Honestly ...

(yes I copied this idea from someone else's blog)

• Is it possible for your child to be described as an Angel at school and then be the complete opposite anything less than angelic at home?  I had a wonderful parent teacher conference with Chatty's teacher.  She was gushing about how smart, sweet, eager, etc. she was.  Her first words to me were "Chatty is an Angel in class!"  Honestly?
• Was it necessary to to make our new Children's Hospital look like the Rio Hotel in Vegas on the outside?  The red lights change to different colors of the rainbow as they go up and down (you can see the purple on the bottom).  While I am all for spending money on a top notch children's hospital, I have a slight issue with the excess that was undoubtedly spent on this part.  Especially since this is the same hospital who at one time sent me a letter saying they no longer accepted our insurance even though they accept people without insurance!  I am not bitter - Honestly!

(this was the best pic I could find since I didn't whip my phone out

while I was driving on the freeway this morning at 6:15 am)

• It is possible for you to not lose weight while training for a half-marathon and in fact you can even gain weight while training.  Honestly!
• Can one kid leave school early two days in one week and be completely healthy?  Earache on Monday - 1 1/2 hour doctor visit later = nothing wrong.  Vomit in dance class on Wednesday - go home = nothing wrong.  Bia are you looking for some attention, honestly (Bia loves her school - honestly!)?
• I may be more excited about going to Disneyland than my kids.  Yep - Honestly I am!  Probably because I get to see one of my most favorite cousins and hopefully meet Casey!
• I told Chatty I needed a 4 day vacation from her bad attitude.  Honestly! (not sure why I said 4 day but in the heat of the moment it sounded good).
• I wore jeans to work today (we're only supposed to wear jeans on Fridays).  But because my boss is in another state and no one in my department works in this building I decided to do it (and because secretly I am a rebel).  Honestly!

Sweet Little Biaisms

Yeah so I know Biaisms isn't a real word but it is my word

Yesterday after work Mr. ESPN picked up Bia and Chatty.  As they were riding in the car Chatty is talking (non-stop - nothing new here).  Bia turns to her and says "Chatty STOP - you talk too much!"  Oh my sweet little Bia - you are sooo smart! 

For anyone out there who doesn't know, Bia is 4 years old now (according to her anyway - but according to her birth certificate she is actually 3).  She moved up to the 4 year old classroom at school and now insists she is 4 years old.  Since she has a birthday in March, she thinks she will be turning 5.  I keep telling myself Pick Your Battles, it is not worth it!

Bia and Chatty were supposed to stay at Nana and Poppa's house the other week but Nana and Poppa were sick.  I told her we would reschedule.  With that in mind she packed her two little backpacks for Nana and Poppa's house (blankies, stuffed animals and two pairs of flip flops - just the necessities for her).  I kept telling her it would be several weeks before they were able to have their sleepover but she kept insisting everything stay packed and ready to go.  She got mad anytime I pulled something out of her backpack.  Then she convinced her big sister to pack her backpack too! 

Chatty the Author

Chatty brought this home from school today.  She wrote it last week.  Please excuse the grammatical errors and lack of periods (I copied it verbatim). 

"One day mommy and I went shopping.  I had to go to the bathroom and my mom was going to be very mad at me.  Then I told my mom she was mad at me and she said no I told you to go at home you can not go here at all and you can go when you get home OK Lacey.  OK mommy.  It took so long that I did not go in my pants and I almost went in my pants.  I told my mom I have to go so bad I almost went in my pants and my mom said OK and do you know where the girls bathroom is yes mommy I do know where it is mommy it is down the hall."

Lovely huh?  And parent/teacher conferences are next week!  I guess it's better than her writing about how I like to drink Bud Light, right??   

PF Chang's Rock and Roll Half Marathon

(Cue the Rocky theme song or Chariots of Fire because in reality I felt like I was running in slow motion... )

I completed my first half marathon and have pictures to prove it.  Sara - unfortunately there were too many people for Mr. ESPN to capture me crossing the finish line so we had to settle for this:

and this - our self portrait from his I-Phone. 

Some things I learned yesterday:

• People are annoying - not that I didn't already know that.  For races they start you in "corrals" based on how fast you run.  If you are going to be walking in mile 1, you should not be lined up before me!  It was so annoying having to dodge slow people!  I blame them for not making my goal time!
• Bring toilet paper to the next race - port-a-potties run out quickly when there are 30K runners ...
• Although I may despise my alma mater's arch rival - there are times when I am thrilled to see it.  The race finished next to my arch rival's stadium.  I have never been so happy to see it!  Good thing I wore my Arizona hat (Mr. ESPN wore is Arizona shirt)!  It was also great that we beat them in basketball the day before the race!!  Go Arizona - Bear Down! 
• People cheering you on as you run is awesome!  Especially when they are nice looking guys from Arizona who shout "BEAR DOWN - Go Wildcats" when they see your hat!
• You can never put on too much anti-chafing stuff!
• New play lists with suggestions from your friends is great motivation to keep running (thanks ladies!)!
• The food and drinks post race are awesome!!  So much stuff for the runners!
• We have the most amazing neighbors!  They kept our kids for us while we were at the race (we dropped them off at 6:00 am and didn't get home until 1:30 pm) and then heated up their spa so we could relax our sore muscles!!  Love them so much!!
• I can RUN an entire half marathon and it is kind of addicting!  Mr. ESPN and I are already looking forward to next year.  He is even debating doing the whole marathon!  I don't think my feet can take 26.2 miles .... I think I will stick to the half.  Anyone want to join us?  It was 70 degrees here yesterday!!



