A Wife, Mom, Teacher and Super Slow ♥ Jogger

Should I ?

2011-05-29T13:18:00.001-05:00

Do you Crossfit??
Run, weights, agility, other random movements all within a span of
20-30 minutes with no rest between the different activities

I currently do not but I am heavily considering it. While we do have a couple
of different options in our small rural community, I am actually considering
something else.

My husband is a high school coach and he has spent 23 years not only coaching
football, baseball and track but he has cross trained thousands and thousands
of athletes. He would definately be a cheap and easy option for me....all I
would have to do is ASK. We live on 2 acres and have plenty of room to work
outside with a varied amount of activities.

I have not asked him yet because that would require a commitment on
my part because I can tell you his answer to my request will be "You Bet!"

Am I ready to run up the mountain of hill street that we live on? Do I want to
have to pick up his big iron HEAVY rock bar (I don't know the real name of it)
and break up all the rocks on our property? Do I really want my almost 8 year
old son working out with me and smoking me in everything I'm asked to do
because he thinks it is all fun? Am I ready to workout in the often 100+ degree
late afternoon temps of central Texas?

I know what I HAVE to do!

Fiesta Texas Family Fun Day

2011-05-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

It's been 10 years...years since Doug, I, Sugar and Squash have visited, as a
family, the theme park in San Antonio called Six Flags Fiesta Texas so last
week Doug and I decided to purchase season passes again; Banana
and Sunshine have never been to Fiesta Texas and Sugar hadn't been since
he was 7 or so years old.

We live just outside of San Antonio and have countless times driven
by the park; the kids, especially Sunshine ask us everytime "when can
we go to Fiesta Texas?" Up until this a.m. they didn't know we were
going to FT and when I told them...Sunshine was PUMPED!!!

Opening time for the park is 10:00am, so we arrived at the park about 9:30ish.

Since I printed our season tickets from their website, we went to a Customer

Service line to check in since we didn't actually have tickets. We waited in a

line with about 15 families in front of us with only one window open to help

service the customers in line. For at least 20 minutes everyone in line waited for

the lady in the tight, lime green pants, who really didn't have the right body to

be wearing them, to finish her business. Eventually a few other workers pulled

up the blinds to some more windows.

Finally, it was our turn and I just KNEW what the person behind the plastic window

was going to tell me, this line that we waited in for 35 minutes, was the WRONG

line! We were directed to the general admission lines that were now about 3 times

longer then they were when we first arrived.

After 50 minutes, FINALLY through the gates!

Our first ride was the Acme RoadRunner Rollercoaster. This would be
Sunshine and Banana's first rollercoaster ever.

The loud hydraulics when the rollercoaster
would take off were a little loud for Sunshine.

This line would take about 40 or so minutes. So we occupied ourselves
by taking a photo or two.

Rollercoaster photos taken courtesy of Sugar,
who does not ride rollercoasters.

Teaching Sunshine to raise his hands on a rollercoaster

Up, Up, Up

Sugar and Sunshine

Hard to catch a swing in motion

85 degrees with 100% humidity makes the Log Ride extra fun!

Log Ride Splash Zone!

Squash and Sunshine on some Ship ride swing thing
that goes back and forth.

We decided that we would only stay for a few hours knowing that with season
passes, we can come and go anytime we want throughout the summer. We road
a total of 5 rides today and really had a blast!!! The park was PACKED with
people. Lots of buses full of kids from various schools around the state. We're
planning on coming back in a couple weeks on a weekday in the hopes it won't
be sooo crowded and we can ride more rides while we are there.

It was fun to watch Banana and Sunshine experience their first trip to a big
amusement park. Both were very brave (especially Sunshine) about trying
the rides.

Needless to say we were starving when we left about 3:00, so we drove to
mine and Doug's FAVORITE place to eat....Cracker Barrel .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My computer is running very slow and it's already taken over an hour to load
the pictures for this post and arrange everything....hmmm, maybe that's the reason
I took off from posting for so long....so, if there are mispelled words, off kilter
positioning of pictures and words you will just have to excuse it.

Crusin'

2011-05-19T13:11:00.001-05:00

June 9, 2011 can’t get here fast enough for me and my
Hubby. On this evening, Doug, Sugar, Squash and myself
Will be boarding a flight to the overcast and beautiful city
of Seattle, Washington. I Love overcast, rainy days!


            Love me some cloudy weather

Can't wait to see the beautiful skyline

(unless it's too cloudy...d'oh)

We will spend two nights in Seattle enjoying the sights and
sounds of this great city and then Saturday, June 11th we
will walk the plank to enter our home for the next 7 nights.


              The Golden Princess-Princess Cruise Lines

The Golden Princess will be our home and Alaska will be our
Destination. I have heard nothing but spectacular reviews
about this particular cruise destination.


                            Alaskan Cruise

Doug and I decided that we would only take our two oldest
along with us this time. They have never been on a cruise or
an airplane for that matter. My Squash is “pumped” to fly
in an airplane, my oldest, Sugar…not so much. He has always
been afraid of heights. Even when he was a baby and people
would play with him by tossing him in the air and catching him,
uh, no…he would scream.


                          Not a real picture of my son
                    Please don't call CPS on me.

It’s kind of ironic though, Sugar is my 17 y.o. who is also a fantastic
high school Pole Vaulter and has as a junior cleared 14’6” in
a school track meet is afraid of heights . I hate to say this, but
it looks like were going to have to break out the ol’ Xanax and
break it in half for him before we get on the plane.

This will be Doug and I’s 3rd cruise. We took our first for our honeymoon
in 1991. This cruise took us to the islands of St. Thomas, St. Maartin,
Dominica and Martinique in the Caribbean.


                                    1991

Then 3 summers ago, Doug won a contest for our school district.
His name was drawn from a group of teachers that did not miss a day
of school for the whole year and he was awarded an all expenses
paid cruise to Cozumel, Yucatan and Progresso.


                        Cozumel 2008


              Chichen Itza Pyramid in Yucatan
So, have any of you been on an Alaskan cruise? What
about Seattle? Any and all advice about tourist activities
or excursions would be welcomed!

Sometimes I'm Just Like a Baby!

2011-05-16T17:53:00.002-05:00

Any of you who are parents or have spent a considerable amount of time
with a newborn baby understand what it is like when the babies sleep
cycle gets out of whack. It's a dreadful thing to happen....to the adults;
the baby really doesn't care, it's the adults who normally choose to sleep
through the night and be awake during the day like most non-vampire parents.

Well, I too have an out of whack cycle...kinda. While my sleep/awake
cycle is running in a perfect circle, my daily exercise cycle is quite
off-kilter right now.

When I wake up, exercies is a definate NO! I would much rather sleep
then do anything else. As a matter of fact when the kids were smaller
and they would often ask me "what is your favorite part of the day?"
My steadfast and reliable answer was always, "bedtime".
I LOVE SLEEPING!!

7:00am-4:00pm...I'm at work. No exercise there. I do get a
conference period everyday for 45 minutes, but I don't have access to
a, uhmm, comfortable place to shower and/or clean-up afterwards.
You would think that working at a high school with dressing rooms,
showers, coaches offices would be perfect for freshening up after
a workout, but I see these options comparable to going to
a neighbors house and asking to borrow their bathroom and
shower...sorry, it's just not going to happen.

When I get home from work around 4:45, I really like to eat something
pretty quick because I don't want to wait eat late in the evening.
Eating at this time usually means that I have to wait a good hour or
so to get on my treadmill (Millie) so as I don't throw up all over my display
screen. Another problem with this particular time, is that I usually
get a bit lazy during this time, get caught up with family, motherly,
and wifely duties and next thing you know it's 9:30 in the evening.

So now it's after 10:00pm, I'm laying in bed, and I start feeling it...
(now don't get "nasty" thoughts)...I'm talking about feeling the desire to exercise.
I lay there and I totally feel like running. I want to go outside in the
country dark and run...or on Millie maybe. I'm just not going to
run at 10:00pm. See, Millie is in the bedroom and I'm not going to
keep hubby awake while I bust out a couple miles. Y'all, this happens
everynight! I lay in bed, and I want to run. Or, I will lay there completely
motivated about working out the next day. I don't want to feel
like this at night, I want to feel like this in the morning, or when I get home
from work.

Something has to change...and I KNOW it's me! I've got to do what
you do with babies when you work your butt off to keep them awake
during the day so they will be sleepy at night. I have to force my
body to workout at a reasonable hour during the DAY instead of
the dark of night when it's totally unreasonable to do.

Do any of you have "exercise cycle" related problems or am I just
a total dork?

Anyone Remember Me?

2011-05-14T20:15:00.001-05:00

It has been a full eight months since I have sat down and composed a new
post for my blog.

I would like to take this first post back to fully disclose a list of some of
the reasons for my long absence:

1. Graduate school- On a good note, by the end of this summer, I will have
     completed my Master's Degree in School Counseling in ONE year.
     Even more exciting, I have had the honor and privilage of walking the
     stage. Since my college only has commencement ceremonies in the
     Spring and Winter, they allow students with nine or less hours to pick
     which ceremony they want to participate in.

Smiling because I didn't trip and fall off the stage.

My fantastic hubby!!!!

Wonderful children...minus my oldest who had to stay home

because he was scheduled for the SAT test that same morning.

2. November 30, 2010, my wonderful mother who was the center

of our family passed away. Her decline and subsequent death

occurred as a result of the mental/physical effects from the

whole brain radiation she endured after a surprising revelation

of brain cancer.

Taken 4 months before her death when she went on

vacation with us to Padre Island Texas.

3. Non-running: As of today, I can hardly run ONE mile without

having to stop. A year and a half ago I ran my one and only

half-marathon in under 3 hours. I know most of you could

run a marathon in under 3 hours but I'm not concerned about

my times so much as just having the ability to successfully

complete a race.

*Actually on March 30th, I did run my first 5K in a year. Me,

Doug, Jacob and Joshua ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the

Cure in honor of my Angel Mother who fought and beat the battle

of Breast Cancer some years ago.

After the race.

My hubby who has NEVER run a 5K nor has he run even a mile in

YEARS, ran the whole 5K with me and only stopped because I

needed a few breaks.

Showoff!!!

Squash and Sugar...ran the whole 5K, for the first time ever in

28 minutes after stopping once briefly at Mile 1.

DOUBLE SHOWOFFS!!!

4. Pure disappointment and disgust with myself as the MAIN reason

why I have not blogged lately. As some of you may remember,

I had a tummy-tuck last summer. It was a tough recovery, but I

was and still am pretty happy with the results. As I was told by

many, you can still gain wait after a tummy tuck but it will most

likely occur in other places such as legs, butt, arms, face etc....

Well, it happened...I've gained 75% of my weight back that I

worked so hard to lose a few years ago and it is SO

DEPRESSING!! My job this year has changed from previous

years, and it's pretty much become a "desk job" in the classroom;

monitoring students who work independently on their courses.

While this has been the "IDEAL" job for someone working on

their Master's degree...not so much for a person who wants to

remain thin and active.

************************************************************

Well, that's the main jest of it...while normal family activities etc...

always are a sure excuse, I believe in my heart the main reason for

not posting is reason #4.

***********************************************************

I have signed up for the November Rock n Roll in San Antonio. This

will be my 2nd Half Marathon and I'm hoping to get back into the

correct frame of mind to build myself up to run the majority of this race.

***********************************************************

While on my hiatus, I pretty much kept with all of you that I have followed

and I promise now to start commenting and becoming active in YOUR

lives again! I hope you all will be able to find a minute or so to help

me out with some motivation and encouragement. I REALLY need it!

**********************************************************

I guess that's it for now! Take care everyone, and I PROMISE to be in

touch soon... :) Really, I PROMISE!!

Catching Up

2010-09-12T13:36:00.001-05:00

I'm such a bad blogger. My posts seem to be decreasing
at a rapid speed, my comments on your blogs, few and far
between.

My days are filled with work and Grad school. Actually work is
"easy, breezy" and there's not much going on, so I fill my work
days with 9 hours of Grad school work. Two of my Grad school
classes are about 2/3 complete and the other almost half done...
and the actual semester doesn't end until December.

Some things to catch you all up.

1. Millie- my miles on millie have increased a bit, however, jogging
     is not the exercise of choice yet. My walking is a good substitute
     right now. I'm still walking about 4 miles/hour and last week, I
     walked about 15 miles or so.

2. Reading- as always, I'm always one of the last ones to jump on
     a "band wagon". Labor day weekend I borrowed, from my teenage
     niece, the book TWILIGHT! Wanted to see what all the excitement
     was about. The book was back in my nieces possession in 4
     days and I was at our school library this week checking out New
     Moon. My personal opinion is that this is an interesting read. I
     mean a love story is a love story. This past Wednesday evening,
     I went to a website that lets you watch movies online for free and
     began to watch Twilight. I knew who the main 3 character actors
     were, but I wanted to put visuals to what I was/am reading. One
     hour into the movie, I clicked X on the top right of the computer
     screen and sat back highly disappointed.

Just look at her...she looks totally bored!!

     MY OPINION:
    The actress who plays Bella is TERRIBLE. There was not a single
    emotion in her character, just BLAHHH actting. The movie
    seemed choppy and not consistent with the book. After finishing
    the first two books, I'm definately on Team Edward!

3. My Sunshine has begun to sleep walk. Every single night, he
     strolls into our bedroom stands next to my side of the bed, says
     something that doesn't make sense, "That's where the food is"
     and then stands there staring at me until I tell him to go back to
     bed. He never remembers his little "trips" the next morning.

4. We signed papers to refinance our house a couple weeks ago
     and hit the jackpot. Went from a 30 year to 15 year, combined
     a 2nd lien (our swimming pool) in the new refinance, and both
     our cars and with our equity, we got a NICE sum of money back
     after the refinance. Interest rates are a lot lower now and this
     helped out tremendously. If you have over 15 years left on
     your home mortgage payments, I suggest you look into
     refinancing.

5. For the 5th year, I am the commisioner for a Fantasty Football
     league. This league consists of teachers and former teachers from
     our school. As commisioner, I am responsible for adding all the
     points for all 16 teams each week. My team name is Monica's
     Interns. If you think about it, my first year was the year a certain
     President had made the acquaintance of a certain Intern. Hence,
     my team name! :)

6.  Last week Hermine came through Texas and actually went
    DIRECTLY over us (San Antonio). Tuesday was AMAZING!
    The intensity of the rain was like no other. My room, as you may
    remember is in a portable, and throughout the whole day, we
     listened to the rain pounding on the windows, without EVER
     stopping. I mean from the first bell to the last it NEVER stopped
     raining. In the afternoon, the wind picked up and my portable
     kind of felt like I was on a cruise ship.

My umbrella even flipped inside out when I was walking back to my
room after lunch. WOW!!

Again, my apologies for not being attentive to my blog and
to yours. I hope to get back on track and become a regular blogger.

2010-09-02T21:53:00.000-05:00

Me and my Sugar!

When the hell did my first born son get taller than me?

