Goodbye Dolce

It's been a crazy last few days with lots of snow, no daycare, grant writing deadlines, and sad days.  Today is my first day going to the office since Tuesday...an entire week.  I had a grant deadline on Friday so I had to work but Evan was sick and then we got over a foot of snow (which is a big deal here), and then I realized Evan also had two molars coming in and was extra clingy and refused to play on his own.  It was a bit of a stressful time.  I did most of my grant writing from 8pm-2:30am when he was asleep.  Ivan was plowing all night so after two nights of no sleep he wasn't really awake enough to watch the kiddo.  So midnight grant writing was the only way to go.  It gave me a small idea of what nursing school will probably be like.

Evan cuddling with Dolce

But the sad news is that we gave my beloved Dolce away.  I still can't fully believe that he doesn't live with us anymore.  It just wasn't working out.  The hubs was always frustrated with him because he was constantly vying for attention and knocking Evan over (not meanly at all, just because he is so big) and constantly wanting attention.  So I felt like poor Dolce was getting yelled at all day, every day.  Then hubs would put him in the bedroom so that Evan would stop climbing on him and hitting him with golf clubs, but being shut in a bedroom for hours while the rest of the family played together wasn't fun either.  I came home from work one day last week and just felt that there was so much negative energy focused on Dolce and I hated the idea of Evan growing up in that type of situation and learning to yell at dogs and just being around that negativity.

So, I called the Samoyed Rescue people and they sent a family out to adopt him.  It all happened so fast that I barely got to say goodbye.  Maybe it was better that way because  I would have cried like a baby (and I did, after he left and every night since).  I do think he's probably happier with the new family.  They had three kids around 10-12ish and they had another Samoyed that was 13 years old.  Plus, they had a house with a yard and lots of toys (dog toys, not baby toys).  I think he'll love playing with the kids and I just hope they take good care of him.

Dolce playing in his new home

I miss him lots and I'm sad Evan won't get to grow up with him.  Maybe in the future we'll get another dog...when we live in a house instead of a tiny apartment and when Evan is older.  I will miss walking him and playing with him and driving to Vermont with him.  But he seems happy in his new home and that is what's important.  I wanted to keep him no matter what but then felt maybe that wasn't fair...that maybe we weren't a good family for him anymore.

So sad though.  I hate making hard decisions like this - where what I want isn't what is best.  And hopefully he knows that we gave him away because we loved him so much, not because we didn't want him.  

A Broken Rule, a Tragedy, and Catch-up

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post last Thursday.  I went to work (the only day that week due to MLK Day, a snow day, and my telecommuting days), but I ended up sitting with a bus friend who wanted to chat the entire time.  Yes, I have broken my cardinal bus rule: no more bus friends after Jacqui, especially male bus friends.  The reason I became friends with Jacqui in the first place was because she was rescuing me from a male bus stalker who wanted to sit with me all the time.  She started sitting with me so that he couldn't and it saved me (the guy was actually mad at her and yelled at her for sitting with me all the time - he had serious problems).  When Jacqui stopped riding the bus I promised to stop making bus friends and I really promised to never make a male bus friend because they always turn out to be creepy.  All rules broken.  As hard as I tried not to, I made a new bus friend.  And he happens to be male.  He was just so friendly that I would have had to be down right rude to get rid of him and that's hard for me to do.  He seems happily married with two young girls so I am hoping that he never invites me for coffee or to stay the night in his "condo" or any other creepy gross things.  There are only so many different buses I can take to escape the weirdos.  But the point of this long tangent was to say that the bus was crowded that morning so I sat with him and then couldn't write my blog.

Saturday morning I headed out for a run.  Amazing, right?  Well, now that I have joined up with the TNT  group to do my long runs (not fundraising, just running with them), I feel more compelled to go.  It's a good thing too because it was like 13 degrees but felt like 5 due to the wind.  Yup, it was chilly.

That was my running outfit.  It kept me nice and warm (kind of, I was still a bit frozen).  The face mask was useful in keeping my mouth from freezing off, but it did get some condensation on it that froze.  I ended up doing 7.18 miles in one hour and five minutes, and that was including our water break stop.  That was pretty fast for me..I was tired but glad I kept up that pace and survived.  I admit I am a bit sore but I'll just have to push through.  Our half is coming up in like a month.  Yikes!

And on Sunday Evan and I decided to be brave and go back to church (the last time I went we got "the Look" because Evan hasn't figured out the difference between an indoor and an outdoor voice and so I stopped going - but I've decided I am going to try and ignore "the Looks" and persevere).  There had been a random shooting in our mall the day before and church was on my mind as a place to go and find peace (no matter how often you hear of gunman shooting at random people on the news, it feels very different when it happens in your own community).  This morning driving past the mall on the bus there were four or five reporters reporting early this morning and the mall is still an active crime scene.  I could also see police headquarters set up in the parking lot too.  Just very surreal.  Evan wasn't too bad at church and the nice woman in front of me specifically told me that it didn't bother her if Evan made a lot of noise.  I was thankful for this.  I am glad we went mass because the homily on the shooting was very good and I did feel better afterwards.  The thing that stuck with me the most was the priest made a comment about how it is much easier to buy guns and ammunition in this country than it is to get decent mental health care and that is sad.  And it really is very sad.  People are hurting in this country (mentally/emotionally/physically) and it's our responsibility to take care of them but we seem to be doing a really bad job of it.  And I wish I knew what was causing people so much pain and making them want to kill people and then themselves rather than getting help.  It's easy to be dismissive and say people are crazy - but that is not helping anyone.  As a society, we need to start figuring out why and what we can do about it because it it getting scary around here.  Ok, that's enough on that topic.

Onto something much happier: Evan!

And now I am gonna update you on some funny things Evan has done.  The other night he was eating dinner and put this bag over his head.

