Ok, 5K!

After last weekend's 5K cancellation, I was looking forward to this weekend even more. I ran a 5K right here in town for Heritage Days (not to be confused with our town's "days" festival in July). Close to home, small, familiar.

Here's a few super attractive pictures close to the finish. I stole them off of the running club's website.

This is when I could see the finish and started picking up speed. It appears as though I'm the only one running. I promise you I wasn't.
At the finish, when the officials ripped the strip off my number:Note to self: Ask for an iPod clip/carrier or some sort for Christmas. I run with it in my hand.

I suffered a wound. I run my headphone cords underneath my shirt and clip the cord to my sports bra with this gigantic clip. Otherwise, the ear pieces fall out of my ears. I've used this clip for about a month without incident. As of yesterday, the top layer of skin where the clip rubs wore off. Minor damage that will heal by the end of the week. But I do have to figure out something else.

I finished with a time of 27:50, and I came in first place for my age group (25-29). There must not have been anybody else my age running, I guess ;) I now own a sweet medal that I hang on my bedpost (I kid...). I should have stuck around for the awards ceremony because they were giving out pies too. I'll know for next year!

Happy 17 monthday!

Here's where you were:
That's right. In a hospital with bacterial pneumonia and an ear infection on top if it. And don't forget the teething too. Needless to say, because of your need for comfort and not crying because that doesn't help your breathing, you asked for your nukkie and it was hard for us to say no.

Sandy called me at 2:40 saying you couldn't stop coughing and you were breathing hard. I got to her house at 3:30 and immediately knew I had to take you to see a doctor. I called the clinic as soon as we left Sandy's and we got an appointment. After a few nose swabs (for influenza and RSV--both came back negative), a chest x-ray (your lungs were a little "streaky") and a nebulizer treatment, the PA said that you should be admitted to the hospital to keep tabs on your breathing and oxygen levels. It was a long night filled with medicines and nebulizers and pulse-ox checks and respiratory checks and worries and snuggles. You didn't get to sleep until past 8:00, but you slept very well because you had an oxygen mask on to help you breathe and relax. I slept in bed with you because the "crib" they brought in your room was more like a circus animal cage.

The next morning, you were feeling a lot better and you soon became bored of being in the hospital. So we looked for ways to entertain you.

They had a wagon there that you pushed around,
they gave you crayons and paper that entertained you for about 3 minutes,
you stood on the heat register to look out the windows at the construction going on,
you pulled a few Kleenex out of a box before I took it away from you,
you pushed wheelchairs,
you rode in wheelchairs,
Grandma F. came to visit, and Sandy brought you some blocks. We brought your truck from home, hoping that would keep you busy.
While you were napping on Saturday after zonking out after a neb treatment and I was sitting next to you in the bed, I thought of this picture from 17 months ago to the day:
So we took another one:
We mostly walked up and down the hallway. Actually, we walked. You wanted to be carried. At 7:00 on Saturday, we were finally told we could leave. We got home at 8:00 with a nebulizer, prednisone (a steroid for your lungs), and an antibiotic in hand.

You're feeling even better today. We have given you only 2 neb treatments today. You're not struggling to breathe any more, but it makes Mommy feel better hearing wet coughs over raspy ones.

On another note...thank GOD we only live 3 blocks away from the hospital. We were able to go home as often as we wanted to get or do something really quick. And also, I thank God for DQ too. Waaaay better than hospital food. Mostly, thank God we only had to spend one night, and while it was scary, we were taken good care of and Colin is back to his rambunctious self.

Pacifier weaning: Phase 3

Check!

Phase 1 was weaning him from it during the day.
Phase 2 was weaning him from it during car rides.
Phase 3 was weaning him from it for naptimes.

Once again, we got lucky and Sept. 1 = new day care = Sandy (day care provider) decided she was going to pretend she didn't have a nukkie for Colin at nap time. I said "good luck" and told her to go for it. Luckily she wore him out enough in the morning, so he just passed out at nap time with hardly a word about it.

The weekends haven't been as easy. He definitely fought his naps. The first weekend after starting day care at Sandy's, Colin chose to sleep on the floor like he does at her house. He also took naps in the car on the way to Spooner. Both naps were without his pacifier. This past weekend, he took a nap on "my bed" at my parents' house and took a very short nap at home. Both without his pacifier.

I think he's a bit confused about when, exactly, he can have it. Because he can't have it at nap time, but he can have it for bed time. And that's confusing. I get it.

And that's where I'll stop my pacifier weaning talk because I'm superstitious. Update to come.

6 days left

That's when the big 5K happens. Yikes.

I ran for 25 minutes straight on Friday night. The whole time, I kept thinking, "I can't stop running. I want to be able to say I ran the entire way." ::repeat over and over again:: And apparently it worked. And I didn't die. And I was able to walk afterward. And breathe.

Later that evening, I drove the route I ran and figured it to be about 3 miles. So, with the 5 minutes of "brisk walking" in the beginning plus the 25 minutes I ran, that's a total of 30 minutes. 30 min divided by 3 miles = 10 minute miles. Yesss!

