Why Does Summer Speed By?

As I have stated before, I love summer vacation.  I feel like I am a better wife and mother because I actually have time to keep the house clean (within reason), the laundry caught up, and I cook more often.  I really kind of like to cook, but just don't have enough time when we are working and busy in the evenings.

Yesterday I made lasagna, salad, garlic bread (okay, I put the frozen slices in the oven), and I made a homemade lemon 7-up cake.  All three girls were here, so our family ate together at the table, tv off.  Now you moms know, this scenario has the potential for disaster.  The kids sometimes argue, or they don't like the meal and complain - after I have spent hours preparing it.  Someone might make a huge mess.  The dogs can get annoying as they bounce around the table willing one of us to drop a morsel.  Last night, it was actually enjoyable.  Everyone got along, even while carrying on a conversation.  They all liked the food (since it was a new lasagna recipe, I really wasn't certain that it would be palatable).  It was the way that family meals should be.  Success.

This summer I feel like I have been somewhat of a hermit.  We went to Virginia Beach for a week, and I spent several days last week at a reading conference in Indianapolis, but other than those trips, I have spent a lot of time at home, which happens to be my favorite place to be.  I am working on some writing projects, which was one of my summer goals, and I have completed my deep cleaning projects.  I had planned to paint our upstairs living room, but haven't gotten the motivation to start that project.  I keep trying to convince myself to just jump in; I can have it finished in two days, but I hate the preparation for painting. 

I have continued to run, although not as much as I should.  I ran in Indy last week.  My conference happened to be right across the street from where my niece Erin was working, so we met up one day and ran along the canal.  It was a beautiful run, but the heat and humidity were absolutely miserable.  I whined a lot.  I was happy to get some exercise after sitting in class all day, but I was drenched in smelly sweat about a mile into our run.  I was so thirsty that had I seen a half empty bottle of water along the route, I would have taken my chances and downed it.

My daughter goes to college in Indy, so the three girls and I stayed at her apartment (this also had the potential for disaster).  The girls hung out at the pool during the day, and we spent our evenings together.  One night, Bethany, Addison, and I did some workouts that Bethany can get through her cable network.  We did belly dancing!  I must admit, my body just doesn't move like that!  My hips don't swivel.  The woman who was teaching just looked sexy as she 'burned calories'.  I looked like a soon-to-be-grandma attempting to belly dance.  Not sexy at all.  It was well worth the laughs with my girls!

Once I returned from Indy, I was determined to get back into a running routine.  I awoke early Saturday morning to meet Kass and Jackie for a run.  I have to share what happened before I ever got out the door.  Addison and my niece Emily were asleep on the couch, and my nephew Evan was sitting there watching TV.  As I was quietly grabbing my keys, I saw a dark shadow on the kitchen floor.  I flipped on the light, and it was a huge, disgusting spider!  HUGE!  As is always my first instinct, I grabbed the first spray bottle I could find.  It was Windex with vinegar - spider killer, for sure!  This gets worse.  As soon as I sprayed Giganto, she (yes, I know it was a she...read on) took off, and a thousand little baby spiders began to fall off her back and onto my kitchen floor!  I was in  pure panic mode.  I kept spraying, just hoping to slow Giganto down.  She worked her way into a corner, and then began to stumble.  I ran to the garage for bug spray, and found only a can of OFF.  Hey, I was desperate, and did not want those babies taking up residence in my kitchen cabinets.  I continued to spray until I was confident that they were dead.  My husband was none too happy when I awoke him with my story of the gargantuan spider and her 100,000 offspring.  I insisted that he clean them up - I was not touching them.  Besides, I was going to be late for my run (I was getting the heck out of there!). 

We three girls ran about 4 1/2 miles that morning.  I skipped Sunday.  Guess what we did!  We lounged on the couch all day!  We watched A Time to Kill (great flick), and six, yes six, episodes of Criminal Minds.  It was a great day.  Monday, it was time to get another run in.  It was also nearly 100 degrees.  Kass, Jennifer, and I decided to brave the outdoor oven, and try to get a few miles in.  We waited until 7:30 when the sun was finished beating down.  We ended up running three miles, which was plenty considering there were heat advisories.  Today the temperatures are more tolerable.  Kass, Jackie, and I are going to run five or six miles this evening.  It wasn't long ago that I was tired of cold weather and having to bundle up for runs; now I long for those temps.  I have pretty much decided that I am just going to try to maintain fitness this summer, and not run races.  It is just too hot.  I ran a 5K a couple of weeks ago, and it was no fun at all.  It was so hot that I continued to sweat when I got out of the shower.  I prefer to run races in the fall.  I still plan to run the Monumental Half Marathon in November, so fall Saturdays will be spent getting in long runs. 

So, what to do on this July day?  Whatever I want!  It is summer vacation, and it isn't going to last much longer!  Now get out and do something fun - you will never get this moment back!

Summer's Almost Over

The countdown has begun. We only have two more weeks of summer vacation, and I am not certain where the time went. I love my job and look forward to meeting a new batch of students, however I haven't had much down time this summer, and would love a week to do nothing but read and sit by a pool! As it is, this is our last week of hosting our oldest granddaughter, and on Sunday we will meet her parents, drop her off, and bring home her younger sisters. They will be with us next week. My husband will have a few days off while they are here, and I am really looking forward to having him around. Somewhere in this chaos, I have to finish getting my classroom ready for the first day of school. I have most everything ready, but there are always last minute things to take care of.

Running...it is going so well right now. I no longer walk around constantly aware of the soreness in my legs. I am not miserable while I run, especially when Jackie is with me. Having a friend to run with makes the time much more enjoyable. Carrying on a conversation takes my mind off of the hard work. On Saturday Jackie's leg began to hurt too badly to continue, so she went back to the track, and I continued on our route. The whole time my unfit subconscience was using negative talk to try to get me to just stop. My foot hurts. Gosh, my calves are sore today. I am really hungry. It probably isn't very safe to run in the heat when I am hungry. McDonalds sounds really good. Oh, I would love a sausage egg and cheese biscuit. I think I have to pee. I am tired. I just couldn't relax and enjoy the beautiful morning. I made it, though. The 'healthy me' won that battle!

Yesterday morning I met my niece Erin. We had talked about running together for awhile, so I texted her Saturday night and asked her to meet me. I was pretty proud that I was going to be able to run 4 miles with my 22 year old niece. I knew that she would have to ease back on her pace, but I could go the distance. When I arrived, I saw that she was already sweaty. She had run 4 miles on the treadmill before meeting me! There went my confidence! We did have a nice run, and it was great to have some time to chat and get caught up. (I secretly hope she is sore today!)

I ran again this morning, but by myself. I turned the 'Jesus' music on my Ipod, and took off. I wanted to run Mozart Street again, but I also had in the back of my mind to try to add some distance to that run. I normally only run 3.2 miles when running Mozart just because it is a tougher run. This morning I managed to run 5.0! I was actually a bit disappointed because I just knew that with the added distance I had run at least 5.5, but when I drove it I barely hit the 5.0 mark. I know that considering that almost 3 months ago was the first time I ran 2 miles, I should be very pleased (and I am), but I want to eventually get to 6.2 so that I can consider running a 10K.

My husband and I, along with our granddaughter, will be running a 5K this weekend in Jasper. I don't feel that my pace has improved any, but since I have been running further, I hope that the distance will seem easier. The following weekend we run in a 2-mile run. That should be pretty easy! I would like to find some other 5K to run this fall; having an upcoming race is great motivation to get out there and run.