RECIPE: White Chili

Chicken, white corn, and white beans make this a nice change from the usual chili made with ground beef and a tomato based sauce. This was my first time using coriander (when I was a beginner cook just after getting married!) and I loved the flavor of it. It's a necessity for this recipe.


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White Chili

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp coriander
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp hot sauce
1 can white corn, drained
1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 pound chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

Directions:

Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat, and cook onions and garlic until onions are soft.

Stir in remaining ingredients except chicken. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add (cooked) chicken, and simmer 3-4 more minutes until hot. Serve with crusty bread. (Makes about 4 main dish servings)

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RECIPE: Lasagna Soup

I'm going through recipes and revamping some of them, so I hate to bombard you with several recipes in a row. But here goes!

This Lasagna Soup is very simple, but for some reason, it tastes so complicated and GOOD. I love to serve this with warm garlic bread on a cold day.

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 Lasagna Soup

2 tsp. olive oil
1 pound lean ground turkey or beef (I like turkey)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. dried parsley
4 cups beef broth
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
4 oz. uncooked pasta (I usually use rotini or egg noodles)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, cook onions in olive oil for a few minutes. Add the ground turkey and garlic, and cook until turkey is browned and onion is soft. Drain turkey mixture, and add parsley, broth, tomatoes, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil and add the pasta. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the pasta is done, about 10-12 minutes. Serve with parmesan and garlic bread.

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The Best $50 I've Ever Spent

Ugh, I am still having problems with my energy, and it's driving me crazy. Sometimes I feel totally fine and others I feel dead to the world. I think stress has a lot to do with it, but now that things are settling down, hopefully I will see some consistency.

I did my run yesterday to finish off week five of my 3-3-3 running plan. My weeks are from Monday through Sunday, so I waited until the last day, but I got it done. Ideally, I'd like to do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

So, even though I ran yesterday, I decided to get back to my regular M-W-F schedule today. Very unlike me! However, I perked up a little in the afternoon, and decided I might as well get it done before my energy was zapped again.

I chose to run on the treadmill today. I really should go outside to run, because it's perfect fall weather! But I feel a sort of comfort from staying in and doing the 'mill.

The only real problem with that is that I can't see my progress (or lack of) over time. My Garmin and treadmill read two different sets of data and it's frustrating. The timer on the treadmill is off (for example, 1:00 minute in "real time" may say "1:02" on the treadmill). Since time is constant, I know that the treadmill's timer is off. The Garmin's timer is correct.

The distance on the treadmill versus the Garmin is different though (mainly based on the motion of my left arm, which is where I wear my watch). The Garmin doesn't really register the changes in speed when going from 4.4 to 4.6 mph, for example. It barely even recognizes big changes such as 4.2 to 5.0 mph! Today, I decided to give the old foot pod a try and see if that was more accurate.

That was a big fail. The Garmin (from the foot pod) read that I was "running" at 3.3 mph, when the treadmill was set at 4.5 mph! I only wore the foot pod for a mile, and then after I took it off, the pace was still wonky. The only semi-accurate mile was the final one.

The treadmill was at 4.4 mph - 4.6 mph for nearly the entire 3 miles. The foot pod didn't register that at all. Which made my average pace completely wrong.

Today's run was just frustrating. I want to be able to see progress, but to do that, I'd have to consistently run outside. So, I'm going to aim to run outside at least once a week to see if I can spot any noticeable changes.

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Anyway, to the point of this post. I hate to even write about this, because it's going to sound like one big advertisement (or at least a sponsored post). This is NOT a sponsored post--I just bought something that I am so excited about I'm dying to share.

When Jerry and I got married and bought our house, my mom gave me her very durable, good quality vacuum cleaner... that belonged to HER mother before she passed away. In other words, it was very very (very) old. However, because of the quality of it and it still worked very well, there was no real reason for us to get a new one.

Last week, I realized I'd run out of bags for the vacuum. I hate buying bags for it, because they are $20 a pack. With two cats and a dog, the bags fill up more quickly than I'd like. Just for the heck of it, I decided to look at vacuum cleaners on Amazon instead of buying new bags.

Because we switched to hard floors throughout the house (we have carpet in the bedrooms and a large area rug in the living room, as well as a couple of small rugs in the kitchen), we don't need a super fancy vacuum. I didn't want to spend a fortune on one--just something that would do the job.

I found a deal on one by Black & Decker for $49.99 (regular 79.99, but Amazon has it listed as a limited deal right now). You can find it here (Amazon affiliate link--it just means if you buy it through the link, I may get a small commission for referring you. But like I said, this isn't a sponsored post and I'm getting nothing for raving about it!).

I love Amazon's new next-day shipping, because I literally got it less than 24 hours after I ordered it! It had very good reviews, so I was really excited to try it out. First, I decided to do the orange area rug. I had just vacuumed it the day before, so it wasn't too dirty.

The vacuum is super easy to use and I had it ready to go in no time. The second I turned it on, I knew I was in love. I can't even describe the suction power on that thing! It made my rug look brand new--it even pulled up the spots that were matted from walking on it.

And--this is both horrifying and SO satisfying at the same time--just look at what two minutes of vacuuming the rug pulled up! *cringe*

Can you believe it?! I was so excited that I actually took pictures to send to Jerry and my mom 😂

Then I did a quick job of Eli's room, Noah's room, and my room, respectively. I emptied the canister after each room, and LOOK AT ALL THE DUST. This is AFTER I vacuumed the day before. I was so stunned.

I realize that $50 is cheap for a vacuum, but even if this thing only lasts a year, it'll be worth it. I was going to spend $20 on the bags for our other vacuum anyway.

Anyways, I realize this sounds like a big ad, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. But if you're looking for a vacuum, I am in love with this one. (It even comes with an attachment for furniture, particularly for pet hair!)

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By the way, any suggestions for fast-paced very action-packed shows to watch while I'm on the treadmill? Sadly, I've probably watched everything you will suggest, hahaha. But I need something to make me excited about hopping on the treadmill for a run!

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Weeks 4 and 5 Recap of 3-3-3 Running, and Halloween (Bar) Tricks

(This water bottle and note were waiting on the porch for me when I got home--I love when Jerry makes little notes like this!)

