Last Day of Work

I was almost late for my last day of work today. My alarm went off, and rather than hitting snooze, I turned it off. Fortunately, I woke up about ten minutes later with that "I slept through my alarm" panic. Quickest way to wake up.

We had all 12 kiddos today, so we were pretty busy. I managed to visit with most of the other teachers a bit during the day and got to enjoy a ridiculous amount of sweets. There were doughnut holes, brownie bites, and best of all, a strawberry and Nutella crepe. With sprinkles. And whipped cream.

There was a letter B in Nutella in the sprinkles - naturally I didn't take a picture until I had already eaten some.

As a nice sendoff, all the munchkins even napped for me today!

This came on Pandora during nap time.

I was supposed to get off work when we dropped down to ratio (7 kids), but as was the norm at this job, I didn't get to leave until later than planned. Right when I was about to head out, we had a sick kiddo, so between that and talking with parents, I didn't end up leaving until almost 6:30. It seemed fitting somehow to end my time there cleaning vomit up off the floor an hour after I was supposed to be off.

But now I'm done!

Tom made pulled pork tacos with honey mustard Brussels sprout slaw for dinner. It sounds a little weird when I type that out, but it was really good!

I'm really excited to not wake up at 5:30 tomorrow.

This guy probably won't mind sleeping in either. :)

Happy Birthday Tom! Plus football and house hunting

It is Tom's birthday today! 

Happy birthday! :)

I got this in the mail yesterday - I'm pretty excited about it!

Last night we went to the Notre Dame football game at MetLife Stadium in NJ. There were 76,802 people there, which is insane to me.

We had a lot of fun, and it didn't hurt that Notre Dame won the game :) Tom caught a ball that accidentally got kicked into the stands before the game started. A state trooper made him give it back though.

This morning we went to see another house. It was built in 1900 (ish) and is on 7 acres. It's actually not too far away from the white house we were looking at. It has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a lot of cool built-in shelves and original exposed beams.

Driveway

Dining room (which the current owners seem to use as a second living room)

Living room

Kitchen

Bedroom #1

Bedroom #2 - the master bedroom had a walk in closet and a full bathroom

Bedroom #3

The entryway

It is way cuter in person - I really liked it!

Today is a rest day since I did my long run yesterday. We're relaxing this afternoon and meeting Tom's parents for dinner later on. All in all, a pretty nice weekend! :)

Also: Bones! Has anyone watched the season premiere? I have such strong feelings about it!

Trail running and post-run math skills

I woke up bright and early to meet up with the group this morning. I was pretty excited to find leftover pancakes in the freezer because I was out of English muffins. I heated some up in the toaster and topped them with peanut butter.

I don't know where everyone was today, but it was a smaller group than usual. We went at a pretty good pace, I love that faster paces are starting to feel easier.

I left my sunglasses at home, so I drove over with my weird free sunglasses that everyone got when Pitbull came to Kodiak last year (or the year before). It was a whole thing.

I took a short break at home, took a Salted Watermelon GU (which Tom tried, he was not impressed), and drove back to Rockefeller State Park with Tom and Buddy. The guys went walking while I finished off my long run.

I didn't think too much about my pace until I hit my 4th (10th?) mile, and then I made a conscious effort to stay below a 10:00/mile pace. I didn't do the math until I got home, but I felt like I finished my 13.17 miles for the day in under 2 hours total.

I did.

I did the math right after I finished, so I'm only pretty sure it's right ;)

There was a break in the middle, but it definitely gives me more confidence for my race - 15 days left!

We're relaxing at home this afternoon, and this evening we are headed to New Jersey for the Notre Dame game, which should be a lot of fun!

Hope you're having a good Saturday!

Head Games

Sometimes I forget how much running helps my energy/mental state. I've been so tired when I get off work that I haven't run since Sunday. And the longer I go between runs, the more my mind messes with me. I get to the point where I'm convinced that I must be slower, and can't possibly run that far.

I didn't want to run today.

I made myself change anyway and headed for the basement to at least attempt my tempo run for the day.

And then, suddenly, I was 3 miles in and feeling more awake than I felt all day!

I did cut my cool down a little short, but otherwise my run went as planned. A warm up, 5 miles @ 9:14 (and a little faster), and a cool down. I feel so much better than when I started, mentally and physically.

