a few things....

1. our first halloween was a hoot. i'll post pictures after i take drew home tomorrow to see my family all dressed up.
2. tommy, i'm sick of politics, too. the last month i've been teaching a unit on voting and democracy....things aren't quite what they seem and though i'm sick of election crap, it's been very eye opening to see and hear what the kids say....
3. i did not have a need to contact my attorney today....one day at a time i guess.
4. i avoided all trick or treaters tonight. is that awful that i don't want to hand out candy? they didn't even ring my doorbell this year. could it have been the ferocious labradoodle barking her head off? or perhaps waylon giving out a nice little tirade that could be heard throughout the neighborhood?
5. don't use eyeliner as facepaint....it's a pain in the butt to get off a little lion.
6. my child should have been a crow for halloween. i'm not sure when he'll talk since all he wants to do is call crows--that's about the only noise he's making these days. well, that and telling me "no, no, no!"
7. time will change tomorrow. i hate change. it doesn't matter what kind, i don't like it. i really do not like when time falls back....isn't the cold weather dreary enough in the winter without it getting dark at 3 pm?
8. can teachers have intervention charts? can i go to the website and make my own? if so, who will keep track of my performance for me?
9. i ran with a new lady tonight that really made me push hard. and we talked the entire run...talk about out of breath.
10. i am thinking more and more everyday about a half-marathon. i'm also thinking about a tattoo....very seriously.
11. i'm very proud of jennifer for taking on yet another duty.....wife, mother, student, worker times 2. do you sleep???
12. i love that even when angie is ticked off royally, you would never know by her actions. it's an awesome feat when you can be that upset and no one can even tell....how do you do it?!?!
13. enjoy the weekend....blog so i'll have something to read. tommy, don't take anymore bribes from politicians. jennifer, drink decaf when sampling. angie, enjoy a weekend with no company!

thursday.

tired, sore.

restraining, filtering, trying.

it's really not friday?

ugh.

break.

crazy, wacky.

flailing, screaming, wiggling.

i'm a little stiff.

unbelievable.

friday.

happy, excited.

painting, enjoying, running.

if we're all lucky.

content.

"what would you say if...."

with my first official 5K in over 2 years finished, i realize again the need i have to run. first of all, it is so much fun to run with the girls after a hard day of work and second, that thing they call a runner's high, it does exist and i like it. a lot.

mom and hay came with me on saturday morning to walk with drew while i ran. i'm not sure if my family understands how much running means to me. i know tim does, he's seen what happens when i don't. everyone knows i'm a little competitive, but it's not even necessarily that i am competing with others, it's more of a competition with my inner self. i know that sounds cheesy but i have a really hard time making that voice be quiet sometimes and finishing a run always does the trick. fellow runners understand the addiction, the obsession, the absolute need to run.

i don't want this to come across wrong, but running has become my sort of religion. now, i don't mean that in a pagan/athiest kind of way, i just think God always sends us something we need and i know i have been sent a love for something that makes me happy. running has gotten me through when i thought i was having a nervous breakdown, it's gotten me through panic attacks, it's gotten me through mamaw's breast cancer and now it's getting me to a place where i can have a little more confidence in myself.

anyway, something is on my mind with all these 5K's, 4 mile runs three times a week and good eating i've been able to do lately. :) tonight when tim got home, drew was already in bed so we started talking about our day. he was telling me about the weirdos he encounters while doing service work and i, of course, told him about my run today....how i felt, my time, distance, etc.

(like he really cares! :))

our conversation takes a turn when i say, "what would you say if...."

*insert hysterical laughter here*

he doesn't even let me finish, just starts laughing and saying "oh, no!"

i think he knows anytime i say those 5 words, something big is about to follow and he's learned to be a little wary of what i'll come out with next. in the end, i asked him what he would say if i wanted to train for a mini. i know he would be happy for me to do it, but i'm not sure he understands the commitment i need from him to watch drew on saturdays if i am going to train and do a long run then....after explaining it to him, he still says he thinks it would be great. and that's why i love him. :)

i really don't think i'll ever be up for a marathon, but a half would be a huge accomplishment. last spring 3 friends did it and i was so proud of them....and even though i was proud, i was so depressed that i wasn't part of it. it's something i have never, ever thought i could do. i have no idea what makes me think i could do it now with a baby, but i would definitely like to give it a try.

