Will we be running in the rain??

The first 5K of the season for me is Saturday and I haven't run since Sunday. Life has gotten in the way. I plan on running tomorrow for at least a 2 mile trip as the weather looks great.

It is the days to come that aren't looking so hot. The good news is by next week all these trees will be popping. The bad news is the rain looks like it goes on forever. I know, I know...we need it. Blah, blah, blah. It will still suck after day 3 of straight rain and me chasing the mud fairies thru the house.

So do I run a race in the rain?? Sure. Just don't expect a photo finish. I believe it will look something more like a drowned rat finish.

Another Beautiful Day

Today was an extraordinary day!!

Like my big word?? I had to use spell check because I am sure it is spelled wrong. Yup it was!

Ava was up at 5:30 am so by 7 she was already on the trampoline.We had the bubbles flowing and they were off. I had to drag her off to feed her breakfast. Today I had the boys again so we decided to take a field trip. After Olivia left for school I made some popcorn and packed some snacks and we headed to Taft Park. The kids had a ball. After playing for a while we walked over to the Woods Hole Aquarium to check out the blue lobster and the seals. After walking all over the place looking for some lunch with no luck we headed back to the car.

We hit the hot dog cart downtown but by then we were already down 1 kid as he was exhausted. We stopped at the harbor to eat and I got a chance to see the new band shell. It is beautiful. I love the mix of wood and metal.

We are supposed to be getting some rain over the next few days so I think I may tackle some indoor projects. How do you own a house of 3 years and projects never get finished. Like 1 wall that just never got painted? Or trim that just never got in the bathroom? I need a longer day - I vote for 36 hr days.

Riding in the back of a pick up truck

(First let me explain these are not my feet-Although my legs may be almost this furry after winter-I just have a need to add pictures to every post so I stole this photo. Thanks)

Earl had some rototilling to do at a friends so he took the kids with him and I had the good fortune of shopping alone. Ahhhh...the grocery store alone-Dreamy! I flew around Walmart and Stop and Shop and decided to get to my run. Sundays is usually the day I do my long run. I have moved up to a 3.2 mile run as I have a 5K(3.1mi) race next weekend. I jumped on the computer and found that the hubby and kids were at a house 3.2 miles away. Perfect! I would run there and hitchhike home. If you live around Massachusetts you know it is 2 seconds from winter and could possibly snow any day. Not today-Today it decided to go to about 88 degrees according to the National Weather Service. I decided to run.....I must have a head injury. The route was hilly and NOT shaded at all. I thought I was running the Road Race again. My time was in the toilet but I made it. I guess you could call it practice for the Summer runs.
As I walked to the house they were just pulling out. They had a truck load so I decided to jump in the back. It was a beautiful day and I can't remember the last time I rode in the back of a truck. My hubby took the backroads and I thought about how we just don't do these things anymore. They are not safe. Once when we were like 10-12 my parents put a camping mattress in the bed of our truck and we rode all the way to Florida. We had a cap and thought we were camping. Now my kids were freaked and kept asking if I had fallen out the whole 10 minute ride home.Oh how things have changed.
It got me to thinking about Summer. I can't wait. I have more plans than time as usual so we will see what gets done.
The list so far:
Camping.
Bike riding-Olivia hopefully on 2 wheels.
Running-I have about 5 races planned so far.
Swimming lessons.
Davis' Farm-See the link---> We won 4 free tickets last Fall.
Possibly even some gardening.
I guess today I got bitten by the big-The Summer Bug.

And this was a small party.

Unfortunately we have a big family, so when I decided this would have to be a small party it still ended up looking like this....

We went to Leary Family Amusements for a pizza/bowling party. Olivia was a huge help. She decorated and wrapped all of our presents and even carried the pizza.

After the Scooby Doo bowling cake

it was on to games and Cosmic bowling. They turn the lights down and have black lighting and a disco ball. I think the grown ups enjoyed the music more than the kids. Everyone left exhausted at around 8pm. I hope a good time was had by all-I know we had a great time.

Happy Birthday Ava!!

My baby will be 3 in about 2 hours. I remember the day well. She let me work all day 8-4pm. The guy that was supposed to be there at 4 was late. I was just looking to get out of there as I was feeling "weird". When I got home I called the Doctor just to see what they thought and she said "I am at the hospital now just come on it and we will check you out." After dropping my older daughter off with family we got to the hospital around 6:30pm. She examined me and said "Oh you are staying." WHAT! I am not ready and I feel fine. I still have my black work socks on. Oh No I don't think so.

