Ready or Not!

Holy Crap, the countdown is officially in a single digit number of days - 5 days | 9 hrs | 16 mins to be exact! The darn race webpage is taunting me by the seconds just adding to all the numbers going through my head. Their website is actually full of lots of good information including the ability to track the progress of any participant. When your athlete (aka ME) crosses timing checkpoints along the course, it will send an alert via email or text message. Sign up for participant tracking so you know when to offer up those prayers of speed and energy. THANKS! :-)

Slightly Off Broadway

After dance class today we headed to the Regional Library in SouthPark. This particular branch is the only place I know to have an afternoon program for toddlers. I knew there was 2:00 PM storytime one day a week but could not recall exactly which day. It could have just as easily been Tuesday as any other day so off we went. Came to find out the storytime is on Mondays, (which is now written down in my planner for future reference), but in spite of the fact that nobody else was there she had a grand time. Toddlers surely know how to make their our own fun and I had a blast watching her!

Weekend Highlights via Instagram

FRIDAY: Ice Cream date with my favorite littler person where we both enjoyed dairy free Cuties. Too bad it melted faster then she could consume it and couldn't get passed her dirty hands to finish it.

SATURDAY we ventured to the first annual World Parade & Festival held at Independence Park. The girls both got bracelets from a Colombian vendor while daddy enjoyed a cookie from some crazy Greeks. ;-)

After cleaning 6 inches of pollen from all the deck furniture, fans, etc and mounting the TV, we broke out the corn hole set for the first time this year and had a nice night on the OLS.

SUNDAY: Very cool giveaway from Target to say Happy Earth Day! This one is Addie-sized and is officially her shopping bad now.

We also left with this fun Addie-sized necessity - Baby's first pair of running shorts!

Another addition

It seems we got more compost then we ordered or at lease more then we needed so Jim extended one of the beds. I hate to be wasteful and since we had the space and more leftover deck boards it worked out great! Maybe turn this new part into an herb garden?!

A glimpse into the future perhaps?!

A Victoria's Secret bag in one hand and a Coach sandal in the other. Help me now!

Don't worry, I was able to successfully lure her away with the promise off flip flops. She got these as a gift, (either her birthday or Christmas) but I knew well enough to keep them hidden until the weather was right. You will not see her without these for a long time.

Happy Girl!

Boston Marathon Dreams

As I trained with and celebrated two of my running buddies over the past few months, I could not help but wish I was able to join them today. While this weekend was not my best and I have no desire to be running 26.2 in the record high temperatures, I cannot help but think what an accomplishment that would be. Yes, the race does have an enormous amount of hype and No, I am not going to be winning anything but its Boston for crying out loud!

I had never really thought such a thing was in the cards for me but my running girls have been so encouraging that I actually started to entertain the idea of qualifying. How awesome would it be to qualify on my first marathon? Talk about debut!

You prepare for so long but then it all comes down to one day and how you feel that day. Nevermind the 3 months of pre-dawn trainings. What if May 6 is just not my day?! This is one of the reason I am starting to get nervous. I had been running well, (despite re-injuring my ankle) but the monotony of training and the hard last run has really taken the wind out of my sails.

I still plan to meet the pace group leaders at the Expo but might fall back with the 3:45 on Sunday instead of trying to keep my eyes on the 3:35 person. I can't prepare anymore at this point so time to stop messing with all the tools out there. Geeking out about it is only helping to drive me crazy. Stop thinking about it Ashley! I just need to concentrate on not getting hurt, because will walk across that finish line if I have to.

Did you know today marks the 40th anniversary of women being allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon?

Racefest

Like with Corporate Cup I met my training buddy at 6:00 AM to get in mileage before the half marathon so when we crossed the finish line we were done for the weekend. That moment was great but this was one of the toughest runs I have had all training. Ran a little over 7 miles to the starting point of Charlotte Racefest, which means while a thousand people around me were on mile 6 I was in the teens. Not sure if it was the packed & hilly course, sparse crowd support or just mental fatigue but I finished this half in 1:52:05. The time itself is solid but I must admit to being slightly disappointed. Was hoping for 4 or 5 minutes faster so would have a good boost into the final countdown. Regardless...



Last long run down! Let the taper begin!
Ready of not Cincinnati, here I come!

Outdoor Chalkboard

Even though we have done so much to the house, it is too nice to be hanging out inside. AND even though I should be looking for window treatments and things for the walls, our focus has shifted to the backyard.

Here is my latest inspiration for the backyard. Wouldn't this go perfectly on the side of the garage?

 

http://lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/projects/Outdoor_Chalkboard.aspx

 

Start of this year's Veggietales

I have said before a busy/focused toddler makes everyone happy and today was another example of that. We had compost delivered and the little one had a ball helping move it to the garden. We actually got more then enough so going to take advantage of the space and extend the front bed another 2 feet. Yea for the vegetables in our future, hopefully! I can taste the squash soup already - YUM!

Happy Easter

It has been a jam packed weekend and we didn't even do everything we could have! The Egg Hunt/Party we attended on Saturday and Easter lunch both had real photographers on hand so hope to have a decent picture to share soon. I still manged to get lots of pictures though so let's get right to them...

A Good Friday, Indeed

The YMCA's childcare was closed in observance of Good Friday, so I had the pleasure of hanging out with my favorite little person today! And after completing my morning run in the rain I was looking forward to it even more. We met my fellow crazy runners and their cute girls at our local library branch's storytime.

Our friends Baby Claire and Samantha

This little bug even made a new friend, Clifford The Big Red Dog, who I thought was going to have to come home with us. We left with a Clifford book and DVD instead though.

Fashion Police

Shhhhh, don't tell Suri Cruise that I wore white before Easter. Now that my modeling career is on its way, that is the sort of thing that might end me up here! (Flynn Bloom, I too like white undershirts.)

Got Eggs?

Someone was excited about the egg hunt at school today and rightfully so! It was a beautiful day, (even verging on hot) and she had so much fun collecting eggs, discovering the content inside them and playing with her friends.

Sesame Street Live!

Commentary to be added soon. In the meantime, enjoy some poor quality pictures. Did not realize I could have actually brought a camera in.

BEFORE

DURING

At intermission, a vendor came out with an enormous bunch of
 Elmo balloons. At that moment, every child gasped in awe while 
every parent in the coliseum quietly moaned at what we knew
was an overpriced item we would be buying... and loving.
Darn you Sesame Street but well played!