Winds of change

Oh, how things have changed since the last time I blogged!!

A little catch-up:

*The kids and I finally moved from Fortuna to our new digs in Cottonwood. We moved in the weekend of June 13, so needless to say the time before and after that was complete madness. Packing up crap, moving crap, unloading crap, offing unwanted crap for free using Craigslist, etc. Our old house is undergoing an interior paint job and will have new carpeting installed before going back on the market shortly (was listed, but we decided to make the fixes it needed and will relist).

*I met my older half-sister for the first time. Ever. She wrote Dad (we share the same father) a letter a few weeks ago, sparking a chain of events that included their first meeting in 37 years (she's 39 now). I got to meet her and her family little more than a week ago, and had a great time! We are all planning to hike Lassen Peak in August. I have a pic of the three of us. I will share it soon.

*Kara completed her first session of swim lessons. Let me tell you, this girl is a fish! She loves the water and has NO FEAR!! She does not get that trait from me, as I am all about the fear, especially in water. But she is doing awesome, and started session two today. She's gonna be in the Olympics someday, I swear. Meanwhile, Matty and I started a Mommy and Me swim class today. OMG, he is sooooo not like Kara! Poor child cried and screamed the whole time. We did manage to talk him into blowing bubbles in the water (while sobbing with snot pouring down his face), but he was just not feeling it. My immediate goal with him is to get him to RELAX in the water a bit and not do the "I'm-gonna-drown-Mom-with-my-death-grip-around-her-neck-because-I-am-positive-she's-trying-to-kill-me-in-a-3-foot-deep-pool" thing.

*As for me, I haven't done any running since May. I have good intentions, but we've been spending so much time at the pool (and it has been HOT, except for today, which feels cold because it's in the mid-80s). I have been using the elliptical, but I know soon I will be seeking out a good run. And the neighborhood we live in is GREAT for running. It's a gated community with lots of flat roads, although there are no sidewalks. Soon, I promise!! Maybe I should find a race to start training for, but honestly, I just want my other house to sell first. Then I can stop stressing over that and move on to other things!

My monthly post

Ha ha.

So I have been averaging one post a month for two months now. Stellar.

And it appears I have missed out on one buddy shutting down her blog (total suckage, Marcy!), and a couple others (Lisa and Erin) have made theirs available only to those who have permission to read them. (Can I pretty please be among the chosen ones??)

I am thinking at this point, the only person who might still check in on me here is my dad. Sorry, Dad.

I've just been too busy and stressed to blog, much less exercise. We're moving on Saturday, and I've had to get things ready here. Tim is already working in Redding (has been since May 18), and I've been finishing my CNA class (done tomorrow -- YAY!!) and being a single mom on the weekdays. So very tiring. And it won't get better until we're totally moved and the house is sold. Let's hope that happens quickly.

Anyway, the plan is to get back to working out as soon as I can, although I am not sure when that will be. So for anyone who is sticking with me, stick around a bit longer. I will return eventually. I promise!!! :-)

The 15-minute run

I went running today for the first time in almost a month. I have been maega-stressed lately, and when I get really stressed (and down) I tend to not want to run. I know, those are the times I should get out and run off some steam, but that's not what happens.

I used the elliptical first for my workout, thinking I could just call it a day if I lost my motivation when I was done. But I still felt like running afterward, so I set out to run for 15 minutes. I figured it was enough time to get some benefit, but not so long that I would feel crappy because of the lack of training. When it was done, I was thrilled to have gone out. And 15 minutes is a really short amount of time!

Oh, and we are officially moving back to Redding. The last couple months have been beyond strange, what with the scandal at the creamery and the layoff situation. Tim really worked hard and landed a job in Redding. He starts later this month. The kids and I will stay here for a while because I still have CNA school to complete. But after that, we'll join him in Redding. And we have to sell our house. That's the main thing standing in our way right now. But we're excited to go back to Redding, and the kids and I are looking forward to hot summer weather! We'll be going to the pool a lot this summer!

Today's stats:
Elliptical:
Time: 30 minutes

Run:
Time: 15 minutes
Distance: 1.27 miles

Taking some time off

Obviously.

LOL.

I decided a couple weeks ago to take the rest of the month of April off from running to let my injured knee heal. It feels quite a bit better now, although I don't know how it will be when I start running again. I have been using the elliptical, but I've been so busy with the CNA class and my nutrition class that I have only been able to work out three days a week. My nutrition class is almost over, so that will take away some of the pressure. I have decided to resume running in May.

This means, of course, that the Avenue of the Giants race is not on my schedule this year. It is this next weekend. I am OK with that, since Tim is still looking for a new job. I have been pretty mentally preoccupied with that, so missing a big race like this isn't going to kill me.

Okie dokie, see you guys again soon!

Think I needed that

I just took a short run after dropping the truck off for an oil change. It was glorious. The weather is just perfect today and it felt good to be out again.

We are dealing pretty well with all the chaos going on. Tim has sent out some resumes and has a phone interview set up for next week. Seems every day we're getting new leads on different jobs in his field. So that's totally great. I've finally gotten to the point where I can talk about what's happening without breaking down in tears. Yay for that! Hopefully something really good will come up soon!

We both agree the silver lining is we know exactly where we stand now. When everything started breaking down at the creamery in late February, we didn't know what it meant for the employees. It felt like we were in limbo for weeks. It still sucks that this is happening, but at least we can move forward now, unlike so many of the other employees there who still don't know for sure if they'll have a job or not when it's all said and done.

