a life beyond running shoes.

and taking down others. day 8.... not sure if you can orient yourself but that is what was the wall between the dining room and kitchen.... now cut out to open the space between the two rooms. this is a view of the wall that will house the bathroom and stairs to basement. also you can see the other side of the dining room wall that was cut out.

day 7........ the floor goes in. ... well, the plywood flooring. this is the opening that will be the wall and stairway to the basement. the ceiling comes out. this adds a foot of height in the kitchen and makes room for more lighting. mr. frank goes home to his family today..... what a huge blessing he has been!

they got the floor joists up and in place. day 6..... the fun continues. john even picked up the hardwood flooring from home depot today. one day that will be put in...but one step at a time. tomorrow will be the decking, some walls, raising the ceiling, and other stuff in the kitchen. you know... small things. keep praying.

but it gets worse before it gets better. this is the front of the house. and here chronicles day 4........ g'pa, mr. frank, and spencer viewed from the door between the dining room and what was the kitchen. this was the kitchen floor.... that would be my basement. looking up at the wall of the kitchen from the basement.

that is all ours..... we closed on friday. two and an half hours of signing papers. then the real works began. original kitchen.... our backyard..... day 1.... tearing up the linoleum and nasty hardwood floors. day 2..... hammering in the nails from the hardwood floors that did not come up with the wood. there were about a thousand....no slight exaggeration! demo crew came out and took out the kitchen and the backyard. my favorite clean-up crew: more to come..... as reinforcements come this weekend straight from florida.

....tomorrow. so weird. it goes really fast.... too fast...not fast enough. on the train yesterday and soon-to-be-three said, "mom, i'm thristy." my reply, "we don't have any water." his reply, "okay." about two minutes later i observe a very despondent look on his face. "buddy, what's wrong?" "nothing. i'm just disappointed that we don't have any water." "well, here is my idea. when we get off the train, we will head straight home and get some water." his reply, "no, i don't think that is a good idea. we should get some water now because i am REALLY, REALLY thirsty." well... okay then. and there you have conversation with a 3 year old.

his first haircut..... and this one is turning three on friday.... how does it go so fast?

i had an adult dinner out last night with another couple. it was dine-in brooklyn week and some of the featured restaurants will do a prix fix meal for less than normal. it is way cool and only one of the amazing things about living here. anyway, i digress.... as i was walking to meet my hubbie i was noticing that i had neither hat nor gloves with me, that at 7:00 pm it was still light outside, and that i had a zippiness to my step....spring awakens. there is an energy here in the city that starts not just with daylight savings, but easter and the new birth of flowers, etc. the tulips are about to bloom as are the crocuses. while fall is still my favorite time of year, the anticipation of spring is not lost on me. the hint of warmer weather, hamburgers, eating outside, fruit at the farmers market, the fish guy is back...winter is over....i love living in this city.

i have been trapped in a blogging abyss..... it is not that i don't write entries in my head all day long.... they just never end up posted. i ran 10 miles last saturday sans partner. confession.....for all my indie-loving, alternative musical tastes radiohead's in rainbows could only get me through mile 6. i had to switch to top 40 pop....matchbox twenty, lifehouse, all american rejects....just to name a few. i am secure enough to admit that pink got me through mile 10. reading.... i finished waiting . not my favorite. muddled through the yiddish policemen's union . enjoyed it but the end was lame. parenting..... ARGH! defiant, disobedient, willful, and lots of screaming. i wish i could be funny and say that was me... but it is our almost three-year-old. not fun especially at 4 in the morning for two hours. teaching.... i love it! planning sucks. grading sucks. students are awesome. i hope they ask me back.

