Time for an Update:

It has been almost 3 weeks since my last post but it hasn't been for lack of activity... more a lack of camera (WTF is that thing???) and a partial cleanse of all things internet. In keeping up with my new years resolution, I am currently finishing my 5 book of the year! Which means during my blessed nap time hours I have been cuddling up with a book rather than going cross eyed and throwing angry fits over a certain bird game, stalking people on facebook or tending to the Blog. So, sorry. But it's been good for me.

Now, back to the books. I started the year with Water For Elephants, followed by The Help, then a fun read from a friend called Naptime is the New Happy Hour. Most recently I finished The Glass Castle and am currently in the middle of The Art of Racing in the Rain. Every single one has been my favorite! Although, I must say the Glass Castle wins as one of the most touching memoirs of all time (I think). I loved, loved, loved it.

I am currently training for The Ramble Run 12K on Mothers Day and have been logging much longer runs the past month and been hitting the hills. You can't see the course because it is in a gated community but one section is on the Blue Ridge Parkway and another on a wooded trail, so I am assuming it won't be flat. And 7.4 miles has required some getting used to. In all of my training endevors I have gained 3 pounds and have been eating like a very large, stoned man at a Bob Marley concert. And speaking of Mothers Day, my little boy who was born on Mothers day 2008 will be turning 3 soon. I love him so much. I can NOT believe he will be three and how fast these years are flying by.

We spent a fabulous Easter at the beach and even got the whole family out to see the sunrise on Sunday morning .No church or book could ever speak to me the way something like this does. It makes me feel alive. It also makes me miss home very, very much.

I so wish I had more pictures to share and here is hoping that my camera is just lodged in a bin of blocks somewhere. Happy Spring everybody!

The Cooper River Bridge Run

Way back in 2003, Jaime and I became engaged and celebrated with a trip to Charleston, SC. There were no hotel rooms in the whole city and we were stuck having to fork over big money to bunk in pure fanciness at a posh B&B (darn). Upon arriving in Charleston we found out it was "Bridge Run" weekend. What's that? The third largest 10K race in the US with over 40,000 runners. "Holy crap! That many people come here to run 10 miles? Why?" I asked while eating my croissant and drinking a mimosa. Someone remarked that it wasn't 10 miles...it was only 6.2. Ha, only. It all sounded crazy to me but Jaime and I later discovered what was super fab about all these nutty people was that as soon as the race was over, the entire town turned into a Madi Gras atmosphere at 8:30am. Now that, is my kinda party! We partied the day away and lived vicariously through everyone in town for the race. It was so much fun, I only wish I could remember it...

Seven years and 2 children later, we returned to Charleston but this time with bibs in hand ready to tackle that bridge. Jaime ended up staying with the boys and I was sent out on a solo mission only to surprise the heck out of myself an finish in just over 55 minutes. Even more surprising? I settled for Taco Boy and nap rather than the post race party. My oh my, how 7 years and two children can change you.

This year the kids are older and more trustworthy with babysitters so Jaime joined me for a repeat performance. And before I get into this years race let me tell you a little bit about Jaime. He is awesome BUT slightly crazy. He has to be 3 hours early for everything. Seriously, this is not an exaggeration. And every second that passes while traveling to said destination he is a nervous wreck and also chugging coffee, thereby making him even more nervous. So knowing what I knew from last years race, I was prepared for Jaime to freak. You (and 40,000 other people) have to be in line for the buses by 6am to make it over to the start line in Mt. Pleasant by 8am. I went ahead and did the mental math accounting for travel time from Seabrooke (45 minutes), breakfast and putting us inline by 5:30am (the absolute latest Jaime could handle if the requirement was 6). So, we got up at 3:30am. Our wonderful hosts, Jaime's Aunt Sherry and Uncle Bart, had graciously left out breakfast for us and offered to take care of the boys. I asked Jaime to turn on the light, "There's no time" he says holding out his Iphone providing only enough light to see me standing in the dark next to 10 cereal boxes.

