Disneyland

A Different Point of View

We moved here in May of 2006.  I don't think we'd been here a week when I came across a TV show about the horrible tornadoes of May 3, 1999 that directly hit the OKC metro.  We didn't have the house unpacked yet, so I was sitting in the middle of the floor watching in horror to find out that we had moved  to this new strange place in the middle of tornado season.

As time goes by and nothing serious happens, you get accustomed to life and forget the real threat.  You get annoyed by crazy weather people and warning maps and TV pre-emptions for stuff going on 4 hours from you.

But then you have a child and you're concerned for their safety.  And the crazy weather gets closer , closer and closer to your piece of the world.  You start to learn terms like "hook echo" and "weather aware."  You see devastation happen in Alabama & Missouri and the huge loss of life and begin to realize that being weather aware is a really good thing.  It saves lives.

You count your blessings for getting through another major weather event safely.

Back in the Saddle

I know it's been too long.  And you've missed me incredibly, of course.  The last 5 months or so life has been on standstill and a whirlwind all at the same time.  But it's time to try and right the ship and get things back to as normal as our lives ever are (for the Smiths, I'm not sure that's a text book kind of normal).

A lot has happened since December.  T & I ran our Disney 5K.  Caroline got to experience Disney World for the first time and we got to watch her experience it, which was worth every penny.  We celebrated our 5th anniversary and T's 40th birthday all in the last 10 days.  Caroline is almost 2 and growing like a weed.

There are lots of update and lots of picturs... so stay tuned.  Our regularly scheduled programming is set to return.

The other side

Life is hard.  Sometimes it really sucks.

Right now it really sucks.  But there are blessings.  I just need to remember and focus on those.

I know posting has been erratic and will continue to be so for a while.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  If you are spending it with your family and friends this year, I hope you cherish every moment of it.  If you are not able to do that, cherish the moments you do have with them - no holidays needed.

17 Months

The Doodle is 17 Months old today.  I don't have any idea on height and weight.  Maybe I should look into that.  She is becoming so much more kid like these days.  Her favorite things in the world are being outside, dogs/cows/birds, and saying "uh oh".  This kiddo LOVES to be outside.  She gets that from her Daddy... cause it's certainly not her Momma.

She could walk 10,000 miles in the yard alone, inspecting every blade of grass and bug along the way.  While we were in Benton this past month, she made it her personal goal to pick up all the acorns.  She managed to get that 6" square area cleaned up.

She still loves shoes and wants them on her feet at all times.  When you take her shirt off, she pats her stomach and grins.  She also likes to show her belly button.  If you're not careful, she may point out yours as well. 

She no longer likes her hair pulled back with a pony tail holder.  She will pull it out every single time.  She will accept a barrette or bow pulling it out of her face to the side, which is a nice change.  Her hair is past her shoulders in the back and getting thicker every day.  She's also developing a little curly wave in the back.

She loves to slap her knees and clap her hands.  She loves books and still enjoys playing in her giant box.  We are having a new refrigerator delivered here at work in the next couple of weeks and it might just be Christmas come early in the Smith house for her!

She has finally learned how to drink out of a straw, so now we don't have to carry a sippy cup with us everywhere we go.  That's nice!  And her asthma is improving.  The medicine we started almost a month ago has really made a difference.  Her allergies are acting up right now, but so are everyone else's - ours included.

If she had one Christmas wish, it would probably be for B to love on her and show her some attention.  I don't see that in the cards.  I don't think the dog has had a good track record with little ones with his previous families and he just doesn't want anything to do with her.  She'll live... Copper is always interested in being all over her.

She really is good and listens well.  She'll protest when she doesn't like something, but she'll still go along with it.  I don't expect that to last forever, but it's nice right now.  She was able to have lots of visits with the grandparents this past month, which she totally loved.  Apparently kids are born knowing how to work the grandparent system.

Check back to this post and I'll probably add more pictures this evening.

Old Friends, Young People

One of the great things about quick visits home (which we just recently had) is the ability to catch up with old friends in old haunts.  One of those old haunts for me is The Chimes.  I miss the atmosphere... the long waits for uncomfortable chairs and crappy service but excellent food (and beer).

My name is proudly mounted on the wall on a tiny brass plaque amongst thousands of other names.  May 1998, I finished drinking Around The World at The Chimes.  I even have the t-shirt to prove it.  My mom used to show off my name to her co-workers.  Hopefully the thrill of it has worn off by now. 