I was feeling super sick for a little over a week, and I still don't feel 100% back to normal. I didn't really feel like I was getting a cold or anything, but I just had zero energy and the worst headache (a tension headache) that refused to go away, even with ibuprofen and acetaminophen. I also felt weak and shaky, for no reason at all. Actually, I felt like I had a hangover (which isn't possible, because I haven't had a drink in over 10 months).

It made getting in my runs very difficult this week! I typically try to do my runs on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Well, on Monday I was SO tired that I actually napped from late morning to early afternoon. I only nap about once or twice a year, when I'm very desperate! I just couldn't bring myself to run.

I told myself I'd do it on Tuesday, and I knew that if I didn't get it done Tuesday, I'd end up quitting altogether. Thankfully, I had a great morning with plenty of energy, so I was able to get it done. I ran again Thursday and today. So, I got in my 3-3-3 workouts (3 miles, 3 days a week, for 3 months... today marked the end of week 5).

I didn't do a recap last week, so here is a very short one from the last two weeks:

Monday - Ran with Joey outside. Managed to get a 13:02 pace with an average heart rate of 142 bpm. I think that's my best run so far.

Wednesday - Ran on the treadmill. Nothing really notable. Stayed at about the same heart rate for most of the run.

Friday - This is the day I started to feel really sick. No energy at all, and my resting heart rate was up. My heart rate was up through the whole run, and I was lowering the pace and then the incline so that I could keep my heart rate low enough. It was frustrating.

Tuesday - Wished I'd done the run on Monday, so I could take Tuesday off ;) But on Monday, I was feeling way too tired and my headache was relentless. I was definitely feeling better today, though. Did the treadmill. Here is my blurry treadmill selfie:

Thursday - Felt like crap again. No idea what is going on! I keep waiting for it to turn into a full blown cold, but it's still just the headache and exhaustion. I'm going to try to figure out how the Garmin compares with the treadmill. It's kind of annoying that they don't match! Again, I did the treadmill.

Sunday - I should have done this yesterday, but I wasn't in the mood. Jerry was off work all weekend, and I love hanging out with him when he's off, so running wasn't on my short list of things to do. Today, however, was the last day of my fifth week, so I had to get it done before week six starts tomorrow. I did this one outdoors by myself, and I can't even tell you how many times my watched beeped to tell me my heart rate was too high. I felt like I was running as slowly as I possibly could! I wanted to take my heart monitor off and throw it in the road. My pace definitely reflected it, too, as I had a mile in the 14:00's today!

It's hard to see any sort of pattern yet. Dr. Phil Maffetone says to give it 12 weeks before looking for improvements, so that's what I'm going to do. When I looked at the monthly stats, thought, I was surprised to see that there is a slight downward trend in my pace, which is a good thing.

It's also hard to keep track of the differences when some runs are on the treadmill, some are outside with Joey, and some are outside alone. Those are three very important variables. But I'm not going to overanalyze anything as of yet. I will definitely keep it nerdy at the end of three months, though ;)

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Aside from running, we had a fun Halloween on Thursday. The weather forecast looked HORRIBLE: temperature in the low 40's (wind chill in the low 30's), winds of 20 mph with gusts up to 70 mph, and RAIN. There really couldn't be worse weather.

Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as expected... but it was definitely very cold and windy and rainy. As we have for the past few years, we went to Brian and Becky's house (it was their last Halloween in their current house--they move to their new house very soon). We had tacos for dinner, and then the kids went trick-or-treating and we sat in the garage (it was too windy to sit outside) and passed out candy.

My kids are definitely on the older side for trick-or-treating, but I love to see teens out with costumes on. Trick-or-treating is innocent fun for teenagers when they could be out doing so many not-so-innocent things.

Eli wore the same costume as last year (a burglar) and Noah and his girlfriend, Ashley, dressed in neon 90's exercise stuff.

Noah, Ashley, and Eli went out trick-or-treating together (Eli came back before Noah and Ashley, and he said that they were moving too slow, so he want on ahead without them, haha). They got a TON of candy.

They even want out a second time shortly before trick-or-treating was scheduled to end, and even though people recognized their costumes, they wanted to get rid of their candy. So, the kids wound up with even more.

Luke and Riley were adorable as always--I LOVE those kids!--but they are so hard to get pictures of because they are constantly on the move. I managed to get a quick picture of them with my parents, but the kids were not patient enough for a decent one ;)

My mom somehow came across Mickey and Minnie Mouse costumes, so she wanted to dress up with my dad. My dad says he looked like a drunk Mickey Mouse, hahaha. Accurate.

After trick-or-treating, we went inside to chat and so the kids could sort through their candy. My brothers are always impressing us with new bar tricks they learn (so random, I know!), so Brian attempted a new one (with the dollar bill and beer bottles) for the first time. And Nathan showed us one with a grape (they didn't have olives, which is typically what you'd use in a bar trick, so he improvised) and a wine glass. I mashed the videos together in a 1-Second Everyday video:

It was a super fun night! 

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In Remembrance of Mark

If you've been reading my blog for a while (since before 2014), then you are familiar with a family friend named Mark. I used to write about him on Halloween, because that was the only time I ever saw him.

When I was growing up, my family and I lived in a very small town and my dad owned an auto shop. While he was working, he'd see a man walking around the town daily, usually smoking a cigarette, and always by himself. When my dad introduced himself, he learned that the man's name was Mark and that he lived in a men's group home in town.

The group home was for men who had mental disabilities of different sorts; Mark was intellectually disabled (I later learned that he wasn't born that way; he was run over by a car when he was about eight years old).

My dad took a fondness to Mark, while seeing him walk every day, and he offered him a job in the auto shop (just doing things like sweeping the floor). He was difficult to understand when he spoke, so communicating with him was always a little challenging for me--kind of like talking to a two year old, where you catch a few words here and there.

Anyway, my dad offered to take Mark fishing with him, and so once in a while, my dad would pick him up from the home and they'd go out on the boat to fish. Mark LOVED getting out of town and doing something different, no matter what it was. He didn't have any family (that we knew of) and nobody visited him at the home except for my dad.

Mark said that his birthday was on Halloween, so my dad started picking him up every Halloween to spend the afternoon and evening with us--we'd have cake and sing happy birthday, and give him a couple of gifts. Mark was the most grateful person I've ever met--and I am not exaggerating. If you asked him what kind of cake he'd like, he'd reply, "Oh, any old thing!"

