·:[ The Healthy Mom ]:·
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Your results:
You are Batman

Batman 65% Hulk 65% Green Lantern 65% Spider-Man 65% Catwoman 60% The Flash 60% Wonder Woman 59% Supergirl 59% Superman 50% Robin 49% Iron Man 35%

You are dark, love gadgets and have vowed to help the innocent not suffer the pain you have endured.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Baby steps! Setting manageable goals for losing weight!

The first week:
Count calories and just watch portions, not necessarily going for a calorie goal yet.

Try to work in 20 minutes of exercise a day. Find the time and place and build the habit.
A quick walk with the kids, put on a CD and dance with the kid(s) or some yoga on the floor. If we miss a day, okay, I’m just trying to find out the best time and place to do it. I can make up for it the next day and do 40.

I haven’t run since Christmas - it’s been almost a week. This weather is killing me.

It’s a good thing that I’ve got the new year to motivate me starting on Monday.

We did go sledding today on 30th street, where that school and pool are.  That was fun!     We need another sled, though, so we can get more runs in

This is in response to a hot topic discussion among West Side Moms members, initially sparked by the execution of Saddam Hussein by hanging, the death penalty and trying Bush for war crimes…

As a former rape victim myself, I am wholeheartedly for the cutting off the penises of serial and violent rapists.  And keeping them in solitary after that.  For the others, you can put a subcutaneous drug that will not allow them to get erect. 

As for the death penalty, if someone deliberately killed my child or husband, I have to say that I would be open to the death penalty.  I think hanging or electrocution is barbaric - lethal injection is fine with me.

Our criminal justice system is a joke.  Workout time, tv, conjugal visits, computers?  C’mon!     Four walls, a toilet and a cot.  Basic sustenance.  Throw in some books and some life lessons (how to get a job, how to keep a job, how to keep a budget… .  It should be 3 strikes and we send you to a Mexican jail.

Bush?    He’s an idiot, plain and simple.  His poor leadership and decision-making (I’m the decider) lead to the death of many innocent civilians and soliders.  I truly hope that he can’t sleep at night for what he’s done.  He can’t even admit that he was wrong.

I lived here 91-97 and since 99 and I don’t remember it ever being one after the other like this.  Usually it’s 4-5 blizzards per winter, and 2 or 3 of those don’t happen until March/April.  I don’t remember December ever being so snowy.

I am SO tired of snow right now.  I’m tired of shoveling.  I’m tired of being snowbound.  I’m tired of the cold.  I’m tired of not being able to see my friends because of it.  I am tired of not being able to run because of it. 

   I just came in from finishing up our driveway with the snowblower.     I slipped once and landed hard on my butt.   

I *am* getting out today.  Somehow.  Someway.   I love to get Christmas lights, wrapping paper and holiday stuff on clearance for next year.  So I’m going to try and get to KMart.

Doug had the worst morning yesterday.  We have a flat tire on the Subaru.  While he was taking it off yesterday, he slipped on the driveway, and he grabbed the door to catch his fall.  The car door slammed his two fingers and then the window shattered!   I kid you not.  I felt so bad for him, and there was nothing I could do.    He did get the tire off and got it fixed and back on.  But now the driver’s window is missing - not great for this weather at all.  We’re already in a bind because the Eclipse needs a new water pump and we can’t afford to fix it. 

But, I digress.  I need a shower to wash off this crabbiness. 

Okay, yes, now I will admit that I am CRAZY 

So, I’m participating in a bunch of Nike challenges to keep motivated.  One of them is The 12 Days of Christmas run, where we had to run 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12 = 78 miles from Dec 1 until Christmas day.  I usually run 20 miles a week, so it should have been a piece of cake.  Well, due to the weather and some motivational difficulties, I missed a few runs, and found myself 15 miles short 3 days before Christmas.

So…  I ran 6 miles on Saturday, 5 miles on Sunday and I ran twice today - a 2 mile run and 1 1/4 mile hike in GOG and a 2 mile run after lunch and a long nap. 

I’m feelin it…  but I did it!  I’m supposed to do a long run tomorrow, but I think I might change that to Thursday instead and rest for 2 days.

Oh, here are my runs since Dec 16

2 in one day…

It’s so cool how kids can just make you appreciate the holidays so much.  Their excitement and enthusiasm knows no bounds.
   

I love that Christmas day is just us.  We just got back from Garden of the Gods.  We hiked up to the Siamese Twins, then I took off for 2 miles of running before we hiked back down.  I still need to get in 2 more miles today…maybe this afternoon.  Zander is a hiker and climber…it’s so awesome how much more surefooted and adventurous he is.    We were hoping to get some sledding in today, but most of the snow has melted that’s close by to us.   Well, next time!  Zander crashed within 10 minutes of getting home.