with my husband out of town this weekend, i had scheduled ourselves with lots of fun and activity. FRIDAY: chuck e. cheese play date, friend for pizza, night alone with chocolate covered pretzels, wine, chick-flick. SATURDAY: playdate, long nap, easy dinner, girls night in with friends SUNDAY: church, babysitter for long run, hubbie home REALITY: high fever, throw-up, diarrhea, short naps, laundry, too much children's television, 10 minutes outside. it really wasn't all that bad because the boys were sweet and cuddly; it just wasn't what i had expected. but considering i was parenting alone, it was very manageable.

forgive the blatant adoration of my child.... my, my he is just too cute. i felt the need to show off his ever increasing vocabulary of animal sounds. first word: ball...without the "ll." and just too irresistible not to add another video. he is all personality...and all cheeks. he can also climb onto any surface now.... including the dinner table.

yesterday....two inches. playing on the sidewalk.

everyone has their limits.... i have mine. 20 degrees. that is it....i have limits. i won't run if it is below 20 degrees. it was 12 yesterday and 18 today. nope....no runs for me. this is real winter... yet i am shocked that my running regime has been interrupted by snow flurries and freezing temperatures. of course, my running partner had a kick ass race on sunday and i was SO motivated to hit the pavement......argh! the lord is keeping me in check! we have often talked about how running is a sport in which your biggest competition is oneself. i was encouraging her about her race to go and do HER best and blah, blah, blah. all this and when i ran my 4 miles on saturday - by myself - i just about killed myself to pass this woman that looked older than my mother and was running faster than me!!! so much for self-competition. i am full of hot air... but not hot enough to go and run in these temperatures, that is for sure! just over 10 weeks to race day. it will be here before i k...

he has discovered ketchup. and this one is j ust funny and growing.

over starbucks.....black & white cookies.... salted almonds....and apple juice. i got to spend the afternoon with my first born. we took the train to target and spent half an hour in guitar center. he was playing the electric drums. he has taken a liking to most things musical. we have made friends with peter, the guy that works there.... who we seem to not annoy.... mostly because the electric drums also have headphones that make them silent... brilliant. it was a true treat to have one-on-one time with one of my kids. we talked about his morning, the part at our house last night, church the day before, and how much fun the drum store is. it was a treat.

but not sealed. we are in contract. needless to say... january has been a CRAZY month. god has been kind, gracious, patient, and gentle with me as we have walked down the road to become home owners. when we saw this house less than a month ago, i had no desire to move... again....to this..... i was just feeling settled, comfortable, and at home. it is diagonally about a mile from where we live now..... where we just moved six months ago. i have had to answer hard questions.... and at the end realize that our greatest job is to serve the king... with our time, our home, and our family. i thought this january we were praying about something totally different....and yet it has really been, at the heart, the same thing..... how can we shape our family to better serve the church we want to start, the neighborhood we want live, and the city we love. god answered us with this house. it was not how i wanted him to answer it, but he has given me a bigger view of himself, his love for me, ...

sometimes i read to pass the time..... sometimes i read to survive..... sometimes i read for pleasure..... sometimes i read to escape.... last week i escaped. in the midst of planning for my class, i needed moments outside of my day to day. while not the most imaginative book.....it served its purpose. i found peace in the warfare of dragons, elves, dwarves, and magic. it was a bit predictable and contrived, yet it was a book i was content to be captivated by..... easy suspension of disbelief. i am even looking forward to the third installment of this epic tale.... sort of. not as much as i looked forward to harry potter.... but anticipating none-the-less.

i am now a professor. i real one. like with a faculty id card and everything. i had my first two class meetings this week. for six hours a week (including travel time), i am not diaper-changer extrodinaire. i am teaching freshman composition at city tech, cuny in brooklyn heights. BUT, it is for high schoolers to help them prepare for college... and get college credit. i have sixteen students, 12 seniors....one homeschooler...... it is free for them as part of a city-wide program to help new york pubic school kids prepare for college as their high schools seem to not be doing such a great job. so far..... fun. i freaked out last weekend as i was prepping my syllabus. had a break though and am excited about some of the things we will be reading... and helping them to engage with the texts, me, each other, and their writing. very cool!

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...