Writer's Workshop: First Dates

I had a problem deciding on a writing prompt this week. On the one hand, I really had something to say about other people's parenting styles (ha!!)

BUT!

I long to entertain you, so today I bring you ... a "memorable first date". Or two. I love to hear you laugh that much.

First, background. I was with my ex for several years, and we broke up in July of 2002. I had my first date with my husband in December of 2002.

Between them, I had a few first dates.

The first, I'll call Adolf. I'm calling him that because I really have blocked his name from my mind.

I met Adolf online, at a time where people were really starting to meet people online but there weren't those nifty dating web sites. There was AOL. I honestly cannot remember how we started talking, but he thought it was great that I loved German culture, and was studying the German language. He said he was German, blah blah blah. (Let me now mention that the reason I was so interested in German was because I listened to an online radio station called Radio Salue, and they played awesome music but I couldn't understand what they said in between the songs. I took German for the sole purpose of understanding my favorite radio station. Yes, I'm a nerd.)

Anyhow, after a bit, we decided to meet at the local Steak n Shake.

Oh. My. Lord.

Over fries, I got to hear about how horrible the French are, and how great the Germans are, how Hitler was misunderstood. Over shakes, I heard about how he worked at Walmart because The Man was keeping him down.

I still occasionally expect to see him on the news.

****
Number two of my Summer O' Love was "T".

I also met T online (obviously, I needed to stay off line.) He told me his name was Taylor. He was younger (19) but he seemed fun. Young, but fun. But young.

So I went over to his house, where he lived with His Parents. Who weren't home, but I was wandering around the house looking at toddler photos and crayon drawings done by a little boy named Trevor.

Who's Trevor? Your brother?

No, Trevor is me. I changed it to Taylor when I got to college. I liked how it sounded. Call me Taylor.

I couldn't bear to call him Taylor anymore, so he was T from that exact moment on.

I should have stopped there, but he was fun. Just young. Instead we hung out some more outside his house, where he showed me his Rockin' Car. He had a Miata.

A Miata. I probably shouldn't have laughed at him, but at the time I hadn't met anyone with a penis who drove a Miata.

I should have stopped there, but he was fun (although young) and he came over to my house to watch movies (relax, my roommates were home).

We watched movies all night. Romantic comedies, that he picked.

And then he wanted to kiss me. So he LICKED MY CHEEK. I kid you not -- not a small lick, but a long lick like a giant Saint Bernard. Wet, and oozy.

(T wasn't near this cute)

And that was where I had enough of that. And just to show God had a sense of humor, it stormed during our Ro-Com extravaganza, and T left the top down on his little white Miata.

***

Thankfully, I started dating my would-be husband a short time later. I'm not entirely sure I would have lasted in a dating pool populated with such stellar quality guys. I may have drowned.

For more writers' workshop entries, go visit Mama Kat!

(photo credits via Google images)

Tuesdays on the Tens

1. What’s the recipe for your favorite drink? (smoothie, alcoholic, coffee, whatever) I don’t really make any of my favorite drinks … Water: filter through Brita, drink. Coffee: grind, brew, add a touch of cream. Wine: open, pour, drink. Anything more complicated and I’d rather pay $3.99 for someone else to make it for me.

2. What kind of razor do you use? Venus. I’ve upgraded from the old blue one to a green one with a wall suction, but I usually run those blades into the ground.

3. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character? We yearned to keep Elmo out of the house and so we have Cookie monster everything around … and a couple Elmos and an Ernie. Personally, I’m a fan of Burt (doin’ the uh uh pigeon) or Snuffy.

4. What makes the perfect salad? I’m pretty sure I’ve mastered the perfect salad: lettuce (butter lettuce, preferably) spinach, avocado, grilled onions, a small handful of wheat macaroni, goat cheese, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes and grilled chicken that was marinated in Italian dressing. I personally don’t care much for dressings but hubby will put some extra Italian dressing on his.

5. What was your favorite subject in school? I was best at math but I hated it. Loved English but it was the only class I ever got a low grade in (D, in 10^th). In college I loved my reading and writing classes, and Ethnic Cleansing (not a how-to course, I swear).

6. What’s your favorite summer tradition? Don’t really have any summer traditions. I guess my favorite thing about summer is the nightly rain and grilling out.

