Running

So, on Friday, I finished my very first marathon ever. It only took me....three weeks.

Which is not so bad, considering before that I'd probably one the equivalent of one marathon in the entire rest of my life. Three weeks is pretty good.

My buddy Sarah got me started going to the gym, which I didn't want to do because (a) it means driving somewhere, (b) it means leaving V somewhere, and (c) it means going to the gym. Buuuuut she convinced me, and we went, and it has turned out to be a good thing for V. He enjoys going, and I get to know that he's interacting with other children. He does pretty well--he's an evil demon at home (stiff-armed a little girl into the wall last night because she tried to take the toy he had) but out at the gym playroom he gets along well. Plays, imitates, follows. All kinds of good stuff. So that's a success story. The drive still irritates me, but oh well. It's 25 minutes, which equals 50 minutes, which feels like a total waste of an hour of my day. I might get over it. I might not.

As for the third thing, I still hate running. Hate, hate, hate it.

Pesto-Parmesan Breadsticks

This is what I do when I'm invited somewhere and I have nothing to bring. I toss together what's in the fridge. In this particular instance, I tossed about a quarter cup of this:
And 2 tablespoons of this:
Onto a package of these, while they were still all connected in that flat dough square:
I then pulled them apart, twisted them into twisties as directed on the outside of the package. Then I laid them on the pizza stone I bought from them:
And baked for the 12-14 minutes recommended by him:

And I'm done.
Then I take them to the friend's house, and it turns out she's all carb-free so I ate the whole darn bunch of them.

Country Music

This is what long trips will do to me—get thoughts going in my head, whether or not that’s a safe prospect. This time, it was all that chance to listen to the radio and think about, well, country music. Because that’s what I was listening to. Three different stations’ worth of down-home, good-time, yee-haw music. Also a Raleigh station, but it gets pretty lousy reception everywhere around home except the bypass between the bridge and 258. Go figure.

ANYhow.

I’m listning to this music, and realizing several things about it. First of all, as popular music goes, it’s a much more “Godly” alternative to the crap that’s on the rock, pop, R&B, rap, and alternative stations. There are country songs about God. About family. About soldiers. About love. About getting married. About being happy with what you have. About Jesus. You gonna hear this stuff anywhere else? I think not. (This is leaving aside the Christian station. That’s another post. Also, Christian music is almost wholly a subset of Country music, so let’s not go there today.)

These are people who care about their country, who appreciate the sacrifices the military makes, who understand that commitment in family and marriage is a thing to be striven for—and people who hold and respect a long tradition of music making that has felt the same way for over fifty years. I love it.

Also the words are usually hysterical.

What's been on Jennifer's phone for the last three months?

Quite a bit of stuff. Because I have a StupidPhone (as opposed to a Smart one), I have to go and take the little card out, and find the adapter, and put it in the computer, and copy and paste. Yeah. It takes time. Which I never have. And effort. Which I rarely put out. But whatev. Here's some things for you, many of which actually were taken with putting them on the blog in mind. But I forget. And things from four months ago are...well, not as interesting as they would have been, uh, four months ago:

Six men carrying a baby grand. MUCH easier than when Joe and the seller moved it into the house alone. Also, obviously, V watching the progress. He sat there for like a half hour.


Me at the governor's palace at Williamsburg (this is from Thanksgiving--seriously, things stay on my phone forever!)


One of my RCIA students being received into the Church on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.


Giving Baby Jesus some sugar.


Pesto-Parmesan breadsticks. Which I ate.


Pop tart + car seat = Silence. (aka "totally worth the horrible and disgusting mess")


I swear, this cat...


We drove all the way to the beach last week so we could "wave" at Daddy. There was more splashing than waving done. Did I mention it was 46 degrees?


Saturday morning's hair--before mommy shaved it all off with a #4.


I looked for these for over two hours. Please don't laugh.

LAST Weekend

Sorry for the long break there, fans. It's been...well, regular life. I'm just lazy with da bloggie.

Anyway. I have sooooooooo many wonderful pictures from my trip last weekend, but I know Blogger is going to be all retarded and not let me post things like I want, so I'm picking my top ten faves (still a lot of pictures...where is their server, anyway, Nairobi?) and letting them set the tone. Maybe I'll post sequel sets of pictures every weekend for the next, oh, ten years or so until I get them all up. Maybe not. Here goes the Top Ten from Janaury 29ths' "First LEGO League North Carolina State Tournament:"

The MIGHTY MARSHMALLOWS!


We are talking about some serious firepower in the 9-14 age range. Plus their parents. Plus the college students who were working the event.


The Bot!


Big Brother--definitely key in the whole process. I wish I had better pictures of them switching out attachments on the robot...so very cool.


It took lots of concentration.


And looking to Mom for hints and help--she wasn't allowed within a certain foot radius of the tables.


We needed a scorekeeper.


And a fan section. With posters. No painted stomachs, though.


Breaks are also very key.


There were disappointing moments. (A clear winner emerged in the "expressive face" category, though.)


And heartwarming teamwork--people came to our spot in the pit to congratulate and encourage the homeschool team. They were impressed by what one family was able to do. And we were all like totally "well, duh!" and, like, right? It was neat to watch the kids work together.


And this pretty much sums up how we all felt at the end of the day. Pretty much.