Running update

Whew..feels like forever since I've written an update on my running progress.  I am having so much fun (YES-I just called running fun).  I am now up to about 40 miles a week--between 40 and 35 miles.  I've started running on Thursday evenings with one of my best friends from high school and it is so amazing to be able to finally catch up with her.  I feel like we cover things on our little 40 minute runs that we wouldn't ordinarily be able to talk about.  SO we get our "girl talk" fix...sometimes we talk God...sometimes we talk family...sometimes we talk running...sometimes we take turns bragging about our husbands...and sometimes we try to laugh (laughing and running isn't easy..especially if you know us and know how graceful we both are-HA).  

So between my Saturday runs with my dad, my Thursday runs with my girlfriend, and my every other day of the week runs with "me", I am really REALLY enjoying my time spent running.  OH an dad and I logged 10 miles last Saturday.  YAY.  I am so proud.    Now if I can just figure out how on earth to stay well nourished with all this running, then I'll be good to go.  I am thinking of investing in some sort of protein drink supplement thing...I think.  So if anyone has any advice on this...I welcome it :-)

WELL...Neil is home from work and I am off to get my 5 miles in for today so I can spend time with my hubby tonight :-)

Bullies, lessons learned, and bad habits

FINALLY...I have to admit it after all the ranting about other moms...

I have taught Layla a "sort of" bad habit.  I guess I don't really need to explain it..the picture below speaks for itself :-)  

We had such a fun and silly day today.  I don't think I've ever giggled so much...or heard so much giggling out of Layla.  I love silly days!

Crazy 8s...Tagged...

Ahhh...tagged on Crazy 8s...these things stress me out more than you can imagine.  I'm not doing it.  So.  There.  I can't even think of eight things I'm passionate about...that thought made me feel like the least passionate person in the universe, but then I remembered that my passions are pretty big passions...and my nature is of the "all or nothing" sort.  I enjoy a lot of things...I really REALLY like a lot of things...but I'm only passionate about a few--definitely not 8.

And the books...and movies...I haven't read anything noteworthy in WAY too long.  AND I typically only watch movies once.  I don't really enjoy movies--I have a very short attention span and tend to be sort of hyper.  The movies that I really really love, I've probably seen three--four times tops.  I'm "that" person who, try as I may, never gets a movie quote right...probably because I don't pay enough attention.

I say all this to say that I am perfectly boring...and these things stress me out because I want to find the perfect list...I'm such a dork.  Sorry Beth...LOVE YOU!

Hummm...now should I tag any of you guys???  :-)

These pictures are not really relevant to this post...but what the heck.  I think they are adorable :-)

Layla showing daddy how to really...I mean REALLY play the guitar.  What you can't see from the picture is that she actually is strumming the guitar with graham cracker in hand.  Now..that is some real talent...

Layla in her "fity cent" hoodie (as her daddy says).  Its really a cover up so that she doesn't show too much skin while on her way to the swimming pool :-)

This is Layla playing dress up--again.  I think it really humors her when mommy gets involved--the sillier the better.  Layla actually picked out the hat all by herself and put it on my head.  And, she absolutely LOVES big sunglasses.

This little piggy

So...Layla is really into pigs lately.  Well, let me back up.  She learned how to make a pig face and snort pretty early on and learned that it got quite the reaction...so she's always had a little "thing" for pigs.  

We also happen to live in the pig capital of the world, Lexington, NC--home of the BBQ Festival.  You know how a ton of cities now are commissioning artists to paint animals that are placed around town to draw visitors?  WELL...Lexington has pigs (because of the the BBQ Festival) and Layla adores each and every one of them.  Last week, we walked to Main St to visit the pigs (and take them water-HA) every SINGLE afternoon.  In fact, Layla woke up from each afternoon nap snorting and running to the door.  Last Tuesday we went to visit the pigs in her PJs because the need to see them as so urgent...HA!

Here's a pic from her trip to visit the pigs with her Grandpa and DeDe (Neil's parents) on Wednesday.

Yesterday my dad called and thought it would be a great idea to take Layla down to Dan Nicholas Park to visit real pigs!  We packed up my mom and dad's car and drove to Salisbury--Bradyn, Layla and I all crammed into the back seat (two car seats...one adult....three books...two sippy cups...and two kiddos equally "starved" for attention--all in the back seat of a Subaru).  We had a BLAST.  The pig was asleep but Layla touched the sheep and the donkey.  We rode a train, a carousal, played on the playground and ate a picnic lunch.  AND we were home in time for Layla's afternoon nap.  What a day!

