What's The Opposite of Tranquility?

  I had a vision of tranquility.....serenity.....peace....quiet....restfulness....sedateness.  The vision was there.  I had high hopes of it.  I even expected it. 

  I should have known better.  This is not my first rodeo.  I am not a newbie at this mommy stuff.  I shouldn't have been surprised or disappointed that my tranquility did not come to fruition.

This is what I envisioned would occur yesterday afternoon at the lake.....

....But this is not what happened.

I actually sat in this chair reading that book for about two and a half minutes.  Could've been less.

Yesterday after church, the boys began pleading to go bass fishing.  We live next door to my parents, who have a catfish pond.  We do not live next to anyone with a bass pond...therefore....to take the boys bass fishing would mean that we would have to load up fishing gear for all three boys.  I would also have to pack food, drinks, wipes, etc.  We would have to drive to the lake and get everything set up.  Bradley was working.  I had run a half marathon the day before and really wasn't in the mood to fish.  I wanted some R&R.  And I really wanted the house cleaned, too.

My vision for the afternoon was to clean up the house and then order pizza or something equally unhealthy and crash in front of a movie.

The boys vision of the afternoon was bass fishing at the lake and catching tons and tons of 'whoppers'.

So...I decided to compromise with them.

I told them that if they would help me clean up the house a bit by doing their chores, then I would carry them fishing.....on ONE condition.

The condition was that I did NOT have to bait a hook, remove a fish from a hook, or touch anything related to the fish.  I typically don't really mind doing the fishing stuff, but I just really wanted to chill for the afternoon.

My deal was that I would drive them to the lake and take pictures of the fish they caught and relax with my Kindle and read a book.

Tucker, being 13, agreed to handle anything fish related that the little boys needed help with.

They quickly agreed to this wonderful compromise and were beyond elated that I would carry them fishing.

We got the house kind of picked up.  The dishes were washed.  The floor mopped.  The toys picked up.  The counters wiped down.  The toilets cleaned.

So, we loaded up and off we went.

Within a couple of minutes of arriving, Carter caught this.....

....and then this.....

...and then another.

The boys had started a competition amongst themselves to see who would catch the most weight of fish, so they were desperately trying to reel some in. 

Carter was in the lead and the other boys were frantic.

 In their intense excitement, they ditched all previous offers to help each other take the fish off the hooks and I was left to step in to do it.

So....the Kindle was put back into the car.  The beautiful wicker chair sitting lakeside was abandoned.

And I became a fish photographer and hook remover.

We stayed at the lake for about 3 hours.  During the 3 hours......I tied on hooks, put on new bait, removed a hook from a finger, weighed fish and removed hooks from fish lips.

I read 4 pages of the book I brought to read.

Just so the record is straight....

I got totally cheated in the compromise I made with the boys.

My afternoon was not tranquil....or serene....or peaceful....or quiet....or restful....or sedate.
It was quite the opposite.

Oh, well.

Tranquility is overrated.

The Ballerina and Baseball Player in the Box

I did the unthinkable today. 

I opened the old photo box.

Whenever I open the old photo box, I am lost for the rest of the day.

I can't seem to stop flipping through the old pictures.

Each one is a moment captured forever on paper.

A moment that I instantly relive when I look at it.

I was just looking for one specific photo.

I tried to mentally prepare myself before I opened the box. 

I talked to myself.

Find the ONE picture....and then...

close...

the....

....box!

But, when I lifted the lid....

The very first photo I pulled from the stack was this one......

I actually gasped.

Out loud.

And then....

I put my hand over my mouth.

And I stared down at the photo of the little preschoolers in the baseball uniform and tutu.

I was taken aback.

Although, the kids are growing up all around me....

sometimes I forget how quickly they are changing.

The little baseball star is my 'little' Tucker.  Today, at 13, he looks like a young man in his high school baseball uniform.

And the little pig-tailed ballerina is my niece, Lauren, who is also 13 and is very much a young lady.

Always changing.....

Growing.....

...and every year that passes....

...they leave the preschoolers in the box farther and farther behind.

Split Personality Blogger

My blogging lately has been inconsistent...at best.

And when I DO get around to blogging, the topic has been running or healthy foods more often than not.  Yet, every single time I blog about running, exercise, healthy foods, recipes, or the likes...I feel ....hmmmm....what's the word?....Self-conscious?  Self-righteous?   Inadequate?  Off topic?

My escape to running is a part of who I am.

It is a part of what makes the the mom I am and the wife I am.  Running is the escape I use to release any stress that I may have from my day of teaching kindergarten, therefore it also helps to shape me into the teacher I am.

I cannot separate my life as a runner from my life as a Mom.

The two identities belong to the same person.

I am a Mom.

And I am a runner.

And I want to record the struggles and triumphs of BOTH.

But, I have recently started feeling funny about writing about running on my Mom blog.

I have been getting lots and lots of traffic to my blog from running websites, yet I continue to get traffic from Mom websites and my fellow Mom friends.

