Relay for Life

On May 8, 2009, three of my co-workers and I, along with thousands of other participants will be walking in the Relay for Life to raise money for cancer research. We will walk for 18 hours starting at 6 p.m. to show that cancer never sleeps.

I would almost guarantee that you cannot find someone that has not been directly affected by cancer, whether themselves or friends and family.

If you would like to help our team in our fund raising efforts, please visit my site and make a donation. No amount is too small and if we all help we can find a cure within our lifetimes.

You have until May, so I will probably post reminder entries in the upcoming months.

Relay for Life

In a Bit of a Dilemna

Larry and I are in a bit of a pickle over a new couple we met at the soccer fields. They are relatively new in town, from Ohio, have two boys about our boys' ages and we thought, at first, it would be a good fit and some new friends to bring into our mix. Without going into the whole back story, we invited them over for New Years Eve with a couple of other couples and apparently throughout the night, this new couple made some questionable comments regarding race, which escalated when the wife flat-out offended my friend's husband, who is mixed.

Oh my. To be honest, we had all been drinking and you would think being somewhat responsible adults, we would be beyond this, but we weren't and things were heated after the comment was made and the night ended on a very sour note.

Larry and I were able to patch things up with our friends and since we have to see this new couple at the soccer fields 3 times a week, we tried to chalk the incident up to the alcohol and ignorance.

There's so much to the story to add, but to keep things brief, we have had lunch with them a couple times since New Year's and after they asked what we were doing for the Super Bowl, we invited them over. Larry and I were trying to make an honest effort to befriend these people as I know how hard it is to move to S. Florida and be on your own.

The thing is, the more I am around them and the more I see how they respond to their boys (who make my two look like angels), the less I want to maintain this "friendship."

Sunday, our pastor preached on King David and his mighty men (II Samuel 23) and the point was "who are the mighty men in your life?" Do you have any? I know I do, but I also know that I am very susceptible to outside influences. And while I will not be mean to these people, I just don't think I can be friends with them. I need strong people to help me navigate the muddy waters of South Florida. My sons need polite children to play with, especially Peyton, who feeds off of other kids so much.

Seriously, and I almost hate writing this, but just to give an example, Larry asked their son, who is 7, along with our boys to clean something up, and the kid whined at him and pouted. I know my boys and I know how they may act around me, but I guarantee you, they would NEVER act that way at another person's house (grandparents excluded).

So, here we are with a month of soccer left and us not really sure how to handle the situation. I guess we will be polite, but conveniently have errands to run every weekend. Ugh, Larry and I are so good at getting ourselves into these awkward situations.

Yay for SuZ

My long time online friend is having her first give away! Even though SuZ has blogged for years, she recently started Not Your Typical Moma and it is really starting to explode. Can I just say that I feel like a proud little momma!

Anyway, she now has companies contacted her to review products and recently she received an invitation to review personalized fruit roll ups. You can go here to read her review and enter her give away for a free box of your own!

The boys would think I was the coolest if I won!

Killing Fun Time

Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
Post them here for everyone to guess.
NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search or other search functions.

Feel free to answer in the comments:

1. "That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you." And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back."

2. "I'm your Huckleberry!"

3. "Well, technically speaking, the operation is brain damage, but it's on a par with a night of heavy drinking. Nothing you'll miss."

4. "Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."

5. "We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all. "

6. "I once talked a guy out of blowing up the Sears Tower but I can't talk my wife out of the bedroom or my kid off the phone. "

7. " Sprite, good. You mind if I have some of your tasty beverage to wash this down? "

8. "Too early in summer to be sick of beans."

9. "Better a silly girl with a flower than a silly boy with a horse and a stick"

10. "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb."

I won't tag anyone, so feel free to play along as well.

Connections

***Alert! This is a random, nonsensical entry. Welcome to the weirdness in my head.***

When I read mom's 25 things note that has been circulating around Facebook, one of her last things stuck in my head and got me to thinking about numbers and connections. Her "thing" was "I will pick odd numbers over even numbers all the time. Guess my favorite number." or something close to that (work security prohibits me from accessing Facebook). I'm pretty sure my mom's favorite number would be 7 and even though I would pick odd numbers over even as well, my favorite number is 4. (hello, birthday is 4/4.)

