Say it Loud, Say it Proud

Ignore my previous post.

I woke up this morning significantly more uncomfortable than I was yesterday. I knew I couldn't run today, even though I wanted to, when the first thing I did when I got out of bed was take an 800 milligram Motrin. I decided to go the doctor not beacause I couldn't handle the pain, but because I wanted whatever is wrong with my hip to be made well as quickly as possible so that I can run again. Soon. As in a couple of days. Or tomorrow.

I head to the doctor, he asks his questions, pokes my hip several times(which felt like someone poking a really tender bruise), does some crazy manipulations of my hips and informs me that "You can start running again in 4 to 6 weeks, maybe." Whaaaaaaat???? That was not what I wanted to hear! "The injury you have is caused by running, specifically increasing your distance or pace in too short an amount of time." Ha! I have increased my distance in the last two weeks and dropped my pace average by almost a minute! "I was doing so well" I tell him. "I am on a roll, this is going to totally screw it up!" I then began to negotiate with him about how I could get back to running sooner. Ice it? Elliptical? Stretching? What if I just run a little, or not as fast? And as I am trying get his permission to continue an activity which is making it painful to sit, much less run, then, my friends, I realize

I AM NOW OFFICALLY A RUNNER!

What's in a Name?

I have been running for one year. When I started last October to prepare for a turkey trot I never imagined how much I would come to enjoy running!
I have asked myself many times at what point does one become an official runner. When can you call yourself a runner without feeling like a poser? People who run marathons are clearly runners. People who run 5,6,7 miles as if they were out for a Sunday walk are runners. People who think running is easy are runners. I will say that running has gotten easier, but it still isn't easy. I feel like a fraud calling myself a runner, even though I have run in the snow, in the sunshine, in a 15 degree windchill, along the beach, along the mountains, at 7,000 feet and at 7 feet. I now run on vacations, in the middle of moves and set my alarm to get up at 6AM so that I can get in a run before my day begins. I even check the tide schedule for the sole purpose of determining if I can run on the beach or if I need to run on the pavement. However, those things don't make me feel "official." They never made me feel like I had earned the right to call myself a runner. But, today as I hobbled around the house, feeling my hip click thanks to IT band bursitis and as I painted my toes the darkest color I own to cover the bruising under my big toe nails I decided, that I can, with no shame, call myself a runner.

First Day!

Today was our first day of homeschooling! It was so nice to start the morning stress, tear and anxiety free. Quite honestly, it was amazing. Mornings used to be so awful here.

Our day went really well, and I am actually looking forward to Wednesday. Tomorrow we meet for class day with the homeschool co-op that we joined so we won't be doing school work at home. Isabella will be taking an arts and crafts class, beginning Spanish and a cooking class. Ali will be in a preschool class. I am required to work two of the three periods. They intentionally leave a period open for the moms to give them time to visit with one another. How nice!


Here are some pictures from our first day.

Big Day!

I tried to take a picture of Isabella this morning but both of our cameras need to be recharged. The title of the picture was going to be "Last Day of School." Today is Isabella's last day of public school. Monday we start homeschooling! She is thrilled, I am thrilled. It is all good!

This moment

This Moment

This Moment

This Moment

Lonely and Neglected

My poor little blog is lonely and neglected. Moving 1,144 miles will cause that. I am proud to say that I haven't lost it or eaten myself into the next dress size, which is my usual MO when we move. I am almost ready for the packers to arrive next week and I have managed to keep up with my running at the same time. I love it here, this place feels more right than any other place we have lived. But, being a military wife means putting one foot in front of the other even when your heart and soul are begging you to to stay right were you are. So, I will continue to move forward preparing this house for the next family and organizing our belongings to make the unpacking and transitioning as smooth as possible. I am in full "move mode" and am looking forward to next Sunday. As much as I don't want to leave here, once we start driving away I feel better. I always dread the emotions that come with the final goodbye and once I move through them I can start to look forward. We should be in San Diego by Tuesday. If you need me I'll be at the beach with my girls! Move mode will be over and the summer fun can begin! I never worry about unpacking the whole house during the summer. My philosophy is to make the house functional and let everything else wait until the kids are in school. How many summers are we going to have near the beach? Not many and I'm not wasting this one!

This Moment

This Moment

The big 0-4!

Happy Birthday, Ali!!!!!!!!!

NinjAli

Today, little Ali turns 4. She and her sister have a dentist appointment and then she wants to get her nails painted at the nail salon and go to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. It should be a good day!

Recap

We have been really, really, really busy for the last several weeks. All of the girls had end of the year performances and class parties. We had 30 cadets over for dinner, I held a garage sale, and Jimmy had multiple events for Graduation week at the Academy (the Ring Dance, the Commissioning ceremony, Graduation,and Jimmy's Change of Command Ceremony). On Saturday, we attended two weddings at the chapel on base. Yesterday was our last event - Emmalena's Continuation Program. It is hard to believe she will start junior high next year! Next week Ali turns four, and we move in 19 days (YIKES!) Whew! I don't know how much I will be posting as I prepare for the move, though I will get some pictures of Ali's party up. Here are some pictures of the last few weeks to hold you until then.

Ali performing her end of the year program.

Bella in "Under the Sea"

Isabella's class had a beach party and one of the activities was painting with a frozen, dead fish. Gross, but the kids loved it!