Before Friday, I thought maybe I'd skip today's scheduled "easy" day and move on to the next day to keep the pace up. But I knew yesterday that I'd better go with an "easy" run. I'm so glad I did.

I just finished week 6, day 1 of the c25k running plan, and I figure on Saturday I'll be on week 7, day 1 which so happens to be running 25 minutes without stopping. So running the 5K should be about perfect for that day's run. From there, I'll finish the 9 week program (which works up to running a straight 28 minutes and then 30 minutes).

Then the world is my running oyster. I just have to figure out how I'm going to run in the winter, not having a treadmill or a gym membership (and not planning on getting either).

These make me smile

This one because when I say, "Colin, say cheese!" he rubs his hands together because that's how you say cheese in sign language.
This one because he's trying to balance an acorn cap on his shoe. (This was taken at "Justin and Jen's" cabin in Spooner--really it's Jen's family's cabin. Those of you who remember Olivia from our wedding, that's her. She's 7. !!!)
This one because I like to think I have photog (and editing) skillz. The rest of these were taken at Kevin's cousin's wedding reception yesterday. Photog note: That grass in the lower left bothers me, but for proportion reasons set up by iPhoto that I'm not going to screw up, I am forced to leave it there.
This one because it's funny.
This one because he's making a typical face.
This one because it's his first taste of an orange float (Stewart's Orange Soda and ice cream. YUM.)
This one because when you share a float, you have to remember it for always by taking a picture.

This one because it's a post-float silly face

Hello again

School has started
The past 2 school years, I've gone home after the first day and thought to myself, "oh boy." As in, this is going to be a rough year. This year, I didn't say that. My class is needy (I have 4 in special education programs, including 2 autistic students), but super sweet.

MN State Fair
I went to the MN state fair with my mom, her friends Noelle and Jennifer, and Noelle's daughter Hailey last weekend. We had a grand ol' time walking around, checking out the wares. I ate some fried pickles (the best I've ever had), some ice cream, and--I don't even want to say it because I would've rather had corn on the cob but I didn't care at the time but now I do--a cheeseburger. But that's only because we saw Tim McGraw at the grandstand and that was pretty much my only choice inside the grandstand aside from a hot dog.

Colin
started his new day care and is doing well. He tags along with the other kids and "is a good eater" (which is pretty much what he's known for 'round these parts). He naps on the mat on the floor WITHOUT his pacifier. Sandy's plan was to just pretend she didn't have a pacifier and see how that went. It went well :) Today was the first day of no-nukkie-at-naptime-at-home, and it didn't go as well. I lay him down in his crib at naptime, and he cried for 45 minutes. So I let him play, and tried again an hour later, and he still screamed. So we went for a walk and he was asleep within 10 min in his stroller, and I transferred him into his crib--without his pacifier. Bedtime is a whole other issue. Last night when I lay him in his crib for bedtime, he looked at me and said, "nana" and pointed to his mouth as if to say, "don't you forget." Maybe after a few weeks of not having it at naptime he'll forget he wants it at bedtime too.

Couch to 5K
I was having ankle issues which have been resolved because I bought some new kicks with the curriculum money I earned over the summer.

Then I was having stomach issues--this sharp pain that wouldn't go away. I saw the doctor. He thought it might be my gall bladder. Got an ultrasound of all my digestive organs and it came back normal. I think I ate bad chicken. The weather has been rainy.

The stomach and the rainy weather (and the fact I don't have anywhere to run inside--no treadmill--no gym membership anymore b/c we're cutting expenses) = I didn't run for 4 days. I felt so disappointed! 6 weeks ago, I couldn't have cared less. Now...I care a lot. So last night I ran week 5 again, and I'm going to do it one more time before moving on to week 6. It's hard to get the momentum going again. But it's going!

Debt
We've made two payments to our debt management program and we're seeing the balances slowly creeping downward. Our credit cards have been canceled, so they can't go up! And it feels good. I hope to never have a credit card again. For reals.

Kevin and I started Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University online. The first baby step is to get $1,000 into an emergency fund. We're working on it.

The lease is up on our Escape in 3 short weeks. We're going to pay cash for something. So don't be surprised if the next time you see me, I'm driving a run down Taurus. [[whimper whimper, it's only temporary, it's only temporary]]

Labor Day weekend plans
Today Kevin worked while Colin and I headed over to Stillwater to buy a wedding gift for Kevin's cousin. I came in under budget. Colin is also lacking some sweatshirts for this chilly weather we're having, so I printed off a Kohl's coupon and got him 2 sweatshirts and a Thanksgiving shirt for $15. The total of the original prices was $40. Then we came home and fought naptime. Later today (when naptime was underway and Kevin was home) I went grocery shopping using my e-mealz list. I continue to buy a week's worth of groceries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for under $100. And it's not a bunch of junk. We're liking e-mealz, but the recent meals have only been mediocre. I'm waiting for something fabulous to come along again.

Tomorrow the 3 of us are going to Spooner to meet up with Justin and Jen at Jen's family's cabin. It'll most likely be too cold to go in the lake, but there's always the boat and just hanging out.

Monday is the wedding. Hopefully we can do something that's a little fun in the morning too.

Enjoy the rest of your Labor Day weekend!