Graduation Night

Tonight we went to Melissa's 8th grade graduation ceremony. Hard to believe that she is already going to be  in high school. Darn kids are growing up so fast! 

I got home from work and only got to sit for a few minutes before starting on curling Melissa's hair. That's a big project since she has so much of it! It looks so pretty when it's all done though. We got all ready and then we took some pictures out in the yard.

Then we went to the school. Melissa had to be there at 5 but the ceremony didn't start until 6. We stood around outside until 5:30 when they opened the new gym. It's really nice inside and brighter, which is great for pictures. 

Scott got off work early and then went and picked up his parents so they could come. 

My Dad & Step Mom

Us being goofy

Trevor & my Mom

I didn't get a good picture of her walking in but here she is up on the stage (top left)

She had the ropes for honor roll from 6-8th grade and got a plaque for honor roll.

She also won the "Good Citizenship Award". Nice to know she's always nice to everyone, but then I already knew that ;)

After the ceremony we took some pictures outside with everyone

Our little family who isn't so little anymore! Everyone is getting so big. I'm going to end up in the front row soon.

My kiddos

 Melissa and her fan club

All the grandparents minus my step dad who didn't make it.

Now she's at the dance. I have to stay awake until ten to go pick her up. I might need to take a power nap ;) The kids get out at noon tomorrow and then it's summer vacation! 

3 months of "I'm bored, it's hot, and there's nothing to eat!" 

Ahhh gotta love it ;)

Books Books Books

Not quite as exciting as SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS but eh whatever gets the dishes washed and the laundry put away. WHICH I did tonight while listening to an audio book.

Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark is a crime novel. The story takes you through the trail of Greg who is accused of killing his famous wife. The prosecuting attorney Emily is also being stalked but a serial killer! She doesn't even know it though. So you are just waiting to find out if Greg really did kill his wife and when the serial killer is going to try and kill Emily. Great suspense novel!

Memory In Death by JD Robb (Nora Roberts) is part of a series. I've never read the other books in the series and could still figure out what was going on though. It's set in the future but other than droids and fancy equipment they use not too much is futuristic I don't usually read books like that but this one was ok.

The story is about Eve, who is a cop and former foster child. She's married to a really rich man and a nasty former foster mother comes out of the woodwork to try and blackmail some money out of them. Eve and her husband don't fall for it. They go to foster mom's hotel to talk to her and :gasp: she's DEAD!  Even though she's totally a suspect somehow she can still work the case and Eve figures it out about 3 discs after I do.  Still a good crime novel with a splash of sex in it.

Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah Elizabeth is tired of her boring life. All she does is take care of her daughter and husband and does nothing for herself. She hasn't painted in years, she's just lost her passion for life. Her husband gets a new job and wants to move them across the country. She goes reluctantly but then her Dad is sick and she has to go take care of him. That gets her back on the west coast and she decides she'd rather go to her "old" home than her new one. While she's there she discovers who she is learns to love her step mom (who comes to visit), who her mother really was and how much she misses her husband. Oh and her love of painting. Nice chick lit and they actually went to the beach in this one ;)

Butter by Erin Jode Longe I actually read this book on my kindle (as apposed to listening). My daughter had bought it awhile back and it looked interesting enough so I started reading it. I got sucked in right away. This a book that makes you think and keep thinking about it.

"Butter" is a morbidly obese teenager. He's so lonely. He has a great online girl friend that he just happens to go to school with but she thinks his name is JD and he's a hot popular guy at a rival school. He plays a mean sax. His mom feeds his feelings with love and pancakes.

Butter is so depressed and fed up with himself that he decides that he's going to eat himself to death. Online. On his blog that he's created. Live. The cool kids at school get wind of this and welcome him into their "group" and Butter is living the life he's always wanted. BUT do they like him because he's funny or because they are wanting to get to know him better so they can place the right bets on if he's going to actually go through it or not.

This book had my attention all the way through. It's a bit sad and depressing but you have to keep reading to find out if he's really going to do it or not. This would be a great younger book club book with a lot of hot topics to discuss.