He ate his entire dinner like that.  He'd lift the bag up and I'd put some food in his mouth and then he'd put the bag back down over his head.  It was hilarious.  And surprisingly he ate more than he normally does - he actually finished all his dinner!  I'm debating whether I should put a bag over his head every night for dinner (don't worry, I made sure he was safe and wasn't suffocating himself and I don't let him put bags over his head without supervision).

And take a look at his new seat.

Ivan caught him sitting on Dolce and looking out the window.  It was so cute!  Then he started bouncing on Dolce and that was less cute.  Now he tries to climb on Dolce every time he can.  Less fun and way less cute.  Pretty much I have to separate the two of these creatures these days because I try not to let Evan bother Dolce too much.  You just never know when a dog is going to have enough and the last thing I want is Evan hurting Dolce and making him snap/bite him (this has never happened and the only time I've seen Dolce snap is at the vet when having stitches removed).  Plus, Dolce weighs about 65 pounds and Evan is about 18 pounds - so there is a big difference there.

Ok, I'm gonna banana split.  Hope you have a great Monday!

Our Christmas Vacation, Part I

Hello!  Merry Christmas!!!  Happy New Year!!  It has been too long since we've chatted.  I didn't mean to be away so long but I just never got around to posting while I was on vacation.  I had a lot of things to share but nothing so important it couldn't wait.  And now it's 6am and I am on the bus again, back to work, like vacation never happened.  I am hoping I am refreshed for the new year and motivated to get a lot of work done and all that.  We'll see what happens when I get to the office...that motivation often disappears!

We had such a fun holiday.  Honestly, it would have been difficult to not have fun though.  We really needed some time away from reality and work and the move and unpacking and all that jazz.  By the end of the month it was starting to wear us down and we just wanted to be finished with it all.  I took my Chem final without studying (and luckily got a B, not a high B but I still kept my A in the class so who cares), we moved, started to slowly unpack (which we are still doing), and packed up our suitcases for Vermont.

Yet again we woke up on the Friday before Christmas super early and were on the road close to 5:30am...me, hubs, Evan, and Dolce.  It was squishy like always but we survived another ten hour car ride.

The dog and Evan get lots of very close time together.  Evan pulls out Dolce's fur and Dolce eats Evan's snacks.  I think it's a fair trade.

Once we hit Albany the drive got a bit interesting.  The temperatures started dropping and it started raining...and freezing.  Literally the rain froze on our windshield almost faster that we could clear it.

That stuff in the upper right corner is pure ice.  It was crazy!  Ivan was driving and he did a great job...while I took pictures.  We were still able to make decent time and arrived at my parent's house close to 4pm.  Not too shabby.  And even though it was a bit treacherous, it was a very pretty snow-filled trip.

If you can believe it, the picture above is Lake Champlain, frozen over and covered with snow.  It was weird looking at it and knowing it was a lake, but seeing no water.

The rest of our trip went similar to the car ride: snow-filled, treacherous, lots of people and animals, yet still filled with the people you love and lots of fun times together that make it special.  Our first adventure was a terrible ice storm (figures, since we battled ice on our drive up).  Literally everything was frozen -the streets, our cars, the trees, the snow.

It looked beautiful though.

The snow was frozen right onto the trees, which I thought was the prettiest thing ever.  It made the trees look like they had fresh snow on them for days.  However, you know what else freezes during a nice storm?  Power lines!  And it rural-ish Vermont, when you have no power, you also have no heat and no water.  Not fun...especially since a nice storm usually means cold temperatures.  I was happy that power was restored about four hours later...not too much suffering.  It would have been three weeks before we got power back in Maryland!

Ok, I feel like this is getting long and I still have so much to share so I think I'll end it now and continue tomorrow.  Don't stay away too long though - the adventures continue!!

Happy Monday!!

Snow and ice

Wow, this weekend went super fast.  Maybe because I had a meeting all day on Friday instead of working from home.  And those three days of meetings really wore me out.  I wanted to sleep in on Saturday but Evan had other plans.  He was cutting a tooth and so pretty much was up all night.  I think he fell asleep at around 4am.  And then he was up at 7am.  Definitely not what I was hoping for after only getting a few hours of sleep all week.  He made up for it on Sunday though and we slept until 8am.

Sunday we got our first snow fall of the season!

It ended up being about two or three inches.  I was pretty excited.  Except that my friend Sarah was supposed to come and help me pack but we were too worried about the road conditions so she didn't come.  It was a good thing too because the roads were horrible.  However,  I was sad I didn't get to see her.  Hopefully she makes it on Saturday!

I put Evan in his new snowsuit (compliments of Mimi), and we took Dolce for a walk.

It was getting a little dark so it Is kind of hard to see Evan, but he was all bundled up in snow pants and a winter coat.  That little hat is a bit problematic because it likes to fall down and cover his entire face.  That made him a bit unhappy.  At one point I took him out and let him play in the snow, which he loved, but then getting him back into the stroller was a fight.  Dolce spent the entire time eating snow, which is so annoying because then he has to go out nineteen times in the next hour.  It's a struggle I tell you!

I did get some packing done, even without Sarah's motivation.  I also made English muffin bread, pumpkin soup, chicken soup, and chicken enchilada soup.  And Ivan nicely washed the dishes while. I gave Evan a bath.

This week is a bit stressful because I have my Chem lecture final tomorrow and then moving on Saturday...which means I have to be packed by Saturday too.  The other night while I was rocking Evan to sleep (I know, he's probably too old for this but I don't care), I heard rodents in the walls scurrying about.  I'm not sure if it was mice, rats, squirrels, or what - but it was disgusting and I was counting my blessings that we were moving to a better place (can it be worse???).  We just have to physically move to that other place and that is what stresses me out!

