Wednesday, December 19, 2012

A little of everything...

So it's been a little while since I last wrote...let's just call it what it is...I got caught up in other stuff..no excuses here, but now I have some good material:) Since I last connected with the blogging planet, we have experienced hurricane Sandy first hand (over 2 weeks w/o any power, heat, etc), a Halloween for the kids that was like an obstacle course in an of itself jumping over down wires in the neighborhood thanks to Ms. Sandy, a bunch of long runs, the Philly half marathon, Mia's first official race, a hip injury for me, Thanksgiving,  craziness at work, a decision to try a little experiment on myself called vegan-paleo, and a partridge in a pear tree!!! Like I said, some decent material has piled up.  So for someone who isn't a great writer, the more meaty the material, the better!

So the whole hurricane thing seems ages ago already, but I will share 3 thoughts on what I learned about myself and my family: 1) I cannot believe how obsessed we are with the internet, its sad, really.  2) I have learned that my kids are incredibly flexible and we had minimal complaining/fighting/whining the entire 2 weeks, despite the fact that they were sleeping in winter coats, literally.  Its amazing b/c you wonder if what values you try to instill in your kids are taking hold.  For me, one of the more important ones to teach them is the ability to be flexible in all situations.  You simply cannot underestimate that one.  To be able to adapt to changing situations with minimal stress and anxiety has the ability to add years to you your life, not to mention making you a pleasant person to be around.  So I saw first had that one has started to stick and that makes me really proud.  In a world where kids are stressed out at age 5 over who knows what, the ability to roll with the punches a bit is cool. And 3) You wonder after being married for a while with little kids, when the days at times seem so transactional,  that if given the chance to sit by a flashlight for hours a night to chat if you would in fact have anything to even say to each other--- SCORE- we do and we did, and it was even entertaining (at least through night 7 anyway).

Fast forward a few weeks to the Philly half marathon- some decent training logged, and I was ready.  More importantly it was Mia's first official bib in a half mile race.  I lied about her age- she was supposed to be 6 to enter, she just turned 5 in October- whatever! Don't judge, I knew she could handle it.  She ran a 4:45 half mile and came in first in her fake age group-- sweet! Most importantly she had a blast, snot running down her nose as she crossed the finish line and all.  She brought that medal to school all week.  As for us, we did well too..Keith came in around 1:45 and I came in under 2.  I had a specific time goal of 1:50- didn't quite make that one, but had a damn hip issue that struck at mile 9.  I won't bore you with those details, but bottom line is I didn't make my goal time.  However, I ran the first 3/4 speedier than ever and felt great and realized after all the Tough Mudders, Civilian Military Combines and triathalons this past year, it was quite nice to simply run a straight race with MUSIC!!! Forgot how amazing it is to run w/ music!!!!  Its the little things, really:) Also forgot how cool the half marathon distance is...must do some more of those in '13.  And final note on that is that I make a KILLER playlist and have clearly missed my calling in the music industry.

So we go to Philly each year for Thanksgiving, its my mom's holiday..steeped in tradition.  My mom was anxious b/c since Keith and I (not the kids) have been vegetarian since last Thanksgiving. She was wondering if she was just going to feed us some seeds and kale and call it a day.  I would never be so annoying and offend her on her holiday...good grief!  Just hand over the smallest piece of turkey you can find, smother it in gravy,  and I can take one for the team, for her, for this holiday.  It was fine and we had a few laughs and I supplemented with plenty of pumpkin pie and vino.  And once again decided that poultry is really just pretty gross all around. The best part of Thanksgiving was that Mia said grace for the table.  At her school they eat lunch family style every day and they say grace before eating.  We had no idea (but glad all of our $$ is not just going to learning the alphabet), but were so surprised to hear her say she wanted to do it.  It was very cool-- a good moment to see her coming into her own.

You may have also been wondering if I have had any other workout wardrobe mishaps (per my last blog post)...you know, missing sports bra, etc.  I am happy to report NO. But fear not, I have embarrassed myself in other ways at work- details not to be revealed at this time:)

Next up, vegetarian paleo? Yeah saw this little experiment on it- that's all it is really is, is an experiment, b/c its not a "lifestyle" type of thing.  But we are going to dive in and see if we can hang and try for 6-8 weeks.  The main goal will be to see what we really find that we miss and to see what things make us feel really good and healthy and then after its over, maybe adapt a few ideas, but not go crazy.  I am always up for trying new ideas to keep my life interesting and I am not at all afraid to fail, so that makes me quite dangerous!! Stay tuned for updates on that....

In other news, Brayden started Karate.  This is cool for 3 reasons.  1) He needs something that is his own, not influenced by Mia to increase his confidence,  2) what's cuter than a 3.5yr old in an all black karate uniform with belt and all? Ralph Macchio anyone?  and 3) Sometimes, she  just needs her ass kicked and he is just the one to be able to do it when he figures out what the hell he is doing.
Wax on, wax off, little man!

Lastly, in terms of holiday parties and cheer-- how about a holiday party to schedule what races we are going to complete in 2013??? That is super nerdy, I know...but I am ok with it:)  And plus, what's better than registering for races with a few close buddies after a few drinks? That's accountability right there...no way out!!!

As the year comes to a close, I am not going to get all sappy and sentimental.  But I will say that there are lots of things that I am proud of this year, and some that I am not.  But the main goal for me each year is to try and push my limits, physically, mentally.  And if I had to rate it on a scale of 1-10 I would say probably an 8 on the physical end and a 6 on the mental end so overall a 7.  I completed more races this year in a 12month span than I ever have, so that's cool. Some were good performances, some not, but I always came back to know that I can push just a little more to get better. And on challenging myself with new mental skill sets,  I fell a little short, so that is disappointing. But I think I know why and can close those gaps..

  Because that's the other value I hope to instill in my kids- humility.

Signing off in my radio DJ voice....thanks for listening:)
DB


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