And, she's off!

Well, I've officially begun marathon training. Michelle met me here at 5:10 and we headed to the Dallas store. (Run On) It felt like the first day of school! There were three different lines to stand in and I wasn't really sure WHY I was in any of the lines until I was at the head. Then we all had to sit on the floor while they went over the rules and expectations. Very similar to school. I would guess with the Early Marathoners and the 301 Class (getting their base mileage up for later marathons) there were no less than 150 folks there.
I'll be running in the NYC marathon on November 1st. And it's my very first marathon. I'm raising $$$ for the charity, ING Run for Something Better. It's a running fitness program for school kids. I'd love to get some suggestions from all y'all on how to raise funds for my marathon! I've committed to raise $2500 and I'm about 22% of the way there. Here is a link to my fundraising site. Any suggestions are appreciated on how I can improve my site or any creative ways to raise money for this awesome charity!
We warmed up to jogging to the Katy Trail and then set out for our timed "Magic Mile." I felt like a tool running strides as we waited our turn to start, but my coach reminds me that strides are key to a good sprint performance. And she's right because I ran a 7:56. My first sub 8 mile!
We'll find out later this week I guess what group we'll be in. Michelle finished right before me (she's a speedy girl) so I'm pretty sure we'll be in the same group. And we should. We are the same pace AND she's my race buddy!
After my shower, breakfast and short nap I caught a movie I've been wanting to see, Running the Sahara. So this takes ultra marathoning to the next level. These guys are INSANE; they ran over 5000 miles across, well duh, the Sahara dessert. In just over 100 days. Straight. Yes, in temperatures of 140 degrees. But what an inspiration! Just what I needed on my first official day of marathon training. At one point one of the guys said, "It's not easy, no. If I wanted to do something easy I would have run a marathon." That's how hardcore they are. Check it out...on Showtime here.
Other than that it's been a lazy weekend. Hubs has been working so much and it seems like I've had a commitment each weekend day for a while now. So we parked it inside and just vegged. And it has been bliss. So, I'm going to head out to the porch and enjoy a little more nothing before I get ready to start the week. Ahhh.

Ugh, but Whoo Hoo!

So I did my long run on Sunday instead of Saturday. 8 miles in the am with another 4 in the pm with Hubs.

And then my Speed workout on Monday. And that started off fine. Warm up fine. Strides fine. First 2 laps fine.

Then, Ugh. My left knee just started to give out every 5 or 7 steps or so. It didn't hurt, just didn't seem to want to hold me up. A few times I thought I might actually fall over! So I stopped running and walked back, head down, Charlie Brown style, to the store.

And I didn't run again until today. Thought maybe I needed some ice and some TLC. Apparently I need more than that. Still all Hop Along Pink Girl today.

Dang.

So I'm going to take the next week off. No running. None. Because my marathon training officially begins on the 31st and I must, must, must be well for that!

So a few weeks ago I was all super physched to try this new cupcake place. A cupcake place who proudly proclaimed on their website, "Dallas Store Now Open!" Yeah, when we got there it was not yet open. Now, when you are expecting a glorious buttercream creation...you cannot bear this disappointment. So I ended up at A&J and had a petit four. And it was delish. But not a cupcake.

Today could not pass more slowly, so on our break Jules and I headed to try Petit Four, a cake place that sells, you guessed it, petit fours. Got rave reviews online. My boss says it's a must. Who am I to not try a must? And there was even a parking spot out front. Meant to be.

Or not.

They are closed. Gone. Out of business.

For reals y'all!

So once again we headed to A&J. (where they made Tony Romo's birthday cake) And once again snatched a yummy petit four to cram in my cake hole. I just need to start heading there first. It was divine.

Parsley, sage rosemary and...

Thyme. Seems like these days I'm always running short on thyme.

4 am Saturday morning (is that really even technically morning?) my phone buzzes at me. It's Kat texting me to let me know it is raining and she and Elizabeth are out for our long run. And would I mind calling Michelle? You see, Michelle doesn't have text. Well, indeed it was raining Noah style with an amazing light show to boot, but there was NO WAY I was going to actually call Michelle at 4 am. I set my alarm for a much more respectable thyme, 5 am.

So, no long run on Saturday. I can't say I minded much sleeping until 9.

I did however, make it over to my niece's 9th birthday party. It was a spa theme and I was on facial/make up duty. Here she is getting a pedi. One can only imagine the din created by five chattering 8 and 9 year olds. Mercy.

Torrential downpour yesterday means, long run rescheduled for Sunday. We carefully calculated the latest we could possible sleep and still make it to each respective Sunday School...5:45 it was. Only, you see, we were supposed to meet at 5:45. But instead I woke up at 5:45 when Michelle called me to tell me she was "almost there." Almost where? I was so confused. I didn't know WHY she was calling me. Oh, yeah. Oops.

We took a decidedly unusual direction and decided to just run. No route, no trail, no idea where we would end up, or how long we would run. And it was so fun! I highly recommend trying it every now and then just to shake things up. We ended up at 8 miles, which was perfect. Since we met so much later (6:03 thanks to sleepy me) the sun was actually out for a good deal of our run so I got to enjoy the houses, that usually appear as dark shadow in the night. Oh, and did I mention it was only 53 when we started? 53! That is unheard of in Texas in mid May! I think hell must have actually frozen over because that is the only thing I can imagine that would create such a climate.

I had a dog, red weenie dog, named Spanky growing up. This is important.

