Cece Can't Sleep

You May Think This Is A Little Like Groundhog's Day

but it isn't.  I just enjoy repeating my weekend activities.  Yes, another 10K.  I'll do it till I get it right.  Ok, no I won't.  I'll do one on the 24th and then we'll call it a season. 

Nina marched in the Riverton Days parade with her karate dojo.  Allison and Kylie decided to march alongside and pass out free class passes.  They all got free t-shirts, and because they are of the Browning blood, the free t-shirts were all that mattered.  A freaking catastrophe unfortunate thing happened while we were waiting for the parade.  Gwen came running over to me with an immediate request for an escort to the bathroom.  As I was assisting her in the re-dress, my iPhone, which was stored in my bosom, took a dive into the smelly, dark, public toilet.  There was about 5 seconds of frozen time.  And evidently that is just enough time needed to make one's iPhone act all ADHD.  I found some bleach water and a washcloth, thank goodness.  It still works, but like I said, it's ADHD.  It follows commands, MAYBE, after the 50th time you've told it to.  And then, sometimes, not at all. 

And if you think this was my ploy to creatively find a way to get the 3GS, you are wrong.  I could find a much cleaner way to ruin my phone than tossing it into a public toilette, pre flush, thank you very much.  Besides, as it stands now, I don't even qualify to buy a new iPhone at the discounted price.

Some girlfriends were talking on Facebook about running the Provo Freedom Fest 10K.  I was feeling all sporty that day and signed up.  Rory said she would go along, too.  She's a big speed walker with foot problems that sometimes cramp her style.  I figured she wasn't much of a threat, so I signed her up to have some company. 

We show up to the race in the nick of time.  Spot the girls, say hi, look around, notice nobody thats a serious runner wears Nike Shox.  Rory and I of course, are wearing Nike Shox.  I spot Steve Young 10 feet away.  Dude looks like he missed his last 3 hair appointments.  Which wouldn't be such a big deal because long curly-ish hair can be sexy, but not 5 minutes after one rolls out of bed, which clearly he did.  I didn't bother to get any closer than I already was.  I did, however, decide it would be cool to just run behind him.  He was running alongside a buddy who was pushing a double jogger.  About 3/4 of a mile into it, I had to let them go.  That's about when I stepped on something lumpy, then I felt slobber on my ankle.  It was a dog.  SO SICK!  This girl thought it would be cool to bring her dog to run with her in the race.  Because doesn't everybody love and adore her dog as much as she does?  How annoying.  Pretty sure I didn't see the 'furry friends welcome' caption on the sign up page.  Bleepin dog beat me in the race, too.

Then my sister, the one with the foot problems, the one who only walks, well she decides to RUN.  And I end up following her for much of the race.  I was waiting for the feet to flare up on her, but they didn't.  Suck-a-duck, man.  I about killed myself, but in the last stretch I made it just in time to cross the finish line with my sister, the liar walker. 

My finish time was exactly the same as last weeks 10K!  72 minutes.  I'm a consistent sonofagun.  Rory's finish time was exactly one second BEFORE mine, but I think I know how that happened.  Her, uh, big feet.

After the race, we had this briliant idea to walk around the parade route and check out some of the booths.  So we walked down, pretty much the same path as the race, all along the parade route, to get to the booths.  Had some free Dippin Dots from Natalie's 'friend', bought some hair clips, and called it a day.  By the time we had walked back to the car we had WALKED THE 10K ROUTE ALL OVER AGAIN! 

I now have chafing issues now in my rib cage.  

Below is a picture of the two of us pre-race.  Guess the sister who no longer has the gym/pool membership??

Livin' La Vida Recessionista

Livin La Vida Recessionista

it's my new motto.
And here is my spokesman.

