Let’s Make a Deal, Future Iron Goddesses, and Sleep Walking?

It’s that time again!

 

I am opting this week to make a list of 5 things that made me really happy this week.  So, in no particular order…

1.  I just checked the Send Love to Cohen site and at last count there were over 650 blogs linked up for Cohen’s Day of Silence!  My heart breaks for Megan and her husband, but I hope they have felt all the love and prayers sent up for them.

2.  On Monday I was so tired and sore from the race on Sunday, so my daughters laid in bed with me in the morning watching

and

The Price is Right just isn’t the same without Bob, but I loved watching it with my daughters.  I remember watching it everyday on summer vacation when I was growing up!

3.  On Monday afternoon I caught the girls playing “Iron Goddess” in their bedroom.  This brought tears to my eyes because my main reason for wanting to lose 30 pounds and get into shape was to be a good example to my daughters.  It looks like I have done that!  Shawn said Lainey even asked him on Sunday when she could do the Iron Goddess race!

Future Goddesses?

4.  On Thursday morning I caught Shawn up at 2am eating Trix and watching Sports Center!  I think he was sleep walking!  When I told him it was 2 o’clock he argued with me, but then came back to bed proclaiming how tired he was and how glad he was to go back to bed!  I’m not sure if this makes me happy, but it sure as hell makes me laugh!

Lastly, I am definitely most happy to tell you this…

5.  If I am MIA for the next week (or so), it’s because you can find me here:

Happy Friday everyone!  Be sure and click over to The Girl Next Door to link up and play along!

COHEN

In support of Megan and Brent Marshall many bloggers are uniting in a day of silence today to honor sweet baby Cohen.

If you click on the photograph, it will take you take Megan’s blog. If you would like to participate in the day of silence, please copy and post the photo as a post on your blog, and link up here to show your support for Megan and Brent.

Wandering Wednesday...

Back in April I posted several pictures which I took along I-75 on our trip to Atlanta. This was one of those photos:

Who could forget the giant Jesus?

Well, friends, I am sad to report that giant Jesus (known in Ohio as “Touch Down Jesus”) is no more. That’s right, a few weeks ago he was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. My husband was the first one to tell me about this, but then one of my blog readers (I’m so sorry I can’t remember who!) also emailed me about the story. When I posted the picture in April so many of you were enthralled by it, so I thought I’d share the story with you:

After Googling Touch Down Jesus for this post, I found several comments and posts by some people claiming it was a sign from God and others claiming it was an act of Satan. What do you think? Me? Well, I think it was an act of nature.

The moment you've all been waiting for...

Are you ready? Have you been waiting on pins and needles all weekend? What’s that? You have no idea what I’m talking about? Ugh. Great. Just great. Well, in case you forgot, today was this:

That’s right! The Iron Goddess was today! I’ve noticed that I have a lot of new readers (Welcome!), so if you’d like to read more about my Iron Goddess journey, you can click here, here, and here.

Now, let’s get right to it! Yesterday afternoon we drove to the race location to pick up my packet, and check out the course. This is where I discovered that the running portion of the race was um, trails. Trails, as in a dirt path one person wide, up and down steep hills, and one tree rut after a-freakin-nother. Great. The last time I ran on a trail was in 8th grade, which was 17 years ago, but who’s counting?

After seeing the course and all the hardcore lesbian tri-athletes, I freaked out a little and threatened to drop out. But, then we had an ice cream bar, and all was well with the world. Until, we got to the hotel where our rooms weren’t ready and Shawn discovered something was wrong with one of my bike brakes. But, then we found a bike shop to get it fixed, went to dinner, and all was well with the world. Until, we waited over 45 minutes for our food only to have my food be completely wrong and had to deal with a douche bag manager who thought making jokes about his glass eye was funny.

Ugh. Joe’s Crab Shack in Ann Arbor is two thumbs down, way down!

When we finally got back to the hotel (after our nearly 2 hour dinner shenanigan) we all went swimming and my Dad got me a Long Island Iced Tea from the bar. He said he thought it would help me sleep, but I honestly don’t think I slept a wink! Does that happen to everyone before a race?

