three things thursday

1.  I did it!  I got my lazy ass out of bed at 5:30!  You heard right, 5 freakin' 30!  I got my 4.5 mile run all done before anyone else in the house was awake.  Now I don't feel like such a lazy bum for missing lunch spin and not being able to run tonight because we are driving to the end of the earth.  Yay me!  It was actually quite nice once I swabbed the cobwebs out of my head.  No one was on the road.  Birds were chirping.  Sun was just coming up.  I was actually cold to start with.  I haven't been cold in awhile.  (I suppose cold is relative now, it was 60 deg. so not really cold.)

2.  Met with the accountant today--guess there is no legal real way to save money on taxes.  He just kept saying how lucky we are to have made good decisions regarding our business to be in the position we are in.  Also, that if we make XXX we actually pay less % of social security tax so that we should try to make more money.  All that accounting mumbo jumbo just gave me a headache and left me more confused.  And STILL paying a pile of taxes.  ugh.  Sometimes I hate being a grownup.

afterthought--maybe I should meet with members of congress to see how they do it.......

3.  Busy weekend again this weekend starting with tonight.  Heading 3 hours north to have a family reunion tomorrow, then back home.  Local fun 5K on Saturday--Boothbay Harbor Lobster Roll 5K.  A nice race that benefits the fundraising for a local outdoor track.  And they serve lobster afterward!  What more could you want?  Of course, we won't be buying lobster, as we have a few crated up ready to eat when we want!  But I will run the race.  Hopefully, my friends who said they were coming, are still coming to race--that will make it that much more fun.  I had a 2nd place AG award last year, but have moved into the 40-45 age group this year--typically a very competitive group.  I don't expect to place this year, but you never know. 

Once again, I have Friday off so I hope everyone has a great weekend!

wtf wednesday

This has been an off week for exercise.  I did manage to get 6 miles in on Monday in that delightfully cooler weather.  It was awesome.  Yesterday, I forgot my socks so I couldn't go to spin class.  I know, it's a lame sounding excuse but I have a HUGE patch of missing skin on my heel from the Tough Mountain Challenge this past weekend, so socks are a must until it heals.  I will get to class today but no running tonight as we are having dinner guests.  Tomorrow I have a lunch meeting with the accountant (yuk) and then we are leaving right after work to head north for a family reunion on Friday.  So no chance for exercise then either.  Unless I can somehow drag my ass out of bed in the am for a run.  Not likely, but I will try. 

We are going to a lake on Friday so I think I will try to get an open water swim in while my daughter (or someone) goes beside me in a canoe.  And Saturday I'll be running the 2nd Lobster Roll 5K, so it won't be a total wash.  I'll still give it a WTF for the messed up exercise schedule.

I'll leave you with a picture.  Well, two actually.  My husband took these pictures, they are not touched or added to in any way (other than the blacked out eyes to protect the innocent).  This is exactly what we saw walking around Boothbay Harbor last weekend. 

And now for the front view, because I know you all really want to see it.

Yes, that IS a purple unitard.  With a fanny pack.  On a man.  Who apparantly is married.  In Maine.

WTF??

Call UPS, I think we have a package.
Do you need a bow with that package?
PBS called, Barney wants his suit back.

Tough Mountain Challenge Recap

Dear Tough Mountain Challenge--you certainly lived up to your name!  Holy crap!  That was one hard race.  I'll get on with the race recap shortly but first we need to review the events leading up to the race. 

Friday--took the day off.  Thank frickin' God.  95 frickin' degrees out.  Felt like a pressure cooker out.
The. Hottest. I. Have. Ever. Felt. In. Maine.  Really.
Kids last day of gymnastics/arts & crafts camp.  Mile swim in the most heavenly cool water pool.  Lunch out with kids.  Dentist with kids.  Then home.