Saturday morning the four of us went to Monument Valley Park.  We went up on the bridge over the highway and train tracks and the boys got to watch trains go underneath them and get big rigs to honk their horns at them.  I ran 6 miles while they played at the playground and on the bridge with Doug.  Afterwards, we had lunch and nap time before heading to Doug’s parents house.

Saturday night was The Scott Family Christmas with dinner ordered in from Olive Garden.  The boys were too excited to eat anything, of course.  The present opening was frenetic and chaotic - we only got presents for the kids (under 12) this year.   One family arrived late, and that pushed us out to after 9 PM, which is far too late for the boys to be up and not home.

Sunday morning was leisurely, and I went for another run before The Carpio Family Christmas at 1:30 PM at my parents house.  We had great food and watched the Broncos game.  Again, we just did gifts for the kids, and my parents gave us all cash gifts  

We went home and Zander played one of his new XBox Godzilla games with dad and Zevan and I played Finding Nemo and Cars games on the Leapster.  We watched Little Einstein’s Christmas Wish episode and got the kids in bed, excited about Santa.  Doug and I watched MI:3 (great movie!) after doing final wrapping on the boys Santa gifts.

This morning Zander woke up around 5:30 AM coughing.  No fever or anything, just congested.  I gave him cough medicine, and laid with him a while, fretting a bit that we need more of it, and that everything will be closed today.

He woke up around 8:00 AM.  “Mom, is it Christmas Day?”  When I said yes, he bounded out of bed and ran downstairs.  He came upstairs, all excited… “Mom!  There’s a lot more presents under the tree!”   He went to wake up Zevan and Dad,  “It’s a big day!  It’s Christmas Day!”

“What should we do first?  Open presents or eat breakfast?” he asks with a big grin

It was so cute!  Zevan came running, “Oh, it’s Christmas!”   

So, of course we opened gifts first, and it was really nice.  They are spending the morning playing with their new toys, with the usual possessive tussles.    But, mostly giggling and laughing (and screaming in glee).

Today will probably involve video games and we’ll watch The Cars movie after dinner.

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends!  I hope the rest of your day is filled with cozy snuggling, unexpected hugs, big smiles and love, love, love! 

Zander and I had a fight this morning because of his exuberant aggressiveness.    He had already had a time out for kicking near my head after being told not to SEVERAL times.   When I was getting Zevan dressed, he hit me with one of their little chairs and I snapped and  screamed at him.     One of those “not so proud” moments.  He cried for long minutes and laid down in our bedroom with a baba and cried more.  I concentrated on finishing getting Zevan dressed and being pleasant to Zevan.

Zander kept doing that thing where he stops crying, then listens for me, then dramatically cries some more if he senses me in the vicinity. 

After a while, he was done, and things were fine again.  Then I asked him to get dressed while I made breakfast.  More refusals.

He stormed upstairs and told me that he was done with me and he didn’t want to live in the same house as me and he wanted to be just with his dad.

“Fine.” I said and walked away.

He came down about 10 minutes later while I was putting the vacuum cleaner together.  He said that he did want me to be his mom.  We had hugs.  Then he was Mr. Helpful. “Is there anything I can help with down here?”  ” Do you need a big strong boy to help you with that?”

We finished assembling it together and things were okay.

Later, I was in my office, and he brought one of his broken toys for me to fix.  I fixed it.  I said, I’m glad you want me to be your mom.” 

He said, “Me, too.  I want you to be my mom.  I never want to be without your love.“ 

I hugged him to me and said in his ear, “You will *never* be without my love.  No matter what, you will *always* have my love.“

I still can’t believe he said that.     Is he really 4 years old?

We went to grandma & grandpa’s for breakfast this morning.  Then I took my van to Discount Tire to finally get my snow tires on.  While I waited, I shopped at Target, which is in the same shopping center (Platte & Academy).  Just walking across the parking lot was perilous.  Cold and windy and very snowy.  75 minutes later, when I called, they were finishing up with my van, so I trekked back across the parking lot.

As I tried to get on Academy, there was a lot of traffic backed up.  Then I saw a gap ahead.  A lot of people were unable to get up the slight hill at the light.  With my new snowtires, I was able to get up and past the cars sliding around at the light.  Instead of going home, I decided to go back to grandma & grandpa’s to regroup before taking the boys home.  I didn’t want Doug’s dad to have to drive the boys home and then back to his house in this weather!  I called Doug, and he was headed home from work early.

After a stop at the Wendy’s drive thru, I made it back to their house, and into a foot high drift in their driveway.  After lunch, we hung out for a while, and then I decided to try and make it home.  My wipers froze up and I had to get out at a stoplight to get the ice off of them.  Brrr.     As long as I went slow and steady, we did fine.  Took me 3 tries to get on our street and up our driveway, but I did it.  I’m glad to be home.  But we really need groceries.  Not sure when I can do that.

