More Than an Hour...NOT by Accident

Those of you who follow this rather random blog know by now that I am a runner.  Two of my biggest feats have been running 5 miles by accident and running 6 miles in 6 degrees.

Well, I have a new feat...I ran for 1 hour, 2 minutes and 8 seconds...ON PURPOSE. Plus, it was HOT.

Now, I know that those of you who are not runners are wondering, "Why on Earth would anyone want to run for over an hour on purpose?"

Well, to answer you, I would.  Running is a challenge for me, that's why I run races. 

Usually, I run 5ks but, there was a race in my town and it's a 5 mile race. I was pretty sure that my body could handle 5 miles, but I wasn't sure that my mind would be able to handle it.  I took a practice run and it really felt good and since the race is in my town, so I knew the course.  I registered.

I made three goals for my self.
1) Run the whole 5 miles.
2) Finish in an hour or less, and
3) Not die.

The day of the race was hot, and it starts on a hill.  It was hectic getting my friend, MM, registered, but I felt good at the beginning.  As the race began, I began to feel the heat. And, as is all my races, as soon as the starting gun went off, I was thirsty.

I took water at the aid stations, and by took water I mean that I splashed it on my face. But, I did drink some, and I slowed to give a little girl with Downs Syndrome a high five.

In the end, I did run the whole way and I didn't die.  I finished in 1:02:08, I missed it by that much...

But, I RAN FOR OVER AN HOUR!

I think that's a feat in itself, considering two years ago I couldn't run for 90 seconds! And remember, a year ago, my son was 10 days old.

So, I don't think I will run many 5 mile races, I do prefer the 5k, but you never know.




Finishing Strong



Bradley's Birthday

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First Word (?)

Bradley turned 1 year old two weeks ago (stay tuned for pictures).  Lots of people have been asking me if he's talking yet. Because as we all know, babies start talking as soon as they turn one.

Well, Bradley does plenty of "talking." Lots of babbling, cooing, and happy screeches...do raspberries count?  However, he really doesn't say words, he doesn't really name anything...until maybe now.

I have noticed over the last week or so, while I am preparing Bradley's breakfast, he has been chanting, "nana nana nana." This usually starts while I am cutting his banana.  I have been wondering if he is naming the banana.

Today, in the grocery store, I was walking through the produce section narrating as usual.

"Oh, look at these blueberries, let's get some."

Crickets from Bradley.

"Bradley, should we get some strawberries? Maybe you can try one this week."

Nothing

"How about some fuzzy Kiwi fruit?  They come from New Zealand. Cathy from our church is from New Zealand."

Smiles, but no sounds.

"We need lots of bananas. We need some really green ones, some kind of green ones and some that will be ready for tomorrow." (We eat lots of bananas in the Spotts house.)

"Nana Nana Nana Nana!"

"Bradley, are you saying 'banana'"?

"Nana Nana Nana!" While he is saying this he is bouncing up and down in the seat.  As I put them in the cart he is turning around to look at them and reaching for them.

"Nana Nana Nana!"

I was really hoping is first real word would be so form of "mama."  I would even settle for a form of "daddy" or "doggie."  I will have to be more observant when bananas are around to see if it sticks.

 Maybe I should pull out my early education stuff and see what qualifies as a first word, and who knows, maybe he is trying to say, "Joanna."

You Give Me Fever!

That's right, I caught it.  Royal Wedding Fever!
When I heard that the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton would be televised, I thought that I'd watch it.  Kind of like a background to my day.  Then, I found out that it would start at 4 AM. I thought I would DVR it and then I could fast forward through the commericals and stuff.  So that was the plan, DVR and watch it on a day that Adam had to work.
That was the plan until a friend said how much she wanted to watch it and didn't have a DVR.  That's when the fever began...I said, "Oh, you can come over a watch it with me some evening.  It will be fun." 