MIA

2010-08-25T18:54:00.000-05:00

My word Monica! Where on earth have you been hiding?

Sorry for my lack of posting the last couple of months, with school
starting and my Grad school too, I'm so busy.

My school (job) is going great. It's the easiest money I've ever
made my whole life. Monitoring students that work independently
to regain credit so they can graduate. Yep, I said monitor. No
teaching! My mornings consist of making sure all the daily
attendance paperwork etc...is done. Then I get my conference
period (53 min.) and then lunch at 11:30. I get back into my ~~trailer~~
portable building and then I pull out my Graduate school work.
Yesterday I wrote an 8 page autobiography of my life and today
I turned in 2 critique papers. You all have to PROMISE not to
tell anyone though.

On the running front, I've decided to postpone on the running. I tell
you, my body just doesn't have the energy or endurance I use to have
before my surgery. Sunday and Monday I did turn on Millie and walk
4 miles. The calories burned on these walks are equal to my 3 mile
runs I use to do. Maybe I can build up my stamina for staying on
Millie and then try the running again.

All the kids are in school and are all pretty happy. Do any of you
watch "Friday Night Lights?"

This Friday our school is playing the school that inspired that
movie/tv show...Odessa Permian HS. This is the first year we've
ever played them. They are coming to our field, thank God, it's a
5 hour drive.

Homework, baths, bedtime for kids...gotta go.

Routine Stuff with a Couple of Added Surprises

2010-08-16T21:05:00.000-05:00

I'm definately getting back into the routine of jogging on Millie. I've
put in about 10 miles this past week, I know some of you run
10 miles in your sleep, but i'm still getting back the energy and
"desire"to jump back on the exercise wagon. In the past week, I've
cut my 2 mile run by 3 and half minutes and my speed has increased
to what I was running before my surgery. woo hoo!

Today was the teachers first day back at work. I mentioned in a
previous post that I'm moving to a portable, but I didn't tell you
whose room I'm moving to. For those that don't know, school
portables are usually divided into 2 classrooms each, and the
portable I'm moving into (PF2) has been fully utilized by our Health
Occupations teacher for the past 7 years. He's a registered
nurse that teaches students nursing type of skills and they
finish their courses with a CNA certification (certified nurses
assistant). Well I walk in this morning and tell him "Guess
who's moving into one of your rooms?" Mr. B is a very nice
and helpful man, but this news has thrown him for a loop because
he has "my" room full of his nursing class stuff and he doesn't
have room to put it back on his side of the portable.

I walk in my new room this morning and am thrown aback for a
second to see a strange "person" in my room in a very strange
position. I turn the lights on quickly and lo and behold, there are
3 nursing beds directly in front of me and a full size male
mannequin laying upright in one of the beds.

OK. My mind immediately starts thinking...."NAPTIME!! No, I
can't do that, I'll get fired." I continue to look around and think
wow this room is equipped! Along with the 3 beds, I see a small
fridge, microwave, water sink and even more impressive a portable
toilet! aughhhhh!

Our fantastic custodial staff have quickly moved ALL my belongings,
my HUGE belongings, like my desk, 3 big wooden shelves, file
cabinet and all my knick knack stuff from my old classroom.
So now in middle of "hospital scene", is all my stuff. Our nursing
teacher is besides himself with worry about where all these things
of his are going to go. I feel bad for him but.....I need my room.
There are already 7 computer stations against one of the walls
with about 7 more coming soon for MY classes.

On another note. We had our begining of the year annual family
picture taken this past Saturday....you all are actually getting a
sneak peak at what our Christmas cards usually look like. This
pix was taken with my camera, the official sports photographer
took a "hopefully" better one right before this. This is what is known
as our "media" day. Pictures for the program are taken and individual
and team pictures as well.

It was already pretty hot at 11 o'clock, but as you can tell from mine

and Banana's hair it was pretty windy. Sugar (bottom left) is on the

Varsity this year, Squash (bottom right) is on the Junior Varsity.

I pulled up to this event and parked my car on the side of the driveway

entrance and pulled under a tree. It was close to the field house where

the pictures were being taken, it was under a tree and it just seemed

perfect. After everything was over, I got back in my car, turned around

the driveway and started to drive out and noticed something was

under my windshield wiper. I pulled over quickly and pulled it out

to read this on the back of a Bank deposit slip. HEY ASSHOLE,

DON'T PARK IN FRONT OF MY GATE!!" I didn't even

notice that I was parked in front of a gate (which i was). Our

school driveway is kind of in the middle of some Psycho man's

property and he has definately been known to do some strange

things...especially to kids who try to take a little extra time off

from school and cut through his property.

So, the note gets wadded up and thrown on the floor of my

car. The next day Squasher is driving us to church and he

gets everything set to back up and looks in the rearview

mirror and says, "Mom, look at the back window." I turn

around and in the dust is written "ASSHOLE". aughhh!

I didn't think about wiping it off when we got to church

and noticed it again when we walked back to the car when

Mass was over. OMG. I can't imagine what other people

thought that walked by and saw it! How embarrasing!

Random...Party of One

2010-08-12T20:19:00.000-05:00

1. First and most important...our A/C guys are working on our A/C
     as I type. Within a couple of hours, I should be lounging in the
     coolness of my house. After 5 nights of sleeping on top of the
     covers, it will be nice to sleep under them again.

2. I put in a couple of miles on Millie yesterday. Hoping that tonight
after the A/C is running I'll run a couple more.

3. For the first time in two and half months, I did the P90X Ab Ripper

workout. Actually, I'm still sore from the surgery, so if I'm sore

tomorrow, I won't know it.

4. I found out yesterday that my new *classes are going to be out in
    a portable building. About 5 years ago, I was moved back
    into the main building from a portable so I've definately
    experienced the positive/negative of portable life.

There are pros and cons to this placement.

(not our actual school)

Pros: Administrators leave you alone because it's to much trouble
          to walk out there.
          Control of your own A/C and Heat
          Get to enjoy the weather when it's changing
          Don't have to deal with the congestion in the hallways

Cons: I'm very "social" and miss talking to all my coworkers and
           and students in the building.
           Rainy and cold days SUCK when you have to go to or leave
           your room
           Takes a long time to get an administrator to you in emergencies

*This year, I will be in charge of the program that helps students
endangering of dropping out recover credits. They work individually
and at their own pace on computer courses. It's pretty mindless work
for me and will be very beneficial to me as I work on my own
future endeavors (Grad school).

5. My Sugar and Squash are coming home WHIPPED from morning
     2 a day football practices. They workout from 7-9 a.m. and 10-12.
     The heat is just awful and will only get worse for them next week
     when they have to do it all with pads on.  Doug leaves the house
     at 6 a.m. every morning and stays at the field house until the freshman
     finish their practice from 5-7pm.   Once school starts, his days can
     get even longer and include saturdays 7 a.m. to 5 pm and Sundays
     1pm to 8pm.   Yep! I'm definately a Football Widow!

6. We've refinanced our house with a much lower interest rate.
     This refinancing will combine our house, 2nd lien (swimming
     pool) and 2 car payments. With this lower interest rate we
     will be making a much small payment per month and will pay
     off our house in 15 years or less. woo hoo!! I'd strongly suggest
     some of you check into refinancing since the interest rates are

barely over 4%.

7. I've ordered some body shaper "girdles" to help with the swelling

that I still have in my abdominal area. This is very normal and

will probably occur for a few more months. I ordered a beige

and black one. If I like the way these fit, then I'll probably get
a couple that are a little lower waisted.

8. It's Back to School next week. Can't believe how fast summer
flew by.

As of the end of this post, they are still working on the A/C....any
moment now!! eeeekkk! I'm so excited!

Still Sweating

2010-08-10T08:59:00.000-05:00

Where o where are the A/C guys?
O where o where could they be?

With my new A/C unit
to cool me off,

O where o where could they be?

Well Crud!

2010-08-07T21:45:00.000-05:00

Last night I had a difficult time sleeping. Whenever this happens, I
usually walk into the living room, lay on the couch and fall asleep
almost immediately. Well last night was different. I layed on the
couch and continued to toss and turn. I would kick off covers,
put them back on, walk to the bathroom, check on the kids,
everything but fall asleep. As I was laying on the couch, staring
at the ceiling and thinking about all kinds or STUPID things at
1:30 a.m., I heard a loud pop sound. My first thought was that the
electricity went out but when I looked up at the ceiling and the fan
was still running and I could still hear the A/C running I knew
electricity was ok. Oh well. Whatever.

This morning I got up and decided to walk on Millie. I just
didn't have the energy to run after my horrible night of not
sleeping, so I cranked Millie up and even put some incline for about half of
my 2 mile walk.

About noon, my sister called and agreed to go school shopping
for both our daughters...woo hoo! Off we went! We had a great
day and I was very successful finding clothes for my size "0"
almost 14 y.o. daughter.

We pull into the driveway about 6 o'clock, walk into the house
with all our loot and IT IS HOT!!! AFRICA HOT!!
That's right folks the A/C is broke! May I remind you all that
we live in central TEXAS and it was almost 100 degrees
today. OMG!!

I walk into our bedroom and Doug is sitting at the computer
reading up on buying a new A/C unit. He worked outside all day
today and didn't know that it was hot in the house. Sugar,
Squash and Sunshine were in the house all day long and
none of them thought to go and tell Doug that the house was
SWELTERING!! Oy!!!

So, Doug gets on the phone and calls a friend of ours who
runs the company that my daddy use to work for (refrigeration
and air conditioning sales and service) and he said he would
have some of his guys at our house Monday to replace our unit
with a great new energy efficient unit. (at his cost)

So girls and guys, this Texas girl will stay a little longer at
church tomorrow a.m. and visit more people, will go to the
grocery store and walk slow and visit with all my former
students that work there (we live in a small community) and
will go and visit my sister for a few hours or so.

Its a good thing that all 6 of us have ceiling fans and stand
up fans in our bedrooms. I will probably jump into the
cold shower again before I get on top of my bed, on top
of my covers with the fans a blowin' at full speed.

Chill out everyone!! I'll be thinkin' of you all!

myTunes

2010-08-05T11:18:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago I jumped on Millie to see how far I could go.
However, I did something that I haven't done in a while...I put on my
mp3 while running. See, Millie is set up about 5 feet from the TV
in my bedroom. I get to run with all the wonderful channels that Dish
Network gives us on our plan. On this day, the tv was on, but I
put my mp3 on as well. Wow!! I forgot how much easier it is
to run with my favorite songs running through my ears.

If any of you have ever noticed the writing under my header on this
blog, you notice it says:

I don't lead the most exciting life. I'm a wife,
mother of 4, teacher for 20 years and a slow jogger for almost 2 years.
My mp3 has music from the 70's,80's, 90's and today! (sounds like
an ad for a radio station doesn't it?)

Well I thought I'd give you a bit of a peek into my ears as to what
kind of goofy songs I listen to.

First...

The 70's
My Eyes Adore You- Frankie Vallie- My all time favorite song EVAH!!

The 80's
Huey Lewis and the News songs- I love Huey!
Jefferson Starship- We Built this City (perfect beat for my pace)
Katrina and the Waves- Walking on Sunshine
B-52's- Love Shack
Gloria Estefan- various
Michael Jackson- various
Pat Benatar-Heart Breaker
George Michael- Various
Prince- Various
Pet Shop Boys- West End Boys
more

90's/Today
Ricky Martin- Various
Sheryl Crow- Various
Run DMC- Walk this Way
Shakira- Hips Don't Lie
Shania Twain- Up
Black Eyed Peas- Various
Beyonce- Put a Ring on It
Lady Gaga- Alejandro
Christina Aguilara- Candy Man, Fighter
Katy Perry- Hot and Cold
more

So...those are just a few of the songs that get me to run a "little" bit
farther, a little bit stronger.

I try to avoid rap songs. I hate songs with a bunch of curse words.
If i want to hear bad words, I walk in the hallways during the school
year and I get to hear them all.

I'd love to hear what songs "pump you up"!

San Antonio Rock -n- Roll

2010-07-29T16:58:00.002-05:00

For anyone in the Texas area looking for a Half or Full
Marathon in November (14th):

I noticed on their website that they have even added a
2 person RELAY. One person runs the first 7 miles and the
other runs the last 6.

I'm still contemplating this event. I've never done it before and
have only completed one half marathon in my life. It's still a struggle
for me to get through one mile on Millie. Maybe if a bunch of you
sign up and "peer pressure" me then I might.

San Antonio Rock -n- Roll Half/Marathon/Relay

Check it out!

Noooooooo...Stop the Clock!

2010-07-28T10:38:00.000-05:00

The clock keeps ticking and the calendar pages are being torn off
at record setting speed.

Where is the summer going and what is its hurry?

The TV airwaves are being blasted with commercials of
"Back to School" sales. Walmart has set up their "special" aisles
to try and accomodate the 17 crazy mama's crammed in each
aisle that are all on the same mission: #2 pencils, wide rule
notebook paper, and rulers; red and yellow folders, composition
notebooks and washable glue.

The "sale" signs have popped up above all the racks that have
short sleeve clothes on it are located at the backs of the stores
where the front of the stores are inundated with sweaters and vests...
We're in TEXAS folks, it doesn't get cold here until December
or January for goodness sakes...I don't want to buy a Turtle
Neck Sweater!!

In Texas, students are to report back to school on the 23rd of
August and teachers the week before. It's getting close.

Monday Stuff

2010-07-26T16:01:00.000-05:00

My first semester of Grad school is over. I submitted my last
paper today. woo hoo! Actually I finished one class last week
and receivedan "A". The other class has 3 papers waiting to be
graded so I don't know if I will be getting an A or B. This class
was a Tests & Measurements class. Yuck! Way to many
numbers for this girl!

Millie and I have gotten together a few times this past week.
Last week I think I ran a total 4 miles and today I logged in
2 miles. My endurance isn't just where it needs to be yet. I'll
keep on trying. I'm hoping to get the energy and motivation
to run at least 2 miles a day and then do some P90X. I did
2 P90X workouts last week, but things have been so busy with
finishing my summer school job, grad classes and family stuff.

My home computer is running so crappy right now. It takes
for-ever to be able to start working on it after I turn it on. I
did some research on it and a lot of people say that the Norton
anti-virus sl-o-o-ow-s the computer down a bunch. I've
defragged, checked my start up programs and othe miscellaneous
stuff, but it's just taking forever. Any ideas?

I have got to quit drinking so many sodas (diet). I'm feeling
so bloated again.

We've had hours of rolling thunder in the sky. Kind of weird
though. It's mostly sunny outside. We did have a brief hard
rain about an hour ago for about 10 minutes, but that's it. Right
now it sunny with thunder in the distance. Actually I LOVE
rain! I could go days and days with rain! Cloudy days have
always been my favorite running condition.

Well, that's all the random boring stuff in my life right now.
Hope everyone is doing well!

Time to get real

2010-07-19T18:21:00.000-05:00

The family vacation is over. A good time was had by all and it's
time to get real and back on track with exercise.

