Still Strummin'

Though I took the summer off from lessons with Bob and Justin, I've kept playing. I'm doing the same things over and over, but that's okay because I enjoy it. My niche is strumming open chords. That's not hard to do but it's what I like. It's also not very impressive, even to a seven-year-old girl. I played "Let It Go" for Lila while we were at the beach and she sang along twice, but she never begged Aunt Sara to play her little Barbie guitar as I had fantasized. Oh well. I never claimed I was talented. The best I can ever hope for is to be layered in on rhythm with sixteen other guitar tracks. Dream on, Sara.

It's hard to believe my own sweet lady Genevieve is turning one at the end of this month. Awww. They grow up so fast. I got her almost a year ago and we've had a lot of fun. She's doing well even though I admittedly don't take very good care of her. That's gonna change! In fact, it already has.

A few days ago, the kids and I went to the guitar shop. Elizabeth is in the market for a ukelele, and I was determined to finally get a humidifier for my wooden acoustic guitar that lives in Arizona. We got some birthday ideas for Elizabeth, and I got a birthday gift for my guitar. Genevieve hasn't shriveled up into a raisin yet, in fact she's showing no signs of distress, but I wish I would have gotten one of these earlier. Whether she needs it or not, I feel a whole lot better now that I bought her a Dampit to protect her from hot and dry air. Next up, new strings.

Once she's all set up like new again--and these kids go back to school--I'll return to my lessons with Justin. I'm ready to be inspired and excited about learning some new skills. Can't wait!

Fifteen Years Later

Last week was our wedding anniversary. Fifteen is a big one so I had big plans for us to celebrate. Plan A was to recruit a team for the Ragnar Trail Relay in Lake Tahoe. That's where we honeymooned, I had a blast during the Ragnar Trail here last October, and both Brian and I like being active and know some other couples who could join us. Unfortunately, Ragnar postponed the inaugural Lake Tahoe event until the summer of 2015. Bummer.

Plan B was to visit and explore Sequoia National Park for a few days and then stay in the Airstream hotel in Santa Barbara for another few. My parents would come out to stay with the kids, and we'd have a week alone. Well that plan also fell through because of something out of my control. Life happens. I'm extremely grateful my dad is well and healthy. He can't travel by air yet, but we were fortunate enough to see him and Mom at the beach. So I can't be angry about not going on our anniversary trip.

I am, however, ashamedly disappointed. Yes, we had a lovely vacation and got to see a lot of our family. It was fun and relaxing and low-key, and I'm glad we went. But there's still a part of me that wishes we could have done something--anything--to celebrate a little more than we did. Because this is how it went down:

Our anniversary was the day after we came home from vacation. I spent the day doing four loads of laundry, making a list and shopping at the grocery store, and playing referee between my two kids who didn't have any grandparent, uncle, aunt, or cousin buffers around anymore. Someone tell me please why they can't just leave each other alone. I waited all day for Brian to call and ask if we all wanted to go out to dinner even though I would have said, "Oh no. I can make something. We need to get back to our normal eating routine anyway," but he never called. To be fair, his day was no better. He went back to work and back to the frustrating project he's been overworking on for months. So I bought some steaks for us and shrimp for the kids and made the most of it, except I messed up the steaks and forgot to buy potatoes. I was also out of rice so it was just steak and raw vegetables with hummus. That's barely a meal and not even close to being a celebratory meal. Though we don't exchange gifts, I did pick up a card and an $8 pack of Starbucks VIA (for which I had a $2 coupon) because the lady who buys and makes the coffee at work sometimes doesn't do it and he needs back-up. Wow. Fifteen years together and he gets a gift like that? Well it did beat the one he didn't get for me, I guess. But we don't typically get each other gifts so what difference does it make?

What am I so upset about? Nothing.

I'm happy. He's happy. We're happy. That's really all that matters. I only wish we could have done a little something more to mark the occasion. Fifteen years is big these days but it's just a number, right? Sixteen is even bigger so there's always next year. Or our seventeenth. Or eighteenth.

