This arrived in my mailbox today-Taunting me

This arrived in my mailbox today like a sick joke. I ran another race put on by the Town of Mashpee so maybe everyone got it but to me it was like someone sticking their tongue out at me and daring me.
Can I hang???
Probably no - I drove this route just yesterday for shits and giggles and it was LONG!! Not like the road race which rolled along a nice route of hills and flats and sun and shade. This is along a fast road and it goes on forever-or so it seemed.
I just am not sure I will run it but I thought some spirit thought it was a nice joke to send it to me and see me squirm.

This was me today

I am not sure I want to even start about my day so this just about explains it all.
(Breath, Breath, Breath) I would say that I only have a few more hours until I am off but it is better at work than home.

Newest Family Members

I would like to introduce you all to the newest members of my Family. They were adopted by us from a friend that thought it was time they had a new home.
We have not named them yet and are still looking for a safe place for them to sleep in our house until Winter comes but for now I wanted to say the biggest Thanks to my friend that gave us these fine people.

Home improvement update

My close friends will understand this more than most but I wanted to share my new doorway.

Sounds ridiculous but since last year we have been wanting to move the door way for many reasons.

First is to get farther away from the wood stove. We like to get it cranking on a cold night in the winter. See previously we had to leave a walking path behind the couch to get into the living room and upstairs which means the couch was closer to the stove than we liked.

Secondly we bought a large sectional couch when we first bought the house but we have enough room for like 3 folding chairs. Now with the door in it's new place we could push the furniture tight in the corner and it leaves more room to fill with kids and toys- Yay I think?!?!

So maybe I will have to have a nice Fall gathering with food and drink and invite you all. See I think I have a grand ballroom now.

Last days of Summer

Old Silver Beach
I was very happy to get a call from my friend asking if we wanted to get in one last beach day. I was all about that. I packed sweat shirts expecting to be chilly but Olivia was in her bathing suit in about 5 seconds flat once I mentioned the beach. We ditched all plans to get ready for our camping trip and I am so glad we did.
I didn't realize how much I miss my girlfriend until I saw her and we started talking. These damn kids take over our lives -LOL!!! Anyway they were crazy enough to go in the water to swim, collect crabs and play in the sand. The girls even got a bit of a tan with pink cheeks. It was great to hang out at a real beach and there was very little crowd.
Of course I forgot my camera so I stole a few pictures but would have loved to get some on our last day.
I will take a bunch this weekend while camping and share the stories about that when we get back. 4 whole days without work and the dog- It is sure to be a blast.

Women Running Wild

This is the only photo I have of the race. I even brought my sister but we have never been a real photogenic family so when I was done she says she forgot about the camera. I am not sure you wanted to see the sweaty me crossing the finish line anyway.
Although I have not run in a while I decided at the last minute to sign up and run this race because I thought it would help get me back into wanting to run. I also enjoyed the fact that is was an all women race. They had 2 kids races previous and I was mad we missed them because a police motorcycle lead the kids down a side street and they would have thought that was great. Every kid had a number bib on and everything. I have never been to this area in Osterville and some of the route had a beautiful view of the ocean and the houses were all huge and expensive.


Time 35:40 pace 11:30

Pies a la Mode-Falmouth

Run do not walk to this place.

It is on Main Street next to White Hen Pantry. As I said I am working like 76 hrs in the next few days so I picked up 2 slices of Chicken pot pie for a treat while I am stuck here.

It is no doubt the best pie-especially the crust-I have ever had. They sell it by the slice for $4.50 and it comes with a scoop of cranberry sauce.

I included a picture of the pie case for your viewing enjoyment. I did also slip in a flourless chocolate/walnut cookie that was super.

I had a slice of quiche from here last week at the farmer's market that was excellent so basically go there and eat something terrific.

Working 9 to 5 - What a way to make a livin' !!!

I am working 8am until midnight tomorrow so expect a few rambling odd posts as I will be trying to fill my free time. Hopefully there won't be too much of that.

An update on the breathing issue is that most people think it is an iron problem but that is not it.

6months ago I was at 78 and now I am at 124. The normal range is between 40 and 150. I did most of what was asked besides a few slips like a couple slices of pizza tonight but I did get my lazy ass out for a 4 mile walk/run and laid down for about 30 minutes. I am drinking-eating - vitamined up and still can't seem to get enogh deep breaths. Who knows - I am back to the Doctor on Monday and we will see.

I am trying to get back to the running as I have previously whined so I may go to a 5K ran in Osterville on Sunday for women. Wanna come??

After these hours I may not want to get my butt up but as always I will update you next week.

Where have I been?? No Where.

