You Don't See That Every Day

This is what happens when you take a nap if your 2 year old got stickers for Christmas at this time last year: Run

I went for a run this afternoon. The first time in two weeks. Oh.My. It hurt -- my shins, my shoulders, my lungs. As I psyched myself up for it all day long, I would think, "I'll do 2 miles today" and then I modified it to 1, because really, why push myself too hard. And then later in the day I would think, "Oh, maybe I can go to 2 and see how I feel, and push it to 3 miles. Yeah, that would be a great come-back." So I started out on my run and got to 1/4 mile and thought, "forget it! I am going only 1 mile!!" I made it a mile. Then I forced myself to leash up the dog and take her for a run too. And I had planned on going another mile. Until I got to the turn where I either kept going for the mile, or turned to go back home. Guess what won? Yeah, we turned and headed back towards the house. And then *horror* I walked. Hey, at least I got out there and ran! Now to sign up for a race so I will keep running. Thoughts as I ran today: I need to wear b...

 Thirty six people; Grandparents, cousins, siblings, fiances, a soon to be born baby; Lots of love and laughter in the house. We spent Christmas at my brother and sister in law's house. Which was great, because there is plenty of room for all of us,  and some years there is the joy of snow (although not this year!)  We did something a little differently this year. I spent a few weeks putting together a family trivia game, gathering little known facts/ experiences from family members. I put them in random order, printed out a copy for everyone, along with the names (because keeping track of that many is not easy!) Then people spent dinner talking, and guessing who was the beauty pageant entry, and who was the one to eat mushrooms out of the yard, among other things. It was fun to listen to and hear the stories behind them once the answers were revealed. I'm already thinking ahead to next year ... maybe baby pictures.  

When I was a kid, Christmas Eve was a magical day, full of anticipation, and occasionally snowy fun. As an adult, and mom, it's just not quite the same. I was still fixing up presents and writing out cards this year on Christmas Eve. I had it in my mind to paint candles for a gift. But my attempts, my rough drafts, turned out horribly. So I knew that wouldn't work. Then my husband suggested melting them down and making a candle. So we did some Internet research and tried it. Using an old pot, some chop sticks, and (thankfully it was in the cupboard!) wicks, we tried our hand at candle-making. I wouldn't have made it too far in the pioneer days if my life depended on candles. We would have been the family in the dark. Thankfully, again, my husband came to my rescue. He actually got into the 'craft' more than I did, trying different colors, and forms. We melted a bunch of wax and crayons to make colors. The kids were in charge of peeling the crayon paper....

The holiday was busy this year. Even though I made a point of not stressing out, I still did. I didn't send cards out on time, but am doing a little every day this week. So, my blog posts suffered, but I'm back to share how our Christmas went. In installments, Because all at once might put you to sleep. So on the 23rd, even though one child had a cold, we went caroling. Oh My Word, that was fun! We joined a group from church and went to a local grocery store to sing. It was kind of like a flash mob, only the manager knew we were coming. It was so cool. We moved on from there to a retirement home and sang to the residents. This was my favorite part. The smiles on their faces when we sang; some sang along with us; I fought back tears as I watched man feed his wife every bite. Afterwards we talked with the residents, handing out candy canes. They seemed to enjoy the kids the most, although there were plenty of smiles at the adult singers. At the next retirement home, a lady ...

My girls have been playing with the camera. Here's what one of them came up with, her own movie of favorites. We don't have a title for it yet. Any suggestions?

It has been a week since I last went for a run. I've walked, I've shopped! I've cleaned and scrubbed for exercise; but it isn't the same, and my body wants to run. I just haven't found the time! The days are shorter on both ends now, dark mornings, and dark afternoon/evenings are not conducive at this point to luring me out the door. I don't relish running in the rain, but I would if it was a light mist. So trying to find the time for a run in between all that has been, well, non-existent right now.  I've got the presents wrapped (finally), except for a couple of them I am making for my nieces. We just finished up with school this week, although I still need to grade the last day's work. My boss, ie. the principal of this academy, aka. my husband, asked me, "Is this a normal day?" when he saw school starting around 10 am or 11 am or 1.30 pm - depending on which day it was this week. We've not been home as much this week; I'm still try...