Our family spent the weekend on the Texas Gulf Coast at an
area known as North Padre Island. It's actually been a looong
time since our family has taken a vacation...about 5 years and
the kids were uber-excited about going to the beach, even my
teenage boys.

We left last friday morning and picked up my mom, who is
currently living with my sister, brother-in-law and family. My
mom and dad often went to the beach and we knew mom would
enjoy the calmness of the ocean.

Mom and I sitting on the balcony watching Doug and kids play in the beach

The entrance to one of the gift shops.

Washing the sand off after a romp in the Gulf Coast

A quick jump in the pool after playing in the ocean.

It is unbelievable how HOT the water in the swimming pool

is. It's like swimming in a hot tub!

Sand crab hunting at night. A FAVORITE of our family!

Another gift shop entrance

The kids with their "Mimi" on the beach

Doug and my mom taking a little walk down the beach

Gulf Stream Condos, where we stayed. We were on the

second floor facing the ocean.

I promise I did not run to the ice cream truck!

Now, it's time to get real!

After summer school today, I came home,

changed clothes, jumped on Millie and ran a mile at the same speed

I use to run before surgery. Now I know to most of you a 12:00 minute

mile is nothing to brag about, but to me...I'm happy.

The reason I only ran one mile is because I have resumed my "dvd

affair" with Tony Horton. aaaaahhhh! I sure missed him! I've

started the program over and today worked my Chest and Back

which is also known as Push ups and Pull ups! yuck!

I haven't been able to read everyones posts lately...I'm in the home

stretch of my first semester of Grad school. I have one big research

paper left for one class, and 2 papers for another class. I will say

that I happily read a mindless Danielle Steele book over the

weekend at the beach. Usually my summers consist of reading

about 10-12 D.S. books. This summer it's Tests and Measurements

and Educating Exceptional Children. I prefer Danielle Steele!

The Scariest Thing EVER!!

2010-07-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

In a few minutes I will be heading into San Antonio to
do that one thing that absolutely FREAKS ME OUT!

Bathing Suit Shopping

Family Vacation this weekend on the Texas Gulf Coast.

All 6 of us and my mom will be soakin' in some rays. Actually

this Thursday will be the one year anniversary of my daddy's

trip to heaven, so this should be a good way to keep my mom

busy and happy.

On another note...I jogged 2 slow miles on the Millie yesterday and

actually did it without stopping. woo hoo!

Keeping Busy!

2010-07-11T12:21:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone! It's been quite a while since I blogged and I'm sorry
if any of you have been worried...all 5 or 6 of you. :)

My mind, body and soul has been immersed in my new endeavor
that started last monday. Grad school. It seems like every waking
moment i'm working on assignments. I'm taking 2 courses, a
Tests and Measurements class (yuck) and a class on the
Exceptional Child. (special ed children). In case some of you joined
in a little late, I'm working on my Masters degree for School
Counseling.

Anyway...my days are filled with me sitting at a computer with papers,
books and notes that I have taken over the material that I am getting
to write a paper about. I actually turned in my first very long "reflection"
paper last week and out of 200 possible points, I got 170. I guess I'm
ok with that. Doug (math teacher hubby) said that is equal to an 85.
The most important thing I learned from my graded assignment is to
NEVER trust *spell check* on the Word document. I think most
of the errors on my paper were spelling related...OY VAY!

My running hasn't returned like I wanted it to. I'm way to focused on
working on my school stuff that I don't want to stop and exercise. This
is VERY bad and I need to get my head back on straight before my
lack of exercising gets out of control. Actually, yesterday I got on the
treadmill and started to jog. I won't tell you how long I stayed on it
because I felt HORRIBLE. My legs were completely dead feeling
and my energy level was non-existent. Hopefully I'll feel up to
trying again today. I've got to get busy againl. Tony Horton (P90x)
dvd's sit on the satellite box, and stares at me everyday. Gotta
get reaquainted with my old boyfriend.

Nothing else much to report in this household, so I guess it's back
to the books and computer for school work! Take care everyone
and forgive me for not posting comments on your blogs...i'm reading
through them so quick so I can other stuff done. I still love you all!

I Hear the School Bell Ringing

2010-07-05T22:25:00.000-05:00

Not only am I a jogger again, but I am officially a GRAD
student.

I checked my computer today (a day early) and both courses that
I signed up for have uploaded their course syllabus etc. OMG! I'm
so nervous! Wait a minute...."Hey Jess! You think I can pay you a
few bucks to write my papers for me?"....gee...I'm absolutely
brilliant!

This past Saturday, our whole family, including dogs and 2
nephews, walked down our street to enjoy the Guadalupe river.
It really has some nice benefits living so close to this river.
The boys love to go there to fish and Doug takes the dogs
and kids down there to cool off from this hot Texas weather.

If you look close, you can see how the tree has

been pushed from the flood of 05. The actual

water level prettty much had this tree underwater.

A few minutes after I took this picture, a family of

4 came kayaking down. Kayakers and tubers

are very common during the summer months.

Ranger (top) and Coach cooling off

Sugar trying to untangle the puppies

(they are 6 mos. old)

Three Amigos

Sunshine and my twin nephews

Squash and my nephew

Check out those abs on Squash....dang..

he definately takes after me...not!

My handsome Sugar!

I couldn't get a good picture of Banana. She kept diving and laying

in water everytime I tried to snap a picture.

I'm a Jogger Again!!

2010-07-02T19:30:00.000-05:00

Today was THE day! I must admit I was very nervous. From 9 am
until 4 pm it was all I could think of. Could I do it? Would it hurt?
If I couldn't, would it absolutely crush my desire or spirit? I would
never know unless I tried. So I did.

After 5+ weeks of absolutely no exercise and even a couple weeks
more than that of not running, I turned Millie (treadmill) on. I set
her to a pretty slow speed, and I took off....Jogging!

In 29 minutes I slowly jogged 2 miles. I know for some of you
speedsters, you walk faster then that in your sleep, but my Dr.
told me yesterday to take it slow on my return to exercise and
to not do any ab workouts yet (no problem). After the first mile
I took a 3 minute break and then continued on through the second.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to
complete the 2 miles...physically. Mentally was a little bit tougher.
Can't say that I know why, but I kept watching the numbers on
Millie to see how far I had gone, actually it was more like, how
much I had left. Everytime I run, I place my towel over the treadmill
numbers because, to me, looking at the numbers is like watching
paint dry. V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W !!

Never in a million years did I think that I would be able to complete
2 miles on my first run back but I did and I have to say that I'm
pretty darn proud of myself.

First Night Out

2010-06-29T10:42:00.000-05:00

Getting ready to leave the house for a wedding.

Saturday was the wedding of the son of the head coach that

Doug has worked under for the past 16 years. As we were sitting in

the church and the beautiful bride and handsome groom were reciting

their vows, something hit me. This young man is the first person, in

my adultl ife, that I have actually witnessed grow up and get married.

When we moved to our current school, this young man was 6 or 7

years old. We are close friends with his parents and have watched

him grow into a fine and successful young man...a coach like his

daddy, grand-daddy, and uncle.

I also had a different feeling going to this wedding. It felt like, to

me, my "coming out" party. This is the first time that I've been

anywhere "social" since my tummy tuck. I felt very good in my

dress and was happy with my appearance. That was so bad,

that I even got the scissors out while fixing it...that was a big

mistake...glad that I don't have an official hair appointment for

5 weeks. My hairdresser would die laughing if she saw what

I did.

Mental and Physical

2010-06-28T10:31:00.000-05:00

My mind is running.

I think my body is ready to follow.

The Return of Millie and TT Photos

2010-06-23T10:55:00.000-05:00

It's been over a month since I've done any type of exercise and
it definately shows (in my eyes). My inner thighs are are petitioning
for a role in the next Jello commercial...very jiggly.

I thought about getting my elliptical out and just doing some slow
and easy exercise, but then decided to get out Millie (treadmill)
and renew my love/hate relationship with her. Doug set her
up for me, plugged her in, and she sprung back to life...so
loyal she is to me.

If Millie could express herself, I'm sure she would have said to
me, "WTH is wrong with you?" When all was said and done,
I walked a grand total of 1 mile in what I think is a new record
for me.....in slowness...24 minutes. Don't worry everyone.
I'm not beating myself up over this time. Didn't throw my garmin
in the trash in anger or frustration, didn't complain to hubby or throw
my Saucony's across the room. It's exactly what I expected and I'm
totally fine with this. Time is what is needed and it's only been
3 weeks (today) since my TT....

Speaking of TT...

I took some pictures this morning of my new tummy. Everyone
in blog land has been so nice with comments, well wishes and
encouragement, I thought I'd let you see what I look like now,
3 weeks Post Op.

Believe it or not, there is still some swelling.

Please excuse water stains on mirror. My

cleaning lady is coming today. :)

Well, there you have it! I'm pretty darn pleased!

Life Lesson

2010-06-21T19:31:00.000-05:00

Since I don't have much to blog about in the realm of exercise,
and knowing how boring a post would be about how I've done
pretty much NOTHING today, I thought I'd give you some
additional information about the author of this blog, aka ME!

Please pay attention and you might want to take notes.

1. I was the first one in my family (including relatives), to
     graduate from college. I graduated from Texas State University
     with a Degree in Physical Education and a minor in Biology.

2. I was the best behaved of 3 children. Hardly ever got in
     trouble and never got in trouble at school. Even today, if I
     get a message to see an Assistant Principal/Principal at work,
     I FREAK OUT!

3. The first time I met my husband was in college. I was a Junior
     and he was a first year teacher/coach at the local high school.
     I had a boyfriend at the time, but was totally smitten with Doug.
    My roomate and I (who dated/eventually married another coach
    who coached with Doug), use to go watch fb games that her
    boyfriend and Doug were coaching. Doug had the BEST BUTT
    I had ever seen...and he still does.

4. Didn't get drunk until I was 20 years old. Only happened about
    2 or 3 times and to this day...I actually hate all alcohol. I just
    don't think it tastes good and would much rather have a soda.

5. Husband and I are of 2 differently religious backgrounds. He is
    a member of the Church of Christ and I am Catholic. We were
    married in a Catholic church but did not have a mass. To this
    day, he takes Sugar and Banana with him every Sunday and I
    take Squash and Sunshine. It's weird and a bit unfortunate, but
    it's our life and works out ok.

6. Sugar and Squash are 14 months apart. I was very upset when
    I found out I was pregnant with Squash. I felt that it would be
    unfair to Sugar that I couldn't give him all the attention, not to
    mention 2 kids in diapers...but it turned out to be the greatest
    blessing. The boys are like twins. They have always shared
    a room, shared friends and are each others best friend.

7. Going to Ukraine to adopt Hannah was the hardest thing Doug
     and I have ever done. Leaving Sugar and Squash for 20 days
     was so difficult. Everytime Doug would call them from Ukraine,
     I would start to cry because I missed them so much, and I
     couldn't even talk to them. The first time I talked to them that
    whole trip was when we landed in Dallas on our way home. To
    this day, everytime I drive by the San Antonio airport, I always
    remember how EXCITED I was when we landed with Hannah
    that evening.

8. My Sunshine was an absolute complete surprise to us.   After
     trying for years....then adopting....I got pregnant. He's a true
    gift from GOD for doing something right in my life.

9. This past year has been the most difficult year of my life.

10. I'm in the begining of a life transition. My 21 year career
      in teaching will hopefully be changing in the next couple of
      years. In 2 weeks I will begin my first Graduate courses
     in School Counseling. I'm so excited and scared!!

Make sure you all study the above information...pop quiz
tomorrow!

Sunshine

2010-06-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY SUNSHINE!!!

You light up my world EVERYDAY!!!!

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

2010-06-16T11:24:00.000-05:00

As my recovery continues, it's time for me to start "living" again.
Gotta jump back into my mom role, my wife role (most of it),
my sister role, daughter role. No more laying on the bed letting
everyone take care of me. I'll admit, it's been rather joyous.

"Sugar, can you bring me a bottle of water?"
"Squasher, can you throw this away for me?"
"Sunshine, bring me the remote please."

It's time!! Time to get my own water, walk through the maze
of toys and socks, that are thrown about on the floor, to
throw away my own trash.

It's been 2 weeks since my Tummy Tuck surgery and these are
some thoughts I have on the whole process.

1. The time it's taken to stand completely upright is longer then
     expected. I'd probably say that I'm about 90% standing
     straight up most of the time...at the end of the day, more
     like 80%.

2. I have this strange pain in my left groin area that is close to
     where one of the drainage tubes was. The pain comes sporadically
     with movement of my left leg. I got up in Doug's truck yesterday,
     the wrong way, and I saw FIREWORKS!!!

3. My belly feels FREAKY! It is so difficult to explain. I touch
     my belly and I can feel the touch, but it feels like... I can't
     explain it. It's like I have a protective layer of skin over a
     ......forget it...I just can't explain it. Just weird!!!

4. As of now I still have some swelling in my belly area and
     hips. This is probably going to continue for a few months.
     I may not be totally "healed" or back to normal for up to
     6 months.

5. I've lost 7 pounds in two weeks. :)

6. Vicodin makes me sleepy.

7. Post surgery, standing in a bent over position for longer
     than a minute REALLY hurts my back, and my quads
     were just as sore as when I exercise for the first time
     in a long time.

8. I really do miss exercising. Monday, Squasher asked me if
     he could do Yoga X again and I sat there and watched him
     do it. I can't believe I miss doing Yoga. I hate Yoga.

9. I'm glad I had the surgery! It's been uncomfortable and a
    bit painful, but in the long run, I'm happy about it.

10. My family ROCKS!!

It's time! Back to the real world. My Sunshine's 7th birthday is
this Sunday and I have to go into Walmart to get stuff for his
party/Father's day. Gonna have my family over to celebrate
both occasions. This will be my daddy's first Father's Day in
Heaven! How Glorious that he get's to spend his first Father's
Day with THE FATHER!!!! I miss you daddy!!!

It's Time!!!

A Post Gone Rogue

2010-06-11T19:49:00.000-05:00

Thinking of something interesting to write has become hard as
of late.  I've associated myself as a "jogger", and some of you
read my blog, because I am a "jogger". The miles, Millie,
the 5K's, and my one and only Half, have all been the subject
of my posts this past 6 months...not to mention my brief but
intense affair with Tony Horton (P90X).

June 2, 2010, a day that I have dreamed about for many years,
a day that would change my physical appearance, a day
envied by many. On this day all the hard work would come
to a complete halt, not just for a week, but for months.

I know in my heart that I'm being silly for not feeling "worthy"
to have the word "jogger" in my title. I know that you all are
the greatest bunch of people and support each other like true
friends, so I should quit thinking these silly thoughts.

In all honesty, some of my favorite posts of the blogs that
I read, are the ones about personal stuff. I LOVE, LOVE
pictures of little Norah and the cute stories that Jess tells
about her life. I LOVE, LOVE reading Jessica's stories
of the "single life". The guys she dates, her apt. woes,
her job. D.A.R. you are one of my favorites. Your daily
life as a newlywed, your new, beautiful house and I salute
your super cute hubbie and my heart is breaking that he
has to deploy again...SO SOON after getting home.