Ok.  So the Tough Mountain Challenge is at Sunday River Ski Resort which is about 2.5 hours away from our house.  I had been looking for places to stay up there Friday night so that we would not have to drive in the morning.  I was not having any luck.  Either everything was full, or $300 or didn't have A/C.  (There was no way I was sleeping without a/c that night.  No WAY!)  So we figured we'd drive 1/2 way to Lewiston and find a hotel there. 

We finally get motivated and pack up and head out.  We arrive in the Lewiston area around 7ish and drive up to the Hilton where a friend had mentioned it was $130/night.  I walk in to pay for a room and they say they have one left for $350!  I asked why it was so high and she said that everywhere was sold out because it was Camper's Weekend.  All the sleep away camps in the area have a parent's weekend where all the families come to visit.  Excellent.  We called about 10 places listed on our GPS and only 1 even had a room available.  Of course, it's the roach motel.  (not really called that, but close enough)  The only redeeming quality is that it is directly behind my favorite Mexican restaurant.  Bring me a pitcher of margaritas STAT!  The night wasn't too bad except my husband said he had an ant or two crawling on him...ick. 

We head out to Sunday River with about an hour left to get there.  I had called every person on Sunday River's babysitter list looking for someone to stand with our kids while we run the race.  No luck.  We went anyway hoping for a miracle sitter or we were just gonna let the kids stand alone.  The oldest is almost 12 so it's not that bad. 

We arrive with a couple of hours to spare before our race time which was scheduled for 12:40.  I find my friend from high school, Kerry, who works at Sunday River and chat with her!  It was so nice to see her.  We get our packets which contained a t-shirt, mug, beer ticket and race number.  We were a team so only one of us wore the number and we both had to cross the finish at the same time.  Another friend of mine from high school, Todd, was running when we arrived and we were able to meet up with him after he finished.  He offered to stand with the kids for us while we ran, so that was a huge relief!  (Kerry offered too, but she was working so it worked out better with Todd.)

Here we are pre-race:

I opted for the no-shirt just bra top cause it was so damn hot out!  I figured I might sweat a little less....  B knew he was going to sweat a lot and Todd advised him to keep his shirt on so he did and wore the number for us.  B hasn't run a lot and this was only his second race (the first was the Warrior Dash) so we knew we were in for a challenge.

My daughter, the photographer, caught every moment.  Here's the start.

If you look carefully, the third from the front, a man is carrying his wife up this mountain!  They were the wife-carrying champions 2 years ago and just got back from Finland competing in the Nationals!  They were training/showing off.  lol  He only made it up the first hill, then they ran regular.

This course was definately much more diffcult than the Warrior Dash.  Not even close.  We had at least 4 times where we had to run straight up the ski slope and not just a little ways either!  The trail running was uphill half of the way.  The obstacles were a relief from the hill climbing.  B was just about done in the first half mile.  He really thought he was going to have to stop.  It was so hot for him and he had to take a lot of breaks and rest.  But he didn't quit, yay! and we kept going.  We had to climb over the snowboard obstacles, crawl through culverts, trail run uphill, rope climb over walls, rope climb up a ravine and slide down a slip and slide.  We finished in 54:08.  32 out of 70 duos.  Not bad considering how much walking we did.  The snow guns blowing water were such a help.  It was hard to see through them but the cooling effect was awesome! 

There was a kids run too which was the cutest thing.  I wish it was a little longer though.  It wasn't long enough to weed out the bottleneck effect from the start line.  Kids who didn't start in front had a hard time making it to the front even if they were faster.  Oh well.  Here's a few pics from that.  Manimal:

and big sister

Princess didn't do it cause she was being a princess but that didn't stop her from going down the 'slip and slide' obstacle covered with vegetable oil at least 10 times when the adult racers were mostly done. 

All in all a great day and a great race!  We will most likely be back next year to do it again.  I hope everyone else had as fun as weekend as we did!