7. Do you suffer from seasonal allergies? How do you combat them? I used to, but I’ve gotten a lot better about them. I think it’s because I keep my nose blown, but I don’t know – I may have just grown out of them. I do get bad headaches, but Excedrin Migraine usually helps.

8. How often do you have to charge your cell phone? ha. Twice a day. I’m always on that stupid thing.

9. Do you have a bucket list? Nope. There are things that I’d like to do, but nothing I think I have to do before I die or anything. Just vague yearnings for adventure.

10. Do you have any desire to go back to school? Yes, but I don’t want to do it +work +raise kiddos, so I’m not that interested in going back now. I do miss the culture and atmosphere of college though.

for more!

A night

Orion was dropped off at half past five.


It started raining about about half past six, and we had to be inside. It rained pretty much all Saturday night and Sunday morning. After the little bit when he first got here, we weren't able to go back outside.


It's amazing how tired screeching toddlers makes you. By half past seven in the evening, I needed coffee. As in, Hubby actually had to make me coffee. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it.

Henry loved following the big boys around. I don't think he was appreciated, since O doesn't have any siblings.

Thankfully, O is a bit of a movie watcher, so we went through the Toy Story box set, and the kids laid down to watch movies while I caught by breath and widened my eyes a little.


I don't know how, but I got those two children to go to sleep at 9:30pm. I was asleep before 10. It's a good thing, because I wouldn't have lasted even with that mug of coffee.

Henry woke up at 5:30am (way early for him), Spencer at 7:30 (late for him), and Orion at 8:45. There was more Toy Story and some fort building. And there were squash waffles. and ham and cheese sandwiches. And grapes.


And when he went home at noon, we all waved goodbye, dropped in exhaustion and agreed that we are very satisfied with two children. Nice for more to visit, and even nicer for them to go home.

Bits

-- I had a wretched day today. Hubs is taking me out for burgers (with a Groupon, woohoo!) Thank the heavens that this day is over. It can only get better from here, right?

-- I was reminded that I turned on comment moderation a ways back, and I checked and had 10 comments waiting! I felt so loved. I hated that I felt I needed to turn on moderation, but it had come to that. It probably won’t stay – I really hate to be that type of blogger. I don’t mind disagreements, or even criticism. I do not tolerate constant intentional rudeness. Show the love, people.

-- I’m still bummed about Stacie not being able to comment these days, but look what I got from her Etsy store (oops, photo to follow)! I’ve gotten compliments on the pink danglies (earrings) and the bobby pins already this week.

-- Spencer is having a friend spend the night on Saturday because his mom needed a sitter. I made the mistake of mentioning it to him last night, and now it’s pretty much all he talks about. “Is Orion coming tonight?” “I’ll show Orion my train book” “Orion needs to see my new bed” etc etc ad nauseum. It’s super cute but bordering on annoying.

-- we may have bunk beds, but we also have a baby sleeping in the same room. I’m thinking toddlers might need to build a fort in the living room and sleep in their sleeping bags so I don’t have to deal with waking infant. Orion has a habit of staying up past my bedtime.

-- I’m semi-planning a bridal shower for a friend who lives in Delaware, and I really really need to get the invites printed and out. This weekend. At least I’ve designed them (so effing cute – picnic theme with ants and hearts), it’s just about getting to a store to get them copied and cut, and envelopes addressed and stamped and out. Oye. I think I don’t have a whole lot left to do for the party after that though, beyond planning emails. Not much I can do 1,115 miles away.

-- I’m wondering if I would run better to books on MP3. I’m getting a tad sick of the Pandora Glee station, and I’m already sick of the Pandora Gaga station, and I have no idea what else to listen to. Any suggestions?

-- by the way though, as much as I’m not a fan of Glee-the-show, their cover of Poker Face is brilliant. It took me about 20 seconds to confirm to myself that it was indeed Poker Face, and then I wanted to walk instead of run just so I could listen a little better. Way slowed down though, so not great for running.

-- I’m signing up for the Princess half marathon in February! I’m pretty sure I’m nuts, but at least I get to wear a tiara and tutu while I run!

The dreaded bed

Well, Saturday night the ‘sleep on the top bunk’ went just peachy. Evidently there was a nightmare around 12am that I slept through (have I mentioned that I'm dead as a log and all those mixed metaphors when I sleep?) but otherwise S slept awesome in his new top bunk. And he didn't want to sleep on the bottom because "that's Henry's bed", even though Henry won't be able to sleep in said bed for at least a year.

