Running in Lingerie

A few years into marriage, some things start to change. They are different things for different couples. This year, specifically Valentine's Day, there was a tangible, notable change in the direction our marriage has moved. My boys came running into the house hap-hazardly throwing clothes at my face yelling, "Happy Valentine's Day." After I got over the shock of the dramatic presentation of gifts, I laid my eyes on the shorts that you see me pictured in above. That's right, they are teeny. And possibly intended to be a joke, but I showed those boys a joke and I went on ahead and wore them! And from time to time, Yosh will ask me about my Valentine lingerie. The first time he asked me, I looked at him puzzled and said, "You mean the plaid shorts?" A smile crossed his face as he exclaimed, "Oh yeah," nodding his head with a smile all the while. Wow- so this is what it is like to no longer be newlyweds! I wear lingerie in front of complete strangers WAY more often than I do in front of my husband! So on Saturday, I got to wear some lingerie in my run. See, there is a first time for everything!

I think I'm going to retire my running shoes for a bit, but I feel like I've learned some life lessons this last year of running. And to name a few of them.....

1) Never make definitive decisions while on the up-hill. Perspective changes when you reach the plateau and sanity has returned.

2) Listen to your body. It will show you your pace.

3) Don't be afraid to slow down OR to speed up. Your speed changes many times in one run.

4) Finish the run. That night you're not going to remember the frustrations that made you want to quit. All you'll be able to taste is victory.

5) Joy in the journey.

We'll have to see if retiring my running shoes also means retiring my lingerie....

(I felt the need to add to this post that there is a distinct difference b/w me and the other two girls. Their bib numbers are in green and this denotes.....MARATHON! Amazing job, Anneli and Natalie!)

I am a summer girl at heart. I don't know if it is the fact that I'm a July baby or not, but it runs in my blood. So anything that remotely reminds me summer, I cherish. And when these moments come, I kinda feel like the happiest girl in the world. Almost euphoric. And I swear that whatever it is I did, I'm going to do it again. And again. And again. And I'm not going to forget. And I'm not going to let anything get in my way of making it happen. 3 kids won't get in my way. Or a husband.

Well that's how I felt when after living in CA for 5 years, we made it down to Huntington Beach to the fire pits. Bonfires are nostalgic to me. Don't really know why. I didn't grow up having bonfires regularly. But it brings me back to my carefree days. And who doesn't like feeling carefree. And playing volleyball on the beach. Not beach volleyball. Just bumping. Cuz a lot of times that is just as fun as a game of volleyball. And playing very intensely so that maybe those who are working hard at creating a blazing fire won't be tempted to ask me for help. And when I'm done I can be one of the genius who sees the tons of small little branches lying right at our feet that will be the key to getting the fire going. And then everyone forgets those of us who maybe weren't helping at all before. And just as quickly as the fire is ready, we have our wire hangers fully stocked with marshmallows. Waiting to find themselves perfectly fit inside the graham crackers and hershey bar. Or now that we have Kady, it might be b/w graham crackers and chocolate frosting. The perfect night. And as we are packing up, getting ready to leave (right after the Anderson's of course), I'm determined that I've been missing out for 5 years and am committed to creating these "summer" moments a lot more often. That weekly, ok maybe monthly, we will make this happen. And feel like teenagers- even teenagers with kids- again. That nothing will stop me. That this will be easy to make happen b/c it is SO much fun.

And time goes by. And I'm left looking at these pictures and asking myself, "Was it really that fun?" Because I have three kids to take care of. And a husband. And it is all a lot of work.


(kirt, why are you getting to roast your feet? a little bizarre....)

"Someone has to provide for this life of luxury." That's one of Yosh's favorite sayings. It doesn't matter if I'm out of town visiting family. Or at the beach ALONE chasing three rugrats and trying desperately to keep them alive and well. Or at Disneyland ALONE with three kids, possibly holding two and trying to calm the third. Whenever we say, "We wish you were here with us," his standard reply comes out again, "Well someone has to provide for this life of luxury." A always quickly challenge his definition of luxury. (I'd love to send him to Disneyland solo with the chitlins and then BEG him to call it luxurious.) But he stands his ground and I surrender. Never really considered myself to be on his side of the fence. Until the other morning.

Dallin B comes into my room barely awake, rubbing his eyes. "Mom," he whines, "I need breakfast in bed." "What?" I'm shocked. Where in the world has he come up with this? "I need breakfast in bed," he says. I laugh out loud. "Dallin B, how do you know about breakfast in bed?" I mean, Yosh has brought me breakfast in bed a time or two. Possibly Mother's Day or something. Possibly. (Oh no, is this also the life of luxury he's talking about?!!) I feel like I have no choice. Except to bring the boy breakfast in bed. I go downstairs, slaving away to prepare some instant oatmeal with berries- as requested.

I deliver breakfast to a little boy relaxing on my bed. I transfer the platter to his outstretched hands. He simultaneously asks, "Mom, why aren't you still in bed?" And I have no response that seems plausible...except, "Someone has to provide for this life of luxury."