Three Things Thursday

1.  I wanted to share with you a funny exchange that happened in my office yesterday.  90 yo woman comes in for an exam with her husband.  I get through the bulk of the exam and then put in the dilating drops.  I return 15 minutes later and here is what transpired:
Me:  Are you all blurry yet?
Her:    Worried? (really loud, cause she deaf-er than a hake)  I'm not worried!  What do I have to be worried about?  She goes off on a tangent here talking about I'm not sure what and then says "Well, I just tell it like it is!"
Husband:  Now don't tell it all.  Don't tell her our secrets! (I think he's trying to be funny.)
Her:  (again loud)  Keeper?  What are you talking about?  You are a terrible keeper!  You leave me home and the house isn't very clean!
Meanwhile I'm trying not to laugh out loud and trying to proceed with finishing the eye exam.  I felt a little like I was part of some comedy skit or something. 

2.  Returning from the Y at lunch today, an ambulance had it's sirens on and was coming from the opposite direction.  I pull over and everyone else on the other side of the road pulls over too.  It passes and a car that was further behind the ambulance pulls out and passes in front of everyone else that has pulled over for the emergency vehicle!  What the heck is with people?  Like she was trying to cut the line.  Can't you just stay in your place and let everyone else pull back into traffic?  Really?  Are you in that much of a hurry?  (And no, JL I am not talking about you from last week.....  This is a totally separate incident!) :) 

3.  Hubs and I are running the Tough Mountain Challenge at Sunday River Ski Resort this weekend.  It looks as though it's way harder than the Warrior Dash we did back in June.  And it's supposed to be 90 deg that day!  AND we are assigned the 12:40 p.m. heat.  Of course we are.  High noon.  90's.  Yah.  Rock on.  The cool thing about this one, is that there's a kids mini mountain challenge!  The kids are sooo excited!  There's a 4-6 and a 7-12 year group.  If they time it and give awards, I would be highly suprised if the Manimal (aka 6 yo boy of mine) doesn't place or win.  He is so pumped for this!  Race report and pics will be coming on Monday---if we survive....

Have a super weekend everyone! 

A little good luck shout out to Mandy (aka Caratunk Girl) who is racing Ironman Lake Placid this weekend!  Wow!  Such an achievement!  GO MANDY!

WTF Wednesday

Welcome to another arousing edition of WTF Wednesday!  I have done pretty well with workouts this week, despite the god-awful heat.  I did spin for 20 minutes and then tennis for an hour on Monday at lunch.  Monday night I ran 4 miles.  Yesterday I did the full spin class at lunch and got my hair done at night.  Oh wait, hair coloring is not part of exercise, but it sure does make me feel good!! :)  It was worth skipping my evening run to rid myself of those hideous roots.  Between my blondish hair and my really dark tan, I'm beginning to look like a walking ad for melanoma prevention.  Or those older ladies that come back from winter in FL with skin so tan it looks like leather and hair so blonde it looks like straw.  I'm wondering if I'm a little too tan.  Is that possible?

I did manage to print out a schedule for 1/2 marathon training in 10 weeks (although I haven't looked at it yet.....).  I will.  Starting tonight.  Promise.  I think I'm really going to do this.  Maybe.  The Dempsey challenge is the following weekend in October so I'm not sure if I can handle two big races in two weeks.  Must decide which is more important.  Hmmmm.  First 1/2 marathon or Patrick Dempsey?  This requires more thought. 

1.  90's are on track for this week in Maine.  Yes, you heard right.  90's.  In Maine!  Not complaining, just making an observation.  WTF.

2.  Spin/strength class during lunch hour then drive through McD's for fries and salad.  Counterproductive, perhaps?  WTF.

3.  My weekends are pretty much filled up from now until 8/27!  And that is the last weekend before school starts again!  I'm not sure how that happened but it did.  A race, family gathering, vacation, wedding and they are all used up!  WTF!  All those things better be fun.....  Oh and my birthday is somewhere in that mess.  Not that we are counting those anymore...

A New Winner!

