Mud and shiners

So, I finally found my photo cord. (In my catch all basket on top of the cabinet.)

Icky, dried on mud. It was pretty much like this on the back of both legs. Luckily, I stayed upright so this wasn't all over me. Also note two blisters a formin' that luckily really didn't form. Also, a bad choice in toenail color that looks like my regular toenail color. Yuck, my feet are pretty gross. I may become one of those anti-foot people and I definitely think I have earned a nice pedicure.

Shoes, post-race. I took them off at the car and I will admit that they are still sitting in that same bag in our mud room. A little irony for you. I definitely need to hose them off, wash them, and donate them to our local running store. They in turn, donate them to Soles 4 Soles.

While we were running, Maddy and Libby were with one of our sitters. They had a great morning, but we did have a little slip & fall. Apparently, Libby cried for about 2 minutes and then shook it off. My sweet little girl did end up with about 3 bruises ... one above her eye, one on her cheek, and one on her chin. She has my pale, Irish skin and it will show every bump and bruise.

Luckily, they are clearing up and my brave girl also started walking down steps today. It was the cutest thing to watch because she would throw her arms in the air, for balance I guess, as she walked down them. Of course, then Maddy had to get in on the act. I'll try not to be "that Mom" who is worried about even more shiners now that they'll be going up and down steps.

KFC Pink Bucket campaign

When I first saw a commercial promoting this, I thought it was a little crazy. But, you have to give credit for a company willing to donate 8.5 million dollars to Susan G. Komen. Plus, you can get a bucket of their grilled chicken and not get the fried stuff, even though those little crispy bits of skin sure are good.

I know they've caught some slack from the press about promoting fried chicken to support breast cancer, but their donation is quite generous. So, I say, get a bucket of grilled and support the cause.

Bad blogger, bad!

I have been a slack as of lately ... did you miss me!?

So, I survived my first trail half-marathon. I had to hide the camera cord from Maddy and Libby, so as soon as I remember where I hid it, I'll try to get a few photos up.

I did manage to remain vertical, and have fun, but it was hard. Oh, and that rain forecast? We had rain overnight and rain that morning so the trails were super muddy. We lucked out that it wasn't raining during the run, but the very first part and last part were pure sludge. At one point, I really thought I would lose a shoe in the mud.

I definitely didn't win any records, but I wasn't DFL (dead freakin' last.) I may have been 20 people away from being last, but I wasn't last.

Other than that, I've just getting into the groove of work, having fun shopping at our local farmer's market (eggs, granola, goat cheese, peonies, and gobs of strawberries), and lots of outside time with Maddy and Libby.

Ungood.

See that forecast on Sunday? See that big cloud with rain coming from it? See that 70% chance? Yuck.

Guess what I'm doing on Sunday? Running my first trail half marathon. When you go to the hourly forecast, thunderstorms are predicted at 7am and 10am. I start at 8:15 so it's likely I'm going to be trapped on a muddy trail when a deluge sets in.

It's bad enough that I'm a little nervous about spraining an ankle, but now the thought of running, coupled with thunderstorms is a little more than unnerving.

I'm hoping that rain comes through on Saturday and leaves us alone. Please, please, please.

Thoughts

Busy week, so a bulleted list about the latest happenings.

• Mom is doing great. She had her second round of chemo this morning. I am amazed at her strength.
• Naked baby count this morning: one. I turned the corner to see Maddy, naked, holding her diaper.
• Clothing changes for M&L before going to school: one each. Guess who has figured out how to work the water in door function on the refrigerator?
• First day at work on Monday = first day of vacation. Everyone else was away at conferences, or working from home, so I basically was in the office for 1/2 hour. I did go home and do a little work, so today feels like the first day all over again.
• Laughing that our sitter put the girls in the wrong cribs last night. When I checked on them, I thought they had been switched and it was confirmed this morning. I'm surprised they didn't throw a fit, but I guess it was like staying in a hotel for them.
• Loving the Lands End Canvas cardigans. Soft with a little bit of stretch.
• Loving my rock out session to R.E.M. with M&L this morning on the drive to school. I looked in the rear view mirror and they were waving their hands and clapping to "Gardening at Night." Good times and it made me smile all day.

