Spring Sprang!

After a long and miserable winter (due to the cold), spring has finally arrived. And, not a moment too soon. The cold weather would have absolutely killed me if it weren't for a huge goal that I had...the 2010 Little Rock Marathon. Never would have thought I would complete a marathon...I'm just not that athletic. However, with a good friend cheering you on from your side the whole way...it was possible. The training took me out before daylight most Saturdays this winter and in sub freezing temps. For some weird and still unknown reason, I enjoyed and even looked forward to these long, cold, dark runs. Once the marathon week rolled around, I was as nervous as I've ever been. I was so afraid of letting myself and my training partner down. Everything turned out perfect. We started out running further and faster than I thought. Other than a long walk at mile 19, the race wasn't all that bad. By the time that I started to think I couldn't do it, the finish line was only 5 miles away. Crossed the finish line and just like that...it was over. All the training, all of the hours and miles...and it was just over. Ok, new goal. Going to complete a 100 mile bike ride in June. I'm thinking it won't be quite as hard as the marathon...may take the same amount of time though. Speaking of milestones, the kiddo is almost 6 years old. Where does this time go so fast. Seems like it was just a year ago we were having our evening picnics in the front yard with a couple of jars of babyfood and a bottle. He's reading, doing addition and subtraction, and just about knows more about science and social studies than Dan and I combined. He is so smart...so much smarter than we were at this age. And Dan:) He's never done with his to do list. Always fixing and building, he never seems to stop. He's recently helped his mother buy a house, and that is his new project. Lots of cosmetic stuff to be done, but she got a heck of a house for not very much dinero. And these animals... Kitty and Banjo now see eye to eye. Banjo just understands that if he gets that eye too close that it will get slapped. Banjo is like having a puppy that won't grow up, but we love that dog to pieces. Just last night he ate a loaf of bread, a sleeve of crackers and 2 fruit roll ups while we were at the store. Sheesh. Porsche is getting a little older and a little slower, but enjoys Banjo's company. We all enjoy each other's company and are so thankful for all that we have.

So, another birthday has come and gone. It was just about the same as all the rest, but this year I'm more thankful to have another year. Seems like too many folks I know are suffering from one thing or another, and I'm being given this free pass. No real issues to deal with and not sure why I deserve to have is so easy. It's been a 3 day celebration for the passing of this year, and I've enjoyed every minute. Seems to all revolve around food these days. Started out with a bouquet of very pretty flowers (an oh how I do looove flowers) and a couple of cards from the hubbs and son. Hubbs always gets the mushy cards that say all of the nice things that we mean to say, but don't. Kiddo picked out his very own card and was oh so proud of it. Alvin and the Chipmunks sang me a little ditty when I opened it. Even better, my son starts doing the Robot...yes, the dance from the 80's. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen...and he was actually good at it. All of this fun and excitement came after a fun time with drinks and appetizers with a couple of girlfriends. We seemed to talk about all "getting older" stuff. I just don't feel that old! Tuesday was full of good, unhealthy food as well. Lunch at the office from Macaroni Grill and banana cake made by a co-worker, then dinner at home with the family. Hubbs makes one of the best steaks you can get. Of course, he made his specialty for dessert...slice and bake cookies. Good thing I managed to get 30 minutes on the trainer...not sure it did much to put a dent in the calories I consumed today, but atleast it moved the blood around to help keep the arteries from clogging due to the rediculous amount of butter in everything I ate today. This morning, cake for breakfast. Can't let something that someone worked so hard on go to waste now can I?!?! Lunch, ahhhh lunch. PF Changs, Asian Bistro. Noodles. I love noodles, and they are not healthy, not even a little bit. Oh well, this may be the end of the birthday celebrations. I ran 16 miles on Saturday, and I'm doing 18 miles this Saturday, so hopefully I can work of at least a small percentage of the calories I've consumed this week. We have a cold front and some rain moving in at the end of the week. I'm hoping like a kid that hates school that this turns into a winter event for the state...and a free day off work for me. I need a 3 day weekend!!!

Watch out for the commercials

I saw feelings coming out of my son last night that I had no clue a 5 year old could feel. He was watching a TV show in his room, and I thought I would go check up on him. He was just a boo-hooing. His little face was red and his nose was running. All he kept saying is that he didn't think he was sad, he thought he was happy. I asked him if the show did something to scare him or make him that happy. He couldn't really explain. Finally, he told me to watch the commercial. Then he rewound the DVR to an ASPCA commercial. Lots of little sad animals. Then he got more upset. We talked about it and he finally admitted that he felt sad that all of those animals didn't have homes. WoW. Who would have thought a commercial would upset a kid so much. It is very touching that he has such deep feelings for animals, I know he loves the ones we have. Most of the shows he watches are still little kid shows like Little Einsteins, Imagination Movers, Arthur and other Disney and PBS shows. So, we don't worry too much about the content...plus we've seen the shows a hundred times. Who knew you had to watch out for the commercials.