Ready any good books lately?

Melissa's 8th Grade Field Trip

Tuesday I went with with Melissa's class on their 8th grade field trip to Great America. I haven't been there in years! I know I was pregnant with either Melissa or Trevor but I can't remember which one. So it's been at least ten years since I've been there.

 We had to drive ourselves so I drove and 3 other moms went in my car with me. One mom had already bought a parking pass online and another had a handicap placard so we got to park right up in the front area which was great!. 

They had a meeting spot set up and moms took turns manning it for about an hour at a time. I had the first time slot and we didn't get there until it was about half way over so I only had to sit there for a little bit.   This was in my view while I was sitting there. 

 

ooooo caramel apples. Doesn't that sound good?

After my time was up I walked around with one of the moms. None of us moms were really into going on rides but we did take the sky tram.

Then we walked back to the meeting spot and she stayed there and I walked around with another mom (who was actually a grandma who takes care of her 4 grand kids). We found Melissa waiting in line for the this tiki ride. It made me want to puke just watching it. 

 

It spun around in circles and then moved up and down a track. yuck.

Melissa and I walked around a bit with just the two of us and had some lunch. Then I went on Flight Deck with her which is really Top Gun with a new name. Guess they figured kids now a days don't know what Top Gun is anymore.  It made me feel kind of pukey but not too bad. Then she talked me into go on the rapids ride. I should have known that all the wet people walking out of it was a bad sign. 

This was us at the beginning of the ride.

This was me afterwards. 

SOAKED to the bone. I pretty much spent the rest of the day sitting in the sun trying to dry off. My sweatshirt was a lost cause. I finally just put it in a plastic store bag and put it in my tote bag (which was also wet). By the end of the day my clothes were finally dry and I was wearing a kid's sweatshirt.

The principal had all the 8th graders get together for a picture before we left. 

Hard to believe she only has 2 1/2 days of school left and then she will be a big high schooler. Darn kids are growing up too fast!

Doggy Couch 2 5k

Way back when I first started trying to run I wanted to run with my dog. I took him out the first time I did the couch to 5k. It took one time of taking him out with me for me to realize that I needed to learn how to run MYSELF before before I took the dog out to run with me.

I think I've got that down now so I made up my mind that after I did my half I was going to do a Doggy Couch 2 5k program for my dog Rusty.

Rusty spends most of his time laying around on my bed. I'm a bad dog mom and don't really take him for walks much. I figured this will be a good way to for him to run without hurting him by doing too much too soon.

So Monday morning (since I had the day off) I took him for his first day of Doggy Couch 2 5k. Trevor wanted to go too, and since I would like him to be able to run with us I encouraged him to come along.

First of all I put the harness on the dog. He is very strong and once pulled right out of his collar when a dog ran at us. That was scary! The harness helps me to have a bit more control over him.

Trevor started off wanting to hold him but as soon as we started the first run cycle he changed his mind. Trevor also decided that one minute was too long for him to run. He made it about 30 seconds. So after that I pretty much would jog with the dog, walk back to where Trevor was, jog with the dog, repeat. Trevor did try jogging a little bit but not too much. I'll be lucky if he wants to go again.

I guess we have the whole summer to work on it right?

Rusty did great! I forgot to turn on my Runkeeper when we started but we went around one lake even with the walking back a bunch of times. We ran during the cool down portion of the program too since I didn't really feel like I had even ran. I dropped him off at home and ran around the block one more time to at least feel like I did something!

Riding With The Boys

Earlier this week Scott came home and was telling me he might go for a bike ride this weekend with some guys from the train. I was kind of sad that I wasn't going to go too. We have that huge bike ride coming up in a couple weeks and I have hardly rode my bike at all.  Friday though he asked me if I wanted to go too and I was like YIPEE!! I get to go haha.

But then I was doubting myself about riding with some guys. I've seen groups of guys riding bikes all over and they are super intimidating.

