Heels & Hills Half Marathon

It's official-I received my confirmation today that I am registered for the Heels & Hills Half Marathon (which I ironically keep almost typing "Hells").

The race is at 7:30am on May4th. It will be my first time to attempt a half. My goal is not about time, it's all about whether or not I can finish it. The course is only open 4 hours, so I have to do it in that amount of time, but even at 15 minute miles that would put me at 3 hrs and 15 minutes. We'll see how it goes.

I told my grandfather he could see me off, then go and have a nice relaxing breakfast, maybe do some shopping, then come back and see the end.

Just in time to see me pass out across the finish line! Wish me luck!

Where are You Westwood?

I am part of the Advisory Board at Westwood College and attend the annual PAC Meetings for Graphic Design and Multimedia.

This year, the school location moved from when it used to be in Euless, where I taught.

I thought I knew where it was at. Came prepared with my directions printed, phone number, gave myself an hour to get there. The meeting started at 11:30. At 11:45 I was still driving around trying to find it. After 30 minutes of circling the area, trying to reach my contact and checking the satellite view on my phone, I'm sorry to say I gave up and drove back to work. I left two voicemails and sent an email with an apology (and it was sincere, I didn't just say I was sorry I missed the free lunch).

I feel guilty about not making it, and hope it doesn't effect my participation in the future.

Nicolle Failed

Yes, I did.

My New Year's Resolution was to complete a 12-week training program in preparation for a half marathon. The goal was not the marathon, or how well I needed to do, it was just to STICK to the program.

I made it 3 weeks and then stopped.

For documentation sake, I did get really sick with a few different things, including an ear infection which really wiped me out. But even after recovering I only went back to running maybe twice a week.

So no excuses or ramblings-I tried, I failed. The Lesson is: Never Try.

;)

Conformity

Conformity by dictionary standards means to act in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices, etc.

Many things have come up the last several months that make me question our(my) standard approach with our kids, and how my innate reaction with them is altered because of social "norm".

In pretty much every situation I am in with lots of small children around-playgroup, playground, the mall, birthday parties, daycare, etc. children are behaving very similarly. Some of those qualities or behaviors include- talking very loudly, talking non-stop, touching everything, laughing, jumping and running around, climbing things, being silly, interrupting people, the list goes on and on. 99.9% of kids do these things...and 99.9% of parents correct them. Pigeon-hole them into what is acceptable in public. But I wonder, how much of that is stifling their behavior, robbing them of some of their innocence and taking some of the joy away?

These thoughts are me questioning myself, asking myself how are these things effecting my kids? I want them to be able to express themselves and still act respectfully and appropriate. But where do you draw the line? It seems like looking back from this point in my life, there is an apparent "flow" to our lives. The ups and downs between learning and finding ourselves, and those things should never stop. As children we are learning constantly, being exposed to things, then "told" how to behave, what is right and wrong. From that we try to understand ourselves and who we are, only to be a part of a society where standards are already established, and if you are not part of certain ones, it's not acceptable. Then we reach a point where we are strong enough to express ourselves at a new level, only to be judged again-beliefs and expectations set at a new and higher standard. This is when we start to try and find those childlike qualities again. Where did they go? When did they stop? We try so hard to get back the things that were there to begin with, they were there all along... and repressed.

If we are lucky, we can recreate some of the things that make us who we are. The childlike beings we were born as. The behaviors that were once there...talking to everyone, touching everything, laughing, jumping and running around, being silly....

Those are the joys I see in my boys, and am lucky enough to experience some of those things through them, and quite possibly regain a few of my own.

HAPPY PATTY'S DAY...

That makes me think of a York Peppermint Patty....YUM! Have a good one!!

FROM THE WEBERNET:

Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia.

In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks shows.

Adorable=Nickolas

I just think this is the most adorable thing I have ever seen...so I had to post it.

Love!

"Horton Hears a Who" Review!

Decided to take Kolbe to see "Horton Hears a Who" today.

I like taking him to the movies, and today was the first time I had taken him to the Studio Movie Grill, so of course I was very excited to eat food and enjoy the movie at the same time! =)

Somehow over the course of my 31 years I had not gotten around to reading this book, so this was new to me. I liked the concept of it, the idea of another civilization on a tiny speck, the battle between whether or not something is real if you can't touch it, see it or hear it, and the overall story.

What I didn't like, or have yet to understand, is why they gear these movies towards very small children and find it necessary to use words such as "moron", "idiot" and "stupid". I am a firm believer in not censoring certain things because I believe kids and adults can be in environments where they are exposed to certain things and also exposed to opinions and thoughts.

For example: the fact that most people in my family curse up a storm is a constant thing. I'm not going to change their behavior, and I'm not going to keep my children away from them, so I decide to consistently remind Kolbe that it's not necessary to use that kind of language and that my opinion on the subject is that your point can be made without it.

So that's what I did in this movie today. Every time a word like that was used, I whispered to him that the word used was not nice, and he knew! He has yet to learn to use his "inside voice" in the movies, so he also reminded me very loudly every time the color green came into play that it was his favorite color!

Overall-good movie. I would let Kolbe watch it again. The colors in it are amazing!

Camping with Two Small Children...

Yep-trees.