And all the other blogs I read. Jack Sh*t, YOU CRACK
ME UP!! I'm new to your blog and I don't think I've read
a single race report from you...do you run? It doesn't matter
to me, I LOVE your blog!

My loyal commenters, Helen, AJH, Lisa, Shelley and Greta...
thank you! I'm new to this blogging world and it's nice to know
that you are walking, or jogging alongside me with
encouragement and suggestions. There are a few others
who have left awesome comments and sometimes I
feel like "Wow! She found time to comment on MY blog!
My blogging HEROES!!    The ones who have over a
1000 followers!! OMG!! That's a lot of blogs, and
they took the time to comment on my grammatically
incorrect ramblings.   Yes, I'm a teacher and it's often
expected that all teachers can write flawlessly. I'm not an
ENGLISH teacher. I majored in Physical Education and
minored in Biology...NO ENGLISH! Currently I'm a Health
teacher and in a couple of years I hope to be a Counselor.

I'm not sure what happened today. Kind of think I went
a bit rogue...I had every intention today of blogging my
thoughts about being a "tummy tuck survivor".   Oh well.
At least I'll know what to blog about next time instead of
a sappy post like today. :)

P.S. I also LOVE reading everyone's race reports!!

Tummy Tuck Race Report

2010-06-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

Still moving pretty slow and hunchbacked. Getting to spend lots of
time chillaxin' in bed without the guilt that i should be doing something
else.

Doug drove me to the dr. office by 7am. I was the first one
scheduled that day and was relieved that I wouldn't have to
wait all day thinking and thinking about it. Surprisingly, I wasn't
nervous....very anxious to get it done, but never second guessing
my decision.

The operating room nurse (very nice) got me going with my fancy
gown and started my IV in my left wrist. Pretty simple and easy.
Next the Anesthesiologist came in and asked me some questions
about my general health etc...When he was done, they let Doug
come back with me until the surgery started. After about 5 minutes
the surgeon came in with a brief greeting and straight to business
of marking up my abdomen with black marker...He has absolutely
no bed side manner. Didn't even introduce himself to Doug or
shake his hand.

A couple minutes later the nurse came back in the room to take
me to the OR. She also put some of the "good stuff" in my IV
to "relax". I kissed Doug goodbye and as she wheeled me out
of the room I was in, I was gone! I have no memories of what
happened until the recovery room nurse spoke to me.

I was so tired and even had some pain. She gave me more pain
meds. and then made me stand up and walk to the bathroom. I
do remember this. She walked in front of me holding on to me and
she had to keep telling me to "keep your eyes open". I guess I
actually went to the restroom, I can't remember. Then she starts
dressing me up in my clothes.

Then I remember Doug coming in the recovery room and the
nurse was talking to him about how to take care of my drainage
tubes. Next thing I remember is the nurse pushing me in a
wheelchair asking me, "which car is yours?" "It's the white
...um.......um....Escape.

When we got home, my sister was there to help. She is a Labor
and Delivery nurse and really helps the family out when it comes to
medical issues. (she was actually my nurse for the birth of all 3 of
my boys). She told all the kids to wait in the backroom so they
wouldn't be freaked out at how "out of it I was". As I stepped
out of my.....um....um.... Escape, I knew I couldn't walk to my
bedroom. Thank God we still had Dad's wheelchair in our
storage room, so Marla got it out and they wheeled me into my
room.

Since Wednesday, my days are pretty much the same. Hobble,
in the hunchback of notre dame position, to the bathroom. Make
sure I take all my meds on time. The most important one, being
Vicodin. I've laughted and told people that I'm going to take
a Vico-nap! Those things really make me sleepy. I try to sit up
in a chair a few times a day.

Friday I took my first shower and got a glimpse of my tummy.
WOW! Definately flatter. Even with is somewhat swollen, I'm
pleased. In order to take a shower I had to tie the two drainage
tubes,that are coming from my lower abdomen, to a makeshif
necklace made out of yarn. I stepped in the shower, hunchback
position and squatting. I washed my hair quickly and then my
body, as best I could and got out so fast. My body was aching
from the drainage tube pain and from being in the squat position
for such a long time. As I was stepping out, Doug told me, "You
still have soap on your arm." I gave him a dirty look and said,
"Wipe it off with a towel!" I'm getting out. I find it puzzling that
after doing P90X for 6 weeks that standing in the squat
position for 5 minutes have caused my legs to be SO SORE!

Pain: honestly the only problem I have had with pain is from one
of the drainage tubes. I'm not sure what the deal is, but sometimes
it just starts to feel like it's on fire. It comes and goes when I walk
some of the time. This morning, I thought I'd be Betty Badass and
ween myself off of Vicodin. I ended up having my Dr. paged and I
cried when I told him how much this drainage tube was hurting.
I even told him that my sister could pull it out if it was ok with him.
It was not OK with him. He suggested some Lidocane around the
area. So when Doug got home I sent him to the store to get some
Lidocane and he happily went to the store and came home with
Lanocane (helps stop itching from bugs etc....). Oy-Vay!

My family has been so helpful with me. All the kids come in and
ask if I need anything. They bring me water, remotes, push me
around in the wheelchair if I can't walk make my food and bring
it to me. AWESOME! Doug has also been fantastic. He's running
around doing all the errands, taking kids to appointments, playdates
and practices.

My follow uppointment is this Wednesday. Hopefully, they will
take these damn tubes out.

I've been sitting in a chair over an hour eating and typing this. I
don't feel like going through this post and checking for errors.
My hands and brain haven't been working well together lately
and I'm sure there are a lot of errors I didn't catch. Oh well.
It's time for my next Vico-Nap!!

OUCH!!

2010-06-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

Tummy Tuck----DONE!

I'll give more details later when I can sit up right for
a longer period of time.

There is some pain, but I'm glad I did it!

Breaking Up is Hard to Do!

2010-05-31T11:27:00.005-05:00

To the love of my life, Tony Horton (P90X).
I'm sorry, but we have to part ways. It's not that
I don't love you anymore (I definately do).
We just need to take a break for a couple of
months. I'm going to miss your smiling face,
your gorgeous arms, your fantastic sense of
humor that always comes exactly when I need
it in the midst of painful moves (Drea rolls, crunchy frogs, push ups,
planks)...oh, how i'm going to miss you. Please wait for me! I
plan on us being able to hook up again when my body recovers.
   As I recover in bed, I'll be reminded of all the wonderful memories
we've shared, the hours and hours we have spent together. You made
me do things that no other man in my whole life has made me do.
You will be missed !!
   I am walking away from you physically, but please know that
you will always be on my mind. I pray for the unplanned glimpses
that I may get of you. That I'll mindlessly scan the channels on the tv
desiring to sneak a peak of you in all your glory. Encouraging
others, as you so confidently did to me, enticing other people
with your charm, your wit your humor,your abs.

Wait for me Tony!

   My body should be healed and healthy to rendevouz with you in
about 6 weeks or so. I'll miss you and I will always remember the
beautiful words of wisdom you gave to me every single day.
"Do your best and forget the rest!"

I love you Tony!
Monica

Wednesday June 2nd- Tummy Tuck

My New Favorite Color

2010-05-29T09:21:00.000-05:00

BLACKberry!!! (I actually got the maroon one)

I am now officially one of "those" people. You know. Like you.
The one that walks around with their phone out constantly.
Checking email, surfing the web, reading Facebook statuses.
I know, I'm a little late to the party, but glad to finally be among
all of you.

A Year in Review

2010-05-27T22:42:00.003-05:00

As some of you can relate, a YEAR does not begin in January.
It begins in August (Texas). A year begins when school starts
and ends when school starts the next year. Well tomorrow is
the official end of my school year.

     HOT DAMN!!
   IT'S SUMMER
     VACATION!!!

I've only been blogging regularly since January, and I'd
like to take sometime to fill you in on my life this past
"year".

July 09
After a 5 year, hard fought battle against Bladder Cancer,
my precious daddy was received into the arms of his
loving mother and father in Heaven! I can't begin to tell you
how proud I was of him for giving it his all AND for my
mom, who nursed him to the best of her ability even as
she fought her own battle against Breast Cancer. The
night before he died, I visited him and told him that I
loved him and in a very faint whisper, I heard him say,
"I love you too." At 7 am on July 15th, I got the phone
call from my crying brother, that he was gone!

It was about 2 weeks before daddy died that my mom
started throwing up. Nerves, STRESS, not sure.

I begin to keep track of my running miles.

August
Mom is still throwing up. Can't keep food down. Tests,
and more tests. Her Gallbladder has to come out. Yea!
That's easy enough. Out it comes.

September
Throwing up, Headaches, dizziness. WHAT THE CRUD!
Tests, and more tests. A family member suggests a head scan
for mom.
I'm in the hallway with my students, and the school
secretary comes up to me and says, "you have a phone call in
the front office. Go into my office and you can talk." I HATE
WHEN I GET URGENT PHONE CALLS" (broken collar
bone for Sugar, sick children in nurses offices). I run to the
office and it's my brother in law. "They found a tumor on
your mom's brain."
My world begins to spin. I drop my students off in the
school lobby, tell an assistant principal what happened
and I was leaving immediately.
Surgery is performed. The tumor is removed successfully
with a great prognosis! We're ecstatic!! Mom is finally
going to be better! No more throwing up!

October - January
Ups and downs of helping a surviving parent with major medical
issues. I would like to give MAJOR kudos to my sister and brother
in law. They have taken the responsibility of offering primary care
for my mom.  Mom  has pretty much lived with them (and their
4 young childen) since December.
My sister (a Labor/Delivery Nurse) has been mom's advocate,
nurse, driver, daughter. She has had to give up many of her work
days to stay with mom take care of her needs. It's been very tough
financially for her family.

In December my brother proposes to his girlfriend of 2 years. She
has a lovely daughter and we are SO HAPPY for them. We were
fortunate enough to be in the room when he proposed to her on
Christmas night. Finally.... JOY in our family!! 2009 has
been a pretty sad year for us.

A doctor appointment is made. A decision is made.  A Tummy Tuck
will take place June 2nd. I'm GIDDY with happines!

Another big decision is made on the last day of 2009. At
1:30 in the a.m. New Years Eve, I decide to run my first
Half Marathon. I swear I was completely sober. (I don't drink
any alcohol)

February 2010
My mind is consumed with fear. Anxiousness. Nervousness.
Doubt. Anticipation. It's the 14th and wondering if I'm getting
a valentine from my hubby is the last thing on my mind. It's 6:30 a.m.
and I'm standing on some street in Austin about to run a my
first (and so far my only) Half Marathon. I will go on the record as
saying, that completing this race, actually running about 11 of the
13 miles, will go down as one of my GREATEST personal
accomplishments!!

Start actively planning a Master's program in School Counseling.

Can't believe that after years, there is finally one in Texas that
is almost entirely done online/distance learning

We have two new additions to our family.

March
Still running some, but it has tapered off significantly since
my marathon. I believe my mileage from the end of July
is in the lower 300's. I'm very happy with this.

April
Still worried about mom. Believe it or not, she's STILL
throwing up! Sister and I go to a Brain Cancer Survivors
group meeting. This night, there happens to be a rarity.
A guest speaker. A NeuroTherapist. We listen to her
lecture and talk to her afterwards. We tell her about
mom's symptoms and for the first time we hear about
something called Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.
THIS IS IT!!! We know it!!

Been reading a lot of your blogs and I'm seeing a
ton of posts about this P90X program. In a million years,
I never thought I was "tough" enough to do it, but I'm laying
in bed one Sunday night, ready to shut the TV off and for some
reason I stop on the channel that says "Get ripped in 90 days".
I've seen this program on the tv about 250 million times, as
I channel surf, but never ever stopped on it, until this night.
Actually, I had no idea what program this infomercial was
advertising. WOW! It's that P90X program I've been
reading about.  SOLD!!!

The 15th of April I begin my P90X program. It's tough
but I'm loving it!!

May
Run the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 5K to honor my
mom, 2 aunts and grandmother.

Still working out with P90X. Loving the way it's helped
shape my body. My arms are definately more tone and
other parts as well. I miss running, but my heart isn't into
that right now. My priority as soon as I get home is completing
my P90X program, so my energy is usually spent when my
workout is complete. I"M NOT A MORNING PERSON,
so working out twice a day is not in my plan.

Begin to heavily investigate this NPH and find one of the
best doctors there is to accurately diagnose this condition
on mom. Surgery to insert a shunt is scheduled and everything
goes as planned. I'm happy to report that this has been the
answer. There are still some kinks to work out with mom's
continued therapy and her shunt drainage level (as of 2 days
ago) needs to be adjusted. Easy process and non-invasive.

June
TUMMY TUCK!!

Well that's the highlights of this past "year"! I don't know
what the rest of this summer holds. Only time will tell.
I can honestly say, that I hope and pray the 2010-2011 school
year will be better!

I hate to say this again. It's almost 10:30 p.m.. I probably won't
proofread this until tomorrow. If any of you read this and it
sounds like I'm a complete moron....my apologies. I'm tired
and ready to go to bed.

Jus' Stuff

2010-05-23T21:02:00.000-05:00

Random thoughts on stuff.

Been spending a lot of time at the rehab center with my mom.

She is doing SO WELL! It's wonderful to see the sparkle

back in her eyes. Still a ways to go, but we are EXTREMELY

hopeful. THANK YOU all for the comments on her, your

thoughts and definately your prayers.

***************************************************

Enjoyed the comments related to my Tummy Tuck. The procedure
should take a couple of hours, the post op recovery about 1 hour
and then I get to go home with a couple of drainage tubes. The
longer term recovery, after I get home, I will probably be an
expert on my toes since I will be bent over like the hunchback
of notre dame. Then a week or so, I should be recovered well
enough to do the "normal" things I usually do. There will be
absolutely no exercise for about 6 weeks or so.

***************************************************

5 more days left in this school year!! Can you see the smile on my

face??

************************************************

It's late, I'm tired and have to get ready for school tomorrow.

Forgive me for any grammatical or spelling errors...don't really

feel like proof-reading.

Night night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite.

June 2nd Revealed!!

2010-05-20T11:03:00.004-05:00

Sometimes Genetics Suck!

A trait that ALL the women on my mom’s side of the family
unfortunately possess.

Big, perky boobs? No (my hubby wishes)
Flawless skin? ummm No!
Hairless chins? Nope

I think I heard someone shout it out....

Poochy Belly? YES!!!

My grandmother, aunts, mom, sister and ME!! No matter how far
I run (Half Marathon), how hard I work out (5 weeks of P90X)
it won’t go away. It just hangs there. My legs look good, my
arms are definitely showing improvement, chest is good, butt is
ok, my Belly…POOCHY!!

Example:
My mom, as all of you know, has had a rough go with her health.
She has lost a lot of weight and currently holds about 110 lbs on her
5’2” frame. A couple weeks ago, she was at my house on Mother's
day. She was sitting in a chair next to me and I happened to look
down at her belly and there IT was…her POOCHY-ness!