Last night he went to bed on the top bunk pretty well too. I was out on my evening run, but he was asleep when I got back, and Hubby said that he went to bed fairly easily and only got up to take his 5-minutes-after-he-gets-in-bed potty break. But then I went in to check on him before I went to bed and he was asleep on the bottom bunk! I thought that maybe he was just too tired to climb back up, but then I had this conversation with him Monday morning:

Me: So why did you sleep on the bottom bunk last night?
S: Because the top bunk is scary (he said this in Caillou's cadence, and I knew exactly what happened.)
M: But don't you like the top bunk? That's your big bed, and you're a big boy!
S: Yeah, I'm a big boy but I'll sleep on the bottom with Henry.

When we decided to get bunks, I told my husband this: I hope Spencer likes them and isn't scared, because Caillou was scared of the bunk beds and ended up sleeping on the bottom bed with Rosie (yes, I've seen too much of that dern show)

And whadaya know.

We installed a light up on the top so he can read in bed without disturbing Henry, and we tried again on Monday, and he slept fine up there Monday and Tuesday night. Honestly, I don't care if he sleeps on the bottom for now, but I don't want him to be scared. I want him to relish having his own space in a room that is very cramped while we wait out the time spent with a bed/crib both in the room. This morning when I was leaving for work he went “to go look at his bed” so obviously he likes it.

Stupid Caillou. I hate that animated child.

TOT - perfection

1. What’s the perfect meal? It really depends on my mood. Last weekend, the perfect meal was that salmon - I'm still dreaming of it. For my anniversary I had a blueberry blue cheese filet that was To. Die. For. Really good lamb saag and naan, the perfect Greek salad (no dressing, onions or peppers, extra feta). I can't think of one perfect meal - I like too much food.

2. What are the perfect pair of shoes? my red flats are pretty darn perfect. Cute, comfortable, and always commented on.

3. What is the perfect afternoon? Sunny and breezy without boiling, outside on the deck reading while the kids play and no one needs me to do anything.

4. What’s the perfect house? I'd like a little more space, a little more character (i.e. a 1900s wood-frame insurance nightmare), and an extra bedroom or two. A pool off the deck would be ideal. Maybe I'll find a photo of what my dream house would look like.

5. What is the perfect outfit? Something comfortable and that makes me feel confident. Great jeans (my favorite right now are Lucky), cute top and great shoes.

6. What’s the perfect wedding song? So subjective! Our song was by Sinatra, and I'm pretty sure everything from that time period works for every wedding. One that I hate? Marry Me, by Train (and I didn't know it was Train when I started hating it, and I generally like them). Sap. Sorry in advance if you like that.

7. What is the perfect job? My ideal would be to own a used bookstore and not care if I made a profit. So obviously in my dreams.

8. What’s the perfect hairstyle? My favorite these days is three little buns at the base of my neck like this. It even lasted through hot yoga last night when I forgot to bring a hairband.

9. What’s the perfect music festival? I don't know - all my favorites are dead, pretty much.

10. What’s the perfect day to yourself? I don't like to spend a ton of time to myself. I'd probably go shopping (which I shouldn't be doing), get a pedicure, read a bit, go for a run and watch tween movies that I wouldn't otherwise be able to watch with anyone else in the room. And spend an inordinate amount of time on Facebook and my Google feed.

For more!!

Is this all I do?

It appears that my only posts these days are "weekend" on Monday, "TOT" on Tuesday (generally), and a Friday list. I definitely need to improve on that! Unfortunately, these days I do so much that if I blogged anymore it would be taking time away from my family and I do enough of that with my exercise. Blogging takes second fiddle most of the time, and I'm okay with that.

This weekend felt really short because we did so much. I knew that would happen! Friday night we went to Ikea to remedy the whole bunk bed situation. The kid needs to spread out. We decided on everything and then realized the actual bed frame wouldn't fit in the car so we got everything else and then had a picnic at the park for dinner. Ham and cheese sandwiches, chips and watermelon and warm water - who knew it would be so fun? the kids got to play on the playground (H: big fan of slides. S: big fan of sliding down with his arms around his brother).

