4 Kids and an Aquarium

Friday was a great day.  I can't remember why now, but I remember thinking that it was a great day.  At work I had helped to organize a Thunderclap for National HIV Testing Day and we needed 100 supporters in order to "release" it.  You would think that would be fairly easy, but no, it wasn't. I think it was a new concept and people were nervousness or something.  And then people are apathetic and like to ignore you.  I posted it on my Facebook page numerous time pleading with friends and family to sign up and I got three friends to sign on.  That's it.  I have hundreds of friends and lots of family members on Facebook and I got three people to help me out.  There was no cost to it...you just had to agree to have an HIV prevention message posted on your wall at the exact same time as everyone else who signed up.  I really thought I might get a few more people, especially when I was pleading and desperate sounding.  But no.  Everyone ignored me.

I think I got off track because that paragraph above is very negative sounding and I started out saying that I had an amazing Friday.  After a few personal phone calls I finally got 100 supporters and the message went out!! That was really exciting.  We also had a success at the car shop.  I took my car in for an oil change and its 60,000 mile check-up - scary stuff.  Since the life of the car, we've never walked out of the car shop for less than $600 (even when it should be cheap there are things wrong, like I backed into a snow bank and ruined some tire thing that costs a lot of money).  This time we only owed $300!!!  It felt amazing!!  Yeah - I realize that $300 is still a ton of money and I really shouldn't be celebrating, but when you are expecting $600-$1200 and it's only half of that, you get really excited.

Then that evening I went on a short three mile run (while Evan slept) before heading over to a friend's house for a BBQ.  Yum!!  I love BBQing.  They have a daughter Evan's age but Evan is too shy and won't play with her.  It's possible we were two hours late for the BBQ because I underestimated how long I thought it would take me to run and shower, but oh well.  I was really happy that I got a run in when I was swamped at work and then had the BBQ a short time later.

Saturday was filled with lots of exercise.  I went on a 9 mile run/walk with TNT.  I didn't have golf because it's an in-between week so I met up with friends and did a long run.  Everyone else was doing ten miles but I had to run 2 miles there and 2 miles home so I just did five with the group.  And we walked up most hills.  Evan is getting heavy in his stroller so it is a lot of work running with him and my friend wanted to walk the hills so who was I to argue???  We stopped at the playground on our way home so that was fun.  It was completely empty so that's a plus.  Evan had a blast in the sand box.   I used to hate those things because I thought they were disgusting but now I don't really care.

After the park we went home, showered, and headed to the pool.  Yeah...right during nap time.  Evan slept the entire time at the pool and didn't want to play in the water.  He snuggle up next to me and promptly fell asleep while I was sitting in the water.  Very adorable.  That night Ivan decided that he wanted to go on a family bike rike - completely ignoring the fact that I had already run 9 miles.  I agreed anyway.  We rode our bikes around the neighborhood and to the park so Evan could play.  He loves the bikes and I do too...even more so when I am not already exhausted from my run in the morning....

And Sunday was a crazy day.  It started out with chocolate chip, banana, strawberry pancakes.  And some maple syrup.

Look what happens when you give a toddle maple syrup.  First, he glows (haha - not sure why the photo turned out so weird)!!  And then he stops dipping his pancake in the syrup and just licks it straight from the plate.  He was in sugar heaven.  This boy loves his maple syrup.

Then we took all the nieces to the Aquarium.

Yup - Ivan and me and four kids all 5 and under and a huge, crowded aquarium.  We had a blast though.  Or at least I did.  Ivan had to carry Evan and the heavy diaper bag the entire time and started complaining about his back hurting, so he was not as patient towards the end of the visit as he could have been.  And I got a bit impatient with the girls when they were trying to pick out their items from the gift shop - but mainly because I knew that Ivan was annoyed.  But all in all, I thought it was so much fun.

When we got home my sister and her husband were still at the movies so we made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and played outside.

Evan loves this play structure.  And his shorts are so short because we have to roll the waist band or else they fall off.  He's just a skinny-minny.

So that was my busy, fun weekend.  How about you?

Real maple syrup or the fake stuff?  

Sandboxes - yes or no?

Snow Day, Running, and TEAS!!!

I haven't blogged for a while because I haven't gone into work for a while.  I'm not complaining though!  Yesterday was a holiday and today we have a snow day.  Yay for random snow storms!  Ok, I'm not that excited about the snow storm because it seems like it will be cold the rest of the week and that means it won't melt for a while so we'll be left with icy roads and a wet dog (after every walk).  However, it was nice to stay home today and play with Evan.  He has decided he LOVES this pig that my mom made him and when he spots it on the floor he picks it up, gives it a big hug and kiss, and makes some cute cuddly noises.  It's the cutest thing ever.

Please excuse the messy apartment - we have no place to put the stroller except the middle of the living room.
And most photos with Evan turn out blurry because he won't stay still for two seconds.