So…you ask….What’s June 2nd?

June 2nd I’m getting a Tummy Tuck and you know what?

I DESERVE IT!

I’ve worked hard! I’ve run almost 400 miles since the end of
last July (not near as a lot of you) but I’ve honestly tried. I’ve been
consistent on my workouts and to not help the situation,
I gave birth to my last child at the ripe old age of 39
(also known in the medical world as AMA- Advanced
Maternal Age...how depressing that was) and dadgumit, my
genetics don't give a crap about all my hard work.

I have to be honest and say I’m SUPER excited. Yesterday
was my pre-op appointment to get all the last minute information
and sign papers to agree not to sue him if he accidently cuts off my
right index finger during the procedure….you know all the legal
stuff. I was going to get a tummy tuck done last summer, but when I
went for the consultation appointment and told them, Yes,
I’m in, they selfishly wanted the cold, hard cash right then. uummm,
I don’t know about all you, but I don’t usually carry $10,000
in my purse for random purchases. So I sadly told them never mind.
Since then, we’ve been saving money and luckily I found a different
surgeon that costs 40% less and does the procedure as a day
surgery instead of a costly hospital stay.

Are you all mad at me? Do you think I’m cheating?

I hope not. I don’t feel like I’m cheating.
I’ve tried y’all! I really have!

Sometimes Genetics Suck!

Motivation

2010-05-17T10:33:00.001-05:00

There's nothing like a compliment that will push you to extreme
motivation.

Last Friday at work I walked up to ~~gossip~~ talk with a co-worker
and she looked at me closely and said,
CoWorker: "Have you lost weight?"
Me: "actually, no, i haven't lost any weight."
CW: "Have you been working out?"
Me: ~~"Hell yeah!! P90X BABY!!~~ Yes I have!
CW: "You can definately tell!"

Woo hoo! Comments like this are what give me the
motivation to keep working hard when I really don't want to.
It makes me turn on the damn Yoga X dvd when I hate it.
It makes me workout as soon as I get home.
It makes me do both Saturday and Sunday's workout
on Saturday because I'm not going to be home all day on
Sunday. (2 hours of P90X).

I must admit, I do miss my running. I haven't run in a couple
of weeks. Millie has been folded up against the wall collecting
dust. This week I do plan on substituting the Cardio X dvd
with jogging. Thanks Greta for the suggestion.

********************************************
Mom update:
Mom's been moved to a physical rehab center. We are very
excited about the progress that she is showing. Her walking
has improved 100%, cognitive has greatly improved and a
few other things as well. The symptom we can't seem to totally
get rid of is her throwing up. It's so frustraing for her and us.
It's not nausea at all, just random throwing up. Today will start
the first of 5 hours/day of rehab. Physical therapy, occupational
therapy and speech therapy.
Thank you all for the well wishes and prayers for my mom
and our family. We appreciate them!!

********************************************
Summer Countdown: 9 days

********************************************
Coming Soon:
The June 2nd plans revealed!!

MIA

2010-05-13T12:43:00.009-05:00

Sorry about being MIA from my blog. I know you all
are all so devastated when you anxiously check your blog roll
everyday and you sadly notice that I haven't posted anything new.

Life for me has been a little chaotic. My mom had surgery Tuesday
morning...and we had to get her to the hospital early in the morning.
Did I say morning? I meant before the crack of dawn
actually. I woke at 2:45 a.m. to get ready for my sister to pick
me up at 3:30. At 3:25 I get a text from her that she is running
late (mom was moving pretty slow) and she would be at my house
in about 15 minutes. Aughhh. You mean I could have slept 15
more minutes this morning. BUMMER!!

We drove into San Antonio and arrived at the hospital a little after
4:30 a.m. Her surgery was scheduled to begin at 6:30 and started
pretty much on time. Her neurosurgeon inserted a shunt into
her brain to help drain fluids that have been accumulating since
her surgery last August. We're really hoping and praying for a
huge improvement in her cognitive abilities and her gait (walk).
So far, there are some definate signs of progress. We'll keep
waiting and praying.

Yesterday was "lecture day" in my health classes. We are on the
"Drug" chapter and I swear my students thought I was on drugs
when I was lecturing. I kept messing up my words, reading things
wrong, confused....TIRED!!! It's surprising the students didn't
freak out and send me to the nurse to check and see if I was high.
I didn't get home from the hospital the night before until 10:30 or
so. After being up since 2:45 it was definately a LONG, LONG
day, but that's ok, I can handle being tired after seeing the bravest
woman I know laying in a hospital bed after her 2nd brain surgery
in 9 months.

***************************************************
Got home from work yesterday and realized it was YOGA X day!
CRAP, CRAP, CRAP! Oh well! My life could definatley be worse!

Hopefully I'll have some time this afternoon to read and post on your
blogs.

A Brave Woman!

2010-05-09T18:49:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to the bravest, strongest most faith filled

woman I know!! I love you with all my heart and can't wait until

you are all better!!

Love ya ♥

Moni

Sister: Marla

Brother: Mark

MOM

Me: Monica

Photo Taken Thanksgiving 2009

Mother's Day Weekend Plans

2010-05-07T10:49:00.003-05:00

Aaaaahhh! It's almost the weekend. All I know is I didn't
pay to get up early, drive a minimum of 30 minutes, be completely
nervous, wait in line at a port-o-potty and run. I get to sleep in.
I LOVE, LOVE SLEEPING!!

My mother's day weekend is a little up in the air. My mom has
been scheduled on rush orders to have a shunt put in on Monday.
Update: It is rescheduled for Tuesday May 11th

As I mentioned in a previous post, mom recently suffered from
brain cancer and with the successful removal of the tumor, she
has been retaining fluid in her brain and has what is called
Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. Her symptoms are getting
worse and her NeuroSurgeon has agreed to not wait until her
original appt. on the 20th. With everything we have been told
and read, "our mom" should return to us right after the surgery.
We all have missed her energy, happiness and attentiveness the
past 6 months and we hope and pray everything goes "textbook"
and she comes back to us both physically and mentally.

If she has to go into the hospital Sunday night, then we may
move up our mother's day gathering, at our house, to Saturday.

I've started the 4th week of P90X. The recovery week.
Recovery week begins with my LEAST favorite workout...YOGA!!
I will admit, I've gotten better with some of the poses and
actually did one of the poses (for a few seconds) that I swore
I would never be able to do.

Running is still very minimal. I actually haven't run since last
Saturday's Race for the Cure 5K. I'd like to try to hop on
Millie tonight. Hopefully my energy level and stamina will be high
enough for me to get at least 3 miles in.

Happy Mother's Day to all you blogger moms. May your day
be filled with an abundance of love, happiness, hugs, kisses
and a well deserved NAP!!

Yoga X - Teenager Style

2010-05-03T19:27:00.001-05:00

Squasher has been bugging me non-stop to try the P90X YogaX
routine. My deal tonight with him was, "finish your homework
and you can Yoga X until DWTS comes on." He had about 40
minutes to show me his stuff.

Remember, he's 15 years old and as skinny as they get with
tons of flexibility.

Chaturanga Pose

Getting into Warrior 2

Trying to get the Triangle Pose

Reverse Warrior

Prayer Twist

Side Arm Balance (A pose that I will NEVER be able to do)

I promise, I do feed the boy...I hate to say, but he looks

like he just walked out of a concentration camp...no offense to anyone.

This was the last pose he did before DWTS. He could have easily

continued, but was pretty happy I made him stop.

My next husband who I promise to share with Greta!

I ♥ Tony

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K Report

2010-05-01T16:08:00.001-05:00

The alarm went off this morning at a very dark 5:20 a.m.
Immediately, I went into college mode: how can I get out of
going? (I use to come up with GREAT reasons to miss early
morning classes) Headache? Turn off alarm and say I fell back
to sleep? (this won't work since hubby is already awake and
he'd wake my lazy butt up), nothing else I tried to scheme up
in my mind seemed plausible, so I got up out of bed.

Doug brought me some PB toast and a small glass of chocolate
milk while I got my face on. At 6:05 we were walking out our
door heading into downtown San Antonio. (Alamodome)

The actual race didn't start until 8 a.m. but we needed to get
downtown early to find parking before they started closing
streets down. I was born and raised in San Antonio, but I will
completely fess up and say I don't know how to navigate my
way downtown. One way streets, construction always leave me
totally lost.
Side Story: When I was taking drivers ed, at the tender age of
15, I was driving downtown and the instructor sitting in the
passenger side seat actually had to use HIS break. At the time,
I had never driven or seen anyplace where the stop lights were
on the corners of the intersections, all I knew was the ones that
strung across the street.

The weather was PERFECT for me. Cloudy and in the
mid-60's. Doug and I walked about 4-5 blocks before we
finally reached the gathering area. (Doug is my "official" driver
and photographer for my running events, when it's not
football season.)

Right before we entered the event area I ran into a co-teacher

and friend. She was going to walk it with her 2 young daughters
and hubby.

I met a couple of family members at the Survivor Tent area

and we all chatted and enjoyed some fun family time. My 2

aunts that are Breast Cancer Survivors were taking the "Survivor"

group picture and we didn't get a chance to see them today.

Me and my 2 special cousins!!

I made a quick trip to the "facility" and Doug and I walked to the

starting line as it was getting close to start.

For those of you American Idol fans, Hayley Scarnato sang the

national anthem with the San Antonio Spurs Coyote by her side.

It was one of the prettiest renditions I've heard in a LONG time.

8:00 a.m. and it's time to go!

Waving to a really cute cameraman!

Starting Line

Doug ran down a couple hundred yards after the start to take a

picture of me before we headed up the big overpass hill.

There's that "hot" cameraman again!

Mile 1: Went pretty good. I felt strong and when I passed the

1 mile marker I checked my watch and it was 8:10. I was

wearing my regular everyday watch so there's no splits

or fancy things going to come from this run. Right before

we hit the 1st mile, I ran up behind a woman, probably in

her late 40's early 50's with a sign on her back that read,

"Last chemo yesterday. I'm going to beat this thing and

remain strong!" WOW!!! Oh and she had a pink netted

tutu skirt on too! Really cute and inspiring! I wish I would

have tapped her on the back and told her something. Regret!

Mile 2: Starting to drag. Thinking about stopping. I haven't

run in a little over a week, it's the end of my "cycle" and haven't

run outside since February.

We actually ran in front of the Alamo during this mile.

Mile 3: This mile started ok and ended very tiring. Ran down

a hill and then immediately up the other side. Turned a corner on

to another street and I could see the balloons way, way far down

the end of the road. I started to push myself a little harder as I

kept an eye on the balloons that seemed to get further and further

away. (remember the movie The Shining? The hallway gets

longer and longer as the mother is running down it...oyyy! redrum!!)

As I kept running, I got a HORRIBLE rib stitch. OUCH!!

I tried to push through it as I kept my eyes on the balloons

which were about 200 yards or so away. I had to stop! Very

disappointed. I walked for about 30 seconds and the pain

lessened so I took off again. About 75 yards down, I noticed

the runners veering to the right. OH MAN! The finish line was

not where I thought it was. There was another balloon arch to

the right. What a dork I am! I was looking at the starting line

balloons thinking that was the finish line! I knew that the

starting and finish line were in separate places but in

that moment of tiredness and pain, I wasn't thinking clearly.

I really need to find shorts that don't ride up in between my legs.

Any suggestions?

Oohhh! Those balloons!! YES!!

I was really hoping to finish under 35 minutes, but I'll cut myself

some slack since I haven't run outside (or inside) in quite a

while.

After the race Doug and I (after driving around the streets of

downtown and going down some wrong streets) we drove

to Ihop! I could taste the french toast...nevermind. Way to many

people. We ended up driving through a Taco Cabana drive thru

and I got a couple of breakfast tacos.

We stopped at Home Depot and bought a new ceiling fan/light

for our living room, went to WalMart and got a few family things

that we needed and lastly, to Academy Sporting good store

and got a few things from there too! Since we live about 20

minutes from any major department store, whenver were in

SA we pick up things we need and end up spending WAY

to much money.

Now, I can rest....for a bit. I missed my P90X workout yesterday

because it was Plyometrics and I didn't want to do it the evening

before my race. Gotta get caught up with my next husband,

Tony Horton! :)

This race was dedicated to my precious MOM!! She has been to

HELL in back the past 5 years due to Breast cancer, the death of

my father and Brain cancer and she's still fighting. I thought of her

often during my race. She's had a double mastectomy, brain

cancer and surgery, Chemo, Radiotion (twice), 2 spinal taps

and she's still FIGHTING and WILL WIN!!!

Mom with my daughter- Christmas 2009!

Love you Mom!

Shedding

2010-04-29T21:13:00.001-05:00

When I began my weight loss journey a little over 3 years ago,
I noticed that as the weight slowly started to drop, that my body
started to morph in a very surprising way (to me).

It started in my face. I clearly observed that I looked less bloated.
(I hate that word: bloated) Next came my shoulders and arms,
followed by my back, abs and stomach area. During the time
my body was "shedding layers" was when I became a jogger,
this clearly helped my legs firm up. The slowest and hardest
part of my body to lose inches in is my ab/stomach area.
This is a genetic characteristic that clearly runs through the
women in my family.
(more on that in a later post)

So, in the last year, i've put back on 15 lbs from the total of 45 that I
originally lost. My body has become a bit fuller in my chest, arms, back,
all the parts that melted away with my original weight loss.

As you all know, the past 2 and half weeks I have been dedicated
to the P90X program. Tonight, I looked at my body closely in
the mirror, and I saw IT again! My face looks less bloated, my
arms are DEFINATELY toner (squealing with delight), my chest
and upper waist look narrower, my legs look the best they've
been since I was in college. My abs/stomach have a changed
a bit, but it's definately my TROUBLE spot!

My biggest disappointment right now is that I could be running
more. As soon as I get home from work, I go in my closet
change clothes and put my P90X program on. I don't turn the
TV on until I'm ready to begin working out nor do I turn on the
computer, because if I did, I'd still be sitting in front of it an hour
later.

I'm happy with my body right now...but don't quote me on that,
my attitude on this could change at the drop of a hat!!

Changes

2010-04-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

I think it's happening! Changes! Changes to my body! Good
changes to my body. Nothing huge, just suddle.

My arms are looking a bit toner, my abs are a little bit stronger
looking and my legs continue to look good. I give most of the
credit of my toned legs to my jogging routine the past couple of
years but I do know that my current workout routine has helped.

The weight hasn't changed and I'm not expecting it to right now.

The P90X doesn't promise changes in 2 weeks, it's a 90 day
program and I know that good things don't always happen
overnight...or in 13 days. I'll wait. I'll be patient! I'll keep
on trying!