Clisty tries a 10k

It's a done deal. I completed my first 10K. 6.4 miles, for those of you who have yet to go metric. I ran the Step Rock Run at Fort Herriman Days. It was super disorganized at first. None of the online registrations (mine) were on the list. So we had to re reg. I felt bad for all the cowboy types who were trying to run the race. But no big deal really, my only concern was that beginning late meant sunscreen was in order. I talked to some runner types beforehand about pacing, etc. That was cool. They started the race, I kid you not, by just yelling, "GO!". I was clear in the back, fully last. A good minute behind the rest. I'm still adjusting my music...where is my Lady GaGa? Managed to pass about 5 others thruout the run. And then, at the very very end, this chick who was a full block behind me the ENTIRE race..she runs up and jumps right in front of me for the last 20 seconds. Really? Is it that important to you to beat me? To step on me in the last few feet of this race and kill my pride? I totally could have sped up and got back in front of her to finish it off but I was kinda reeling by then. I dunno, I just figure if you're going to beat someone, don't pull it off at the very end. I asked some of the runner people if that was lame to do, and they said " hey it's a race. They can totally do that.". So I now know that's common, but you can rest easy knowing I will never pull that on someone. It's not like we were battling for first. At that point I was FOURTH. FROM LAST!!!! I know, I know, you can hardly believe my fi'ness. It's true, I am a formidable opponent on the course. Good times watching the EMT's on their Rhino hovering nearby, "just in case" But seriously though, I walked less than a quarter mile of the whole thing. And my new runner friends (they got medals even!) said this was a tough 10'er because of the hilly course. Good because I was dyin', and the grated concrete on 13100 was threatening to roll my ankles. And THAT, my friends, was what I did this fine and rare sunny morning.
Oh yeah, my time?  1:14:58.3  42nd overall & 21st in Women 25-34.  Hey, I have nowhere to go but UP!  So funny.  Actually it was almost exactly double my time from last years 5K.  I kind of had a goal of 75 minutes. 
I cannot get the underscore to go away.

Shopping

Today Meatsie and I took to the mall. I wanted to replace these 3 tshirts I bought TWO years ago. I have pretty much worn them non-stop ever since. And seeing as how they were $55 apiece(Materialust), I think I got my moneys worth. Certainly can't spend that much blow on tshirts nowadays. Who am I fooling, I shouldn't have spent that much 2 years ago. But I digress.
I stopped by the bathing suits. Nike has some cute swim stuff out but Im not entirely convinced that it looks swimmy enough.
Dressing room lights made me feel like Sasquatch-goes-to-the-city. Man, is that a downer.
I'm counting points!
I turn down french fries!
I choose FunDip (1 point) over Snickers(way more than 1 point)!
I run more days than I don't!

I wear FitFlops for HEAVEN'S SAKE!

And yet, that little 4ft by 4ft room makes me look like I haven't bothered to look up from the dinner table in months!

No need to console me, it's all good. Just makes a person a wee bit crazy is all.

My shopping compadre was in his typical ignorant 4 year old mood. Which is why I made like Mrs Butterworth & casually fished out my camera phone when I heard him banging and crying inside the locker he shoved himself into. His face looks like he had been trapped for minutes....not so. We're lookin at 30 seconds max. Punk.

Trip was a success. We are somewhat stocked up on Bath & Body Works, I practiced moderate control at Gymboree's stuff a bag sale & I will now be wearing Lucky Asian inspired tshirts for the next two years. And no, I didn't spend $55 on them. More like $20. Relax, when We were honeymooning in Hawaii, we bought two DKNY sweatshirts for $90 apiece. This is progress, friends, progress!

My adventures with candy

I have been making a very conscious effort to watch what I am eating.  Unless it is Friday, and then I don't pay much attention.  Fridays tend to last as long as 72 hours on some weekends. 
Earlier this week, while at the mall with Marik...we went into See's Candies.  I pretended to look around like I was going to buy some candy-just long enough until they gave Marik and I the customary gratis piece of candy.  This time we both received pieces that were actually something I would buy!!  And then we 'decided' that there wasn't anything we wanted to buy, and left.  My dishonesty is getting the best of me. 

Today I was wandering around Target.  The longer I spent wandering the faster I forgot what I was actually there for.  So sorry Tuggle, but you really do seem to enjoy those Honey Nut Cheerios, right?
Anyways, the first item I put in my cart was a theater-size (something tells me movie theaters dont really appreciate candy companies calling their boxes theater size) box of Good & Plenty.  Since I eat what I wish on Fridays, they became breakfast.  It was 11:30, and you can imagine I was shoveling them into my face at a rapid pace.  I have a wrist malfunction and before I know it the remaining contents are sprawled all over.  clean up on aisle 8, greeting cards.

This apparently bothers me so much that I emphatically yell "CRAP!"  I look down the aisle and see two boys of speaking age looking at me.  I can see from their mother's face that the word Crap is on the no-no list in their family.  And quite honestly, ours too.  I apologized to her, and told her boys that I am going to get a spanking and a time out when I get home.  For some reason my apologies and groveling didn't seem enough for the mom.  I hate that.  When you make a mistake and immediately try to make it right, and even go overboard doing so, some people just can't let it go.  

