I don't care

Is it bad that I DON'T CARE that Will and Kate are getting married?  I'm just saying....

Happy Easter!

                                                                                                 We had a wonderful Easter 2011!  It started off with everyone sleeping in late except me.  Can I just say the one thing that's nice about your children getting older is that the Easter Bunny was very happy that he could go home after a long night.  Get a good night's sleep, wake up , have his morning coffee and then put out the Hyzy Easter Baskets!  It is tricky when the kids are 18 and 13 to figure out what to put in their baskets.  So they got things like body wash, deoderant and socks, but mostly candy.  Oh the candy!

I love a man-boy who will wear a good pair of Easter socks!

 I guess no matter how old they get, candy is always good.  I don't know why that surprises me, since as the baskets were being stuffed, there was - one candy for Brenna, one candy for Zack and "Ooohhh that's a good one" for mom!  I can't believe how grown up they are getting.  I mean look at Zack - he's almost as tall as his sister.  Wha-a-a-a-t!?

 

Cooper is helping with the egg hiding.

Hiding instead of hunting this year.

 We had a fabulous cul-de-sac outdoor lunch together.  I just love our cul-de-sac, it's exactly the kind of neighborhood I always imagined.  The adults hangout, talk, play washers, drink and generally enjoy themselves especially if the requisite Big Bucket O' Margaritas is busted out!  The kids run around eating too much candy, getting too tired, too dirty and too wound up.  Someone always cries and someone else makes them laugh and they all go at it again.  In the summer it's fire fly catching and outdoor movie night and glow in the dark bracelets.  We all yell at each other's kids, and tell parenting war stories that make you feel better and worse about yourself all at the same time.  I know people always "pooh-pooh" Hilary Clinton, but when she said "It takes a village"but she was damn right.  Even when you don't agree with parenting styles or advice - its' still nice to have it all and see how other people do it, how it works or doesn't work.  It just makes it all so much better with good friends!

So, the adults hid eggs and the kids hunted for eggs.  You are never too old to hunt for eggs when candy is involved.  The big kids helped the little kids and the adults rummaged through the candy... and it was GOOD!

I Hate...

RUNNING!   Ran again today.  I am repeating Week #2 because I was out of town for 2 days and my allergies have been kicking my ass this week and I haven't felt like walking around the house let alone running. I know, I know excuses, excuses, excuses... So, I sucked it up today and we ran.  Can I just say, I HATE RUNNING and not in a I hate vacuuming the house or I hate dusting way.  But in a I Hate people who abuse animals and children or I Hate it when politicians interrupt "our regularly scheduled programming" to speak to us way.  I mean - look, I don't read books I hate, I don't eat food I hate, I don't hang around with people I hate, I don't go to movies I know I'll hate and I don't (generally) participate in activities I hate.  So why oh why may I ask am I continuing to force myself to...run...  The only thing I like about this whole thing is when the running is over.  I'm happy when I'm done, but I'm not sure that's enough to keep me running.  We'll see, the verdict is still out....

She's a Highlander!

We visited Radford University this weekend and.... turns out....it's THE ONE!  She really liked it.  After visiting both ODU and Radford, this school is definitely more "Brenna."  It's quite rural, lots of farms, cows and horses.  Did I mention HORSES everywhere! 

 

Library

It's smaller than ODU which is not a bad thing, beautiful campus.  There's not a huge amount of graduate level opportunities in the Science college and while that seems a negative at first, what it means for the undergraduates, is much more opportunity to do research and publish papers and gain valuable experience. Since she has no idea what she wants to do except major in biology and work with animals, her Master's degree would probably be very specialized anyway and require transfering regardless of where she starts off.

 

Freshman Dorm





Student activites center

She liked the dorms.  Excuse me... Residence halls.  They are all suite style, which means 2 rooms or 4 girls share one bathroom.  The days of a bathroom at the end of the hall with all the rooms sharing are over.  Nice!
So, we made our deposit and we are on our way to being Radford Highlanders!

DREAD THE RED!

Holy Sh*****!

Day 1 of Week 2... it rained. It rained Day 1 of Week 1 as well. I can only assume that it's God weeping because I am wasting my time trying to run. I'll have to keep monitoring for other signs. Also, what the hell sort of Twilight Zone episode is going on over on Mohican road? I know for a fact that 90 secs of running is SO NOT the same amount of time as 90 sec of walking. Damn time warp bastards. Lastly, the personal running trainer voice that I originally thought was so calm and sexy, now just makes me want to hunt that guy down and stab him in the throat! Running might not be my thing... I'm just saying.

Make me a Monarch or...

Brenna, Mel-weenie (Brenna's BFF) and I road tripped down to Old Dominion University's "Make Me a Monarch" day. We spent the night in a hotel so we could be there bright and early for the program.

