Lots of catching up to do!

don't have to listen to the wiggles, heehee.  song shuffling again...

I had a busy weekend.  But I knew it would be nuts, and I convinced Mr W to take Friday off and he did--WOOHOO!  We took the kids to Nana's, ran downtown to get my race stuff (more on that later), and made it back to her house before my friend got there to drop off her daughter.  OY!  the stars must have been aligned to pull that off, b/c I am never on time...I was even able to spend a few minutes catching up with my friend and her husband before they left!

So my boy wonder was thrilled to see Dani, and she was equally thrilled to see him.  She played with everyone, and I was relieved that there wasn't too much awkwardness between them.  I took all the kids to this park by my Mom's (never again, I found, in addition to "hey, Mommy, there's writing inside the slide, what does it say?", a broken bottle and some metal tubing in the sand...I wish my parents would just move to over to my neck of the woods) and then Nolan, Dani, Audrey, and I escaped to the mall for a bit.  The little one needed to nap, and I knew with all that excitement, the only way she'd sleep was in the van.  We just wandered a bit, and then came home for more running around, pizza, and when I noticed Dani was tired, we took her to back to her aunt's house.

I resisted the urge to walk her to the door, b/c I noticed Nolan reaching for his doorhandle, and didn't want to mess up his moment.  "Hey, son, Audrey's crying (she was), so I'll stay here so she doesn't really crank it up.  Why don't you walk Dani to the door?"  So off they went.  Dani's uncle came out for a second, to thank us and say good night, as Nolan scooted back in the car.

Driving away, I noticed he kinda had his back turned towards me, and I realized he was wiping his eyes...soo cute!  I said, "Are you ok?"  and he said he was sad b/c the day went so quickly...and he didn't get to say goodbye the way he wanted to.  ??? "What do you mean?"  "She went inside right away, so I didn't get to.."  "What, you weren't gonna (oy, I can't believe I said this) kiss her, were you?"  "Nooo, I was going to hug her, but she ran inside."  Whew, I think.  "Well, honey, at least we got to hang out with her all day.  And it's hard to leave the people we really like when you don't know when you can see each other again...so I know that's why you are sad, and it's ok if you are gonna cry some more."  Aye, Dios, that was a bad idea, giving him permission sort of got him going again.  But he recovered, and I was touched when I saw Mr W take him aside and chat with him when we got back to my Mom's.  I don't know what he said, but it was good for Nolan, because he seemed better after that.  :)

So about this race thing..

I participated in the PF Changs Rock in Roll 1/2 Marathon on Sunday.  I didn't run, and I certainly didn't really race, but I finished, at that's all that mattered to me.  The weather was GAW-GEOUS, a bit chilly to start, but fab the rest of the time.  And I had a great time, even though I was walking alone.  My oldest (since we were 8) best friend was running it, and she's the one that cajoled/goaded/paid my entry fee so I couldn't say no (haha) and do it too.  She wanted me to run with her, but I knew that I wouldn't have enough time to get in the type of conditioning needed to run 13.1 miles, so I told her I would walk it...and managed to sneak out of the house with the dog and walk in preparation for this for the last few months.  And I DID it!!  I narrowly escaped a blister, and definately escaped the old guy from Chicago that with old man tact, basically said I was fat (dude, don't you have a driveway to shovel somewhere, do you really need to get your exercise here?) and finished.  Haha, not record time (according to the clocks along the way, 4:44:34 was my final time, but I don't think that's totally right..who cares, I finished..)  I have to say that having the music (my iPod) along helped a ton, so even though I couldn't walk with Mr W, I had him there, haha.  And I just listened, and concentrated on getting one foot in front of the other.  I ran to catch up to this group I was following (lost 'em in during a pit stop) and sped up when I saw the old Chicago guy ahead of me nearing the end of the race (he got ahead, I think, during the blister med-repair).  I was surprised at my irritation and venom within when I saw him up ahead, and thought "Oh, I don't think so, buddy" as I walked faster and blew past him.  I also had the random comment one of my friends said earlier pop in my head every now and then, something about "I find I can accomplish what could be accomplished by running by just walking fast.." (thanks, remo) which for some reason cracked me up...road delirium.  It also helped that there were lots of uniforms along the way to gawk at (heehee some of Phx's finest), and cheering groups of people, and different bands at every mile along the way.  

My only complaint/question was, who laid that course out?  In addition to the beautiful desert vistas in the background, I walked by two adult shops, and like 4 strip bars.  "Hey, I didn't know it was a cabaret AND cafe..let's make a note of that..oh, and byob too.."  At least I know where a couple of the Castle boutiques are in case anyone needs directions...

All in all, I was pleased that I pushed myself when I realized it wasn't fun anymore at mile 10-11, and would do it again.  (but I am fantasizing about running-gasp-next time)  Mr W was in full-on 'take-care-of-my-girl' mode too as soon as he picked me up, and I had to love that, I didn't pass any of the extra attention up, LOL.  "Would you just take a hot shower, and plant yourself somewhere, I'll deal with the kids.."  No, not gonna pass that up, no way, no how.  "Could you bring me some Advil, please?  I'll be in my room."  I hobbled around a bit on Sun evening, and was sore yesterday, but much better today.  But I feel ten feet tall and bulletproof...