Birthday birthday birthday!

Hooray - I don't feel like death warmed over any more!  Still sick, but so much better than I was.

The husband wished me a happy birthday on his way to work this morning, and the girls were most excited (once they remembered).  Took L to preschool, went running around the neighborhood with E (thank goodness for being healthy enough to run again!), baked a cake, picked up L from preschool, and had lunch at McDonald's with my friend N and her boys B and T.  When we came back from lunch, we discovered the husband had taken a half day off from work to celebrate with me!  Best birthday surprise EVER, hands down.  After naps, I opened my gifts from him and the girls, had cake with them (YUM), had dinner with the in-laws at Chipotle, ice cream at Baskin Robbins, and a wonderful wonderful day overall.  Even with me still feeling a bit sick, it went so much better than I expected.  My family and friends sent messages, called, mailed cards, and gave me wonderful presents.  I cannot believe how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life! 

33 has started out fantastic.  Here's to a great coming year (and with all my family and friends in it, what's not to say it won't be the best yet?!??)

Cake!  So decadent, so good...

E's silly face after licking her cake plate clean.  LOL!

L and her cherry ice cream cone.

The husband and I

Obligatory family picture on my birthday :)

Cancel my birthday, I'm SICK.

In all the years I've had birthdays (HA!), I can't remember a single birthday where I was sick.  I realize my birthday isn't until tomorrow, but I know I'm not going to be 100% by then.  Yesterday was bad, and today was awful.  I meant to go running this morning but I slept instead.  In fact, I slept a lot.  I didn't bake a cake, I didn't do any chores, and I certainly didn't get out and about to enjoy the lovely day outside.  UGH.

If I cancel my birthday tomorrow, does that mean I don't age?  Please say yes.  I'm just going to curl back up in bed and hope this is the worst of it and tomorrow isn't horrible.

Shopping everywhere but home

This morning, I had a music teachers' meeting in Phoenix.  It was all fine and good, but afterwards, I needed to run some errands and eat lunch.  After I came home, the irony of what I had done with my traveling and shopping hit me and I had to laugh.

I drove from Tucson to Phoenix.

I ate lunch in Tempe.

I got something at Wal-Mart in Tempe for the husband.

I got something else at Target in Casa Grande for E's Christmas.

I drove home.

Not once did I do anything in Tucson today, though I live here.  How about that for shopping everywhere but home?!?  Wish I didn't feel as sick as I do though...

What NOT to do when sick

I woke up this morning feeling pretty much the same (if not worse) than yesterday:  sinus headache, clogged sinuses, stuffed-up nose, sore throat, cough, and tired, like I'd been hit by a truck.  Being the genius that I am, I decided that since E was feeling better, we should go for a run.  That should have been my first indication that sickness insanity had hit me. 

We dropped off L at school, drove out to the north end of the river trail, loaded up, and started.  I felt fine for quite awhile, even feeling my sinuses clear out.  Ah, yes, this is why I wanted to go running, to clear my head, sweat out some of my sickness, enjoy the perfect late summer weather, and get some fresh air.

Everything was fine during my run.  E chattered away at me, had her snack, pointed out all kinds of things (we saw a pair of bobcats!), and felt the need to point at every trash can too.  I purposely made it a short run so that I wouldn't tire myself out completely, so it was only 2.2 miles.  At mile 2, I started going back uphill just slightly to the playground at the end.  E was excited for the playground, and I was excited to be almost done.  Let's push a bit, shall we?  Faster!  That's when my stomach decided it wanted none of that.  I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm so glad E pointed out the next trash can, where I nicely deposited my breakfast.  E was quiet for a moment, then asked me if I was sick (yes), and then said "thank you not puking on me, Mama." 

Remind me of this the next time I'm sick and want to run.  Better yet, tie me down somewhere so I can't even go out.  Blarg.

Wait, September is almost done?!?

I realize I've missed about three weeks, but I figured if I didn't put something down now I just wouldn't come back to it soon.  September has flown by - I can't believe just how quickly the days have gone.  Here are some highlights:

September 8 - After much agonizing, we decided to move L from her car seat to a booster seat.  She loves it.  I'm still paranoid.
September 9 - Bought a single jogging stroller for solo runs with E.  We took it out on 9/13 and it was fantastic! 
September 10 - After much discussion, we agree upon a Doberman puppy with the breeder in Phoenix/Avondale.  Details to be ironed out.
September 14 - Great-Grandmother H's birthday in Phoenix.  It's always fun to go up there, spend time with family, and have a sleepover.
September 15 - After much discussion with the breeder (and their refusal to compromise at all on price for all their demands), we have decided to pass on this puppy and get one from the breeder in Coolidge again this fall.
September 18 - The husband and my ninth anniversary of our first date.  We took the girls and had dinner at IHOP, which they loved. 
September 20 - I ran 12 miles between 4-6am with my friend C.  Full harvest moon, perfect 70F, no traffic, and great conversation made it an excellent run.
September 21 - My beautiful niece V's first birthday party (her actual birthday is 10/13).  So much fun to see and attend!
September 22 - My very first sprint triathlon, as a family relay with my SIL and BIL.  She swam, he biked, and I ran.  We were last in our relay category at around 1:21:00, but it was so much fun to watch and participate.  I may have to consider doing this all by myself sometime...
September 23 - L is sick.  Yay.
September 24 - I am sick.  Yay.
September 25 - E and I are sick, L is better.  Yay.
September 26 - L's first t-ball practice.  I'm constantly amazed at how their is a youth director at the YMCA that can't get his act together to save his life.  Who schedules 3- and 4-year-old players at 6:00pm (when the sun sets at 6:30pm) on an unlit field?  All the phone calls I've received in the last two days regarding this are driving me bonkers, and it's only been the last two days that they've apparently decided to get their act together.  *sigh*

Halloween Happenings

I know it's the beginning of September, but I've got work to do!  The girls made their requests quite awhile ago as to what they wanted to be for Halloween.  L has had her heart set on being the Scarlet Witch since...last Halloween?  Something like that.  It has not wavered.

Ooo, look, a C-list Marvel superhero!

A drawing that I've been looking at a lot for costume ideas

I ordered five yards of red cape fabric awhile ago and started working on it today.  So far, so good.  My MIL has been great in figuring out a pattern to use and how to make it fairly easily.  I'm hoping to have it done soon after E's costume is done (see more below).  I'll have to make the headpiece too, but I think I'm just going to have purchase boots, a red swim suit, and gloves. 

As for E, she first started out wanted to be Super Baby for Halloween.  WTF is that?!?  Then she changed her mind to various other things, but for the last couple months, it's been all "I want be Dorothy!  I want be Dorothy!"  Ah, yes, the wonderful Dorothy from Wizard of Oz.  You remember her outfit, right? 

Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (oh, and Toto too)

A better look of the dress by itself.

I found a very easy and very cute jumper that I can make for E in the blue and white gingham material.  It's mostly made, just needs to have a zipper put on it and hemmed up.  I'll add buttons on the front, have already purchased red sparkly slippers, and will put a white shirt on underneath.  Yay!  She'll be the cutest Dorothy (without much hair) ever!

What are you doing for Halloween?

Mommy moments

L came home from school today with two things.  The first was a family tree.  Not only did it list Mommy, Daddy, E, and herself, it also listed the pets, Grandpa, and Ng-Ng.  It was so touching to see that she thought of her grandparents as a part of her nuclear family.  I bet her teacher thinks that Grandpa and Ng-Ng live with us, lol!

The second was a book of L's Favorite Things.  On the inside, I found this.  I will admit it brought happy tears to my eyes:

I really hope the giant rabbit-like drawing was just a drawing and not meant to resemble me.

Dear Babies R Us,

Dear Babies R Us,

I received his awesome flier from you in the mail the other day!  It stated that if I made purchases of certain amounts, I would receive something free in return.  For example, if I spent $50 in store, you'd give me something for free worth $10.  $100, something free worth about $40.  So on, so forth.  I read the fine print on the back and saw that you couldn't use it to buy diapers, wipes, formula, etc., and I thought "great, it doesn't say gift cards!"  I had told my brother and sister-in-law that I would get them a gift card for the car seat they registered to get.  The flier was going to allow me to get them something awesome for free that they could use - yay!  Therefore, I loaded my girls in the car and drove them to your nearest store.

I picked up a gift card and went to the register.  I gave the cashier the flier and said "I should get this object with my purchase."  She said "nope."  Excuse me?  I took the flier back, examined the fine print again, and stated "I should get this object with my purchase.  It doesn't say gift cards don't count toward this offer in the fine print."  She said "nope."  Okay, lady, can I speak with your manager then?  After the dirty look and eye rolling, she got her manager.  I explained again what I was doing:  getting a gift card for $X, which should allow me to get this object for free.  The manager looked at the register, looked at the flier, and then she said "nope, you don't get this for free."  Why, for pete sake, will you not give me this object when the flier clearly states that gift cards are not excluded toward the minimum amount purchase to get this?!??  She said "because it's a gift card."  Did you NOT hear what I just said?  Read the f*ing flier!  I CAN buy a gift card and have it count toward the purchase!  The manager just looked at me like I was an idiot and said

"would you like to buy this object?" 