Im not finished with candy for the day.  Im going to see a movie tonite and I am pretty sure I'll have some sort of run-in of the sugary kind.  I'll keep you posted.

NorCal

You may think it mean of me to take a picture of him like this...but it was 8 hours into a 12 hour drive. We were passing over the Sierras and he was saying his ears were feeling weird. I told him that his ears needed to pop, but to be careful not to let his brain escape. Much crying ensued after I told him that.
We are stopping off at Dave and Busters because the kids were pretty decent on todays drive. Despite the fact that Gwen forgot all of her electronics and read thru her books by mile 30. Hence MUCH speakity speakity for us to listen to.
All is good though, tomorrow morning I am running AT SEA LEVEL and eating Stans Donuts.
Party on.

4 years of sauciness

A slice of my life this afternoon....

Me: did you rip off Nina's sticker from her DS?
Marik: yes.
Me: why?
Marik: I dunno.
Me: keep your hands off of other people's stuff. That wasn't yours to mess around with.  Please apologize to Nina.
Marik: (to Nina) sorry.  (to me) well, it's a good thing my girlfriends still like me. 
Me: lucky you.  and again, don't touch Nina things.
Marik: she could find another family, you know.

calmly, methodically, banging my head against the wall until the arrival of my partner in parenting.

happy weekend, all.

Whatcha smokin', Budweiser?

I've yet to have my first beer.  And I don't think I ever will.  But today as I was moseyin' around Smith's Marketplace looking for Salt Water sandals (which they no longer carry), I saw this....

I hafta say, I thought Budweiser's latest combination was a little odd.  Isn't Clamato pretty gross to begin with? 

Beer drinkers, weigh in here....

Who Knew?

If you are not LDS, this quick post will be VERY boring and meaningless to you.
If you ARE LDS, this quick post will still be boring and meaningless, but at least you will be familiar with what I'm talking about.

This morning I see on FB that a friend is packing to go somewhere.  I comment and ask her where.  She responds and says, Women's Conference at BYU. 

And I sit there and go, "Wow.  Why haven't I heard anything about that?  I'm thinking this is the big ol' once a year thingy they do." 

I've never been, and I guess it probably happens at the same time each year.  Is there a secret I'm missing?  I know, I know, I've only been a member for 34-8 years of my life, so I'm still getting the hang of things.   

I go to church (not always willingly) every Sunday, unless I'm traveling somewhere, or if one of the kids are sick.  BTW, I don't travel anywhere.  But I don't go to Relief Society, instead I teach Primary. 

So what I'm wondering is....where do they advertise for stuff like this?  Announcements in Sacrament?  Oh, wait, notes taped to my mailbox?  This is where I think the Church is missing the boat. 

e-mail.  Gotta use it.

Don't feel bad for me.  If I DID actually know about it, would I go?  Probably not.  #1) because who would I leave my kids with that isn't already going or doesn't have a zillion of their own kids?  #2) because quite honestly, sometimes the feedback I hear from this conference is so over the top, you-should-have-been-there, ooey-gooey, saccharine-sweet, that it turns me off.  It's like eating candy after a good tooth-brushin'. 

Maybe I'll catch it next year.   

Uh, whoops!

Today was the glorious day of the hair appointment. I cautiously informed Marik that he would have to accompany me. Me: hey Meatball, I have to get my hair colored and cut- you'll have to go with me. Marik: that's ok, Mom, I'm not allergic to that place. And so it was that His Meatness and I spent the afternoon at the salon. He was kind of mad that a nickel and a penny wouldn't vend him a MtDew from the machine. Eventually he stuck in enough 'tworters', and scored a lemonade. We returned home. I spent a few minutes in the garage sweeping up skads of baseball clay from the floor. Still not having gone inside the house, you can imagine my complete shock when the house door opens!! What's crazier is that it was GWEN walking out to greet me! Me: uh wow, Gwen what are you doing home from school? Who is with you? Gwen:nobody. Remember first grade gets out early today and tomorrow? LoserMe: crap! I totally forgot! Who brought you home and left you alone? (commence heart attack) Gwen:nobody, Mom, I just walked home myself! Here lemme show you how I crossed the streets on my own!!! DelinquentMom: umm, no, no that's cool, just give me a big ol squeeze as I put my heart back in my chest. Picture me virtually handing in my Mom card. Let me know how I earn it back.