Cadets

Cadets' shoes and jackets - that was only half. The rest were on the other side of the door.



Pictures from the Ring Dance for the Class of 2011

Commissioning Night

Jimmy's AMT's had a flag flown for me over the cadet area and it was presented to me at the Commissioning ceremony. I was completely surprised and very touched. I was also a nervous wreck because they presented it to me in front of 300 people!

Emmalena and her BFFs at the nail salon the night before Continuation.

Emmalena and Miss Theda

Receiving The President's Education Award

Singing in the Choir

Ali during the Continuation Program (don't you like how she is paying attention?)

The Happy Graduate!

Poor little Ali has been a trooper through all of this, but Tuesday she was tired out. We had to go to the moving office on base (TMO for you military folks) and then run errands. By the time we left Costco, she just passed out, straw still in her mouth. Now that's tired!

This Moment

Ali ran in from the backyard tonight yelling

"Stay in there pee! Stay in there pee!"

as she headed toward the bathroom.

Isabella followed her in and asked "Where is Mommy?"

Jimmy told her I ran away. I hollered from the other room

"Nooooooooooo, I escaped!"

These Moments

I couldn't choose just one this week....

Those moments

We are moving in about six weeks, school is coming to an end and it seems we have an appointment for someone everyday. This week was so busy I didn't get a chance to take a picture, and the older girls run everytime I get out the camera making it even harder. So, I have decided that I am going to post some old pictures. They are of moments I never want to forget. In all of this flurry, they make me feel calm and centered, and they remind me of what is important when my to do list is undoable.





Boston, 2003

Friday

{This Moment}

Fridays

Last week my sister-in-law started a new Friday ritual on her blog: a single photograph, no words called {this moment}. The idea is to capture a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. (I paraphrased this from Heidi's blog - for a better explanation, and to read an awesome blog, go here http://inthebeaverstate.blogspot.com/2010/04/fridays.html and scroll to the end of the post.)

I like the idea, so you can look for "This Moment" on Fridays here as well...it may be hard for me to post without a caption because I am afraid that 10 years from now (I'll be honest, it could be 10 days)I'll forget exactly what it was about that moment in time that tugged on my heart just so. I may have to leave a little caption to jog my memory...


{Self Dressing}

Jargon

stand-down or stand·down (stnddoun)
n.
A relaxation from a state of readiness or alert.


Have you ever heard that term before? It is a military term, but Jimmy and I use it all the time - very appropriate when parenting multiple children, with multiple issues and multiple commitments.

Alison : Jimmy, I may need to you take Emmalena to practice if Ali is sick tonight.
Jimmy: Okay, let me know.
Later that day...
Alison: Jimmy, stand down, Ali is doing fine - I will take Emmalena.

Alison: If one more kid asks me for something my head may explode. When will you be home?
Jimmy: 6PM
Phone rings later
Jimmy:I am going to be 30 minutes late, but I will hurry.
Alison: Stand down, everyone is behaving. My head is intact.

Another term I have learned from Jimmy is "noted." This is used when someone (usually a superior officer) requests that you do something that you don't really want to do, or when they comment on something you have said or done, and not in a positive way. While you may not have to do what they asked of you, you are not in a position to share your true opinion on the request or comment, which is always contrary to theirs, so you just say "noted."

In our house, "noted" has turned into "I heard what you said, don't care, but don't want to start and argument so I will acknowledge that you have made a request or spoke your opinion on something and that's about it."

Jimmy: Would it be possible for you to get the piles cleared off the kitchen counter today?

Alison: Noted.

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Alison: Do you think it would be possible for you to brush your teeth without running the water, wasting one of our most precious natural resources and passing your bad habit on to our children?

Jimmy: Noted.

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Jimmy: (After 8 boxes have fallen on him from the garage shelving) Do we really have to have all of these boxes?

Alison: Noted

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Alison: Is there a reason recycling is so painful for you?

Jimmy: Noted.

Will I ever tame my kitchen piles or my need for boxes? Will Jimmy ever embrace recycling and quit being a water waster? I don't know. But, after 17+ years of being together, we have developed quite the system for dealing with our issues!

Future SiLs

This is our babysitter Maddie. We absolutely love her and her family. She has two brothers and I am determined (as if I have a say in it) that one of my girls marries one of her brothers. We can run this picture at the wedding slide show!

Bedtime with Ali

Snow Day

More proof

Pizza that is delivered to your door, hot and ready to eat, along with paper plates -more proof of God's love.

Lucky Me

Thirteen years ago today, my brother married the beautiful girl in this picture. He got a wife, and I got a friend who has been there for me through thick and thin.

Happy Anniversary!

TFT

"When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return."

Ann Morrow Lindbergh

Silly me

We were in the car today when I asked Emmalena a question. Her answer was rude and innapropriate and so I told her

"You better watch your mouth, Emmalena!"

to which Ali responded

"Moooom, she can't see herself!"

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Last night, before we left for the airport to pick up Jimmy, the girls turded out on me. That is my new expression for when their behavior turns to you know what. When we got in the car, I was letting each one of them know what they had done that was wrong. After I lit into Ali she said in a very quiet voice,

"Mommy, you're scarf is really pretty."

How can someone so young be so cunning?

Corrugated Fun

NOTHING is more fun than a plain, old cardboard box!