The Challenge

This was December, but it looks Valentine-ish.

Today’s Exploit:

In the spirit of making new resolutions, last month, I came up with a challenge for my sister.

She has been trying to get more fit with swimming and running and being attacked by her pets. So I decided that I would give her a bit more motivation to keep doing those things, and maybe fighting back when the pets attack.

My challenge - 

Task: Hike 7 miles

Duration: 4 hours

Terrain: Mountains

Caveat: Carry a 25-30 lb pack

Deadline: End of June

If she wins the challenge she gets a prize, like a new pair of hiking shoes, or a weekend getaway, or a massage.

If she doesn’t make it I get to come up with something dreadful that she has to do for me. Like clean all my toilets, or smell H’s socks, or give me all her peaches from her awesome peach tree. 

Anyway, she had a total of six months to get going on this, and so far she has swum a lot and made 1 running goal (of 2) and gotten attacked by the super-excitable Eda. 

I think she’d better get ready to give me head massages every time she visits for 2 years.

Lost in the Woods

I lost my fitbit. 

I thought it was gone forever and I gave up on ever winning a prize.

But then it came back today and I was happy.

The end.

Today’s Exploit:

I went for a run the other day. And H. decided to be nice and go with me. 

He is a little faster than I am, so I said he could go ahead if he wanted.

Then he said that he would run with me.

And he did for a little.

But then he decided to go on ahead, and didn’t tell me that he decided to do this.

I came to an intersection after he’d left me in the dust. I picked a way and trudged on, yelling for him every few minutes, with no response. And grumbling and worrying that I took the wrong path.

So I went back, and went down the other path for a ways, before deciding that we had missed each other when going back and looking, so I went home to see if he was there.  

Turns out he wasn’t, so I went back to the trails and did another loop and went miles and miles up the original trail I chose. I stopped to ask everyone I met if they’d seen him, but no one had.

Finally I gave up and went back down the trail to get some more water. I got back, after about a 9.9889 mile run to find him walking back from the house to find me. 

He’d gone all the way to the top of the trail, 9.5 miles round trip, and back. He must have come down while I was doing the other loop. And he waited and waited and waited for me to come back, because he didn’t have a key to go home. 

In the future, if he runs with me, I will make sure to specify that going ahead is fine just as long as you make triply sure that I know you are going ahead. 

Going Running, Again

Oni Devil, the cat that won’t cuddle Cupcake, cuddling me when I’m trying to sleep:

She is 2.1 inches from my face, sitting on my chest.

Today’s Exploit:

I am going to run another half marathon. This is my first race since the full one, except that color one with Cupcake. But this is the first long one. I’m excited, and nervous because last time I got cramps and had to hop across the finish. 

I have been following my marathon training plan, and am at the 6-8 mile stage. Last week I had the worst run in the history of ever, so I am nervous for this week. Although the previous week I had a super duper run and could have kept going. 

I am excited to see Eli and Cavan, because they are awesome kids and I have missed them so much. Also, they are going to be giants, and probably taller than me. 

This is what they looked like last time I saw them. That was 2 years ago.

Aren’t they adorable? I probably can’t call them adorable any more. They’ll have to be “handsome”.

Conversation About a Stroller

The fitbit tracking competition has begun. After 1 baseline week we stand:

1 Dad: 92410 steps

2 PJ: 82262 steps

3 Cupcake: 71601 steps

4 Mom: 45091 steps

The real counting starts today!

Today’s Exploit:

The other day I was helping H clean out his house, because he is moving. He doesn’t have much stuff and we spent most of the time trying to get gunk off the floor and walls and (eek) bathrooms. Also, we spent a bit trying to organize the stuff that his brother and sister-in-law had left when they moved out.  

In one closet I found a stroller, some bed supports and two Army uniform skirts. I put these aside so that I could sweep.

Klay was with me at the time and asked what the stroller was.

Klay:  What’s this?

Me:  A stroller.

Klay:  What are you going to do with it?

Me:  Probably give it away or throw it away.

Klay:  Why?

Me:  Because we don’t need it.

Klay:  You should keep it, you might need it tomorrow.

He has been hinting for a while that he wants to be a big brother, and has upped his game.  He has also asked when H and I will get married so that he can have a little brother.  And has told us that he’d be ok with a puppy for a younger brother, for the time being. 

Just to be clear... this is all wishful thinking on his part.

Cupcake Had a Birthday

The dd sent me to town for hamburgers.  

Then he came in and started talking about how I’d been goofing around and going to town and being irresponsible since he arrived at the rig.

I know he was joking, but he’s one of those that’s pretty good at keeping a strait face.

Today’s Exploit:

I got to go home for Cupcake’s birthday, but I didn’t make it in time for her sushi dinner.  So we had her birthday the next day.  (She is in town for some interviews.) 

We went for a run, and I made her run really hard at the end.

Then she opened some gifts and was mad at me because I didn’t make her open them before we went running.  I got a fitbit for her, and she really wanted to know how many steps she ran.

Then we made some waffles, that I couldn’t finish because I got a migraine.  

Then I went to bed for a couple hours while she talked to my parents and my mom almost cried about the scrapbook-type pages I made to go with the fitbit.  (But don’t tell her, she claims her eye was running all day. Not that I could see, I was in the other room listening to her choked up voice caused by the running eye.)

When I felt a little better I went back out and talked to my parents on Skype.

Then, when they finished making their cookies, I brought out the birthday cake.  (I stayed up until 1 making it the night before because those tiny little cakes took over an hour to bake, and I only had one pan that size.)

I need a bigger offset spatula, my little one wasn't quite doing the trick.
Also I was trying not to use any frosting because Cupcake is a weirdo and doesn't like it.

We sang Happy Birthday to her and she told me I had pretty candles and that she didn’t remember that she’d gotten them for me a few years ago for my birthday.

She almost didn't get all six candles out with one breath!

And finally we ate some cake and everyone was happy.

Photo bombing cake pictures

Being the normal girl that she is.

Green is her favorite color, and pink is her signature color.
Duh, she calls herself Cupcake!

The end.

The Race is On

5 dozen cookies gone in 4 hours.

Today’s Exploit:

Have I ever mentioned that Cupcake and I have fitness competitions? Sometimes it’s just a challenge from me to her, with prizes for meeting certain requirements, sometimes it’s fighting for the most steps of most miles.  

This time we are going for time. 

Six days a week.

At least 40 minutes a dy.

I bet I win the first 2 weeks.