Saturday Hubs went to get the bed frame (it fit in the car without any of us in it) and the rest of us hit Target to get sheets and odd and ends, and also Hubs' Father's Day gift (Napoleon Dynamite on BluRay... bah, but that's what gift giving is right? You get them what they would want, not what you would want). We spent the rest of the day putting the bed together (translation: Hubby did) and entertaining children (me) and making excellent food (me). Spencer summarily fell off the ladder of the bunk bed the first time he tried it. It was a little scary, and Hubby went to Home Depot and bought rubberized strips to put on the rungs but he got used to it and now he's in love with his bed.

Heard several times on Sunday: Momma, can we go home? I want to go see my bed.

Sunday, Father's day, was spent as we usually do on such holidays: running around visiting other people (not a complaint, just an observation). S and I made blueberry pancakes and sausage for daddy and S got a bit obsessed with the card we gave him ... it played the Superman theme, and he kept opening it "Dun da da dun, da da da da da dun!" We had lunch with my dad and his girlfriend, and then went to my in-laws' house for a few hours to watch the baseball game before heading home.

Where S asked if he could have quiet time so he could see his bed.

I told him he could take it in my bed because his brother was asleep.

He opted out of quiet time.

I ran 4.7 miles tonight. My neighbor opted out, so I just kept going and I did 4.7 in 53.50. I burned 550 miles. And then Hubby went out for BOGO Key Lime milkshakes from Steak N Shake. Ahhh.

Excuse me, he just got home and I need family time. With whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Friday Bits

-- I've been so good about my workouts this week! Sunday, 4.2 run. Monday, yoga. Tuesday, 4.7 mile run. Wednesday, weights on lunch and yoga after work. Thursday, 4.0 walk/run (not feeling it, still got out there). Ideally today I'm going to get in and do weights on lunch again, and then take the evening off from working out and do yoga Saturday morning. According to my stat counter, I've burned 4000 calories in the last 7 days working out. You'd think I'd have lost more than 2.2 lbs in the last two weeks, right? Oh well, inches. Inches.

-- The lady that runs the boot camp that I go to sometimes with Hubby's cousin contacted me on facebook, because my neighbor applied for a personal trainer position she had open. He didn't know I knew her, and I think she only found out that I knew him because she checked him out on FB and found I was a mutual friend. It was awkward, because I don't know anything about him professionally. He's very fit though, and nice. So that would be good for him.

-- My jewelry from SJL Original is due on Saturday. Color me excited, like daffodil excited! :) I was super pumped when I checked my paypal account and realized I had a balance ... it's like finding $20 in your virtual coat pocket! Or $9.47, at least.

-- We need to bite the bullet and get Spencer a new bed. I can't remember if I've recently talked about needing a new bed for him, so if so I apologize in advance. Anywho, he's still in a toddler bed, and he technically fits in it but he's a very restless sleeper so he wakes himself up hitting the wall and things like that. We eventually wanted to get the boys bunk beds, but I don't want to get a single bed now and then have to get bunks in a year when Henry outgrows his crib. So I think Saturday we will be checking out the local Rooms to Go outlet, Big Lots, and ultimately Ikea to get a bed set and be done with it. Now I just have to convince Spencer that he'll like it.

-- *this* is the funny thing you were looking for in this post. So I was looking on Etsy to see if there was anything to get for Hubby for Father's day, because I'm at a total loss for things to get him. There is a personalized suggestion section which pulls his interests from FB to search for good gifts. Hubby's interests as listed by FB are "Fallout", "Dexter" and "Fringe". The first is a video game, the other two television shows. Well, it was fairly accurate for Fallout and Dexter, but it matched "Fringe" with a flapper dress, two necklaces and a very large white leather purse.

That was some kind of awesome. No? Had to be there? Sorry.

-- I'm doing terribly on my reading this month. I've been trying to read The Passage by Justin Cronin, and I recognize that it's a well-written book, but I just long to be absorbed and I can't get into it. A friend who is in book club with me said that she likes it, but it reminds her a lot of Stephen King. I can see that - I'm not much of a fan of his books either although I like the subjects. I don't know what it is, just not a fan (except On Writing. That was good stuff).

-- Please let today go by quickly. Work has been trying this week. I need another one of my mini vacations.

TOT - some more random

1. How do you pronounce the word aunt? Does your pronunciation rhyme with ‘haunt’ or ‘can’t'?
Aunt is Ant. I grew up trying in vain to pronounce it like "haunt", but I'm not cool enough.