I asked Scott "does he know I'm slow?" He said it was ok because they knew he was slow too. Well alrighty then. Time to pull up my big girl panties and two layers of bike shorts and get going. 

We got up early Saturday morning and drove into town to meet up. We went a little bit early and had a breakfast burrito and a coffee at the coffee shop we were meeting up at. Right on time Bob and his friend Joseph were there and we took off. 

FULL FORCE INTO THE WIND.

Oh my God it was so windy. We rode on the way out of town towards the hill and I'm not going to lie, I really thought about turning around and going back. I was lagging behind everyone big time. I was exhausted by the time we got to the gas station at the bottom of the hill. I was thinking how am I going to do this? I haven't even got to the hard part!

When we got up to the gas station everyone was waiting for me and I was like "oh man I'm sorry I'm so slow!" One of the guys told me not to worry about it, I was doing great and how he wished his wife would come out and ride with him.

That right there was the turning point in my head. No one cares how slow you are. You're out there getting it done! So what if I'm bringing up the rear!

We basically did the same ride Scott and I did before only backwards (and rode in from town). We went out Midway to Altamont Pass, stopped at the gas station there to take a break and eat a snack and then up Patterson Pass and back down to town. 

The first part up to the gas station was all into the huge headwind. Slow slow slow. Then once we turned to go up the mountain the wind was behind us. It was much easier going up Patterson Pass this way than the other. It was just a slow steady ride up. I did walk up the very end though. My thighs were SCREAMING. 

Scott's friend gave me a high five when I got to the top. I gave myself a mental fist pump :wink:

From there it was all down hill. FAST FAST FAST down hill!! I rode the brakes most of the way down. Probably looked like a sissy but I don't care. I like my body in one piece thank.you.very.much!

I met up with everyone at the bottom and we were all smiles. That downhill ride is the icing on the cake of the bike ride. It's so exhilarating!!

From there we rode into town. When we got back to the coffee shop I realized that my runkeeper never unpaused itself from the top of the hill. &*&%$$

Scott said it was ALMOST 40 miles. It took us 3 1/2 hours. When I got home I edited my runkeeper a bit to make it more accurate.

I was pretty much worthless for the rest of the day!

Priceless

Monday night we were just hanging out and I started thinking. Trevor had a band concert on Tuesday night and hadn't mentioned anything about what they were supposed to wear.

Usually the girls would be freaking out ahead of time about what clothes I needed to go buy them because they never had the required colored shirt or pants.

Well of course, boys are different. My boy has a paper crumpled up in the bottom of his back pack from last week saying they need to wear nice clothes. No jeans or t shirts.

My son sheds his jeans as soon as the weather warms up about 50 degrees and wears shorts from January til November. I don't even know if the JEANS he owns fit let a lone some "not jeans" which we don't even own. Obviously he doesn't own a shirt that isn't a t shirt either.

Tuesday after work I picked him up from the bus and we made a trip to Target where they had ONE pair of black pants in a size that might fit him for another month and a nice looking shirt that he would go for.

Dressing your kid for a ten minute band concert? $40

We got home in time for him to change and then we were off to the school for "Open House" which consisted of the teacher talking to me about how he was able to make it into honor roll at the last minute and me collecting his art work off his desk. Total time? 2 minutes.

I think had another hour to wait until the concert started. Trevor had wandered off the minute we hit the school grounds so I it was up to me to entertain myself. 

Eventually it was almost time for the concert to start and Scott got there. We had our pick of seats for the most part so I had sat right in the middle, second row. 

WHICH of course just happened to be the one place where I was least likely to be able to see my son's actual face during the concert. 

WOMP WOMP.

Well here is a few "almost good" pictures. 

He was so cute and did a great job!

Darn kids are getting big. Next year they move over to the "older" side of the school campus (ALREADY!)

They played a couple songs and then they were done. They were excused and then the violin class came on stage. All three of them. They played a couple songs and then the advanced band got on stage. I think there were seven kids in it.