I woke up at 5 Sunday morning, and felt surprisingly good. I got to the race location around 6:20, so I could set up my transition area, and then I spent the next 2 hours freaking out. I was hungry, I was thirsty, and I had to go #2. The #2 thing is possibly TMI, but I’m throwing that in there for Tyly :)

Now before I get to the pictures, let’s review. The Iron Goddess was a Triathlon and Duathlon. I did the Duathlon, which was a 1.5 mile run, 10.6 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. My original goal several months ago was to finish under 1:30. Then, within the last month, I changed it to 1:25. Well, today after I started I changed my goal again.

How do you think I did? I’ll give you a hint. In the words of my husband “You made that race your bitch.”

Shawn and I before the race:

Me with my parents:

View of all the athletes (560 were registered):

The start of the Duathlon:

(can you find me?)

There I am:

Coming in from the first run:

Ok, this is the only leg of the race I screwed up. Do you see that girl in the orange in the last 2 pictures? I asked her what her pace was at the beginning because I wanted to use someone to pace myself. She told me 8-8:30/mile. So, I thought “Sweet!” That’s the pace I’ve been practicing at, I’ll stick with her! Wrong. My time for the first 1.5 mile run was 13:31, which is a 9 minute pace/mile. Damn It!

Getting my bike gear on in the transition area:

Getting on at the mount line:

(Do you see that guy checking out my ass? Busted!)

Coming back in from the bike ride (and looking totally hardcore):

My bike time was 35:42, which was almost 5 minutes faster than I’ve ever done practicing! That’s an average of 18 mph.

Heading out on the last run:

Here I come!

(Do you see my Dad on the right hand side waiting to give me a High 5?)

Finished! My overall time was 1:15:51! The goal I had set after I started was 1:20, so I totally beat it! The time for my last run was 24:56, which is a pace of 8:18/mile.

(Just in case you can read the clock, that time isn’t accurate because that was the time from when the very first heat started.)

The girls and I after the race:

So, how did I place? Drum roll please…

I got 1st place in my age group, and 4th place overall in the Duathlon!

There were no medals for the top finishers, instead the top 3 finishers all got a necklace which has a charm on it that says “DU.” Here I am getting my necklace:

Thank you so much to all of you who have encouraged and supported me on this journey! What’s next?!

Bringing Sexy Back.

 

A few weeks ago I heard about the “Mom Sexy Prom” from Erin (aka The Motherload).  When Erin first mentioned it, I thought it sounded fun, but not for me.  I really didn’t have anything to wear and I doubted there would be any table dancing.

But, when I read Erin’s Mom Sexy Prom post, I was intrigued.  Erin is one of the best writers I know, and she is always inspiring me.  I, of course, commented on her post and when she replied to me she was all “Are you going to come to the prom?!”  In my head, I was thinking “No!”  But, Erin was recently voted “Top Mommy Blogger,” so she’s like the Queen Mom.  I can’t tell her no, can I?

So, I clicked over to the Mommyologist, who is hosting the Prom.  Well, the Mommyologist did a vlog for her Mom Prom post, and as I was watching it my daughters came over to check it out.  Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as they saw it, they begged me to go to the “Mommy Prom!”  They even wanted to pick out my dress and do my hair!  I’m not sure if they’ve seen my hair before, but it isn’t exactly “do-able.”  I did let them pick out my dress though, and they took my pictures for me. 

Without further ado, I give you my “Mom Sexy Prom” look:

As I was getting ready for the Prom, Alivia and Lainey also donned their prom dresses.  While they were absolutely adorable, I think they may have confused Prom with a Toga party:

I give them points for creativity, but their dresses may have gotten them kicked out of prom, since they popped off only 30 seconds into the first Hannah Montana song! 

Cars, cakes, and creepers?

Whoa.  Long time, no blog!  Sorry about that.  Would you hate it if I was all, I haven’t written since Friday, but nothing has even been going on?  Like, I’ve just been sitting here eating Oreos and working on my tan, and I have nothing to report on?  That would suck.  What really sucks is that I’ve gotten a few shout outs from other bloggers like The Girl Next Door and Tyly, but if anyone clicks over here they probably think I never write!  I do, I do, pinky swear!  Patience grasshoppers.