Guess what we had for dinner tonight? That's right...bacon cheeseburger sliders. You must be thinking, "What's the special occasion? Sliders- I can understand. But bacon cheeseburger sliders...something must be going on." And you're absolutely right. It is not everyday that I fry up some Trader Joe's Applewood bacon and throw it on a burger. And you know what? Maybe that in and of itself was the special occasion. I had two burgers- one with bacon and one without. And the one with was far superior. Not to mention the avocado I generously spread on both sides of the burger. Things were well tonight. And to celebrate the bacon- and possibly the sliders too- we ate outside. On a blanket. And I didn't get impatient with my kids. And they didn't get impatient with me. And there was sun. That only the hedge received, but we still saw it. And we even all took pictures of each other.

I have never claimed to be photogenic and this is proof that I'm always telling the truth. Unedited. Out of options. And Dallin B, on the other hand, has always claimed to be photogenic. All their photography skills are on the line. I think this is Porter's first solo session, so we'll forgive him for cutting off heads and blurring us out. And yes those are still my workout clothes from my 8:30 am run hiding underneath my apron. At least I went running and at least something is under that apron!!

How it Goes

I thought the day was off to a decent start. But before I knew it, mr deetz was a whiny mess (the story of his life these days) and Dallin B wasn't too far behind. Ok, and maybe I wasn't too far behind either, as long as we're being honest. I mean, really, were B and I really fighting over whether he was going to take a bath or shower? Yes, we were. And who won? I don't even know. Cuz he ended up asleep in his bed by his own free will by 10:30 and he hadn't bathed or showered by the time we left the house. That's right, red Popsicle residue streaming down his chest and last night's chocolate milk mustache still present. During his nap, I had decided to stop acting like a 4 yr old myself. When I went into his room to apologize, I found him asleep. But I still had the same resolve to be the bigger person- especially since I should be- once he woke up. When he woke up, we decided to all go to lunch. And I was going to let him pick where. Choices- we have lots of choices. Walking to the Village or Panda Express, going to Ruby's...but those would all be way too reasonable. He would like to drive 35ish minutes to Stonefire. And he let me know with a quivering chin, eyes welling up with tears and the plea, "But Mom, we haven't been there in forever." While this is true (as mentioned it's not next door) and their food is worthy of tears it's so good, I was still bugged. My resolve to be the good girl was slipping away. With all three kids loaded up and ready to go, we pulled out of the driveway. I was resigned to a sub-par day. And then I turned the radio on. What what? Are you serious? Sure enough Snoop Dogg is blaring through the speakers talking about sippin on gin and juice. "Lay back." Things were looking brighter already. All of a sudden, I'm subconsciously bobbin my head and can't help but sing along.

When we got to Stonefire, my patience had returned. The boys were angels. All 3 of them. To the point that- I kid you not- 8 people stopped to tell me what good-looking, well-behaved boys I had. And all I could do was smile and nod. Now I don't write this to say I'm an awesome mom or that I have three awesome boys. All I'm saying is that there is nothing a little Snoop Dogg can't fix.

The Pros and Cons...

...of having an alarm system.

The Pros: pretty obvious.
I feel safe in my home.
I'll be instantly alerted when a mad murderer/robber/rapist comes to get me.
I know when the kids open any doors and windows.

Now the cons. Last night provides the perfect example. I went to bed, absolutely exhausted like any other night. I had a racing mind last night, approximately 798 mph, so it took me awhile to turn it off finally find sleep. And when I did, it was well received. Until the distinguished noise sounds. That's right, the one notifying that an entrance has been breached. I am automatically jolted to a sitting position, eyes wide open, body turned to read the alert at the side of my bed. As happened in past times, I'm looking for the horrifying news that our front door has opened (don't worry, the one night we forgot to lock, we also didn't shut the door all the way and the wind blew it open) or that a window has been opened at 2 am (once again, wind. Once again, annoying.) This time as I read the alert, I am completely flabbergasted. "System trouble. Press 4 to view." I proceed with caution to see who is trying to surely do something like turn off our alarm so that THEN they can break in and murder/rob/rape me. But instead I read, "Phone trouble. Check dial tone." Really? You woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me our phone isn't working? Well guess what...I already knew that. And guess what else...had this been a real life emergency situation, all victims would have DIED! We turned our phone off a MONTH ago and you're now acting like it's an emergency. And I'll tell you what is possibly even the most annoying thing...the hour it takes to tell my racing heart to slow down, there is no emergency, I am in no danger and go back to sleep...PLEASE!

There's nothing like a good vacation. The excitement and giddiness at the beginning of your trip just can't be bottled. I mean, we're excited about everything. "A five hour plane ride with three kids?!! Are you serious! Yes, I've been waiting MONTHS for this." Nothing is going to phase you. Tell us anything and we're going to be excited about it as long as it gets us on our vacation. And that is probably the only way to get us to go. I mean, really, we looked like a circus trekking through the airport with our team plus 10 carry ons. But we were all smiling and couldn't have been more ready for a week in the Caribbean.

And I'll tell you what, those brochures don't lie. The waters were absolutely crystal clear and beautiful. St. Thomas looked like an enchanting town set on a hill next to beautiful waters. And I hadn't even heard of Grand Turk until we were on the boat, but it too was amazingly beautiful. Glad we made the stop. Here are a few pics showcasing a fun-filled week...

I think that I only got one group shot, but this was the crew (minus the kids and Chelsi, who came to let us be childless EVERY night!) Fun people to travel with, I highly recommend it!

And a little insight to just how fun/funny they are....