Not trying to be exclusive, I invited other friends in this circle to join in the fun. I had some interest and I was getting excited, of course the media wasn't helping much.
I think that in another life, I might like to be a party planner. As soon as I decided that I was officially having a "Royal Wedding Viewing Party" my mind went overboard with ideas:

I could make an invitation that looked like a wedding invitation
I could print off the program for my guests
Union Jack bunting from the balconies in my apartment (yes, we have balconies inside).
Union jack table coverings, napkins, etc.
Little Union Jack flags for my guests.
Tiaras and plastic "saphire" and "diamond" rings.
Favors with English toffee, Cadbury chocolate, and Earl Grey Tea.
Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding for dinner
Traditional English fruit cake for dessert


This list could go one for a while, but I think you get the picture. But, I didn't have the time, money or space for all this. 

Thankfully, my friend CM showed me a website with printable things that I could use to decorate.  Then, while watching The Today show, I learned that Kate's favorite cupcake is Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting.  I could do that! I also made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate/vanilla swirl frosting with a strawberry on top. Sparkling juice added another festive touch.

I also did little favor boxes with Heath bars and ring pops.  I made every guest a princess with a tiara.

I think everyone enjoyed themsleves.

But, in the end, it wasn't about the decor, the food or the favors.  It was about friends.

And "The Wedding of the Century."

Wise Words

When Bradley was first born, I had a hard time nursing him. 

One night, at the end of my rope I made a call to a friend.  While I was sobbing, this wise friend told me that God was giving me this situation so that I could one day help someone else who was having this problem.  I remember thinking (and maybe saying) that I didn't want to help anyone else, I just wanted this to work for me.

Well, today, that wise friend's words came true.  I was able to give wise words to someone else in need.  It felt really good to be able to help this new friend.  All that pain and suffering, all the tears, all the frustration, all the dread, it all came back to me as I was offering my advice. 

And it was all worth it.

Are We There Yet?

My favorite blog is written by my friend, L. Occasionally, she will write a post about her beautiful daughter, S's eating habits. Sometimes, these posts include pictures of S with whatever happened to be on her plate smeared across her face.

When I see them, I usually think to myself, "I'm glad we are not there yet."

Until yesterday that is, because we have arrived "there."

Bradley's new "game" at meal times is to grab the bowl of the spoon as it is headed to his mouth and take the food into his hand and "squish" it.  He transfers the food from hand to hand and continues to "squish" it while he eats. Usually, this only results in messy hands and high chair tray.

Until yesterday that is, because yesterday he was tired.

When Bradley is tired, he rubs his eyes.

Do you have a mental picture yet?

When he was done eating, I looked at my messy little guy and thought, "You look just like S!"

They must be having secret meetings in the church nursery or something, because S has also taught him to blow raspberries.

Yes, he blows them with food in his mouth.

Picture collage generated with Smilebox

Mostly Bradley; Only One About Running

We bought a new car recently and since it is registered in Michigan, we don't need the Maine inspection sticker.One day, Adam went out to take off the sticker.  When he came in he said, "I also took off the dealers plate from the front, do you want a [Detroit] Tigers plate for the front?"

"Does it have to be a Tigers Plate? Can I have a Hello Kitty plate, instead?" I replied.

"Do you want me to drive you places? Because I'm not getting behind the wheel of a Hello Kitty car."

So, I guess I'm getting a Detroit Tigers plate.  Maybe I can find a compromise.

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Bradley is perfecting his pincher grasp.  He is starting to feed himself some Puffs.  I really need to take some picture or video.  As soon as he decides which one to grab, he opens his mouth.  He keeps it open the entire time he picks up the puff until he gets it into his mouth.  Then, there is a big smile and chewing.

He has also started to feed himself banana pieces.  It reminds me of the scene in Pretty Woman when Vivian is in the fancy restaurant and she flips to food over her shoulder and the waiter catches it, "Slippery little suckers."

Those little buggers get everywhere.  As with the puffs, he opens his mouth while he is reaching for the banana piece.  He keeps it open while he chases the slippery little sucker around his tray.  When he finally gets it, is usually slips out of his grip and somewhere onto his hand.  He then, with mouth open, scrapes his hand along his face until the banana gets into his mouth.  Or falls in his lap, or the floor. He has about a 4 out of 10 success rate.

