On Cars (Again)

A.g.a.i.n.

Ok, I've done almost a complete 180 from the beginning of the thinking-about-new-car process, and I have finally decided on a category of automobile that I want to focus on: mid-size SUV.  I know, I know.  I just can't see replacing the Menace with something *smaller* when we vaguely talk about our family *growing*.  I will probably throw in a few "large" SUVs, too, for comparison's sake.

So, the contenders:
Toyota 4Runner (seats 7, 4WD available, USB inc., good off-road reviews)
Honda Pilot (seats 8, 4WD available, meh)
Ford Explorer (seats 7, Ford SYNC (meh), don't get Ecoboost, MyTouch (meh) 4WD available, good reviews overall)
Dodge Durango (Ugly, seats 7, no 4WD?? AWD available, RWD, "fun to drive" reviews, bluetooth streaming)
Kia Sorento (seats 7, great warranty, no off-road, meh)

Chevy Tahoe (large, pricey, seats 9, 4WD available, good gas mileage for size, rear seats have to be removed - don't fold down)
Nissan Pathfinder (seats 7, 4WD, V6 or V8)
Mazda CX-9 (seats 7, bluetooth streaming, "fun to drive", looks could be meaner)
Acura MDX (pricey, but great reviews, seats 7, "fun to drive", standard AWD, USB)
GMC Yukon (seats 9 - I was getting distracted by the end)
Toyota Sequoia (seats 9 - I was getting distracted by the end)

Hmmm... after going through all that, I think my favorites are Toyota 4Runner, Acura MDX, Dodge Durango, and Madza CX-9.

18 Months

Dear Z.O.E, Zoe!

You had two major verbal leaps this month.  We now have complete, multi-word sentences and phrases.  Like "I see it!"  and "Get down, kitty!".  Also, I swear, you're correctly using pronouns.  Because the other day, when you were running away from me squealing because I was trying to help you put on your pants, I said, "I'm not helping" and you repeated, "You're not helping"  I swear, this actually happened.  You have also used you->me appropriately.  Oh, and you repeated her first cuss word this month.  The f-word.  Because you don't go halfway.  (Bad mommy.)

Speaking of the pants, oh, the pants.  How I miss the days when I could just shove your little legs into pants and pull them up.  No longer.  You have to do it by yourself.  I can't even be anywhere near you.  You can get the pants on, it just takes forever, and multiple tries, and often they end up backwards, which is an affront to my analness.  But before the pants go on, there is a long process of you running/scrambling away from me saying "No!" so that I understand how unwelcome any help would be.  So that's fun.

The other contributing factor to the pants show is that now you sit on the potty.  We're still waiting for anything other than reading to actually occur on the potty, but after every diaper change (except the first one in the morning), you say, "Potty." and we say, "Do you want to go sit on the potty?" and you say, "OK!" (you have a reallllllllly cute inflection on OK, too) and run in there.  We're keeping 3 books in there, and you read all 3 each time, which gives you a decent amount of time to sit there.  I am very excited about this first step in potty training!

This all coincides with you moving up a room at school.  Moving up a room seems like it is more traumatic for the parents than it is for the Kid!  You have adjusted with absolutely no issue.  They had been sending you over for outside time with the bigger kid room for several weeks, so I think that helped.  And honestly, you were bored with your old room, and I think you were ready to welcome the new "work".  And all your friends had already gone over.  (Except 1, Brady, and you were asking to "See Bwa-dee" last night at dinner.  It was cute.  And heartbreaking.)  There are aspects of our parental adjustment that are awesome: easier drop-off/pick-up because we don't have to take shoes off to enter the room, laundry is done at school so no extra stuff to cart there and back each week, etc.  But there are things that are harder: no individual sheet each day (so no info on how you ate, slept, and poo'd), milk and snacks provided by the school (less control over what you eat - oh how I cringed when the teacher was telling me about how much you love animal crackers! (Of course you love them, you're my child.  You are genetically destined to love all things with sugar.  Which is exactly why I wasn't even introducing them to you.  Because let's face it: ever since you went to Toddler 1, yeah, you're not eating dinner very well any more.)), and generally new teachers to get to know and (hopefully) like.  The toddler room in general seems like a less coddley place.  And while you seem fine by it, it is hard for me!