I have been doing none of this lately. I ran the Road Race and then Nothin"!!!!
I took a day to recoop but felt back to normal by Tuesday so what is my excuse? None.
I have not figured out how to get out with the extra kids I have now. I am up to 3 and sometimes 4. I may need to enlist Lily ( my niece ) to help.
Mr. Fooseberry is out of work but scraping up what he can so he is always on the go. Maybe I will try to nail his foot to the floor tomorrow for 30 minutes. I have to work a double on Friday and 12 hrs on Saturday so those days are pretty much a wash.
The reason for my post is accountability I guess. My future running partner is succeeding on the program while I recede back into couch potato-hood. I feel like a hypocrite even talking about running with him.

On another note. I have had this feeling of not being about to catch my breath. More so in the last 3 days and it is beginning to make me nervous. I called the Doctor and got my blood drawn today as I have my 18 month appt on Monday. The nurse says the breath could be a sign of low iron.
As of 5pm my iron count was not back but the Hgh and Hct levels are normal so she believes the iron will be normal too. I have decided to try all of the suggestion made to me.
I have gotten some new sublingual B, drinking propel and water and trying to cut down on caffeine( I don't drink much besides tea lately). The nurse says my lack of breath may be due to my not exercising but I just don't see that. I have not run for a week in the past and I didn't have this happen to me. I also started to feel this way during my last few races but chalked it up to being a new runner.
This is just another reason to look at all the options when thinking about Gastric Bypass. I do not know what is happening to my body at the moment and this never happened before the RNY. My husband will not touch this surgery with a 10 foot pole now.

If this isn't the sign of a good time

This is what the car looked like shortly after we left the parking lot. Of course Olivia is 5 you know and she doesn't take naps Thank you very much-LOL!!!
These pictures are of Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford. We had a good time. I seem to say that often but really we did. We spent a while waiting for the music to start so they were ready for lunch by the end of all the dancing. We checked out a bunch of animals then rode the train. Everyone could see this fantastic playground next to the zoo so we left and walked over there. They ran and climbed for a while until we called it a day around 3.
Not a lot of animals but perfect for this age group. Not too big but they had elephants and we sat across from them while the band played.

Ellen and the hawaiian chair

This is an old segment from Ellen but is hysterical so I wanted to share. Hope you get a laugh!!!

When is school starting????

Beach babe!!

The Actress!!
The next crew to be making heads turn in 2020 at the beach. Poor Ava trying to keep up with thr older girls.

So swimming lessons are over and school doesn't start for a couple more weeks here (Sept 2nd).

So what the hell am I supposed to do now? She was trying to paint my face today before I left for work because we were having a fair at our house. God she needs a hobby.

I am thinking about going to the Buttonwood park Zoo on Monday because the Toe Jam Puppet band is playing and it looks like fun. I will have 4 kids from 2-5 years old and this will help them burn off some steam. When they get together they have a great time.

http://www.toejampuppetband.com/

http://www.bpzoo.org/

So I am half interested in school starting but don't want the Summer to be over. Tomorrow if all hold together weather wise we will be out on the boat and I will possibly be out in the kayak-Keep your fingers crossed.

We planned one more camping trip over Labor Day weekend and can't wait as Mama needs a little vacation. Unfortunately the husband and kids are coming- LOL!!! Not much of a vacation with the 6am wake up baby but we will try to do our best. I just want some steak on the grill and corn on the cob and I will be happy. Oh no and a big fire!!! Come to think of it not much campfire happens when we go to Maine - I am not sure why. We will fix that this trip.

I HATE TEMPLATES!!!!

I am trying to spiff up my look. Now I have saved all the stuff on the sides but do not know how to extract it from the computer.
I upgraded my account as it was supposed to make spiffing easier and now all I can do is load one of their canned templates. I could stand it if I at least had my stuff back.

This is precisely why they shouldn't let people like me on the computers. I tend to break things and get lost in the internet. I should have dropped some bread crumbs when I started this crap.

Goals

So this may be my next goal. I have to get thru the next 2 weeks before school starts and I have 1 less child. I am currently taking care of 2 extras but 2 days a week I could be back out with the jogger and only 2 kids. ( Following??)

I also need to get my sewing machine fixed. Somehow the foot pedal broke-Damn! It now sticks on at about 100 MPH's. I have agreed to rent a table for a craft show in Mashpee on Columbus day weekend so I need to get back up and running to finish assembling the other 20 bags I have been looking at for weeks.

Put it on your calender if you are Cape Cod folks-Sons of Italy Sunday October 12th 10am ( I think)- Bonnie and I will be pimping our wares.

I will post some of the future runs I am doing as it seems like more people I talk to are interested in trying out some running. I think it could be great fun so lets get out there.

Oct 13th http://www.tuftshealthplan.com/tufts10k/index.php

Oct 25th www.mashpeefirefightersroadrace.com.

Sept 6th http://www.bgcplymouth.org/run2rock.html

Living Proof

See I didn't come in last!!!

Haagen Dazs and Bees

Go to Haagen-Dazs and learn about the importance of bees in keeping our food growing.

You can also send bee mail to someone that makes you buzz.

