Yesterday was totally bizarre and fantastic all jumbled together.
From the minute the day started I was feeling like I couldn’t keep up with myself and all the things I had to get done. I had all my ducks in a row but things that were out of my control just kept throwing me off. Something I thought would take 20 minutes in the morning took 2 HOURS. I guess that is just what life with three kids is like, but honestly some days are just crazier than others and yesterday was without a doubt one of those days.
In the afternoon on the way home from school Abby and Will discovered a puddle that had tadpoles in it. All the neighborhood children were using plastic containers from their lunch boxes to collect the tadpoles and their water so they could bring them home and watch them grow into frogs and toads. My kids were no exception – they begged me to let them try it and I just could not say no. I’m not really one of those moms that gets all excited about having reptiles in the house – as much as I love nature, I love to keep it at a distance when it comes to bugs and frogs and other creatures. I told the kids that we could bring them home but that once they turn into frogs we would have to let them go in the creek in our backyard. They agreed and so now we are the proud caretakers of 6 tadpoles (all named “Bubbles” – in case you were wondering). My kids couldn’t be more excited and I have to admit I am a little proud of myself for being the kind of mom that is cool with it. I think I surprised my kids when I said it was ok. What wasn’t good about this nature experiment was that it ate up an extra half hour of our busy schedule and so I was once again trying to catch up with myself. It was worth it though. I love seeing my kids so happy and curious about something like this.
After setting up the tadpoles in their new home it was time to get Will ready for tee ball practice. Robert is the coach so he came home early to get Will and they were out the door just a little before 5:30PM. I had an hour to feed Abby and Gus and get myself ready for the Another Mother Runner party. The plan was to meet my sister and our friends at Jodi’s house at 6:30 so that we would have plenty of time to get to Maryland by 7:30. Jodi’s husband Simon would watch Abby and Gus for me until Robert could get there to pick them up after practice. It was a little crazy, but just how we had to do things. While Abby and Gus were finishing up their dinner I quickly ran upstairs to change and as I was leaving my bedroom to go back downstairs, I caught something out of the corner of my eye that caused me to freeze. Was that something was flying around in Will’s room? What the…?? I just stood there and stared, unable to believe what I was looking at. It was something alive. With wings. And it was definitely not a bird. It was a BAT. There was seriously a BAT flying around in my house – in my son’s room!
Is this really happening? What do I do? I don’t know what to do ….
So I closed the door and I called Robert. Who was in the middle of tee ball practice.
“Honey, there is a bat in Will’s room.”
“A what? A BAT?”
“Yes. A BAT! In his room! I don’t know what to do. I closed the door. It is just flying around in circles. It is big and brown and it is a BAT. In our house!”
“Ok. Go back up there and see if you can open the window.”
“Are you kidding? No way. I am not going in there again.”
(laughter) “Ok. Don’t worry about it. Just leave the door closed and I’ll deal with it when I get home.”
So as if I am not feeling badly enough about leaving my husband alone for the night with three kids – now I am leaving him home alone with three kids AND A BAT. Awesome. All I could think was that I wished I was brave enough to deal with the bat on my own and that I just could not believe this was really happening.
I put Abby and Gus in the car and we went to my sister’s house, making it there just on time. Robert and Will actually showed up not long after and Jodi’s husband Simon went home with them to help Robert with the bat while the girls went to the party.
In the car on the way to the party Robert and Simon called to say that they could not find the bat. It was not in Will’s room any longer. Are you kidding me? I insisted it had to be in there. Check the closet. Check the pillows. Check under the dresser. I swear I did not imagine that thing! About 15 minutes later they called again – they found the bat downstairs in the family room. It must have crawled under the door or maybe flown out unnoticed when they opened the door. They trapped it with a blanket and put it outside. Will videotaped the whole thing and I watched it this morning. It’s hilarious though you can’t really see the bat at all. Will’s commentary is what is funny about it – my favorite line was ” What on EARTH does he think he’s doing!?” So funny. I’m just really grateful that I saw the bat when I did and that they got rid of it. The “what ifs??” that cross my mind are pretty much awful. That was definitely too up close and personal with a wild creature for me – I’ll stick to the tadpoles please!
Anyway, we had a lot of laughs about the bat on the way to the RLAM event and by the time we got there I was ready to just enjoy the evening – so excited to be there with my sister and good friends and to get to meet Sarah and Dimity for the first time!
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| the welcome sign! |
It was so cool to be there. The event was classy and casual and perfect. I am certain I did not take the smile off of my face the whole time. It was beyond wonderful to get to meet Sarah and Dimity and just so much fun to share the experience with my sister and some of my best running friends.
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| chatting with Sarah Bowen Shea |
We ate amazing good-for-you food. We talked about running and Pilates and getting it all done as moms. We laughed and we mingled and we savored every minute of it. Jodi and I had some solid sister time, which we haven’t had in a LONG time.
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| hey sistah, soul/sole sistah |
Dimity and Sarah read some excepts from their awesome new book Train Like a Mother. They were hilarious and heart warming and completely relate-able. Hearing them read from their book was truly awesome. I will never forget it.
They also did some awesome giveaway prizes including a Mountain Buggy stroller, some Champion bras, Nuun, Body Glide and more. My friend Lisa won one of the bras!
As the evening came to a close Sarah and Dimity signed some books and gave us all really fun swag bags to bring home. I bought a super cute tee shirt that I’m wearing to the ZOOMA expo later today. It was such a fun night and I am beyond thankful for the experience!
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| fuzzy picture 🙁 but i don’t care – awesome memory! |
Later this afternoon I am heading to Annapolis for the ZOOMA half marathon tomorrow. I am going to get to see Sarah and Dimity again – so am going to try to get a less fuzzy pic with them if I can! I’m working the expo for a while and then will stay in Annapolis for the night so that I can be ready to race tomorrow morning.
Now, about that race ….
I’ve been looking forward to this race for a WHILE. It’s been about 9 months since my last half marathon which was in Virginia Beach at the end of last summer. At that race I set a 13 minute PR in the distance, crossing the finish line in 1:43:02. I’ve worked hard and I’ve trained smart for this race. I believe I am capable of a much faster time and I know that I have put in the work to accomplish that. Over the last 7 weeks I’ve run long runs anywhere from 10-16 miles. I’ve tested out my race pace. I’ve done the speed work. I’ve raced a 10 miler, a 10k and a 5k that all predict (according to McMillan) that I should be fit enough to run a half marathon in about 1:35, which would be around a 7:15-7:20 pace per mile. This would be almost 30 seconds faster per mile than I ran my last half marathon in. It sounds so fast to me and it IS. And it scares me. But now is the time to trust in my training. To trust in my fitness. To believe in myself. To go get it.
So that’s the plan and that’s the goal.
Get out there and do my best and run the race I believe I can run!!