I do have several stories for you.  I went to pick you up the other day.  You didn't notice me, because the teacher was about to read a book, and you love books.  All the other kids were wiggling around and only halfway paying attention, but you, you were sitting right at the teacher's knee, Indian style, staring up at her.  You didn't move the whole time, except your mouth to say the answers.  You looked totally enthralled, and the teacher kept commenting on your attention span.  She was also really impressed that you knew which animal made all the sounds, and she was expecting me to be impressed by your performance, which I wasn't, because I know you've known those sounds forEVER.  Old hat, baby. :-)  I was impressed by your attention, though.  You looked like such a big girl, sitting there and listening to the teacher.

And then yesterday morning when I went to drop you off, the teacher told me you gave her a heart attack the day before.  Apparently when you finished eating she told you to put up your dishes.  When she turned back around you were gone.  She couldn't find you anywhere.  She had to gather up all the other kids in a line like they do when y'all go outside, and she walked out of the room and saw that you had gone to the Infant Room and given your dishes to Miss Mary, because apparently that's where they go!  Funny, sweet, and a little heartbreaking that you miss your old room like that.

And one more, and I do think this one is truly funny: driving home with you and your Daddy the other day and we saw a fire truck.  Your Daddy was telling you about the truck and that it had a fireman driving it.
You: 'Sat?
Daddy: Fireman.  (But he said it very clearly, like Fire. Man.)
You: Fiyah mat?
Daddy: Yes.
You: HOT!  (holding your little hand out towards the fire truck in your sign for danger, hot!)
I laughed my ass off, kiddo.  Seriously.  Because you were cute, because you know fire is hot, and because of the double meaning of the thing.

Oh, and you've also started a bit of pretend play this month.  The other night you kept "feeding" a Dora doll your dinner.  And when you are at Gaga's, you'd lean over and put the bubble stick in front of your toy puppy's mouth and say, "Blow, puppy, blow really hard!"  And this morning you were chasing the cats with a cloth trying to get them to blow their noses, lol!

"Blooo, puppee, blo reall har!"

Hmm, what else?  First rodeo.  First time climbing up and sliding down the slide all by yourself.  First burger and fries (cringe).  First sip of milkshake (I cringed as you instantly started saying and signing more. Rather like the funnel cake.)  And first funnel cake.  Wow, this month has really been the month to end the your lifetime of clean eating.  Guess it had to happen some time.

Bellaire Trolley Run Race Report

I am really pleased with how this race went for me.

8:00 start time, 6:30-7:30 packet pick-up led to a 5am sleeping in wake up call for me.  Drank my coffee, woke up the baby and nursed her, got ready as quickly as possible, on the road by 6:30 with a pancake in Z's hand, arrived around 7.  It was easy to grab the packet, make my deposit in the restroom, then went outside to watch the kids mile.  I really think Z'll be old enough for this next year!  (If she wants, no pressure.)  Some parents ran next to their tykes with a stroller in case the little one got too tired and needed a ride.  I think that's a great idea!  Especially for the first time.  And P says he can totally handle a mile with the Z. :-)

As for me, I really wanted a post-Z 5K PR (sub-30:36).  I really really wanted to go sub-30.  In my mind, when I finally (back in the day) went sub-30, that was when I made my running breakthrough and that was when I really started getting speedier.  So sub-30 is where I want to go now!  But I honestly wasn't sure my training would support it.  I feel like I've been sloooooow in training.

So I lined up a ways back.  I was just wanting to try and peg low 9's.  Started off running, glanced down and saw 8:54 pace, and I wasn't feeling it!  I don't know what it is about that first mile of a race, but it is absolutely *magical* for me!  There was a skinny old guy (really skinny, shirtless, probably 80) in front of me that I started using as a rabbit because he was holding a nice steady pace.  I kept on him until the U-turn where I passed him (I think I hold good lines in turns) and never saw him again.  I heard him and another old guy complaining about the turns as I passed them.  Well, that second old guy, who was wearing a 3/4 cut off shirt with like 3 inches of midriff showing, passed me back and was holding a nice pace, so I used him as a rabbit up through the first water stop where I lost him because I walked it.

Oh, I was really thirsty when I started the race, and that was a mistake.  I was really feeling desperate for water by the first stop about 1.4 miles in.  (And it was hot, probably 70+.)

Right around a mile we ran past the starting line and I saw P and Z.  I called out "Zoë" and started waving, and she immediately saw me.  Preston didn't until I was way past them.  He said she cried when I was running away, poor thing!

Anyways, I walked that water stop, and after a little water I felt better.  I was nervous about the quick walk break because I was afraid when I started running again I'd slow way down, but that wasn't really a problem.

