House Stuff
This is not a secret. We're outgrowing our house. And by "we're outgrowing," I really mean we've outgrown our house. Already. Like almost 2 years ago. 2 bedrooms in less than 1100 square feet is less than ideal for our family of 4. We've made it work, and things aren't terrible, but we would really LOVE some more space. And so began the house hunt. We've only been at it for about a month (see the timeline since my last posting), and it's been up and down like crazy. In the specific area where we are looking, any house that is remotely decent inside and even close to reasonably price has been sold in 2-3 days after being on the market. So we do a lot of looking, getting excited, and being let down. So 2 weeks ago when our offer in the PERFECT location (less than perfect house) was accepted, we were thrilled! |
| The house that wasn't meant to be |
Training
June 8th - the day of the Half Marathon - is rapidly approaching. And by rapidly, I mean it'll be here before I'm ready. I'm really doing my best to prepare for this thing! What I'm finding is that this is hard. No shit?! What's crazy is that physically, it's not all that bad. It's my head that struggles. Luckily, I've got some pretty incredible friends who are also either training or willing to run right along with me. And I don't think I could make it through these long runs without them. Here are a few shots from recent training sessions. You'll note that my mileage doesn't match what I'm telling you. For some reason the Nike app that I use and the MapMyRun app that both of my partners use aren't quite aligned to each other. MapMyRun is right on with what the Prairie Path mileage and the actual map mileage were for these runs, so it's what I'm sticking to.
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| April 27th - 9 Miles with Logan Running the streets of Tinley Park - How can they call it a suburb? Total 1:43:11 |
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| May 5th - 10 Miles with Meeshie Prairie Path run from her house to Wheaton Total 1:48:08 |
So my friend, Amee, asked me if I've ever had a bad run. She said it's important to get a really bad one out of the way. But I haven't. I really LOVE running with friends. I certainly could never find nearly 2 hours to chat these ladies up on the telephone - or even in person, for that matter - without one of our kids needing something. These long runs have been the most selfish and wonderful uses of my weekend mornings. That's a lie. The 10 miler was not wonderful. I had my first experience of nearly shitting myself. I've heard of this - like some kind of runner's urban legend. And if one of my girlfriends lived 3 houses east of where she lives, and if her back door hadn't been opened exactly 3 seconds after I pounded on it, and had I needed to explain why I was bursting into her quiet house at 9:00 on a Saturday morning dripping in sweat, I would have experienced it. But now I know I can do 10 miles. What's a 5K more? So far...the runs are extreme highs. And...I'm getting faster. I didn't think to pause the Nike app while having my little experience - so that time should be subtracted from this!
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| Here's the end of that run, including a little cool down! Only 9 minutes longer than the week before. |
This post is getting to be too long!
I fell asleep during Mad Men last night. Thanks 10 miles and then Sesame Street Live. I've got priorities, and Don Draper is waiting. So I'll leave you with a few shots of what I've been wearing over the last month. Nothing special. For the most part, the weather has been dismal, and therefore I've been trying my best to think spring!  |
| Night out of Whirlyball with B Celebrating Logan's fiance's birthday Cardigan, shirt, and tank all Target Jeans - Express Boots - old Necklace - Loft outlet |
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| I think it was a high of 60 this day. Sometimes you've just got to break out the sandals. Long-sleeve striped t - Target Gray T - Limited Pants - Ann Taylor Sandals - Rainbow Dove Necklace - Tiffany |
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| Shirt that I probably should have tucked in - Old Navy Skirt and gray tights - Target Necklace - Loft outlet Boots - old Crazy Eyes - all mine |
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| And the extreme high - Flowers at work from B We've just begun our 14th year together I can count on one hand the times I've received flowers - and these were "just because" |
Awwww...that is such a bummer about the house. But now you can find your ment-to-be one. I know of some by me... ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd flowers?!?!! So romantic! I didn't know that existed in this family.
Neither did I...Neither did I. It doesn't hurt that our "dating anniversary" (if that's a thing - we're beginning our 14th year together), teacher appreciation week, my birthday and Mothers' Day all fall in the same week. Or maybe B's just growing up. Whatever it is, it sure made my day!
DeleteOkay, there's a lot going on here, but you know my first comment is going to be that you bought a second skirt?! Damn, look at you! I have that shirt, and have worn it with my green skirt/tights/brown boots, so that's basically an Anne outfit. And I love your blue pants!
ReplyDeleteYou know, since I am training too, I'd be happy to do a long run with you too sometime. Or we can just not run and drink instead, either way. But how had you avoided a bad run until now? Gosh, I have tons of those. And I had that particular problem while running through Kona. There were bathrooms everywhere, but they were either missing doors or toilet paper, or they were locked. The good news is, half marathons will have bathrooms all over the course.
Have you ever mapped your runs out after you do them to verify mileage? I like gmap-pedometer (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/), it's a little more accurate than some apps. I do this sometimes to make sure I'm actually running as far as I think I am.
Um.... and did you think through your use of "dump" in the post title?
DeleteDump. Duh. And dump it was. I think I'll keep it.
DeleteOf course the skirt transformed into an Anne outfit. Do you think I know how to style myself? I've had the skirt since winter but only wore it outside of work. And Ashli has the same one. Again...do you think I can style myself?
My next long run is going to be either 11 or 12 miles. I just don't think I'll be able to squeeze it in this weekend. But maybe next? Meeshie is running the same 1/2 that I am, so things have worked out pretty well there. And I think we have a pretty long one planned in a few weeks!! Our headbands are in and sooo cute.
I've learned house hunting isn't as fun as they make it look on HGTV. i'm sorry that one fell through but it's definitely for the better. We're in a perpetual state of making sure we're not missing the perfect forever house. I think I have truilia, redfin and zillow memorized. But it seems like things are coming on the market slowly and then selling within days. So frustrating! Good luck I'll keep an eye out for you!
ReplyDeleteRight?! I seriously wish Holmes on Homes had been with us during this inspection so he could have just started working and fixing it so it worked. But then, we're not Canadian, and all the good home shows seem to take place there. Why is that?
DeleteBoo to frustrating housing searches! Blokey and I had the same experience, expect it was 800 sq. feet co-ops in Brooklyn with reasonable monthly fees- as soon as we found on in a decent (not even enviable) neighborhood that was functional (i.e. windows in kitchen and bathroom), it was already snapped up. Oh well. I agree that finding out that something that is almost perfect was a potential money pit situation was a good move. Good luck and I hope to hear of your housebuying successes soon!
ReplyDeleteOh, I have never run more than 7 miles and it sucked, and I have been running since I was 14, so many many kudos to you for doing 10 miles. Yeah, bodily functions happen. Glad to hear that disaster was averted!
Seriously?! You know how "they" say you have to kiss a few frogs before finding a prince? I think that this whole situation will make us appreciate what comes up even more. Although, to be fair, we've been kissing our current frog for 8 years now, and this one's WAY TOO small! We don't need tons of space, but would really like whatever we end up with to work for us for the next 15-20 years. Moving's a lot of work, and I don't like a lot of work.
DeleteI'm so impressed with how active you're staying during your pregnancy! I'm hoping that if there's another one for me, that I'll be able to channel this newfound love (that's not really the word I'm thinking of here) of exercise. Good luck to you in the next several weeks!!!