Oversharing

There is a new vocabulary word bouncing around the blogosphere, oversharing.  Oversharing is a blogger that reveals so much of themselves and their loved ones that it causes dysfunction and breakup in their personal life… which of course, leads to more midnight blogging of family secrets.

Some bloggers document their daily life and mundane routines in such a way that there is no need to change the names of the innocent.  For example, the many cute family/workout/diet blogs that I love to read.  Some bloggers change their names and the names of everyone in the blog, my personal favorites are Crabby and Merry from crankyfitness.com.  They reveal only a little of themselves.  Although this year with their move across the country I have learned so much more about them.

My blog really started with Carolyn’s Cure, where I was basically copying my daily journal online.  This worked because my topic was so very focused each day and each experience was new and “newsworthy”.  These days Teddy’s house is just my friendly little quips of stupid suburban family life.   I have thought of actually putting my journal entries up there for all to see (haha – joke’s on me).. except that documenting the painful aspects of raising two boys and working on an 18 year old marriage just seems to be out of place with the best interest of my family.  Maybe my blog is just my space to keep it light and anonymous and merely to document that a boring life is still a life. J

The good, the bad and the ugly

So, because I know that it is healthier to view life from the positive side, I will begin with the good. Good that I made it through a 13.1 mile half marathon road race. Good that I trained and was prepared and good for me that I have achieved a milestone. It feels good to be able to tell people that "I did it".
It feels bad to think about how totally slow and miserable I was. I really have never considered myself a complainer, but omg! - that was really hard. It was hard to be out there alone for so long and it was hard to keep running... I didn't always keep running either... I sometimes walked and that is bad. I am trying to stay focused on the good, on the accomplishment and on having it over with. However, sadly I know that I will have to try this again, because my time was really bad and really slow, even for a slow mama like me.
The race was hot and I have been nervous for days... it was long! I stayed with Suzanne, my fabulous running partner until about mile 7, and then we had to break up. I just couldn't keep up with her. She is insisting that my issues are all in my head and my body was completely prepared to run with her.
The ugly is my toes. Especially ugly is my big toe on my right foot. Interesting because my toes on my left foot have been blistering for a few weeks. I have been keeping my shoes tied fairly loosely so that my toes don't cramp or get stiff and I think that my toe got bruised or something from so much trauma (yes, trauma!)
It has been a few days since the race, and the complete pain of it is fading.. I even went spinning last night. I am not quite ready to put another 13.1 miles on the calendar.. hmm.. but I might.

13.1 Miles - Finished!

My fab hubby ran the last 1/2 mile with me..I was so ready to be done with running - actually I was ready to be done at mile 6 but couldn't find anyone to give me a ride home. He met me at the top of the bridge that is the edge of Boston and leads into the south end - waterfront area. It was nice that all the runners that had finished and were walking to their cars were cheering me on, not for a minute to any make me feel bad about being so slow. Someday when I am faster I will have to make sure that I stay at the race and cheer all those people finishing behind me.. a girl can have a fantasy, right?

So Lee was great, except that he started asking me questions and then I had to gasp at him "I can't talk right now"... so then he kept talking and babbling and then I had to gasp at him again "please no more talking". At this point I really just needed to get to the finish line, which kept getting farther away...

Josh caught a fish at the canal!

 

Have you ever felt this tired?

This couldn't be me!

What the rest of us were doing

when Lee was being the human tractor... well, actually Josh was helping, I just didn't get a chance to take a picture. I was moving dirt from the endless dirt pile at the end of the driveway and Teddy was... well, you can see what Teddy was doing.

Need I say more?

He doesn't need a tractor... this is cross training. I should let everyone know that he did just get back from a 10-miler and it is hot outside..

Tractor fantasy

My dh, Lee is quite a great worker bee around the house. Give him an unscheduled morning and the right tools, and most importantly no access to his boat and he can accomplish much around the house.

It all started last week, when the water cooler talk at work turned to lawn care. I was lamenting the poor state of our grass. Although Lee and I would be thrilled to have a beautiful lawn many thing keep us from that.. time, having no idea what to do, and the hesitation to use chemicals where our kids and dogs play..also - we do not have the proper equipment. Not having the proper equipment is a frequent complaint from Lee at our house. So, we were discussing our lawn woes at work and I mentioned to my friend Bill, that he had two aerators in his garage. My husband had spotted them on a drive by his house earlier in the week...