As usual in this race, the hardest part was the loop around the high school.  That is when you're farthest away from the finish line, but you know you've still got several turns before the straightaway back to the finish.  I powered through (but slowed some), promising myself another quick walk break at the water station on the way back.

The cool thing about this race is that you can see the finish line from almost a mile out.  It is so far that you aren't even sure that is what you're seeing.  But I knew that was it, and I kept telling myself I could put up with anything for only as far as I can see, so I pushed it.

Final time: 29:36. Yay! 9:32 a mile.  13th in my age group, which was higher than I expected.

My little girl was waiting for me just past the line, and I took her very warm little self into my very warm sweaty arms and snuggled her and apologized for scaring her when I ran away.  And we went over to the post-race party, got some grub, and hit the road.

My 5K PR was at this race, years ago, and I've been reflecting on how it seems a little sucky to be so thrilled with a time that is 4 minutes and 30 seconds slower than my PR.  But this was a good showing for my fitness level at this time. I want to get back in PR shape, and this race was just what I needed in that journey at this time.  Hopefully next year I'll be back and faster than ever!

Goal Review

Goals for the Year:
Lose 12 pounds in 2012.  Weight on 1/1 was 138.8.  Weight on 3/1 was 133.2.  Weight 4/1 was 133.8.  Suck.
Read at least 12 books (other than to my child) in 2012.  1 book read in March, bringing the grand total to 6.
Race 12 times in 2012. Finally, finally, finally raced.  Finally!  1.  Race report is coming, I promise.
And I have one other secret 12 goal. No progress this month, holding at 4.

Goals for March:
Continued progress towards 2012 goals.  Yay!
Keep eating out to a minimum - maximum once a week.  Fail.  Massive fail.  Don't wanna talk about it fail.
Finances:
Get our respective moms off the last 2 of our respective accounts - one paper filed, one downloaded and just needs filling out.
Consolidate assets (from 4 financial firms to 2) and in the process balance our "portfolio" (still really feels weird to say that - isn't that something adults do??) - can't til those pesky moms get removed.  Have a plan for the balancing.
Work on a Will. Fail. 
Oh, and finish taxes!!  STILL haven't clicked submit.  Gah!
And finish February's goals that I passed on:

Start an IRA for Preston: yes!
Start a 529 for Zoe: yes!
Get Preston into direct deposit: fail.  Still not working much.
Get the last automatic payment to stop coming out of the credit card account that I want to stop using: done, yay!

So I'm really just running a month behind, lol!

Goals for April:
Continued progress towards 2012 goals.
Get the diet back under control.  Period.  April 1 was a bad day.  April 7 will be a bad day.  There is no need for any other bad days this month.  Period.
Get back on my bike.  Outside, trainer, wherever!
Financial goals: get the moms off the accounts, balance/consolidate, get AD's POD accounts into P's name, come up with a plan for AD's accounts and at least partially implement it, taxes.

My Email = Evil Temptress

So I'm thinking of doing a triathlon this summer.  I think it has been 3 years since I've tri'd?  OMG, yes, almost 4 years!

Screw it, I just left this screen and signed up.

What I was going to say is that 2 days ago I got an email that the Bridgeland Triathlon is open for registration.  It is a sprint: 500m swim, 14 mi bike, 3.65 mi run.  And they give tech t's and medals.  The complication?  It is right on the heels of my vacation, and I don't intend on training during my vacation.  Oh, and I haven't ridden my bike since I found out I was pregnant in 20-freaking-10.  And I haven't hit the pool since last summer, since I no longer have a gym membership.  Nice.

But, but it is only a 500m swim.  My local pool will open in June, so I could swim a few times a week while P and Z splash around in the other end, and that'd get me to non-drowning capability.  (Actually, I've been swimming all my life, and I'm pretty confident I could do a 500m swim right now and not drown, but it'd suck pretty hard.)

And I haven't been riding my bike, but I have been stationary cycling.  It wouldn't be too hard to switch over to the trainer, and in a few months hit the road.  I think I have a good start on the fitness for an hour long ride - this morning I rode for 40 minutes - I just need some practice on not falling off the bike.  I can do that in 4 months.  Totally.

And I have been running.  I could do the run now.  Slowly, but I'm sure of it.

So, really, if you think about it, this will allow me to continue focusing on my run base - short, but hopefully speeding up.  My cross training just needs to pick up a few sessions a week on a real bike instead of the stationary, and after a month or 2, move it outside.  And pick up some swimming when it gets warm, which I would totally do anyways - I love to swim!