When we got in the car, he made me drive. I had been forewarned that on Seabrooke if you go 26 miles an hour you have to pay $50.00. No questions asked, no exceptions. Must go 25, I repeated in my head over and over. And who can forget my run in with the Folly police on the way to last years bridge run? So, we are out driving around in the dark for what feels like an eternity and all I can think about is food. I never skip breakfast and generally the first thing I think about when I wake up is what I am going to eat. I am a mega-grouch without food, coffee, a gallon of water and a multivitamin. So I did the unthinkable and went to McDonalds. Yes, those same golden arches that soak all of their food in ammonia and use meat "products", aka-pigs toenails and chicken beaks. But I figured whats the worst that can happen with an Egg McMuffin and a coffee? Jaime tells me he wants a plain biscuit with grape jelly which also seems safe. No problem! Except I was forgetting one crucial thing... where do people go to work when they are too stupid to work anywhere else? You guessed it: the Downtown Charleston McDonalds. These people were some class acts and I am not one to berate food service workers (I worked at Hardees at one point in my life for about 8 hours, so I get it) but holy hell, how long does it take to get a biscuit? Exactly 35 minutes, that's how long. Finally, I asked the girl at the register if she wouldn't mind just giving my food to someone else since we had already payed for it and I didn't want it to go to waste and she goes, "Ah nah, I get fo ya." and grabs a bag that had been sitting next to the fryer for 10 minutes. Jaime was in a total fit by this point and I am pretty sure was breathing irregularly. When we got in the car he says, "Do you need directions?" which he had been pulling up from the Iphone and I am like, "Uh, yeah, duh" and he says "Ahhhhhh. I thought you could get there from here" and starts to pound something into the phone. At which point I say, "Forget it" and take off about 100 miles per hour down Calhoun. We saw an empty spot in front of a fire hydrant and in all seriousness Jaime say's "Just park here!! I'll pay the ticket!" I had finally had enough and told him he needed to calm down. It was 5:45am and the race didn't start for 2 hours and 15 minutes. We eventually found legal parking and made our way to the line only 5 minutes after the suggested time of 6am. Granted, we were almost a mile back from where we would actually get on the bus and between parking, trips to a port-a-john and all of the line, I am pretty sure I had run 5K before ever stepping up to the starting line. It was an adventure, but we made it! On the bus ride over we were treated to this sunrise on the bridge :And Jaime became my cool, collected sweet husband again. We had literally been off the bridge for 45 seconds when the bus driver got a message via walky talky that the bridge was now closed. Whew!! That was cutting it way too close. Imagine if we had missed our entire race for a McMuffin? We lined up for the start at exactly 8am behind 40,000 of these people:

I was tired. It had been a long journey to get to this point and I get a little scared in crowds. I started thinking about how this seemed like the perfect venue for a terrorist attack and imagined the bridge blowing up. As we stood there waiting for our wave to take off I was becoming more and more anxious. Finally at 8:21 it was our turn to cross the start line, which means I wasn't even finished with the first mile when the Kenyans were celebrating their victory.

Running with 40,000 people is a struggle. Just imagine if you decided to go for a run in the middle of the civic center at a Phish show. Also, after my surprising time in the Shamrock a few weeks back I got cocky and thought this would be a breeze. That bridge is actually pretty freaking steep and it was hot. I was working harder than I had planned and was relieved when I got to the finish line. The clock said 1:16 but since we started 21 minutes late my chip time came out to 55:38 which was exactly 3 seconds slower than last year. Well, at least I am consistent. Jaime got 53 something and had way more fun than I did. He we are at the finish festival.
I was pretty bummed out about my experience and ate my feelings in key lime pie and sweet tea. But when we layed down for bed that night (at 8pm) I read an article Aunt Sherry had cut out for us. It was about people running the bridge to overcome something. One lady had lost a child, one had cancer, one had lost like 100 pounds...and I immediately felt selfish and ungrateful. I thought back to that trip in 2003 when I didn't even know how far 10K was and realized, 55 minutes and 6.2 miles is nothing to shake a stick at. And how lucky am I that we are healthy enough to run, fortunate enough to have wonderful family to keep our two beautiful boys and we got a fabulous vaca to Charleston out of it? Falling asleep I had a much more positive outlook and looked at the day totally different than I had before. Funny how a little rest can make you so much happier.

We spent the rest of the weekend at the beach and eating more pie. I absolutely love Charleston. The people, the food, that damn bridge, everything. The boys had a blast and proved to us even more what little beach bums they are. We are counting down the days until next year and who knows? Maybe just maybe we will live there by then.

Asheville Idiotarod

This past weekend Asheville hosted the legendary "Idiotarod" shopping cart race. It is part of the race for awesomeness series that also includes the basketball 5K (dribbling a basketball 3.1 miles). I have been trying to get a team of 5 to compete the past few years and have never been successful. Mainly because my ever so ethical husband ( who used to make me pay taxes on my babysitting money) seems to think that "stealing" a shopping cart is bad news. So this year I found a way to be involved without breaking any laws. I took part in an honest to goodness flash mob!

