Humble pie

After my glorious run last week, things have gone downhill. The major bummer was this Wednesday when I met my triathlon team at the swimming pool and realized just what a rotten swimmer I am. Wow, I have a lot of work. And my coach was very forthright about that fact. (In all fairness, that's exactly what I'm paying her for.) I went home a little humbled, a little depressed, and very tired of swimming.

Luckily the next day my coach gave me some hope. But still, at the moment I don't really want to work at it. I want to go back to just being lazy and not minding being a bad swimmer. Sigh.

Today, I've gotten Sammy's cold (which comes with a rotten, feel-awful fever). So I went on my long run this morning and was a little slower, a little less enthusiastic. I hope I get back to enjoying it by next week, cause at this point I never want to exercise again! Thank goodness for a day of rest tomorrow!

Run, run, as fast as you can!

Yesterday I accomplished something that a year ago, I never would have thought I'd do. And it's not even that big of a deal for a lot of people, but it was for me.

I ran FIVE MILES, without stopping, at a good pace, and I ENJOYED it!! Even better, I sprinted the last three blocks!

I started running last summer because I hated running a little less than I hated exercise videos, and I had to do something to exercise. Leah and I were each other's motivation (thank you SO much, Leah) to get up and go several times a week at 6 a.m. The first few times we had to go slow, stop and walk frequently, and we both were kind of miserable. We got faster and better (no more walking), but I never really came to like it.

Sometime over the winter I began to enjoy running. Strange, because I was running on a track so tiny I almost got dizzy running in all those circles. So I signed up for a triathlon and a training group and began to get serious. Part of my training includes a group run every Saturday, and yesterday was my first time. Not only were the beginners in my group there, but there were several other "real" runners, the kind who are in the top ten at all the big local races, and even a guy who is going to the Boston Marathon in a few months. Uh-oh!

I wasn't the fastest or farthest runner in the group, but I wasn't the slowest either. I enjoyed almost every bit of the run. Okay, so the first two and a half miles went by really fast. Then I turned around and headed back. I have to admit, the last two and a half seemed twice as long as the first. So I settled in and thought I might not make it to the end, but I kept moving my feet. I came over a rise and suddenly there was the group, my car, and a major milestone for me. I felt great, so I picked up the pace and finished with a sprint. Hooray!

I feel a little strange admitting that I'm kind of liking exercise these days. I thought it just wasn't possible for me. But wow, just putting one foot in front of the other, even if it takes six or eight months, really does work. This is the first major goal I've worked on and accomplished in a long time, and I love it! I'm excited to get to feel the same about biking, swimming, and who knows what else. Thanks Kathryn, for mentioning the idea that even us couch potatoes can come to love physical activity. Thanks Bruce, for taking the early morning shift with they boys so I can run (and enjoy a few minutes of alone time). I'd also like to thank the Academy, my wonderful director, the Screen Writers Guild, my hero Katherine Hepburn...oh wait, wrong audience.

Anyway, happy running!

Spinach and Hummus--Yum!

Time to give a little update, which may be a bit lengthy.

Zeke has been having a grumpy week, mostly due to his five new teeth that are coming through. One of them finally poked its way through his gums on Thursday, the other four look like they've come through just because they're pressing on his gums so hard. We're hoping they poke through soon, mostly because he's the only 14-month-old we know with just two visible teeth! Zeke also continues his dinnertime eating strike, but we made a great discovery this week--he loves hummus! He ate a bowlful of plain hummus a few days ago, and yesterday when I spread some on crackers for him, he licked it off and threw the crackers on the floor. Well, we figure if he lives on fruit, yogurt, and hummus, he'll be healthy enough. Oh, and sugar cookies, yeah, he loves those too!

Riley had a great time at his fourth birthday party last weekend. We were very relieved that he didn't wake up with the stomach flu that morning (the rest of us had just recovered). He and his friends made spaceships, went to "Mars" in our basement, and devoured the entire planet of Saturn (a cake version). They were five really well-behaved four-year-olds!

Sammy gave a talk last week in Primary. He was cheerful and read the whole thing clearly all by himself! We were proud, but also surprised, because the whole thing seemed doomed from the start. He was mad that he had to talk about an assigned topic, not one of his choice. He also had been up until 10:30 the night before with cousins, so he was grumpy and hysterical most of the morning, until right before church. Thank goodness for little miracles.

This week he and Riley have been obsessed with Popeye, which is both good (they gobble down spinach like it's candy) and bad (they pretend to fight, and do Popeye's special wind-up punch). The boys also ended up with tons of temporary tattoos from Valentine parties, and they have been covered in them for a few days. But this morning Sammy came to me concerned that they didn't wash off in his bath, and he asked me to remove them before church! When the boy wants to do the right thing, he goes all the way. (Good thing he wasn't sleep-deprived today like he was last week!)

Not much new for Bruce and me. I started helping out in the nursery at a local gym once a week in exchange for a family membership. Bruce and the boys are excited about that one. We are trying to decide the best way to spend the holiday tomorrow--Bruce is trying to keep me out of the kitchen because I've been baking a bit too much this past week. By the way, Bruce challenges every one of you to a human bench-pressing contest. He practices on Zeke frequently, but I've warned him he has to be able to bench-press ME before he can really brag. He talks all the time about what wimps Dan and Kent are...

Brilliant Boys!

Riley is excited about his fourth birthday party, which is tomorrow. Hopefully we will all survive so I can post pictures and tell funny stories about a bunch of 3- and 4-year-olds exploring outer space. In the meantime, I just want to brag about how Riley knows all the planets in the solar system, along with which ones are rock and which are gas (and which one is frozen!). That's why he's having a space-themed party, for which I made him a Saturn-shaped birthday cake:



I'm pretty sure all three of my brilliant boys are brilliant because of one thing: books! They all love to read, pretty much right out of the womb. I know it's innate, but we do our part to encourage it quite a bit. Here's a picture of 1-year-old Zeke, who often runs into his room, grabs a book, and gets cozy with it (or brings it to me for reading).


I wish every mom out there would grasp how important books are and how easy it is to get kids to love books from the time they are infants! I know pretty much all of you who read this are right there with me on this, and your kids are as brilliant as mine. Thanks for listening to me up on my soapbox today anyway!