here are some pictures from our pumpkin run....yea WACO!

drew and i after the run

angie and jb

jennifer and ella....mother/daughter or twins?

i wonder if administrators do?

i was downstairs just now, folding my 100th load of clothes today when tim said something that got me thinking....
as i was throwing his clothes to him to fold (since he hasn't done that in quite some time) and we were folding together, he said, "i've got to order some new work clothes." he's greeted with silence. crickets chirping. not even ruby was barking. it just hits me like a ton of bricks that nearly every other profession gives their employees some sort of compensation for their work attire. i shoot back a sarcastic "must be nice" comment and he tells me that even lowly, low-paid newscasters get a clothing allowance. ugh!
i'm not talking uniform or anything, but it would be nice for our employer to provide some sort of clothing stipend, polo, something for us to be able to wear that looks nice. lord knows i live for those days when i can just grab one of my waco shirts and throw it on, not having to worry about having a t-shirt on...but even those we have to pay for out of our own pocket. ragan brought angie and i a "fire kid" shirt the other day since we didn't realize we could have gotten one by listing our size on the order sheet as well. that's just one more "i don't have time, i'll just wear this" shirt i can add to my collection, and i thank ragan kindly for smuggling us one. :)
i wonder if administrators get some sort of allowance....i might have to look into that one. i'd bet $50 bucks that i don't have they do.
oh well, just another one of those cons in the profession we chose i guess. good thing the pros outweigh them on most days.....

Getting better....

Since Drew has become mobile by crawling I haven't seen a moment of stillness in the house. Now, he's begun to try and walk. Yes, he's been cruising for the last several weeks but tonight he really took off with his little push walker. It was hilarious! We kept watching his little chubby legs just moving on their own....sometimes his face just had this look that said he had no idea how he was doing it, but he liked it. He's been pushing it on his knees but he's finally getting the hang of standing up. The little wheels move pretty fast so it's all he can do to keep up. My little bow-legged chunky monkey is growing up. :(

sunday mornings

"There are many persons who look on Sunday as a sponge to wipe out the sins of the week.” - Henry Ward Beecher

sunday mornings are spent by the majority of people i know getting ready for church. this is how i grew up as well. we'd all get up, get showers, mom usually fixed a good breakfast and we fought over who was going to get more time in front of the mirror or with the hairdryer. (4 girls in the house and one hairdryer makes for a morning of not quite christian like attitudes.)
anyway, though i am thankful mom always took us to church, now i am equally thankful i can choose to not get up and go if i don't want to. my sunday mornings are much different now. they usually involve getting up at the crack of dawn (as i do every other morning), changing the morning diaper, then changing another one 20 minutes later after hearing a tell-tale grunting while drew crawls around, feeding the dogs and getting them outside for their morning romp, then running to make coffee as fast as i can.

now, tim is usually not home on weekend mornings....either off working or riding one of his bikes--mountain or dirt. this leaves me to do most of the morning chores, keep up with my own little irumba and make sure the dogs don't eat/chew/bark/run off to somewhere they shouldn't be.

this morning has really been no different...we did the diaper dance (while drew tries to bounce like tigger the whole time), then the dog duty, and finally COFFEE! once i got all this done, i gave drew a few things to play with and sat down to watch him....not good. like you ever just get to sit down and watch them. i immediately found my pant leg being pulled on and when i got up to get him, he took off at a crawl dale earnhardt would be proud of...as i followed, i realized drew was pretending to spit in the floor. a few weeks ago this was funny. we would pretend to spit and he would start laughing uncontrollably. now, he's trying it out for himself. this will probably end up with a report from the babysitter at some point and time....maybe i should warn her now.

after the spitting, he has also decided he is going to "roar" at everything i say. i'll say his name to get his attention, he turns around, smiles and roars....it's hilarious. thanks to mamaw and hayley for teaching that one the other day, it's gonna go perfectly with his halloween costume.

i love sunday mornings.

tidbits

well, today was a gorgeous day. after last night i certainly didn't think i'd be saying that...drew decided he was going to stay up ALL night so we got very, very little sleep. (get ready, tommy, i know you're worried enough already!)

i guess i should start with last night. some of the girls from work picked me up and we all went to a movie then dinner. we went totally chick-flick and watched nights in rodanthe. the theater had only women and i'm very happy for all the men that didn't have to attend....they were spared many sniffles, sobs and sighs. the movie was good though i had an idea how things were going to end.