Some of you may recognize my workout routine. I find a new
gadget (dvd, balance ball, step, weights, ab-cruncher, thigh
master), I get excited and use it for about 3-4 days and then
it sits in a corner of my room. The new-ness, fun, novelty all
wear off and I'm back to doing nothing. My proudest exercise
routine that has stuck with me is running. I don't run as much
as I use to when I first started, but I still run some everyweek.
My FB page has a graph I use from TickerFactory , I created
it at the very end of last July with a goal of running 100 miles
before December. By the time December had come around,
my goal had been raised to 150 since I reached 100 before
the end of October. 150 came quickly, and in January my new
goal was raised to 365 before the end of our school year
(end of May). Right now my current mileage is 323. The
365 would mean a mile a day for a whole year done in
less than a year. There is a reason why I'm stopping the
mileage count at the end of May. I've got something HUGE
planned for June 2 that will interfere with my exercise routine.
It will actually halt my P90X as well...I'll probably have to
start it over, but that's ok. I have confidence in my desire to
get back into it.

Are you curious yet?? I'll keep you all in suspenders
a little bit longer.

5K Just Around the Corner

2010-04-24T10:51:00.001-05:00

It's been over 2 and half months since my last race, actually
my first ever half marathon. Next Saturday I will be running
in (for the 3rd time) the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
This is an unbelievably upbeat event that brings together survivors
family members, friends of loved ones who have been effected
by breast cancer.

My family is no exception to this.

This will be the first time I try to run a good time for this race.
I actually signed up as a competitive runner and they sent
me a timing strip for my shoe. In the past I've always started in
the midst of the walkers and this would leave me weaving
through and dodging around all the walkers, dogs and strollers.
By the time it would be over I'm sure I actually would have
run about 4 miles.

I'm hoping to maybe see an improvement in my running
strength since I will be 2 and half weeks into my P90X training.
My actual running has been at a stand still this past week. I
only put in 1 mile after a P90X workout. I have my Shoulders
and Back workout today (as soon as i'm done blogging) and
Ab Ripper. Since it's just upper body today, hopefully i'll feel
up to running a few on Millie!

The routine on race day is as follows:

1. Get up super early Saturday
2. Drive to San Antonio to my aunt's house (survivor)
3. Wait for other aunt to arrive (another survivor) with
    her daughter and another cousin
4. Load up in a vehicle and drive to downtown San Antonio
5. Walk to the Alamodome where the race starts
6. Walk around and try to nab as many Freebee things as
    possible
7. Start race at 8 a.m.
8. Wait around forever because the rest of my family walks
    the 5K
9. Load up in the vehicle and head to IHOP for some
    French Toast

I'm co-hosting a couple's wedding shower tonight for our
head coach's son. Quite a few of the coach's wives are in
as co-hostesses. Our role is pretty limited. It is being held at
someone's VERY BIG, FANCY house and all we were told
was to make brownies, cookies and bring our checkbooks.
I"M VERY NERVOUS about the checkbook comment.

I Want Toys!!

2010-04-21T17:42:00.000-05:00

Ok all of you in Bloggie Land...who do you have to sleep with
to get all those free toys and goodies from the companies to
try out and give away?

I want a free wireless walkman, Bondi bands, water bottles,
runners skirts, comfy socks, gift cards. How come nobody
is sending them to me? I'm a nice person! I want to play too!

(just kidding about the "who do you have to sleep with" comment)

Week #1 P90X - Check!!

2010-04-20T20:22:00.002-05:00

I've officially got week of 1 P90X under my belt. I did it!!

Tomorrow is my "rest" day which means there is no DVD to
workout to. I'm planning on hopping on Millie and hoping
to get at least 5 miles done during ANTM.

My first week thoughts of P90X are still the same. I'm glad
I got it and it's pretty fun to do. He switches the exercises quickly
so you don't get bored. Usually the longest you do an exercise is
1 minute and then he switches to something else. Sometimes you
do circuits. The same three exercises are repeated, but that
doesn't seem to be the norm in week 1-3 exercises.

If you are someone who has done a lot of exercise DVD's, then
P90X is DEFINATELY something you can do.

Some of the yoga moves remind me of the Jillian and
Biggest Loser DVD's.

Todays Kenpro workout was reminescent of Billy Blanks Tae
Bo Workouts.

If you're considering this but think it might be too hard, think
again! YOU CAN DO THIS!!

Now, if someone can just give me the name of a DVD that
will keep me from eating 2 slices of pizza along with my lunch
that would be GREAT!!

Family Pride!!

2010-04-18T18:08:00.001-05:00

My Sugar competed in the District Track meet and placed
2nd place. He barely missed 14' (last week he vaulted a
personal best of 14'3". This place will enable him to compete,
in 2 weeks, at the Regional track meet. If he comes in the
top 2 (or 3 can't remember), then he gets to participate in
the State Track meet. I'm very proud of him. He's just a
sophomore and already doing so well.

Sugar vaulting at a track meet a few weeks ago

My Squasher (freshman) competed in the Junior Varsity
Pole Vault. He jumped his personal best of 9'6" and
barely touched the pole at 10'. Squasher is a very skinny guy.
He doesn't have the strength yet to get as high as his brother
did last year, but he's happy with where he is and the progress
that he has made. We're happy too!!

Squasher vaulting at a track meet a few weeks ago

My husband, Doug is the Pole Vault coach at the HS and
has done a terrific job at coaching our boys. Doug has
had at least one of his vaulters make it to the Regional track
meet for the past 12 years in a row.

Taken last year at one of Sugar's track meets.

Me...I've just finished day 4 of P90X. It's been pretty intense

but I really, really like it and am glad I bought this workout.

Yesterday's Shoulders and Arms were tough...my arms are

definately my weakest part so that makes an hours worth of

work, using weights, a bit painful. Plyometrics was ok and todays

Yoga was long and hard. I couldn't believe it when I turned it

on and it said 1 hour and 30 minutes. I've never done Yoga

for that long. 30 minutes was my max and i've only done Yoga

a few time in my life. Again, having weak arms and wrists

makes some of the Yoga moves tough, but I fought through it

and did it! Don't get me wrong, I'm still a novice at all the

moves but I'm proud of what I did do.

Also, yesterday after Arms and Shoulders, I waited a couple

hours and then thought I'd see if I could get a mile or so in

on Millie. I can't believe how strong I felt it! I went 3 miles.

Could the P90X already be making me strong. Maybe. I'd

also like to give credit to Jillian Michaels Shred and Trouble

Zone DVD that I used while waiting for P90X to arrive. I

actually believe that these have also helped with the fact

that I'm really not that sore from the 4 days of P90X. I'm

working my tail off, but I do think I had some good warm

ups with Jillian.

Day 1- P90X Review and STD's

2010-04-15T20:21:00.005-05:00

Day 1- In the book!!

Chest and Back
First I have to say that I couldn't do the pull ups just yet.
I put together my Pull up bar but in order to hook it to the
door frame, I really need my husband to be responsible for
putting it up, that way if it rips the trim off the door, I won't
feel guilty. I tried to do myself, but there really wasn't a gap
behind the frame to slide the little gadget in there that holds
the bar.

I modified the pull ups a bit, by using a band. I was caught
off guard that the guy in the video was making the pull up
motion by pulling on the metal bar thing from the ceiling
and since I don't have metal bars running across my bedroom
ceiling I just used the bands and did military presses instead.

The push ups absolutely SUCK!! Or maybe I should say
I SUCK AT PUSH UPS!!
I probably start the push ups going down (from my knees)
about 6-7 inches and by the time I'm done with the timed
rep, I'm going down about 2 inches.

With about 15 minutes left in this dvd, my sister called to talk
about my mom's dr. appt. today, so I have to guiltily say that
I took about a 15 minute break in the middle of the chest/back
workout. I promise you all that I picked up where I left off
when we hung up.

Ab Ripper X
I have to say that I actually liked this workout. I felt like I could
actually do a lot of the exercises he did in a way that I think
were pretty good. (not great, but good). It seemed like I felt
a good bit of muscle heaviness in my Quads as I did these
exercises.

Day 1 Pictures
I think I'm going to wait until the 30 day mark and then show
before and after pictures then. I had to have my Sunshine stand
on a chair and take my pictures.

After Burn
It's been about 30 minutes since I finished my day 1 workout
and my shoulders are already feeling a bit heavy and tired. I
just know that tomorrow will hold some serious muscle pain
in my arms and abs. I took the day off of work tomorrow,
and I plan on doing day 2 Plyometrics tomorrow morning
after the kids go to school. My son is going to be vaulting
in the big district track meet and since he's scheduled to vault
right about the time school is letting out for me, there's no way
I would be able to pick up Banana and Sunshine from their
schools and make it into San Antonio to see him vault.

Also, I have a guest speaker scheduled to speak to my
Health classes tomorrow and he will be talking to
them about STD's...and he's got a "graphic" powerpoint,
to totally scare the kids from having sex, to go with his lecture.
I hope I don't have any kids faint again...oh well, I guess if
your going to faint, it's best if you do it in front of a Doctor.

Toodles!!

Let the Pain Begin

2010-04-14T21:13:00.002-05:00

Sunshine opened up the mailbox this afternoon and
there "it" was!

Finally!!

After 10 days, via Columbus Ohio, Indiannapolis
Indiana, Hodgkins Illinois, Houston Texas and finally
DELIVERED....Spring Branch Texas.

Got in mi' casa, got settled, and then popped in the

"Bring It" DVD, as suggested by the insert in the box. I must

say, it looks like it's going to be 'er um...challenging but very

rewarding!

I watched the "extra" workout that is on the Bring It DVD

and I was happy to see that he has the woman showing

modified versions of the exercises. I'm happy that Tony

doesn't expect everyone to be a "Super Stud". I mean,

I know I'M a Super Stud, but not all of you are. hee hee

I scanned the instruction books and really want to spend a

little more time reading them before I jump into the program.

I still have to get Doug to install the pull up bar somewhere

in my workout room ~~bedroom~~.

Doug watched some of the exercises with me today and just

about every exercise Tony and his crew would do, Doug

would say, "our boys do that, but we call it... We do that too..."

(he's a high school football coach). Doug also said that he is

expecting to be VERY SORE after doing some of these with

me. He did not commit to doing all the workouts that I do,

just the ones when he doesn't have to grade a ton of Geometry

papers, work late, do house stuff, or isn't dead dog tired from

his 12+ hour days. Doug's days begin at 6:30 am and end

sometimes after 8 pm...and football season, forget about it,

he's NEVER home.

I'll give myself a couple days to look over the materials that

came with the DVD's and then hopefully try to start the

program this weekend. In the meantime, I busted out a

5 miler on Millie tonight during the America's Next Top

Model episode.

A question to those of you P90Xers...what happens if you

are unable to get a workout in EVERY SINGLE DAY?

If you miss a day or two? Do you have to start the week

over? I'm sure that info. is in the book, just thought I'd get

some advice from my "expert" bloggie friends. ♥

Monday Moments

2010-04-12T20:38:00.003-05:00

Just a few random thoughts on this glorious Monday.

* Only 6 more Mondays until summer vacation!

* Put in a total of 9 miles in 2 days on Millie. Yesterday I
   ran 6 and felt REAL GOOD. Today's 3 was a little bit
   tougher.

* Made a quick visit during my lunch period today to get
   another temporary crown put on until my permanent Gold
   one comes in on Thursday.
    **When I found out i was getting a gold crown, I told my
        2 older sons (who go to school where I teach) that I
        was getting a Gold tooth. They thought it was cool
        until I told them it was going to on my top, front tooth.
        They were speechless and so very happy that I was
        just kidding.

* Thanks for all the nice compliments on the pictures of
    me and hubby on my previos post and the one before that
    of my kiddos in the Texas Bluebonnets!

*   According to UPS tracking, my P90X is currently in Houston
     Texas. Should be in my neck of the woods by Tuesday or
     Wednesday at the latest.

* Loving that I finally got off my butt and made me some sugar
    free Jello with Sugar free Cool Whip.   yummy!!

* 18 more days until my next race - Susan G. Komen Race for
    the Cure 5K. In honor of my brave Mother and 2 of my
    maternal aunts and the memory of my precious Grandmother....
    Sometimes I think I ought to just have a double mastectomy
    before the inevitable happens.

* Happy Spring!!

Losing My Crown Before the Prom

2010-04-11T14:37:00.000-05:00

To those of you that may be new to my blog, I am a High School
Health teacher.

Yesterday morning I was scheduled to administer the ACT test
to eager, ~~bored~~, happy, ~~tired~~, motivated high school juniors and
seniors. I arrived to the school library at 7:30. Friends of mine
were there to work it too and more importantly donuts had been
bought. Actually, I was hoping for breakfast tacos, but donuts
are ok.

After my 1st ~~(2nd),~~ donut I felt something stuck to the back of
my tooth, that was fitted with a temporary crown this past
Thursday a.m. I reached back there to dislodge the last piece
of delicious donut, and felt something a bit harder than a donut
crumb...my darn temporary crown came off. AUGHHH!

It's Saturday morning, no dentists work on Saturday morning or
Sunday, so I immediately knew that I was going to be stuck with
this situation for a couple of days. My Large Diet Dr. Pepper
from Sonic had to be strategically drank by biting down on the
inside of my left cheek while I drank. It didn't take long
to feel the god awful lightning bolt shoot threw my mouth
when my first sip of Diet Dr. Pepper hit the exposed tooth part.
I began to panic a bit wondering if I would be able to eat anything
for the next few days until I could get a hold of my dentist. My
next thought was, hmmm, if I can't eat, i'll lose some weight.

The dentist gave me some glue to use after my appt. last week
in case this situation occurred. So,before testing started, I went to
the restroom and put some of the glue on the tooth and tried to fit it
on my exposed nerve endings in the back upper left portion of my
mouth, that I couldn't see even contorting my head in different
positions while looking in the mirror. When I gave up trying to
fit the tooth in my mouth, I pulled it out and half of the crown
just crumbled in my fingers. POWDERED!!

After testing, I drove home and tested my eating skillz with a
couple of pieces of toast. I learned that if I could only chew
on my right side it wouldn't set the alarms off in my mouth.

About 4:00 Doug and I were dressed to go to the Prom for
the school that we both work at.

This year, the Math dept. had to be the chaperones and since
Doug is a math teacher...he had to go, and I chose to be his date
for the eveing. He promised to take me to eat at Cracker
Barrel. yummyy!

It's really cool seeing all the kids dressed up in the pretty gowns and
nice tuxedos or suits. What was more fun though, was that the
hotel that we were having prom at was also housing hundreds
of Gymnasts from around the country that had just competed
in a competition at the local University. Their competition was
over and for them, it was a night of semi- formal social time.

Their banquet hall was just past the hall where our prom was
being held, this meant they all had to walk by us to get to their
banquet facility. All I can say is OMG!! The dresses on a lot of the
girl gymnasts were TIGHT, SHORT, LOW CUT and some of
them were all 3 of these on the same girl. I'll tell you, that was
the best part of the evening, watching the college age (some drunk),
gymnasts walking by us trying to walk in high heels. It was FUNNY!
Some even tryed to sneak into our prom!

Anyway, the prom was fun, OUR kids did and looked great, and
I have learned to eat and drink on one side of my mouth! What
a great weekend!

