Perhaps if I'm serious, I should let someone know...

I guess I'm going to keep this up... maybe? I've done pretty good with the whole blog writing thing these past few weeks and I'm finding I kind of enjoy it.

So, it's Saturday. The weekend. We love weekends! Yesterday was a particularly great day, because my beloved Sooners won their Sweet 16 basketball game. Basketball is the red head and my "thing" - while he's not the most athletic child, he does have a love for sports which touches my heart. We have been getting snow all day long. The Tulsa TV meteorologists have said that Tulsa has had 7+ inches of snow today, but it's been big, heavy wet flakes and it's only 32-33 degrees, so it's just nothing but an annoying wet slushy mess. I let the boys play outside in the mess while I ran 5 on the TM, then we all got cleaned up and headed into town for lunch and haircuts. The boys have sported long-ish hair this winter (and they love it), but it needed to be cleaned up. After a quick stop in the grocery store for a few items, we are home now, bundled up in comfie cozies, settling in for basketball and chili. I love nights like this.

The Sooners are back on the court tomorrow to take on Tarheels. I'm pretty nervous. It's a bonus day, though, since the OU girls play tomorrow night as well. The boys have asked for me to take them to Tulsa to the bookstore, so we might do that. We'll see.

They're not all "good and strong"

Those are the adjectives I've been using lately to describe my runs. Honestly, my runs the past few weeks have felt better and been easier than I can ever remember. It would be nice to say I'm seeing some pounds drop off, but that's ok. I really do think it will all catch up with me and by the time the OKC half rolls around I will be down the 10 pounds I'm hoping to lose.

Back to tonight... oh my, did I ever have to push through. I did manage to finish up 5 miles and I was dead set determined to do it. It was so hard. Today wasn't the best of days in general, so it's probably a given that my run wouldn't be the best either. But it's done. It's an accomplishment. I'm happy.

I'm proud of my red head today. They are doing timed math tests this week and he passed his on the second try. He passed before his brother did, so this is a pretty big ego boost for him since academically, he's always been in his shadow.

The teenager is in quite a bit of trouble tonight. He's downstairs getting a talking to from his dad right now. He's being a bit deceitful and not honest with his whereabouts. Oh, and he got pulled over 2 weeks ago and was given a warning.... I guess he thought that his parents wouldn't find out. Oh goodness, son.... have you forgotten that we live in a small town and everyone knows your dad? Not a bright move kiddo.

I am watching my Sooner girls play ball tonight and they seem to be having a tough time getting out ahead of Georgia Tech. They should be trouncing these girls. I hope they can get their act together in the second half.

Post Spring Break

So I decided to take a couple days off last week to spend w/ the fam... seeing as how it was spring break and all. I was looking forward to some time off work, and the opportunity to get in some day time runs.

Day 1 - Thursday: Slept until 8:15. Nice! Got up and remembered the MARCH MADNESS BRACKET that I hadn't yet filled out. Put on a pot of coffee, got on-line and completed the bracket, then fixed pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Mom of the year. Oh yeah! I was on the treadmill by 10... rocked a nice, strong 5 miles. Go me! I honestly don't remember what the rest of the day consisted of, but I had to get the red head to baseball practice at 4. I vaguely recall dinner out (oh yeah... .99 margaritas at Peppers, then a visit w/ some friends).

Day 2 - Friday: Meemz and Papz were chez nous at 8, and we hit the road on our big Spring Break '09 day trip. We hit the road... Fantastic Caverns here we come! We were there by 11, had a nice little tour, then a great hike down to the river. The boys loved it... sticks, rocks, water... boy stuff. The hubs decided we needed a "scenic" route to Springdale, AR for dinner. We stopped off at a Wal-Mart before we crossed the state line for cheap wine (oh yeah!) and snacks... then two lane, curvy, hilly state highway roads... 3+ hours later, we made it to AQ chicken house. It was... eh, oh... nothing worth driving that far for, but the rest of the family enjoyed it.

Day 3 - Saturday: Day at home. YEA! Laundry, 6 mile run... bee-uuuu-ttt-eee-ful weather... kids outside all day... neighbors out doing yard work and visiting. Fantastic day!

Day 4 - Sunday: Church. Home. Lunch. Tulsa. Visit w/ friends. Visit w/ folks. Quick trip to Target for new Pokemon DS game. Dinner on a roof-top patio w/ the folks. Margaritas. Good food. Nice!

So the long weekend comes to an end.

I was back at work today... eh.... came home to find out that our neighbor's visiting daugher was bit by a dog in her front yard. This dog had gotten out of the house next door to ours. We knew they had a house full of crazy dogs. But this bite is BAD... the police were called... we're going to call animal control tomorrow to see if we can do anything about having this dog put down. Hello! I have 2 eight year old boys. What if they were outside when this happened? Debbie was in her parents front yard. She was viciously attacked. This is NOT good. NOT right.

Oh, I did run three 10 minute miles tonight. I was rather pleased with that quick accomplishment.

Sooner sadness....

I am just sick that the Sooners lost tonight. I was planning to take the boys to OKC tomorrow afternoon to catch the semi-finals of the Big 12 tournament. It would have been so much fun. Oh well... not meant to be.

