Blogging on the brain

As the two people who read my blog know, (Afton & Catherine) I've been training for the Hood to Coast race at the end of August. I get up each morning before the kids and head to my super generous neighbor's garage to run on their treadmill. It works out nicely because the signal for the baby monitor reaches and I can listen to my kids in one ear and rock out to my ipod in the other. I only have to do this when Andrew is working in the morning, which is actually quite often.

Lately my kids have been waking up earlier which has been cutting into my running time. Tonight I decided that I would try an evening run after the kids went to bed. I am 100% a morning runner but I thought I'd give this a shot. As I was running a familiar topic started to creep through my brain...what's new on my sister's blog? what should I write about? should I write about how bored I am looking at the neatly organized paint cans on the shelf above me? should i ask for tips for pacing myself? I wonder what will be on catherine's blog? will claire ever start one? how can we get claire to start a blog? These are just some of the blog related thoughts I've had. I recongnized this blog brain block this evening as I was much more awake than I am at 5:00 am. It's become clear that all I can think about while running is blogs.

When I was in high school I got a song stuck in my head during a race in Los Angeles. Each step was in sync with the song and every time after that I would sing that song in my head. When the song would start to creep into my head I would quickly think of something else as to avoid the horror of this song taking over my pace and my thoughts for the remaining miles ahead. If you're still reading you are probably wondering what song could drive me so completely nuts. I hesitate to write it because I read about this song taking over the thoughts of a runner in an article in the dentist's office when I was 16. I don't know what the point was for this runner, but I'm sure it wasn't an article about how this song drove them nuts. Since this was in the days before ipods perhaps this song helped the runner stay up-beat while running. Who knows.

The point is, I have a running-blog association problem. I think of all these things I want to say or look into relating to blogs while I'm running. As soon as I get home from running I want to check everyone's blogs. On days when I don't run, blogs don't even cross my mind. Maybe the only cure for my running-brain blog block is to download "Jerimiah was a Bullfrog" onto my ipod. Oops...hope you don't get that one stuck in your head now!

TV Withdrawl

I love to watch TV. You may be asking yourself how I can fit my love of TV into my busy schedule and the answer is, I don't know. But, I love TV and will make sure I arrange my schedule in such a way as to never miss my favorite shows. This last season the list grew so long that I had something recording on both TV's almost every night of the week. With the end of the regular TV season you can probably imagine how my mindless pleasure has come to a screeching halt. I've tried to pick up some of the summer shows but I just can't get into anything. Nothing is as good as "The Office" or "Lost" or Grey's Anatomy" or "Desperate Housewives", etc. I've resorted to ordering movies on PPV but at $3.99 a pop, my monthly bill is sky-rocketing. I love summertime, but I hate summer TV. I guess it's a good thing my TV broke this week and not during sweeps month in May.

Celebrity Look-alike

This is so funny! I tried this three times with three different pictures. The first was of me after I had Calvin. I was matched up with Sarah Jessica Parker, and Faith Hill. The 2nd time I did it with a picture from last Sunday where I had bangs and it matched me up with Brittany spears, the kid from Full House and a few others. I'll have Andrew take a picture of me tomorrow when I'm looking less like a greese ball and try it again. It's fun!

Best duds

I try to take pictures of my kids, I really do. It's just that I'm so busy that I never get the camera out anymore. Whenever I get it out, the batteries are dead or we've lost the moment. This Sunday Calvin was wearing a cute outfit from our neighbors, Mark & Candy, and I had to get a picture of him. The outfit was so adorable, but better yet, the kids were finally able to stand next to each other long enough to hold a pose. Maybe this means I'm getting away from babyland and moving into kidland? Only time will tell.

I'm the Mom!!!!

I love flowers!

While my mom was visiting a few weeks ago she helped me put together two hanging flower baskets. I got so into it that I made two porch troughs a few days later. All of my baskets have been sitting in the backyard for a week and we finally got them up. I am enjoying looking at them so much that I have to drive by the front of my house each time I go somewhere so I can admire the beautiful flowers. Tonight I decided to take a picture so I can enjoy my beautiful flowers from the inside of my house. I hope you are able to enjoy them as well!

Wild Animals

I recently ventured to Portland to visit my sister with Calvin & Hazel. The 10 hour drive which I did by myself with two screaming children was simply delightful. I listened to "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer on CD and was completely captivated. For the first three days in Portland I could do nothing but listen to the second book and research every website out there for more information on the characters. I'm completely obsessed! This is the first book that I've ever read twice and I'm not planning to stop there. I will definitely read both Twilight and New Moon again before Eclipse comes out on Aug. 8th. What did I say, I'm obsessed!

Those first few days were thankfully new and exciting for all of the kids. They enjoyed playing together and wrestling. By day 4, or Sunday when we were all home for the entire day, the kids reached their breaking point. There was a stabbing, a scratching, and a lot of biting. Maybe Calvin will end up being a vampire? Everyone incurred injuries including Hazel. It was our joy of scrapbooking and listening to (Twilight/New Moon) that kept us going and feeling happy even when the wild animals were on the prowl. Now that I'm writing this, I'm thinking it's quite ironic that we visited the zoo twice and I'm referring to these kids as wild animals. I'm including a photo of the kids posing as dinosaurs at the Portland Zoo, which I also have to add is the zoo I've ever been to!!!

Overall, the trip was great and I look forward to doing it again soon, if my vampire child will be allowed back. Thanks Afton and Stephenie Meyer for making the trip so wonderful! Check back soon for a video of the boys playing and fighting.