Anyway, so here we go.

My mom's birthday is 1/7. My dad's birthday is 5/7. Almost every month on the 7th, I think I am missing some body's birthday. My birthday is 4/4. Tamara's birthday is 11/4 and my cousin's birthday is 10/4. Larry's birthday is 10/22. My friend, Suz's birthday is a combination of mine and Larry's being 10/4.

Confused yet? Ha, I'm just getting started.

My friend, Kristie is also in October, as is Rebecca's. Actually, just a day earlier, Rebecca's, that is. Kristin's birthday is also in November, like Tamara, and 2 days earlier. My friend Kristen from Florida, is one month to the day before mine, so add another to the column of those having a b-day on the 4th. Then there is Craig P, who we all went to school with, who shared my b-day, only born a year earlier. I guess, technically, I share his birthday.

Sandy, one of the girl's who ran the race with me, has the same birthday as Peyton (5/22) and if you are keeping track, that's also the same month as my dad. Shannon, the other runner, celebrates her day in December, just three days after Shey.

Whew.

I've even had two people that I knew die on my birthday. Lila, a family friend of my great-grandparents and Wade, who we went to school with and was cousins with Craig P from above.

My wedding anniversary is 8/7 and my friend, Nazreen's b-day is the same day. And. . .there's another 7.

Does any of this even really matter, or make any sense? Not really, but I do think it is interesting. I kinda feel like Jim Carey in that movie The Number 23.

Oh, and I didn't even get into Larry's side of the family. His mom's birthday, his parents' anniversary and Larry's birthday are all within 3 days of each other. His uncle and grandmother share a birthday with his brother's falling a day after, I think.

AHHHHHH

Who needs the economic problems of our country when you have date connections to think about?

I think I need to go lie down.

I did it!

Saturday afternoon, we headed to Miami to stay the night before I had to get up at 4:30 AM to run/walk 13.1 miles. We met up with our friends and even though die hard runners probably would not recommend it, I did have a glass of wine with dinner because my nerves were all over the place. I went to the restroom once towards the end of dinner and had a mini-panic attack because I realized that I had to go to bed soon, which meant I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to run/walk 13.1 miles!

Of course, being in a hotel, I slept like crap even though I had brought my own pillow and by the time 4:30 rolled around, I was almost grateful. Did I mention that I woke up at 4:30 AM?!?!

The first and thankfully only mini-crisis occurred at 5:15 when I dug through my gym bag to get dressed and discovered I had not brought my running bra. ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?!?! I frantically called my two friends, but neither of them had brought an extra one, so I bit the bullet and just wore my regular bra. At the time, I thought I would have rather forgotten my pants, but it actually was ok and I didn't feel like my breasts were going to fall off.

The hotel was 1.2 miles from the starting line, so we left about 5:30 and walked there. Yes, we and a ton of other people walked over a mile to get to the starting line of our half or full marathon. Crazy! I know!

We arrived before 6 and holy crow, there were so many people, 15,000 participants and all their support. The music was pumping and it was all very surreal. My stomach was a wreck. We were so far back in the corral that even after the starting fireworks went off, it took a good 12-15 minutes to make it to the starting line. By then, I just ready to GO.

Within the first mile, the course led us over the MacArthur Causeway, which is the longest of the three bridges, but due to the gradual slope, it really wasn't so bad.



Even though, I had been training run half a mile, walk half a mile, I ended up staying with the pack and running the first three miles, which was also the first water/Gatorade station. When I slowed down to grab that drink, my legs kinda freaked, but it was ok. I walked then for probably half a mile and then met up with a nice lady and our conversation carried me to mile 6. My two friends had kept running after 3, so I was on my own, but it was good and there were always a ton of people around me.

The course is very scenic, but to be honest, I didn't look around much. I was, though, in such a better place mentally than I thought I would be and I never wanted to quit. It wasn't until mile 11 when I saw Larry waiting for me to cheer me on that I was ready for it to be over, but I still didn't want to quit. It's a big difference. I knew by then that my friend were probably done and I was ready to be too. Mile 11 was the longest mile I have ever done. I swear it lasted F.O.R.E.V.E.R. At mile 12 though, things picked back up. I knew I was so close and the spectators were multiplying and it was getting loud again.

