Happy Birthday to S.E.

On the heels of Mother's Day, my firstborn S.E. turned five today. He looks so big and small at the same time. I am so grateful to the powers that be for allowing me to be his mommy. I love him to bits. Things about S.E. the 5 year-old:

• loves playing with Transformers, Power Rangers


• learned to answer the phone today to talk to family and friends wishing him a happy birthday


• hates shirts with tags attached in the back


• LOVES ketchup on everything


• can't bribe with sweets


• compassionate and thoughtful to others


• king of run-on sentences that make NO sense together (example: "Mom I run faster because I'm five now and it makes me run faster to wear these shoes")


• great tree climber (but very cautious)


• saves his Preschool snack cookie wrapped in a napkin to share with is brother

I love you baby boy and I will forever look at May 13th as the day you defined me by giving my life a purpose.

Duped into doing something awesome!

Here's the conversation last Wednesday with my training partner.
"Can you believe we actually did Bloomsday?! We ran 7.46 miles!!"
"We can do this again."
"I think we should go for a long run Saturday."
"I think I have a route in mind that might be 7 miles."

So off we went with our friend C.B. on Saturday to go for our close-to-7 miles. My legs were sore for the first two miles and I was a little worried that I collapse but at around mile 4 (I'm guessing mind you), I was in a zone and felt like I've already gone this far-what's another few miles?

About a mile from my house where we started, there's a killer hill on Hall Street (one that makes Doomsday hill seem like a molehill), my training partner took off and was in the lead. She was awesome!!! Considering two months ago, she had to walk a part of it-it was amazing to see her progess. All this while her shoes still didn't fit right. At the end, we were tired but not as much as when we finished Bloomsday so we went off happy.

Yesterday, curiousity got the better of us and we drove the run to figure out how far we ran. We ran 8.2 miles!!! Whoa!!! We started laughing because I think if we knew ahead of time that we were going to go THAT far, I'm not sure I would have done.

How neat was that?! I am so grateful for my training partner and C.B. for being there to push me along.

My new nickname for my training partner is Hall Slayer.

130 lbs!!!!

Last night at my WW meeting, I was nervous for the weigh-in because it was a make or break moment. The past four weeks, I've been up and down 0.4 lbs. and it was frustrating. Well, on the heels of the 12k run, I weighed 130 lbs.!!! What!!! That was a 3 lbs. lost this week. My body sure feels it because I am still sore from the workouts. But the biggie was I kept really good track of my points and didn't stray (not a bite undocumented).

Backtrack a few days ago when I got home from my 12k run, my husband cleaned our bedroom and filed paperwork into our filing cabinet. He found the file of old driver's license cards and found my driving permit one (I was 15 1/2 years old). The weight on it was 130 lbs. He was excited and thought it would be great motivation for me to visualize what I would look like at that weight. I laughed hard when I saw the card posted on our bathroom mirror because didn't he know everyone lies on their driver's license about their weight?! (I think I shaved off 5 lbs. on that particular card).

So, I am officially that weight for real. Now if I can have the smooth skin and energy of a 15 year-old...

sew, sew, sew your chair

(Before and after of my kitchen chairs)

I have been doing some amatuer upholstering and sewing for about 4 years. I really love it. My mom makes custom draperies and re-upholsters furniture for a living. She is awesome at it and she's about to retire so I want to learn. What lead a science geek to go into upholstery?!

When Koo was a few months old, I developed contact dermitis from being in constant contact with chemicals causing my skin to break out in red, itchy bloches all over my body. It still is a problem to this day. I know chemicals like chlorine, hand sanitizers, and some ingredients in soap plays havoc on my system. But I digress, so thinking that one day I would have to go back to work once my little boys start public school-I want to have a flexible job that I can be there for them at a moment's notice. Plus, I want to continue to spend time with my lovely husband at lunch.

Due to my skin problems and family, I most likely won't be able to return to labwork because of all the chemicals used. So that's what has lead me to upholstery. Plus my mom gave me a few industrial sewing machines that rival any sweatshop.

Airing out my dirty laundry

I don't like doing laundry. I don't mind the washing and dry part. I hate not being able to get all the stains out usually because I just shove the clothes into the washer. Then I get anxious about having a load sit there for more than four hours because of the mold smell that might develop. Usually, I shrink something I don't mean to because I forget to not dry it. Then the worst of it all, folding and ORGANIZING stacks and stacks of clothes to put away into drawers that are messy because I have to shove the stacks in there to make it all fit. And just when I think I'm done and all caught up and let my guard down...I turn the corner and like a Chia pet, I've got an overflowing basket of dirty clothes piled up.

12K

My workout partner and I ran our first 12K this weekend. Here's what I know:

• I didn't collapse running the longest distance in my life


• How much faster I ran (finished 1 hour 28 minutes)


• How many young kids participated (I hope my boys will want to do this in the future)


• How many people wore bad/wrong shoes for running


• How many people stopped for an ice cream bar in the middle of the run?!


• How much my arms hurt (now I know why distance runners have such nice arms)


• How quickly I said "Now we train for a half-marathon"

I couldn't have done this race without the support of my lovely husband. He made it possible for me to train by looking after our children and for working so hard so I could get the help in achieving this feat. This run was huge for me because I am afraid of large crowds being so short and how out-of-shape I was...

Last but not least, I couldn't do this without God. Thank you God for looking out for me.

Microbes 1 v. My Family 0

Dear itty bitty microscopic bugs,
Could you please leave my family and I alone? I'm tired of fighting with you. My boys noses can't take anymore of me running after them to wipe the goopy, yellow muck that runs from it. The Kleenex company stocks are skyrocketing thanks to my usage of three boxes in two weeks. My lovely husband can't get you out of his head and it's been four months. Your lease is up in our bodies. I don't have a complete game plan to eradicate you yet. Don't make me go all Clorox bleach, antimicrobial wipes, and Purell on you. Do I need to resume my Bubble Boy practices on you?!

Thanks for sending that extra special virus to infect my ears and make me want to chuck my daily 20 points worth of food this past week. It's been fun. Now leave. I am willing my third-world immunity to step in and make me feel better.