After that, we'd sit in the driveway with a little campfire while passing out candy to kids. It was always my favorite holiday because I loved the tradition of Mark's birthday. He was so happy and grateful and excited to be there that it was truly contagious.

Anyway, in November 2013, Mark was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. It had spread all over his body, and hospice care would have been the most humane thing to do for him. Actually, my parents wanted to sign him into hospice care and bring him to their house for his remaining time.

Suddenly, a nephew appeared out of nowhere, and all of Mark's decisions were passed onto him. This was a huge disappointment to us--even though we weren't his family, we were the only ones to see him for years! He knew us and cared about us. And he really wanted to go home with us.

However, his nephew decided to have Mark undergo chemotherapy and radiation in the hospital, and be transferred to a nursing home. You know how many times he went to visit the nursing home in the four months Mark was there? Zero.

My dad and I pretty much alternated days of the week to go visit so that Mark would have a visitor every day. There wasn't much to talk about, but he liked having someone there. I liked to spoil him with whatever he was craving; Long John Silver's, McDonald's milkshakes, fancy coffee from Starbucks (the only coffee he'd ever had was the instant kind that you mix with hot water).

And you... I asked for people to send him postcards from all over, and I can't even tell you how grateful I am for the response. He got probably about 700 cards in the mail! Whenever I'd go to the nursing home, I'd pick up his mail from the P.O. Box, which was overflowing, and then I would read the cards to him (Mark couldn't read, but he loved the pictures).

This nurse's aide ran out of room on the wall to put his cards, so she spent all this time stapling them to his curtain! How wonderful is she?!

Some people sent him money, which I set aside for him to do something with when he'd like. He got several gift cards for McDonald's, which was super helpful when I got him shakes. His favorite was a strawberry milkshake.

As he declined in health, and I visited more and more frequently, I really got to know him. I used to think of him as just someone who visited each Halloween, and I never really took the time to have conversations with him (like I said, it was hard to understand him). However, I was picking up more and more of what he was saying.

One time, we had a serious conversation about what was happening with him--that he was going to Heaven to see his parents and his brother (his parents died when he was a young child, and his brother died while Mark was still in the group home).

He used to tell me he was going "home"--not just "home", but "HOME home"--meaning Heaven. And when we had this conversation, he started crying (which of course made me start crying) and he told me that he was scared. I told him it was okay to be scared and I just tried to listen and validate those feelings. Of course he was scared!

He had some really great nurses (and some no-so-great); the nice ones would hang up his cards or read some cards to him. He would always gesture to his cards on the wall to anybody that would listen and say, "Look how many people care about me! I got all these people that care about me!"

And I think the nurses were impressed that he had hundreds of cards ;)

The radiation had shrunk the tumor on his spine enough to allow him to walk with a walker for a short period. At that time, I asked him what he'd like to do with the money people had sent--he had a couple of hundred dollars! He thought about it and decided he wanted to have a party for the men at his group home, including pizza and cake. With the leftover money, he wanted to get a gift for each of them.

That's how big his heart was.

We made the party happen. I ordered pizza and a cake that was very "Mark" (he loved fishing and life):

I bought individual gifts for all the men in the home, based on their interests. And Mark was SO EXCITED to get to go home to the residents and see everybody. Including their dog ;)

All he wanted, more than anything in the world, was to go home. Anywhere but the hospital or the nursing home! When he was getting very ill toward the end, and his nephew still wasn't really in the picture, we asked again about signing him into hospice care. But again, his nephew showed up and said that he planned to take Mark home for the last few days of his life.

This was my very last picture of Mark, just before he left to go to his nephew's house:

I was very disappointed, but I didn't give up on him. My mom, dad, and I went to visit Mark one last time at Mark's nephew's home. I can't help but think of how unhappy he seemed there. His wheelchair was parked in front of the TV, and Mark really didn't enjoy that. He loved the outdoors, and I would have loved to take him out for walks in his chair.

When it was time for us to go (and I don't know if I ever wrote about this), I just had a feeling it would be the last time I'd see him. I gave him a hug and said, "It's time to go "home home" soon. I'm glad I got to spend time with you. I love you." And when I said "I love you", I saw a brightness pop into his eyes--it was a real, physical change in his face and his eyes. Indescribable.

It instantly made me realize that he probably had never heard those three little words before, other than from his parents when he was little, or maybe his brother decades prior. I'm so glad those were the last three words I said to him that day, because a few days later, Mark went "home home", taking his last breaths at his nephew's house. I'd hoped to be there, but his nephew didn't let us know that it was happening.

For Mark's funeral, I made booklets of all the cards Mark received from you all. I placed them around the funeral home for others (especially Mark's nephew and his family) to see how well-loved Mark was. I also printed off every picture I could find of Mark over the years and I made boards to display them.

His nephew's family wasn't happy about it, and they said some harsh words about why there weren't pictures of him with his family. I posted the few that I had from the day that his nephew signed the papers in the hospital at Christmastime. But that was all I had!

At his funeral, I spoke of the cards he got and how so many people cared about him. I said that his heart was so full of joy from total strangers. And I told the story of how he wanted to spend his money--a party for the guys at the group home with pizza and cake.

It was funny--at the funeral home, Mark's birthday was listed as November 1, 1955. All the years (decades) that we'd known him, and he always told us his birthday was on Halloween. And we never really knew how old he was--I think he said 50 for three years in a row once, and 55 a couple of times. I don't think he was sure.

At his death, we learned he was 59 and his birthday was a day later than he thought. I'm sure he just remembered Halloween being associated with his birthday and assumed it was the same day :)

Since his death, Halloween hasn't been quite the same. We stopped going to my parents' house, because it just didn't feel right. I still think of Mark every Halloween, and once in a while my family will get McDonald's strawberry milkshakes in his honor.

Mark was just special--which is a completely inadequate word, because there isn't a word to really do it justice. He loved everyone and never complained a day in his life. He even thanked the nurses who came in to poke him with shots and take his blood. (Yes, even the mean nurses!)

I can't end this without mentioning that there are SO many people in group homes and/or nursing homes that don't have family or friends that visit. They spend their days alone. Mark was one of those people until my dad started talking to him while he was on a walk one day, and because of that, my family's lives were changed forever.