It was a well done and informative program. Of course, you had to weed through all the propaganda and rah-rah "This is the BEST university ever" cheering. But, Brenna came away loving it and very excited about going there. We'll hit Radford next weekend before she makes her final decision.

I liked ODU, its a beautiful campus and seems to have a decent sized Biology department. You hear a lot about ODU being a party school, but frankly I figure if they are going to party, then they are going to party and any school will become a party school. Likewise, if they aren't going to party it doesn't matter what the school is like. Brenna has a good head on her shoulders.

Really the biggest draws for me... Schlotzkey's and Sonic right on the way!!! I say sign her up!

Geez, quit your bellyaching

After I finished Day 2 of my "big running goal program" yesterday, you know the one where I run for 45 sec and walk for 2 minutes and I do this 4 times and then a cool down walk... Yeah that one. I happened to tune into Regis and Kelly (while I was changing clothes, I don't normally watch) and I saw the story about this guy www.dadt.com/live/special/runacrossamerica/index.html. Apparently this Dean Karnazes guy is running 50-60 MILES a day until he makes it from California to New York. Yes, you read that right... 50-60 MILES. A. DAY! He is doing it to encourage Americans to get up, get healthy and get fit. I guess all proceeds go toward a group called Action for Healthy Kids. http://www.active.com/donate/AFHK Jesus Christ, I don't even want to DRIVE 50-60 miles a day! Guess I'll try not to complain about my 45 sec run...

Thundering Elephants

Day 2 of the running plan completed. Does everyone feel like a galumping elephant when they first start running? I see all the other people running around me and they seem so fleet and light-footed while I feel like I should hear shouts of "stampede" or "Earthquake! Take Cover" as I run past! I hope it's going to get better, Zoey and I definitely did not enjoy Day 2 as much as Day 1.

This Boy....

This boy is co cute you want to eat him with a spoon, so sweet he still says "love you momma" even though he's 13.

But, this boy has never gotten out of bed by himself unless the clock reads later than 1030am. This boy requires the waking process to begin 30min before he has to get up so that I can troop up and down the stairs 2-3 times reminding him to "wake up now!"

And at least once a week, I find this boy asleep on the bathroom floor, covered with his towel while the shower is running. This boy is going to need a really patient college roommate!

I did it!

Today I completed Day 2 of my April Improvement Goal. I found this really cool program you can download called Personal Running Trainer. http://www.personalrunningtrainer.com/

There are all sorts of different programs you can download. I chose 4 weeks to a mile. Many may laugh at the fact that it would take someone 4 weeks to be able to run one mile, but not me. I have NEVER been a runner... I don't even run to the bathroom! But I had to figure out some way to "pump up the volume." The dogs and I walk almost everyday at least an hour to an hour and half, but I still feel like it's not quite enough. I can't do the walk and go to a gym, so what to do. I decided 4 weeks to a mile might be the least painful but still attainable way, not only for me, but also for Zoey. She's definitely not built to be a runner. You do the program 3 days a week - I picked Tues, Thurs and one day on the weekend. So, today was my first day of the running program. It starts out nice and easy. 5 minute warm-up, 5 minute cool-down and in between you run for 45 secs and walk for 2 mins, doing that 4 times. I did it... in the rain! It really wasn't hard and besides I was totally distracted from the running, because I was busy encouraging Zoey. Pumping her up, positive reinforcement... "Come on Zoey, you can do it!" "Just a little bit farther, don't give up Zoey" and before I knew it my running was done!

On the in between days I am going to do sit-ups and core work on my exercise ball! Yeah for me. Monday I did my sit-ups and today I ran. Double Yeah for me. To keep myself motivated I am using the tried and true motivational tactic... Stickers! :o)

I get a smiley face when I do my exercise ball and a star when I run. Make no mistake, I am NOT missing out on ANY stickers!

Oh No You Didn't....

Brenna found her Prom dress this week. It's beautiful. Red sort of a mermaid feel to it. I said it makes her look like a Fairy Mermaid Princess. As you can imagine with the "mermaid" theme it is definitely form fitting. Not too tight in a slutty, trampy way, but if she eats a double scoop cone it's going to be noticeable. So, we had a fashion show for Grandma and Grandpa this weekend... Do you know what they both said at practically the same time... "You shouldn't wear underwear with that dress!" Say what?? Grandma and Grandpa... oh no you didn't just tell my teenager to Not.Wear.Underwear.to.Prom....WITH.HER.BOYFRIEND!

*** Update*** I told Brenna she had to wear underwear... under the dress AND over the dress! Take that Grandma and Grandpa with your "no underwear" advice. You say No underwear, I say TWO pairs of underwear, one of them preferably with some sort of locking mechanism!