Role reversal

My Mom is starting chemo today, and I am flying in the opposite direction of the country to attend a conference. I know she doesn't technically need me to be there, but I can't help feeling like I should be there. Have I reached the point in my adult life that I'm the caregiver and not the care-receiver? Probably not, but it just feels like it today.

She was happy to receive a little care package that I put together for her. Nothing too exciting because my Mom is extremely practical, but I sent her some good hand lotions, chapstick, a book about cancer that a friend of mine gave me, some anti-cancer recipes, and of course, two pictures of the lambs, AKA Maddy and Libby, and a homemade card from them.

So, now we wait. She's ready to get started and ready to get it over with. Twelve weeks of chemo to hopefully fight this thing and win. I usually hate to wish a summer away, but this will be three months that I think we will all be glad when it's over.

Before she's done with chemo, I'll start training for the Komen 3-Day. I really feel like it's the least I can do along with support and prayers. What would be better than to see that a cure is found?

So, happy thoughts all around tomorrow and I'll update you next week.

Rewritten

I wrote a long rant about my shopping adventure at WalMart last night, but after reading it, I just felt really judgemental. I know I'm not really being judgemental since I was shopping there too, but let's just say that there were just some very interesting characters shopping and working there last night.

I'm still in a little bit of disbelief about the entire shopping trip.

I'll just sum it up with the fact that the clerk asked me if my coupons were coupons. Huh? What else are small, rectangular shaped pieces of paper that say "Save $1.00 on Pampers?" Isn't there a training that covers that?

Cheese

It has been a cheese Sunday at the D. household.

We were at the "Tahjma" Teeter on Friday night, or maybe it's now called "Teeterdome" to pick up a few ingredients for a yummy black bean dip that I was going to make for Saturday. This still isn't the exact recipe that I had tried years ago, but I deleted and edited enough to make it taste like the one I remember.

Anyway.

We had Maddy and Libby who were enjoying their 5th bread sample of the evening and we were barely even past the deli area when I saw my beloved Augusta's Creations pimento cheese. Harris Teeter started carrying it some time ago and it is so good. It doesn't say it on the packaging, but it's made with Cabot cheddar, another one of my favorites. So, I had to pick up a tub of their jalapeno. Oh, it's so good. Different than the one my Mom makes, but equally yummy.

On Saturday morning, I decided to go check out our local Farmer's market. I didn't get there super early so I thought I'd be OK with the stroller. I was wrong. I went to our smaller, curb market that is indoors and let's just say that the aisles were a bit tight. Maddy and Libby had a blast, waving hi to folks, and checking out all of the goods. There I picked up another favorite, Goat Lady Dairy goat cheese. I tried the basil and garlic spreadable cheese and let's just say that Hubby and I don't have to worry about any vampires visiting us today.

Sadly, I don't think GLD cheese is available much outside of our area, but I know that Augusta's is available online, and Cabot is easy to find. Thank goodness for an 8.5 mile run today after my weekend of cheese!

Work it.

Well, I was beginning to think that it really couldn't happen, but I have somehow found a part-time job that:


a) is legit

b) doesn't involve selling Avon

c) offers the flexibility that I wanted


I will say that I had become a little more than frustrated about the variety of marketing positions that I was finding or hearing about. I kept turning up entry level positions, or those "work from home" jobs that involve you paying someone to work. Hmmm, that just doesn't add up.

Through a little networking, I was able to land with a great company that really seems to believe that family comes first. I'll handle the marketing for the company, and also do some project management work, too. It's the perfect combination and better yet, it's part-time. Some hours in the office (which is really cool) and some at home.

So, I have a little over a week until my days of being a 9 to fiver, or a 9 to three-thirtier and I'm looking forward to it.

Keeping it real, a little too real.

I really, really wish that I didn't have this story to tell.

Yesterday, I put Maddy and Libby down for their nap around 1PM. I came back downstairs and vacuumed our family room, and mopped the kitchen floor. After I finished, I checked email while waiting for the floor to dry.

Over the monitor, I could hear someone crying. It had gone from a little bit of talking to full blown crying. I broke my own cardinal rule and stepped on the wet kitchen floor so I could go upstairs and see what was wrong.

I opened their bedroom door to see Libby fast asleep and Maddy standing naked in her crib. Yes, you can probably guess what else was in the crib.

One dirty diaper, luckily with most of the contents in the diaper, but yes, there was poop elsewhere. On Maddy, on the sheets, on the blanket, on her little pillow, etc.