I had really been looking forward to my run tonight... was planning to watch the first half of the game while on the treadmill. I rocked it... good clip... ran 5 miles in 52 minutes. I was pretty stoked. If only the game had turned out as good.

We have very little planned for the weekend. Spring Break is next week, and we have very little planned for it as well. I am thinking we might take the boys to some cavern place is SW Missouri for long day trip or a quick overnight. We have decided that 2009 is the year we really reign in our spending and pay close attention to our financial situation. We are very fortunate to have solid, safe jobs right now, but the overall current climate has kind of opened our eyes to the fact that we need to just be cognizant, and prepared. All that to say that we've opted against any big vacations this year.

I have pretty much eaten like a pig this week. Thankfully, I have had three good runs this week. I'm not getting on the scale until probably Sunday morning or even Monday. I just know I won't like what I see. It's ok. I'm running well.... that is really what matters.

Here I am

So, I have left you hanging here for a few days. I had a great 6 mile run on Saturday, but ended up bagging Sunday because the day kind of got away from me. The weekends that my husband is not on call are typically about doing things he wants to do... so after church, grocery shopping and getting the mounds of laundry folded and put away, it was time to head out with him and I just ran out of time.

I really am feeling pretty good about where I am right now. I'm running regularly... hard... I feel like it's showing some. I'm close to being as fit as I've been in years. I am pretty sure I am in better shape now than I was when I ran the Denver 1/2 back in Oct. '07. I know for a fact that I weigh almost 10 pounds less today. That alone says something. ha!

My uncle had surgery today, so I'm planning to go over to see him after work tomorrow.

I wish I had something more exciting to write about tonight. Soon... hopefully... stay tuned!

Sister is gonna give this another try

So, here I am again. I'm the same girl and honestly, my life is just about the same as it was the last time I posted on this blog... which was close to a year ago. To recap the past year:

I went to my 20 yr high school reunion and had a great time. I never lost those 10 pounds. Oh well.

I didn't do any long runs in 2008. I coasted through summer running a few times / week, then picked up the pace quite a bit in early fall. I lost 6 pounds just prior to the cruise my family went on at Thanksgiving. I may have run 5 times between Thanksgiving and Dec. 31. Oh, and those 6 pounds? Yes, they reappeared.

2009 started off just fine. The husband had a birthday, then I had a birthday. The twins recently had a birthday. The step-son will have a birthday in about 2 weeks. I am officially in training for the OKC Memorial 1/2 marathon in late April. I began training on February 2, and I've followed my training schedule pretty closely. I'm running 5 days / week, with a long run on the weekend (so far long has been either 5 or 6 miles). I have thrown in some speed work a few times, and honestly, I am running really strong right now. I ran 3 miles tonight at 10 minute pace. My goal for the 1/2 in April is 10.5 minute miles. I think it's doable!

So I'm back down the 6 pounds I lost last fall. I am pretty certain I can lose another 10 before the race. I'm not going to diet, but I think by just cutting back some on what I eat and running more / faster, I will drop the weight. I'm hopeful.

So far, this blog has been all about me. I do have some pretty spectacular kids. I think I should write about them at some point. Hey, maybe I will even learn to add pictures and I might even dress this blog up some. We'll see!

Another Monday

So here I am again... at a loss for a topic and thus, words. I guess I could discuss where I am with my running right now since that is supposed to be the reason for this blog. Novel, eh?

I got rather lax w/ my running for a couple of weeks there. I never took more than 3 days off, but I did drop back and ran just 4 or 5 times over the course of 2 weeks. I am somewhat back on track, though. I ran 5 on the treadmill on Saturday before the boys and I loaded up to head to OKC to spend some time w/ my sister and her family. I did not run on Sunday, but I got back at it tonight w/ a pretty fast 3 mile run before dinner.

I have made a pretty significant decision in the past few days. My 20 year high school reunion is over Memorial Day weekend which is like 26 days away. I feel like I've really held my own quite well since high school... I am about 20 pounds heavier, but hey... really, how many people aren't? My sister has always said that us Walker girls are like fine wine... we get better with age. Neither one of us were show stoppers in high school. I was rather meek and awkward... clueless about pretty much every aspect of life. I wasn't a confident outgoing girl. I wasn't shy, but I didn't talk to boys with out being spoken to first. And that just didn't happen...much... at all... ever. I started to come out of my shell in college and I pretty much had it all figured out by the time I was 23. At my 10 year reunion, I was newly married and at that time, less than 10 pounds heavier than I was at graduation. I really felt like I looked good, my husband looked good... I had a great time and left there feeling really good about myself. 10 years later, I still feel like my husband looks good, I look pretty good... I would feel fine going today, as I am. But if I could drop 10 pounds, I would feel just that much better.

So, starting today, I am abstaining from alcohol Monday through Thursday. I am... well... dieting. I have done well today. I haven't been to the grocery store in over a week, so my cupboards and fridge aren't stocked well to support this ambition of mine, but I'll get there in the next couple of days. Tomorrow is Qdoba Tuesday and it will be interesting to see what "diet" lunch I can come up with there. I will get on the treadmill tomorrow night as well. I plan to cut out white flour foods / starches, fried food, and most sugars. I don't drink pop much at all, ever, so that's not a problem. We'll see. I know 10 pounds in 26 days is pretty extreme... but I think it's doable. Wish me luck!