For those you who aren't up to date on Flash Mobs (or current episodes of the Modern Family) don't worry, it isn't what it sounds like. We don't go around flashing people. That would give Jaime even more of a heart attack than stealing a buggy. The actual definition is: a term coined in 2003 to denote a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment and/or satire. The director of the race heard that the E! Television show "Too Fat for Fifteen" was going to be filming this years run and decided to put together a group of people who suddenly appear and do the entire dance to Micheal Jackson's Thriller. We met secretly all week and learned all of the steps. Not an easy task for someones such as myself. I would rather run 10 miles than do a single cha cha and that MJ has some pretty crazy moves. But it was a learning experience and by the end of the last practice I felt good about it. So imagine my sadness when Sunday's performance was less than thrilling. Boo. We had a large group of about 100 people who dedicated time and effort into learning each step for a fabulous performance (and one very hot, Micheal Jackson dance teacher, who may or may not have been gay, who spent the whole week teaching like 10 dance classes) all to have a ton of drunk people join in and try to preform the dance as well and basically stepped on feet and dropped it like it was hot. Entertaining, yes. Thrilling, no. But in the end I am left with a small space in my brain that now contains all of the dance information I need to surprise the heck out of some people at the next Halloween party. And that, is good enough for me!

Check out these pictures of how fabulously weird Asheville is. We really want to move back to the beach (like really, really bad) but there is no comparison for this town. It is such a uniquely, wonderful part of North Carolina. Enjoy!

Mind Numbing Chit Chat

Oh. My. Goodness. There are days where my brain literally feels like it is on fire. I spent the first two years of Josiah's life praying that he would talk sooner rather than later and that my fear of measles, mumps and rubella had possibly sent him into a vaccinated, autistic frenzy and now...it never ends.

Where we going today Mama? We going to the bank after that? Why we don't have any money for the bank? Daddy don't give you no money? Who would be on my sticker if I went to the bank? I get a kitty sticker at the bank? What's for lunch today? Where did you get that turkey? That turkey was at Yaya's house on Thanksgiving? Where did Bubby get those pants? Those pants is red? Why are you yawing? You tired? Mommy?"

That is just a brief interlude into my day with Josiah. And honestly, I feel slightly guilty for my responses to some of these questions after 7 plus hours of it. Sometimes I totally ignore him or sometimes I go for shock value. As in, " Whats that mans name?" (Random guy at grocery Store) "Handy Manny, honey". "That man is Handy Manny?!" "Yep."

Lately, I have been enforcing a very strict policy of not answering a question more than once. If he asks the question and receives no response (because I am ignoring him) he is allowed to repeat the question until getting a response. But once I answer it, I will not not answer it again. This policy does NOT work. He keeps asking after reciveing a response and I keep answering because I don't know what else to do.

AH! And thank heavens Oliver only says "cookie" over and over and it is still adorable. What the crap am I going to do when they are both talking non-stop? I tell Josiah all the time, "Talk to Oliver" and he says, "Bubby a baby. He dont' talk." To which Oliver usually shoots him a sideways glace that says, "Be quite!"

In all seriousness, he is pretty freaking adorable and the stories are hilarious. The other day he told me that heaven was in Wilmington. How sweet is that? And really, who can resist this guy?

My Lucky Day

Thanks to a wonderful mother who raised me to believe that I was the prettiest, smartest, best person to ever live I have grown to be extremely competitive by nature. From the moment I was born all I ever heard was how lovely I was, as any doting parent should tell their child. So, imagine my surprise when I started middle school about one foot taller than everyone else (boys included) and this weird combination of being skinny and huge at the same time. Wearing my duck head shorts and rusty t-shirt I thought I was awesome and later found out, I wasn't. Somewhere in those lost middle school years I had to make a decision; Cry about it and let others dictate the way I feel about myself or continue to believe that I am awesome. I chose the later. Thanks Mom.

So anyway, here I am 15 years later and if a camera is around I still stop to pose like I am at the end of a catwalk. These days my husband has replaced my Mama as my roommate but thankfully continues to make my feel like one in a million. This glowing self-esteem isn't without its downfalls... I am really hard on myself. I don't like to lose or ever feel like I could have done something better. I want to be the best at everything and I actually get pissed off when I'm not. Yep, I said it out loud.

Last spring was the first time in 2 years that I wasn't pregnant or had just given birth. So, I took full advantage and got into tip top fighting shape. Everything was almost perfect with one exception, The Shamrock 10K. It isn't just a 6.2 mile run, it is the 10K of death. The hills are killer and the climbs in between seem to last forever. When I first practiced the course last year it took something crazy like an hour and twenty minutes (I did get lost and added an extra mile or two, but still.) On race day in 2010 I finished in 1:05:52 and almost threw up at the finish line. I felt like Micheal Scott when he finished that 5K for rabies on The Office and ate so much fettuccine and no water. It was officially my worst race ever and it has haunted me for a year.

I began practicing for this years race in January. I ran the course in rain and ice. One day my lips started bleeding from the blistering winds. I ran with a friend who is way faster and every single time thought to myself, I am never running with him again. I pushed it as hard as I could and only got under an hour one time. Which is crazy, because I even ran faster per mile in the Asheville Half than that. What is it with this course?