I got it cleaned up, sheets changed, and started a bath for Maddy. Oh yeah, and Libby is still totally sacked out through all of this. Amazing.

So, aside from the ick factor, I was thankful that she didn't "finger paint" or anything similar. I know you've heard the stories. I have to wonder ... could it be time for a potty, since she seems to want to strip down when she has a dirty diaper. I don't think I'm mentally ready to start, but maybe she's telling me that she is.

* Note: we typically use sleep sacks at night, but I usually don't put them on for naps. Maybe I should start.
* Another note: Maddy did have on a dress and bloomers that were pretty easy to remove and she has been known to take off her PJ's and run around after breakfast in just a diaper. She's free spirited that way.
* Yet another note: Thank God for cute bunny pillows that have removable bunny covers that can be rescued and washed during occasions such as this.

Three-peat

I always send photos to family and friends showing the latest antics of Maddy and Libby. Yesterday, that was a link to Easter weekend photos.

Then, I uploaded some of those to Facebook.

So, I better put some on the bloggity blog or you wouldn't see what we did this weekend.

Wait, are you yawning?

Libby, crusing around at the egg hunt.

Hunting eggs, or possibly borrowing them from one of their friends.

The Easter Bunny came!

Maddy loved this little bunny.

Hunting eggs at their Grandparents. They had very different hunting styles ... very interesting. Oh, and Abby the dog tried to hunt, too.

Maddy brought a few of the indoor eggs out to the hunt.


Libby was pretty serious about the whole thing.

Do you know what the problem is with all of these pictures? Not one good family photo of all of us. We did take a few, but none were share or print worthy. Boo. Try, try, again.

Can you believe this was last year's post? What a difference a year makes ... no family photos last year, either!

Happy Easter

I don't know how they do it, but it does seem that dogwood trees always bloom at Easter ... whether Easter falls early or late in the year. I've always loved these trees since I was a little girl. My parents had trees with pink and white blooms at both houses where we lived.

We were thrilled to see that our home also has several white trees throughout our front and back yard.

I remember looking at these after a visit to Sunday School where they taught us that the blooms also represent the crucifixion of Christ and I would always look for those little marks on each end of the bloom. Sure enough, they are always there.

I sometimes have to wonder if they bloom at the "right" time because that big guy upstairs is in charge.

Yes & Yes

I'm back on a Lands End kick again. Maybe I was never really off it, but I just hadn't checked out anything in a while.

I looked at the Sears store this weekend and tried on a few things, then went back today for some more browsing.

Aren't these cute for Spring? Plus, it's 20% off everything in the stores.

Also, I keep reading good things about the Lands End Canvas cardigan sweaters. Any opinions out there? They look adorable online and it's hard to beat the versatility of a good cardigan sweater.

Should have known

We dyed Easter eggs yesterday "with" Maddy and Libby. When I say "with", they were coloring in their high chairs and Hubby and I were dying the eggs on the counter in front of them.

So, I placed them around our living room ... some in a basket, some on a silver tray, one in a little egg holder thingy that we have.

Then, in about the span of 2 minutes, I walked in the living room to find 4 cracked eggs on the floor and the dogs doing their best to try to get to the hard-boiled goodness.

I should have taken a picture, but it all happened so fast that there wasn't time. I really didn't want the dogs to eat 4 eggs, so I was trying to just get it all cleaned up.

Making note that this is definitely one of those things that I should have known. Maybe next year, we can all actually participate in egg dying, and also understand the definition of fragile.

Oops, I did it again

Remind me not to leave Hubby home alone with an Internet connection and a credit card.

I left on Sunday to visit a good friend of mine for a little overnight girls trip, and before I had arrived, I received an email that I was signed up for another half marathon.

Ok, so yes, we had talked about it, but I still had to laugh when I received the email that said "Thanks for registering." Whaat?

So, wish me luck that in less than a month, I'll be able to run a TRAIL half marathon. I used to trail run all the time, but that was many years ago when I was a little more brave and not worried about broken bones. Fast-forward some 15 years and I'm a lot older, hopefully a little wiser, and definitely more skittish about self induced bodily harm.

So, that is that. So, I guess I am really on my way to completing my goal of running 5 halfs this year. It would be nice to knock out 2 of them by the end of April. We shall see.