P90X Nesting

2010-04-07T22:20:00.001-05:00

Just like when I was about to give birth to my 3 boys...I feel like
I'm "Nesting" again. Some of you may remember: the Cleaning,
buying things in preparation, arranging the "special" room for
your soon to be special delivery.

Well, that's what I've been doing the last couple of days. I'm
planning, arranging things in my head and in my room, going to
Academy and purchasing the needed supplies waiting for my
soon to be special delivered...P90X.

Iron Gym Extreme Workout Bar

I can hardly wait to hang upside down

like a Bat, in my bedroom!

2- 12 lb. weights

The best thing about this type of "nesting" is that when it's all over,

I should be looking like this:

and not this:

Even better, about it all, I won't have to wake 2-3 times per night to

go to the bathroom. woo hoo!!

An A$$ Whoopin' is on the way!

2010-04-05T17:24:00.001-05:00

P90X has been ordered and should be at my home gym
(er, bedroom) in about 5-7 days!!

I've been contemplating this for quite sometime now and some
of you have been encouraging me to give it a whirl.

I got in bed last night ~~detoxing off of easter candy~~ and flipped
through some channels and for the first time ever, I actually
stopped on the show that said "Get Ripped In 90 Days".
This infomercial is constantly on about 15 satellite channels
EVERY single day and I've never stopped to watch it...until
last night.

Doug watched some of it with me and thought it looked
good too and he said he'd work out with me when he
has time.

I'm nervous and excited at the same time! I want some
RIPPED muscles! Until then, it's back on Millie and some
strength exercises.

Happy Easter From Ours To Yours!!

2010-04-04T21:02:00.000-05:00

Doug and I- Easter 2010

Among the Texas State Flowers- Bluebonnets

Sugar, Banana, Squasher and Sunshine

Easter 2010

A Run Outside

2010-04-03T18:22:00.000-05:00

February 14th, Austin,Texas was the last date and place that I
actually ran outside...until today.

Doug took the children to the high school to work with Sugar
and Squash on the Pole Vault. He asked if I wanted to go and
run around the track while they were jumping.

I started my run at 3:12 and instead of a mind-numbing
run around the track, I took off around the school and the street.

My run started off good. There were a couple of big, rolling hills
on my route (unlike the lack of big, rolling hills on Millie) and I
pushed through them with success. After about 2 miles, I felt
as if I was on mile 12 of my HM. I had to take a couple of
short walk breaks before I made it back to the family, happily
polevaulting and/or chilling out in the shade (even Ranger and
Coach were asleep under the trees).

"What time is it?", I asked Doug.
"3:42".

I was DYING after a 30 minute run but I can tell you a few
things that were going against me from the start.

1. Hadn't run in over a week...been on Ellie and strength training.
2. End of my cycle...I know my levels play a part in my energy.
3. Sunny ...my LEAST favorite time to run. I'm definately a
Shady Runner. :)
4. 85 degrees...enough said.
5. Hills...haven't run those in about 7 weeks.

So, I guess I'll be happy with my 30 minute run. I don't know
how far it was since I don't have a working garmin and I ran
a random route around the school buildings and parking lot too.

On the bright side, I didn't have to duck into any bushes or the
port-o-potties located around our school that is currently under
some major construction. That's always a relief!

A Day Off

2010-04-02T11:08:00.001-05:00

It's the first day of my weekend! No school today! Awesome!
My day began about an hour and half ago and I'm still
contemplating on what my agenda for the day will be.

I know exercise will definately be involved. I still have Ellie out
and at the ready. I've got a ton of exercise dvds ready to be
played, i've actually got "my" perfect running weather going
on right now, cloudy, cool and even a bit misty. Decisions,
decisions.

I've had a pretty good week with my workouts. I've spent
the week doing stuff I haven't done in a looong time.
Ellie workouts, strength training and my exercise dvds have
been a welcomed break from my time with Millie. I even
noticed yesterday, when I was driving, that everytime I made
a turn, my triceps were sore. coool!! Last night I also noticed
in the mirror there was less "shakage" of my wings when I
when I waved my arms in the mirror. more coool!!

Have a great day everyone!

Thanks Blogger Friends

2010-03-30T17:29:00.002-05:00

{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}

To everyone who sent me a nice comment on my previous post.

It's nice to know that when I'm feeling down and out, that there
are some REALLY nice people out there to encourage me and
motivate me to work hard.

Special thanks to Greta and Kristin for all the additional
information they gave me on the P90X program. I really
think I'm going to try it!!

I may have a small following, but those of you that do read
my silly, random posts are super special to me!!

Thanks girls and NY Wolve for the Cyber support!

Weight Woes

2010-03-28T18:08:00.002-05:00

I need help! I'm failing! I'm eating too much stuff! I'm not exercising
enough.

My original journey in 2006, led me to a 45 lb. weight loss.
Then Easter 2008 at my lowest weight of 164, the climb
began and my weight loss numbers began to shrink. Currently
my total weight loss is 26 lbs. I stepped on the scale this a.m.
and weighed 183. F*#K came out of my mouth. Kind of a
"knee-jerk" reaction to something I was expecting to pop up
on the scale.

I'm an educated person and I know, less calories eaten and
more calories burned is the answer. But, I'm so weak right
now.

Sorry for sounding like "Debbie Downer" again!

Shopping, Shredding and a Fish Fry

2010-03-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

Started off this a.m. forking over $250 to the Vet for updates
on Coach & Ranger's Vaccinations and check up!! These
puppies cost a BUNCH...we're into the $$$$ spent. But,
they are SO worth it!. They're outside trying to play with
their new friend, the baby squirrel, that seems to have lost
it's mommy.

Took Banana, and Sunshine shopping at an area mall. Banana
is a long and lean girl, and she has outgrown her pants in height
and tightness. For the first time, she is wearing Misses, size 3.
I don't know why, but I was in a pretty cranky, spanky mood
while we were shopping. I usually love clothes shopping, except
for my teen boys...yuck, I hate boys clothes. I always have since
they were itty bitty.

Came home and Shredded with Jillian. Seemed like it went a
little better then yesterday. Pushups still are hard on the wrists
and I only go down about a foot or so...hopefully i can improve

I broke my Lenten vow and drank a soda today.
My crankiness shopping seemed to lead me to "needing" a
soda. It was a Diet one...if that makes God more forgiving.

Gotta go. Heading to In-Laws house about an hour away.
Dad-In-Law is frying some fish and fries! Glad I Shredded...

Shre-lliptical Workouts

2010-03-25T22:34:00.001-05:00

I've made a little change in my routine the last couple of days.

Today: I dusted off my copy of Jillian Michael's Shred...and
I do mean that literally...it kept pausing during the intro, and
after 3 attempts to get it to play, I noticed there was some
"debris" on the dvd...got it cleaned off and it worked like
a charm. It's been quite sometime since i've done this
workout. A couple hours since my workout I have to say
i'm already feeling some soreness in my back, legs and arms.

I have such a hard time doing push ups and some of the
yoga type poses. It absolutely kills my wrists/hands.
OUCH!! I can hardly stand it. Downward dogs, Plank poses...
pure pain.

About 30 minutes after I finished Shred, I decided to
change things up some more, so I put up Millie and
got out Ellie (Elliptical). It's been equally as long since I've
used her. I confidently programed in the 45 minute workout.
About 8 minutes into my workout, as the tension became
increasingly harder, I realized I bit off more than I could
chew for the day. 15 minutes into the workout on Ellie,

with my head hanging low, I

realized I'd been beaten. Jillian and

Ellie KICKED MY BUTT!

Yesterday: I finally used my Christmas present. The

present I ASKED for...My WII Fit. I got it all set up

with my info. and went to the program that is called

Training Plus. I spent 45 minutes trying every single

activity for this program. The calculator thingy on the

Wii told me when I was done I burned a whopping

40 calories. 45 minutes = 40 Calories. WASTE

OF TIME!! So then, I get out my Biggest Loser

Wii game and chose Bob's 24 minute Yoga session.

When all was said and done with that program the

results showed..... drum roll............

24 minutes = 25 Calories

Grand total workout for Wednesday:

65 minutes = 65 calories

I've determined that for the intermediate fitnesser

(is fitnesser a word ?), Wii is not a good choice. I will say

that I was at the beginner levels, so maybe they get tougher

or something, but I do know that I don't want to waste my

time finding out. So if any of you have had any better luck

with Wii Fit and want to lead me to some better workouts for

my time with more calorie burners, please let me know.

Spring Break Cleaning

2010-03-24T14:01:00.001-05:00

Finally...Spring Break for our school district. More importantly,
9 more weeks of this school year until summer vacay. I'm pretty
pumped for summer this year. If you remember, I have a BIG
event occuring on June 2nd...more details later. I'll keep you
all in suspenders a little longer.

We've had nothing official on the spring break agenda. Doug
usually has track practices scheduled (which includes my 2 son's)
so this keeps us from traveling, which is usually fine with me. I've
come to realize that when you travel, it makes the time go so
much faster, and that's something I definately don't want to
happen.

So here I sit. Doug is up in the storage above the carport doing
some "serious" chunking of stuff. Toys, clothes, house
decorations, college text books, letters from family when I
was in college and even an old picture of one
of my ex boy toys. He was a cutie too! A US Navy Flight
Instructor. The picture was of him on the steps to his plane
wearing his full gear....hubba, hubba. Oh, um, where was
I? Oh yeah, my hubby. He's a good guy too! :)

My 3 nephews and niece are at the house right now. My sis
is taking mom to her hair appt. and physical therapy. Just
finished feeding all 8 kids some Pizza Hut pizza and some
Chicken Alfredo for Doug and I. There's no doubt about it,
I will be on the treadmill tonight. Maybe i'll pop in an
exercise DVD too...I ate a BUNCH of Chicken Alfredo.

I guess I'll sign off for now. I've got on the E channel and
the 100 Sexiest Celebrity Bodies happens to be on... I think
there getting close to the top 10 (they just showed Eva
Longoria's body), so I'd like to watch carefully to see where
my body lands in the top 10 this year. I hope I beat Gisele again!
Ta Ta !

Back In The Saddle

2010-03-22T18:37:00.002-05:00

My running vacay is over. A week ago yesterday, I ran 7 on
Millie and that was it for the week. Not to bueno. Got home
from mom's house yesterday and ran a good 3 miler.

As I mentioned in my previous post, school projects kept
me busy, my mom was the other reason that my running
schedule came to a complete halt Since mom's brain surgery,
last September,she has been having a hard time with her short
term memory and organizational skills. She has been spending
the majority of her time at my sister's house (next street over
from me). My sister is a nurse and has off a lot of days and
is better able to take care of her. Don't get me wrong, mom is
nowhere close to being an "invalid", she just has to watched
to make sure she doesn't fall and that she gets her meds/vitamins
at the right time.

I was able to take mom back to her house this past weekend.
There's nothing like going home. My childhood home. My
own bedroom. My bathroom. There was one major difference
with my old home though. A DAMMED rooster lives next door.
WTH!!! Mom's dumb ass neighbor have a ROOSTER in their
backyard. Y'all, I may talk like a hick sometimes, but I grew
up in a residential neighborhood in San Antonio Texas. House,
next to house, small yards, fences around the yard, an ally
running behind the streets...not a "fricken" farm!! I was so

mad!! "Cock-A-Doodle-Doo in the

middle of the night almost all night long,

right outside my bedroom window!

I can't imagine how angry the neighbors

are that live there! If my dad were still

alive, he would have gone BALLISTIC about this

rooster. I was actually wishing I had

an ax, baseball bat or beebee gun!

Now don't go reporting me to PETA or anything. I love animals

and would never harm one ~~unless they kept me awake all night~~ .

Now I'm back home. No more rooster. Just a couple of adorable

Golden Retriever puppies that bark occasionally as they play with

each other in the middle of the night.

School Projects = No Running

2010-03-17T21:05:00.000-05:00

I can't begin to tell you how much I HATE when my kids have
school projects. Oh, let me count the ways:

1. They're boys! Boys don't care about details. Boys
     don't care that things look like crap. (at least my boys)

2. Hurry, hurry, hurry. My boys don't believe in the "Get
     'Er Done" theory. It's due tomorrow. "Do we have any
      material to cover the project board?" Hell no, I don't
      have any material laying around my house! We live
      25 minutes away from a Walmart etc...I can't just run
      to the store and get stuff the night before your stinkin'
      project is due.

3. I'm an enabler, to a point. See reason #1. I will
     always try to help with the creative aspect of their projects
     because if I don't, they will get a terrible grade because it
     will look like a teenage boy did it. sigh

To be honest, since my boys are in high school, my role in project
helping has decreased significantly. This week however, my oldest
has had 2 projects due. Both were done, for the most part, the
night before they were due. He does all the typing and writing of
reports early, but the actual Project part, is always done at the
very last minute.

I know I could easily sit back and let them "get what they get or
deserve". That's just not how I work. Sugar (my oldest), who is
ranked number 42 in a class of over 500, works very hard
(obviously). Isn't it a parent's job to help them achieve success?

Squasher (#2 son), he's a different story. He is classic ADD!
Has a hard time focusing, school doesn't come easy, he has
absolutely HORRIBLE writing and spelling (dysgraphia). I
help him, just so his teacher's will be able to understand
what they're looking at.

I've spent 2 nights this week helping with 2 different projects
for Sugar. I'm pooped!!   Hope we get an "A" ! hee hee

(Really, he did all the work, I just need to charge him a
heavy duty consulting fee.)

So, 2 nights of projects, last night sister and I went to a
Brain Cancer Survivor Support Group to get information
for our mom who had a Cancerous Tumor removed in
September (8 weeks after my daddy died). Mom, is
having some cognitive issues and other problems, so
sis and I went to get more information and see what
help is available. We really got some good information and
leads to help mom's recovery process.

Our Spring Break is next week....I'm exhausted...Friday
3:55 can't get here soon enough for me.

Silent Auction Success

2010-03-14T16:37:00.000-05:00

The sports booster club for the school Doug and I teach
at and Doug coaches for had their All- Sports Gala last night.
There's a catered meal from Outback Steakhouse, a live
auction with some big ticket items and then a ton of things
for a silent auction. In case you don't know, a silent auction
has a paper by each item where you walk around and put
down your bid for the specific item, with the realization
that other people may also be bidding on the same thing
you are drooling over. A little off the main path was an area
that had some jackets hanging up. I noticed that there were
two leather jackets hanging and one was a woman's
leather jacket. The paper with the woman's leather jacket
said the jacket was valued at $150. I looked at the
first and only bid and I saw it was $20. I quickly picked
up the pen and wrote $25. About 30 minutes later,
I saw another ~~hag~~ lady slither around me, walk up to the
paper and write her bid of $27 on MY jacket. About 10
minutes before the end of the siletnt auction I raised the bid
to $30. The minutes on the clock ticked away,
then seconds, then finally, the auction ladies walked around and
marked the final bids. Woo Hoo! I won!!! A Leather
Jacket that retails $100-$150 (depending on where you
get it) I got it for $30! I've never owned a leather jacket
and actually bid on it without even trying it on.
Thank goodness it fits!