P.S. I found the BOB weather shield!!!!!  I had been looking for it for months and couldn't find it - and then I'm packing up the bedroom closet and found it in a bag.  I was SO HAPPY!!

Did it snow where you live this weekend?

Strange pizza, hide and seek, and next semester

So of course I had two posts yesterday, which is nothing short of a miracle, and then today I've got nothing for you.  Such is life, right?  Jam-packed one day and then empty the next.  At work I am trying to create an online learning course...I am a bit under-qualified for this and it is taking up all my brain energy to try and do it.  I feel like this happens a lot.  Anyone out there a Lectora whiz?  Wanna take a stab at designing a course for me for free?  Haha.

Since starting Chemistry our family dinners have gone down the drain.  I just don't have the time nor energy to cook a lot of meals.  Plus, Ivan annoys me and eats a big plate of food right before I get home and then isn't hungry for dinner.  Yesterday I made Evan a can of soup and some rice and I ate a pizza.  I had gotten some stone-cooked pizza crusts from Costco and decided to pop one in the oven for me.  I didn't want the plain tomato sauce with cheese though.  I wanted something different.  Enter my new pizza creation.

It was butternut squash, deli ham, and cheese.  I was afraid it was going to be gross but it was actually really good.  Evan liked it too.  He wasn't into eating too much last night because he saw the dog playing with a toy and got jealous.  The toy was Dolce's but Evan thought it was his so he was a little perturbed that Dolce was playing with it while he was trapped in a high chair.  Yeah, so dinner was super short.  

Then we played hide and seek.  I hid and Evan looked for me.  It was really funny and Evan loved it.  I love playing all night with him and not having to go to class.   Ugg, not too many more classes and then I have to decide what to do about next semester.  Do I just relax with no classes or do I consider taking a Spanish class or something.  I don't know what I feel like doing.  Or what I want to pay for.  Decisions, decisions.

I brought my running stuff to work today, I am determined to get in a few miles during lunch.  We'll see if that happens or not.  I was up until 11:30pm completing an online Chemistry assignment, so I am a little drowsy today. I hate running when I'm tired - except I am tired a lot these days and I have to get these runs in sometime or I'll never be ready for the half marathon!

So many things to tell you and the worst run ever

This may be a long post because I have so many things to update you on.  A lot has happened since we last "chatted" and since we are practically best friends I feel like I need to give you the full update.  Hold on to your seats people, it's gonna be a long ride.  But don't get too excited because I haven nothing of real importance to tell you.

First, what is this update with out a mention of Halloween?  I know I am late on this and should have posted on Friday with the rest of the blogger world, but I was swamped at work and by the time I finished all I wanted was to rest my eyes from the computer screen.  However, Evan was the cutest monster ever.  Don't you agree?  My niece was an adorable Angelina Ballerina and I went as myself, so don't make any comments about what my costume might have been.

Instagram: mapleandmud

I bought Evan's costume second hand and mainly because it looked nice and warm.  Figures it was practically 60 degrees that night, but he didn't seem to be too hot.  And yes, we had to go trick-or-treating with his Easter basket because I dropped the ball on a Halloween basket.  I also didn't have a Halloween shirt for him to wear that day either.  I am trying to keep on top of things but I obviously wasn't on top of everything.  We only got candy from a few houses because I didn't want piles of it waiting to be eaten by me.  So,  I had pretty much eaten all the candy by Friday...maybe I should have let him go to a few more houses!

This weekend was a blur of many things.  Saturday started out nice and slow because it was the first weekend with no First Tee!  No getting up at 6am to get ready for golf!  I wish I could say I was productive and did a ton of other things but no, Evan and I slept in.  We walked the dog and had some breakfast and took the morning slow.  Then when Ivan came home I went to take a shower...and read my Runner's World magazine for the first hour (no worries, the water wasn't running).  Ivan caught me though and he came to see why my shower was taking two hours!  Evan and I decided to do a little shopping and banking so the two of us headed out (Evan refused to nap so I gave up after 30 mins).  After the bank we went to my favorite baby consignment store.  I bought Evan the cutest clothes ever.  Seriously, so adorable.  I also got him some puzzles and a new sippy cup.  I then went next door to the upscale dog store for some glucosamine pills for Dolce.  He has a limp that won't go away and I think it is a bit or arthritis.  I had really wanted to buy myself a new pair of pants, but after shopping for toddler and doggie I decided to call it quits.

On the way home Evan fell asleep and when we got home Ivan was sleeping.  I put Evan in his crib and thought I'd make my favorite cookies, great pumpkin cookies, since everyone else was napping.  I have wanted to make these for a while but never found the time.  I put the flour and oats in the bowl and then realized I needed a cup of brown sugar and I only had a few tablespoons. So off to the store I went...all by myself.  Yay - party at the Giant.  When I got home Evan was awake though...so no cookies were made...until that night when he went to bed.  I think I started around 10pm - but the time was changing that night so I figured I could stay up extra late.  And it was worth it.  I love these cookies!!

My instagram: mapleandmud

Sunday was an even more productive and pumpkin day!!!

First, we came off daylight savings time, which is my favorite thing to do.  An extra hour in the day! My dream come true!  I thought I'd get an early run in since Evan would be up early, but I was mistaken.  Evan slept until 8:15am!  I got bored and actually folded and put away our large stack of clean clothes.  After Evan woke up, we headed out for a run.  The worst ever.  It was sunny and when I checked the weather I thought it said 55 degrees.  NO WAY!  I think that was the high, it was more like 46 degrees.  I bundled Evan up but I was wearing shorts and a short sleeved t-shirt.