Okay...I have to say, I didn't have the absolute best attitude going into the camping trip, and I happen to slightly enjoy camping. We've been several times on vacations, with groups of friends and with family. It makes for a good time (mostly due to the S'mores).

So this weekend, it was camping at Lake Murray National Park in Oklahoma. I was really looking forward to seeing Kolbe enjoy himself, because he had been with Keith before, and he had also been with Oma and Opa for several days and really loved it. He has been talking about camping for weeks.

What I was not looking forward to was having a 14 month old out in the wilderness for the weekend. Horrible approach I know. It ended up being alright. We had our ups and downs. It was a little chaotic when we first arrived and had the four of us AND Keith's parents in the RV and everyone talking and trying to get around. After they left we went down to the lake, took a walk and then napped. Was worried about the sleeping arrangement, but put the daybed in the back and closed the curtain and Nick did great. Spent the afternoon cooking and taking more walks, it was nice. I have to admit, it is nice to get away from all the people, the computer and be outside. It is a different kind of relaxation.

The worst part was when we got the fire going Nickolas did not want to stay away from it. He wanted to throw things in it. It was making me really nervous. We had s'mores, they were delicious. Early bedtime and it was great to get some sleep.

Headed back home rather early this morning-there's only so many walks you can take! =) That was our Spring Break!!

Camping with the Muellers

Random Thoughts

Feeling a little all over the place tonight, so thought I would just spit it all out with no rhyme or reason to any of it:

• There was a story on the local news about a woman who threw her 6 and 8-year old boys off a highway bridge onto traffic. Then she jumped. They amazingly all survived.

• It's supposed to be 90 degrees on Friday!

• I wonder if a majority of people are more dramatic than I am, or less dramatic. According to some people I use a certain "tone" that's not appropriate.

• There was another story on the local news this evening about a man who has cerebral palsy, and public transportation only goes to certain areas, and he was waiting on the bus for 6 hours. Think about how lucky we are when we can get around on our own.

• After about 8 years of eating at the same Thai place, and getting the same exact meal for lunch, I decided today to try a new dish-and it was excellent.

• Kolbe is so snuggly right now. Every night when he eats his snacks he sits with me, puts his arm around me and snuggles.

• A friend of mine had surgery 9 days ago, and is doing incredible. Been thinking about her a lot.

• Wondering when there will be relief in sight at work.

• Bought a treadmill tonight.

• I feel guilty that I haven't seen Nikki's baby since October, I haven't called my grandparents this week and that my kids are in daycare 4 days a week.

• I want David Archuleta to win on American Idol.

• Talked to my next door neighbor again tonight. I really like her a lot and her kids are great. I've "known" her a year this month and can shamefully say I can't remember her name.

• I ran into another parent at school that I really like a lot, was good to see him.

• Must workout more.

Maybe tomorrow I will have a more focused line of thoughts!

iPhone: Yes, iBought it....

Alright, I had kind of sworn off "gadgets" such as this, because years and years ago I had to be one of the first to get the Compaq hand held and spent way too much money and never used it. All that technology (at the time), and I still kept going back to writing all my notes on paper, I didn't like that it had to sync up to my PC at work and I didn't want to pay the extra money for the internet connection.

But NOW....times are different.

I've had this "gadget" all of 6 hours and I think I'm in love! The interface is amazing. It took me (and I'm not kidding) about 3 minutes to get it set up in itunes on my laptop and I was online and ready to go. Only an extra $20 more a month since I am currently an AT&T customer and am already getting ripped off.

An ipod, phone, text messaging, connection to my email, internet, contacts, notes, a camera, AND you can do all of this from an airplane if you wanted to!!

So far, all I can say is....AMAZING!!
I think I am a born again gadget lover.

Favorite Quotes

I keep a file on my computer of favorite quotes that I reference quite a bit when feeling down, or need some inspiration at home, work or just in general.

I've only shared them with one person, but I thought I would post some of my favorites to give me a little "pick me up" this evening.

“To be nobody but myself, in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.” - E.E. Cummings

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. "
—Joseph Chilton Pearce, author

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." - Helen Keller

Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others.
- David Seabury

My New Favorite Candy Bar!

The 3Musketeers Mint!

Now trust me, this is hard to write. I am a loyal fan of the Reeses Peanut Butter cup (Jumbo Size), the Hershey Bar, the new Reeses Whipped and the original 3Musketeers....BUT, this absolutely has to be my candy bar of choice from here on out.

I'm not even that big of a "mint" girl, but there is something about this one. Now I am not going to write up as detailed of a review as the 2 links below (check those out to wonder who has that much time on their hands), but I will say...

It's a little small. I believe the words directly out of my mouth after eating it in 9 seconds were "I could eat about 5 more of those". The texture is perfect. The dark chocolate is better for you than other options, so it's actually GOOD for you-I think I'll eat one everyday. AND, Kolbe liked it and won't stop talking about mint. I'm so proud of him. =)

Try one out-then eat 5 more after that while you're at it.

Candy Blog-I'm Impressed
Another Candy Blog

It Snowed in Texas-In March!!

Wow-look at the view from our backyard! It's absolutely amazing!

Last night it snowed and I can't remember the last time I saw snow like this. It usually does this in January/February for a day or two, and everything shuts down, people start to stockpile and no one knows how to drive in it.

But this view is definitely worth all that! It all melted today though and now it's back to the normal warm sunny weather-oh and flat.