Ok, we will try again.  Since the first winner of the Nike sunglasses never claimed their prize, I did another random.org and found a new winner.  This time it is Christy at My Dirt Road Anthem!!!  yay!  I know she reads me on occasion, so I'm pretty sure she will claim it.  Christy--contact me at bouchard@midcoast.com and let me know where to mail you your new awesome sunglasses!!  Please!  So I can hurry up and get them off my desk.....

 Do you ever have one of those days where all your plans just fall apart right before you and a day that was supposed to be super-productive turns out to be nothing but a wasted day?  Well, that's how Friday went for me.  I took the day off to take my daughter and her friend to the last day of dance camp.  This studio is about 50 minutes away from my home so I had planned to drop them off, go swimming at the local YMCA and get my exercise done.  Then go get groceries and kill some more time before going back to the studio to watch the mini recital at 2.  Well, instead I rearranged my day to accomodate someone only to have that person change their plans last minute which, of course, completely screwed up my day.  Instead of doing what I had planned, I ended up driving about 2 hours more than necessary in God-awful traffic and didn't even get my swim in!  Ugh!  Later that night we did have the most beautiful full moon so that kinda made up for it.  In the words of my oldest, "Mom!  That was why your day was all messed up!  It's the full moon!"  So true.  So true. 

Trying, trying to get back on schedule with my exercise.  It is so hard with the hot, summer sun and the lack of a schedule because of summer school vacation.  I haven't gotten a swim in for 4 weeks.  Something always comes up on my swim day that prevents me from going to the pool.  The spinning class I usually attend at lunch is hit or miss--lately no one has been coming so I spin alone.  I have been doing my running regularly though, as that is the easiest type of workout to fit in. 

Ever have a day completely ruined due to someone else?  Summer vacation wrecking havoc with your workouts?  Do tell!  Let's wallow in our misery together!

the numbers

70--the number of dollars spent on new dance shoes for Princess (daughter #2) to attend dance camp
2--number of new leotards I bought for same Princess
2--number of times I broke my promise to not spend money on extra stuff.  See above posts
10--number of lobsters hauled from lobster traps last night
1--number of thunderstorms that interrupted trap hauling
2--number of scared shitless kids that had to be picked up at the boat landing during above thunderstorm
2--number of not-so-smart people who dropped the kids off and then continued with the boat back to the boat yard in same thunderstorm
30--number of minutes I had to wait to see if the not-so-smart people would make it back alive
4--number of towels used to dry off above people
0--number of miles ran since Sunday.  :(  boo.  bad so bad
3--number of days off I have after today!  :)  yay!
915--number of dollars spent on sports camps for the kids thus far this summer
1000--number of dollars spent on sitter for the kids when not attending camp
10--number of pounds lost since 2010
9--number of charts sitting on my desk/floor waiting for me to attend to them  (ugh!)
1--number of days until the full moon (double ugh!)
0--number of winners of Nike Sunglass giveaway who have contacted me with their address!!  Shame!  If the winner doesn't contact me by this weekend, I will pull another name for the winner!

My baby is 6!

So yesterday we celebrated the birthday of my youngest, the only boy (poor guy...).  He turned 6 yesterday.  He was sooo excited!  I can't believe that he is 6 already.  Seems like just yesterday we were heading to the hospital for my scheduled c-section only to be told my doctor was sick and to go back home and wait for them to call and tell me when I was rescheduled.  Yes, that actually happened.  Can you imagine?  38 weeks pregnant in JULY!!!, woke up at the crack of dawn to arrive at the hospital by 6:30 a.m. to prep for surgery only to be told I had  to go back home.  That sucked.  I took my super pregnant belly to the beach that day and wore my tankini proud.  Thankfully, they called and set me up for the next morning.

Here we are!  D looking great, me--not so much.  Mt. Dew at the ready though!



This picture about made me cry, my babies are so small here.  So freakin' cute.  :')

Proud daddy sporting ALOT more hair......



