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.