And on our recent trip home, I was able to celebrate my birthday at a place where I'd celebrated many birthdays.  Actually, that would be birthdays since I turned 21.  But since I don't look a day over 26, then apparently that's just a handful of birthdays and no big deal.  Alrighty.. end of post.

I kid... about the post... not about looking 26.  I have somehow managed to preserve the fountain of youth... if only I could keep my gray hair covered.  But that's another post for another time.

 

We had a great time on Saturday night.  Thanks to our friends for joining us... and for AutoCorrect on my cell phone... otherwise I might have had notes in my phone I could not understand.

 

  

Frinks in Nishville, anyone?





Halloween 2010

There was no great postcard this year.  But the costume was just as fabulous... unfortunately, there's not a great picture of it either.  We may have to stage one this year, after the fact.  But in the meantime, here are a few pictures of our little monkey.

We originally going to Haunt the Zoo here in Oklahoma City.  However, plans changed and we had a quick Trick or Greet (no candy needed) in my old Halloween stomping grounds. 

   

We were the devil because we wouldn't let her run into the street.  And if not for the padded headpiece to her costume, she may have really regretted her trantrum in Mr. Alton's driveway.  But in the end, we had a good time.

After this... a hiatus

So after this last post about running, I'll get back to the posts with pictures of the kid.  Just bare with me.

After the race, I took a week off.  My knee was really stiff and sore.  I thought a week off would be helpful.  I didn't think about running at all once I got over the race recap.  I guess that's good and bad.

Tonight was back to it.  In fact, I started Week 5 of my 9 weeks of training.  I'm mostly running now.  My lungs really were fine.  I was quite slow, but my knees and legs were talking to me the whole time.  Apparently in my week off, I've forgotten everything I've learned about running.

I haven't had on my running shoes since the race.  It felt good to slip them back on.  It was a comfortable, predictable thing.  My goal for tonight was slow and steady.  I had no thoughts or concerns with time.  I just wanted to run my training plan while making sure my knee wasn't too bad off.

I'd been working on my form in my previous 4 weeks.  I'm trying to develop good habits instead of bad ones that I'd have to unlearn when I was no longer praying I didn't die while running.  But tonight, apparently I seemed to have forgotten all about that.  I felt like I was running like Phoebe from Friends.

As big a jump in running as I made in Week 4, I make larger leaps in Week 5.  On Day 3, I'm going to run for 20 minutes straight.  Can anyone say, "OH HOLY CRAP!"?  I've been able to do everything the training has called for when it was called for.  So I believe that I'll be able to do that... but once again... OH HOLY CRAP!

So that's it for the running posts for a while....  Up next  - Caroline, Caroline and more Caroline...

P.S.  Happy Birthday to the most beautiful girl in the world, Jolie!! 

Hitting Home

You may have noticed over the course of the last couple of weeks that posts have been more running, less baby.  And it's true, the focus for us lately has been training for our Disney 5K.  But I also went back to Weight Watchers at the end of May.  It's not a diet, really.  It's just a new food reality.

Since that time, I've lost 30 pounds.  And it's great.  And I'm happy.  But sometimes it just doesn't hit home how much that is.  My clothes are looser... baggy even.  Some clothes I can't wear anymore.  But I didn't necessarily FEEL different.

Back in July, I bought this great jacket.  I found it on super sale.  I can't even link to it because it was on such super sale that they apparently don't exist anymore.  Just take my word for it - it's a great jacket.  But it didn't quite button.  It fit through the shoulders but that's about it.

I got it because of the price and the knowledge that come fall when I'd wear it all the time, it would button.  So I put it on this morning.... AND IT BUTTONED!  And I don't think my 30 lbs had really hit home until then.  Woot!

Can't wait until the next 30 is gone!!

The Results

First, I just want to say thank you to everyone for their support and encouragement as I've embarked on this journey. The calls, emails, interest, and motivation are greatly appreciated. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that T is also running, but is on the sidelines right now with knee troubles. So this is a family effort.



Saturday was kind of crazy, really. We had to leave the house by 7:15 at the latest and we did manage to get out earlier than that. Which turned out to be really good because as we approached downtown, the interstate slowed to a crawl. We did manage to park in short order because I didn't follow the crowd and took a street other than the one everyone else in OKC was taking. See, kids? Being different and not a follower can pay off.

We got out of the car and I pinned my bib number to my shirt - nice and crooked, might I add. T didn't even go, "you're number is practically sideways" (which it was). It was a chilly morning, but not really cold. Caroline was sporting a pink sweater in honor of the event and her new blue jeans that I bought a with absolutely no room for growth. I can't imagine we'll be wearing them very long.... glad they were on sale.