I can tell you, it was too cold for this outfit.  The second bad thing about my run?  It was WINDY.  So windy!  So I was extra cold.  Plus, the route I went on was kinda hilly and pushing the BOB through the wind, up hills, was ridiculously unfun.  At one point the wind was blowing the stroller sideways and I was having to use all my arm muscle (which, honestly, isn't much)  to keep the stroller on the path.  Then Evan's blanket blew away and I had to run and get it.  On a few of the hills where the wind was blowing directly into my face I felt like I was running in place.  It was one tough run.  It was also the longest run I've done with BOB - 5.5 miles.  I finished the run without walking though and feeling returned to my legs and arms eventually.  And the biggest accomplishment?  Evan didn't cry at all!!!  Usually he starts crying at about the 4 mile mark and I can stretch out another half mile or so, but he was content pointing to every tree for the entire run (and eating a smoothie I made him for the road).  Let's hope this run wasn't a preview of what my winter training runs are going to be!

After I got home, I hopped in the shower and off to church we went.  I bought Evan the cutest church outfit at the consignment store the day before and I was so excited to put him in it.

Sorry for the crappy iPad photo, but he wouldn't stand long enough and at a good enough angle, so this was all I got.  I thought it he looked pretty dapper.  After church we headed to brunch with some friends and then finally headed home.  Evan went down for a nap and I started to do some major cooking.  I made pollo guisado (a Honduran dish) for Ivan and then was going to make pumpkin muffins and spinach and quinoa patties for Evan...however, when I looked in the fridge there was only one egg left and I needed five.  So, quick change of plans.  I ended up making pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin soup for Evan.  I had found some canned pumpkin with BPA-free liners and bought a bunch, so I just happened to have all the ingredients for those two dishes.  I guess I was on a pumpkin roll or something - cookies, soup, and pancakes!  I then decided I had enough energy to organize all of Evan's clothes and pull the clothes that don't fit him anymore and put the larger and more wintery clothes in his dresser.  And then I actually stuffed his diapers!

But with all that cooking and organizing - I didn't do my two Chemistry assignments and I didn't clean the bathrooms....some things never change.

And this morning I woke up refreshed from the extra hour of sleep (don't worry, my body will adjust in a day and it won't feel so exciting anymore)!

Happy Monday!!!!

Random dinners and finally a bus that works

First, I'd like to mention that the bus showed up last night so I finally got home at my regular time.  And the bus showed up this morning and it's not broken so far, so maybe I'll get to work at a decent time too.

And how do you like my new slippers?

Ivan bought them for me at Costco.  He loves slippers and can't imagine life without them.  I should have gotten them a size larger, but I didn't.  Oh well.

And today I have to call the vet because poor Dolce has a hurt foot.  He has been limping since Sunday.

I thought it would go away but I think it's getting worse.  Boo.  He looks really pathetic in this photo but really he's just sleeping.  My foot is starting to feel better though, so I'm happy about that.

Yesterday was a bit exhausting for some reason, even though I slept for a long time because my bus took 1.5 hours to get to DC.  I should have been wide awake.  Nope, I was tired and got a headache.  Fun times.  I have been the laziest cook ever for a while and all we've been eating is the fastest food I can cook.  On Sunday I made ground beef with hoisin sauce for Ivan.  It sounds gross, maybe, but it's actually really good.  I top it with cabbage and roll it in a tortilla and it's pretty tasty.  I didn't eat it this time because it has Red 40 in it and that's supposed to be really bad for kids.  I obviously didn't give it to Evan either.  Evan got a delicious meal of mystery pasta sauce (mystery because it has spinach and sweet potatoes in it) with polenta and some cheese.  He actually loves it.  Strange, I know.  I had some of the gazillion ravioli I have left over.

Then I made some lunches.

Don't you just love Evan's lunchbox?  I do!  And that's my green one.  It's not as cute because I need the biggest thing I can find because I take so much food.  People think it's weird that I plan out Evan's food for the week, but I'm telling you, it makes my life so much easier.  Every day I consult the list and put today's items in the bag or gather them in the fridge.  Hardly any thinking involved.  I think I should start doing the same thing for myself!

I have a chemistry test today so I tried to get some studying done.

It did not go well.  Pretty much about ten minutes into it Evan started crying and wouldn't calm down so I had to give up the notecards and head to bed.  Guess I'll try to study during my bus ride home.

*****************************************

What did your evening look look like last night?

What did you have for dinner?

Do you bring or buy lunch if you work outside the home?

Baking cakes and dancing in the rain

Ok, so I didn't actually dance in the rain.  Or even come close to it.  But it did rain, a lot, on Saturday.  That was just what came to me when I was writing the title, so I went with it.  

This weekend was jam-packed!  I know I say that every weekend, but this one was extra busy.  Maybe because I signed up to make my co-workers baby shower cake.  I don't know why I did that.  I have NO TIME to bake and decorate cakes these days.  I just haven't done a cake in years (since my other co-workers shower cake) so I wanted to do one for the shower.  Not the smartest idea though because it was a bit hard to squeeze in...and I still haven't decorated it.  I made all the frosting though.  And dyed it.  And I don't have a present for her yet.  Boo.  I will soon though.

On Satuday I feel compelled to mention that my golf girls were so well-behaved.  I was so impressed.  Both classes were hitting really well and paying attention.  It was great.  It made the class so much more fun to coach.  Ivan had a golf tournement in the morning too.  He'd been looking forward to it for months.  I think he had a good time, even though he was hoping to win and didn't.  Thursday night golf league is finally over!!  I am so relieved.  It wasn't that I minded Ivan golfing, it was that we had no one to watch Evan.  It was so hard to find someone and eventually Melissa started watching him but she watched him all day too so I felt badly asking her to do it again at night.  So, we are now done that chapter of our life, until next year.