So this past Saturday was the big day. Time to redeem myself. And when I say that I am competitive yes, I like to beat other runners, but when I am running the only person I am competing against is myself. It's all about self-improvement and being better than the day before. I put on all my lucky, green shamrock gear (If I can't win the race there was always the costume contest, right?) and headed over to Asheville Catholic School. I realized on the way there that I had forgotten my watch. Oh well, the finish line would have to be a surprise. I took off with the gun and ran down Kimberly really fast. I was thinking the whole time, "I am running too fast. I won't be able to make it up Cherokee. Slow down." but I just kept going fast anyway. Then when I reached Cherokee (hill to heaven) it was literally like downshifting in my little Red Jetta. I kept running but everything was in slow motion and seemed much heavier. I said a little prayer of thanks when I reached the top and took off up Sunset. And to be clear, sunset sucks. It is a such fake out because you can't see the actual elevation change (like on Cherokee) but it just keeps going and going and hurting an hurting. My ipod fell out of my ear at one point and the sounds I heard around me were like people gasping for their last breaths. The way I personally sounded made me grateful that the money I payed to the race went to people who were hopefully praying for me. The downhill portion didn't come soon enough or last long enough before I was pulling myself up that ginormous hill on Kimberly wondering what the outcome was going to be. On one hand I felt slow and like I was near death and on the other I knew I had given it everything I had. No matter what the outcome I couldn't have done any better and was already planning next years attack strategy when I rounded the corner and could see the clock. 55 something. What? I ran up the hill on Culvern with a new burst of life and a giant smile. Granted, it must've said 55:50 something because by the time I crossed the finish line it was 56:07, 9 minutes and 45 seconds faster than last years time. I won. Now what?

Oh, Oliver.

Somehow, someway...it has been over 18 months since little Oliver was born. At this point my life has become so fun and relatively simple. I have noticed that when I wake up in the morning my perspective has changed from, "What the heck are we gonna do to fill this day up and make it go by as quickly as possible?" To, "What are we gonna do today?!!" I actually miss Josiah when he is at school and am so excited for summer. I can't imagine not spending all day, everyday with these boys. And even though it is still over 2 years away, kindergarten is getting too close.

Oliver has grown into such a wonderful little toddler, who I will always refer to as my baby. He can talk and fight and makes sure to get exactly what he wants and nothing that he doesn't. He can sing and count to 3. He loves to climb on stuff and read books. He loves Josiah.

His little personality is developing too. Today I asked him what he wanted for lunch and he looks at me stone faced and says, " Cooo key." I started to laugh and then he started laughing too. Last night Josiah asked, "Can I have Bubbies strawberries?" and Oliver yelled across the table, "NO!" He has developed quite an attitude and has even started throwing some tanturums. Still, they are so much easier to deal with the second time around. Or maybe they are just easier because they are coming from Oliver and he is just so freaking sweet, even when he's mad.

His hair is crazy looking. The top just isn't growing. The back however, is beautiful and soft. Jaime gave me five dollars (Um, heck yeah this this stay at home mama took that!) in exchange for a promise not to cut it until after he turns two, so he will be rocking the mullet for a while longer. Here are some pics of my one and a half year old baby. Enjoy!

Healthy, Happy and Fabulous

First of all let me start by saying, wow and holy guacamole! That stinky little groundhog named Phil can actually predict the weather. This month has been fantastically glorious. Every weekend has been sunny and ranging anywhere from 50-70 degrees and it's FEBRUARY! We have been taking full advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures and even spent a Valentines Day weekend alone at the beach. And even though I spent the better part of Friday in Urgent Care and Saturday indoors under the covers fast asleep...it was awesome! I mean, if you're gonna be sick might as well do it next to the ocean, with no kids and a good looking man. And Saturday night when I finally got my appetite back, Jaime was there to take me on super romantic date to the one and only J Micheal's Philly Deli. Ah, nothing like fried mushrooms and a 12 inch cheese steak after not eating for a week. The boys had a fabulous time at Yaya and Grandpa's house and even got to go to the motherland and soak up some salt and sand.Upon returning to Asheville we have been hiking in Hot Springs.

Practicing for the soccer team,And returning to business as usual with daily trips to the park, sitting on the porch looking for trash trucks and being outside as much as humanly possible. We currently have no broken bones or illness and life is great! It is truly amazing how much easier my days become when it isn't freezing outside.

Goals for spring include: Running LOTS, selling this house and finding Jaime a job being the CFO of an ocean front retirement community where he can work half days. That's all. And in regards to that crazy post about more babies... don't get your hopes up. I love to run and be skinny way too much in warm weather. Talk to me in the fall!