2. Do most of the people in your life know you blog? Or are you partially or totally anonymous?
A lot of people know that I blog, but I don't advertise my address so very few real-life people actually read my blog.

3. When you grocery shop, do you prefer to bag your own groceries or do you like it when the store bags them for you? Paper, plastic, or reusable bags?
I prefer to let them bag my groceries with my own reusable bags, and then I reserve the right to bitch when my eggs and bread ends up under all the canned goods.

4. Do you have a green thumb?
ha. Nope, I'm trying in vain to keep my flowers alive for this whole season.

5. If you watch the Food Network, which chef/show host is your favorite?
I used to love FN, but I never think to watch it anymore. Same with HGTV and TLC. I'm sure there are some good shows. I can tell you I love making RR and Giada recipes. That's all I've got.

6. Do you like to take baths? Do you take them very often?
Not really. I get bored.

7. What color are the walls in your kitchen?
Green.

8. Do you prefer to dine outdoors or indoors?
Outdoors, whenever possible. I concede most of the time though, because my dinner companion gets eaten alive by mosquitoes unless it's 300 degrees outside.

9. Describe your ideal weather.
73 degrees with zero humidity. I'm told I should move to San Diego.

10. If you could learn any foreign language, which would you choose to learn?
German. Ich spreche einen bischen.

For more, head over to Chelsea-come-lately.

Can't wrap till the weekend's over

After reading that some of my favorite bloggers compose the majority of their posts on Sunday night, I sat down last night and tried to at least compose today's post. But nothing came. I typed out a couple sentences about how awesome the past few weekends have been, and summarily backspaced them out of the water.

Today? I think I'm composing a little better.

Maybe it's because basketball is no longer on tv (not that it was taking up much room on mine).

Maybe it's because my brain's just no longer on vacation.

…

Who am I kidding, maybe it still is.

My neighbors came over Friday night and we grilled out and hung out and it was all good fun – bacon and brown sugar-wrapped shrimp, macaroni salad and broccoli salad and crab cakes. I like them more, the more we hang out with them- they're crazy and funny and a little strange, but in a good way and I'm pretty sure they'd agree to my assessment.

Saturday I dragged myself to yoga, which wasn't nearly as fulfilling or good as M/W, even though it was the same instructor and the same heat and even some of the same crowd. I just don’t seem to work out as good in the mornings – I'm tight and easily overheated and irritable. I can't run for shit in the mornings either – a fact that does not bode well for my timed-running aspirations. But I did find out that the only difference between beginner's Hot yoga (which I did last week) and regular Hot yoga is the temperature, by 10 degrees, so I'm manning up and trying the regular class today. Yikes! We didn't do much of anything else on Saturday during the day except that I picked up a couple of pairs of shorts at Old Navy, and then at night we went to Outback to celebrate my FIL's birthday. Yo, that was the best salmon I've had in years (even making it myself). I'm pretty sure they may have drenched it in butter after pan-searing it, but I don't even care. I wanted so much more, it was so fabulous. I'm pretty sure I've never ordered anything else but the Outback Special ever except maybe the occasional Alice Springs chicken and I was obviously going for something a little healthier. Oh Lord, was that a good fish. And probably not healthier, but whatevs. It was worth it. We brought the party back to our place after dinner and had coffee and pie on the deck and it was good fun.

Sunday … did we do anything on Sunday? I'm pretty sure we didn't leave the house. Watched movies (Valentine's Day, It's Kind of a Funny Story, part of Zombieland) and tried to lay out and read (The Passage, book club) but it was hotter than the devil's backside so that was a giant fail. We played soccer/keep away with Spencer until Hubs hit the ball over the fence and I went pawing through the jungle that is our easement. Also a giant fail. Spencer took a three-hour nap and I got a nap too – giant success! I got my neighbor to run with me last night too – I did 1.2 miles before circling around to pick her up, and then we did a walk/run combo for 3 more miles because she doesn't quite have the stamina to keep going yet.

I think that is the extent of my weekend wrap-up. I'm finding the less I actually DO on the weekend, the more it feels like a mini-vacation. Not that I'm ever actually excited to leave my family and go back to work, it's nicer to do so when I feel like I've gotten time in with them. Till TOT tomorrow (and woohoo on the alliteration!)