We were going to head to the aquarium or zoo Saturday afternoon but ended up running errands instead.  We had a bday party in the evening and we needed a present and Ivan wanted to buy a new phone.  And then, while at the mall I bought new glasses and picked up my contacts.  It rained all afternoon too so not the best weather to drive into the city in.  Maybe another weekend.

Sunday was beautiful and I took Dolce and Evan for a long walk.  It was perfect.  I've been going running with my sister in the mornings on Sundays and have really missed my walks (although I love running too).  Being pregnant really helped me enjoy the simplicity and relaxation of a good walk.

Is that not the prettiest thing ever?  The mist was rising off the lake as the day was heating up.  The temperature was perfect.  Evan and I hung out on the benches taking in the beautiful site.

This is my Instagram photo - follow me at mapleandmud

It was a lot of fun.  I love walks with my baby and doggie.  We had to make sure Evan was warm so we finally found socks to put on him.  And you can't tell from this photo, but I put his outfit on backwards.  Whoops!  It had snaps and usually the snaps go down the front...but then when I got home Ivan said it was on backwards and when I looked...sure enough, the tag was in the front.

And notice his snack container hanging off the belt (that belt is really to make sure the car seat doesn't fall out when you have the adapter in, but I think it works well to attach things too), he was munching on snacks and sharing with Dolce the entire time.

The rest of Sunday was a blur of cake baking, frosting making (I accidentally flavored the frosting with almond extract instead of vanilla extract...), dinner making, lunch-for-Ivan-for-the-week making, a bit of Chemistry studying, laundry doing, brunching, grocery shopping, and a small attempt to stop time (which didn't work).  And I must mentioned that our dryer squeaks so much when we dry clothes it's almost deafening.  Something must be done before I dry any more clothes.  Oh, and on Friday the heat shield fell off our car.  At the gas station.  We drove around with an extremely loud rattling for a while until my husband just took the heat shield off.  Hopefully our car doesn't blow up.

******************************

What was your weekend like?

What did you have for dinner last night?

Do you make cakes or buy them?

Dog bones and my first race

On Sunday I had my FIRST RACE since the Marine Corps Marathon!  It was only 4.09 miles (it was a race to raise money for some victims of the Boston bombing), but I had to run with the jogging stroller.  I have only run about 2 miles with the stroller and really have only ran about 3 miles without it.  I just haven't found the time to go for long runs these day.  I was a bit nervous about how it would be (there were two hills on the route and we did two loops), but it turned out fine.  I started in the back but then passed a bunch of people (which is HARD when you have a stroller because you really have to weave in and out carefully).  I even passed people going uphill with the wind blowing right in my face. 

We're finished!! 
(This was taken after we had finished, but we were pretending to run it in.)

I finished in 39.27 which is approximately a 9:38 pace.  I was pretty happy with that - especially since I had started way in the back and it took me a long time to get into a good pace, so I think my last two miles were faster than that.  I will probably not run with the jogger in too many more races since it is really annoying to manuever.  I don't mind pushing it, but there are just too many people and it makes it hard to get around without running over feet.  This was a small, local race so it wasn't a big deal.  We don't have a lot of money for races anyway, so I'm not sure how many more I'll do.  Probably not a lot.  My next big race will most likely be the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Feburary that I am planning on running with my sister.  I really wanted to do the Baltimore Half this year, but it's so expensive that I am pretty sure I'll miss it.

Look at my big arm muscles!  Hahahahaha!

After the race I wanted to go home and sleep but Evan had different plans.  He has a new thing for dog bones.  Every time I closed my eyes he was after it again!

He scoots himself all the way to the dog bone...

He grabs the bone...

And then he tries to eat the bone!  Gross!!

I didn't realize he was going to put it in his mouth so the photo is blurry because I grabbed the bone out of his hand (it might have been two seconds too late).  One day before Evan could scoot around the house I went into the kitchen to grab something and came back and Dolce and Evan were chewing on this bone together - Evan on one side and Dolce on the other.  Yikes!  Evan's new favorite thing is Dolce - he scoots all over the house just to be near the dog.  Dolce finds it very annoying!

For the rest of the afternoon we played around, did laundry, and walked to the library to return a very over-due book.  My family book club is discussing The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo on Tuesday.  I finally finished the book but hadn't returned it and it was due last Monday.  Yikes!  I had already renewed it twice so I couldn't renew it again.  The library wasn't too far away and I had to walk the dog anyway - so we just walked up there and back.

How was your weekend?

Do any races??

Going for a walk with Bob

Notice how the title of this post says walk and not run.  Yeah, I’m not sure what happened to me and running.  We are apparently not friends anymore.  I was doing really well with running – I ran a few times a week while I was on maternity leave and then I even continued to run during lunch while I was at work.  Then I got really busy and I didn’t have time.  And since laziness begets laziness, I quit running on the weekends too.  I think getting up so early during the week along with being tired from going to work, going to class, and being a mom started catching up to me and I just wanted to be lazy. 

The thing is, I really love running.

I guess I will wait until my motivation returns.  I have a feeling it will return with the warm weather.  We’ll see though.

Even though I haven’t been running, I did get my booty out for a walk or two.  With BOB.  Let me tell you – I love my BOB.  I was a little hesitant spending so much money on a stroller, but I am so happy I did.  Not only is BOB my favorite color, but he is an awesome stroller.  And I finally went out for a decent walk with him.

I don’t know what I was thinking but I had it in my head that Evan had to be 6 months old to ride in the BOB without the car seat.  I must have made this up in my head though, because when I looked at the instruction manual it said 8 weeks.  What was I thinking???  I had been dying to use my weather shield but thought that I had to wait until Evan was 6 months (since the weather shield does not fit over the car seat). 

Good thing I had the sense to look at the manual.  The second I discovered Evan was old enough for a walk in the BOB, out we went.  The first two times it snowed.  No worries though, Evan stayed nice and toasty and dry inside his plastic igloo.