You've GOT to be kidding me.  Of course not, you f*ing idiot, I don't want it if you're going to make me pay for it, I should be getting it for free.

So, I did what I had to do - if they weren't going to give me what I should clearly be getting from the promotion on their flier, I'd just make their lives a living hell for awhile.  I said no, I don't want to purchase the item.  I do, however, want to return everything I just tried to purchase with you right now.  Also?  Hey girls, see that display over there?  Go play with it.  The ensuing anger on their faces from having to do a return for me, plus the line of people waiting behind me, plus the bouncing noises that came from the display the girls were destroying, made my morning.  It's okay, you can call me a bitch, I proudly claim it just this once.  I walked out with a smile on my face.

Babies R Us, honor your promotions.  If you can't do that, there's no point in having the promotion in the first place.  I bet most of your stores just claim they're out of the free products.  You bastards.

No Love,
Me

Docile and sweet

Our dog, Belle, has to be the most docile, sweet, and loving dog to my children ever.  She puts up with so much crap from them - from being kicked in the face repeatedly during diaper changes when the girls were babies, to being dressed up, having her nails painted, jumped on, poked, prodded, and even hugged/mauled.  Belle puts up with it all, usually with her tail wagging.  She follows the girls everywhere around the house and yard, even sleeping at night between our bedroom and the girls' rooms.  The only time I ever hear Belle growl is when the girls literally land on her when they fall/jump/crash into her.  To that, I gotta say - only a growl?  Wow.  If I was a dog, I'd probably stay away from the kids at that point!

This video was at the tail end of E's escapades this morning.  She was jumping off the couch and into Belle's bed, which catapulted her over Belle every single time.  Belle just laid there, watching her play, wagging her tail every time E laughed and said "I jump over Belle!", and adoring the fact that she was included.  Truly, couldn't ask for a better dog and friend for the girls.  :)

Food OCD and food porn!

Today seemed to center around food.  This morning at the grocery store, L almost had an aneurysm because of her OCD tendencies.  Can you tell why?

Which of these things is not like the others...

She literally screamed at me to put the lime back with the other limes (because she couldn't reach it).  All the other shoppers turned to see what was going on (I know their thoughts - "why is that little girl screaming 'PUT IT BACK, MAMA, PUT IT BACK!!!!!"?) and I was just laughing hysterically.  L really did almost have a meltdown when, instead of putting it back right away, I whipped out my phone to take this picture.  HA!  I put it back, don't worry - I'm not that mean.

Then, at dinner time, I made pork chops.  I just put the pork chops on the pan as they came in the package, and then I noticed one pork chop looked rather...phallic.

Phallic pork chop on top, Africa-on-its-side pork chop on the bottom

I don't think I need to say who got to eat the yummy penis pork chop.  ;)

Saguaro National Park Labor Day 8 Miler

Woke up at 4:45am in order to be ready to go at 5:30am for our race.  We drove with some more of C's friends to Saguaro National Park East for the race.  Talk about gorgeous setting!  It's just at the base of the mountains, and the sea of cacti, desert plants and flowers, and animals were just beautiful.  The entire time I've been prepping for this race, I was warned of two things:  the hills and the heat.  Thankfully, when we got there this morning, there was a thunderstorm moving in.  That meant lots of wind on the back side of the course and rain on us for the first 1.5 miles.  The hills?  Were no joke.  A 1000-feet elevation incline over the course of 2.5 miles just about killed me, especially the head wind on the back part of the course.  However, though I walked a bit more than I really wanted to, I still finished at 1:26:49, which is just over 3 minutes faster than my goal.  YAY!  Now to continue training for the half marathon in mid October.

Going uphill between miles 2 and 3.  See the rain clouds?

Going downhill between miles 5 and 6.  I wish the rain clouds had come this way more!

Me looking like an utter dork, with the other three girls we carpooled/stayed with.  C is in blue.

Cleaning and prepping

I spent a vast portion of the morning cleaning up the girls' rooms and upstairs in general.  The place looks much better, and we rewarded ourselves by going out to lunch at McDonald's.  E started screaming and crying on the play area near the end of our time there - it turns out (once I climbed up to her) that she was upset because Daddy said we had to leave.  HA!  Silly kid.

This evening, I packed up an overnight bag and left with my friend C to stay with a friend of hers on the east side of town.  This way, we'll be within minutes of the place we have our 8-mile race tomorrow morning.  It's been a fun evening watching her friend's almost-3-year-old daughter play!  A bit nervous for the hills and race tomorrow, but it should be good overall.  My goal is less than 1:30.

C's cats Caillou (black) and Sai (kitten) eating.

The cute room we are staying in overnight