Bits

-- I am sitting in a dark living room this morning relishing my five minutes before either a) kids wake up and need things or b) I have to head to work. It's nice.

-- I need to go water my plants though. The rain that was supposed to hit obviously side-swiped my house. No rain. Dry as a bone plants. My resolution was not just to plant them, but to keep them alive. Pretty sure that means water.

-- The elder child woke me up twice last night crawling into bed and kicking me (he's a very restless sleeper). No 1 is my middle of the night job, since he always comes to me anyhow, and I don't mind relatively. But boy, does it make for some groggy mornings.

-- Neighbors over tonight; grilled shrimp and they are bringing the sides!

-- We went to a local favorite restaurant last night because we had a Groupon (I always buy two for the place when they offer them, love that place). We gave No 2 his first taste of frozen yogurt. Big mistake, because then he just kept grunting for more and it was so funny that we gave him more ... let's just say he had a lot of fro-yo.

-- We need to get No 1 a new bed - he's not necessarily too big for the toddler bed, but he IS a restless sleeper so he hits the wall a lot and it's a) annoying b) I think that's what is waking him up in the middle of the night. The end game plan was for bunk beds, but should we get them now, or just a single and change to bunk beds when the Younger is ready?

-- I hear stirring from the other room. Better go water my plants before I have to gather up cereal, sippy cup and Disney ...

And furthermore...

Last night I had a series of extremely strange dreams that left me groggy and confused when I woke up this morning. I don’t know about you, but I dream very vividly (movie quality) and usually remember the bulk of them (however when I try to explain them, they usually come out all jumbled). In the first one there was a killing spree and then I was on the run so I dressed like a homeless woman and hung out with very dirty yet attractive addicts (who were surprisingly welcoming and supportive).

That dream was interrupted by the elder child, who came to bed with me at 2:30am and kicked for awhile until I walked him back to bed.

Then I had a dream about a friend who is having a baby next week. We were at a shower for her (not her real one, which was several weeks ago) and the cars were parked on top of each other so I had to pick them up and move them before I could get to my car. Then I was on my way to a homeless wedding … so evidently the homeless were on my mind.

All I can do is maybe claim exhaustion for my strange dreams, since I’ve been doing two-a- day workouts this week, my usual lunchtime weights/run and hot yoga at night. Why is it that enya is such the go-to soundtrack to yoga? I actually accidentally made a snide comment under my breath (me? Snide?) when Orinoco Flow came on because So! Cliché! I don’t remember the music before and after. At least t wasn’t Age of Innocence. Gotta save something for next time.

Speaking of yoga, have you ever seen He’s Just Not That Into You? There was such a Bradley Cooper/Scarlett Johansson moment last night, with this one guy that kept chatting up the with this one guy that kept chatting up the instructor. It really was funny. Probably had to be there. But not too close to the other dude who farted while we were working legs stretches.

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Rock Lobster

So I’m a little pink. I’m a pink lobster. On the upside, I no longer have my strange farmer’s tan (since my legs have deviated from pasty white for the first time since high school), but on the downside it hurts to sit. Or lay down. Or do anything really except scramble back into the kiddie pool. I feel like a baby because I’m really not badly burned. I did wear some sun block, and my burn is actually a little strange. You know those little girl bathing suits from the late 80s/early 90s that were a two-piece but they attached on the sides so you ended up with a round tan belly and white sides? Yep, that’s me. Except replace tan with pinkish red.

I’m doing my part: moisturizing six times a day, wearing light breezy clothing. However, it is just this side of arctic in my office so I had to turn my space heater on and then put it really far away from me so I didn’t hurt. And my work chair is much scratchier than I remember.

My manager brought me some size 8 pants, which I wriggled into in the office bathroom despite the pain of my sunburn to try them on. Yay for new pants (especially ones I didn’t have to pay for!) I still have a little bit of muffin top on one of the pairs of jeans, but they’re comfortable. I’m not sure I’ll ever get rid of the muffin top because it stems mostly from my c-sections. It’s depressing, really. Is there any way to firm up that skin? Without a 20k tummy tuck? (A related question: how much do tummy tucks cost, anyhow? And do you think my insurance would cover it on the basis that it is detrimental to my mental health?)