Spring!

Spring has sprung around these parts. My yard is full of daffodils, even though I've decided that I could plant an entire yard full and still want more. I can see the tulips getting ready to bloom, and of course, a little pollen in the air, and noticing that our lawn needs to be mowed.

I also unpacked a few Easter goodies for around the house.

Mom gave me this little guy and he found a home on our rather unadorned mantle, along with some forsythia branches.

On the agenda this week, Easter egg dyeing (pastel glitter!), and putting together Easter baskets. Pretty simple around here ... one new book each, sidewalk chalk to share, and Little People that come in eggs. I think we'll round it out with either some goldfish crack-uhs or an-mul (animal) crack-uhs.

Skirts

Has anyone ever been to a Sevier Skirt skirt party before? I noticed that one of my FaceBook friends became a fan, so I went to their page and website. Nosy? Probably. Curious, for sure.

I have to say, that I am in love with almost each and every one.

I would love to have a wardrobe of these fun skirts and then just wear a plain tshirt, turtleneck, or sweater and be done with it. Tights in the winter, bare legs in the summer. You'd always look pulled together and cute.

Surely, someone out there has to know about these adorable skirts. If not, let's throw a party and find out!

Shoes!

Lately, Libby is obsessed with shoes, especially ones that don't belong to her and her beloved, one-size-too-big snow boots.

As witnessed this afternoon, wearing my pointy toe sling backs.

One possibly, final attempt at the monthly chair photo. It just doesn't work anymore. If I hear of any twin moms that tell me that they kept this ritual up until their twins were 3, I may cry. I bet your kids also don't toss their sippy cups on the floor, or tell you "no" when you try to brush their teeth. Or, please tell me that you have somehow tied them to the chair, but you just can't tell it in the photos.

My little bitty babies are almost 2! OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but June will be here in just a few short months and I really don't know where the time has gone.

The Firm

Hubby has a 3rd interview with a company this afternoon, and they have also asked to meet me. So, I'm going to lunch on Friday afternoon. Gulp. I totally feel like we may be in the movie, The Firm. I didn't realize that companies still did this ... it feels very old school.

So, of course some of my questions are where are we going for lunch, and what should I wear?

Lunch will be downtown, and still no idea what I'm wearing. Since I've been a quasi stay at home mom/part time marketer/unemployed marketer for nearly 2 years, my business attire is a little lacking.

Luckily, I have the trusty Ann Taylor black pants and a selection of spring-ish sweaters, so I think I'll be OK.

Now to brush up on current events so I don't blurt out something like "Have you seen the new BPA free children's plates from Tupperware?" or "You should have seen me trying to catch the roll away poop from Libby's diaper on Monday." or even better, "Guess what Maddy said today? Boogie! As in booger." Ugh.

It's hard enough to go on a job interview for yourself, but to go on one for your husband is a new one for me. I certainly don't want to be the one to mess it up!

Race Update

Right after I finished. Can I hold or wear one more gadget or piece of gear?

Whoo to the hoo, as one of my running buddies would say ... a new PR for me at 2:13:56. I did this same race last year and shaved 9 minutes off my time. There were plenty of hills to keep me honest, but I just felt good and went for it.

With my running buddy MM, after the race.

Our dynamic trio + one, well + two. We all ran the Virginia Beach half last summer. ET has temporarily gone on to better things right now ... making a cute baby, and I'm living vicariously through her instead of having more of my own.

Once I got to mile 10, I realized that I was way ahead of my 2:25 pace band, so I pulled out the 2:20 pace band, and realized that I was still ahead. That's when I got a little scared. Then I came up on and later passed the "fast" woman in our running club. Then I was a lot scared, but I did it!

Now, if my children will ever fall asleep, a shower and nap are in my future. I am really wishing that I had a hammock, but possibly a nap with the windows open will have to work.

It was great to have a wonderful running buddy and see our other running buddy who volunteered on the course today. Plus, the support of about 20 other ladies in our group who would always give you a smile and a "good job" when we saw each other on the course. I couldn't do this if it weren't for the support of all of them, and also Hubby, Maddy & Libby.

My support crew. Does it look like Libby is flashing gang symbols?

Hubby's "PR, PR, PR" chant this morning must have worked and knowing that I have people excited to see me finish is a great feeling while pounding away 13.1 miles!