Are you there blog? It's me, Margaret

Random musings, stream-of-consciousness style.

Laziness

So, I'm sitting here blogging at the height of laziness. I haven't showered for the day, I never went to the Y, I'm still wearing the "comfy clothes" I slept in last night, and I couldn't even make it to the desk to blog on our desk top computer, but instead am lounging on the couch with laptop on my lap. Quite pitiful, right?

Anyway, as always it's been a while since I've blogged, and honestly its mostly because I am just so lazy (see #66 on my list of 100 things about me). So, what has been happening? Mostly just too much, as the holiday season is ALWAYS the busiest time of the year.

Turkey Day

We eventually got around to finishing up those turkeys for Ethan's project, and as you can see, Grace convinced me to make one for her as well. The two of them had a grand old time painting their turkeys and putting them on display. And we are so accurate here in our project efforts, that when Ethan discovered that turkeys apparently have only 3 toes, he went ahead and rectified the situation on his own.

Finished product

Two goals down...

Thanksgiving Day 2008

So, I've finished my 10K and checked it off my list. What this picture doesn't show is the following:

The Friday before the race -- so basically a week before the event -- I had a little mishap in the driveway. You see, Ethan was running late for the bus stop and since it had turned FREEZING that week, I couldn't just take the girls and run out the door with them. I had to bundle them up, make sure they were warm enough, and buckle Sophie in the stroller. Well, while I was running down the driveway -- I slipped. I tripped. I did a double flip. And before I knew it, I had rolled my right ankle, taken the total brunt of the fall on my left knee (see above), still managed to knock Sophie's stroller backwards, and had come to a final rest on the ground with the sound of Grace laughing hysterically at the bottom of the driveway. All while desperately trying not to bawl. My two immediate thoughts as I was falling? 1.) I hope no one at the bus stop just saw that, and 2.) Oh good, now I won't have to run in the race.

After a few minutes writhing on the ground, I realized it wasn't TOO bad an injury as I was able to get up and walk (albeit slowly) to the bus stop. It wasn't until I got back in the house that I realized my left knee was stinging. When I rolled up my sweats, I was surprised to see a big gouge and a huge goose-egg bruise already forming right under my kneecap. Nonetheless, I decided it was too late to drop out of the race -- especially since I had literally just registered and paid the night before. So, after resting my ankle for the next 4 or 5 days I finally gave it a trial run and was relieved to find that I COULD run on it -- I just wouldn't be super comfortable or super fast.

Thanksgiving morning dawned cold and bright. I was more apprehensive about the weather than anything else. I mean come on. What was I thinking when I decided to run a 10K at the end of November? But run it, I did. And even though I couldn't feel my toes for the first mile and a half, and I had to stop 3 or 4 times to retie my shoelaces, and even though I was feeling borderline claustrophobic running in a crowd of over 11,000 people, and I didn't quite make it in the time I wanted, I still managed to run the whole entire 6.25 miles of the way. Go me.

On the way to the race.

The drop-off. Scott and the kids headed back to the comfort of the warm car to watch a movie on the laptop until the race was over.

The finish line

...One to go?

So, that's that. And no, I haven't run a lick since Thanksgiving Day. I think I may have fallen out of love with running. My ankle is still not 100% and my knee is still bruised, so I haven't really done any kind of exercise for about 2 weeks now. Which is not really helpful for accomplishing that third goal of mine. Nevertheless, I HAVE lost weight this year, which technically checks that goal off the list as well, so I'm going to go ahead and say that after 11 months I have finally followed through with ALL of my New Year's Resolutions!


Sophie is a bearcat (a total non-sequitur, I know)

She may look all cute and innocent, but when you get up in her grill, she will fight back. Grace has still not learned this lesson:

Grace's hair. Courtesy of Sophie.

Christmas Time is Here


Ethan's wish list:

Since the beginning of September -- when we cut through the Pottery Barn Kids at the mall on the way to getting his birthday pictures taken -- Ethan has had 3 things on his list that will not budge.

1.) A Table



2.) A toy mixer



3.) A bell (so he can ring it when Grace is playing outside so she will know when it's time to come in for dinner, of course.)




Grace's wish list:

1.) "the doctor dog thing" (YOU know, mom. She says in total exasperation/frustration when I asked for clarification).
2.) Hello Kitty books
3.) Little tiny dog junks
4.) The big Polly Pocket thing
5.) Junk
6.) Junk
7.) And more junk
8.) Oh and a Girl's World Thing Maker

Alright, so j/k on the last thing. But you get the picture. Let's just say we've had SEVERAL talks so far about what Christmas is REALLY about.

Grace's Faces

Don't you wish you they were knocking on YOUR door?

As many of you may have noticed by now, it is a bit difficult to get a decent picture of Grace. We had the sister missionaries over for dinner and Family Home Evening the other night, and they taught the kids about missionary work, and dressed them up for the job. It was actually really cute but, of course, I was unable to get a single picture with Grace looking normal.

What? It's almost 10?
This is possibly the most incoherent post I've ever composed. So really, it's for the best if I end right now. Suffice it to say that we are enjoying the Christmas season and look forward to chilling with the family in the Big Easy in just 11 more days!