Sometimes making the hard parenting decisions really sucks!

       On Brenna's last trip down to Radford to go batting - she got another freaking speeding ticket, actually reckless driving again!  For going 88mph!  What the hell - even John and I don't go that fast.  Even worse, she was driving James and Charlotte's truck.  The day before her truck broke down on the highway and to save me from having to drive her down to Radford and then driving back and heading to Buffalo, the Price's graciously offered their Durango.  Even more worse... as she drove out of the driveway, I said "Here's the cruise control, make sure you use it." and John said, "How do you drive in someone else's car?" to which Brenna replied... "Like a Grandma."  And then.... she gets a freaking reckless driving ticket....AGAIN.

     What a total cluster this has turned out to be.  We decided we needed to hire a lawyer, because there is a small chance this could be ruled a felony or she could have her license suspended.  Either way she's definitely getting 6 points on her license and a hefty fine.  The lawyer doesn't think it will be a felony, since no other lives were put in danger, but it's 50/50 on the license suspension.

Our main problem is that in the last 2 years she's had 2 reckless driving tickets and 2 accidents both her fault including one that resulted in her totalling her car!  As sad as it makes me to say, she is not a safe driver and we are both worried that she is going to kill herself or someone else while she's driving.  She's just not getting it.  She's such a good girl, I just don't get why she can't understand how dangerous this is.  88 freaking miles per hour.... I don't even like to drive 75, it makes me feel out of control.

So, we had a long talk with her and tried to make her aware of just how completely she could have fucked her life up.  If she had been going 2 mph more or if the radar gun had clocked her at 90mph - that is a mandatory felony conviction and 2 weeks IN JAIL!  MANDATORY!  If she's convicted of a felony - no federal jobs (no park ranger), no federal grants, no graduate school, no passport, no voting... I mean...fucked up!  Fortunately, that has not happened and it doesn't look like it will.  Her court date is Sept 10th.
Anyway, we talked to her for quite awhile and I think she understands how much trouble she is and could be in.  She seemed receptive to all that we said.
Bottom line, we decided to take her car away from her for a semester in the hopes that she will understand the driving is a privilege and not a right.  And that she'll also understand, what would happen if she didn't have a car.  She'll have a semester to ride the bus, bum rides from friends and experience the inconvenience of living without a car.
Hopefully it will make an impression and get her back on the right track.  She's such a good girl in all other aspects of her life, we just need to help her get control here.

8 down only 4 more to go!

Finished 5K #8!  Brenna and I drove up to Leesburg to run in their town 5K.  It was actually the only 5K I could find even remotely close by.
We had a GREAT run!  I actually PR'ed my 5K!  It was my best time ever!! But even more importantly... I DID NOT STOP AND WALK AT ALL!!  I didn't stop even one time!  I felt good, I felt strong and it was a great race!  I'm so excited!  My time was 29:15!  I think I was like #9 in my age group!
Brenna did really great as well.  She didn't stop and walk either and was number #14 in her age group.  We were both pretty pumped up at the end.  Then we stayed a little while and watched the 20K runners finish.  My gosh, those people are amazing!  The winner ran the 20K in 1:07 or something crazy like that.  Wow!
Pretty happy that my resolution is still intact.  Next month, 20 of us are doing The Color Run in Richmond and then October is the big one... the Run for Your Lives Zombie 5K!  Neither of those are timed runs, so I'm glad I squeaked this one in.

Finishing strong!

#8

We did it and we rocked it!

Let's do another!

They are home! They are home!

The Intrepid Alaskan Explorers are home safe and sound!  They got in about 11pm last night and were very happy and very ready to sleep in their own room, in their own beds!  I got to hear briefly about their adventures, but mainly Brenna and Zack talked about how much they missed the dogs, how excited they were to see the dogs, what were the dogs going to do when they saw them, how cute the dogs were going to be...and on... and on... and on...
And minus one brief argument over whether 15 hours was a long time to stay awake or a normal time to stay awake which actually involved math and fractions and percentages - it was perfect to have them all back!
They're still all sleeping now, but I'm looking forward to seeing all the pictures and hopefully eating some fresh caught Alaskan fish for dinner!

Staycation Day 2-7

I had planned to Blog everyday about my fabulous Staycation, but that's the beauty of doing WHAT you want, WHENEVER you want!  Plus, I didn't really have much to Blog about.  That's not to say my Staycation hasn't been great, it's actually been perfect - just uneventful.  Pretty much everyday I - run, walk the dogs, read, nap, go to the pool, usually do a couple errands, scrapbook and watch TV.  It's been perfect.  I had 2-3 perfect pool days, I totally burned my ass cheeks.  I decided to wear my old string bikini for tanning purposes.  Since none of my family would be around or really anyone I know - I thought I'd even out some tan lines from my other skirted bathing suit.  Turns out it's not as easy as you think to spray sunscreen on your back and your ass cheeks as you'd think! :o)  So, I got a little crispy.  It's all good.

I've also been scrapbooking like mad!  I'm almost totally caught up.  The family album is caught up and I have 2 more regatta's in Zack's Crew Season Album and that will be done.  Considering I finished Brenna's album 2 years AFTER she stopped rowing, I think I'm way ahead of the game now.  This way - every thing will be caught up by the time they bring all their Alaska pics home.

ALASKA Update -
As far as I can tell, they are having a great time.  The initial shock of togetherness seems to have worn off and they have found a way to co-exist.  They didn't have much luck with the Salmon fishing, I think they are bringing a couple home.  They had better luck with the Halibut and Rock fish boat trip.  So, they will be bringing some fish home.  They toured Denali and saw bear, moose and caribou.  They toured the Kenai Glacier and saw glaciers calving and then saw tons of whales, including mommas and babies.  Then the Halibut boat and fishing.  They bought lots of souvenirs, saw lots of amazing scenery, ate yummy food, but I think everyone will be ready to come home tomorrow.