Dad brought up a very interesting point on the way back home...We were in the front seat (YAY) talking about running and his new wedding albums while Bradyn, Layla and my mom were making up songs in the back seat.  All of the sudden Bradyn yelled up at me to jump in with a rhyme about something that was mean...dad automatically stopped mid sentence...I jumped in with something about bears--and then dad about wildebeests--AND then dad finished his sentence like we never skipped a beat.  Funny thing is that we both did it without even thinking.  Dad said that's what was always required at Slate family get togethers (every Saturday and Sunday growing up)...that the "adults" were capable of having a grown up conversation and jumping into a kid's game--then back to conversation without missing a beat.  HILARIOUS!  And somewhat crazy that I find myself doing that VERY often.

Ahhh...I love being a mommy.  I love going to see pigs for the first time every afternoon.  I love listening to my mom singing :-) VERY VERY VERY silly songs about pickles and giggling (??) in the back seat with Bradyn and Layla.  

OH speaking of which...T MINUS ONE week until time for the Slate family beach vacay!

Hot Pics from Father's Day

Here's Neil with Layla...how crazy that she looks SO much like him?!  You may not be able to tell by the picture by she has his eyes and his big smile.

AND here's my dad (Layla's Papa) and Layla...so sweet :-)

YAY! Father's Day

I love love LOVE Father's Day.  I've always loved celebrating my daddy because he's always been so darn humble and unassuming that I can't really celebrate him like I want to unless I have a "hallmark" holiday excuse :-)  And this year, I celebrate my wonderful hubby too!  How lucky am I to have two of the most amazing men in the world in my little life and in my sweet little Layla's life??  And I really can't stress enough how convinced I am that father's are one of the most important people in a girl's life--if not THE most important.  You guys set the bar for each and every guy we let into our lives...you help us build self confidence...you encourage us to be adventurous...and you introduce us to things like the Rolling Stones :-)

I have to tell you, I was thinking the other day about the importance of dads--especially with all the kids in the world who don't really have fathers or even father figures.  This was one of my conclusions.  I realized that most of my conceptions about God and what He must be like stem from my dad and the role he played in my life--his character, his attitude, the way he loved me and disciplined me (which I guess are one in the same) :-)  And wow--how lucky am I to have had such an amazing, every day example of God's love in my life.  I remember even as a small child thinking of how patient, compassionate, gentle and forgiving God must be...I knew He had to be all of these things because my dad...my "father" was--is--all of those things.  Sooooooo...thank you dad.  

And now I get the chance to watch Neil with Layla and I am so amazed at that interaction.   I feel so blessed to have something new to love about Neil every time I see the two of them together.  I love to hear them laughing while I'm in the other room, I love to walk in and see Neil showing Layla how to use the tape measurer, HA...and I am absolute putty in his hands after I see him changing a diaper--especially if its a yucky one.  But more importantly...I feel this strange sense of respect for Neil when I think about him being a daddy.  Again--I am such a lucky and blessed girl.

Thank you Neil William...thank you for being so stinkin amazing at everything you do.  I love you :-)

She's got the look

Yesterday morning I took Layla's clean laundry upstairs to her room so that she could help me put her clothes away.  She has started to really enjoy laundry days.  I noticed as I was making nice little piles of clothes that hang in the closet, clothes that go in drawers, towels, wash cloths, etc., that Layla was taking out various items from each pile and making her own little pile--which was completely adorable.  

Then, she picked up each item, one by one, and brought it to me.  She "asked" that I put each one on her body and signaled exactly how she wanted to wear them by stretching her arms up, stretching one arm up, ducking her head, and lifting her feet.  When we were finished she had quite the wardrobe.  She wore this particular outfit to breakfast, she wore it as she helped mommy get dressed--and she almost wore it to visit my grandmother for our weekly lunch date.  It was so cute that I absolutely had to grab my camera and take a picture!  Her poor little eyes still have so much cold in them...but that obviously didn't effect her ability to put together a killer outfit!

On a side note...Layla has started going through a very odd stage of tantrums.  Thankfully because I stay at home with her and know her so well, I can see one coming well in advance of her throwing herself on the floor--face down.  On most occasions I can make sure she is in a safe place to go ahead and have her tantrum.  And on a good day, I can head the tantrums off before they even occur.  Those times make me very proud of the relationship that Layla and I have.  The tantrums in the coffee shop do not :-)  

And to be honest, after only doing this tantrum thing for about two weeks she is really starting to be "frugal" with her tantrums, which I think is progress.  In fact, there have been a couple of times this week where I see her start to tighten her fists--and all I say is "Lay...calm down baby...this is not a big deal" in a very calm, quiet voice--and moments later she turns away to think about it and is fine.  The turning away thing is hilarious, by the way--almost like she is saying to me, "I am doing this on my own, not because you told me to"--and I know where she gets that behavior--HA.  Strange.  I guess she's learning to save her melt downs for things that are really important :-)  Can toddlers differentiate though?  Maybe not.  Maybe its just luck of the draw and she's figuring out that tantrums don't get her as much attention as giggling.