When I saw the finish line, I "sprinted" as fast as my legs would go and finished with a time of 2:47:56. I figured it out and that's about 11:30 per mile and I am very happy with that.

Even though I sometimes dreaded the training, I really loved actually running in the race and I've already signed up to do the Disney half next January. Now that I have one under my belt, I am so much more motivated to train harder and push myself. It was such a cool experience and when the huge blisters on my toe heals, I will be back out there pounding the pavement.

Helping the Community

Our church was featured by .CBS this past weekend for work we are doing in the community. I've copied and pasted it here.



For the past two weekends, the church has been giving boxes of groceries to people hit hard by the recession.

South Florida needed a break from depressing news: layoffs, high inflation and overdue mortgage payments. The Pastor at the Church by the Glades in Coral Springs had a plan to help those in need: a grocery giveaway.

"A lot of our families were hurting and we thought we'd like to help them. We can't pay mortgage and light bills, but groceries," explained Pastor David Hughes.

And so Hughes brought in groceries by the truck load. For the past two weekends, the church has been giving boxes of groceries to people hit hard by the recession.

Laura Pereira is struggling to feed her family. She says the donations are a godsend. "Prices have gone up," she told CBS4 Reporter Joan Murray. She gladly accepted a box full of groceries and one loaded with toiletries. "Just to make a regular meatloaf is $15 for chopped meat. I try to bargain shop these days. Coupons, anything I can do to lighten the load."

The load gets a lot lighter with just one box: each has enough food for a week. Inside, thankful families find macaroni and cheese, canned goods and even snack packs for lunches.

The Rivera family is also thankful. Roberto and Maryel Rivera both lost their jobs last year. "It's amazing," Marybel Rivera. "We have three children. We spend $150 a week just buying the basics."

The cadet family doesn't belong to the church, but the children say the grocery giveaway will help keep their family afloat. "They're months behind paying the house bills and it's because they have to buy food. Now they don't have to do that for a week so it will help pay the bills," Charlene Cadet said.

Even church members who cannot afford to pitch in are still willing to help. They help move boxes and drink packs to waiting cars.

Pastor Hughes hopes his vision will become viral and that other churches will follow his lead. "We can do a lot of good," he believes.

Asleep

Last Thursday night, I woke up to find a dead arm attached to my body. You know how it is when your arm is SO asleep that it's useless. Just hanging there all cold and yucky. As I attempted to stretch it out so the blood would start circulating again and waiting for the unavoidable pain of my limb being brought back to life, I wondered what it looked like. My arm has never been that asleep while I was awake, only in the middle of the night with all the lights out. Does it look any different? Is it blue like your finger turns if you wrap a string around it?

The next morning while I was reliving the sleeping appendage in my head, I thought back to a time in middle school when my legs were both so asleep I was almost late to my next class because I couldn't walk. We were in Ms. Tarrance's English class and for some reason we were watching a movie, or maybe it was the Conjunction Junction videos, you know, the Grammar Rock or whatever it is called. Anyway, I was sitting cross legged (or criss-cross apple sauce) on the floor and Jon H and Scott G had their heads in my lap. Can I just tell you I was in heaven? I was.

While both of those boys considered us good friends, and I think Scott even thought of me as a best friend, I was head over heels in love with them both. I would have walked to the moon and back for the chance to "go with" one of them. I remember one telephone conversation when Scott was "going with" Marie and he was moaning about something she had done and he said, "It's too bad we are such good friends." Basically saying we couldn't be more because of that. Oh how distraught I was and so mad at Marie for acting that way to him. ha ha

So I sat through that movie with those two boys with their heads on my knees and let my legs go numb. I probably would have stayed like that all day if Ms. Tarrance would have let me.

Funny the things we remember.

My Butt

Let's see, I've talked about my fingernails and my house improvements over the last couple of days, so let's take an entry to talk about my butt, shall we?