I am ready for them to come home as well, but I must admit I think I like being alone just a little too much.  It's so nice not to have to worry about what anyone else wants or about how whatever you decide to do is going to effect everyone else.  But, I do think it would be a little boring and a quite a bit lonely if it went on for very much longer.

Staycation - Day One

So far so good.
Today I - ran 4 miles, walked the dogs, hit the pool for a couple hours, took a nap and then cooked for the Crew Board meeting I'm hosting tomorrow night.  Tonight I'm going to type up some minutes and begin my Walking Dead marathon!  A successful first day.

Plus, Brenna and Zack texted me so much that I probably communicated more with them today than when they are actually home in the house.  They are doing fine.  They picked up the RV that they will be living and traveling in and both kids mentioned  that it was pretty "cramped." :o)  By the end of this trip they are either going to kill each other or be totally bonded!  I'm hoping for the bonding...

Staycation - The beginning

John, Brenna and Zack left for Alaska today.  I actually found myself sadder than I thought I would be.  It was hard to say goodbye, but I know they are going to have a great time and so am I.

First thing on my Staycation adventure.. a stop at VA Runner where I picked up a new pair of running shoes that I had ordered and while I was in there... I couldn't help myself..

How could I resist these!  I plan on using them to distract and blind any other runners so that I can surge to the front of the race!! :o)  I am not putting up a picture of my new shoes, because I am starting to be embarrassed about my "weakness."  I did give Brenna one of my other pairs of running shoes, so technically I only have 2 pairs - that's not excessive.  Right?

I did go to Circuit Saturdays with the Crew team tonight.  We ran 3 miles of hills, up and down, up and down, up and down.  It was a good workout, the heat is still stifling and oppressive, but we did it.  I missed having Zack and Brenna with me though.  I am beginning to believe that this love of hills that Coach Cox has, may in fact be a serious character flaw! :o)

Finished up the evening with 2 episodes of Project Runaway!  

Tomorrow I'll be cooking most of the day in preparation for the Crew Board meeting I am hosting here on Monday.  But I plan on fitting in a run, walk, trip to the pool and nap as well.  All guilt free - because it's my staycation and I can do WHATEVER I want!!

Summer Week Two and Three - I lose track

Summer is just plugging along... VERY quiet and LOW KEY!  Really just the way I like it.  Let's recap the last week or two:

1.  I'm continuing to run almost every day.  We're on day 16 of July and I think I've run 13 days!  Yeah for me... It's weird, if I don't run, I feel yucky.  I've got a good routine going.  I get up at 600am everyday, I'm out running by 7am - that way I miss the worst of the heat.  If it's not too bad, I come home walk the dogs, then shower and I'm done with it all by 1000am!  Plenty of time to get anything else I need to done.  I've discovered that I don't mind getting up at 600am in the summer if I know that I can take a nap in the afternoon.  I love me some naps - probably in my top 5 favorite things!  I'll get up as early as I need, if there is always a promise of an afternoon nap!

2.  Another running note, I don't seem to be getting much faster.  I'm not sure if that should bother me or not, I'd like to get faster, but I'd also like to get faster without having to work real hard at it.  I tried doing some speed drills the other day, but I didn't like them very much.  I'd like to be fast enough that when the boys run down to the boathouses at Stotesbury to get tours I could go with them.  But.... I don't think there's any way I can keep up with 15 year old boys!  So, the $50,000 question is... Do I really want to be faster?  I mean I'm 46 years old, shouldn't I just be happy with any pace I can keep up that makes me sweat and keeps the weight off.  Hmmm.... a question to ponder....

3.  We had our annual cul-de-sac 4th of July BBQ.  Once again, the cul-de-sac comes through.  We have the best neighborhood.  I didn't take even one picture!  I know, right?  What is happening to me?  The other thing... somehow the fireworks celebration was taken over by the teenage boys.  A little disturbing that the parents just sat around and watched the boys set off all the fireworks, run around, laughing and plotting nefarious plans.  We only had to step in one time when a "plan" turned out not to be the best! :o)  Burning fireworks in a rolling glass bottle or some such plan.

4.  Finished my 7th 5K.  Still on track.  Zack and I ran The Biggest Loser 5K in DC.  It was blazingly hot.  I had to stop and walk quite a few times, but my time was 31:58.  Pretty good considering how much I walked.  If I could just stop myself from walking, my times would be awesome.  Even so, when I checked the official results - Zack actually came in 3rd out of 14 in his age category and I came in 5th out of 61 in my category!  I'm actually really, really, excited about that!!  Very happy and proud of myself.  If I can just balance my pace out so that I don't stop and walk, I'll be doing pretty good!

5.  5 days until John and the kids leave for Alaska and I start my 8 day Staycation!!  I think I'm as excited about staying home as they are about going to Alaska.  I know they are going to have a great time, but so am I.  I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing and not feel guilty about it.  I'm sure I'll run, run, run.  I'm also going to try and catch up on my scrapbooking, have a zombie-a-thon.  I have 8 episodes of the last season of The Walking Dead to catch up on.  I only hope I don't get totally freaked out!  I'm also going to eat what I want, when I want, nap, stay up late... whatever I can think of!  Yeah for family vacations that leave mom at home!  I'm sure I'll miss my family, but they'll be having fun and I'll be enjoying myself so it's a WIN all the way around!