He seems to always fall asleep when we go for a walk. 

Dolce and I got wet though.  It’s too bad there isn’t a weather shield for Dolce.  Or a dog raincoat that would fit him.  Along with doggie booties.

I love going on walks with Dolce and Evan (and BOB). 

The only problem is getting BOB in and out of the apartment.  First, the BOB stroller is a bit heavy.  And large.  And I live on the third floor of a walk-up condo.  At first I was carrying the BOB downstairs, then running back up and getting Evan and Dolce.  But then I had to strap Evan into the stroller outside and then put the weather shield on.  So, instead I decided to get him all set in the house and then go down the stairs with him in the stroller.  This has worked but it can be tricky trying to get the stroller down the stairs with one hand and making sure Dolce doesn’t bolt off with the other hand.  Going back up the stairs is just as fun.  We are getting better – and my arm and back muscles are slowly getting stronger.

Dolce is a great walker with the stroller.  He sometimes walks too close and gets run over (see picture below), but for the most part he walks right next to me and doesn’t act like a maniac.

Notice all the dog fur stuck to the wheel.  He hasn’t quite learned that he needs to give the stroller some space.  He’s working on it though.

I can’t wait for my walks to turn into runs.  I really can’t wait to go running with Evan.  It is the whole reason I bought the BOB – so we could spend quality time on runs.  So far he seems to enjoy the stroller, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed he stays content in there.  It’s too bad I can’t take Dolce for runs with us – we could have a fun family outing.  However, Dolce is getting old and has some leg problems so running isn’t the best for him.  Also, if he could run, winter would be the best time.  When it gets warmer it’s not the best idea for him to exercise too much.  He’s really an artic dog – so the summers are a bit too hot for him.  I feel bad leaving him at home though.

For now, we’ll keep taking him on long walks.

And I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a few good runs coming my way!

Husband prepares for baby

Slightly unclear photo...

 My husband is so excited about Maple Baby.  There is no doubt about it.  He is over-the-moon.  He can't wait to meet Maple Baby.  At times I think maybe he is more excited than I am (don't worry Maple Baby, I am super excited too).  I am excited but I'm also worried about things - like finances, childcare, commuting long hours to and from work, exhaustion, postpartum depression, etc.  Hubs is not concerned about these things.  His philosophy is that everything will work out.  While this can be a great philosophy, it can be annoying at times too.  Because I am left with all the worrying to do.  These things are not keeping me up at night or anything, but it's stuff I think about.

However, I can't deny that hubs is excited.  He talks to the baby all the time - he even says good morning, good night, hello, and good bye.  All the time.  And he calls me at work at least twice a day to ask if the baby is moving.  He sings the baby songs and gives my belly high-fives.  It's quite adorable actually.  I am anxious to see how he is once the baby is actually born and cries and poops all the time though!

And because of our Bradley Method class, he has taken it upon himself to inform me of all the things I need to do.  Hmm, not so cute all the time.  Especially if it's something that I should do and just don't feel like it.

Like what, you say?

How about packing my hospital bag.  Yup, still haven't done that even though it's recommended to do that at like week 31.  And I'm on week 35 (and I promise a bump shot is coming).  Yes, I realize I could go into labor any day and I have no bag packed, but I kinda think Maple Baby won't come until I pack my bag.  That's logical, isn't it?  So, hubs reminds me at least once a day that I need to pack my hospital bag.  Yup, fun stuff.

He also likes to remind me that I need to eat.  Although I eat a big lunch, I am not super hungry at dinner time.  The midwife said it's normal and not to worry about it, but hubs likes to remind me that I need lots of protein.  And that I should eat a huge dinner.  It's sweet that he's concerned, but it can annoy me to pieces too.

Washing the baby clothes.  I mentioned last week that I had a baby shower (if anyone ever sends me pictures, I'll post them) and we got a ton of great gifts, including lots of clothes.  This was awesome because we hadn't bought any clothes.  We had one or two onesies and then my amazing aunt bought me a bunch, but that was it.  So it was nice getting a bunch of clothes.  However, husby really wanted me to wash the clothes.  Like right away.  I didn't really feel like washing clothes after work so I kept telling him that we had to cut all the tags off first.

So, one day after dinner, he did:

Yup, he dragged all the clothes out into the living room and starting cutting all the tags off.  He then proceeded to hold the baby clothes like they were babies.  When I asked what he was doing he said that I got to "hold" the baby all the time but he never did, so he wanted to pretend that his baby was inside the baby clothes.  It was actually quite adorable.

This is what I did while he cut all the tags off:

  

I played tug-of-war with Dolce.  From the sofa.  It was a great way to make sure that Dolce didn't eat any tiny baby socks.  Or walk all over the baby zone that was all set up.  So, it was a very important job....

And my feet looked like this:

 

Yeah, so I wasn't really wanting to move.  Husband made me a couch tower so I could put my feet up but it didn't help too much.  They still looked fat and swollen.  They don't always look like that but they have been beginning to swell more these days.  And by more, I mean they have started to swell.  I haven't really had much swelling yet, maybe one or two days in the entire 35 weeks I've been pregnant.  But, over the weekend the swelling has started.  So while husby was happily cutting tags off the clothes I was playing with the dog while putting my feet up.

And I may have also been watching the Olympics.

But, I did end up washing the clothes this weekend!

 

Spots of Happiness v.2

And now for another version of Spots of Happiness - and after yesterday's day, a focus on happiness is definitely needed!

Here are a few of the spots I've had this week:

* Getting to see my bus friend after almost two weeks!  With her daughter in town visiting and me going to Vegas, we went a long period of time without catching up, it was nice to reunite.