I had a free giant coffee/sugar thing at work today. I maybe didn't need to drink it, and maybe should have eaten more real food.

Maybe.

Tom made a really good deep dish pizza in the cast iron pan for dinner. I didn't take any pictures though, because we were too busy devouring it.

I'm pretty excited that tomorrow is Friday - we have some fun things happening this weekend (and not just extra sleep, though I am looking forward to that too!).

Buddy says goodnight

Or maybe that's his "please stop taking my picture"face, it's hard to tell ;)

All Pumpkin Spice, All the Time

I have 4 work days left. Yes, I'm definitely counting.

I was going to run when I got off work today, but instead I put in a sweatshirt and did the dishes.

I got off work too late to run on Tuesday, so now I'm feeling lazy and behind on my miles. But it still wasn't enough to get me to run tonight.

In happier news, Tom brought these home tonight:

You should go buy some. They're really good. Not crazy pumpkin-y, and not too sweet.

Tom bought a pull-up bar a while ago and I have been haphazardly working on being able to do a chin-up (because it's easier than a pull-up). I managed to do one from standing today (almost a whole one) which was pretty exciting.

It's going to be an early night at our house - sleep has been a little hard to come by this week for some reason. I can't wait for the weekend!

Changes

You may have noticed a lack of whining about lesson plans lately. Or maybe you feel like you haven't been seeing adorable toddler art projects for the last month or so. There's a reason for that.

The short version of the story: I gave my notice at work back in the middle of August, but have been sticking around to help while they find a new teacher.

The longer version of the story: To be a toddler teacher at my center you have to hold a bachelor's degree. If it is not in Early Childhood Education (ECE), you have to have a certain number of credits in education, specifically ECE.

My degree is in history.

The last time the state came through they decided not to count some of my credits from college because they were elementary education and not early childhood. They said I could remain in my position if I immediately started the process of getting my Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. The only qualification you need to get a CDA is a GED. It's expensive, time consuming, and, quite frankly, a little insulting.

I have been thinking about making a change at work for a while anyway, but this was the deciding factor.

My last day will be September 30th, and I'm still trying to figure out my next plan. The timing works out well as my mom is coming to visit for a couple of weeks in October. Now we'll have more time to hang out! :)

I will definitely miss my little munchkins, but I'm also looking forward to the change.

Lazy Sunday morning and a progression run

Sunday mornings are the best for being lazy. Saturdays I get up to run with the group, so Sundays are the only day I can move a little slower.

We started the day with pancakes and coffee, as all days should if you ask me.

Buddy is ridiculous.

                   

He's the sneakiest 80lb dog you've ever seen.

Well, he think he's sneaky anyway.

I had a 5 mile run for the day that was supposed to be an easy one (it's a cutback week), but I was feeling good and turned it into a progression run instead.

I even kept track of my splits, which I don't usually bother to do on the treadmill.

Mile 1: 9:45
Mile 2: 9:20
Mile 3: 9:08
Mile 4: 9:06
Mile 5: 8:48

5 miles in 46:07, I've done worse!

This afternoon is for football. And laundry and dishes, but I don't want to talk about that.

It's a good thing I run

I've never really had running friends before. We were talking about my upcoming race today and discussing a race plan to help me reach my goal.

It also helps to talk with someone who has run with you and has run many marathons and half marathons and have them tell you that you can absolutely meet your goal. Definitely a confidence builder. At this point in my training, I feel like the only thing that might give me a hard time on race day is my mind, not my body.

We ran our usual Saturday route, and finished 6.52 miles in 59:23, 9:07 average pace. It felt like a lot of work today, and I had a stitch in my side, behind my ribs. I haven't gotten one in a while, and it slowed me down for a bit.

Tis the season for tons of candy - it's a good thing I run!

These are really good. The original ones are still better, but I like these a lot. The pumpkin shaped ones are my favorites though.

Buddy will sleep in some of the most awkward ways as long as he can still be touching Tom.

That's our coffee table that his head is wedged up against.

We have really exciting plans to relax on the couch this afternoon. I'm pretty excited about it! :)

That makes it good for you

Hooray, it's Friday!

I'm really excited for this week to be over. I'm hoping that I manage to catch up on some sleep this weekend and I'm really looking forward to my group run in the morning. It is seriously one of the highlights of my week, even if it does get in the way of sleeping in on Saturdays.

