April 13, 2014

The Holidome

My kids definitely don't understand the concept of "sleeping in". We had no reason to wake up early today, and I slept like crap at the hotel. Jerry left the hotel at 4:00 this morning to head to work. And kids woke up at 6:00. They were considerate enough to whisper to each other, rather than talk loudly, but their whispering is just as loud as their normal voices ;)

Last night, we spent most of the evening in the pool. I really hate swimming, but I wanted to spend some quality time with the kids, so I got in the pool with them. The pool has an opening that goes outside the building--you basically swim underneath a little wall, and then you're in the outdoor pool. When I was a kid, I loved that part! My parents used to take us there, along with our friends from the neighborhood, and we'd swim outside in the winter.

We'd always go in January or February, when it was freezing cold outside. I remember jumping out of the pool with my friends to make snow angels while in our bathing suits, then jumping back into the pool before we got frostbite. Haha!

Anyway, Jerry was working yesterday, so I wasn't expecting him to show up at the hotel until about 7:00. I was sitting in the jacuzzi when Jerry came up behind me and surprised me at around 5:15! Shortly after he got there, my mom came for a little while, too. When the kids were ready for a break from swimming, we took them to dinner at Chili's, and then back to the hotel where we swam some more.

I never thought I'd say this, but I am SO tired of dining out. Restaurant food makes me feel so sluggish and puffy and just gross. When I was in California, I ate out for every meal; and then I was only home for a couple of days before going to the hotel with the kids. I'm just really excited to get back to my normal eating routine, which rarely involves dining out.

The kids had a blast, and they stayed up watching TV while Jerry and I fell asleep by about 10:00 last night. This morning, they woke up at 6:00 and were begging to go to the pool; but the pool didn't open until 9:00. I tried to keep them entertained in the room, and then we went down to breakfast at around 7:00. Naturally, we were the only ones in the hotel restaurant at that hour on a Sunday morning ;)

The kids ate free at the breakfast buffet, but I wanted to eat something that felt more like what I would eat at home. So I ordered an English muffin, a scrambled egg, and fruit. I felt good after eating that, and not nearly so sluggish. At 9:00, we went back down to the pool for a couple of hours, until it was time to check out.

When we got home, I had a pretty unproductive day. The kids and I watched the movie Pearl Harbor, which is something like three hours long. But it was really nice to just relax and not have to be anywhere. Today was supposed to be my long run day, but since we were at the hotel, I skipped it. I'm going right back to my running schedule tomorrow, because everything has been so out of whack for the past couple of weeks.


In thinking about Mark so much the last few days, it made me wonder how things are going with doing random acts of kindness in Mark's honor? I'd love to read about what any of you have done in honor of Mark, no matter how big or little it might have been. I forgot to post this earlier, but when my sister was in town, she took my kids to the store to buy a bunch of needed items for the Humane Society. They donated it in honor of Mark :)


I've done a few things here and there, and I'm always looking for new opportunities. But I've been trying to get more creative, so I'd love to know what acts of kindness any of you have done to give me some ideas.


Tomorrow is Motivational Monday! It's been a couple of weeks since the last one, but if you have a photo you want to share of a health/fitness accomplishment, you can email it to me at SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, subject: Motivational Monday, along with a brief description, and I may include it in tomorrow's post!

9 comments:

  1. I live in Rochester, NY and it actually hit 80 deg today!! As I drove down a street in my neighborhood I came across a couple of kids who had a lemonade stand. They were donating what they earned to a local charity that benefits a family who's mother has cancer. I didn't have much cash, only $5 but I stopped and gave them that. I wouldn't take their lemonade but told them I wanted to donate in memory of a "friend"..Mark. Thank you for all you do Katie,
    Bridgette

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  2. A couple of days ago I was running around 1pm and a trash dumpster in front of a house had blown over and some of the trash had blown across the street toward a railroad track. I stopped and put the dumpster up and picked up the things that had blown across the street and put them back in the dumpster. While I was doing that, I thought of Mark.

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  3. Not sure if the news has reached outside of Washington, but a few weeks back our neighbors up north in the town of Oso had a tragic mudslide. Dozens of missing people and deaths. My room mate and I decided to pick up some paper towels and toilet paper for the evacuation shelters... and then we thought they might want some bread.. then some bottled water.. before we knew it we spent $170! We split the cost and felt good about everything we took to the donation center :)

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  4. When my family went to the store yesterday, they were doing a "Stuff the Bus" for a local women's and children's crisis center. My daughter and I bought a bag of baby and other supplies to donate in Mark's honor.

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  5. Just wanted to say congrats, I brought home a copy of Runners World Australia and guess who was in it!

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  6. In Mark's memory I picked up several bouquets of flowers and delivered them to the local nursing home. They were going to use them to spruce up the dining room.

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  7. I can never sleep well anywhere other than my own bed. It just throws me off!
    On April 27th our town is having a "mission day" and my mom and I are volunteering in Mark's memory. I have also been trying to remember just to smile at people too. One smile can change your whole day, and Mark had a great smile.

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  8. Coincidently, I happened to be at the grocery store tonight and the lady in front of me wasn't able to pay for her groceries, she started to leave the groceries behind and I told the cashier that I wanted to pay for her groceries. Someone stopped her before she got out the door and she walked in with a huge smile on her face and gave me a hug! This put a smile on my face and I still feel really good about helping someone. And really, it didn't matter what her circumstances are...perhaps she has grandchild at home to feed, a sick husband or maybe out of work. It doesn't matter, what matters is helping other people when you see someone in need! This was my random act of kindness in Mark's memory :)

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  9. I bought powdered formula for a young mother whose WIC had expired at the exact moment I was paying for my stuff. She was so surprised all she could do was smile at me. I just knew she needed it for her baby, so I got it for her. I had forgotten all about it until I just read your post. I'm glad I did it and am now dedicating it to Mark!--Mave.

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