Friday afternoon when no one was home, Bill dropped off his extra aerator at our house. We not only do not have the proper equipment we also do not have alot of "lawn care knowledge". But, given the aerator was delivered, I figured we should use it. hhhmmm... I study the aerator and I consult with Bill. It turns out that the aerator requires a tractor! what! We do not have a tractor despite my husbands desire to own a large John Deere and many acres. What the heck do we do with this piece of farm equipment??

The final coutdown

10 days left until the big race…my legs are tired today and my 5 miles last night was not great. In fact, I am not sure that I actually made it 5 miles. I ended up at the track at the middle school and there was some sort of running club practicing their sprints. So, I would plod around the track and pretend that I didn’t notice the large group that would engulf me on all sides as they sprinted past. It was a little depressing to be moving so slow and and to feel like an elephant plodding through a dance recital. I stayed focused on my breathing and I had a good podcast on my ipod and I was grateful that I was able to be out running at all.

I am anxious about the next 10 days but very impatient to have this behind me so I can run for fun – OMG – I cannot believe that I actually just said fun and run in the same sentence with “I”….what is happening??

Happy Mothers Day

Shoe burial, good bye smelly sneakers!

After many many years of virtually living in these sneakers all night and day, Teddy was at last able to hold a burial and say good bye to the beloved sneakers.
Don't think however that Teddy was able to part with his shoes because his mother, father, brother, family, friends or strangers pointed out that they were disgusting and smelly and should not be allowed to enter the landfill. Nope, he started limping a few weeks ago.. and it got worse. He tried icing his ankles at night, but would come home every afternoon limping down the street from the bus stop. He refused to believe that his beloved Etnie's - the preferred sneaker of all famous grundge skateboarders could be the source of his trouble. hmmm... I thought that I might try and just throw the sneakers away and deny any knowledge of said lost sneakers. However, I know that Teddy would have to make this transition himself. Something like moving from a crib to the big boy bed. Also, I knew that if I attempted to foist any number of other new sneakers that I had purchased for him over the last 3+ years he would rebel and refuse to go to school without the proper foot covering. After I gently pointed out that he was spotted limping in the outfield at his last baseball game, he agreed to try a different pair of shoes for school the next day. Actually, that was all it took.. he flew down the street the next day. His feet as happy as baby birds who have finally mastered the sky! Then, on trash day we solemnly held the burial. You can see how sincerly sad his brother is.. trying hard not to smirk. Or maybe they are both laughing at me because I insisted that we document the shoe burial with photos. Josh did make an excellent point when he asked about the etiquette of picture taking at funerals...

My morning as Tony Soprano

Look at the ducks that were swimming in the pool this morning. I reinacted the Tony Soprano love affair with his birds. Mine were not as pretty, and they also flew away when the puppy went a little crazy and tried to jump the fence and get them. I managed to take some pictures and watch them enjoy the water. Then, ala Tony, I kept looking out the kitchen window, waiting for them to return...
PS - also about birds - our robins' eggs hatched this weekend and we have three little birds in the azalea bush by the garage. I will try and take a picure of them this week. I had to blockade the end of the bush to try and keep that puppy from jumping up to get them.

Gypsy Jo

Baseball and more baseball

So, other than having only 20 days until the half marathon, my life has been completely about baseball. For me that means keeping the car packed with snacks and water and chairs. I also have to keep track of who is playing at what field and at what time and do I need to remember to pick up anyone else in the car pool? I realized last night as I sat at yet another game that I had been at the same field 5 nights in a row! I think that during the busy sports weeks I just get on auto pilot and each day kinda’ blurs with the rest – once the routine is set I cannot afford to vary from it or I will risk losing my sanity and the very careful balance within the house.

So, with all that going on, when am I possibly going to be able to gear up and get those final long runs in? Honestly, I have no idea. Lee and I have a wedding on Friday afternoon – what a silly time to get married. I am looking forward to a nice night out with the hubby and having a fun party to go to, but I need to run 5 miles on Friday.. and don’t think I could run to the wedding and change my clothes in the car as I have been known to do…

I am starting to actually look forward to the race… no silly – not because I am excited to run 13.2 miles, I am excited to have my life back. I am excited to not feel the pressure of a training schedule and I am excited to run when I want to and skip a day when I want to, and not feel panicked that it will ruin me on race day…only 20 days and about 100 miles left, yikes!