Several times recently, I have wanted to write something about running or training struggles, yet I resisted because I figured all the Mom readers would be annoyed by yet another running post.

And then, when I wanted to write a post about the boys, I have had some hesitations because of all the traffic I have gotten from fellow runners following my posts about running.

I figured that the running readers do not care a bit about reading about the boys and the readers who are there to read about the adventures in Momhood do not care about the running posts.

Yet, I care dearly about them both.

I wanted a place where I wouldn't feel like a fool posting about the struggles and joys that accompany running.

So, I have created a separate space.

A space that I can write freely about my adventures in running, exercise, and creating healthy foods.

I welcome you to join me as I record this other part of my life.

Please follow me there if you wish.

Mommy Miles

Zoo Pals

Our kindergarteners recently took a field trip to the zoo.  Let me just say......we were the cutest kids there!  No doubt about it.  Other people kept stopping us to comment on our adorable shirts.

We let each child choose their favorite animal.  Then, we used their handprint and painted that animal onto a yellow shirt for them. They were precious!

 Check out a few of them.....

We had some kindergarten cuties for sure!

Jacked Up Feet

  I laid in the bed last night until 2 am, unable to sleep because of my jacked up feet. I was moments away from taking a hand saw and cutting my feet off at the ankles to end the pain.  Luckily, I snapped out of my sleep deprived hysteria and took some Ibuprofen instead. 

I have been training for a half marathon that is coming up in less than two weeks.  Ack!  I have been pounding out the miles day after day in less than stellar shoes.  Well, actually...the shoes were perfectly great running shoes until I trashed them on a muddy trail run.

I then tried to fix them by washing the mud out.  I used hot water in the washing machine...which melted the plasticky stuff in the lining of the shoes.  They shrunk up to warped and wacky junk shoes.  They poked my heels, lost the rubber support in the soles and pinched my toes. 

I was mad at myself for ruining my good shoes, so I decided to tough it out.  I would finish the marathon training and get through the half marathon before I replaced them.

In my stubbornness, I have acquired blisters on 6 out of 10 toes, I have gotten "black toenail" on two toes....one of which has already fallen off leaving the bare nail bed behind and the other hanging by a thread, and my feet ache after every single run.

Last night was the straw that ended the boycott on new shoes. 

As I lay in bed, with every... single.... beat.... of my heart pounding in my toes, I vowed that I would not go for a run again until I could replace the torturous shoes.  This was not a decision I made lightly.  I was horrified at the thought of replacing expensive shoes that are only a couple of months old.

Nevertheless, I am committed to running.

I have registered for the race.

I have paid the fee.

I have a hotel lined up with my gal pals.

I have made arrangements for the boys.

I have trained.

And trained.

And trained.

So, at 2am last night.... I made the decision to buy new shoes.

After school today, rain was falling....which meant that baseball games for the night were cancelled.  I made the 45 minute trek to the nearest (and best) running shoe store....The Trak Shak.

The running shoe specialist watched me walk toward him and away from him.  He examined my stride and measured my feet.  I am certain that he made a little gasp when he measured my foot at a whopping size 11.  Then he told me all I ever wanted to know about my feet.

Not only are my feet grotesquely large, but I also learned that I need extra "support".  I need this support because of my "overpronation in my stride" and because my "arch collapses when I strike the ground".

Good Heavens!  No wonder my feet have been hurting!

The specialist brought out three different shoes for me to try that were designed specifically for my kind of jacked up feet.  They even came in my honking big size!

I picked the Brooks Adrenaline GTS Running Shoes that are made with extra cushion and support.  They feel dreamy.

When I climbed into the car with my new shoes in hand, I texted Bradley to tell him all about my excitement of buying my new shoes.  I told him about the shoe specialist saying that I had an "overpronation and arch collapse" in my stride.

He sent back via text....

"I was thinking that myself, but I just didn't want to offend you by pointing out your overpronation.  I thought it might embarrass you."

Thanks, dear.

Hopefully, when I go for a run tomorrow in my new shoes and then collapse into bed, I will not feel the urge to dismember my jacked up feet.

Blogger: Missing In Action

  I know. I know.

Everywhere I go I hear...."You haven't been blogging lately."

Believe me, I am aware of this.

 The memories of the last few weeks have gone completely unrecorded.  I wish I could somehow magically fit everything I wanted to fit all into a day, but somehow it doesn't work that way. 

Blogging has been recently ignored because of the time we spend watching this this pitcher......

And this little catcher.......

And this big boy #13 on the high school team.....

And if I ever find a spare chunk of time in the afternoon, I spend it doing this......

I have the Nashville Half Marathon coming up in two weeks.  I haven't exactly found enough chunks of time to feel prepared for this endeavor, so during the upcoming two weeks, I will likely continue to be a Blogger MIA. 

I do what I can. 

I write when I can fit it in.
 I don't regret a single minute I spend watching my boys play ball and have never once said,

 "Gee, I wish I hadn't gone for a run today."

Recording the memories sometimes gets pushed aside because it takes all my time to actually make the memories.