At one point we were a bit lost in a neighborhood that didn't see to have any through streets. So we'd take turns calling out which direction we wanted to go. Turn right on Kevin! Turn left on McKamy!

Imagine my delight when we saw this sign.

Spanky Branch Dr! Who doesn't want to live on Spanky Branch Dr?!!? I chuckled all the way down the street, until I saw THIS option.So many choices! I could turn on Spanky PLACE! Which was tempting, until I saw...Spanky Branch COURT! Really, who named the streets in this hood? I laughed all the way out of the neighborhood. Made my day.
What made YOUR day today?

Pajama Party!

You know how you feel at the end of a hard day? How good it feels to take a bath and put on some comfy pajamas? Ahh. We all love that feeling.

Jonathan's House is a "home style" emergency foster care facility in Dallas. Children arrive here with nothing. Just the clothes on their backs. And the circumstances that land them in emergency foster care, well, they've had much harder days in their short little lives than most of us can imagine. This unique facility serves hundreds of children each year, from infants to teens and all ages in between.

One of the facility's greatest needs is pajamas. They like to be able to present the children with new, unworn pajamas. Kind of a fresh start. And don't we feel our safest all snuggled up in bed in our jammies?

So, we had a Pajama Party this weekend! I called on all my besties to see if we could help to meet that need. And boy did they come out in full force! More on that later. (but psst, I have the most generous friends!) Silly me forgot to take any pictures of my friends, but I promise you, they were there. See for yourself!

I love to throw a party, and if it has a theme, all the better! I'm a sucker for themes! My guests were greeted at the door...

There is no way you could miss that it was a Pajama Party!
It's hot out, so I made sure to have plenty of beverages to quench their thirsts. In addition to lemonade (pink, of course) we had water. Making your own labels is super easy and really "cutes" up a plastic water bottle! The verse is from Matthew 25:36 - 40. I needed clothes and you clothed me...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers, you did for me.
No party would be complete with out some sweet treats. Strawberry cupcakes and shortbread with dark chocolate dollops.
Jelly Bellies are always a hit, and you can get them in just about any color!
Not pictured is the corn dip, yummy hummus and the dozens of baby quiche that I consumed.
It was so exciting to see the pile of jammies just growing! People want to give, they really do, even in these tough economic times.
Boy sleepers. Love the superman - it even came with a cape!
Girl jammies. Look at all that pink! You can't see it well, but there is a pair towards the top of the photo that has little yellow bees on them. Super cute! Of course I also love the pink pairs with sleeping cats on them! They were all so precious and soft.
Hubs high tailed it out of there before the girls started arriving. But after he left I found this adorable pair of Transformer pajamas that he left for us. Isn't he the sweetest? Just another one of the kazillion reasons I love this man!

I found these polka dotted boxes at Papersource. (my fave stationary store) I also just printed some pink labels, slapped on some hot pink grosgrain ribbon and filled them with addictive dark chocolate covered almonds. Mmm.

I'm so thankful for my amazingly generous friends. What a blessing their generosity will be to these children! We were able to collect 27 pairs of brand new pajamas for Jonathan's House! After everyone left, I prayed over the heaps of pajamas. I pray these children feel loved and safe as they put on their new pajamas and that God will continue to put people in their lives to protect them and nurture them. Thank you Jonathan's House for doing what you do!

Bugs and Bargains

Sorry for the extreme lack of posts lately. Our weekends have been chock full and Mondays aren't much more relaxing. I'll try to be better. You know, 'cause I know you are desperate to read about my weekend.
Right.

So Saturday morning started off dark and early with 8 miles in the heat and humidity. It's like we get 2 weeks of gorg Spring weather and the BAM, smacked in the face with summer heat. Oh well. We met out at Lucy's for the first time and - boydoesshelivefar! BUT, love running when Lucy puts water out - she left it in a cooler! Coold water! What service! Me, I just hide it behind a bush at the church.

I'm a lazy water leaver.

So sweaty and gross. Much grosser than in Winter. And when I glanced at my mug in the rear view mirror what did I see? Not the flushed face of loveliness...but gnats stuck to my face.

Nice.

Who ever said running wasn't glamorous?

Quick shower and off to Canton with Janai. May is really the last month you can go before it gets totally unbearable. It's the largest outdoor flea market. (or so the website says) The people watching is often better than the shopping. Let's just say there is a high concentration of WT at Canton. Where else can you buy a camo bikini across from the temporary tattoo sleeves, across from the turkey leg stand? She had her hands FULL of finds as you can see.

Me, I walked away with a Dublin Dr. Pepper and a peanut brittle. That I didn't eat. I've never liked them. (I don't care for peanuts) But my granny loved peanut patties. And when I saw it, memories of her kitchen, making peanut patties flooded back to me. And my heart hurt I missed her so much. So, I didn't eat it. For 80 cents I had my granny back, just for a moment. And it was worth every penny.

Sunday afternoon Jules had us over for an Open House and a Mavs watching party. Ooh, her new house is so cute! And she did such a great job of remodeling the kitchen. Julie, I stole a before and after pic. Hope you don't mind - I'm so proud of you! She and her dad did this all on their own. I'm so impressed!

Old kitchen

Snazzy new kitchen - beautiful!

Speed was brutal last night, just like I pay them to make it. I certainly don't have the discipline to run 12 400's at 5K pace, alternating every 3rd at Magic Mile pace. No way. But I love it just the same! I might be slow, but I'm faster than I used to be!

Gotta go catch Biggest Loser!