I wanted to finish up our shopping today, but I have to go too far to do it with the roads in this condition.  Yuck.  I may have to miss playdate tomorrow to get everything done that I didn’t do today. 

Good news.     Dr. Derkson stands by his original diagnosis of retractile testicles.  He brought in another urologist to check Zander, and Dr. Simon concurred.

Surgery is NOT necessary.  They each were adamant about it, and individually said that any doctor that would do surgery 1) would fail their boards 2) would be considered malpractice.

When puberty (!) hits, around 12-13 years old, his testicles will be larger, and they will drop.  There is nothing we need to do to “help” him along.  He is fine, and this won’t affect his fertility.

They assured me that they *could* do surgery to bring them down, but it would be unnecessary.  Dr. Derkson said that while he LOVES to do surgeries, he won’t do unnecessary ones.  I just wanted to 

I am going to see if I can just have a phone consultation with Dr. Furness, so I don’t have to subject Zander to more tickling of his tentacles.  Meanwhile, a little more research for me.

So, Zander didn’t want to go to the doctor, and I was explaining that he had to be checked so he could have a baby with his wife some day.  He looked at me earnestly and said, “Mom, you are going to be my wife.”   

I kept trying to figure out why he didn’t want to go.  This is what he finally told me, “Remember last time?  I had to get those shots that hurt me.”        I assured him that there would be no shots at this appt.  Things were fine after that.

So.  We might still go back annually for a check, or I just might get over my anxieties and let it be until he’s older.  Dr. Derkson said either would be fine with him.  DEEP BREATH. 

All that matter now is that he’s fine.  And doesn’t need surgery.    

Maybe now I can quit crying at the drop of a hat.

I kind of OD’d on chocolate today.  After Zander’s appt we went to Josh and John’s and I got a cocoa fusion with chocolate peanut butter chocolate chip ice cream.  O. M. G.   They start with a scoop of Ghiradelli chocolate chips, then add some very rich hot cocoa.  THEN they add a scoop of your choice of ice cream and top it with REAL whipped cream.  It is to die for.  I wasn’t able to finish mine.  I actually got chocolated-out.  I didn’t think it was possible.   

I’ve been having this weird cry-at-the-drop-of-a-hat feeling lately.  I can’t believe I called Kristi crying because I got lost on the way to her house for Kylie’s birthday party.  And the poor police officer who found me on the side of the road crying about it.  And my boys…” on’t worry, Mama.  It’s okay.  We’ll find it.”  I ended up sobbing in Candy’s arms.   

It must be hormones.  I am just finishing up my period, so…

What I need is some dark chocolate and a Vanilla steamer from Starbucks, sweetie.

I can’t even read the news.  I cried twice this morning over a couple of articles in Newsweek.  Sigh.  I used to be such a hardass, what the hell is happening to me?!?!

I just came from a client meeting, then I need to go to the comic store to work until 6 PM, then dinner with my parents (Red Lobster - for my birthday!).  Tomorrow is Zander’s Parent/Teacher conference and his first urology appt. 

My birthday was a nice lazy day. When the boys came home, they both wished me a happy birthday.

I did have to work a few hours, but it was okay, interspersed with blogging and checking email.

When Doug went to the comic store, I spent time cuddling on the sofa with the boys watching Xiaolin Showdown.

Zevan even sang the Happy Birthday song to me…
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to mama…
Happy birthday to you

My dad came over and fixed my Christmas lights. He also bought us a new vacuum cleaner

Doug made me one of my favorite dishes for dinner - chicken curry with coconut milk. He even got some naan to eat with the meal. My dad came over and had dinner with us.

Then both boys sang Happy Birthday songs to me. And got my presents! A new running shirt and running gloves plus a gift certificate for a facial - woo hoo!

Doug and I watched some Daily Show episodes, and I watched Sex and the City after he went to bed. I worked a tiny bit more and am going to bed.

Yay for me!

We had a cocktail party last night for my birthday. It was so awesome! A kid-free, adult, wine & cheese party.

We lit lots of candles and got out all the wineglasses. Lots of eating, drinking and laughing. Lots of laughing. A wonderful surprise was to see Naomi - it has been 6 months since we’ve seen each other. Can you imagine? All my close girlfriends were there. It was just so fun!

Non-kid music, and a totally different atmosphere without kids running around and making all the kid noise. It was a great break. I mean, I love my kids, but sometimes I just want to be an adult!

Great presents - things I will actually use and enjoy! Booze, chocolate, candles, bath & beauty stuff… And a triple chocolate mousse cake from Marigolds for dessert! It was just FABULOUS! Exactly what I needed.

Perfect.