Oh, and we do have something fun to look forward to. Tim's sister and her husband are coming to visit next week! We haven't seen them in a while, and this will be their last visit home before moving to New Zealand next month. How cool is that? I hope we're able to visit them in NZ eventually. Heck, if Tim lands a job better than the one he has now, maybe we can eventually afford to! ;-)

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: 2.55 miles

Yesterday's stats:
Elliptical:
Time: 30 minutes

last Tuesday's stats:
Run:
Distance: 2 miles

Like being kicked in the crotch

That's how I am feeling right now.

No, I didn't actually get assaulted in the private area.

Rather, we got a figurative jolt in the nuts via the layoff notice Tim received yesterday.

Come June 1, Tim will no longer have a job at the creamery.

After almost five years of loyal service, this is how it ends.

I have no job. We have bills. And kids who have needs.

I am scared. And worried. And getting angry at the asshat who got the creamery into the current mess it's in. Really angry. Like I want to kick them in the crotch with steel-toed boots.

At least Tim wasn't the only one who got a pink slip yesterday. But that doesn't ease the sting or the realness of what's happening.

But now we have work to do. Tim's already looking for a new job he can jump into when his current job ends. There are so few jobs in this area to begin with, so his job search is in other cities in Northern California. We might have to move again. It will be a pain, but I will gladly move wherever he can find a job.

I hope he's able to land something before Kara starts kindergarten in August, especially if it means moving out of the area. I don't want to pull her from school after she's started, if we can help it.

Meanwhile, I will continue the CNA program I started on Monday and look for a job of my own.

Oh, and if we have to file for unemployment, I will have to get a job to make ends meet. Unemployment will provide less than half the amount of money Tim was making at his job. It would barely cover our mortgage. But it would be better than nothing.

So the future is unclear. I don't know how much I'll be blogging in the immediate future. It seems less important than life right now.

OK finally a (short) race report and TONS of pics!

Sorry it took me so long to get back here to post about the HM. I am still in the process of taking an online nutrition class, and we had part of a project due today, so that took up a lot of my spare time. But I got it done and can now get back to blogging. Heck, I've only managed a pair of elliptical workouts during the past 10 days now and absolutely no running, although I hope to fix that this weekend. *sigh*

Anyway, the Shamrock'n Half Marathon in Sacramento, CA was totally freakin' awesome! Of course, I had to take the obligatory shot of my running duds the night before. The lovely new pink tech shirt had to be covered the entire race by an old long-sleeved tech shirt, because it was just too chilly to not have real sleeves! The orange thing on my bib (notice my name? I was TOTALLY geeking out over that!) is the disposable timing chip, which I have yet to dispose of and probably won't, LOL:




My dad drove me to Raley Field, home of the Rivercats baseball team (not sure what they are -- AAA, AA? Who knows?). The sign was all lit up at 7 a.m.:



I had never been to Raley Field before. The inside was bigger than I imagined (this was before the masses arrived):



Before long, the stadium was filled up with runners, walkers and their supporters. I was glad my dad stayed with me because I seriously hate being a lone wolf at these things. :-(

Anyway, the start was divided into three waves. The fastest runners took off at 8 a.m., followed by those who expected to run at a 9- to 11-minute/mile pace. The last group was made up of the slow people (those who predicted they'd be slower than 11 minutes per mile -- totally me, but whatever). I didn't really understand that, because they gave you 3 1/2 hours from the start of the final wave before they started reopening roads and whatnot. So basically the fasties (my new term for fast runners) got an extra 20 minutes to finish that the slower runners could have used, but I digress.

Here are the fasties taking off at 8 a.m.:



The rest of us waited in our corrals until it was time to approach the starting line. Finally, before 8:20, we were herded down to where the magic was to begin:



After a few minutes of nervous fidgeting, the countdown started and we were off!! Of course, in a race this big, being "off" means you're just walking at the beginning. My dad took this pic of me, being silly:



Soon enough I was running and enjoying the scenery. Some of the landmarks included:

The historic Tower Bridge, which we ran over twice (yes, I ran the race with my camera in my pocket, and sometimes in my hand):





The state capitol:



Old Town Sacramento:



The Sacramento River:



So I was feeling really freakin' awesome until mile 8. That's when the lack of training started kicking in. This is me at mile 7, right before the fire in my shoes began:



So yeah, around mile 8 was when I noticed my feet, especially my right foot, felt like there was a damn flame under them. And the flame got more and more intense the longer I ran. It was pretty stinkin' awful. I now know that I really need to stick to my long runs on the weekends while training for a HM. It's not that I didn't want to, but I had been battling illnesses and injury and the long runs just weren't happening. So my feet paid a price during the HM.

But I trudged on, basically running from fuel station to fuel station near the end. Eventually, an awesome thing happened: I could see the finish line, located on Raley Field, which was totally cool:



Here's the pic my dad took as I crossed the finish line. See the big screen in the outfield? They showed everyone who finished on it! And they called out every finisher's name on the PA! Good times!



And check out this totally rockin' medal that I got. It's definitely the best one I own (and it's really heavy)!



So that's about it. :-)

I think I've talked my dad into running this one with me next year. It has a HM relay, where the distance is split into two halves and one person runs each half. I think that would be fun, don't you?