Goal Accomplished

Since I am writing this post, it must mean that I am still alive to tell the story, but barely.

Let's see, where do I begin...there are 3 words to describe the Big Sur International Marathon...hills, hills, hills. OK, so I didn't look at the course map or elevation before I signed up, nor did I read the many reviews warning runners that this is one of the toughest marathon courses. The only thing I saw was "the most beautiful course you'll ever run on"...and it was definitely that! Running right along the Pacific coast on Highway 1 from Big Sur up to Carmel with breathtaking views of the mountains and the ocean.

The day following the run, we drove the course to get some photos since I really didn't have a whole lot of time (or was in the right frame of mind) during the race to stop for photo ops. Here is one of the gorgeous views along the course...but all I could really see were hills.


Hurricane Point - a 2.2 mile uphill climb, or rather, 2.2 miles of pure torture on the legs to get to this point. The picture is deceiving...believe me, it was torture...almost as bad as waterboarding. On top of that, the road was banked (slanted) in many places since it was winding around mountains, so that made it even tougher to run on.


Bixby Bridge - the "resting" place after Hurricane Point. The scenery here was outstanding...again I only saw hills. They had a guy in a full tuxedo playing on a grand piano out here. That was pretty cool.

I'm coming in for the finish.


I made it! Official time is 4:23:48. My goal was 4:30 so I was quite happy. I found out that the first place guy finished in 2:32 which is the longest time since the marathon's inaugural year 24 years ago due to the fact that the wind this year was one of the worst...just my luck!


I look quite happy for someone who has just gone through torture. But what I was reeeaaaallly feeling was...

...THIS! Pure pain! The legs were extremely sore, not to mention aches in the back and neck. I felt like an old woman...and I maintained this feeling for the next two days!

So if you were to ask me if I would do it again...I would say to ask me again in a few weeks. It's still too early to make that assessment. This last photo still brings a twinge of pain to my quads.

Also, Scott and I celebrated our 12-year anniversary on this trip. The marathon was actually on the day of our anniversary. Luckily, we did some pre-run celebration on a wine tour through 6 different wineries. Hmmm....maybe this was the reason why I was so sore...

Bed Wetting

We have a bed wetter in the house. The good thing about it is that it's not me nor Scott. Laina is still in diapers (don't let me get started on that), so that leaves one guilty 4-year-old. It's not every night, but probably about 2-3 times a week and that's including naps.

This morning when I pulled Wesley's blanket off of him, he was naked from the waist down. After much prodding, I was able to gather that there was an "incident" during the night. He got out of bed, finished his deed in the potty and left his wet pj bottom and underwear by the potty. Climbed back into bed, tried wiping the wet area with the blanket, failed and fell asleep on the dry side of the bed. All this without waking us up. Should I be mad or proud? OK, I was more proud than mad, especially when he said, "don't tell Daddy, Mommy." At least he understood that he could possibly get in trouble for this.

Yes, it's PARTIALLY our fault...we allow him to drink water right before bedtime. Can you really say no when he's pleading for water? So needless to say, I'm a pro at changing out sheets. I'm sure he'll outgrow this...surely, he has to.

Egg-travaganza

Easter has gotten out of control. The kids had 3 egg hunts and enough candy to make me sick...and it takes a lot for me to get sick, especially from chocolate.

Each kid had an egg hunt at Preschool. I was at Laina's and here she is hunting for eggs.

Obviously, egg hunting is tough work, so she's cooling off with a refreshing popsicle. Notice her left cheek...no, that's not a smudge on the picture, but rather a long dark bruise. That's what happens when you're running at full toddler speed, turn your head to look behind you and ramming into the corner of a doorway. Kids, don't try this at home.

The second egg hunt was at the babysitter's. Here, Wesley is smashing a confetti egg on Isabella's head. She never suspected it.

The 3rd and final egg hunt was at home on Easter Sunday. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate so we had it indoors. Here are Wesley and Laina with most of the cousins.

Praying Mantis-eses

In an effort to terrorize my kids, Aunt Heather decided to give Wesley a praying mantis pagoda for his 4th birthday. What the heck...? Let me wikipedia this for you, "A praying mantis pagoda is an unnatural habitat for the hatching of the mantis egg". We were given an egg which we "cared for" in the pagoda and 3-6 weeks later, we have praying mantis-eses...I emphasize this cause that's a lot of mantises.

Our 3-6 week span just ended and the egg has hatched and now we have a plethora of hungry praying mantises. The idea is that you go out and catch bugs and feed them to the young mantises...yeah, right! Can you see me out there catching bugs? It was also unfortunate that there happened to be a cold front the day of the hatching and Scott, in his futile attempt to catch bugs, was only able to brave the cold for 30 seconds while he searched for unsuspecting victims. He managed to toss in one bug for the hundreds of mantises. Some lives were lost in this food foraging, luckily it was only of the insect species.

Wesley and Laina are so scared of them that they won't go near the pagoda. After much urging and reassuring that the mantises won't go lunging for their throats (which I'm still not sure if this really won't happen), they got within a respectable distance and were able to converse with them.

Here is an uncut 5:45 minute video of the young ones, both humans and insects.

Home Is Where The Food Is

It had been 4 years since I've been back to Pineville, Louisiana...my home town, the place I grew up. I still have a brother living there...he's actually across the river in Alexandria...and we went there to visit and to EAT, more so to eat. 60 lbs of crawfish, burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings...and that was just for lunch! The kids went fishing, played soccer, played on the playground and had lots of fun.

Scott didn't go because he had to "work" so I was left to fend for myself with 2 kids for 6 hours in a car, both ways, through snow and uphill. Wesley, being the angel, was great. Laina, being the anti-angel, was restless and agitated and was not happy toward the end of the trip. It didn't help that we almost ran out of gas and my car battery died. Darn unreliable Lexus! OK, it was partly my fault but I refuse to take the blame for it.

All in all, it was a good trip. We got to see the house we grew up in, the church we walked to every week, and the high school where we found ways to play hooky. I didn't get any pictures since I forgot to bring my camera but trust me, it happened. One observation I have about the trip...not a whole lot has changed since I left 13 years ago. My little country town is still a little country town, which is so different from the fast paced metropolis where we now live. And yes, the mental hospital is still there...at least I think it is, not sure what happened to it after I left.



Wesley playing soccer with cousins, Maddie and Jacob.



Laina fishing.

Wesley fishing.

Uncle Steve and Hung tackling the tackle box.

Anna, Justine and Shelia.

Shelia and son, Nicholas.

Going Bonkers Birthday

I guess it's about time I write about Wesley's 4th birthday..it's only been about a month ago. His party was on March 8th although his actual birthday is March 1st. Yeah, it's complicated and it confused the heck out of him. He use to be able to tell me his birth date but just the other day he told me it was March 6th. Aiyaya!

"Going Bonkers" in Lewisville was the place and it was crazzzzy. Remind me not to do it again!



Wesley going bonkers!


Spider twins - Wesley & Donovan.


Laina and Ashlin cruising for boys.


Youngest cousin Abby.


Cousin Noah looking cute.


Cousin Anna partying hard.


Spiderman cake - which he can't even eat...not that he wanted to.