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Bradley and Caramel have had an interesting 9 months.  At first, their interactions were all Caramel initiated.  She would come over to where he was, swing, infant seat, tummy time and start licking what ever she could get to.  At first, he just kind of took it.  As he learned to smile, Bradley would smile and eventually laugh when Caramel came by.

When Bradley started to jump in his Jumper-roo, Caramel would come by and start licking his face.  This was met with smiles, laughter and more jumping.  The jumping would usually make Caramel nervous and she would get away.  Sometimes, Caramel would bring her ball to Bradley to throw for her.

Soon, when Bradley was jumping he would stop and hold out his arms out towards her.  Bradley would let out a happy squeal over and over again.  We think it was his way of calling Caramel.

Now, Bradley is mobile.  He has started to Army crawl.  He is getting pretty quick, too. Bradley will often crawl over to her and grab her feet, tail or anything else he can. Caramel usually runs away.

Caramel and Bradley have started playing a new "game". It starts with Caramel playing very nicely with one of her toys.  Bradley crawls over to join in.  When he gets too close for Caramel's comfort, she finds a new place to play.  Bradley changes direction and goes after her, and the cycle starts over.  They play for quite a while like this.  Caramel usually gets too stressed out and abandons the toy.  Then, one of the adults moves the toy before Bradley can get to it and redirects him to a baby toy.

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I ran another 5 k recently.  It went well.  It was a "there and back" race which is nice.  I made note of landmarks on the way "there" so that I would know when I was getting to the finish.

The way "there" was pretty nice, the wind was at my back and the sun was shining and I was getting hot!  I had unzipped my jacket and pulled my sleeves up and was about to take off my hat when we turned around. 

Then, the wind was at my front.  It was SO cold!  I zipped back up and pulled my sleeves back down.  My teeth even started to chatter a little!

As we were lining up to start, I noticed a runner in bright orange shoes lining up behind me.  Other than his shoes, I noticed that he was wearing a tank top and shorts.  I knew he'd be fast and he was.  He quickly past me and he past me going "back" while I was only about half of the was "there."

I was about a mile away from the finish and he past me again, going "there", like he had started the race again.

I could see the school we started at when I heard someone passing me, it was Bright Orange Shoes!  He ran 10k in the time it took me to run a 5k!

But, this isn't about his time (first place of the whole race), it's about mine.  Two minutes faster than my last 5k!  And a victory!

Thinking Spring

Old Man Winter is finally running out of cold air.  I'm not ashamed to say that I am glad!

Don't get me wrong, this has been a good winter. We had a nice Christmas.  It was fun to have Bradley's First Christmas here at home.  We celebrated quite a few milestones.  Bradley began rolling over, sitting on his own, eating "solids", and he got teeth!

It snowed pleanty this year and I thought it was kind of fun to have blizzards! More fun, was that this year, the snow actually stayed more than one day. 

And of course, there are some fun clothes for the winter.  I got to wear my fun coats, boots, hats and scarves.  Plus, I have some nice winter skirts and there is always my sweater collection.

I even learned to be a "hard core runner" this winter.

But, now, the weather is warmer and we are getting rain instead of snow.  There is so much that I will be able to do now.

I'm going to be able to take the baby on a walk.  I will be able to run with out getting freezing feet! Plus, we can grill outside!

And, there's baseball!

I love going through my clothes and putting away the cold weather clothes and taking out my short sleeve tops and skirts and crop pants.  Oh, I have so many cute spring shoes and purses.

So, Old Man Winter, take a hike!

The Pacifier

It has always been fine with me that Bradley doesn't take a pacifier.  He's not a big fusser and as soon as he discovered his thumb, that has been his choice. 

The other day though, I really wished Bradley would take one.  He had a little cold and had been having a fussy day.  He had be coughing and the more he fussed, the more he coughed.  The more he coughed, the more worked up he got...you get the picture.