2008 Falmouth Road Race

So I am back with the update of all times......

It was incredible!!!!!!

HUGE but so well organized. It was probably the most important thing I have done in my life-for myself.

I got on the bus at about 7:30. There were buses lined all the way up the road just waiting for people to show up. It dropped us off and we walked to the baseball field. I thought the warm up clinic was at 8:15 but it turned out to be 8:45. Oh well, I sat in the shade and listed to a woman that has run this race for 18yrs talk to a man that was running for the first time.

People were all so friendly and excited to run.

After the warm up I decided to head to the main area and see what was going on. Unfortunately it was a huge area to wait and get in the porta pottys. I have to tell Merry- I have never seen so many toilets. Anyway I got to sit quietly on the wall and look at the ocean and surprisingly no butterflies. I have felt like crap all week-nerves and all. I get all anxious at night when I start to think of this race. I even got freaked a bit as the bus pulled out as if I was going up the first big hill of a roller coaster.

I ran the first 3 miles as I had decided I could at least do that so no excuses. I then alternated some walking to catch my breathe and went back to running. I did most of my walking along Surf Drive between miles 3-4 as it was out in the bright sun. I hit every hose out there and kept water on my head as I knew if I got overheated I was all done. The last hill was tough also. It isn't too bad on it's own but after 6.5 miles it is another story.

The best parts were the people. The yelled out to us that we only had X more miles to go - one man even yelled 5 more miles and you can have one of these and held up his beer. There were multiple places were people placed music. A man and woman in Woods Hole actually play on their porch and she sings to the runners as they go by to get in line. I heard she has been doing that at least 20 years.

All abilities did it so everyone should try it. If you plan to run with someone go together and stay together as you will never find them in the swams of people down there. I knew of about 6 others running and never saw them.

All in all probably the coolest thing I have done (besides the babies).

I almost forgot-

Time - 01:29:31
Woman place - 3,752
Overall place - 8,230

Ready as I'll ever be.....

Falmouth Fun Run

Ava lined up to race in her orange crocs.
Raiden, Ava and Olivia the big winners of the day!!!!

This was so much fun. It was a free event that had races in a bunch of different age groups. Every kid got a T-shirt and a metal if they ran. They gave out footballs, frisbees, hot dogs and popsicles. It was a ton of fun.
They even took pictures of the kids on a green backround and printed them on the finish line as you can see in the last photo. We had a lot of fun and tons of people were there.

Falmouth Road Race

I am still beating a dead horse with this Road race thing I know...But I am seriously stressed out. Yesterday I decided to drive it and take pictures of the mile markers so I know when the next one is coming. It starts out hillier than I remember but also sunnier than I remember so please pray for clouds and dry air on Sunday.
When I drove over the finish line I realized I am a nut and will be nuttier when and if I finish. I could feel the emotion and I was just driving by the finish line.I am going to drive to Hyannis and try to get a small hydration pack to carry water in an effort to keep me from passing out. There isn't anything else I can do at this point to ready myself but try to calm the nerves, eat well and get some sleep.

Puddle Jumping

In an effort to keep Caleb on his best behavior we try to run with him or at least get him out and about on a daily basis. Yesterday we took him down to the bog and the herring run right off of it. The kids and dog got in the cool water just as it started to pour. Wet already so what difference did it make?
We walked home in the pouring rain and just as we got onto our street it died right down so we took the opportunity to jump in the puddles. What the hell?

What's in a Name?

Have your name, your child's name or the name of your business made into an illustration. Add your favorite past times,include family pets or whatever you like. first 5 letters is $45. add $10 for each additional letter. Drawn on 6"x16" artist quality Bristol board, unframed. (Size of drawing is negotiable.) Makes a great wedding gift, grand opening gift or for a birthday or christening.

Follow this link if you are interested-

http://capecod.craigslist.org/art/781413366.html

My friend is SUPER talented and also enjoys drawing animals, nature, plants and flowers. She also does incredible work with clay. I have seen some awesome painted furniture and slates as well. She is trying to get the info out about her work so please check her out and contact her via this craigs list ad with any requests and questions.

Sugar Swing??

It looks like today I am riding the sugar swing and I am not sure how to get off. It also occurs to me how little I know about the workings of my body. I do know that I ate a piece of birthday ice cream cake as I shouldn't have. Less than an hour later I am on my way to work and I am not feeling so hot and notice the shakes starting. I take out my meter( Thanks Mom ) and test my blood sugar-39.

Well that isn't good so I eat a Luna bar and keep driving to work. When I get here I think it has to be wrong so I test again-46.

Now I have eaten the Luna Bar and a packet of peanut butter crackers and a banana. I am getting freaked. I test again-232. WTF???

I still don't feel cool but I am thinking I need to learn the workings of my system. Should it be as high as 232 and how the hell is going from 39 to 232 effecting my body?

I don't like this at all. I may have been better without the meter as I was oblivious.