Yeah, she was born at 1am. She has been a storm to be reckoned with ever since. I had it all down pat ....I thought. She breaks every mold I had on what to do. She is independent to say the least and I love her with all my heart.

Tomorrow she is having a Scooby Doo bowling party and I expect she will kick all of our butts as she is a bowling whiz.

So Happy Birthday Ava Flava- Mama loves you!

Pampered Chef Fundraiser

I am having a Pampered Chef Party as a fundraiser for my Relay for Life team. Please email me if you want to come or place an order through the Pampered Chef link. Please use Team Mac as the Hostess name in order for us to get credit for your purchase.
May is also Help Whip Cancer month with Pampered Chef so they will be offering some pink ribbon items. $1 from each Help Whip Cancer® product you purchase will help support the American Cancer Society's breast cancer education and early detection programs.
So come and enjoy some good food (and drink) with friends and help support our team in the relay for Life.

I love Freecycle!!

If you don't know about freecycle you have to find one in your area. They are everywhere. People post things they have to give away and you can post things you need. It is a great way to recycle and keep things out of the dump that still have life.
Yesterday I saw an ad for a trampoline from someone that said their kids had out grown it. It was a bit rusty but free and I am all about stretching my bucks. The down side is it was all the way in Wellfleet but we are on school vacation so we had nothing but time. I have never been off the beaten path on the way to P-Town so it was nice to see parts of small town Cape Cod especially during the winter season.
They were nice enough to take it apart and leave it in a pile in the driveway. The girls were super excited to help load it in the truck. Right-They spent the whole time picking dandelions while I loaded it.
When we got home I went right to assembling it as they had no patience for waiting and the rain is supposed to come for the next few days. It was easy enough and as you can see we were jumping for a bit before it was time for work.
By the way-I have never jumped on a trampoline and got on to try. I was terrified. I expected it to break under my weight. I felt immediately dizzy but I think it could actually end up being a workout.

Cape Abilities 5K-May 2nd

I just signed up online and got my confirmation so No Refunds means I am in.

I am calling out to the people in this photo-You know who you are- to sign up so we can get the season started. I think we need a team. Something about the turtle and the hare would be good as we have both speed racers and those of us(me) that take up the rear. Someone has to come in last, how else are they going to know when the race is over?

3 Miles

I have been running 2 miles 2 days a week and 2.5 miles on Sunday. Last night I plotted a route that would get me up to 3.25 miles which is just a bit over a 5K. I decided to try it out. I had no kids at home waiting as they had a breakfast and bowling date with Nana and Auntie. The first mile went pretty smooth as it was completely flat and the second mile wasn't too bad either. Between the 2nd and third mile is where I think I started to lose time. I was doing about 11:30 mile up until then. See between 2-3 it became hilly, windy and just towards the end. I ended up at 38:34 for 3 1/4 miles. I was hoping for better but it was also the first time I had run that distance this year.

I have a 5K race planned 2 weeks from yesterday. I was going to try to run a race this Sunday but I have decided not to rush it and to just keep on my schedule for the next few. It will be my first documented time and something to build upon from there.

I will keep you posted.

Mojito Deck-DONE!

I can't seem to get the pictures and the words in the same place so read on and then follow the photos or vice/versa.
Anyway the men showed up at about 7:30 and had it wrapped up by lunch.
We love you Fig!!!
We still plan on shingling the walls and replacing the old rusted out light fixtures so another weekend or so before it is really done.
I have a hard time with the slow process. Now if I could just win the lottery we could whip this place into shape by Summer but in reality I need to shingle 1 side at a time.
Olivia was already moving her dance moves outside as you can see from the last photo. We just need some Tiki torches and a mojito station.

Olivia helping babysit Shea

1st Beach picnic of the year

We went to bring Dad some lunch on Friday but we were kicked out. He was painting and it was not safe for girls in the garage.

Oh well, We just took our peanut butter and fluff and headed to the beach. As Ava gets older things like this are more fun. She climbed on the rocks and was amazed at all the sand. It was like she hadn't seen a sandbox this big before. The day was beautiful if not a bit windy but I'll take it.

She is playing the lifeguard today.

Foose Update

OOPS- I think I got it now! I am a cavewoman when it comes to computers.

First I was hoping to show you a ton of pictures but they are trapped on my memory card. Can a memory card crap out or is the computer slot crapped out?? I don't know all I know is I only have a crappy cell phone camera right now for blog posting. UGH!

Enough about crap ....Let's move on.