I'm pretty amazed that the school can find the money to pay a music teacher to teach such a small handful of kids. The band used to be much larger but they switched from having band during school hours to after school. Very difficult for kids to get a ride home if their parents work and you live four miles away. These days they'd probably arrest you for child neglect if you made your kid walk four miles. Not that I'd make my kids walk that far. My kids are totally spoiled and don't even walk the half mile home from the bus stop 90% of the time.

So anyhow, that's done. The trombone is living at the school until next year. Then it can be back to living in my car and the hallway.

On Mystic Lake

On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah

Oh on Mystic Lake, magic happens! Well for Annie and her old friend Nick.

Annie has just sent off her daughter to London (I think it was) for the summer. Her daughter has just graduated high school and is taking a trip for the summer before going to college. After they drop her off at the airport Annie's husband drops the bomb that he wants a divorce.

GASP!

NOOooo!! Annie is in shock even though they have had a horrible relationship for years. She's so sad.  She gets her husband to give her a month to work things out before making anything final.

To get herself together she goes to stay with her dad at the lake. Of course her old high school crush lives there. What will happen next?? You'll have to read it to find out!

I thought this was a good story with a little wrench thrown in. Nothing too deep but a good summer read. Although they still didn't spend that much time on the lake. What's up with all these stories set on the island and the lake but not actually out there enjoying the atmosphere?

Just A Bit

 I was telling some of my fellow fit campers the other day that I felt like I was in mourning after finishing my half marathon. After I was finished it seemed so anti-climatic. I never really got a runner's high while I was running.

It was like all that time training and now it's OVER. And it wasn't even all that fun. It was a lot of hard work! But I guess that's really what it was all about right? Pushing myself to do something outside my comfort zone. Just a BIT farther than I thought I could go.  

I've been taking this week off from doing any strenuous exercising. Nothing "scheduled". It's kind of nice! I have walked every day on my lunch hour and pulled some weeds after work one day but that's it.  

Next week I have a new plan. It should be fun! Back to running three days a week (although much shorter distances) and the gym 2. I also need to spend some time training on my bike since we have that big Monster Ride coming up. That's definitely a bit  a LOT outside my comfort zone. 

Here's to pushing ourselves a bit farther than we think we can go and still being able to walk afterwards ;)

Summer Island

Whew I'm knocking out these audio books! Today I finished listening to Summer Island by Kristin Hannah.

Ahhh a Summer Island. Doesn't that sound so nice about now? But this book isn't really about a nice relaxing time on a summer island. It's about turmoil in a family that just happens to all be on an island. This story is about a mom, Nora who is an "Ann Landers" of sorts and how she is brought down by some naughty pictures of her with a man that was not her husband. It doesn't matter that she's already not married to the man, it's a "scandal".Her estranged daughter Ruby is in between jobs and ends up on the island with her mom and they hash out old times.

I never really felt any big connection to any of the characters. It was a story that ends up nice and tidy but eh not too exciting. Definitely not one of my favorite Kristin Hannah books!

Best Friends Forever

I just finished listening to the audio book Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner.

Best Friends Forever follows Addie and Valerie from the age of 9 up through their tenth high school reunion. The book actually starts there with Valerie in a car with a naked man. Who she so happens to accidentally run over and then flees the scene. To her estranged best friend Addie's house.

Addie reluctantly takes her in and the Thelma and Louise-ish adventure begins.

Oh it's not all fun and games though. While they are busy running from the law they reminisce about their lives and how they have become the women they are today.

I've had this book on my to reads list forever and picked up to listen to without looking to see what it was about. Oddly enough Addie  has went through a huge transformation of being over 300 pounds to now being a "normal weight". The book takes you through her first binge of oreo cookies up through gaining all that weight and back down again. If you've ever had a weight problem you will connect with Addie through her story. While I've never weighed 300 pounds I certainly understood exactly what she was talking about.

I really enjoyed the book although I thought the Thelma and Louise portion of it was kind of far fetched and felt myself roll my eyes a few times. Overall I really enjoyed the story and I bet you probably would too.