Mark taught me life lessons that I never would have learned otherwise, and I'm SO grateful that I got to know him in the last five months of his life. So, I can't help but encourage all of you to take the time once in a while to visit a home and bring some joy to the patients' lives. I know they would love a visit! The days are long and boring in nursing homes (I spent LOTS of hours there, and I know). Who know, you may end up meeting someone like Mark :)

I post this to keep Mark's memory alive and as a reminder that I need to feel grateful for all that I have. Mark was grateful for instant coffee, John Wayne movies, and (sadly) cigarettes (his one real "pleasure" that he didn't know was killing him). Mark had such a simple, happy life! He didn't need social media or extravagant vacations (or any vacations at all--he never even left southeast Michigan); he didn't care about material items, technology, or 90% of the luxuries we have and take for granted.

But he was SO. HAPPY.

I need to be reminded of this sometimes. And Halloween is always a great reminder. Count your blessings!

There is just way too much to write about him in this one post. I wrote several times throughout his time in the hospital and nursing home, and even his party. You can find all of the posts about Mark here (in reverse chronological order). Enjoy life! :)

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November Goals (and Jerry's Endoscopy)

I'm writing this from the waiting room of a surgery center where Jerry is currently having an endoscopy (a tube with a camera down his throat and into his stomach to check for any abnormalities and possibly get tissue for a biopsy). I am so glad that we are (hopefully) going to know what's going on. I haven't written about it, mainly because there hasn't been a reason to, but he's been having symptoms for several months now. I guess I should say "symptom", not plural, because there is only one.

Probably about five months ago, he threw up completely randomly. He wasn't nauseous, he hadn't been drinking, hadn't eaten anything unusual... it was just totally random. We didn't think much of it, but we thought it was odd when it happened again about a week later.

After that, it was about once a week for a couple of months. Then it got more and more frequent, until now he's throwing up several times a day (or occasionally, not at all, but usually at least 1-2 times). He has no other symptoms, which is what makes it so odd. And we cannot figure out a pattern with his diet that would be causing it.

Anyway, he saw a gastroenterologist (specialist in the digestive tract) who scheduled the endoscopy to see what is going on. If they see anything abnormal, they'll take some tissue for a biopsy. I'm worried about it, even though I told him that I'm not worried and that I'm sure it's no big deal.

So, we'll see. Someone should be coming to get me when he wakes up.

This whole thing has gotten Jerry and I to talk about our health and how we are definitely not spring chickens anymore. Our age is not going to be on our side much longer when it comes to health risks. We really need to start thinking more about our health and being more proactive before we have major problems going on.

(Just as I was writing that, I was called back to see Jerry and wait for him to wake up. He was totally out of it. The doctor came in and said that there were a lot of spots of inflammation in Jerry's stomach, but no signs of cancer.

He took a biopsy to test for H. Pylori, a bacteria that could be causing his symptoms. H. Pylori, if left untreated, can go on to cause cancer later on. However, we are hoping that's what it is, because all he'll have to do is take antibiotics to get rid of it. We'll get the results in a week or two.

Of course, when we got home, he threw up two more times! I really hope we get answers soon.)

Which brings me to some goals for November...

Jerry and I would both like to make it a point to eat healthier food. And I am honestly craving it! I ate a lot of convenience foods that were easy to throw together during cross country season, because my evenings were so busy.

The Halloween candy at the store (and even after my kids went trick-or-treating) have not been tempting at ALL--which shows just how much my body is craving healthy foods. Jerry and the kids are on board, too. Of course, the kids got a ton of candy yesterday! But we'll at least be eating home cooked food for meals.

Anyways, I don't want to make November stressful with lots of goals, but there are a couple of things I'd like to focus on:

1) Eating healthier foods
2) Writing on my blog every day (I will explain my plan below)
3) Responding to comments on my blog and social media (which I'm terrible at)
4) Continue to do the 3-3-3 running (this is week five!)

Eating Healthier Foods

This is kind of vague, but I know if my mind what I consider "healthy" and "unhealthy". Basically, I want to eat more whole foods, fruits, veggies, and just things with real nutrition. I will always allow for a treat for my bedtime snack, of course! But I'd like to eat healthier meals. (I'm still not drinking alcohol--yesterday marked 10 months without a drop!)

Writing on my blog every day

As you may or may not know, November is "National Novel Writing Month" or NaNoWriMo for short. This is where participants attempt to write a 50,000 word manuscript during the month of November.

Now, I have no interest in writing a novel. However, I am always saying I'd like to write on my blog more but I just don't feel like I have anything to say. So, along with my semi-regular posts, I'm going to throw in some creative writing type of posts with ideas from a book of writing prompts that I have. The writing prompts are questions about myself or my life or ideas that have, etc.

This way, I won't have any reason not to write. Even if it's just a few paragraphs, it's something! So, I may write once a day, or, if I'm feeling ambitious, 2-3 times a day. I have more time to write in November, now that things are settling down.

Replying to comments on my blog and on social media

I'm REALLY bad about this. I read all of the comments, and I honestly have the intention of sitting down to write proper responses, but I usually avoid the computer unless I'm writing a blog post. I usually read comments from my phone, but I HATE typing on my phone (I type with one finger), so I wait until I'm on my computer to write longer things.

However, I appreciate the comments and feedback SO much, and since you guys spend the time writing and posting comments, I feel like the least I can do is respond! (So please don't take it personally when I don't reply--I am just really bad at making time for it, and I get distracted so easily once I'm on the computer! I am going to try my best to reply.)

Continue with 3-3-3 running

I'm surprising myself that I've kept up with it! I've done two runs this week, and I plan to do the third tomorrow, so that will be a total of five weeks down. Two more months until I hit three! I never did write a recap of week 4, so I'll wait and write a recap of weeks 4 and 5 together this weekend.

All-in-all, I think these are very do-able goals for November, and I'm actually pretty excited about it (especially about writing every day, now that I have prompts to turn to and write some off-the-beaten-path things).

Happy November! (I just realized it's Daylight Savings Time, and we turn our clocks back tonight, which means extra sleeping time--yay)

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An Exciting Ending to Cross Country Season

Good grief, I had no idea just how drained I would feel once cross country season was over. This was a long season for me--starting in early July instead of late August--and the first season coaching without Renee. A lot to handle!