When I started training oh so many months ago, I had hoped I would lose some weight, which didn't happen, I figured my calves and quads would become more defined and firm up, which did happen, but I never thought about my butt. I guess pounding the pavement mile after mile also works on the good old gluteus maximus because hello, my butt is tight.

Quite honestly, I've become a bit obsessed with it.

It's weird too, it's the top part of my butt (butt, butt, butt (I feel like my boys)) and I never thought about what makes people's rear ends round out (think Kim Kardashium), but now I know!

It's almost enough to keep up with this madness after the half is over.

Improving the Home

Larry and I were blessed to receive two very generous gift cards to Home Depot over the holidays, so we've been doing things around the house to spruce things up. The gift card from Mom and Dad was meant to go towards a new ceiling fan in our bedroom, which we needed as ours was old and white and barely fanned anything.



We also pulled up the rotted wood around our patio enclosure and replaced it with decorative thingies. I wish I had a before picture, because it's amazing how much nicer our backyard looks now. Also, we should never have to replace these and we will eventually plant some flowers or a hedge there.



And . . . this is our holiday present to ourselves. We have people over quite often and we've needed a new grill for a couple years as ours was a hand-me-down and the bottom was almost burnt through. We researched and stared at this one for a few weeks before Larry finally went to the grill store and bought the bullet. I think we are both in love.

One of Those Posts that Probably Only I will Care About

I am not a biter, per se, but more of a picker. Once my fingernails reach a certain length, I will not leave them alone and then they peel on the sides and I generally end up either tearing them or cutting them down. I will admit that while watching a movie and I will pick so much that they will all be to the quick before the 2 hours is up. Our wedding ceremony was probably the last time that they all had any decent length to them and even then the sides were all filed at funny angles in an effort to keep the overall length.

At the start of December, I cut my nails all off and then, since they were short, I promptly forgot about them. Around Christmas time, I noticed they were all getting some length to them and then I tried to forget about them again. This past week though, I can't ignore it any longer. It feels weird when I type and I can actually scratch an itch with every single one of my nails. Since my nail beds sit so far back on my fingertips, they still barely reach the end of my fingers, but they are all uniformally pretty long. The most even and long all ten of my nails have been in my 31 and 3/4 life. I'm so proud of them and I can't stop looking at them, which may just be their demise, but at least for this week, they look good. And even though no one else probably gives a rip about my nails, I am still posting pics here for prosperity's sake.





If my MamMaw had Internet access and read my blog, she would appreciate it. Probably my Grandmother as well, as she always told me I would get worms from chewing on my nails.

Watching Over Them

I just finished the novel Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult and if you want to read a novel that will terrify the pants off of you and break your heart in two for the characters, I recommend it.

The novel centers around a school shooting, not unlike Columbine, and dissects it from multiple points of view. It switches between the present and the past in an effort to show how the boy who commits the shooting grew to be the person he was. The reader sees his parent's point of view and their helplessness. The author depicts the merciless teasing of the central character, Peter, and while I was horrified at his retaliation, I could also sympathize with his state of mind.

I cried as I read the account of his mother thinking about how she could have handled Peter better. The thing is, as a parent, we can do all we can, but we can't be there all the time. We love our kids, we pray for them and then we have to let them go.

There are passages in the novel that argue that Peter was not wired to handle the stress, and therefore, he snapped, much like the battered wife who one night turns on her husband and kills him.

I don't know, it was just really thought provoking and chilling.

I worry about Peyton. He has such a distinct personality that I'm not always sure how to handle him. I know I have said this before, but he is such a child of extremes. Whether it is loving or hating. When he hugs me, he takes my breath away, he squeezes so hard and when he's angry, it's like a rage takes over and there's no getting through. The best I can do is send him to his room and separate him from the situation.

Raising him is a circle. His personality elicits a response from us that may not always be favorable, and then our response further solidifies his personality. Does that make any sense? It just makes me tired.

The good thing is, his teacher this year is awesome. I went in this morning to help out and she said that he is becoming a whiz at math and he is so good about staying on task. She is so positive and soft spoken that I know it has been really good for him. I try to remember that he has been so good all day that at home he may just need to let loose sometimes. I also try to remember that God made me his mother for a reason. I just need to figure it out.