And the vacation - I'll be ok.  It is the best timing for a tri, because August is when half marathon training begins.  I'll have a nice aerobic base built up for the tri, and then I'll just need to start converting it to running long.

I'm going to be a triathlete again!

Updated to add: I couldn't get over that it had been since August 2008 since I had done a tri, and I was right, it was actually May 2009.  Still, that'll be more than 3 years when Bridgeland rolls around.  It is time.

12 in 2012 - Book 6!

Which was, as I mentioned before, Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire.  This was a big honkin' book, y'all.  (694 pages, according to my library's catalog - I wouldn't know, because I read it on my Kindle!)

So I figured out why starting the book was difficult for me.  You see, I had tried to start this series previously, years ago, and just couldn't get into it.  I actually almost didn't this time.  I started reading, was failing to get sucked in, but I kept hearing that I'd love it, so I kept giving it another chapter, and finally Catelyn's first chapter grabbed me, and then I was hooked.  I think the reason I have difficulty with this series is because George R R Martin writes each chapter from a different person's perspective.  That is actually common, or at least having parts of a book from different characters' perspectives is common, especially, it seems, with the fantasy series I read - I mean, the authors have to advance action across an entire world, so that seems a logical way to do it.  I think the difference with the way GRRM does it and the way I'm used to is that, well, first of all, he does it every chapter.  And I can read a chapter in about 15 minutes.  That's a lot of perspective changing.  And secondly, at the beginnings of books he doesn't start with 1 person and then switch to a person that you got introduced to in the first person's chapter.  He switches to someone who you have no idea how they are related.  While this is really pretty cool because he relies on the reader to make the connections in the beginning, thus making you think and wonder, for me it also makes it harder to get sucked in.  Lots harder.

I started the second book in the series yesterday, and the 3rd chapter (I think it is the third.) is from the perspective of... someone.  I have no idea who they are, where they are, or why they are/will be important.  When I saw that, I just closed the book and went to bed.  Even though I know I'll love this book, I just didn't have the mental wherewithal to care about a new character last night.

Don't get me wrong - I'm already itching to get to reading again today - I just think this is interesting.

A Day with Daddy

Last week the Z missed a day of school for a fever.  I had to work, so Preston had her all day.  I could hardly stand it, so I kept asking him to text me pictures, and behold: a day with Daddy.

Breakfast!

 

Asleep on the way to/from the doctor's office.

What Daddy built during her EPIC 3 hour nap.

Snack = In Mah Sick Belleh!

Scarf, Babushka, Hajib, Daddy's shirt - it's all the same.

"Helping" Daddy.

Sick day home with Daddy = priceless.

Last Weekend Update

Last weekend was a big one for us.  Friday was Preston's last furlough-day.; I was off, so we took the day and frantically built the rest of the furniture we bought from Ikea.  It took allllllll day.  All day.  And I swear, I must have made 30 trips upstairs carrying books, and I'm only about halfway done transferring all the books!

Breaking down the old bed.

Building the new headboard.

New shelves, all lined up and ready to go.

Grimmy "helping".

Saturday was St. Patrick's Day, which all redheads are legally required to dress for!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We hung out for a normal morning, all dressed up.

What a ham!

Helping Daddy play.

Then Saturday was the second to last day of the Rodeo, and we wanted to take the Z for her first time.  We had a normal morning, then headed over after her nap.  It was a huge hit.  Huge.  We went basically only to the Stockyard part so she could see all the animals: cows, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, rabbits, even bees!  She really really loved it.  By the time we were done with that, it was time for dinner.  I was really nervous about that part because there are never enough tables at the rodeo, and usually you end up eating while sitting on a curb.  Well, we did, but Z behaved really really well.  I had P sit first (I was holding Z and lots of food), then I handed him down the food, and set her down standing, then I sat and she actually ran over to the curb and imitated me!  I think she may have been a little intimidated by her surroundings, because she sat unusually close by my side, and she stuck with me without trying to escape for far longer than I would have ever anticipated - long enough to actually eat!  Then we went in search of funnel cake, which she absolutely loved.  She started saying and signing "more" as soon as a bite was in her mouth, before she even chewed it!

Chickens!

First funnel cake. 

Sunday the goal was a lazy day around the house, but we did make it to the park for some shenanigans and a walk along the bayou.

She went down this slide over and over again.

Loving the swing.

Wanting to see her pic before it even gets taken.