Ok well, lucky you I have had stuff going on, so listen up!  (I have been eating Oreos and working on my tan too though.)  First, on Friday afternoon we set out to get Shawn a car.  We actually found the one we wanted on Thursday night, and after a lot of back and forth phone calls, 2 bags of popcorn, and driving around to 4 other dealerships…we finally bought it on Friday afternoon.  Behold Shawn’s new bitch:

It’s a 2009 Nissan Altima.  You like?  Don’t worry, I told him if he trashes this one like he did the Stratus that I will stab him in the jaw.  That’s a promise people.

I hate to say this, but I honestly can’t even remember what we did on Saturday.  It must have been exciting.  Wait a minute, I’ve got it!  Being the domestic goddess (and soon to be iron goddess) that I am, I did a lot of cooking and cleaning for our Father’s Day get together on Sunday.  All of that is quite boring except this:

That deliciousness is an Oreo and fudge ice cream cake.  Yum.  It’s so easy to make, but looks like you’ve slaved for hours!  You can find the recipe I used here.  I did make mine in a 9 x 13 pan, but everything else was the same.

On Sunday we went to church and then had my family over for Father’s Day.  Here are a few pictures from Sunday:

My nephew Alex, I believe that’s ice cream cake on his mouth!

My Grandpa with my nephew, Ryan:

Grandpa with a few of the great-granddaughters…Alivia, Natalie, and Lainey:

Sunday was also my sister’s birthday.  She told me she would kill me if I posted this picture on Facebook, so I thought I’d post it on here instead!  Hehehe!

(please note my redneck pool in the background)

 

This post isn’t over yet, because I actually did something on Monday too!  Can you believe it?  It’s exciting too!  Are you ready?  I had my very first blog date!  Ya know, like I met another blogger!  Yup.  I have been following Jen from A Tale of Two Coins since her husband passed away almost 2 years ago.  Jen also lives in Michigan, so we met up in Birch Run to go shopping and to lunch.  I was actually ridiculously nervous, but I had a great time, and I don’t think Jen thought I was too much of a creeper. 

Father’s Day Feel Good Friday

First things first.  Shawn’s car?  Garbage.  The mechanic said it would cost $1000+ to fix it.  Honestly, I’m not surprised the car took a shit.  For some reason, Shawn decided 3 years ago that he hated that car and wasn’t going to take care of it anymore.  So, he didn’t.  Oh, and he will totally admit to this, I’m not even throwing him under the bus on this one!

Did I ever tell you about the time I had to drive it to work because my car was having work done on it?  I got in the car to leave for work, and when I went to move the seat up it wouldn’t budge.  This presented a problem given the fact that Shawn is 6’3” and I am 5’4”.  I blew the horn to get his attention, and asked him to help me.  He looked at me and said “Oh, the seat’s broken.”  I told him I could not reach the gas pedal, and asked him what I should do.  He shrugged his shoulders and offered nothing.  At that point, I flipped him off, he flipped me off, and I peeled out.  Oh, and I drove the whole 40 miles to work using my big toe to accelerate.  If that’s not safe, I don’t know what is.

Back to my original point.  For 3 days we’ve been looking for a new (used) car for him.  This has literally taken years off my life.  Not to mention, it has prevented me from blogging (and commenting) and training for my duathlon next weekend.  It really hasn’t been my week people.  So, what better way to end it than with:

The prompt I am choosing this week is to write a list of 5 things that made me really happy this week.  In honor of Father’s Day on Sunday, each item on the list will relate to one of the men in my life, who are all Fathers.  Does that make sense?  Well, whatever.  Here we go:

1.  My Dad:  On Monday he and my Mom brought over a whole load of mulch for our yard!

2.  My Dad:  Tuesday night he dropped everything he was doing to come over and tow Shawn’s car home for us.  I realized later that night that it was my parent’s anniversary that day, and he missed eating dinner with my Mom to help us!

3.  My Brother:  He also drove up to help Shawn and my Dad push Shawn’s car onto the trailer to tow it. 

4.  Shawn:  When I asked him how the day his ex-wife cheated on him was not the worst day of his life, he said “That turned out to be one of the best days of my life, because then I was able to meet you!”

and last, but not least…

5.  This picture I found of Shawn (and Alivia) when he first became a Father:

P.S. If you’d like to play along with Feel Good Friday, click on over to The Girl Next Door and link up!