Too much of a good thing?

***I have tried three times to enter my paragraph breaks in this post and they are not working for some reason, so I apologize for the one big lump of words below!*** I got myself a membership at the local YMCA a couple of months ago. And it's been great; there's a rooftop track I can run on, loads of cardio equipment, and two pools if I so wish. And the girls love the "adventure zone" where they get to play while I work out. As I've gotten more comfortable, I started participating in some of the classes they offer. Two of my favorites are the Reebok Core Board and the Interval classes. I have been supplementing my running with these two classes. That is until I bumped into a couple of friends one day while I was on the treadmill. "How come you don't come to the spinning class?" he asked. His wife says "I hate that class, I can't feel my crotch afterwards!" I kind of felt like I was being called out, so the next week I joined the class. And the instructor wiped the floor with me. I did awful. But the next day in the Interval class a few more of the ladies were engaging me in conversation... I think I'm earning some street cred with them. I had to miss the next weeks class because I had to drive to Bellingham that morning. I heard that there were inquiries about my whereabouts. I didn't want anyone to think that this class had beaten me (which it had, but why am I concerned about what these people think?) so I ensured my friend that I would be there the following week ready to try again. I brought my cycling shoes this time and holy moly that made a world of difference in my performance! I still got pummeled, but I felt a whole lot better about it. Then I got conned into joining the instructors next class, a quick 30 minute core conditioning class, because she asked me in her overly-charming Scottish accent to join her. My friend who talked me into the spinning class in the first place says "you're taking Gael's next class? Have fun with that." Gulp. Flash forward to today, where I am staying home to do laundry and nurse my rump and right hamstring that is still sore from the horrible charlie horse I gave my self in my feeble attempt at holding my body upright on the exercise ball. But I can't stop. Even though I'm in pain I want to go back for more. I think I believe that A.) It's working and I'm getting stronger and B.) The only solution to the lactic acid and pain I feel is more exercise so that it'll go away faster and C.) I see all the same people there every day I'm there so if they can do it, then so can I.

Some...

I was trying to be a better blogger and actually edit my photos before posting them (100% of my photos have been off my iPhone in case you couldn't tell) but Picnik isn't cooperating with me tonight. Here's a few unedited pictures from our Spring Break Staycation: Pickles the hellcat has gotten lazy in his teen years; he's taken to hanging his tail on our laundry hamper hook. Loitering on the side of a rock wall on the way to lunch after attending our new local hardware store's grand opening.

Bleeding hearts at the nursery inside the new hardware store. Not a shabby pic for a phone.

The kids creating chalk mosaic art out of the cracks in our driveway. Thanks for accentuating them, kids!

Free dum-dums at the boat launch coffee shop. Mama got coffee.

Trying to con the 2 ducks at the marina into licking their dum-dums... Swim Lessons started... Natalie is a Polliwog.

Makenzie is a Pike. With a rad hairdo.

Brady is a Guppy. With straight-up style. One leg tucked into is sock with his shirt inside out? Tha's right.

It's hard to tell, but those aren't pink sprinkle donuts; they're piggy noses.

April Fools

That's what Mike and I were on Friday when we came up with the brilliant idea of taking the kids to the Rainforest cafe. Not only was the crappy weather a serious traffic impediment, they are doing "road improvement" around the Southcenter mall which created what? Yep, more traffic. So our patience was a little strained when we parked (though the kids were in great spirits) and of course we assumed that a place like this did not take reservations (especially on weekends) and when we walk up, of course we see a "Reservations Welcome!" sign hanging above the hostess elephant. Awesome. So after a nearly 2 hour drive, we still have another half hour wait. Cuz that's what happens when you assume! You might notice that there isn't a picture of Makenzie with Cha!Cha! the Tree Frog... She is still of the mindset of 'I'll wait outside of the restaurant until Cha!Cha! (if that is indeed your name) has finished with it's cameo appearance, thankyouverymuch' We brought one of Brady's new friends along for dinner, he's a nice boy and provided a nice balance to the boy:girl ratio to our evening. We had a fun time and the kids were very happy and so that made us very happy.

This past weekend, Mike had to work so I decided to take the kids to the pool for the afternoon. I decided to take them to the Y for their open swim rather than pay to take them to Forest Park's open swim figuring that the shallower pool would be warmer and the kids could play more independently. We got their and the shallow pool was closed (they drained it for spring break... smart idea? So instead we were corralled into a 15 square foot roped off area of the big COLD pool, so we bagged out after 45 minutes.

And in other news... Mike and I bought our first piece of furniture together! I think we're getting serious. (: It was a iffy picture on Craigslist and we decided to go check it out and we both saw it and both of us went "ooh" and then it came home with us. And it holds all of Mikes Harley Davidson Collectibles. It's old. It's cool. And it's ours.