Yes Dear

My FIL is infamous for his response of "Yes Dear" to my MIL ... he says it's what every good husband needs to learn early in a marriage.  Unfortunately he didn't teach Mr. ESPN about this, as evidenced this morning at 6:00 a.m. as I was leaving for work ...

Me: "Mr. ESPN, no more turning the heat on at night, I am sweating to death every morning when I do my hair."
Mr. ESPN: "I don't think it is hot in the bathroom."
Me: "That's because you don't have any hair and don't use a blow dryer and a flat iron every morning.  I spend twenty minutes straightening my hair only for it to look like crap because I am sweating so bad."
Mr. ESPN: "Are you going through menopause?"
Me: "Are you going through a jacka - - phase?"
Mr. ESPN: "Aren't I always?"
Me: "Yes Dear!"

Tuesday Tidbits

• I am dragging this morning - even after two cups of coffee and a diet soda ... don't judge, my alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. this morning!
• Booked our trip to Daytona Beach!!  Hallelujah!! I am so excited to see my family and hang out at the beach.  We scored our friends beachfront condo for a great price, let the countdown to June begin!  Chatty already asked who gets to sit by the window on the airplane ... unfortunately for her, it will be her sister since she will be in her car seat.  I can already here the whining from Chatty ringing in my ears!
• Speaking of trips we are thinking about taking a couple days at spring break and going to Disneyland.  We never do anything at spring break and this year it is over Mr. ESPN and Bia's birthdays, so we thought this would be fun. 
• T-minus 5 days until the race.  I still haven't put together my playlist - hopefully tonight.  Thanks for all of the suggestions ... I am anxious to get on I-Tunes and download some new songs - oh wait who I am kidding, I am anxious for Mr. ESPN to get on I-Tunes and download some songs for me.
• Chatty has moved up to the Bonus words for spelling (she aced the first 100) and some of her words are pamphlet, astronomy, continents, electricity ... please note - she is only in 1st grade ... makes me wonder how our schools are ranked so low when they seem to be learning lots of advanced stuff ....
• Bia has been doing very well with her manners and saying "yes maam" ... she still screams "NO" at us all of the time but at least she is progressing in some areas.
• Mr. ESPN is finally completing some of the projects I wanted him to get done prior to his parents visit (at Christmas).  Better late than never.
• It was a sad weekend in the desert, specifically in Tucson.  As most of you know Mr. ESPN and I went to school in Tucson and it will always hold a special place in our hearts ... please keep the victims families in your prayers and know that Tucson is an amazing place full of great people! 

Music to My Ears

OK Ladies - I need some help!  Music Help!  The half-marathon is 11 days away (insert total freak out by me) and I am in need of a new play list for my I-POD.  I like lots of different types of music - currently on my I-POD I have country, pop, rock, classic rock, Christian, you name it.  Some of the artists currently on my play list are Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, DMB, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Black Eyed Peas, Jack Johnson ... wide assortment.

So here's where you come in - I am not a music buff by any means ... basically I have had the same play list for a LONG time ... can you give me the names of some up tempo - good music that I can run to?  One note - I do not like Techno music and prefer longer songs (I tend to count songs as I run - so if it lasts longer I feel like I am running faster - dumb I know but it works for me).  Anyway any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I would like to give Mr. ESPN a list and have him download them for me this weekend (yes he is my Play List Man!).

As far as the actual training part of the half-marathon - I successfully completed a 12 mile run on Christmas Eve and proceeded to slack off the following week (I can't even begin to tell you how bad my a - - hurt afterwards)!  I have been running twice this week (4 and 5 miles) and hope to run a 10 miler this weekend as my final pre-race long run.  Is it bad that I am really looking forward to the post race Beer Garden?? 

Holiday Recap

My two week vacation is coming to an end.  On one hand I am looking forward to a little more adult time and less access to food and beverages but on the other hand I will miss sleeping in!  This is my quick recap of the past two weeks in the ESPN house ...

We did lots of snuggling in Christmas pajamas

 We made lots of bribes before church to get a good family photo ... as you will notice there isn't one of all of us because everyone wouldn't cooperate! 

But I do love this one ... even if I was ready to strangle one three people in my family by this point 

We received two cute puppies from Santa along with lots of other good stuff ... not as cute as our neighbors' puppies but a better fit at our house!

And low and behold it even snowed in the desert!!   

We had a nice visit with Mr. ESPN's parents, although it was nice to have another week off after they left.  We visited with lots of friend over the break - Uncle Greg, Angie, Kendra, Aunt Beth, etc.  We were on the go a lot!  Back to reality tomorrow morning for all of us!  Glad I will be at the office when Mr. ESPN has to get the girls up -

I have a feeling it won't be pretty!