He's a little older here showing me his best manners



His shirt says "I didn't do it"  yah, sure you didn't

I love this kid!  He's my only boy, my athlete, my fisherman, my tigger (the kid does not stop moving!), my snuggler, my daredevil and my youngest.  He was the best suprise any parent can have and we are so lucky and happy to have him in our lives. 



winnah winnah!

What a weekend we have had here in New England!  WOW!  The weather has just been supurb!  I am sufficiently browned and freckled now and don't need any more color for awhile.  We had a suprise trip to Mass. this weekend.  My MIL had a fall and smashed her face all up so we went for a last minute visit to make sure she was ok.  She looks like the losing end of a boxing match but thankfully, nothing was broken.  Except her glasses.  Which I can take care of.  :) 

I apologize for the delay in announcing the winner of the Nike sunglasses.  I had promised that on Friday, but work was just too busy and then we had to head to Mass so I just ran out of time.  Two beach days later, and here we are back at work again.  So now I finally have time to let you know who won!

I had 38 entries and 3 more for folks who referred others here so that makes a total of 41.  Random.org chose lucky entry number 6.  Which was CSFlynn!  Yay to you!  Shoot me an email at bouchard@midcoast.com and I'll get your addy so I can mail them out to you!  Just in time for all this sun we have been having!  Thank you to all the new followers and everyone who entered.  I hope you keep following me--it's nice having an audience. :) 

New Leaf on Three Things Thursday

This is a weird week for me.  It's short because of the holiday but jam-packed with stuff because of the day off.  I love and hate long weekends.  The weekend part is great but the coming-back-to-work part stinks.

1.  This has probably been said a million times across a million blogs already but, WTF Florida??  Casey Anthony is not guilty?  Really?  I'm so disgusted with the court system.  If I believed in hell I would want them to all burn there.

2.  I have decided that I spend/waste way too much money on things.  All kinds of things.  Things we need, things we don't need, things I want, things my kids want, food we need, food we don't need, gas, whatever.  You name it, I waste/spend too much money on it.  I am going to try to turn over a new leaf and not spend money just because I can or want to.  However, this does not mean that I am not going to enter any new races!  Oh God no!  The horrors!  I will still enter at least two more races before the end of the year.  I hope to do one more sprint tri and the-race-that-we-do-not-speak-of-lest-we-chicken-out-and-don't-enter (1/2 marathon) race.   I just need to make myself more accountable for the money that I waste that could be going towards more productive things like savings (!!) or finally getting rid of that last little bit of credit card debt or paying down the truck sooner.  I am going to try to not buy myself anymore clothing of any kind for 3 months.  We are going to eat the food out of our freezers before buying anymore food to put in the freezer.  I am going to hang clothes out on the drying rack when I can and use the dryer less.  I will eat out less.   And I will, if it kills me and them, do my darndest to make sure my kids learn the value of things and the value of hard work and that we don't need to buy everything we want to be happy.   Which kinda brings me to my next thing...

3.  My 11 year old will NOT have a cell phone.  No she will not.  I do not care if the President himself buys one and hand delivers it to her, she will not.  She is getting to that age where it is common place for every child (yes! they are still children!!) to carry a cell phone around and act like they really need one.  How did we arrive at this place where 11 year old CHILDREN need to have a cell phone?  I don't even need to have a cell phone!!!  I like my cell phone, but I can also pay for my cell phone.  With my own money.  That I earned myself.  With my own job.  <very large sigh>

I will be THAT mother.  You know.  THAT one.  Because I think it's the right thing to do.  Because I think it's stupid and wastful and indulgent to provide a child with a phone, all the while sending the message that they can't possibly live their life without one.   I will also be that mother who is at every away game so she won't need to call me when she gets home, because I will already know because I was there.  I will also be that mother that knows where she is after school and what time her practices are and where they are so I can be right there to pick her up.  No need to call me, I'm already there!  And if it's not me, it will be my husband--her father. 