Hump day

I had a rare kid-free afternoon so I headed to the nail salon for a little pampering. Halfway through my appointment, the power went out! So I ended up spending an extra 20 minutes sitting around, and of course eventually I got bored, so I snuck a picture. Why do so many women think that squirting out of too small clothing is somehow sexier than clothes that actually fit? And when you tell me you're a size XYZ I almost do a spit-take? After I picked up my kids from school we headed home just in time to see our neighbors having a new washer delivered. The kids ran out and and waited for the delivery men to reappear and he kindly emptied the box and sent them on their way with their treasure.

We got a new pet: Spot. He's a Tangerine Crayfish. He's pretty cool, he hunts the fish in his tank with great theatrics. What we didn't know about crayfish (other than our education about shellfish courtesy of Spongebob Squarepants) is that they molt.

Well when we got home yesterday evening we discovered that Spot had molted. Blech. I had to fish out his skin carcass and screeched a couple times thanks to Mike yelling at me that it was moving, and Pickles attacking my ankle once I got the shell out of the tank.

Forest Park

After getting up early to head to Lynnwood Bowl and Skate for a little scrimmage between Jet City and Bellingham (yay, my two worlds combined!), we headed to the park to let the kids run some wiggles out (they were amazingly well behaved at derby btw...)

Training has officially begun for running season... we have 6 weeks until the Hero's Half (on Mother's Day). We've got quite a race schedule this year, I'm super excited about 2011... so far it's been a fantastic year.

Tomorrow I get my tooth back. When I got braces a few years ago (for the 2nd time) the main goal was to close a particularly bothersome gap. The co-pay for braces was essentially the same as a crown so my thought was 'why not get braces and re-straighten all my teeth (again) and solve my gap problem?' Well, it didn't work as well as we had hoped, and so 2 weeks ago I got prepped (and charged) for solution #2: A crown larger than my tooth to close the troublesome gap. So it cost me twice as much and of course Thursday evening at 7:50 p.m. my temporary crown popped off. And my dentist is closed on Friday. And he's an hour away. So finally tomorrow I should get my tooth back and my gap closed.

A week of half days and sunshine.

Any guesses to what this might be? I'll give you a hint: Those are Mike's legs opposite mine...

Me all bundled up Bellingham-style ready to cheer for my sweetie at his softball game...

That got rained out. But I got some supercute little league pictures of him in front of the fire place (but I still think his jersey should say "Heather's" but he does go see Kate at least once a week so I guess I'll let it slide)


The kids and I met Michael at Legion park Tuesday afternoon.

The kids were having a dance party on the trampoline.

Boo and I packed a picnic and walked down to get my kids out of school and had lunch on the playground... they all loved it and it was the perfect way to spend the first warm day of the year.

Brady was showing Natalie how to climb up on the bars and stand (I tolerate him teaching her this because a. he's actually teaching her something and b. doesn't every kid need to learn this stunt?)

So of course after Natalie mastered it, she passed her newly-lernt skillz down to Makenzie.

69 Flights, 1311 Steps, 788 Feet of elevation

Today was the day. This year our team more than doubled, which was awesome. And all of our original team returned (which should tell you right there it's not THAT bad) and most of us recruited our siblings.
It was the 25th anniversary of The Big Climb; and this year marks the 20th anniversary of Mike's Uncle Gary's death from Leukemia, the 10th anniversary of losing my dad to ALL, and apparently (insert family drama here) the 1 year anniversary of the death of my cousin JP to leukemia as well. I've also lost my dear Crazy Aunt Larry (Lorraine) to Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Me and my fella at the top.

Team Falcons and Friends. Almost all of us are from the same high school (South Whidbey Falcons on the island, yes you bet we're here!) graduating from 1987-2012.

Team Huddle Hands.

Team Huddle Feet.

My brother Richard, me and my love.

I love doing these events with him. He makes me so proud.

I love candids of myself. I'm actually pinning a picture of my dad onto my shirt.

Post Pyramid and saying farewell to our falcon friends.
Toasting each other and our our accomplishment, and toasting those we've lost.

I was 1:08 slower than last year (19:55). I am pretty disappointed in my performance, but remember that I climb for reasons bigger than myself. My sweetie did amazing (12:27), shaving over a minute off of his time, and my brother impressed me by crossing the finish line in under 14 minutes.

Once my heart rate returned to normal (my legs feel just fine, my speedy heart is what slows me down) the sweat started to bead up on my face. My doctor has prescribed me Retin-A for my skin. And HOLY MOLY sweat and Retin-A do NOT mix! Yeowch! But it I tried to wipe the sweat from my face it was like rubbing sand on a sunburn!

Until next year...