Tamara's Page

I did the layout for this page in November with my scrapbooking group, but I finally sat down last night and went through photos and attached them. I think it turned out well.





Here they are together

Living in S Florida

After hanging out with a new couple that we met who are new to the South Florida area, I've been thinking lately about what a paradox living here is for me. It's funny how being raised in the Bible belt often leads to intolerance rather than love as we consciously and unconsciously judge those who don't believe as we believe. It seems that even when we are taught to hate the sin and love the sinner, actions speak louder than words and the message is sometimes lost in translation.

On the other hand, due to the diversity in our area and becoming good friends with people that in the past I feared or avoided, my prejudices have lessened and I found myself more accepting of certain behaviors.

It's a fine line to walk between loving people who may not live the way I believe we should live and letting myself become complacent in my own morals.

Christmas 2008

We have a short work day today, but I wanted to get some pics up from Christmas. We had a grand time in GA for a few days and then AL for about 5 days. It was so nice to spend time with my family. I haven't seen most of my extended relatives for over a year.

Mom bought a new Canon Rebel before Thanksgiving, so we had a lot of fun with it, and I REALLY want one soon. All of these photos are from her camera.

100 Quarters - Update

So Wednesday, when I went to pick the boys up from daycare, I talked to the director, who is also my friend, and she said that she didn't give the note to the parents, but talked to B who downplayed the whole thing. He said that it was just some coins (uh, 100 of them) and that Peyton said he didn't need them anymore. Which I can totally see, because that sounds like Peyton, but STILL. Anyway, B said he would bring them back in on Thursday.

I still think his parents should have been made aware of the situation. I know I would have liked to known about it, but like I said, the director is my friend and I didn't want to push that line. Whether Peyton offered the money, or B asked for it, I would still think at 10 or maybe even 11, B should have known better. But then again, he is a kid still.

When Peyton got home last night, I checked his backpack and the money was there. I didn't give it back to Peyton thinking maybe I should go ahead and take it the bank and put it in his account.

I think I'm the only one who learned a lesson here, but that's ok. I need one of those every now and again.

We are leaving in the morning for GA and then AL and don't get back to work until the 30! Yay!

Happy Holidays everyone if I don't post before then.

100 Quarters

Monday night, Peyton brought home a plastic container from school that he was to fill with a number of the same items and his classmates were going to estimate how many there were. Peyton wanted to use coins, so we set out to count 100 quarters (his number of choice) to place inside the container. About 45 minutes and four metally smelling hands later, we had accomplished the goal and the container went into his backpack for school.

Last night, while I was cooking dinner, I asked him where the quarters were and Peyton casually replied, "I gave them to B." I about choked, "You what?" He had the good graces to look a little abashed even though I know he didn't understand and he said again, "I gave them to B." I stared at him hard and asked exactly what had happened.

On the van from the Elementary School to the Afterschool, he was showing the quarters to his friend, L, asking her if she needed any of the State quarters. She said no, but then B just asked for the whole bag and Peyton handed them over.

I did not get angry with Peyton. It was mostly my fault for allowing him to take all that money to school, but I really didn't think about it. I knew his teacher would keep it till the end of the day, and I didn't even consider aftercare. I forget too that while Peyton can be a turd at times, he has the most generous heart and would give anyone anything they asked, especially his friends and older kids.

B is in 5th grade. My problem was that while I know Peyton doesn't get how much money 100 quarters is, this 5th grader should have known better. He's tried to take things from Peyton before and just little things Peyton has told me does not leave me with a great impression.

You know, I don't want Peyton to be a stingy miser, but I don't want him to be walked all over either. I told him that while it is ok to give your friends money for things like ice cream and such, I really don't want him just giving bags of money away. I also wrote B's parents a letter explaining the situation and asked the director of the aftercare school to give it to them. Even if we don't get the money back, I think his parents should be aware of the situation and have a sit down with their son about taking advantage of a first grader.

And I, for one, will never let my son take that much money to school again. Lesson Learned.