One Pretty Strong Lady!

Well now I've seen everything. This woman is my hero. If anything in this whole wide world is amazing and incredible, it is she. I've never seen anything like it and, unless you were also watching last night, you haven't either.

Back-to-School Mode

In May I couldn't believe the school year was over so soon. Now I can't believe our summer is over already. The kids go back to school in a week! Matthew starts second grade and is surprisingly excited about it. Elizabeth is looking forward to her last year of elementary school. We've been busy getting lunchboxes, uniform shirts, water bottles, and haircuts. It's such a process! 

I've also comfortably fallen back into my role as PTO secretary. I guess I missed it. Since we've come home from vacation, I've worked hard at carefully and thoughtfully crafting a flier, a teacher favorites form, and some other stuff. It's good to use my noggin, and it's good to use it on something I care about so much, I suppose. I just need to remember to not lose my noggin this time around. 

I'm glad my kids aren't terribly nervous or anxious about the start of the year. I used to always get that way, but they seem to enjoy their school and their friends and I'm grateful for that. I was looking through some first day of school photos over the years today.

Here's Elizabeth starting kindergarten in July of 2009. I've since learned to remove all promotional materials from the front door before taking these kinds of photos.

Here she is at the start of first grade. Man! What is up with me and terrible backgrounds? There's a three-year old Matthew, too! 

Elizabeth and her friends Lauren and Nina looked a little nervous on the first day of second grade. 

Third grade started off well in 2011. Here she is with Iris and Nina.

Matthew started kindergarten when Elizabeth went to fourth grade. There were some big changes at the school that year, too. The most obvious was uniforms. 

The first day of fifth and first grades, I had a new camera and snapped lots of shots.

So now we wait until Monday for this year's first day of school photos. I hope second and sixth grades go well for them and all of us. I've heard from friends that this could be a hard year for us as parents. The transition to junior high is not an easy one, but before we even think about that we have to get through all the emotional "lasts." This will be her last first day of school there and that's sad to think about. She's really enjoyed her time there so far and I'm thankful for these six and, hopefully seven, happy years of school.

I remember her first day of kindergarten. She was so excited, and I was so overwhelmed. Buses, cars, big kids, teachers with stop signs and whistles--we were so not at preschool anymore. My baby was starting school for real! In addition to all the photos above, I found this video taken on that day. She's so small, but notice how she almost plows down the kids in front of her so she can get into that classroom already. You also hear a baby Matthew crying and my voice quiver when I say goodbye to her. She's going to be just fine, but I'm already crying over the start of sixth grade.

Like in the Old Days

Physically, I haven't been feeling like myself for a few months. I probably look different, too. Have I stepped on the scale? No. I don't even have to. I'm sure I gained a few pounds, but I honestly do not care about my weight. I care more about how I feel, and I feel different but not in a good way.

I know why. I'm not training for anything. No new goals are set, therefore I'm not working harder. I'm doing the same things over and over. Except when I'm not. Though I consistently run three miles about four times a week, I haven't been diligent with my strength training. My elbow hurt and, though it feels better it's not totally better, so I want to work it but not so much that I hurt it again. It's been a slow process but I'm lifting items more carefully, stretching my arm when it feels like it needs it, and pampering my elbow with a five-minute massage at least once a day. It'll get there.

When I woke up this morning, I felt just about every muscle in my body. The delayed-onset muscle soreness from Fitness with Friends yesterday was the perfect pain to feel all day long and the reminder I needed that that's what I should be doing more often. I still have some soreness and I'm relishing it. For the first time in a long while, I worked my body hard. I concentrated on slowly and methodically moving through the exercises and the pain is my payoff. I need to keep doing sessions like that so I can get back to feeling strong and confident and energized. I miss that.

