kaela turned one last week and I can’t believe how fast that year went by.

So much happened since she was born…in our lives and around the world.

Just to name a few… we have a new president (finally!), Michael Jackson died, the economy went in the toilet, I got a promotion, Devon started his own business, and our best friends moved back to the states from being stationed in Okinawa for 4 long years. One of our dogs had major knee surgery and I got food poisoning for the first time. Kaela took her first airplane ride, got to play in the ocean and she started crawling.

(Well, not crawling in the traditional sense. I call it the “reach and scoot”.)

She has a pretty big vocabulary for a one year old. She says dog, hi, dada, uh-oh, mama (sometimes), ya, ny-ny, look, wight (for light), bird, ffffffffdog (for frog), and I’m sure I’m forgetting some others.

We lost many, many hours of sleep. We worried a lot and grew lots of new grey hairs. It has been a great year of watching her grow and learn and develop into a toddler. I can’t believe she is already a toddler. She has already developed a toddler attitude and toddler frustrations. I thought I would have some more time before all this started…

I already see glimpses of the person she is becoming and I love what I see. She is strong-willed, funny, empathetic, smart, loving and social.

She is also stubborn, mischievous, and frankly a little violent. (She’s a slapper, a scratcher and a biter…) Hopefully she will grow out of all that!

I can definitely say that this has been the most difficult and the most rewarding year of my life and I’m sure Devon would agree. I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring and I may look into a self-defense class!