Wednesday, October 24, 2007

To Cry or Not to Cry

K has started this thing where she wakes up around 10:15 every night and screams bloody murder. She is inconsolable. The only thing she wants is "Dad's Bed." (Of course, I sleep there too, but I am secondary.)

So, we give in. In our queen size bed, which used to seem so large, we now have three people. She sleeps great. We sleep with feet, butts, and elbows poking us all night.

I know the right answer. I know what Super Nanny or Dr. Phil would say. Yes, my knowledge of child-rearing is limited to network television.

They would say it doesn't hurt them to cry. Put them back to bed. Be consistent.

Why is that so hard? She's only two, so it's not like she's 12 and wants to sleep in our bed. But I know I'm laying the groundwork for a bigger battle later on when I let her sleep in our bed.

I actually turned off the monitor last night. She was fine this morning, and if she screamed during the night, I didn't hear her. I got a great night's sleep. But I feel like Bad Mother of the Year.

Where is the happy medium? And where is my great sleeps-through-the-night child?

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Cover Girl




Man Quiz

I was "tagged" by my buddy, Dana, and the rules go that if you are mentioned here, you have to repost this on your site with your own answers...then tag others).

MAN QUIZ
1. Who is your man? Gary
2. How long have you been married? 7 years, this past June
3. How long dated? 5 years, so we've been together for 12 (wow!)
4. How old is your man? 38
5. Who eats more? Gary (except when I was nursing!)
6. Who said “I love you” first? probably Gary, but I don't remember the exact moment (isn't that terrible?)
7. Who is taller? Gary - he's 5'10" and I'm 5'8"
8. Who sings better? He may be the music teacher, but I can carry a tune better!
9. Who is smarter? Gary's a smart guy, but he never applied himself in school. I test better.
10. Whose temper is worse? Gary's
11. Who does the laundry? Me
12. Who takes out the garbage? Me
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're facing the bed - Gary
14. Who pays the bills? Me, and Gary's credit has never been better! :-)
15. Who is better with the computer? Probably Gary.
16. Who mows the lawn? Gary
17. Who cooks dinner? Usually me, unless it's something grilled.
18. Who drives when you are together? Always Gary.
19. Who pays when you go out? Moot point since it's all from the same checking account. Gary is the one who actually uses his debit card, but I put half the money in there!
20. Who is most stubborn? We're both stubborn about different things.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I've never been wrong, so I don't know. :-)
22. Whose parents do you see the most? My mom. My dad and his parents live farther away.
23. Who kissed who first? How do you not kiss at the same time?
24. Who asked who out? Gary kept asking me out after work at the Olive Garden, but I kept putting him off, thinking he was too old. Finally we all went out as a big group, and I got to know him that way. We went out casually a few more times after that with friends before we went on an actual date.
25. Who proposed? Gary
26. Who is more sensitive? We both are in different ways.
27. Who has more friends? Hard to say. I get along with Gary's friends really well, so we usually see them. Most of my friends live farther away, and we keep in touch via email.
28. Who has more siblings? Gary - he has 2 and I have 1.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? We share them! :-)
I tag Joana, Adrienne, and Jennifer!

I just learned how to make clickable links! Yay me!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Do Run Run

I consider myself a runner, or at least a lapsed runner. I ran cross country and track throughout high school, and did reasonably well. I ran the occasional 5K in college, and a few after that. I run with my kids at school (4 minutes per class = 24 minutes per day) and enjoy it. I haven't run competitively in quite a while, but still consider myself a runner.

At least, I did until I read this.

I got the following email from my high school coach. She now coaches at the college level, and got this email from one of her former students. This young women ran a triple... Ironman... triathon! Any of those words makes me cringe, and I have no desire to do even a fraction of what she did. But it amazes me what the human body can do.

To be inspired, shocked, and amazed, keep reading.

I just had to drop a note about my race this weekend. Last year I did the double ironman and this year I stepped it up to the triple ironman (7.2 mile swim, 336 mile bike, 78.6 mile run with a 60 hour time limit). Anyway, the race went better than I could have ever imagined. It's like the longer the race, the better I do. Perhaps that 2 mile and 5k stuff was just too short for me and that's why I was so horrible, ha ha. There were 19 starters, 15 finishers, 3 of us female and the females totally kicking butt by placing 3rd, 4th, and 6th overall. My two competitors were the elite of the elite with one being the current female record course holder and the other female was an English channel swimmer and had done crazy things like the eco-challenge. Anyway, a quick overview of how I did:

Swim: 7.2 miles in 4:18 I was the last female out of the water, but they only gained 10 min. on me. I was expecting to lose close to an hour here.

Bike: 336 miles in 20:18 Broke the previous female course record by almost 3 hours (previous being 23:13). I had the fastest bike time overall, beating everyone, including the boys. I was second coming off the bike simply because Beat (He's Swiss) had about a 30 min. lead on me after the swim. Only one guy has a faster bike time than me on this course (19:42) so I have the second fastest bike ever on the course when including the boys.

Run: 78.6 miles in 20 hours. Broke the previous female course record by 15 min. (previous being 20:15). Hmm, maybe I am still kinda sorta a runner. The last 12 miles was the most painful experience of my life! I also had the third fastest run time when including the boys.

Overall: A triple IM in 44 hours and 55 minutes beating the previous female course record by almost 7 hours (previous 51:47). I am the youngest female to finish the triple here in the US and almost 99% sure youngest in the world (Race director wanted to double check). I am the National Female Champion for the Triple and 3rd overall when including the men.

Anyway, the body is recovering just amazingly! So amazing what the human body can go through. Such an awesome experience. I love the ultra family and it's great being able to compete with people from around the world (Germany, Switzerland, England, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, and Hungary were represented). I'm not sure what's next, but I'm leaning towards ultracycling. Even though I now have the fastest female run time on this course, it was so painful where as the bike was just fun, but we'll see.

I don't want to do something that feels good for 45 hours! I can't imagine swimming, and then biking, and then running for that long! But I enjoyed reading about it, and wish her the best of luck. I just wonder what could you possible do next. After that, are there any challenges left?

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Pumpkin Patch