I could have done just the bare minimum required to get the kids ready for their races in September and October, but you all know that when I take something on, I tend to put all of my energy into it. And that's WITH my bipolar meds, hahaha.

So, I poured my heart and soul into this season, and I'd consider it a success! The kids had fun; I enjoyed having a smaller team, so I could concentrate on each individual more; and the kids all improved their running strength. And so many of you were super generous by donating prizes from our Amazon Wish List. I can't even tell you how much the kids LOVED spending their points on fun rewards.

The Wednesday before last was our sixth of seven races. I wrote a previous post about Aaron, who'd been on the team since he was in second grade (longer than anyone else) and I loved coaching him and seeing him improve his running each year.

I wrote about the super exciting win that he had at our first race--coming in first place overall, and beating his competitor of the last few years, "Ferris". Ferris beat him at every race by just one place, and for the last couple of years, I've given Aaron the goal to "beat Ferris" that season. It happened at the first race this year!

So Wednesday's race was bittersweet for me, because it was Aaron's last race on my team. He wasn't going to be able to make it to our very last race on Saturday, and next year he'll be moving on to middle school. We hadn't run this particular course in a few years, so I couldn't remember it very well, except that there was a fairly large hill about 3/4 of a mile into the 1.1 mile race.

Unfortunately, this course is not one that I can go from one spot to another to watch (as a large loop, there isn't enough time). So, I chose to go to the one mile mark so I could yell to the kids to give their final kick to the finish line.

At the race's start, I was standing behind the whole crowd of kids, so I couldn't tell who made it to the front when the starting gun went off. I basically just had to go to my spot and wait until the kids came down the hill out of the woods until I could see anything. I was dying to see how my team was doing. We have white shirts, and they are easy to spot amongst all the colors. I was watching the opening of the woods, waiting for the lead runners to come through.

Finally, there were three kids that emerged, and Aaron was in the lead! I was SO excited (and surprised, actually--there was some VERY tough competition at the races this season). He had about a quarter mile to go. Aaron gives every race all that he has, and sometimes that's enough to carry him to the finish line; other times, he doesn't leave enough for a final kick at the end. I actually got kind of emotional when I saw him in the lead, knowing it was his last race with my team.

When he got to where I was standing, the gap was closing between him and the runner behind him. I started yelling like crazy (I'm sure that the parents who take videos of the races hate me!) that the person was right on his heels, just look straight ahead at the finish and give it everything he had.

I couldn't see the actual finish line, which was so frustrating. I saw the gap between Aaron and the runner behind him closing more and more as they got toward the line, and then I had no idea who won. I thought I saw the person with a red shirt get in front of him at the last second. I didn't want to leave my spot to find out, because I wanted to cheer on the other kids on the team, so I just had to wait it out.

Finally, I saw Aaron and his parents walking toward me from the finish line, and he held up his place card--with a #1 on it! I was so thrilled. He'd won his first and last races of the season--a great ending for his season.

I wish I could say the same for my team's final race on Saturday, but the race director made a huge mess of it. I already wrote about that disaster.

Even though it was our last race, I wanted to have one last "race" of our own--a timed mile at the track, just like I had them do at the first practice. As always, I don't care about the kids' race times nearly as much as I care about having them improve their own times. So I like to do the timed mile to see how much they improved over the season.

Afterward, I planned on getting pizza for everyone while I handed out certificates I made. The weather ended up being horrible on Tuesday, which was a bummer. It was super windy and it started raining. Running in the rain would be fine, but having pizza on the picnic tables outside by the track was not going to be fun. Although, the rainbow before the run was cool!

I called the rec center and asked if we could go inside for pizza, and thankfully, they said we could use their party room in case of bad weather. As I got set up for the run, I was super excited to see what Aaron's timed mile would end up being, because it wasn't under the realm of possibility that he could run a sub-6:00 mile, which nobody on our team has ever done before. When he showed up, he said that he'd been sick for the last couple of days, so he wasn't going to run. What a bummer!

The weather wasn't on our side, with 20 mph wind gusts, but the rest of the team did the timed mile anyways. For about half of them, it ended up being their fastest mile of the season. And every single one of them improved their original mile time by a significant amount! Bryce, who just started this year, improved from 12:12 in July to 7:39 in October! That's crazy.

It was bittersweet that it would be Andre's last season with me as well. He's gotten to be quite the distance runner--this season, he ran over 100 miles! He likes to focus more on distance than on speed, but he even improved his mile time from 8:28 to 7:27, which is awesome.

We ended up going inside for pizza (a good choice, so we weren't freezing and wet outside). I handed out their certificates--which I had so much fun making! I gave each of them a personalized "certificate of..." by thinking of what they did best that season or what goals they met, and things like that. I also gave each of them a spreadsheet that listed all of their miles, points, and race times for the season.

The kids (with the help of their parents) were super generous, too--a couple of parents paid for the pizza; I got flowers from a few kids; Andre's grandma made me a pumpkin roll(!), and Harper actually got the team an exciting gift--a tent for next year! We will finally have a home base at our races, just like all the other teams (and a place to hang our banner). I was a super fun last day.

When I got home, it was like the life just drained right out of me. I was SO exhausted. All of the build-up of the season--all of the time I spent working on practice plans and keeping track of mileage and points (for our awards system), going to practice three days a week, and then racing once a week-- seemed to just fall off my shoulders when I walked in the door.

It may not seem like volunteer coaching is much as far as time and energy, but all of that, plus spending Sundays at Eli's baseball games for two months, I just felt like I never had any time off. It was hard to find time to do anything for myself at all. Eli has a tournament tomorrow and Sunday (all day), but after that, I plan to take a week to get my house back in order, cook dinner every day, and relax a little. Fall is so busy, and then it all ends so suddenly.

Today is the last day of my fourth week of getting back to running with my 3-3-3 plan. If I have time after Eli's games tomorrow, I'll write my recap of that for the week. I honestly didn't think I'd stick with it this long! The cross country kids inspired me :)

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Week 3 Recap of 3-3-3 Training

That's a lot of 3's!