after the movie we all piled in and went to ruby tuesday's....after several wrong turns, ha! i was beginning to wonder if all the crying pam did had affected her driving skills. we ended up closing the place down and lucky for us, we were the only ones there. i think we did everything we always tell our kids not to do. we did not use inside voices for one...i think they probably heard us back in the kitchen. it was a very good time, enjoyed by all and i hope we do it again next month.

i ended up getting home around 11:00 and when i walked through the door, i could hear drew screaming at the top of his lungs. this scared me to death since tim was upstairs and obviously hadn't heard him. i ran into the bedroom and scooped him up....this was the beginning of a very long night. he wanted to play until 1:00, then when we would try to put him in his bed he would start screaming all over again. this isn't typical of drew so i knew something must be wrong. the only time i could get him to sleep was when i held him from 3:00-5:00 this morning. the whole night i kept having flashbacks of those first colicky months and i shuddered like it was a nightmare. oddly enough, he's been in a very good mood all day for a little boy that had no sleep last night. we realized about halfway through the night he was getting another tooth when he chomped down on tim's finger....that explained the screaming and not wanting to go to bed.

after a night of no sleep, i got up, put my running clothes on and was off to meet the girls for our run at eku. i just knew it was going to be a horrible run for me because of the no sleep thing but it actually ended up being good. we started a the stadium and ran the perimeter of campus, all the way down lancaster to downtown, to madison bank and back the same route to the football field. after our run we checked out the wellness center (which was very nice and i coveted the rock wall!) and then did something i've never, ever done before.....dun, dun, dunnnnn -- we weighed ourselves in the locker room on their industrial sized scale. not that i haven't weighed myself before, but i won't even let tim see my weight, much less another girl! jennifer and jeanne, you are sworn to secrecy and if that information ever gets out, i'm coming for you....:)

when i was on my way home my mom called and said she and mamaw were coming down....i went home, took a quick shower, got drew ready and headed back to town to meet them for lunch. we also went to wal-mart and i discovered something quite interesting. (i'll mention it later in my list of tidbits to think about.) we went to penney's where i got drew his first halloween costume, then headed home. whew, what a busy day! all this time, tim stayed home and stained the deck....what a guy!

okay, here are the tidbits i had to think about today:

• i realized when we were at wal-mart it was the third of the month...if you have ever worked in the law/court, bank or pharmacy (or wal-mart) business, you know what the third of the month equals....checks. not working people checks, the other kind of checks. well, my realization was that with drew's one tooth sticking out like a badge of honor, we fit right in with the other wal-mart clientele....
• while running, i think i get into such a zone that i probably ran out in front of several cars while crossing the street. that's a little scary.
• drew's favorite new things to do are to climb on anything and everything, including the treadmill. he knows he isn't supposed to do it...once he gets up on it, he turns around to see who's watching, then smiles and laughs like he's really done something. today when i went to get him off for the hundredth time, i realized the treadmill is covered with dust. (bad sign #1) i went and got something to clean it off with and as i was wiping, i found an old french fry stuck under the belt....(bad sign #2). what does that say about my recent physical activity when the treadmill is covered in dust and french fries???
• i thought i had ruined the bathtub two days ago when i was cleaning the carpet
  shampoo-er. when i emptied it, all the water just sat in the tub and wouldn't drain. this afternoon i was finally able to work on it (since most of the water had finally drained). while using all my might with a plunger, trying to work out whatever was stuck in there, i look over to see the lever for the drain is pulled halfway up. i felt like such an idiot! i always put it halfway up when drew is in there so the water stays warm but doesn't get too deep....i guess i forgot to put it back down. tim found this hilarious.
• the last tidbit goes along with the weighing one from above....given i wanted to cover the scale readout with both hands so jeanne and jennifer could not view my worth, it's odd that i came home and ate half a pizza all by myself after also going out to lunch at red lobster with the fam. why is it that we do that? am i the only one? when i still need to lose the last of this baby weight, i go home, eat a horrible lunch and a horrible dinner....oh yeah, i had a brownie and two mini-candy bars, too. and even though i don't feel good about that, i've even considered a hot fudge cake. ha! i guess if you're gonna do it, do it right.