This past weekend was good and bad.  I had my TEAS exam (nursing school entrance exam) for University of Maryland scheduled on Saturday...or so I thought.  In my head I had scheduled it for 18 January at 7am.  I had to be there 30 minutes early so I arrived bright and early at 6:20am.  And then I waited for someone to show up, and no one ever did.  I got out my confirmation sheet to see if there was a phone number and there wasn't.  So, as I was debating what to do, I looked closely at my confirmation sheet to realize that I had scheduled the exam for 18 December 2013.  WHAT???!!!!  Why would I do that???  It was clearly a mistake because I never would have scheduled it for December when December was full of moving, finals, work, and our trip to Vermont...so I had obviously messed up.  And it was a pricey mess-up because it costs $115 to take the test and there are no refunds.  So I went home and paid the fee again and signed up for the test on Monday (luckily there were a few spots left so I could still take the exam before the 3 Feb. deadline).

Uggg - that mistake did not make my weekend a happy one.

On the other hand I was able to make it to my friend's son's 5th bday party and that was a good time.  It started at 10am and I stayed until 3pm!!  I know, maybe I overstayed my welcome.  I don't see my friend very often and since I was out there I felt like we should spend some time catching up, so I wanted to make the most out of the visit.

On Sunday I did the amazing - I got up early and met the Team In Training group for a training run.  I hadn't met up with them for a long time - since I was a mentor back in 2012.  I love TNT though and missed running with a group.  I ended up doing 7 miles, which is pretty amazing to me since I had only run four times since October.  I wasn't sure how 7 would feel but since it was only 21 degrees out, my legs were numb by mile four and I couldn't feel how tired they were.  Plus, I was running with one of my friends and she was doing a run/walk (run four minutes, walk one minute) so it made it slightly easier.  She tried to convince me to run 14 miles with her but I declined.  I may have been persuaded but we were planning on hitting up the aquarium again so I needed to get home.  I promised I would do a longer run with her next week.  I think.  If I don't wimp out.

We did end up going to the aquarium again.  We love that place and I'm so glad I decided to buy an annual membership.  It is so fun!  This time we toured the Australian exhibit, which was really fun.  We also saw the jellyfish exhibit (amazing) and watched the dolphins during a training session.

Isn't that beautiful!!!

That's Evan in front of the Moon Jellyfish - they glow in the dark.

We ended up staying for about two hours, but it was plenty of time.  And I don't really worry about it because entrance is free with the membership so I don't feel pressured to stay all day (which I would if we had paid $30 a person to get in).

After the aquarium I headed to the grocery story.  I love grocery shopping.  I think it stems from my days when I was in college and I'd meet my mom on Thursday mornings and we'd go grocery shopping together.  I just think it's super fun.  Well, up until I have to pay the bill.  I am trying so hard to keep our bill below $100 but it still creeps up to more than that.  On Sunday my bill was $119.43, so pretty much $19.43 over budget.  As I get to the self-checkout (does your grocery store have a self checkout?  I love it), I see that the person who had gone before me had gotten $20 cash back but hadn't taken the money.  There was a $20 bill hanging out of the machine.  The person was long gone and I was unsure what I should do with the money.  I thought it was ironic that I had found $20 and my bill was almost exactly $20 over budget...so I was tempted to keep it.  However, I just couldn't do it and it felt too much like stealing so after I paid my bill I went to customer service and turned it in.  They said they could reprint the receipt for the person before me and if they had used their bonus card they could call them up and tell them they had it.  I really hope it works because I'd be really bummed if I forgot to get my $20.  I'm really hoping that turning that money in (when most people probably wouldn't have) turned my karma around and some good energy will flow my way.

On Monday I headed out to take the TEAS test again.  It was so stressful trying to reschedule because the only other options were on days that I was working.  I thought that Monday, being a holiday, would be a good day for me to retake the test but it is SO hard to find someone to watch Evan.  Since it was a holiday, my sister closes the day care.  She said she could watch him for a few hours but I could tell that she didn't really want to...so it made me feel bad.  Ivan had to work and could take a sick day, but I hate using his sick days unless we really need them because he has so few.  My golf friend said she could watch him but she had a meeting in the middle and wasn't sure if her daughter was going to be around to watch him for that hour.  Ahhh!  In the end my golf friend watched him and her daughter watched him while she went to a meeting and then I picked him up after my test.  So, it worked out...but it was so stressful beforehand.  I'm not sure how I scored on the test - I ran out of time on the math section (boo) and the science section was a bit hard...but we'll see.  Hopefully I didn't do too horribly.

And that brings us to today.  Snow day.  I surprised myself by getting up and going for a run this morning before the snow started.  Or that was the plan anyway.  By the time I got all my running clothes on and sneaked (did you know "sneaked" is the past tense of "sneak" and "snuck" isn't a word...I just had to look it up and I still can't believe "snuck" isn't a word, I've been using it for years) out of the house while Evan wasn't watching (Ivan didn't have to go to work until 11am), it had already started snowing.  So I did four miles in the snow.  My legs were tired from Sunday though so it felt a bit like work.  I'm sure they are protesting running so much after such a long break.  Hopefully they will adjust though and I won't end up injured or with shin splints.  It was chilly and wet, but a nice peaceful run.

Please excuse the unmade bed, it eventually got made.