To top it all off, we slept in until 10:30 AM! Unheard of since the birth of the ZBoys. We’ve got some cleaning up to do, but it’s all good. I just had such a fun time with my friends.

It’s 1 PM, and I’m still in my pjs. Aaahhh…

My sister called today and let me know that 40 is the new 30… Good to know!

Certainly, no one marathon training plan will work for everyone. I’ve been doing a bit of research on them lately.

I did the CoolRunning.com couch to 5k program for my first race.

Then I did the Hal Higdon intermediate 5k training program

For a long time now, I’ve been doing the runnersworld.com SmartCoach training programs, adjusted to my goals at the time. I started out with the 10k program and then recently did a half marathon distance.

All these programs got me where I wanted to be - or better - for each distance.

I’m no speed demon, and my goal would be to finish in 4:40 or less. Considering my current 11:15 pace, that’s a big goal.

I did another 5 mile run today.

I’ve been reading Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham and Marathon: You Can Do It! by Jeff Galloway. I actually tried some walk breaks yesterday with a short 5 mile run. I just randomly put them in - at 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, 3.5 miles, 4 miles. It hardly affected my overall time. And since it is my recovery week, I am running slower than usual regardless.

It’s my feeling that an older newcomer to running can benefit from a different training program. I’m more than happy with my 10:00/mile 5k race pace. I’m not interested in killing myself to run too much faster. I also suffered through a bad bout of plantar fasciitis for a few months this year after my 1st 10k, so I want to be cautious. I run because it’s easy and it burns calories and I’m STILL trying to lose those last 10 lbs.

Other than one portapotty break, one cramp break during my half marathon run and a couple confusing paths due to the detours on the trail, I ran the whole thing at a good pace for me. And it was fine. And I’m fine now.

While the tried and true is always a good place to start, I think that one has to be open to new and different training methods. Lance Armstrong is an inspiration to me because of how he changed his training after he was diagnosed with cancer. And look where that got him

I have encountered a lot of running purists online who cannot possibly imagine slowing to a walk during any part of their run. Because that’s what works for them mentally. It’s all a mind game, really. It’s all about finding the right one.

I’m going to try this Galloway walk/run training for the next few months (at least until Feb 2 and see how it goes. There’s going to be a psychological change in taking walk breaks, but I do like the extra spring in my step after little breaks.

Like everything else, I will likely take what works and toss the rest. If that means skipping an occasional walk break or taking an extra one, that’s okay. Or even starting my ratio at 4:1 or even changing my ratio to 5:1. I can see that happening.

I like the idea of breaking up the run with walking. Maybe not every other minute. But I surely can start out with walking for a minute at the end of every mile or half mile. Until I find the combination that works best for me. I’ll try it for 10 weeks and see how I like it.

I’m thinking that I would like to run at least 23-24 miles one time before a marathon, if not the whole distance. Prior to my first 10k, I had only run 5 miles. Prior to the half marathon, my longest run was 11 miles. Once.

Ideally, I’d love to afford some training with a local coach from Carmichael Training Systems, but until I win the lottery, or get an unexpected windfall, that’s not going to happen.

Here’s what I do love about Christmas. I love our tree. And that we had family and friends help decorate it. I love Christmas lights. This weekend, we are going to drive around some neighborhoods and check them out. There are some really great ones around - it’s great just to drive in the Old Colorado City neighborhoods, so many people have lots of lights!

I love to shop for the boys. It’s easy. And not too expensive. I love that we had the cookie exchange, even though it was crazy with so many moms and kids this year. Next year we might have to split up or have it at Mr. Biggs or something.

We just need to repeat the mantra: It’s not about the gifts. It’s not about the gifts. It’s not about the gifts.

I dropped off everything at CPCD after the playdate.  They remembered our situation and were very grateful for everything that we donated.  Their process was, surprisingly, extremely well organized and everyone I encountered was warm and friendly.

We filled up two big red wagons with all our stuff.  They will parse out all the items to different families according to their needs and wrap them. 

While I was there, there were also families picking up their holiday gifts.  The smiles on their faces were very heartwarming.  Especially the little ones.

The staff/volunteers were very vocal in their thanks, especially since we had so much to give, and such a variety of things from pantry items to new gifts to gift cards.

I filled out the donation form in the name of the West Side Moms.  I would definitely like to adopt a family (or two) as a group next year through this organization. 

They actually have Family Celebration night onsite that allows donors the opportunity to meet their adopted family and deliver the gifts to their family in person.   

I have to say, it was good for me to be the one to bring the stuff over that.  It touched my heart when I needed that the most.   

I’m going pretty good. Mostly sore and tired, but no injuries!!! May is having a knee issue, which is a bummer since she hasn’t been able to run since Monday.

I rested on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I struggled to finish a short two mile run.

Thursday, I ran 5 miles and felt pretty good.

So far, so good!