a life beyond running shoes.

START BROOKLYN TRAINING. not only does my class start today that i am teaching... but today starts training for the brooklyn half. it is at the end of april....twelve weeks. my running partner has an ace up her sleeve....she is dating a running coach. so i glean the benefits of having an actual training program mapped out for her that i just copy. of course, i am only vaguely aware of what VDOT means but this week is base building. i love it. seeing it all out before me. the excel file with weekly mileage building up. to see phase two out there with some speed training, hill workout, long runs, etc. this thrills no one but me in this house. i am okay with that. perhaps family day will be track workouts...stopwatch and all, hum?!

on friday, we ventured into the city to visit the the new museum of contemporary art ....crazy. i'm just not sure i understood anything i was looking at.... the building itself is structurally brilliant, but the work inside alludes me. it took us all of about 20 minutes to complete our tour (five floors mixed with my lack of interest and two kids that can't touch anything)....our young friend that came with us was more engaged as she is an artist herself. just to make sure we completely went new york artsy fartsy....we had lunch at an organic, vegan, vegetarian restaurant. my son could eat ANYTHING on the menu.... that never happens. of course, it is also my mission to introduce our vegetarian young friend to more than cheese pizza as the staple to a vegetarian diet. saturday, we had an adult evening and went to a modern dance concert. again, what does it mean? knowing the choreographer i think made it more understandable or least engaging. i enjoyed it and so did my hub...

i was compiling the list of books that my book club read last year..... 8 books of various genres, authors, and themes. i love this group cuz it "forces" (i use the term lightly) me to read amist a year of nursing, potty training, traveling, moving, teething, and just living. i also have a group that works through books relating to my faith. that group has a totally different purpose, but i am equal as thankful for that group. it helps keep me grounded in the bible and applying that to my life, marriage, friendship, etc. all of that to say, that i looked back over the books i read this year and am pleased with myself. the reason i mention my book groups is because it is one of the main motivators that i have read what i have this past year. i am a natural reader, but in part to the phase of life i am in.... i need those outside sources of encouragement. i interviewed for a teaching job about five years ago and one of the questions on the application was "what books ha...

just good clean fun. bath time is both a delight & chore. neither like having hair washed. but toys are fun!!!

he is a mean dancing machine. he loves music, dancing, drums (yipee), guitars, cymbals, clarinets, and most instruments. i can't wait to see if this continues and how we as parents can help encourage it.

this one is a bit on the nutty side. it is so fun to start getting the pieces of his personality. he gets frustrated when he can't do something he sees his big brother do. he is way more assertive & daring....the kid loves to climb, slide, fall, bump, dive, etc. he is also more of a cuddle bug....which i LOVE! he seems pretty easy going. and he loves his big brother. we are working on sign language for things like please, more, eat, drink, milk. he is starting to get it but every once in a while confuses them all.

sort of.... special for uncle bud....

i can't say i have had much motivation to blog since the new year. strange. i guess the idea that my brother hasn't really been able to get internet out in the indian ocean to check on the boys causes my motivation to wane. of course, he checked last night and i got an email about how he can't believe i have not updated my blog since the birthday bash three weeks ago...... here we go..... i had a great run over xmas with my mother-in-law (8 miles). two awesome, building runs with my running partner....and our friend the hill. had a great xmas with the boys. had a torturous pediatrician appointment...both boys got blood drawn. and i am going to be teaching a college freshman composition course starting in three weeks. all of that and a video......the boys playing soccer near our apartment.