A total blur

Yesterday was exactly a full month since I came back to work, and I can honestly say that the last 4 weeks have been a total blur. I haven't had time for anything, I have been going to bed extremely late trying to make progress, and the stress and exhaustion have made me wonder if what I want has changed, if what I have been wanting is even feasible, or if I still care. Maybe it is the shock of going back after 3 months and I just need to give myself a break. Only time will tell...

12.5 miles!

Today I had to be very creative to complete my 11 mile run. Lionel had a soccer game at 8:30 am that he didn't want to miss, which didn't give much time to complete my run before he left. And I didn't want to run after his game because then it would be too hot. So instead I set my alarm at 6:00am, ran 3 miles inside while I waited for the sunrise, headed outside to run 4.5 miles, and came back right in the nick of time so Lionel could head out. I then completed my run on the treadmill, and in fact ended up with 12.5 miles. That brought me to a total for the month of September of 66.9 miles. I wish I had realized I was so close to 70. I would have pushed to make it a round amount.

Fishy fish

When we came back from Europe we started a new routine with swim lessons, so now Bella goes swimming every Saturday at 11:00 am, after French lessons and before tennis. She enjoys it very much, and the teacher says that Bella is a natural swimmer. She is my fishy fish!

Pony tail

Lately Bella has decided that she likes having a side pony tail, which looks like a million times better than when she has her hair all over her face.

Diego turns 3!

Last Sunday afternoon was Diego's 3rd Birthday party, which of course was attended by the entire family. It had been a while since we went to Recreations Outlet, so the girls very much enjoyed it. 

Last Sunday

Last Sunday morning the weather was quite warm, which made my 8 mile run feel like the longest run ever. But it was perfect weather, so after my run I decided to stretch outside. The girls and Zoey decided to join me too, so I was in good company. Even a family of deer came to see us.

Just perfect

Yesterday was cold, but today's weather was just perfect! The day went by quickly doing chores, and we didn't get to do many of the things I wanted to do - including visiting my parents - but before the day was over we made it to one of our local parks. We were only there for 1 hour, since we had to come back and get ready for the week, but it was definitely worth it. The girls enjoyed the park, Lionel walked around with Zoey, and I checked on the girls while enjoying the warmth of the almost-fall sunshine.

11 miles!

This morning I ran 11 miles, my longest run yet as I train for the upcoming Queen Bee Half Marathon. I actually wanted to make it a "down" week and only run 8, but I felt strong and decided to run 9. At 9 I was still feeling strong and decided to run 10. At 10 I was still feeling great, so I went for the 11th. Given that in my previous runs I have been feeling tired, and not in great shape, today I was particularly proud of myself.

Dividend day 2014

The last couple weeks have been crazy busy, but yesterday we made it to Dividend day at Kings Island - our 9th one already. The weather was cool, but the sun came up and at times the sweaters came off as well.  Since several of our friends have little ones as well, we met them at the kid’s area and were actually able to hang out together for a little while. Sofia was - for the first time - too tall for some of the bigger rides in the kid’s area, so she and Lionel went to the bigger rides while Bella and I hang out. We were only there for about 4 hours, but we were exhausted afterwards.

Sunday

Today was a good day. After getting up at 7:00 am for a long run, which ended up being 9.5 miles, Lionel went to play soccer, and I did some chores around the house. By the time we were finally going to have lunch the girls asked if we could have a picnic outside, and although that didn't sound like the most practical thing to do - drag all our stuff to the grass - I said yes. I mean ... why not? The day was beautiful after all, and that would allow us to enjoy the sunshine for a little while.

After lunch I went to buy food, and the girls stayed home with Lionel and made a lemonade stand with the neighbors. They made $6, which they split as follows: $2.5 for Sofia, $2.5 for the neighbor, and $1 for Bella because (I am told) she really didn't help that much.

By the time I came back from buying food, and the girls finished their lemonade stand, it was already past 5 pm. So we went to Gabi's house to pick up Paco, and spend a few minutes at a playground with them. After that it was dinner time, and go go go to get ready for the week.

3.5 hours

Yesterday I spent 3.5 hours by myself, and I was really looking forward to it. In the morning Lionel went to play tennis with Jamie, Raj, and another old friend of his, which left me in charge of taking the girls to French, swim and tennis lessons. But in the afternoon he took them to a birthday party, so I had a full 3.5 hours by myself. Since I am completely unable to spend an entire afternoon without doing anything productive, I took the dog for a long walk and then washed some plastic dishes that can't go in the dishwasher. But after that I sat on the couch to read, read, and read some more until Lionel and the girls came back home. I really needed the quiet time. I needed it a lot.

30 minutes

This one book I read over the summer recommended that every day, no matter what, you take 30 minutes to  yourself. I initially planned on taking my 30 minutes as my walk with the dog, but that posed two problems: 1) Our walks are never 30 minutes (we can't afford that long of a walk during our short evenings), and 2) The girls - at least Bella - always want to come along and I don't have the heart to say no. So I haven't quite figured out when to give myself my 30 minutes, unless my drive to and from work counts. Although something tells me that commuting time is not necessarily what the author had in mind.

The board

The other day I got so sick of the girls not doing what I asked, that I started writing down on the board every offense: Every time I had to ask for the exact same thing multiple times. I told them that I will be thinking of a punishment for when they get to 10.  So far they have not made it to 10 yet, but not surprisingly Bella is in the lead. In the meantime, the board is turning out to be a stress reliever for Lionel and me.

The dog, the bench, and the phone

This evening, when I came back from work and entered my neighborhood, I saw a guy with a dog sitting on a bench, checking his phone. Maybe he was just taking a quick break, but my initial thought was that maybe he was using the dog to get some "me" time. Maybe he just walked for 5 minutes and sat down for 50, while his family thought he actually took a super long walk.

From 0 to 100

Last week I went back to work with an empty inbox and a calendar wide open. Today I have so many meetings that I don't even know what to do with them. How quickly I went from 0 to 100...

Rain, rain, don't go away

This morning I ran 10 miles ... 10 rainy and hard miles. I wanted to run 9, since I am a bit behind on my training for the Queen Bee half marathon in the fall, but I would have settled for less than that at the start of my run.

I set the alarm for 8:00 am because I went to bed somewhat late and really wanted to sleep 7 hours. And since it was a holiday, I knew there wouldn't be many cars out there yet at that time. Sadly for me I didn't sleep anywhere close to that, since Sofia had a bad dream and woke me up at 4:00 am. She never wakes us up anymore, so I knew it was not an excuse. But there wasn't much space with her in the bed, and I was very hot, so I moved to the floor. I couldn't fall asleep though, so I moved again to her bed and eventually fell asleep again. When the alarm went off I wasn't quite ready to get up, but it had to be done.

Lately I have been feeling some tension on my left leg once again, just like I started feeling when I was training for the Miami marathon, so I wasn't sure I could run the 9 miles - but I had to give it a try. As I started running I felt some pain in my left calf - it had only been 0.3 miles - so I turned around to go back home. But before giving up I decided to run around the block to see if the pain went away once I warmed up - and it did. So I cautiously ran my 9 miles and then an extra one since that will allow me to have a "down week" next week. Mentally it is always much better to know that you have a shorter run ahead of you. And right now, I think I could really use the break. 

Even though my run was rainy, which is always more difficult because of the slightly heavier clothes and the wet uncomfortable shoes, it was physically and emotionally good for me. While I was running I pretended that the rain was washing away - if only temporarily - some of the worries of the new job and the sadness of being "left behind" while good friends move away.