Summer is here. It is very hot in Mississippi right now. All is well around this joint. I feel like all I have done this summer is work. Go to work to work, come home to work, spend the weekend working. It is too hot to have fun outside unless you are surrounded by water. We bought a tent thinking we might go camping but I don't think the 2 year old can take the heat.
I really want to go to the beach and do nothing for vacation. Tar balls don't really fit into that plan. My oldest daughter just got back from Panama City Beach, FL. She saw some tar balls but not really any oil sheens. She was able to swim so maybe a beach vacay would be possible. I am sad about all the oil in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. I have spent some time in the Florida sand and sun and it is the best. My children will grow up to a polluted gulf.
I have not been running in any form lately, except for when I run from horse flies. I have been sweating it out in the yard chasing kids and getting things done. The summer in Mississippi is serious business. The grass grows an inch each day, bugs will take over if you don't spray, dogs dig holes in the flower beds to stay cool, and there are more cherry tomatoes on my two bushes than I have containers for.
On a lighter note, we did take a trip to the creek today. The 2 year old loves it. The water is hot, but hey at least we are not sitting in front of the T.V. I got my computer back today. It was sick with a virus.
If my mom is reading I love you.

Random Summer

Long weekend ahead. The school year has ended and now planning can begin for next year. I love the summers. Even though they are not exactly the same now that I work for the most of the summer, they just seem so relaxed. I am ready for vacation(s). I am ready for swimming. I am ready for all things summer.

Caroline has been playing softball and that is fun and summery too. Gardens have been planted and we are just now begining to pick squash. I believe that my father may have 5 gardens. I have a container garden that is begining to look like a jungle. I should have enough eggplant for the whole community.

Tomorrow my new baby chicks should be in at the feed store. So excited. It does not take much. I am very simple.

My sister called me today because she was going to Baton Rouge (where there is the only Whole Foods near) to ask if I needed any almond butter. She is a good big sis. I grew up calling her mom in the summer months. She would then yell, "I am not your mother. Quit calling me that!"
Tomorrow is Friday. If I were 6 again and out of school I would be walking up the road to my grandparents house to eat their Friday fish lunch. I do not know where they would get fish. I don't remember them fishing but it was always fish for lunch on Friday. I also remember playing with catfish in the bathtub. If you have never brought a live fish and put it in the bathtub for your grandchildren to play with they are missing out on a good memory. I highly recommend this recreational activity.

Back to the Begining

Having a good lazy Sunday here at my most favorite place, my home. I seem to be doing better with the healthy eating this weekend. Being healthy is a journey not a destination. I believe Denise Austin says that in her countless exercise tapes.

My garden has really started to grow. My tomatoes and peppers look good. The hens have had some trouble this week with the gnats. My sister told me that vanilla extract will keep the gnats away. So I went out and sprayed them today. I don't think they really appreciated me doing this but they will thank me later.

Sydney is such a fun 2 year old. She helped me pot some flowers and herbs this afternoon. She really enjoyed digging in the dirt. She also may have gotten a sip or two of the water from the watering can. When we came inside she had granny beads.

I went out this morning for a walk and I did a small amount of running. I think I am now at peace with the fact that for now I have lost all interest in running. Guilt is a bummer. I was feeling guilty that I am wimping out on all my good intentions, but no more. My family needs me healthy but they also need me here, not running down the road for an hour a day. Exercise will have to come from playing, gardening, and taking care of all critters. This is what I love, staying grounded at home.

Confessions
I have not ran in a while...
Healthy eating is not really happening this month
Sydney is a little grouchy tonight
Greg has a stomach virus

So feeling kind of bummed out tonight. What happens when you loose your steam? How do you loose interest in things that were so important to you a month ago? What is next? I have figured out that I thrive from having something to look forward to or something to plan. As of now I can't say that I have any of those things. Knowing that God answers prayers in His time and in His way is comforting. Just gotta keep going til the time and way present themselves. I guess everyone goes through a bummed out time every now and then.
Possible solutions:
Run and sweat it out-take running clothes to work and put them on before I leave
Stop eating cafeteria food
Get myself out of bed earlier so I can make my lunch (it does not happen the night before anymore)
Enjoy the blessings of today, they really are all we have got, the future only exists inside my pea brain
Call my brother and sister more often, I have not seen the bro since Christmas.
I know I am rambling tonight, but this is what was needed.

Thursday already? This is a good thing because I have a fun weekend ahead. Sydney will be two years old on Sunday. We are celebrating with a Barney birthday! I am blogging on the bathroom floor right now trying to convince Sydney that bathtub water is not for her to drink.
This has been a very busy Spring. Before Easter we were looking at rabbits outside of the feed store when a young guy walked up with a rabbit in a box that he told me I could have and about 10 seconds later he was gone. He was determined to ditch that Easter bunny. So total count now 1 husband, 2 kids, 3 dogs, 4 chickens, and 1 "stray" rabbit. I also saw a very cute young goat the other day...hummm, NO, just kidding. Good Friday is the day that people in the south plant their gardens. In keeping with that tradition I now have planted, peppers of all kinds, eggplants, cucumbers and a few tomatoes. I am waiting on the right kind of tomato plant. See when almost everyone you know plants a garden the actual plants can be hard to find.
I am slowly getting back in the running habit. There is a 10k in May close to my home. I am hoping to be able to run that one. When there is a race in my area I really want to try and run in it since co many of them are more than an hour away from my house. I am going to try and work on my speed and slowly build up to running 6.2 miles again. The 10k back in Feb. was a trial to see if I could go the distance. Now that I know I can I would like to be able to finish with a little better time. Time to go. I think that Sydney has turned in to a prune.

Back in the Shoes

So I laced up the Asics this morning to run in the Dilla Dash. Dilla is short for armadillo. You should have seen the golden dilla on the top of the trophies. This is a picture of my friend and I. This was my friends first 5k. She did awesome. I finished this 5k in 32:49. Two minutes better than the last 5k I ran in October. I have been on a break from running lately. The weather has been gorgeous here lately and I have been playing in the yard with kids, dogs, and chickens. Yes, I have four chickens added to the mix. Chickens are funny. Sydney loves to feed them grass. Greg is fishing in a tournament today with a partner and they came in 3rd place. 3rd place was also where I placed in my age group this morning in the run. Right now both of my children are asleep. It is very quiet here. I am going to rustle up some food of some sort. I am on grocery store strike this weekene. Our freezer is full of stuff that I do not want to waste. Later.

Long time no post. Well the 10k has came and gone. I ran it in 65:55. I was close to my hour goal. It felt good knowing that I can make it at that distance. I don't think that I will ever be a speedy runner. My dad and my oldest daughter went with me. I just enjoy being there doing something positive with my time, instead of shopping or spending all my free time cleaning my house. It is fun to be around different people. You see all kinds at race events.

Since then I ran in a 2 mile fun run at 20:06 and I have managed to take on a full blown sinus infection. Friday night I was very tired and Saturday morning I felt icky. Two ibuprofen later I was lining up for the 2 miles. I knew I could make it for 2 miles and then Saturday night I definitly knew something was not right with my ole self. The doc prescribed shots. One today, one tomorrow, and one Wednesday. At least I am starting to feel better.