Any thoughts on the above things?  Any cell phones infecting your family?  Wasteful spending got you down?    Please share--maybe we can all benefit from sharing our woes and how we deal with them!  Oh--don't forget--last day to enter my giveaway for those awesome Nike sunglasses!  Stay tuned--tomorrow I'll post the winner!!

June Recap--late as usual

If anyone of you know me at all, you will know that I am usually a little late with everything.  I try try try to be on time, but I just can't help it.  The forces of the universe are against me (as well as my family of 5 that takes forever to get ready!).  That being said, it should be no suprise that my June Recap doesn't appear until well into July.  'Nuff said--on with the recap.

Miles Ran:  47.6  (most likely even 50 because I am terrible at keeping track of my workouts on dailymile.com

Miles Swimming:  2.58

Minutes spinning:  300

Miles rode on an actual bike:  16

Minutes weight training:  60

Races Ran:  2  The Bath Sprint Tri and the Warrior Dash.  Both were awesome and tons of fun!

Current Shame Inducing Guilty Pleasure:  spoonfuls of Nutella.  over and over. 

Current Obsession:  deciding whether to do a 1/2 Marathon in the fall

Current Drink:  Still Mt. Dew in the morning and Propel Zero grape in water the rest of the day.

Current Need:  to stop wasting money on unnecessary things

Current Triumph:  Running 8 miles!!!  Longest run to date!  :)

Current Excitement:  my new running sneakers--they are bigger and my feet love the extra space.

Current Giveaway:  my sunglass giveaway ends in a couple of days so make sure you get your entries in!  Those sunglasses will come in pretty handy with all the summer days we have ahead of us.

What's new and exciting in your world?  Any new finds/good stuff to share?  Do tell!  Happy Tuesday-that-feels-like-a-Monday!

Three things Thursday! (a day late....)

Bear with me as I try to post this blog from my iPad.... Not so easy.

1. I got some new running sneakers!!! My older ones were hurting my feet on the longer runs and I read somewhere that your shoes should be a size larger for long runs because your feet swell. Makes sense so I went and got fitted. After 6 or 7 pairs I found the right ones:

I love them!  Aren't they pretty?  And they fit nicely too.  I had to get a size 9 in these.  Weird because I am a 7 1/2 (sometimes an 8) every other day.  But the 9 just felt good and had extra room in the toe area. 

2.  I have discovered Chipotle.  The restaurant, not the flavor.  It is delicious.  And cheap.  I have read about other bloggy folks eating there and didn't have a clue what it was.  Well, I happened upon it in Portland the other day and dropped in to grab some dinner.  I had the buritto bowl with chicken.  YUM!  Now I know what all the fuss is about.

3.  I am terrible with dates and times.  Do not trust me with anything like that.  If I tell you Sunday at 3, make sure you check with someone else to make sure that is correct.  For example:  Wednesday was a busy busy day.  I was scheduled to leave work early to go pick up my daughter and 5 other girls at basketball camp.  But I also remembered that I had a continuing education class in the opposite direction that same night.  Thus, we rearranged the schedule so that my husband could pick up the girls and I could get to my class on time.  I drive the hour to Portland, kill time buying my sneakers and checking out the mall and then head to the hotel where my class was supposed to be.  I enter the room and no one was there.  Not even a paper or a person or anything.  I ask the hotel clerk where the meeting is and they say there is not a meeting today.  Ugh.  Back out to the car I go to recheck the paper--maybe a different hotel?  Nope, the meeting was 6/22.  LAST wed.  Good God.  What a waste of time and travel for nothing.  At least I got to find/try Chipotle.  Do you suppose I could still deduct the milage and meal???  lol

Toying with the idea of a 1/2 marathon in October.  Is that possible?  Do I have enough time to train for that?  The longest run to date for me has been 6 miles.  Hmmmmm.  Any thoughts/advice on that?

One more week to enter my giveaway!  Get your entries in!  Oh--and have a SUPER Fourth of July weekend!!!