First Half Marathon In The Books!

Last night I set my alarm clock for 4:30 am. Who would have thought I'd be up half an hour before it went off? Not this non-morning person!

Of course I couldn't sleep because of my half marathon today! The nervous jitters were in full effect.

Get up, go to the bathroom, walk around, go to the bathroom, drink something, go to the bathroom.

I got dressed and packed my pb&j sandwich along with a banana and we were off to pick up my friend Tanya and her friend Stephanie. I'm glad Scott wanted me to drive it gave me something to focus on besides being nervous.

We picked them up and then made the drive over to the Woodbridge Winery where the race was being held. I'm glad we went early because there was so much traffic that the race was actually delayed because people were still driving in and trying to park.

We just stood around taking pictures.

 Step Mom & Me

Tanya & Me

Stephanie & Tanya

Scott & Me 

(he ran the 5k. He likes to wear the shirt from the last race to the next one)

My elementary-high school friend Amy was also race and she found me before the race started. 

While we were standing around waiting we starting thinking about how being delayed was messing up with our pre-race fueling. Eventually it was time to start so we lined up. I was standing with everyone with Amy, she went to go find her co-worker she was running with. We took off and Tanya and Stephanie were already running too fast for me to keep up. I ran for a bit with my step mom and then decided that she was going a little too fast for me too. I put in my headphones and tried to get into the zone, bobbing and weaving around people. 

I ran really steady until about the 8th mile or so. I keep getting a wear twinging feeling in my knee and I was just feeling tired. I started doing a little bit of walking running to try to just start getting my knee to feel a bit better.  I was of course talking in my head to myself about how I shouldn't be walking. I should be trying to run the whole thing. And then I thought who cares if I run the whole thing? I'm out there mostly running THIRTEEN MILES. If I walk a bit it's no big deal. 

My Runkeeper was off from the beginning. It was saying that I was about 1/2 a mile ahead of where I was for most of the run so I knew my average pace wasn't right either. But I did know my overall running time and as I worked it out in my head I was still on point to finish between 2:15-2:30 even with walking. 

I'd run for awhile and then walk about 10-30 steps until I felt like running a bit. I kept thinking how stupid I was to have signed up for another half already. I don't want to do this again! (someone told me later this is like childbirth haha)

 I was SO happy to see the 13 mile flag. When I could see the finish line I picked up the pace a bit and then sprinted out the very last bit through the chute. 

Somehow it instantly posted to Facebook (must have clicked on that somewhere when I signed up) and alerted my friends that I was done. Which I thought was pretty cool! Plus I didn't have to go find my time since it was right there already. 

I was looking for water as soon as the race was over and it took me awhile to find it. I actually ended up with a wine glass before the water. Not that I wanted wine (yet). Eventually Scott steered me in the right direction and we found the water. And everyone else!

My amazing step mom got 3rd place in her age group!! 

Amy got a better picture of us and I stole it off Facebook.  We are 2 of a trio of friends that hung out together. The 3rd friend is a runner too! I'm trying to get Amy to sign up for Big Sur so we can all run together. Tiffany is already signed up. 

The food at this race SUCKED. All they had was some orange slices which they gave you like 2 and then half of this whimpy roll thing that was mostly lettuce. HELLO we just ran 13 miles! I need some protein!

I did 2 little wine tastings and it went straight to my head. I ended up giving away the rest of my drink tickets.  We didn't hang out too long afterwards. 

Me and my Dad before he left.

 The other girls didn't really want to stop to eat yet so we dropped them off and then went in search of someplace that had some kind of cheesecake. I've been wanting cheesecake for about two weeks. We ended up going to Applebees since I knew they had those little shooters. I'm sure the waitress thought I was nuts when I ordered it and my meal and asked that she bring it out first.

Oh it was heavenly. I also had a bacon cheeseburger and a side salad but that dessert was the best. We got home and I went straight to bed for a nap!

I've decided to take this next week off of any organized exercise. Ahhh rest!