* Work implementing "health of staff" policies that include flexible work day (being able to come to work earlier/later and leave earlier/later), compressed time (working 9 hour days and getting every other Friday off or ten hour days and getting every Friday off), and telecommuting (being able to work from home one to two days a week).  I had initiated the discussion on the possiblities of these work schedules over a year ago and I'm super happy that they were finally passed by the Board of Directors!  And perfect timing since some of these may come in handy after Maple Baby comes.

* My hubby deciding to skip his golf league so that he could go to my pre-natal appointment with me.  He has yet to miss an appointment and is even going to the cloth diapering class with me tonight.

* Hubs taking me out for ice cream at Cold Stone last night!  Yum!  I don't always like ice cream but yesterday it was particularly good.  He said I looked too serious.  It was probably the fact that I'm so irresponsible that I was driving around with an expired car registration...

* Having lunch with an long-time friend.

* My aunt sending me a bunch of adorable onesies!  They are so cute!

Thanks Aunt Pam!!!

 
* Getting Dolce half-way groomed yesterday - his other half will have to wait until next week.  He was at the groomer's from 10am - 5pm and was only half-way done.  A dog can only take so much grooming!  He's going back next week to get finished up and then he'll be so clean and beautiful.  Not that we don't love him stinky and dirty...


* Finding out that Maple Baby is head-down and will most likely stay that way!  Phew - I was nervous about having a breached babycakes, but hopefully his head will stay put.  He pushes so hard on my belly sometimes I think he wants to come out my belly-button.  Not so fast Maple Baby - you still have many more weeks to cook in there!

* Finally going over my maternity leave plan with my boss and getting everything approved.  Now I just have to meet with the people taking over my project and figure out how I'm gonna go to Chicago with a three month old!


So, I guess I had lots of spots this week.  It feels so nice to focus on the good things, especially since the bad things can bog a person down!


What spots of happiness have you had this week???

Birth Class Drop-outs

It's official.  Hubs and I have missed a total of 5 Bradley Method classes.  I know, I know - how prepared are we going to be if we never show up.  It wasn't all my fault though.  We missed the first one because I was on a business trip to Atlanta.  We missed the second and third because I was on a business trip to Las Vegas.  We missed the fourth last week because I was too tired.  And we missed tonight's class because I was too tired.

So, work and being tired seem to be to blame.  We really had plans to go today but it just didn't happen.  I had a semi-breakdown this afternoon and then we had to drive 45 minutes for my pre-natal visit and then an hour in the opposite direction to pick up our dog from his grooming appointment and then would have had to drive 30 minutes in another direction to get to class.  I didn't feel like it.  Plus, by the time we got home from picking up the dog, walking him, and grabbing a bite to eat it was almost 7pm - and that's what time class starts.  But we were 30 minutes away.  I feel badly - especially since we spent $300 on the classes and then have missed half.  I'm hoping she lets us make some of them up or at least borrow some of the videos to watch at home.  The information is interesting but by the end of the week, by 7pm, I'm pretty exhausted.

Today should have been nice and relaxing because I took a sick day.  I usually work from home when I have a doctor's appointment but I decided to just take the entire day as a sick day instead.  I thought I'd have some time to relax and catch up on life before my appointment, but it didn't work out that way.  Hence the mini-breakdown.  And by mini, I mean mini.  I don't actually have real breakdowns so really all that happened was that I wanted to cry.  A meltdown usually means that I actually cry.  That's pretty much it.

So what instigated my mini-breakdown?  Well, I got up and drove hubs to work and then came home.  I checked my work email (I had some press statements that I was waiting to get back and wanted to send out today - so wanted to make sure I checked my email a few times).  No one had emailed me since it was only 6:30am so I decided to take a nap.  I fell asleep until 9:15!  I then got up and flew into the shower and then rushed to get Dolce to his grooming appointment by 10am.  We were only a few minutes late (ok, more like ten).

After dropping him off I headed to PetSmart because I wanted to pick up a cover for our car seats to protect them from Dolce's massive amount of hair.  It's kind of embarrassing when we have someone in our car and they emerge looking like they just rolled around in a cotton bin!  I also picked up a few toys because Dolce didn't have any toys and I wanted him to have a few things to play with.  Next stop was Target because I was hoping to pick up a few things for the house.  I mainly wanted something to put our shoes on but ended up eliminating that from my list and instead buying a shower caddy to put my shampoo on, a new 10" frying pan (mine has a bunch of scratches on it and I worry about cancer), a mitten that gets dog hair off fabric, and a stud finder (as in studs found in houses, not good-looking men!).

I started getting pretty stressed because everything was adding up and we are trying to save money and I keep "throwing" it all away.  Moving and dogs are really expensive!

When I got home I got sucked into work and did that for a while - until hubs called me to ask if I had gotten my emissions test done. 

Whoops!  That was the other thing to do on my list and it had TOTALLY slipped my mind.  I had already asked for an extension so I don't have much more time.  So I looked for the emissions slip but couldn't find it.  I still haven't had time to fully unpack the house and so many things are still "lost".  I guess that's one of the things.  Apparently you can get your emissions test with your car registration though, so I figured that was good enough.  However, when I got to my car and decided to look for the registration, all I found was an old registration that expired in 2011. 

Ahhh!

That won't work and my new registration had come in October so I had NO IDEA where it might be.  So much for being organized.  Somehow I had managed to get my registration stickers on my license plate but had completely misplaced my actual registration card.

No emissions test today then.

I did go online and order a new registration for my car though.  And since it wouldn't come for a few weeks I figured I should print the temporary registration they give you - just in case hubs or I get stopped.  Well, I had never used the old printer my dad had given me last year so I pulled it out and tried to set it up.  After about an hour of setting it up and finding all the cords and printing the documents - it became apparent that it was out of ink and you couldn't make any of the registration information out. 

So, I gave up and decided that I wasn't going to do the emissions test and I would just print the emissions out at work.