I wanted to get this posted on Friday, but I have been SO BUSY and so stressed out that I haven't had a chance to write at all. Cross country season is now over, as of last night, so I feel like I can breathe a bit easier now. I loved it, for sure, but it wiped me out for the last few months. I'm going to write about that in a separate post. For now, I just wanted to do a (hopefully quick) recap of my 3-3-3 training last week.

(The 3-3-3 training is simply a way to get back into the habit of running regularly again. Run 3 miles, 3 days a week, for 3 months. It's simple and I'm hoping it'll get me back in the habit!)

I've been doing MAF training (maximum aerobic function) by using my heart rate to dictate my pace during my runs. After week two, I mentioned that I read that Dr. Phil Maffetone, who developed the MAF method, said that you don't have to subtract a heart beat per minute every year that you are older (the formula is 180 minus your age). I assumed that since I'm 37, my MAF rate would be 143, and then on my birthday, it would change to 142, etc.

However, Dr. Maffetone said that if the heart rate you've been using has worked well for you, then there is no need to change it just because you are 37 one day and 38 the next. When I trained for my 10K, I was in the best shape of my life, and I was using the MAF method (along with the 80/20 method). My MAF heart rate was 146 back then, so I decided for week 3 to try using 146 bpm as my MAF rate. (He did say that if the rate you are using stops working, then it needs to be adjusted)

I am very surprised at what a big difference it made! I was able to run (slightly) faster but it felt much more comfortable on my body. Before, at 143 bpm, I felt awkward and literally couldn't run any slower. Those three little beats per minute kept my body from feeling so awkward, and I was also able to get into a good breathing rhythm. It felt much more natural. So, I'm going to stick with the 146 bpm for now and see if it works out.

(The goal for MAF training is to keep your heart rate low as you train aerobically, and then as you get more fit, you'll be able to work harder--and run faster--at the same heart rate.)

Anyways, here is the recap of my runs:

Monday

Monday was my last "official" practice with the cross country kids. We had a race on Wednesday and on Saturday, so Monday was it for the season (until yesterday's time trial, which I'll write about in another post). So, I decided to run with them during practice (they think it's fun when I run with them, probably because they can lap me about 18 times, haha).

The first two miles I ran by myself (the opposite direction of the kids, so I would pass by them frequently to see how they're doing or tell them to get moving!). Then for the third mile, Harper asked if she could run with me, and I said sure. Then the other kids started asking, and soon there was a whole group of us running. I felt like a mama duck with her ducklings--it was so fun! I had to keep herding them back onto the grass (I ran on the road, because I am NOT used to off-road training).

So, the first two miles show a consistent pace and heart rate. Then when the kids started running with me, it went all haywire. I was talking and they were talking (which meant a higher heart rate, so I had to keep slowing down). That's why the third mile is a full minute slower! But it was worth it.

Where it says "spm" on the left, it just means "steps per minute". Mine are nowhere near ideal right now, but that's because I've been running so slowly. It should be closer to 180. But I don't pay any attention to that, anyway.

We finished the practice with a 200-meter jog on the grass in bare feet. The grass felt SO GOOD on my feet! I'd like to end all my runs like that (well, at least in the fall). 

Wednesday

I ran outside for this one, too. And I decided to take Joey with me. Whenever he sees me getting my shoes on, he looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to say, "I'm sorry, not this time" or "Wanna come with me?". He knows what each phrase means. I felt sorry for him, so I took him with me.

He was an angel! I was so surprised that he didn't totally mess up my rhythm constantly. I think my heart rate monitor beeped only twice (indicating that it was over 146 bpm) during the run. If Joey would act like that every time, I'd take him with me on all my runs!

This is what my attempted selfies with Joey turn out like:

Thankfully, he's not a licker (I don't like dog kisses), but he likes to smell my face so close up that I can feel his tiny chin whiskers tickle my skin. So my face is always scrunched up in our photos, haha.

Friday

Since Joey was so good on Wednesday, I decided to take him with me again on Friday. He definitely wasn't an angel this time, but he's gotten so much better over the last few years (when we first got him, it was SO hard to run--or even walk--with him).

There were a lot of dogs and cars and other things to distract him on Friday, so my rhythm was off. My heart rate monitor beeped at me several times, but I was able to slow down quickly enough that it didn't affect my overall rate much.

Joey is very good when I say, "Leave it!" when he sees a dog or a rabbit or even a wrapper on the ground. But when there are so many distractions, I'm constantly saying, "Leave it!" which makes my heart rate go up anyways.

I'm pretty convinced that my first mile with Joey is my fastest because that's when he pulls on the leash the hardest. I have a hands-free leash that I LOVE (Amazon affiliate link) but no matter what, when he's running faster than me, he's going to be pulling me along. Having him pull me is the equivalent of having a tailwind--giving me an advantage.

The second mile is when he gets the most distracted (probably because we go through a neighborhood and there are dogs and people around). And then the third mile is slightly faster because it's a lollipop route, and the third mile is just the reverse of the first.

It's still too early to see if I'm making any progress, but I've done three miles, three days per week, for three weeks in a row now :)

The MAF formula is meant to go by current heart rate (not average heart rate) so my average will almost always be lower than 146. Basically, as soon as it hits 147 bpm, my Garmin beeps and I know to slow down a bit. I just try to get as close to 146 without going over as I can. I also don't look at my watch while I run; I just listen for the heart rate beeps.

I may write another post today while cross country is still fresh in my memory. But I at least wanted to get this posted before the end of another week of training!

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I'm Moving to Australia

Not really, of course. But do you remember that children's book, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day?

Not sure what this says about my personality, but that was my favorite book in my childhood. When Noah was in kindergarten, the teacher asked parents to come in and read a book for story time. Well, I chose that book!

Anyway, Alexander's terrible horrible no good very bad day makes him think sarcastically, "I'm moving to Australia". And that's how my weekend went.

I do want to write about Wednesday, too, but I'll save that for tomorrow's post. As well as my running recap for the week--I did my three runs!

On Wednesday night, Jerry informed me that he was leaving Thursday for a trip up north with his dad from Thursday through Sunday. Now, I'd known about the trip; but I thought he was leaving Friday afternoon and coming home Sunday afternoon. Instead, I learned it was actually Thursday morning through Sunday night.

This normally wouldn't be a big issue, but it couldn't have been a worse weekend--it was so busy and I was alone as a parent. And I stupidly decided to start working on making over the laundry room earlier this week, so I had that going on as well as all the usual stuff.

