Holy wind, Batman!

I was making lunch yesterday and suddenly Graeme started yelling:  "Hey! our garbage can is blowing down the street!"  I raced outside right into the full fury of a strong microburst.  (It about took my shirt off, I hope the neighbor wasn't looking out his window!)

Sure enough, every recently emptied garbage and recycle can on the street was literally blowing away.  My neighbor and I raced to grab as many as we could and a few of the older boys on the street took care of the rest.  (We have such wonderful youth in our ward, they weren't even told to come help, they just noticed there was a problem and took care of it) 

I got my hand smashed by a lid blowing closed but otherwise everybody was fine.  Crazy, crazy.

5k Friday - a day late

I meant to post yesterday and just never got around to it.  Darn it!

Yesterday morning the boys and I were getting ready for the day and Graeme looked at me and said:  "Mommy, you look much better now than before you started exercising."  Awwww!  That was all the motivation I needed to go exercise some more!  So I went to the gym and ran my 5k.  I jogged the whole thing!  I ended up doing 5.2 miles so I feel good about that.  And I gave in and bought some new clothes that aren't too big or worn out so all in all I'm feeling pretty good today :)  My oldest sis did her 5k also.  Anybody else?

Just the two of us

Today's a big day.  Graeme had scout camp and a baseball game, Chloe had school and a birthday party and Brian had work and a meeting this evening.  So Kai and I took ourselves to Willow Park (Zoo) for a little fun.

Kai took this picture, he thought the pelican was the coolest thing ever.  He didn't believe me that it was a pelican until we found the information sign confirming it.  The only thing better (in Kai's mind) was the wallaby but it stopped hopping and laid down in the grass before I could get the camera out.

We had to feed the fishes and birds but it was hard convincing Kai to go one piece at a time, he wanted to throw the whole handful in at once!  He's very six :)

The sno-cone stand opened while we were there so we got one to share.  Yum!  Blue raspberry flavored sugar water!

I kept trying to get a picture of him coming out of the slide but he was just too darn fast.

So I made him go back and sit there so I could take a picture!

Even though I only have three kids, one-on-one time with each of them is incredibly rare so I really cherish these special moments.

And now for something completely different......

I just have to comment on the ludicrous nature of television programming today. 

There's a new show on ABCFamily called "Switched at Birth".  This is not a made-for-tv movie, it's a full-on series about two families who took home the wrong baby girls.  Said girls are now teenagers and (apparently) just now finding out that they're not who they thought they were (insert dramatic music here).

Is it just me or is this a really stupid idea?  I mean, sure there's all kinds of drama when everybody finds out, but then what do you do next week?  "I'm sorry Sarah, you can't go to the prom after all.  You were SWITCHED AT BIRTH!"  Or how about this: "Oh, now I understand why our baby had somebody else's name on her hospital wristband!  She was SWITCHED AT BIRTH!"  Or even better:  "I'm sorry, but you're not my real daughter.  I'm going to stop paying for your expensive designer jeans because you were SWITCHED AT BIRTH!"

I may have to swear off TV for awhile until they get their collective act together :)

5k Friday

I haven't been to the gym much in the past week (see the previous two posts :) but I went today and did my 5k.  I only jogged 2.5 miles (because I was going to heave all over the skinny girl on the treadmill next to me, that's why!) but I ended up doing 4.1 miles total so I feel pretty good about the overall experience.

I'm still gunning for running a 5k in real life.  I will succeed!

Bear Lake, Lagoon and Blessings

Okay, end of pity party :)

Last weekend our kind neighbors gave us free tickets to Lagoon and it was our first opportunity of the year to go up to Bear Lake.  Needless to say we did both!  Here are some fun pictures in no particular order.  As for the blessings part, my sister and her family who live in Arizona are safe and well.  Their house is in the Monument fire zone and they were evacuated a couple of days ago.  They were told that their house is undamaged but most of the surrounding houses are gone.  Please pray for them and their neighbors.

Pity Party

WARNING: I'm in a foul mood and feeling pretty sorry for myself right now so if you're happy and having a fantastic day, feel free to go look at something else :)

It's the first Monday of summer vacation and Brian's home sick from work so instead of sleeping in (like a normal person would have) I got up at 7am (okay, 7:05) and went to the gym where I beat the crap out of myself for over an hour.  Chances are pretty good that I'll do the same thing the rest of this week.  I just wish it was making a difference.  I'm so tired of being fat and having no self-esteem to speak of that I can't hardly stand it.  I'm trying so hard, why isn't it making a difference?  Why can my neighbor who lost 30 pounds on the HCG diet (I've lost 40 the old-fashioned way) bring me a skirt that's "much too big" for her assuming that it will fit me?  I don't want to be the "fat friend" anymore.  I want to be the "skinny friend who runs marathons".  You know?

5k Friday - Graeme edition

Yesterday was the last day of school.  I was sitting in my car waiting for the kids and the song "Walking on Sunshine" came on the radio.  Suddenly Graeme came out of the school (all the way on the other side of the playground), did a little leap of joy, and proceeded to dance from the school to my car.  The best part was, he was completely in time with the song that I was listening to!  It was such a happy, spontaneous thing that I just smiled the rest of the day.

So why does that matter?  Because Graeme is 9 years old today and there have been countless little, joyful experiences like that in his life and I'm sure there will be countless more in the years to come.  The question is:  will I be around to enjoy them?

Today I have a gigantic list of things that need to be done but I took that hour and a half to go to the gym and run my 5k.  I did it for Graeme.  I didn't want to do it, I was tired and had other things to do, but I thought of Graeme's dance yesterday and how badly I want to be here for him as long as I possibly can.  It seems counterintuitive to say that spending time away from my children is the best thing for them, but in this case it really is.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be thin, but I'm starting to realize that being as healthy as I possibly can is a much better goal.

So I went to the gym and jogged my 5k, walked another mile and lifted weights.  For Graeme and all the other really important people in my life.  Who matters to you?  Who do you want to live for?