and she's back...

with a lot of support from my friend and running buddy, Kathleen. (Who, may I just say, is awesome! She hung in there through my mental breakdown and was all smiles and support this morning when I showed up at her back gate at 7am- she is incredible!)
two more weeks to go, and for the first time, I actually think I might finish the race with my wits intact!

in other news, hoping to see Cara today in San Diego- K's godmom and fabulous friend! She is one the people in my life that, no matter how long we go between chats or visits, it is like not a day has passed.

right now, I am off to deal with some chaffing issues- have a great weekend!

hello, it's me...

okay, it has been awhile since i last posted- real life takes over occasionally! hope all is well in your corner of the world...
what have I been up to? well...
-meeting and getting to know 18 new students. it is a nice group of children, however, they have many needs that we will spend the year working on. thank goodness janine and i love a challenge
-chasing after precious c. who walks everywhere. she is such a gift-always happy!
-getting three kids to three different schools. a first for us. each is doing well and working hard already.
-we had a nice shower for my niece andrea, who will be married in Oct. it was great to see everyone and catch up with them.
-book club- what a great evening! Can't Wait to Get to Heaven and recipies from the book-FUN...
-NOT running- seem to have developed some sort of mental block and have abandoned it altogether. not sure what that is about....
-trying to sneak in some moments with my husband. we are lucky to have older kids- we can go out and grab a quick meal here and there...

tonight is family night in America. we are lucky, as most nights mean all of us at the table for dinner together. we have started to say no to things that interupt our dinner time- we decided that it is sacred and comes first. don't get me wrong- it is not ozzie and harriet pleasant, but we are all together, each with our part to play, and it is only a matter of time before it will be impossible to call everyone to dinner and have them show up! life goes fast, and it is great to appreciate being together as a family- even if it means I have to cook!

a turtle sees herself for real

Well, it has been a really busy couple of weeks. Just like CPAs have their busy season, teachers spend many, many hours getting their rooms ready and attending meetings. Unfortunately, the only paid part are the meetings!

It turns out my ipod needs to be calibrated and I have not been running as much, or as quickly as I thought. I found this out the hard way when I ran a 4miler with Kath- 52 minutes is a 13 minute mile and I thought I was running closer to 11. Today, I headed out to do 8 and quit at 4.5...Joe was with me and he could walk as fast as I could run!

the kids are savoring their last hours of summer and so are the teachers in the house! our rooms are ready, the kids have their books and schedules and some new clothes to wear. we wait on school supplies until after the kids go to class- in the upper grades, each teacher wants something different and in the lower grades, most things are provided. (Did you know that kids need a 140.00 calculator these days??)

C. is waking up and ready for breakfast and then it's off to church, home to finish up summer homework and then, perhaps, to Hemet as grannie fell last night and broke her wrist...

take care of yourselves and travel safely is you are on the road!