A quick running update. Got on Millie yesterday and ran 7 miles

in 1 hour 24 minutes. (12 min./mile). When I finished my run,

I picked up some 8 lb. hand weights and did some arm exercise

and then ended with some stretching. All this working out made

me feel totally guilt free when I ate my small piece of steak,

mashed potoatoes, salad and small pieces of chocolate candy.

Week in Review

2010-03-12T19:30:00.001-06:00

Random Stuff:

* One more week until our Spring Break. The weather has been
   beautiful here in central Texas and the ~~teachers~~ kids at school
   are definately getting spring fever.

* 14 (mostly awful ) miles on Millie in the past week. Pretty
    average for me. Even did some arm weights for the first
    time in MONTHS. Gonna try to some more tonight with
    some good stretching.

* Work has been a true rollercoaster this week. Great stuff
   and scary stuff. Can't go into ANY details because it puts
   me at risk of being put on Administrative Leave for talking
   about my work on a social network. (ridiculous)

* Season premier of America's Next Top Model!! yahoo

* WORMS! Update: I guess they're gone. Haven't seen
    any that "came out". Or maybe it was just one...don't
    know. Vet appt. in a couple of weeks. On a nice note, my
    puppies are getting so big. They hardly fit in my lap anymore.

* After almost 3 years, my Sugar got his braces off on
   Wednesday!!

* After I took the picture of Sugar, my Sunshine said he wanted a

picture of him with "his braces off".

My Sunshine, who will

DEFINATELY need braces.

Well, that's my random week in a nutshell. Hope your random

week was a good one!!

Speedwork

2010-03-09T21:19:00.002-06:00

Just call me Speedy Gonzalez!!

I had every intention of taking the night off tonight. I've done
some running workout 3 nights in a row but...the cock crowed
7 times and the Biggest Loser came on. I don't know about
you all, but I feel like a total shlep if I watch the Biggest Loser
and I didn't do any type of workout that day. So, I turned
Millie on and did some Speedwork.

Walked a slow half a mile for my warm up...yes...I took y'alls
advice and did a warm up, and then cranked up the speed and
ran a FAST minute and then rested a minute and alternated this
pattern until I had actually ran 2 miles.

I really like this type of workout. It amazes me that I can
recover and be ready to go again after only one minutes rest.

Oh, you want to see pictures of my puppies?? OK! I just
took this picture of Ranger and Coach. They are actually
outside dogs but since I gave them a bath tonight, they got to stay
in the house because of their super cleanliness. This evening,
they crawled up in Sugar's backpacks and athletic bags and fell
fast asleep. Aren't they too cute together.

GROSSNESS ALERT!!

DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU

GROSS OUT EASILY!!!

I mentioned in a previous post that I would tell you a story (not

pretty) about them. Without going into to many GORY details, I will

keep it short and say WORMS!! I made an emergency call to the

vet over the weekend because Ranger had something that slightly

resembled Ramen noodles in his mouth. They suggested some

de-worming pills. I picked up the pills from the vet Monday,

and Doug had to force them down their throats. So far, so good.

Nothing unusual to report in their "business".

Right before Doug and I got married in 91', we got a new blue
heeler puppy (great dog) and we realized he had worms too.
After he got the meds. from the vet, those gross little things came
out of his body in a way that still gives me the heebie-jeebies
when I think about it!

Well, on that vivid note, SWEET DREAMS bloggie friends!! :)

I warned you!!!!

3 Miles Down the Red Carpet

2010-03-07T19:17:00.000-06:00

Today has been a pretty good birthday!

{rewind}

I will say, nothing compares to birthdays when i was younger.
Mom would wake me up and my room would be decorated
with streamers and posters saying, "Happy Birthday Moni!"
Then I'd go into the kitchen and there'd be presents
at my spot on the table. Thanks Mom!!!

{fast forward}

8:15: My Sunshine blasts through the bedroom door and
         pronounces at the top of his voice, "HAPPY
         BIRTHDAY MOM! FRENCH TOAST IS
         READY!!" and then exits as fast and noisy as he
        came in. (me loves some French Toast)

12:45: After church Doug and I head into San Antonio for my
           birthday lunch. I had a gift certificate to Romano
           Macaroni's Grill. It was the first time we had been here
           and can I just say that I think we found our new fave place
           to eat. The bread, fried cheese and Chicken Fettuccini
           were delish!!! Doug had some sort of combo platter with
           Cataloni (?), Lasagna, and Chicken Parmigiana and he said
          he loved it...especially the Cataloni.

(I'll give you all an update on Coach and Ranger tomorrow. They
played a part in my birthday weekend too....it's not for the weak
stomach.)

3:00:   NAPTIME!!! I LOVE NAPS!!

6:00:     I hopped on Millie and ran 3 miles while watching the stars
            walking down the Red Carpet for the Academy Awards.
            I haven't seen a single movie that is up for anything, I just like
            looking at all the dresses* and stars. Actually the last time I
            stepped foot in a movie theatre was win the FIRST Harry
            Potter movie came out. WOW!! What is that 8 years ago?

*I don't know much about Charlize Theron. She is a gorgeous
woman and I'm sure she's made some fantastic movies, but her
dress tonight was god awful. It looked like they pulled the old
worn out cups from her great grandmothers Double D bra,
colored them to semi match her dress and pasted them on top of
her boobs! yuck!!!

5 Mile Saturday

2010-03-06T21:49:00.004-06:00

After 3 days off of running due to ~~pure laziness~~ lack of time, I
hopped back on Millie for a five mile run.

Is it just a cliche? "The last mile is always the hardest"
A phrase I've heard all my life and surely it had to be in reference
to the world of running. I have found it to be totally untrue in my
runs. Every single time I run, the first 1-2 miles are ALWAYS
the hardest. My legs seem to feel as if they're trying to lift
feet that are wearing cement shoes.   Remember how I talked
about my crappy runs?

I'm an educated woman. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Education
with a Major in Physical Education, minor in Biology and
another certification in Health. I read ~~Oprah~~ running magazines,
Fitness magazines and I'm married to a Track coach.

My Blame Game:
   1. Tiredness
   2. TOM
   3. (keep reading)

Truth and Consequences:
I DON'T STRETCH!!

Please don't hate me! I DESPISE stretching. I always have.
I know it's absolutely necessary before physical activity, I just
get lazy and skip it. Before my Half Marathon  I stretched a
little bit and ran about a block down the street and back
but that was it.

Today's run followed my usual pattern. The first 2 miles felt
bad and then mile 3 was good. I stepped off Millie for about
an hour to take care of stuff around the house and then jumped
back on for 2 more miles. These 2 miles were much easier
than the first 2.

I would love to hear what some of your pre-run routines
are.  Are your runs significantly worse if you don't stretch
before your run? What is your warm up routine?

p.s. Tomorrow is my 45th birthday and I'm so proud of
     myself for being a runner and having almost completely
     running all 13.1 of my first Half Marathon.

Picture Day

2010-03-04T12:17:00.001-06:00

My oldest son "Sugar" at his track meet last week.
He won 2nd place with a jump of 13'. This is him clearing the 13'
height.

Signed,

Proud Mommy

New Blog Template

2010-03-03T18:01:00.002-06:00

Do you like the new look of Wife, Mother, Teacher, Jogger?
I was looking at someone elses blog today and noticed in the
corner a tab for Shabby Blogs . I went to the site to see what
it had to offer and to see if you needed to have a Master's in
Computer Programing to get the template to work. This site
made the template change over super easy. I even added a few
buttons they had to offer.
If your bored with the look of your blog, click on over to
Shabby Blogs and put a little "spark" back in your blog!

Yucky Run

2010-03-02T20:53:00.000-06:00

About a month ago I read on Greta's blog about how a woman's
TOM can effect her energy level. That towards the end of her cycle
her Testosterone level drops and subsequently her stamina does as
well. I have to admit that this theory, study or research seems to
be on target with my body. I paid attention to the timing of my
energy levels this past month and I noticed that my energy
significantly decreases before the TOM.

What do you think? Have you ever noticed a fluctuation in your
stamina because of your TOM?

My run tonight on "Millie"- my treadmill was horrible. I had to
actually stop for 2 short breaks just to get my 3 miles in. My
goodness, I ran a HALF MARATHON 2 and a half weeks ago.
Ran 11 of the 13 miles, and tonight I can't even get through a measly
3 miler.

I won't end this post on a negative note though. I will say that I
am proud of myself for continuing. I thought about jumping off
Millie after mile 2, but I stayed on and finished. Yay Me!

Name ! That! Treadmill!

2010-03-01T21:06:00.001-06:00

OK fella(o) bloggers. Another first for this newbie blogger. My
first contest!

NAME MY TREADMILL!!

My treadmill and I spend a lot of time together. My husband is
at work late and my two oldest son's get home a few minutes
before him, so this leaves me with my 13 year old daughter, who
unfortunately, is Mentally Retarded and my 6 year old. I'm not
sure the house would still be standing if I left them 2 home alone.
When I do have time to run outside I have this secret fear.
It's an actual fear that is documented in all running magazines
and on the internet. It's something that I have first hand experience
with and i'm scared to death that it will while i'm running in my
neighborhood. Can you guess what it is? Yep! You all know!
The Trots!
If I lived in a big city and ran the city streets, I don't think it would
bother me because I could run into a store if needed but we live

in a small RURAL area that doesn't even have a city. Our

neighborhood is spread out in 2-5 acre plots.

The only thing that can, at times be helpful, is if there happens to be

a new home being built on my route, and a

Port-o-Potty has been set up. I've made

quite a few pit stops in these POP's, and when

not available a bushy, tree area. I find it better

to run in the summer only for this reason

because the trees and grasses are in full bloom

and they provide good coverage from passing

cars.

If you're not totally grossed out by my post and for some reason are

still reading this ...let me get back to my original question.

I think I should give my treadmill a name! I'm up for some good

suggestions. I have absolutely NO health or fitness stuff

to send to the winner of the best name contest...but I do have

some HP black and color ink (94/95) that I will glady get rid of

since we no longer have that type of PSC. I will also mention

your blog in one of my upcoming posts...but, that might motivate

you either since i don't have a huge following in blogland yet

because i'm so new to this type of media communication or more

likely, my blog is so boring that people read it once and don't return.

So, if you'd like to offer a name that would be cool.

*************************************************

I ran 6 miles this weekend on my Treadmill. It felt good to get

some sweat flowing!

p.s. I'm only watching "The Bachelor" to see who is going to be

on Dancing With The Stars.

Random Friday Stuff

2010-02-26T20:44:00.001-06:00

*   Looked online for a 5k or 4 mile race in my area. I'm signed up
     for the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure that is scheduled
     San Antonio May 1st. Thought it would be nice to find another
     one a little sooner.

* Got some great news. My mom had her 3 month catscan/mri
    today and she is all clear. Praise God! She is a 5 year Breast
    Cancer Survivor and most recently had a malignant tumor
    taken off her Cerebellum. This Cancer was found 6 weeks
    after my daddy died from his 5 year BATTLE with Cancer.
It's been a ROUGH year for our family.

* Not feeling good about my weight. Gotta get my head on straight
   and get some discipline in my life. Not to mention more exercising.

* Hubby and 2 oldest sons will be gone ALL day tomorrow at
   a HS track meet. Doug is one of the coaches and Sugar
   will be Pole Vaulting. Squasher will probably PV at next weeks
   track meet.

* Sunshine has his basketball game tomorrow a.m. (bummer).
   It's actually a lot of fun watching a bunch of Kinders
   running up and down the court without dribbling the ball.

* Taking puppies to the Vet tomorrow to get their next set of
    shots. I gave them a bath in the sink tonight. I must have had
    the water just right, because they both loved it! They relaxed
    and actually laid down in the water.

* Today is my dad's first birthday in Heaven! We sure miss him.

My dad with ALL his precious Grandchildren!!

April 2009- Retirement Party

I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing weekend! Hug your

spouse, kids, parents and all your loved ones!!

Attempt.....FAIL

2010-02-25T22:21:00.002-06:00

An unsuccessful attempt to get my

usual workout in this evening. I

hopped on my trusty treadmill, my

friend, my companion, mi comprade

and he wore me down. He seemed to

be playing a "running" joke on me.

"I'll go faster than she's use to.

I'll make her feel like she's running in the sand.

BWAAAHHHH!"

All I could handle was a measly, painful and extremely

tough mile. Thought that maybe a 10 minute rest would
help rejuvinate these tired ol' legs after the first mile,

but TM had more energy than I did.

I GIVE UP! (for today)...TM, YOU WIN (for today).

I COULD HAVE SWORN I HEARD A SOUND
WHEN I STUMBLED OFF OF YOU.

YOUR LAUGH WAS VERY FAINT, IT ALMOST

SOUNDED LIKE A SQUEAKY BELT...BUT I KNOW

WHAT I HEARD!

YOU THINK YOUR SO CLEVER....HA! I WILL HAVE

THE LAST LAUGH THIS WEEKEND!

I'LL WEAR YOUR SORRY BELT OFF!

I'LL BE BACK!!! BE AFRAID!!

BE VERY AFRAID!!

BUNCO

2010-02-24T17:36:00.001-06:00

It's Bunco night. For 15 years a group of Coach's wives and friends
get together once a month and play Bunco. It's actually a mindless
game with absolutely no strategy to win. We rotate homes and
the person hosting for the month, provides the meal for everyone.
It's a wonderful night to hangout with friends and talk about our
husbands, kids, jobs etc. There are prizes for: Most wins,
most Buncos, most losses, Bunco ball at the end of the evening
and a door prize.

When I come home, my hubby will ask me, "did you win?" and

I always say, "i'm always a winner if I get to come home to you!"

Altogether now: AAAWWWWWWW!!! Talk to you all

tomorrow!

My First Tag

2010-02-23T20:14:00.003-06:00

I'd like to thank the ~~Academy~~ AJH at Age Groups Rock for
my first ever tag. I was tagged with the Sunshine Award!
This actually means a little something extra to me since my
youngest son is my "Sunshine". It has been my nickname for
him since he was a baby. He also calls me "his" Sunshine!

"Sunshine" was a bit of a surprise to our family. Sugar and
Squashers came very easily in our quest to start a family. Sugar
was 5 months old when I found out I was pregnant again. The
boys are 14 months apart and are actually best friends. After
they were a little older, Doug and I tried and tried and tried
unsucessfully to have another baby. We pretty much quit worrying
about it and decided to adopt. We went through an independent
facilitator in Florida (Ukrainian Angels) who facilitates adoptions
in Ukraine. We found our daughter in a Ukrainian orphanage
in August of 2002.

"Banana" 13 y.o.

Fast forward 3 months from adopting "Banana" and I find out
my husband has finally "knocked me up again". We were
completely shocked!!

My Sunshine has been my reward from God for something!
Not sure yet, but he absolutely makes my day brighter each
and every minute of the day!!

Sunshine!!! 6 y.o.

Thanks again AJH for the tag!! You have no idea how much it

and my Sunshine mean to me!!