I took the night off Wednesday for my oldest daughter's art show and ice cream social which was even more fun because I volunteered for a few mornings to help set up. The work they all did was fantastic. The imagination and talent blew me away for elementary kids. My daughter had multiple pieces of her art on display and she was very proud of her work. We even got a garden flag with one of her paintings on it for our garden.(photo to come I hope)

Next-Got this mop cut and colored. Gone is the multiple color scheme-it was getting old. A friend at work said now I look like a Portuguese girl so I guess that is OK as I am partly a Portuguese girl.

I got my run in this morning a bit later than usual but it allowed for a decent breakfast first which I don't usually have time for. Slowly the time is improving and I am happy to see that. For 3 weeks now I have been running 2 miles Tuesday and Thursday. Sunday I bump it up to 2.5 miles. Every time I am able to shave of a 1/2 a minute I am happy. Some days are better than others but that's life I guess. I do have a bit of discomfort in my knees. I wouldn't call it pain yet but I know they are there and stairs are not my friend on running days. I may be headed for some ice after runs if this keeps up. I really don't want to change my running pattern as it is working for me. I also do not feel pain while running so I am hoping this is just my body adjusting to the exercise. No body we aren't quiting this week!


This Saturday my yard will be a-buzz with men(hopefully photos of them to follow too)! The friends will be showing up to hopefully get this deck on. If you didn't read before we have a deck but it is not attached. I have my fingers crossed and my fridge stocked with burgers and beer. There really isn't anything else I can do besides that and hope for the best.

Tomorrow may involve some bike riding or couch riding I haven't really decided which yet.

Off to fold some laundry.

Relay for Life

I joined my sister's team-Team Mac-in the Relay for Life. We have lost many people close to us from cancer and this seemed like a way for us to raise some money and bring awareness to the cause. I was thinking it would be a good way for us to heal after the recent lose of some of our family and friends.

It opens with a walk around the track of survivors and then caregivers. I do not expect this to be an easy thing for my sister and I to watch as it is so close to her heart and her loss is still very fresh in her memory.

I am asking anyone who wishes to join our team to follow the link above in our team name.

You can also make a small donation of just $10 and purchase a Luminaria and dedicate it to a loved one who is battling or has unfortunately lost their battle with cancer. These Luminaria will be placed along the track as we walk through the night.

The walk is from June 12th at 6pm until June 13th at noon and we will have someone from our team walking every hour during the relay. So please join our team, come visit us throughout the night or make a donation. We will be grateful for any support from our family and friends.

Bitten by the Bug

My partner in crime and I got to talking about the Falmouth Road Race and I am psyched. It is a strange feeling as I am excited but terrified all at the same time. The entry window is 2 weeks and it starts May 1st so it is getting close. It is a 10,000 runner race and normally you would be entered into a lottery for a number but they are gracious enough to allow town residents to bypass the lottery. That basically means I am guaranteed a number. I recall last year when my check cleared and I panicked a little as I realized I was now running a big race.

I am running 3 days a week now regularly - 2 days at 2 miles and 1 day at 2.5 miles. Tomorrow I plan on putting the ham in the oven and heading out. I have been lucky enough to get help watching Ava so I can just work on running and not juggling the stroller and the wants and needs of a cranky passenger.

So the count down begins:

20 days until registration opens

18 weeks until Race Day.

Happy Easter!!

A Little Easter Humor for You

Our friends came over and we dyed eggs. I can't remember the last time I did that...years.
I frequently find myself wanting to do things with the girls that may be just out of their reach or at least a bit too old for Ava. Tonight may have been another of those times. I just hate to do things with only Olivia as it feels like she is being left out. We did manage to get them colored and each kid a bit colored too.
We ordered pizza and had cupcakes so I think in their eyes it was a good time.
No real pictures and I was too busy helping with the eggs.

Future Dancers of America

This is what the little siblings do while the older girls are dancing in the next room.

Next step to our Lido Deck

The next step to the Fooseberry Tiki bar got done today. We had some cement delivered by Grampa. This was very cool in the eyes of Ava-Flava. I am not holding my breath with this weather but we are supposed to be moving along with the deck installation this weekend.

Cross your fingers!

My Heart Just Broke

If ever I needed a sugar daddy it is now!!

My sister just sent me the link to this baby and it reads " Needs a good home".

I could give it a good home I promise. If anyone out there has $8000 I have a way to spend it.

Imagine the Summer we could have in this baby, cruising to Newport getting a sunburn. The kids would flip. I would be a good Mom and polish it every day-I promise. I sound like a kid trying to convince their Mom to buy them a puppy.

Someday, Damn it , I will have one again. Maybe when I am 60.

http://capecod.craigslist.org/ctd/1108445358.html