Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things on my to do list today (in no particular order)

1. Get kids going on their chore lists DONE
2. Sweep front porch DONE
3. Revive plant in dining room
4. dining room windows DONE
5. foyer windows (sidelights and above front door)
6. Get groceries for rest of the week's meals DONE
7. Post office to mail some things (otherwise my sweet friend Rae will forevermore think I am a total slacker)
8. Get birthday gift for Karly DONE
9. foyer floor (vacuum/polish hardwood)
10. dining room floor (vacuum/polish hardwood)
11. Take kids to library to pick up some summer reading
12. Fold/put away laundry
13. Help kids get new sheets on their beds

For Friday...

listening to Spongebob Squarepants on in the background...

eating gingerbread cake that Jake made yesterday

drinking water. I'm hoping this says water every time I post this list. (I am copying my friend, Tini)

wearing brown shorts and an orange tshirt, yellow flipflops

reading the long TO DO list I am making

feeling frustrated about my weight and difficulty getting a workout schedule together

weather warmish

wanting peace

needing more sleep

thinking about things that frustrate me

enjoying my kids

wondering if the new pizza dough I bought for tonight's calzones will taste good.

Outside my window...the sun is shining

I am thinking...about eating breakfast (it is 10:11am and my stomach is growling).

I am thankful for...summer vacation

I am wearing...running shorts and a grey BC3Day tshirt, yellow flip flops

I am creating...a long list in my head of stuff to do

I am going...to get up and eat after I post this

I am reading...several books including Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince (which I am continually comparing to the movie)

I am hoping...the weather will be cool when we're in Disney World next month

I am hearing... icarly on the TV

Around the house...the girls are chattering, the dog and boy are sleeping, the bird is chirping...

One of my favorite things...is the email my husband just sent me.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Running every day, spurring the kids on with their chores, scheduling Buster's neutering surgery, enjoying Independence Day at the pool with the fam...

Run Like a Mother and Thursday Thirteen

Go. Get. This. Book. Its great. It is wonderful. It is motivating. It has motivated me to try and run faster, it has motivated me to run more, and it has motivated me to update my blog! HA! I'm going to try and be more consistent here, keeping track of my runs, my fitness (15 pounds to go) and what I'm doing to accomplish my biggest goal to date: completing a half-marathon!

13 things to focus on during these last 15 pounds:

1. Be consistent

2. Be patient

3. Focus on the small victories

4. Remember to weight train

5. Find a running buddy

6. Faster is not always better

7. Find a training partner

8. Run outside more (even though I love the 'mill)

9. Do more hill repeats

10. When I think I am "done", do more (one more mile, one more minute, one more hill, one more lap).

11. Ask for help when I need it.

12. Add some more "fast" songs to my shuffle.

13. Find some GU that I can tolerate.

Snapshot

Inspired by this blogger: http://71toes.blogspot.com/ I'm going to take a little "snapshot" of what things are like with the Booth Family at the beginning of 2010. I've done similar things in my scrapbooks before, and its kinda fun to look back and see where we've been and what kinds of things our family was into during a certain time period:

Jason and Jake got to JuJitsu classes at Vanguard gym. I like that Jake likes to do things with his dad.

Maisy is planning to take a "How to Audition" class at the Center for The Arts.

Charlotte has not yet decided what her next activity will be. She is a real renaissance woman.

I'm taking a knitting class next week, that Jason gave me as a Christmas gift! Very excited to learn this craft - have wanted to for quite some time.

I like to go to the gym, and hope to run a few more 5ks this year. I might run a half-marathon, but sometimes I find myself wondering why I want to do that.

We keep track of the kids' growth on the laundry room door. They keep reminding me it has been a while since we've measured.

Charlotte likes to be read to at night, Maisy goes in spurts, and Jake has no interest in reading with a parent anymore. Sad.

Jake has braces. It is a real challenge to get him to brush his teeth. Blech.

We still cannot park a car in our garage.

The girls ride the bus to/from school most days. Jake is driven by Sandy Taylor, and in the afternoon, I pick up Jake and also Sandy's son from middle school.

We have lots of rooms I'd like to paint in our home.

We can't use our master bath tub because the drain leaks. This bugs me a lot.

We have a paper shredder. And a big pile of stuff to shred.

Jason likes to walk Buster over to Starbucks on Saturday mornings. The girls at Starbucks bring out a bowl of water for Buster.

Monday night is still Mac and Cheese night. Despite the fact that it isn't the most nutritious meal on the planet, the kids love it. Jason will only eat it if I make his grandma's recipe, and the kids prefer Velveeta. Even at 13, 10, and 7, they want to have a "cheese finger" when I am squeezing the bag of cheesy goodness into the pan of macaroni shells. If it is your movie pick week, you also "get the bag" to squeeze out the rest of whatever cheese is left. Jason and I usually order Chinese take-out on Mondays, because the kids don't like it, so we'd miss out on that food choice any other time. Speaking of movie picks, we still have arguments about what the "picker" has chosen, pretty much every week, except for parent pick. We always pick something for everyone, and Jake will pick a "Naruto" or "Yugioh", and the girls will pick "Annie" or some other tween version of a "chick flick".

I an concerned (and relatively convinced) that Jake will outgrow his loft bed before he graduates from HS.

Buster still surfs the counters and table for food bits, and steals whenever he sees an opening (mostly from Charlotte) . Buster gets into the trashcan. Buster likes socks.

Linus seems fragile, but can really stick it to Buster when he's being annoying. Buster has little cuts on the insides of his ears to prove it. Linus sleeps in the basement bathroom because he wakes at night and whines a lot.

I think I'll have to continue this in another post, or this will never get posted!

Reflecting...

Wow. 2009 is over.

The years seem to pass more quickly as I get older. That's pretty sad, isn't it? Some good stuff is happening and I really want to savor each and every moment. Then again, there was some bad also...maybe a remote control that I could use to fast forward through the muck and pause the really great moments? That would make an awesome movie! Oh, wait. I think they already did that. Never mind.

Highlights:

The Breast Cancer 3 Day

Weekend crop with friends (May Edition)

Weekend crop with friends (November Edition)

A brand new nephew (I love babies!)

21 inches of December snow!

A wedding

A new puppy

An OLD dog

17 years of marriage

lots of birthdays

Closing of the Lifetime Moments Message Boards and online store (BOO!)

H1N1 for the whole family! (the actual virus, not the vaccine)

Braces for Jake

Lots of time at the gym

Ran my first 5k

I am sure there are some highlights that I have forgotten. I think I'll probably remember some as soon as I hit "publish". Whatever. Not a big deal. Letting go of the small stuff for 2010.

Insanity

Why am I taking time 4 days before Christmas Eve to write in my blog? You know, this happens every December. You start taking stock of the year, and the things you got to do, the things you didn't...and with me, this blog comes to mind. Sort of like my own personal resolution. Be busier on my blog. Post more often. I will not go out on that very long limb and say I will post every day, but I certainly hope that a once a week recap could happen. Maybe.