Hello Hippo

I finally finished the happy hippo a few weeks ago.  It took me a very long time.  I was getting sick of seeing the unfinished pieces laying around.  I was getting sick of that yarn.  The smile did not come out quite right and I can still take it out and redo it.  But Miles does not seem to mind.  He loves hippo.  It is apparent by the chocolate stains on hippos snout.  Miles likes to hug and bite hippo. 

The book of animals are very cute in Knitted Wild Animals by Sarah Keen.  If I was motivated I would make another one.  I am not motivated. 



One week done

Week 1
5 Runs
Total milage 17 miles

Slow and steady.  It really is hard to get runs in with this hot weather.  I feel better when I run in the morning so I'm not dreading the late day run in the heat.  At the same time, I'm trying to figure out how to have enough in the tank to have a strong run in the morning.  So far I have eaten a 1/2 banana and 8oz of Naked Juice green machine flavor and that does not seem to cut it.  Maybe a whole banana with peanut butter.  The last few days I haven't rolled out of bed until 7am and that is not going to cut it once Peter has to go into the office more regularly. 

Goal for tomorrow:  Get up by 6:15 and out the door by 6:30.  Drink Naked juice and eat banana with peanut butter.  Do a few hills at stride pace to get my legs moving.

Day 2

Distance 3.08 miles
Time 27:33 mins

Getting up is 90% of the run.  Whether it is off the couch, out of bed or away from work. 

This morning I was so close to staying in bed.  As I laid there half awake, I accessed how I was feeling.  Pretty much everything was sore.  You see yesterday I decided to do squats, lunges, crunches, and stairs to really kick my butt into shape.  So I'm feeling it today.

Pain is weakness leaving the body. 

Today the weakness is sprinting from my body as I recover.  I'll take today off from strength training.

Bowtie & Blizzard

Running journey

Distance 3.22 miles
Time 28:36 mins

I did it!  I got myself out of bed before Miles woke up.  Not only did I get up...  I went running.  This is the first day, the first of many.  I have decided to sign up for a half marathon this fall.  I need a goal so that I can be diligent and dedicated to my running routine.  Otherwise running just does not happen because of all the other things in life happen.  Sleeping.  House duties.  Kid duties.  It's too hot out.  I'm too tired.  Spending time with husband.  I'll run later.  or tomorrow.  I don't feel well.  Etc.  You know the excuses because you use them too for whatever else you ideally want to do.

So even though I got back yesterday from vacation and I did not sleep well last night.  I got up.  And I ran.  And I remembered how good I feel when I run.  When I don't run, there is a string inside of my that gets wrapped around my sanity.  The more days I got without running, the tighter the strings gets until I am "high strung" and "tightly wond." 

Running is my therapy.  Free therapy.  So I am one of those people who are fantic about getting their run because I know what happens when I don't.  I'm stressed.  I stress out my husband.  I can't sleep.  I worry about nothing.  I have trouble couping with everyday occurances.  I'm selfish.  When I run, I'm laid back (really I am).  I let things slide off my back.  I can sleep.  I can enjoy other people's company and I'm not annoyed that they were late or rude or unkind or not thinking about me.  Because when I run the string loosens and I can look outside of myself.

"Wow" you say "running does all that?  It's a miracle drug." 

It really is for me.

Love the 'do

Navigating the World Wide Web

There is a lot of information out there.  A LOT.  And how do you keep it all straight?  All those links of articles you are reading and want to share with someone else.  The research you have been doing on the the various campsite in Colorado.  Vacation locations for the next year.  A book you want to check out at the library or buy on amazon. 

Me it is the thousands of sewing projects that I aspire to do someday.  There are some very crafty people in the world who post tutorials.

How do you keep all your interests organized?

I use to just open a new tab.  And that started to get to the point where the tabs were so small you could not even read what each tab was.  And if my computer decides to reboot for no apparent reason, half the time Chrome or Firefox would not remember my links and I would have to start from scratch.  A nice way to clean the slate, but not good if you had done a lot of research on VRBO condos to stay at in Winter Park.

Some people have started to use pinterest.com.  I don't know much about this website so please let me know if that is how you organize your projects, wishlists. etc.

I use delicious.com.  I love it.  You set up an account and then start bookmarking your links, adding tags to organize them.  All your links are in one spot that can be accessed from any computer or mobile device. 

And you can add people to your network so you can see what they are bookmarking.  For example my user name is "milehighmom."  You will find that lately I have bookmarked a sewing project to make bow ties for boys and a link to the teardrop camper I love.  I am networked with "simple mom" who bookmarks lots of things on homeschooling and crafts for kids.  

Let me know your user name if you sign up.  Oh it's free!

Sidewalk art 2

This dog greets us every time we pull into our alley!  Happy squating this Holiday weekend!