Addendum to the shrunken food...

OH by the way..the Wheat Thins box just shrunk!  AND--I bought a box of those little Townhouse crackers for a recipe and THEY are smaller..its almost comical at this point.  I guess this is a way to lower obesity in the US...just make all the junk food unaffordable :-)  Good thing our only big junk splurge is on the ever-shrinking ice cream...

I honestly feel like I am grocery shopping for a family of Umpa Lumpas...HA!

When the Moon Hits Your Eye....

Ahhh...just got in from a five mile run...I had wanted to get something quick in before the rain came (still not here, PS).  My Ipod was dead...Layla carried it around in her "purse" for most of the day and it was left on...boo!  I really find it hard to run without my ipod or a partner--I get bored pretty easy.

ANYWAY--here is a snapshot of how my brain works...tick. tick. tick. tick.  all day.  I started my run just kind of thinking about my upcoming beach trip with the whole Slate family--which made me very excited.  Then I passed by a house on 2nd Street where an older couple was sitting on a deep front porch--the kind of front porch you see on a house built in the 1920s or early 30s.  And I thought---awwhh how sweet, they are STILL holding hands (cue theme song from Lady and the Tramp--I don't know--I was daydreaming).  

Then, I ran by another house with an adorable little window box.  It made me think of the city where Neil and I spend part of our honeymoon, Fere.  It was a small, cute as a button town in the Champagne region of France.  We stayed in an old castle with an AMAZING pool.  I began to think about laying out by the pool sipping champagne and how the biggest thing on my mind was whether or not my tan was even and if the pool was too cold to jump into (it was the morning after a late August rain--which made the pool quite frigid).  Then I immediately thought of our time in the Latin Quarter back in France and this small little underground bar where we smoked cigars and drank cheap French wine.  SO I had to put a picture up :-) This one isn't at that particular cigar bar...but it was at a little bistro just before we stumbled upon the best kept secret in Paris!

Finally--I ran past a car parked in a strange parking lot.  It was already 8:30 at night and most of the parking lots downtown were clear.   It was really strange to see a Mercedes S class parked in such a strange lot.  I thought....awwwhh man, I bet that car belongs to a man who was picked up after work by his wife and they are probably on their way to Charlotte or something for a date night.  They'll probably stay in a quaint little hotel and have a great dinner tonight.  He probably took off work tomorrow so that they can stay in bed until right before their late check-out...after which they will probably be having brunch.

Can you tell that I just COMPLETELY romanticized everything I saw tonight.  Neil said I was just being creative, which was a nice compliment coming from him--he's the creative genius in the family and I'm the logical one--typically.  Incredible!  I absolutely had to laugh at myself and the way my little brain spun this amazing story out of a parked car--HA!

So the lesson to this story is that sometimes running sans Ipod is a good thing...all my daydreaming told me as much as some profound "night dream" would have.  I miss my husband!  We've been too busy lately, and we need a date night.    

Alright guys...go do something romantic tonight :-)  

Honey, I Shrunk the Ice Cream?

While shopping the other day, I noticed that Edy's Ice Cream looked like it had taken a dexatrim or something...it was really strange.  I proceeded to compare the size of Edy's to the other ice creams and found that YES...they have decreased their package size (while still charging the same amount???).  INCREDIBLE!  I love Edy's Ice Cream...perhaps my favorite of ALL ice creams...but not anymore.  

Here's the rub--what they said to me was "hello shopper...we here at Edy's feel as if you are too ignorant to notice a smaller size, so we'd rather take the chance that you don't notice than increase the price."  REALLY!  Does anyone else think I am wrong to get so bent out of shape over this?  It really seemed like trying to pass off a paper written in Courier New (with a small increase in the top and bottom margins) as a paper written in Times New Roman.   I did the same thing in an undergrad sociology paper.  So yeah...I guess maybe I shouldn't hold some corporation to a higher standard than a lazy college student?

So I did what any ticked off consumer would do and contacted Edy's with my ranting.  I received three coupons in the mail along with a nice generic letter from the CEO (or more likely a spring semester intern).  The idea of using those coupons makes me sick.  AYE AYE AYE!  I guess its back to the drawing board for my nightly (and I do mean nightly) ice cream fix :-)