I needed to change his diaper and he was really not happy to be on the changing table.  He was crying so hard he turned red.  I needed to get him settled down because he was starting to cough.  I sang songs, he cried.  I tickled him, he cried.  I pick him up and swayed with him, he started to cough.  He was coughing so hard he stopped crying.

I needed something to calm him down.  As a last ditch effort, I put him on the changing table and grabbed a pacifier.  When he opened his mouth to cough, I shoved it in.

He looked a little surprised, but he closed his mouth and sucked for a few seconds.

Then he spit it out.

Me, at the brink of just putting him in the crib and going down stairs for a few minutes, laughed and said, "You aren't supposed to sit that out, you silly boy!"

He looked right at me and laughed!  I put the pacifier back in his mouth and he spit it out again.  I repeated the silly boy thing and he laughed again.

When I stuck it back in his mouth, he spit it out and giggled.

We were playing a game!

I managed to change his diaper and we played a few more rounds.  He was having a great time, and we were both calm.

The next time I started to put the pacifier into his mouth he grabbed it.  He stuck it in his mouth.

Backwards.

The handle was in his mouth and he was chewing on it rather happily.  It was kind of funny to watch the nipple part bobbing around.

This new game is pretty popular.  We play it just about every time he gets a diaper changed.  It always ends with it in his mouth backwards.  But, hey, at least he's happy.

Instead of Counting Sheep

So, my car broke down today.

I was headed into Portland and on the expressway my car started to act funny.  It didn't stall, but it seemed to be jerking in the tiniest little bit.  Just before I pulled into the parking garage, it started to make an odd noise.  It sounded like a low pitched whine.

I started to think maybe it was the air filter.  I was due for an oil change ( I have an appointment on Friday), so I thought after I parked, I would get the filter our and shake some crud out of it and see if that helped.

Ah, the best laid plans.

It didn't make it to a parking space.  It stalled out on the ramp.  In the middle of the ramp. With cars behind me and cars coming at me.  I put on my hazards and turned off the car and started it again.  I was able to make it up the ramp and turn. Oh, if I could just get to a space! But, Wednesdays are a really full day in this garage.

It stalled again and I could not get it started.  The hazards were still on but I was going NOWHERE!  Four cars passed me and nobody seemed to give a second thought to the young mom crying her eyes out in the stalled car.

I looked ahead of me and I noticed that there was about enough room in between two cars parked in handicapped spaces.  Not exactly legal, but it would do.  I prayed and started the car, I hit the gas and it went into the "space."

For years, my in laws have paid for AAA membership for my DH and I and I couldn't be happier about it.

The tow truck wouldn't fit in the garage, so a smaller AAA truck (the kind that gives you a jump or changes your tire) came to check out the situation.  The two guys looked under the hood and tried a few things, but couldn't find anything they could easily fix.  They couldn't get the car to go into reverse or drive or anything else.

It was time to push.

The pushed me out of the space, but to get me to the exit, we would have to go up 2 floors or down 5.  So, they tied a strap to the front and dragged me out of the garage and loaded the car onto the tow truck. 

We went to Westbrook to a dealership and the serviceman went to take a look at the car.  He told me that he didn't know when he could get it into the garage, but from the few minutes he looked at the car, it seemed to be the transmission. 

He arranged for the shuttle to bring me home.  While I was waiting for the shuttle, I started to count my blessings:

• I broke down and was able to park in a safe garage.  Not on the expressway or in the middle of a busy street.
• I was able to get a tow truck and they arrived within 15 minutes.
• If it is the transmission, Saturn/GM will pay for half of it (or give us $5000 toward a new vehicle).
• Bradley was with me and he was calm or asleep most of the time.

This could have been a very bad, bad situation.  But, God kept it from that.

Stuff I've Made

I'm sorry this post is a little random, I'm still learning about putting pictures on the blog.

This is a Gingerbread Trifle, it looks as good as it tasted!





See, it looks just like the picture!