By the time I got home the sidewalks were covered in snow and some of the roads were turning white too.  They forecasted 5-10 inches today and another 1-3 at night but I'm not sure I fully believe that.  Although it is snowing a lot today, so we'll see.

The view from our deck/balcony/whatever it's called.

Luckily tomorrow is a telework day for me, so I don't have to stress about going in to the office.

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Is it snowing where you live?

Would you have kept the $20 or turned it in?

Weekend Recaps and Good Morning

I think I went to bed close to 10 pm last night, a small miracle.  So I feel a smidgen less tired this morning.  Don't think that means I won't sleep in a few minutes, I just might be a but more coherent while writing this.  Except I just tried to spell writing with two t's in the last sentence (auto correct wouldn't let me though), so maybe I am less coherent than I think.

Sorry I wasn't around yesterday.  It was my niece's bday so my sister had to volunteer at her preschool, which meant the daycare was closed.  So I worked from home in the morning and then took the afternoon off.  You will be shocked to know what I did in the afternoon.  Put your seat belts on or you will be blown away!  I went for a run!!  I know, pretty monumental, right.  And not just a five minute run down the street...nope, I did a full 5.5 miles.  Amazing, right?!?!  I took two and a half months off completely and then last week I did a three mile run and a four mile run and then I managed to get a five and a half mile run in without falling over.  And it was hilly!  My legs were tired but I made it.  We'll see what I feel like today but hopefully I will recover.  I will admit my recovery fuel was not stellar...some chips and frozen yogurt...but I will try and work on that.  I have today off and then I will try and do four tomorrow.  I'm not sure it't the brightest idea to jump right into the middle of my training plan pretending that I have been running for the past few months, but I'm not sure what other options I have...the half marathon is a short five weeks away!

These past few weekends have been lots of fun but I was busy posting delayed holiday posts so I will tell you about them now.  Last weekend we actually did something fun and this weekend we didn't, but for some reason it was still a good weekend in my eyes.  Last weekend we FINALLY used our membership to the aquarium.  We got it for Evan's birthday because we thought it would be a fun activity to do in the winter but then with the move and the holidays we never made it downtown.  However last weekend we went with some friends and it was a lot of fun.  I'm not sure who liked it more, Evan or Ivan! 

It's hard to make us out but there we are in front of the Amazonian mangroves.  My parents and I actually went on a mangrove tour in Honduras and it was amazing, so this was fun to look at.  That tour seems like years ago, and actually it was seven and a half years ago so I guess it was years ago.

Our attempt at a family selfie

One of my favorite parts of the aquarium is the rainforest.  You get to walk through it and I think it's so fun.  I guess it might seem odd since it's not underwater, but I like it anyway.  We saw a sloth sitting on a tree which was fun, although I have seen a sloth in Costa Rica in the wild so this was a little less amazing.  Ivan wasn't a fan of the rainforest exhibit because it was hot and by the time we left the rainforest he was drenched in sweat.  I made him pose for one more family photo though.

His favorite thing was the sharks, of course.

We didn't see everything so we want to go back soon, maybe next weekend or the weekend after.  Since it's free with our membership all we pay for is parking.

This weekend we went shopping for some rugs to put in the house but were unsuccessful.  We ended up going to Kohl's and JCPenney's but Kohl's was way too expensive and JCPenney's didn't have many in the store, so we ended up buying one online.  We still need on to put in the dining room and kitchen because it's just too loud with the dog and Evan that we are afraid the neighbors will complain.  I wasn't willing to shell out $100 bucks so we only bought one, and the one we bought is for the living room.  We needed one to put in front of the couch so when Ivan puts his boots on he doesn't stain the carpet.  It's really annoying renting sometimes - you have to constantly think about what the place is going to look like when you move out...and dirt stains on the carpet can be a problem.

On Sunday we tried to go to church but failed miserably.  Evan is just so talkative that it was a nightmare.  Everyone kept giving us the Look and even though I tried to be strong and kept telling myself that the Catholic church is against abortion and birth control and that children are the future of the church and they should be welcome...Ivan still ended up spending 98% of the time in the hallway with him.  We may not go back for a while.  Then we went to Panera and ate chocolate chip bagels and coffee and played on the mall playground.  They have a little play area inside and during mall hours it is crazy with kids jumping wild and large kids (who are too big for the playground anyway) pushing the little kids, etc.  However, the mall hadn't opened yet so there were only a few other kids playing around.  Evan loved it.

We went to the playground by our house yesterday too and no one was there so Evan had a blast walking from one play thing to the next.

He loves these cars but there are two so you put him in one and then he points to the other.

So then you put him in that one and then he wants the other one.

And then he just wonders off (that's the dog's leash in the bottom of the photo, in case you were wondering). 

After my run we went and got Evan's haircut.  It's very cute.  We had the same woman who cuts Ivan's hair cut Evan's and she did a good job.  He was so well-behaved and just sat there the entire time...completely unlike church.  Then we headed to my sister's for cake and ice cream to celebrate my niece's birthday.

Now it's back to the bus and work.  And my nap!