Other moms out there

I ran across this blog today that has been doing a series of posts from moms called
What I'd like for you to know

There were some great posts that I enjoyed reading and thought I would pass them along.  I thought about posting the specific links to my favorites--but thought that it might be different for everyone (plus, that sounded like too much work.)

Some of the articles I liked were from a mother with an only child, a mother struggling with infertility, and a mother of a child with Autism.  So check it out--and maybe you will read something that will help you with something that is similar to your life, or help you understand what a friend is going through in their life. 

Runnin', Studyin', and chillin'

This pretty much sums up what I have been doing the past few weeks.   It seems like all of my friends here in Chinle are in a running phase.  A few are training for marathons/half marathons, and a few are training for a triathalon that will be here in Chinle in October, and some are in that post-baby trying to get back to their "real" size phase.   So, as someone who has started to get in shape a few times, but then fades away when the weather doesn't cooperate, or basically anything that sounds like more fun, comes up--I am enjoying being surrounded by people in the running zone.    If you drag yourself out of bed at 6am there are a few friends that you could run with, when you go to playgroup there are other friends who just got back from a run, and there is another friend I might run in to her --playing at the park with her kids, but wearing running shorts, and is determined to keep them on until she gets a run in for the day (which later happened at around 9pm--go her!)

So, unlike some of my friends, I have not committed to run a particular race (other than the next Susan's run -a 5k, which is being held in Tempe in January) though I have my sights set on the PF Chang's half-marathon in January (in Phoenix).   Sometimes being able to run 13 miles seems a ways off--but after all--so is January.  And the up-side is that I feel like I have passed the toughest getting in shape hurdle--getting started.  Right now I am able to run 4 miles like it is nothing--okay well, I get a little thirsty here and there and I am trying to decide when I want to start packing water with me, but for now I just plan my runs where I can stop somewhere and grab a quick drink of water.   Maybe later on in my training I will find that this was just "one" of the toughest hurdles, and there are many more to come.  But--from this viewpoint it seems pretty easy to just gradually bump up the runs by adding a mile or two here and there.  Especially when everyone around me is running too.  I always find it easier to exercise when I do it with friends.  They are great motivators--and it isn't that they are cheering you on as you run, it is that extra motivation to drag yourself out of bed because someone else is waiting on you, or that friend who tells you they just got back from an 8 mile run and gives you that incentive to get out and run yourself. 

There was a time in Boston when it was Christine that I was meeting at the Quincy YMCA, and there was a time when I was meeting Denia, Natalie and Kirsten (sometimes:) at the new Rec Center that was free for the first month (another great motivator), and now it is the Chinle Crew (Maribeth, Lisa, Keri, Val, & Paige-to name a few).    Friends are the best!

And as for the 2nd note-Studying, in addition to two classess this semester, I also just signed up to take the PCAT  (the entrance exam for Pharmacy school--similar to the MCAT for med. school)  in October.   So I have a lot of studying to do for that.  I haven't taken a math class since calculus my senior year of High school!! --So despite previously being a math genius, my math skills are more than a little rusty.  So wish me luck on that adventure--this could be interesting :)

And for the past few days I have just been Chillin' at home with Rachel who is home sick.  Thankfully it hasn't been too bad, mostly just a mild fever.  But I did feel bad yesterday because she said she had a stomach ache before school and while I believed her, I didn't feel like that alone was a reason to stay home.  A stomach ache could be from so many things, and since she didn't have a fever I was pretty sure she wasn't sick.  Plus she had an bad experience at school the day before (apparently her friends at school are in the stage where if you don't sit by them on the bus they throw out the "I am not going to be your friend anymore" come back and that just seems like the meanest thing they could say.  So Sam was leaning towards thinking that she was just nervous about school that day.   So I rushed her off to school, though she barely ate anything and was definitely lagging behind.  I was talking in the hallway with her teacher for a few minutes when Rachel came out and said she just threw up.  oops!...my bad.

Disneyland Trip

For Labor Day we drove to California  (with stop overs in Phoenix both ways to keep our sanity and prevent driving 11 hours straight).  Sam promised Rachel we would take her for doing so well in school.  (since 1st grade is pretty tough ...right?! :)

 

Rachel got to see so many characters, and the lines weren't that bad so we got to ride a lot of rides.  We all liked Space mountain and so we rode it a few times.  Sam wins the prize for best poses during photos :)

 

   Sam volunteered to take pictures so he could get out of going on the tea cup ride.

 

Rachel was really into autographs this year which was fun.  When we got to California she informed me that she needed a notebook, and was so happy that she mentioned this beforehand since we were able to find a cute little princess notebook at a souvineer shop for only $3 instead of paying $15 at disneyland for an official "autograph book".