 


The front cover of a photobook I made for a friend.















This is the inside of the photobook. It is the first project I made for LoveBug Papercraft.





A card for my sister, she enjoys all things Superman.







I've recently started crocheting little stuffed animals.

A card for my father-in-law

This one is for my sister-in-law.

I made this card for my brother-in-law. Inside: "Swishing" you a happy birthday!

I think this little dino is super cute!

Meep, Meep!

I realize that this is quickly turning into a running blog.  I will try and post something about the baby or something else soon.

I really dislike running on a treadmill.  Not only is it boring, but it makes my knees hurt.  In a pinch, I might run on a treadmill, but usually I avoid it. So, when I woke up Monday and saw that it had snowed, I thought, "Well, I could go to the gym and run on the treadmill, but I want to be hard core, so I'll head outside." It was early, and still cold, but I'm not afraid of a little cold.

So, out I went. The parking lot hadn't been plowed, but it was just my warm-up so I walked in a tire track.  When I got to the end of the road, I headed to the sidewalk I usually run on.  It hadn't been plowed, I thought I be hard core and run in the snow.  My first step resulted in a frozen foot (dang ventilated shoes!).  So I took to the road.

I ran along the road and it was rather comfortable, slushy, but better than the side walk.  The road was pretty quiet, and I hit my stride and was feeling really good about my choice to be hard core. 

Then I cam to the park I run through.  From where I first can see the park, it looked plowed, so when I got there I headed in.  It had only been plowed a few feet in, probably a plow turn around.  I thought I'd try the snow again, but it was too deep, so it was back to the road for me.

Now, this may seem like a simple decision, but...well...not so much.  It was either the ankle deep snow in the park or a big, steep hill.

I hate this hill, I hate to walk it, and run it.  But, I started off to run up this hill anyway.  I became the "hard core runner that could."

For about 5 steps.  I slipped and slid with all 5 steps.  I decided I could walk up the hill.  I continued to slip and slide up the hill as fast as I could, to keep my heart rate up.  I knew that Main Street was coming and that there would be too many cars on it to run safely.  I decided that I would have to do my best and run in the snow.  This run was not turning out too fun.

It was plowed! The sidewalk along Main Street had been plowed.  There was a thin layer of snow, but it was packed down and rather even.  I hit another stride and really enjoyed my running along Main Street.  Crossing the street at school street was really slushy, so I hurtled over it.  I slid a little, but thankfully, I did not land bottom first in the slush. 

The plowing ended after I turned at Handy Andy's (or Andy's Handy??), I took back tot he road.  There was very little traffic so I ran toward the center of the road.  I was remembering the safety video I saw in elementary school of a racoon in a police uniform telling the audience to walk facing traffic.  There wasn't much traffic, but the cars I did see, were polite and moved over so I wouldn't have to run in the slush. 

As I turned on to North Road, it was really quiet.  The sidewalk hadn't been plowed, so I decided to run in the road.  I was really starting to enjoy my run again and feel good about my decision to run this morning.

It didn't last long.  A plow was heading my way.  I moved over as far as I could, but the driver did not.  I had to jump into the bank to avoid getting taken out.  My feet had warmed up, but now I could feel the slush sloshing around in my shoes. 

At least the plow had slowed down.  A car was approaching, I stayed as close as I could to the bank.  The driver did move over slightly, but she didn't slow down.  There was a little bit of slush on the road.

That's right readers, I got sprayed. 

I was wearing a few layers, so most of my body was fine.  However, just a little bit of slush did land on my neck.

And slide down my back.

I can handle cold, slushy feet.  But, mostly frozen water sliding down my back, not so much.

I almost started to cry. 

I the rest of the run was without event, but all I could think about was the line of cold-ness down my back.  Not even my new Glee music was making it better.

Lesson learned: If it has snowed the night before, wait until afternoon to run, the sidewalks are more likely to be plowed.

So, I think if there was any doubt that I am a hard core runner, there shouldn't be any more. Now, I am even a road runner!