Dream Man

I am an avid dreamer and while I will not regale you with the details of the visions I have pretty much continously through the night, there is the subject of a certain man that I just have to get out there. (Tamara already knows what's coming)

Lee Fletcher was a kid that I went to school with from first through ninth grade when he left our small private school for the scary halls of the monster public schools. While we spent the first nine years of our school life sharing halls, lunch rooms and classes, I wouldn't say we were friends. I probably never even had more than a handful of conversations with him through those years and don't recall anything that he may have done to work his way into my psyche and lodge himself there with such force that he's taking over my dreams.

I would say for the past, oh, year or so, Lee Fletcher has been my dream man. Not all the time, Brandon Cobia is there a lot too, but at least him, I understand due to the year of awkward carpooling in sixth grade. Craig Pugh also shows up, but we share a birthday, so I figure is it a cosmic connection. But Lee Fletcher? It's just weird.

Generally, we run around and flirt with each other, but last night it was a little different. We were talking on the phone and I was at ACA preparing for some event when I walked down the hall and there he was. I looked up and said, "Oh, your here." He looked really sick though and I told him we didn't have to run if he didn't want to. He replied with something and called me his wife. Then I woke up.

So Lee Fletcher, if you happen to google your name (and yes, that's why I've typed it so many times, maybe it will work), drop me a comment and let me know you are ok and not trying to send me a dream warning.

Turning Four

The week before I was due with Shey, I was so sure that he was coming that weekend that I called mom and dad and told them to pack their bags and head this way. Our baby was coming! When my doctor's appointment rolled around the following Wednesday, I was all but begging my doctor to induce me. Bless that man, he booked me the following day in not one, but two hospitals to insure I would get in somewhere.

Mom and I woke up early that December morning to head to the hospital, hoping I would be hooked up and dripping pitocin by 7 am or so. At 9, we were still in the waiting area and I had already sneaked part of a muffin to eat when my ob poked his head in and wondered what was going on. I had been forgotten! The staff was very apologetic and promised to get me in as soon as they could and by 11 or so, I was hooked up and getting the baby birthing stuff going.

Because the nurses wanted me to be able to help push when the time came, I was not completely numb from my epidural and as the contractions grew stronger, it felt like a searing hot needle was being pierced through my vah-ga-ga. The head nurse wasn't really taking me seriously until mom finally said, "look, if she's saying anything, then it is serious." Which is true, I do have a high pain tolerance and I was not tolerating this well.

My ob came in to check me, found that I wasn't past 5 or so, and he went home to light the menorah. Poor guy, no sooner had he gotten home, then Shey's heart rate started going crazy and the nurse asked me if I had the urge to push. Since I was totally numb with Peyton, I didn't know what to look for, but no sooner had that question exited her mouth did I find out. Oh, yes, I want to push and NOW! They checked me and I was fully dilated and ready to go.

Even though I felt the whole extraction process, ring of fire and all, it was so much easier pushing out Shey since I could feel that elusive pressure and with Peyton paving the way a few years earlier, Shey was out within 20 minutes.

When I had Peyton, they whisked him away right after he was born due to a myriad of things, but Shey was right there and barely left my side the whole stay in the hospital. I felt that rush of emotion and instant adoration with Shey, that I didn't get to experience with Peyton and even now he has a tender place in my heart. He's my baby boy.

Happy Birthday, Shey. I pray for you a long, healthy life filled with much happiness.

Why, Hello There!

It's gotten to the point that it has been so long since I have written that too much has happened to catch up on. I read all four of the Twilight series books in less than two weeks, plus saw the movie. Thanksgiving was great. We had about 20 people at our house between all the family and friends. Mom and Dad came into town for the long weekend and we had a lot of fun shopping, going to the beach and watching football. Sunday, my training buddies and I completed 10 miles. CRAZY! We've had a long bout of nice cool weather, longer than anything last year and I think already colder. Global Warming and all that. And last, but not least, Peyton started soccer practice tonight and he has his first game on Saturday. Whew.

So, I will try to stay better on top of things, but I can't promise. Work is crazy busy and we have a holiday party a weekend from here till we leave for Alabama for Christmas, plus Shey's party this Saturday afternoon that I need to order the cake for and get party favors and decorations. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Just Breathe.