Thursday was pretty uneventful. Since it wasn't my day to carpool with Noah's friend, I was able to spend the whole day working on the laundry room. I did the usual--scraped the texture off the ceiling, took off the crown moulding, taped and mudded the ceiling seams, fixed a few random holes in the walls from when we had to replace the water heater and furnace.

Even when I was done, the walls looked far from perfect, but the amount of work it would take to get them perfectly smooth just wasn't worth it to me. Nobody sees that room except for my family.

As I was doing that, I decided to take out our home alarm system. It's super outdated (from 2008) and it's an eyesore in several parts of the house. And we've never, ever needed it. I'm going to search for other options--they've come a long way since then!

The problem with the alarm system is that in the laundry room, there was a main unit with wires leading to every single door and window in the house.

And what do you know, it was all routed in the crawl space under the house. I HATE the crawl space, because I can just imagine the spiders and other bugs down there.

After turning off the power to the entire house (I wasn't too sure what, if anything, needed to be shut off, so I just did the safe thing) I went into the crawl space and followed every single wire to every single spot where there was a window or door, and I pulled the wires out. In the end, the wire ball I collected looked liked Clark Griswold's Christmas lights.

Actually, there were probably twice that many--I had to go back down and collect the rest from the ground in the crawl space. My legs are KILLING me from walking in a squat position for about 30 minutes.

Anyway, I got all of that removed, and was left with spots in the house that needed to be painted over (the paint underneath was from 2008). Thankfully, I saved all my leftover paint from our recent remodel, and touched up the spots that needed it. Because look how inconspicuous it was:

On Friday, it was my turn to drive the kids to school, so after the usual hectic morning getting out the door, I dropped off Eli and picked up Noah's friend, then took them to school. On the way home, I stopped at Sherwin Williams to get a gallon of paint for the laundry room--I wanted the same color that I painted my kitchen cupboards (Aviary Blue). And it was their 40% off sale this weekend, so that was about the luckiest thing to happen to me all weekend.

When I got home, I had to sand everything and sweep, vacuum and wipe down the walls, prepping them to paint. Let me tell you, it is SO hard to work around the washer and dryer while doing all this prepping. I had taken the shelves down off the wall so that I could build wood ones instead of the wire ones we had there before.

I primed the walls, just to be safe, and then I didn't have time to paint because I had to take Noah to an eye doctor appointment. Noah lost his glasses earlier this week and after looking EVERYWHERE, we ended up needing to get a new pair.

When we got home, I had to figure out dinner for the kids (I am usually too busy to worry about eating, but the kids want to eat constantly). I made fettuccine alfredo (because it's fast and easy) and then I got to work on the laundry room. I got the whole thing painted, and I spent the entire evening (until 11:00) cutting and installing the floor trim. The flooring needs to be replaced badly, but I wanted to put a trim there at least temporarily--so I just used leftover pieces that I already had.

Saturday morning is when things got really rough. I had a cross country meet scheduled, and the race started at 10:00. It's always been my favorite race--the course is nice, the weather is usually good, and it's always the last race of the season, so there is a different vibe to it. The school wasn't going to pay for it this year, so I told the parents we could pay for it ourselves or just skip it. They all chipped in the $7.27 per kid to do the race, because I raved about how great it was.

Before I get into that, this season has had some issues that we've never encountered before, and it's been super frustrating. First, one of our races was canceled just minutes from the start. It was too hot, and even though we were lined up at the starting line, they canceled the race. Secondly, one of the races messed up the timing and three of my boys didn't have finish times. And third, another race messed up the timing somehow and the entire team didn't get a finish time!

I was really looking forward to Saturday's race to end the season on a good note. At this race, almost all of the kids run their fastest mile. I even stopped and bought cider doughnuts from Monica's and some good apple cider to bring for the kids to have before the race.

I planned to get there early to get a parking spot up front so that we could have a "home base" since we don't have a tent. Noah came with me, and brought his camera, so he could take pictures of the kids, which was cool. Noah never wants to go anywhere with me! ;) I'm sure it was because of the doughnuts, haha.

Anyway, I got stuck by not one, but TWO very slow-moving trains. Then there was a wait at Monica's for my pre-order. Then a ton of traffic on the way to the race. I'd left the house with plenty of time, but I didn't get to the race until 9:20 (obviously not in time to get a close parking space). I hurried and paid for the race and got my coach's packet of bibs and pins and maps and all that stuff. As the kids showed up, Noah (thank God he was there) gave them each cider and and a doughnut while I got them pinned.

I explained the course to the kids, which is a very simple 1.1 mile course. Then we lined up at the start (the race was separated into two groups--K-4th grade ran at 10:00 and 5-6 grades started at 10:20. Aaron wasn't there, so Andre was the only 5th grader on the team who was running the second race. After getting the kids lined up, Andre and I went to cheer them on (and Noah came along to take pictures).

Everything was going well until about the last quarter of the race, when I noticed there was a bottle neck at the finish line. The kids weren't able to cross the finish line because there was a line for them to get their bibs scanned! I've never seen that happen at a race before, and I was furious. It's a very simple issue--you just have the scanner far back from the finish line so that there is no pile up of kids. But Logan, who is usually closer to the back of the pack, had to wait in line for a few minutes before getting to cross the finish line.

As I was discussing this with some of the parents just to the side of the starting line, suddenly we saw a bunch of kids start running. We were all confused, and we realized it was the 5/6 grade race! Andre was standing with me, and I told him just go! So he took off, ducking under the flags of the finisher's chute, and starting out dead last in the pack of kids.

I felt horrible. How could I have missed the start of the race?! I was focused on the bottle neck. But then I looked at my watch and saw that it was only 10:18--the race was supposed to start at 10:20. So, they'd started Andre's race two minutes early with NO announcement and before the first race was even completely through.

The only cool part about starting dead last is that once the race is over, you can see how many people you passed during the race. Andre finished in 35th place, passing over 140 kids in his 1.5 mile course! Here he is in his final kick to the finish (thankfully, there was no bottle neck in his race).

His accomplishment was completely amazing. But I still felt horrible about everything having to do with this mess of a race.