I got a new RunnerBox today.

I always love the quotes they put inside the box.

The goodies:

I'm really interested to try out the Sunscreen Bands, though they may have been more helpful a few months ago.

And this somehow missed the group picture.

I've never heard of sport mud before, so I'm curious to try it out.

It is fun to work my way through everything, and I usually manage to make my treats last close to the next shipment (they come every two months).

I took this picture of Buddy early this morning. I feel like I would make the same face if someone was taking my picture before 6am.

Since Tom has been taking care of dinner all week, I tackled some dishes when I got home and made some red curry for dinner. I even remembered to cook the rice this time.

There's a ridiculous amount of spinach and broccoli in this, so that makes it good for you :)

Time for some relaxing, and maybe some ice cream.

My new favorite GU and Sweat Pink!

First of all, Salted watermelon GU - Why did no one tell me?

I bought a couple when we were out and about the other day and took one with me on my long run Sunday - it was the best thing ever when I took it at mile 6. I may have ordered a box of them later that day.

Maybe.

Now for something pretty exciting -

A couple of weeks ago I applied to be a Sweat Pink ambassador.

Their mission statement:

We believe that kicking ass is best done in pretty shoes. We’ve learned that real women sweat, and sweat hard. We know that assertiveness, strength, and ambition are the ultimate feminine qualities. We concede that sometimes it takes hours to get ready, but we’re also no strangers to just rolling out of bed and going. We’re convinced that we run faster in pink shoelaces. We believe in pushing ourselves, and we believe in giving ourselves a break, too. We’re all about the rush of endorphins and the thrill of the challenge. We’re all for looking great and feeling even better. We’re committed to finding our best fit, and making it stick. We sweat pink.

So, I was super excited to get an email from them today and will soon be getting myself some pink shoelaces! :) I really like the spirit of the Sweat Pink community and I can't wait to get involved in it!

I missed another run today, but it was for a meeting that may lead to something cool, so I'm ok with it. I'm very excited that tomorrow is Friday - it's been a long week.

(Not)Sneaky Dog

It has been a long week at work so far. We had picture day and back to school night this week, and all the excitement has made the kids a little squirrelly.

Because of back to school night, I was basically at work from 7am-7:25pm, so I missed my run yesterday. I hate missing runs this close to a race.

Today I managed to leave work at a reasonable hour and inhaled some some chips and hummus before heading to the basement for an easy 5 miles.

This is pretty much the only hummus we ever buy.

Buddy was not invited on the couch after dinner, so he tried to sneak up (as much as an 80lb dog can sneak).

He didn't quite make it, but he stayed that way until we kicked him off the couch.

I have been super tired all week because I'm apparently incapable of going to bed early. That, and I'm working crazy hours again. Maybe someday I'll get to bed on time. Or maybe I'll keep staying up too late and try to catch up on some sleep on the weekend.

Probably the second one.

More house pictures, a giant Buddha, and a long run

This morning we got up early so we could go back for a second look at one of the houses from last weekend.

It definitely needs some work (and a kitchen), but we both really like it. I remembered to take more pictures this time! :)

The original part of the house was built in the 1790s - super cool.

Garage

Some yard pictures - the property is actually huge - just shy of 35 acres!

The kitchen is kind of disassembled right now (and has a washing machine next to the stove), but it's a decent size.

There are pretty hardwood floors upstairs.

There's a very dated but pretty cool partially finished attic area.

A bunch of junk and the fireplace.

After we finished up at the house we stopped by this kind of randomly located Buddhist temple.

We had to check out the giant Buddha. The building it's in is seriously called Big Buddha Hall.

After we got home I realized I hadn't charged my headphones, so I putzed around the house for a bit to get them charged enough to last my long run.

13.19 miles in 2:11:21 - it was supposed to be slower, but it's really hard to stick to the 10:44 pace that my training plan wanted me to run. I tried to run the right pace for the first few miles and then after that I just ran what was comfortable.

I really love finishing races strong (and passing people at the bitter end), so I like to practice finishing up at a decent clip. My last mile was my fastest - 8:34.7 - I'll take it.

My race is somehow only 28 days away. I'm not sure how that happened.