I had a strange dream about my workout partner last night. Not a sexual dream (my workout partner is male) but just strange. Then today he left early to get actual lunch on our lunch break and left me in the gym with The Stalker and any fuzzy nice feelings I may have had for him disappeared into smoke. Ha!

And tonight I had Bikram yoga for the first time. I bought a Groupon for one month unlimited yoga, and I'm going to get my money's worth and go as often as possible this month. I needed something a little different to add to my workouts. I really enjoyed it, but that heat is no joke! The internet says "105 degrees with 50% humidity". I'm pretty sure that humidity was dripping off my forehead into my eyes. I wasn't going to wear my glasses while I stretched but I didn't know the poses completely (it's been 6 years since I tried yoga) and I can't see to know what I'm doing without my glasses. I do love me some pigeon pose.

And with that lovely image, I will take my leave.

Another day, another dollar

I'm running on a string of fantastic weekends, even though nothing serious has been done during them. It's been great. Every weekend has felt like a mini vacation.

One thing I have not been doing is watching the basketball finals. Am I the only one who hates basketball? I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who hates it as much as I do. And I do. I'm sorry if you like it, but the only thing I can stomach watching is a) Gators games b) celebrity games (they suck, and it's funny). It seems like basketball is ALWAYS ON and I think that I've realized that it's just because the NBA games do not follow the same season as the college games, so I always expect that when college is over, it's over, and that's not the case.

Speaking of sports, my son (the elder) was wearing his skates and hit bike helmet and kept falling on purpose. I'm pretty sure he's going to be a hockey player with all the dives he's taking. Dives ... maybe with the Capitals?

And Henry is still teething. I feel like a broken record (and a giant cliche) but it just seems never ending. We need to get stock in Infant's Advil and saline and those little nasal suction balls. I can see one of those top teeth coming through but it hasn't quite popped through yet. He's so happy ... except when he's not.

Anyhow, the hubby's cousin came over Friday night, who is one of my favorite people. And she got Spencer to eat squash (but not okra) so she might be a saint. There was a lot of wine, and a pork tenderloin and summer squash grilled outside and Hubby made okra and rotel (which was surprisingly good ... I usually only eat okra fried), and good conversation and a lovely evening in.

Saturday I tried to run but only got through 1.4 miles before I had to stop. The wine? The bruised toe? The morning? Who knows why. We finished replanting and mulching the front flowerbeds ... another resolution checked off! (Now to keep them alive) We also dogsat for a friend's chocolate lab while he was away for the overnight. It was a nice break from reality to have a dog again, albeit a well-behaved, doesn't-run-away-when-she-gets-out dog. Fun, but still a reminder that we do enjoy no longer having the added responsibility of animals. Holly played well with both the kids, and splashed around in the kiddie pool with Spencer on Sunday morning.

Sunday we spent all day out in the backyard, doing nothing. Spending a lot of time in the kiddie pool (all of us). I read a book, we had all our meals outside, and I ran 3.6 miles Sunday night in 39.50 minutes. It was the absolute end of my abilities - I ran the entire way except for about 10 seconds at miles 2.15. I run so much better at night than in the morning. I'm really not sure why that is, but I wish that every timed run was at night.

AND I came up with my favorite song. Which really is, one of my very favorite songs:

Five more days and I can do it all again!

Bits for Friday

-- I get to put Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on my reading list twice in the same year, even though I was only going to put newly read books only on it. Why, you might ask? Well. When I got my Nook for Christmas I was in the middle of reading the series, and I tried to buy them but Rowling has not published the Potter books to e-readers. So the hubby looked for them online so that I didn't have to cart my library books around. They were awesome. BUT THEN I got to the last one, and it was one of the worst things I had ever read. All the teenaged angst. All the terrible writing. I thought maybe it was a pirated pre-edited version. It turns out it was fan fiction. Ugh! Ugh! So I borrowed the REAL Deathly Hallows, and I loved it.

-- I got rearended Thursday morning at the exit to my neighborhood. It was extremely minor, a chip out of my already scratched bumper and I'm fine. But the woman who hit me seemed so nice and she's my age and lives in my neighborhood. I'm pretty sure it's weird that I want to be friends with the chick whose foot slipped off her brake. Right?

-- My 31st birthday is in 1 month and 2 days. I'm running a midnight 5k in 1 month and 1 day. I'm hoping to cut another 2 minutes off my time.

-- I've got nothing else.