But by now it was time for me to pick up hubs and head to our appointment.

So I got none of the things I wanted to get done, done.  Like wash our towels, put away our clean clothes from last week, wash the dishes, unpack, hang-up pictures, and RELAX.  Hence, the mini-meltdown and not going to class.

There is just too much to do!

And I started to hyperventilate when the receptionist was making my next few appointments and she was saying things like 36 week and 39 weeks and things like that.  I am running out to do things before Maple Baby comes!!!!

Hubs made me happy though when he decided to skip his golf league so he could go with me to my pre-natal visit.  I didn't even make it seem like he should come - I told him that I was totally fine going alone.  However, he said he really wanted to go with me so we went together.  I thought that was sweet.

And then I got a package in the mail from my lovely aunt with a bunch of onesies for Maple Baby!  She said that it was sad I only had one onesie and I was almost 8 months pregnant - so she sent a bunch.  And they were soooooooo cute!

And hubs said maybe we can play Yahtzee tonight.  And playing games always puts me in a good mood.  I'm trying to relax a bit because I keep reading about how stress really affects the baby and I don't want to give my baby ulcers.  And poor Maple Baby already had to live through A&P II with me and experience all that stress, and the stress from moving, and the stress from my trip to Vegas, and the stress of having so many things to buy and no money.  Ugg, poor Maple Baby.

How was your Thursday?

Were you stressed during your pregnancy at all?  If so, did your kids turn out ok?

Are you happy tomorrow is Friday???

Golf and Thundershirts

These days the weekend routine is pretty much the same.  I do a morning walk on Saturday, run errands Saturday afternoon, grocery shop Saturday evening, coach golf classes on Sunday morning, and then play golf Sunday afternoon.  It is rare for these plans to change too much.  This weekend was pretty much the same.

However, I do have a few interesting things to report.

First, hubs took his driver's permit test and passed!!!  I know - unbelievable.  Just a few short weeks ago I was in a battle with MVA/DMV about whether he was eligible and I finally won the battle - and then he passed the test on the first try.  You may not think this is amazing but it took him six tries to pass it last time.  I think he finally got the computer system down.  It was a very long afternoon though.  We got to MVA/DMV at 10:30am (hubs had to work in the morning and I had to walk) and didn't leave until 3pm.  Can you believe that???  Seriously, they give you a number for every little thing and make you wait in line forever.  It was crazy, but we made it out with smiles on our faces.

Since we had spent so much time there, we missed our normal errands because the stores were already closed.  However, I convinced hubs to go to my favorite dog store, since we are now doggie owners.  What did I find there to buy?  Some natural dog treats - pumpkin flavor - and a Thundershirt!  I have been researching the Thundershirt for some time now, wondering if it was something that might help Dolce out.  I have never been sure if his craziness might be due to some dog anxiety as opposed to just bad behavior.  I've read about Thundershirt and asked the vet about its effectiveness and so decided to purchase one and see what happened.  I think that Dolce gets a little anxiety in the car and sometimes on walks to new places.  He isn't the best walker to begin with and pulls like there is no tomorrow, which is why we use the gentle lead harness on his little nose (it looks kinda like this, but not exactly the same).  It keeps him from pulling but doesn't hurt him in any way.  It has worked wonders but since he's now walking in a new neighborhood, he's very skittish and pulls on the leash all the time.  I decided (with my degree in pet psychology, obviously) that maybe he got a little bit of anxiety in new places.  Hence, the decision to buy the Thundershirt. 

I thought he would hate wearing it, but he didn't seem to mind.  He didn't try to take it off or anything.  I'm not sure the shirt is made for super fluffy dogs, but it still worked.  I took him for a walk with it on and he was SOOOOO much calmer.  It was amazing.  Next trial will be putting it on him for a car ride.  Or at the vet.  I feel like it might be a bit too hot for him to wear on our walks all the time though, so I might have to break it out in the fall/winter.  I felt like it was kinda mean to make him wear it when he was 95* outside and he's already wearing a fur sweater.  The only thing was he wouldn't lay down with it on.  He just sat like this the entire time.  It said to leave it on for 8-10 minutes so he could adjust but after that I took it off - I felt bad that he was sitting.  The second it was off he lay down (umm, it seriously took me five minutes to research whether I should say lay, lied, laid, or layed...)!  Thundershirt = success so far!

On Sunday hubs and I played golf.  That, as noted above, isn't anything unusual; however, Sunday was the one year anniversary of my Uncle's death.  I can't believe an entire year has passed - it really feels like it was just a few days ago.  I guess his memory lives strong in my heart.  I am still involved with the Team in Training (the group I trained with to run Marine Corps Marathon in his memory) and usually walk with them on Saturdays, but I wanted to make sure I did something on Sunday too.  So, hubs and I dedicated our golf game to my Uncle.  My Uncle loved golf and we even had the opportunity to play together at my sister's wedding back in 2008.  I can't say that my golf score was worth much, but I did par on two holes (and one of those holes is really hard - so I have a feeling Uncle Dave was trying to help me out a bit).

I have still not encountered any problems golfing while pregnant - minus the fact that there are no maternity golf clothes.  Luckily that skirt still fits (below my belly, of course) and my sister found this golf shirt in Cabo San Lucus that has an empire waste with elastic feature.  It still seems to fit ok.  And no, hubs and I don't normally coordinate our golfing attire - we are matchy-matchy by accident!  We decided to ride in a cart today instead of walking because I was a bit tired when we started and it was 92* out with something like 95% humidity.  Miserable weather but worth it. 

And Uncle Dave - I still miss you and think of you all the time.

So, that was pretty much our weekend.  We were supposed to buy curtains for our bedroom but there just wasn't time.  Maybe today or tomorrow?

What did you do this weekend?