We walked 2 blocks over to the race area. It was starting at the Bricktown Ballpark - home of the Oklahoma City Redhawks Triple A baseball team. I parted ways with T and Caroline at the corner before we got into the crowds. They were headed to IHOP for breakfast while I raced.

I made my way to the race queue. I found the back of the 5K pack.... I wanted to be positioned way in the back as to not get in any one's way. One of my fears had been tripping in the mob or getting caught up in a pace that was way too fast for me. When I was talking about this with Stephanie last week, she said that this race wasn't really one for "serious runners" and much more casual than other races.

Serious runners? Wait.... am I a serious runner? She laughed at me and said that I was. She laughs at me a lot.

So the gun went off and it was probably a good few minutes before I even really moved because people were flooding into the race from outside the tape. They didn't bother lining up in the tape prior to the gun going off. Yes, I understand it would have been too crowded, but maybe they should have allowed more space in the queue. I was wanting to start my time when I got to the start line, but my thumb apparently hit it and I'd been on the clock for a couple of minutes while I was standing there waiting to get moving. I did have a sensor on my shoe that would clock my actual time I crossed both the start and finish lines... but I won't know those official results for a while.

Anyway, as I started I was just walking. I was approaching this day as just the final training run of week 4 for me. A typical training run is 2 miles for me right now. For the last 1.1 miles, I figured I'd just do what I could... walk or run... slow or slower.... It should really be called Obstacle Course for the Cure. Runners were jumping up on the sidewalk going around the walkers in the middle that were walking 5 and 6 across in their groups. Even though I was moving faster than the walkers (once I started running), I wasn't jumping up on the sidewalk and then down again. I'm not known for my gracefulness and the last thing I needed was wiping out 2 minutes into the race.

I guess it should also be mentioned that after 4 week of running, my leg muscles were starting to let me know they weren't my biggest fans at the moment. With my leg muscles all stiff, they were causing my knee to hurt.... a lot. I think a lot of it was mental, but some actual pain too (since it's still hurting today). I know I'm not injured though. So I'm scheduling a massage today.... maybe if I hadn't have put it off so long, I wouldn't be in the pain I'm in now.

Anyway, so things were moving along fine. I'm doing my regular training run. Then I get swept up in some crowd and am doing this crazy fast pace for me. I don't even realize I'm doing it until I can't breathe and I haven't even been running that long. I won't know how fast I'm running until long after the race is over. But at the moment, all I know is that I'm wishing for it to be over and I'm not even half way through.

It was great to see all the kids running with their parents. It was great to see the community support of the racers. It was a beautiful weather day. And all I can think about is putting one foot in front of the other. My knee isn't really hurting too much when I run, but it is hurting when I walk. And I'm walking now because I'd been running so fast.

Luckily, a lot of the second half of the race was downhill. Yes, that meant that a lot of the first half of it was uphill. So after taking a few minutes to regroup my head (trust me, I needed more than minutes), I started running again. And I said to myself, "just run to that stoplight." I got to the stoplight and was ok... so I kept running. And I got to the 4K completed mark and realized it was almost over and I wasn't about to die. I had promised T I'd send him a text to let him know when I was coming. So I sent him a quick one and then started on the last uphill climb.

When I got to the top of the uphill climb, there were people cheering us. A softball team had made an arch with their arms and wanted people to run through it.... of course, I obliged. I got some high fives and a final cup of water... and yes, I'm running this whole time. I know, I was surprised I made it through the team arch and didn't trip or fall over too.



And when I got to the base of the bridge and saw the finish line... I also saw my cheering section. T was taking pictures and Caroline was waving... not at me... just at everyone in general. It put a huge smile on my face... I waved back and kicked it in gear to finish.



After I finished, I made my way back to them. T was pushing Caroline up the block in the stroller and she was waving at people like this was her own personal parade. It was so cute it made me laugh out loud. I got a big hug.... and then a water and a banana and we headed to the car.



My finishing time was about 50 minutes. It's not quite fast enough to avoid the giant Mickey hand in January, but also not too bad for my first race. It gives me a place to start to compare future races.

I wasn't even close to the last finisher, so that was pretty cool. I also completed the 3.1 miles faster than I walked 2 miles back in April for the Redbud Classic.... so that's definite improvement. And considering I'm only 4 weeks into 9 weeks of training, I think I did pretty well.

Next up - The Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day.