My runs haven't felt very strong lately either. Sure it's hot and all, but I'm also not striving to get better at anything. I'm not trying to run farther or faster, so I think I need to run smarter. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to try to incorporate some interval training into my runs. It's probably going to feel like a lot of hard work and even though I run for sanity, I think putting in a little more effort will be as good for my soul as it is for my body.

So here's to a new (or former) fitness work ethic.

Hot Stuff

It's so hot here, and I feel like I've been sweating since I got home Wednesday night. Even in the grocery store I don't need my hoodie. Waaahhhhh.

Though it's humid in Georgia and North Carolina, it wasn't that bad while we were there. In fact, my last run in Georgia was one of the best I've had in a while. Brian and I went on a trail run at Kennesaw Mountain, and the trees provided shade as well as gorgeous scenery. I wish I could run those trails every day.

Meanwhile, back in the desert, my friends and I met at the park at 5:30 this morning and it was already 92 degrees. Today's high was 110, and I'm watching the news now and the current temperature at 10:15 pm is 97 degrees. Yuck. None of us had a great run this morning. I felt like I was suffocating and had to take three walking breaks during a three-miler. Aimee and Janette suffered through their runs, too, so we certainly didn't break any land speed records. This is the time of year in which we are forced to embrace our summer pace, and we're not happy about it.

There's nothing to do but consider this: Should we leave the heat only to have to come back or would it be better to stay and deal with it? That is the burning question.

The Other Half

Our week at the beach was sandwiched between two visits to Atlanta. We flew there, spent a few days with Brian's parents, rented a car, and drove to the beach. A week later, we returned to Atlanta for a few more days, this time with Brian's brothers joining us. Here are some pictures from our time in Atlanta.

Our first day there we visited the Tellus Museum, a really nice science center north of the city. The kids love stuff like that.

Matthew digging for fossils

He found a tooth.

Elizabeth panning for gems

I think Sue enjoyed finding the gemstones as much as the kids did.

The grounds at this museum were beautiful and very well-maintained.

When we came back the next week, we were so excited to meet baby Jonathan and see Brian's brothers and Meg.

Mike and Jason put on a lovely fireworks display. Both Jason and Grandpa bought fireworks so we had plenty to see!

Matthew enjoyed them from the window. He's not big on loud noises.

But Elizabeth was brave and held the sparklers.

Our pretty day on the lake was very fun, and there are lots of photos from it.

Jason did most of the driving. Jonathan was not a fan of his infant life vest.

Elizabeth and Matthew did some tubing.

Matthew doesn't like "high speeds."

Sue and Jonathan

 We found a nice cove for some swimming.

Elizabeth, Meg, Brian, Matthew

Mike and Matthew

Matt and Sue

It was all too much excitement for Jonathan.

After lunch and swimming, we really got into the tubing. Everyone but Bob, Sue, and GiGi had a turn.

Mike

Meg

 We found the best shots were those of us falling off.

Brian

Jason

Matthew didn't want to fall off, but he was sure to perform in front of the GoPro.

Then Elizabeth got a little fancy.

I, on the other hand, never claimed to be graceful. These are for Jill. She was disappointed the video was shot from so far away and, probably, that it was not also in slow motion.

The next morning, we took a leisurely hike on Kennesaw Mountain. It's very pretty and shady and green there. Brian and I returned a few days later to run the trails. So nice!

Bob, Mike, Meg, Elizabeth, me, Matthew, Jason, and Jake the Dog

Elizabeth and Meg

Matthew and me

We took a few more pics before Meg and Jason had to leave for home on Tuesday afternoon.

The kids, especially Elizabeth, enjoyed Jonathan. I think he liked them, too.

It was a nice visit with everyone, and we were able to do a lot while we were there. We wish we lived closer and that we could see each other more often. That might happen soon as Sue is considering retirement in November and may want spend some time winters in Arizona with her mom. And us. Until then, we'll have to fly to Georgia, Pennsylvania, and maybe even keep driving to the beach to meet up with all our relatives.