The parents had all paid an extra $7+ (plus $2 for parking, which NO OTHER SCHOOL charges) for this ridiculous race. What a great way to end the season. I will NOT be doing that race again.

And I'm moving to Australia.

After the race, I told Noah I'd pick up his girlfriend, Ashley, on the way home. While I was driving, Eli called, so I had Noah answer it (I hate talking and driving). Noah said Eli said something he couldn't really understand and then hung up. He called back. No answer. Again. No answer. I was super worried, so I just kept calling his cell phone over and over again while Noah used his own cell to call the house phone over and over. Still no answer.

I was panicking at this point, so I called my dad and he said he would drive right over to check on Eli. (My parents live just 2/3 of a mile away.) A couple of minutes later, Eli answered his phone and told me he left it in the house while he was feeding the squirrels in the backyard. Ugh! Kid nearly gave me a heart attack.

Eli had a baseball game about 30 minutes away at 2:00 (we had to get there by 1:00 for practice). I told him to be ready by 12:30. I had about an hour before we had to leave, so I figured I would paint the trim in the laundry room.

Then Eli told me that the toilet was clogged.

I tried the plunger, which didn't do anything. When I tried to flush, the entire toilet flooded with water and poured all over the floor. I yelled to the kids to get our "rag towels" and Eli grabbed a bucket to start getting the water out of the toilet. I shoved towels all around the toilet, and after cleaning up that mess, I continued to plunge. I even push the wire handle of a fly swatter in there, jiggling it around, hoping it would help (my hand up to my forearm in toilet water).

Then I went under the house, wondering if it was something that could be fixed under there (my second time going under there in two days). Discovered that it doesn't work that way. I continued to plunge and plunge, POURING sweat by this time, and finally cleared the clog. With just minutes left until we had to leave for Eli's game.

I changed clothes and washed my arms really well and then we all headed out (Noah and Ashley were coming too). The game ended up being freezing cold. I had on two shirts and wrapped myself in a blanket and wore gloves, but I was chilled to the bone. I kept score in my scorebook, just for fun (I like to keep score when I watch the games).

Noah and Ashley started getting impatient because they had a Halloween party at 5:00. Eli's coach said the game should be done by 4:00, so I assumed we'd have time. Well, at only five innings into the game, it was already 4:30! TWO AND A HALF HOURS for five innings?!

Finally, the other team said they'd like to be done (the score was 8-3 and we were winning), so they took one last at-bat and then we left. I drove home so Noah could shower quickly and then I drove him and Ashley all the way to the south side of Monroe (a good 25 minutes) to their party. They were bummed to be late (5:40).  I was supposed to pick them up at 9:00, but thankfully, Ashley asked her mom to pick them up instead and she said yes.

On the way home, I felt terrible that I hadn't cooked dinner for Eli and I had no idea what to make (or even pick up on the way home) for him. I stopped at Kroger and walked around aimlessly, and finally decided to get one of those pre-cooked chickens and a few other things. I went to the self-scan lane and when I scanned the chicken, the plastic container it was in broke open and the chicken went all over the floor.

I felt like I was going to have a complete breakdown, so I just put my things back (not the chicken, obviously) and left the store. I cried all the way home and parked the car in the driveway. I continued to cry for about five minutes before I finally went inside. In desperation, I called my mom to ask her if she had made dinner that day, and if she had anything Eli could eat. (I refused to make a frozen pizza for him--the kids have had it way too often lately. Almost every day that I have cross country practice, that is their dinner. Which just made me cry harder.)

My mom was super nice about it and told me to drop Eli off and she'd give him dinner (she had spaghetti all prepared for him). She invited me to stay, too, but I really had to work on the stupid shelves for the laundry room. I was wishing I'd never even started the project. (Later, she brought me spaghetti and even a piece of cheesecake.)

I spent the evening painting the floor trim in the laundry room and doing the measuring and leveling lines on the wall of where I was going to put the shelves. I wanted to start on them last night, but I was too exhausted.

Today, my plan was to wake up early (5:30) to go to Detroit and spectate the Detroit Marathon (which I go to almost every year, either as a spectator or runner). But last night when I went to bed, I was just too exhausted from a very (literally) shitty day, and I couldn't imagine waking up and driving to Detroit. I didn't even have signs made for the runners or anything.

So, I just went to bed without setting my alarm, and woke up (at 8:00!) when a couple of people texted me to ask if I was there. I felt bad about not going, but I just feel so stressed out. Meanwhile, Jerry was texting me about all the fun he was having up north. (I'm glad he had fun, but when I was up to my elbow in toilet water, I wanted to punch him.)

Today, I built the shelves. From the time I woke up until I realized it was close to dinner time and I had no groceries. Right when I finished the shelves, I started to put stuff away, figuring I could paint the shelves another day. It was then that I realized I made the shelves about an inch too short. I can't fit my laundry detergent and softener on the shelf! I made sure to measure the paint cans that I've accumulated so that I could put those up there, but I guess I just assumed that the detergent was smaller than the paint cans--it never occurred to me that they might not fit.

I felt SO defeated at that moment. Again, I started crying. I gave up for now and I will figure out what to do later. I think I can lower the bottom shelf an inch or two--it'll just be a huge pain. So, again, I'll work on that later.

I felt bad about not cooking (again) so I wrote a quick list for grocery shopping for the week (at least what the kids need for lunches). Then I went grocery shopping (which I hate) and I still feel totally unprepared for the week.

My mom is being awesome and offered to drive the kids to school in the morning. Noah has to be to school at 7:00 for a meeting, so I would have to leave here at 6:15. Tomorrow is the first day in a LONG time that I don't have anything else going on, so all I have to do is prepare for cross country Tuesday evening.

Even though the season is over, I am going to have a one-mile time trial for the kids so we can compare it to their first practice of the season; and then I'm going to order pizza for the kids. I am going to make each of them a certificate/award for something special they accomplished this season and I'll hand out one final award to everyone.

Some of the parents asked about my continuing to coach through the winter, and I really like that idea. So, I'm going to come up with a program to offer to the kids who would still like to run in the off season. I think it would be fun to continue to coach!

Anyway, let's hope that tomorrow goes better than this weekend (especially yesterday) did. From the mess of the cross country race to the clogged toilet to the chicken falling on the floor at Kroger, I just felt like I couldn't handle any more!

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