There's 104 Days of Summer Vacation...

Well actually in our case more like 67... we only get like 6 weeks of vacation to promote student retention... blah... blah... blah...

I really enjoyed this year... I somehow became room mom to 2 classes, both Katie and Kassie's... This was purely by accident. I learned that when the teacher asks you how you want to help in the class... not to put down an assortment of things for her to select from... she will give it ALL to you. I seriously had to have a chat with one of the teachers at the beginning of the year about wanting to help a lot in the classroom, but NOT every day for some days 2-3 hours...LOL

I have learned the importance of being involved in my kids class... Yes, I was room mom for Kassie's class but for the first time, I was not also doing classroom time. I underestimated how important this actually is. As my drama queen would come home with even more woes regarding many of the kids, I realized that I really did not know all of the kids in her class and that made it difficult to discern real threats and such from just a exaggerated drama. As if by magic, as soon as I started to volunteer in the classroom, the drama simmered down quite a lot.

I have often felt the tug to become a teacher, and honestly I feel it is such a noble profession, but there is so much hard work that goes into being a teacher, more than I really want to be responsible for... so for now, while I am given a great opportunity to stay-at-home and be a professional mom, I will greatly assist with my girl's teachers, helping to relieve some of their less pressing burdens, and create unbelievable memories for my girls. That being said I tend to become rather attached to these teachers. I learn so much about them, and they learn so much about my girls... what makes them click, learn, motivated etc. The end of the school year is always so hard to say good-bye to them. I am such an emotional wimp sometimes...

Then there is my 3rd grader who is moving a whole and complete campus away now... our school goes from K-3 grade, and now Katie will be going to the 4-8th campus... MIDDLE SCHOOL! I am NOT ok in the least with her growing up... she is already showing signs of her independence... Can't we just freeze them? Ah, come on... why not? Today being the last day at that school for her was very emotional... I have been teary eyed for the past 3 days and today was no different. I was under control... that is until I saw a chalk drawing one 3rd grader drew... "Good bye 3rd grade, Hello 4th!" Ouch!

I have learned, however, just how much Katie and I are alike... here I am dealing with my emotions of her growing up... and she has the same... she saw me coming for her today and burst out into tears... she was just as scared and sad and anxious as I was... we had a great hug and cry fest on the front lawn before we left that school. I know with every ounce of my being, that she will do awesome next year... but I know I will walk with her as long as she will allow me to... that is my full time job as a professional mom ;-)

Lessons from a Port-A-Potty

Last Thanksgiving, somehow I received a notice that I could get in on the Inaugural Hollywood 1/2 Marathon, 10k and 5k for half off... I jumped at the chance. While accomplishing a 5 k would have been a challenge at the time, I knew that I knew I could do it... sooooo... I signed myself and my husband up for the 10k... something to really challenge me and to work toward.

My husband has always worked hard at being a runner and had even run the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll Marathon… I looked up to that greatly. I would think of how cool it would be for us to go for a jog together, and thought that someday I would run the Rock ‘n Roll ½ Marathon with him. It was just something on my bucket list. This 10k helped me move this though into a reality. We would soon find ourselves a hotel and planning our first ever night out of town without the kids. Whoo-Hoo!

Ok, so now both of us had some set-backs… for me I suffered from Plantar Faciatis, an incredibly stabbing pain in my foot, and for my husband, an injured hip flexor muscle. The kids and I had rotated a cold around between us that made getting any training time impossible for about a month before the big race… but with intensity I tried my hardest to get distance in my training…

I was nervous. I wanted to finish the entire 10k in less than 90 minutes. One day on the treadmill I did the 6.2 miles in 79 minutes… well, at least I knew it was possible, but that was the only time I had come close to doing the complete length… BUT, knowing that in the excitement of cheering crowds and other runners, I was likely to do a better time, I thought it would be really cool to complete the 10k in less than 80 minutes…

On the morning of the race day, I was nervous… almost feeling like an imposter of a runner… I am not the skinny runner type… but…. Runners come in all sizes and shapes right? I dragged my poor husband down to McDonalds for a quick breakfast of marginal-tasting oatmeal and a 20 oz coffee (for energy right?) We went back up to the room to eat and watch the ½ Marathoners pass by our window… I was starting to get pumped now… I carefully placed my bib number (8061) on my chest, went to the bathroom, “one last time” and made the trek back downstairs toward the starting line… I started to stretch and get warmed up. I chanted to myself “I think I can, I think I can” and “Slow and steady wins the race!” I found it amazing how one can apply such elementary stories into everyday challenges … with only 15 minutes to the start of the race, wouldn’t you know… I had to use the bathroom ( I guess that is why people only use energy shots instead of drinking 20 oz of coffee). Only, there were not potties close by, and all the restaurants like Starbucks and Jamba Juice had lines 20 deep. I thought it was only 6 miles, I could hold it… Right???

I started the race strong, but around 2 miles started feeling a bit fatigued… I wanted to walk, just a minute… I did, but found that with everyone else running around me, I found my wind after just a minute… there came a time that I thought I couldn’t possibly stop running until I found a Port-A-Potty… which I did around mile 3… I stopped and found that in a race, people don’t care where their aim is… it was super gross! How was I going to do this? I held on with all my might to a couple of handles on the door, and as I pulled myself back into a standing position, I noticed a mirror, but did not recognize the person looking back at me. That person was full of focus and determination, a real athlete… This was a pivotal moment for me… I became the Runner, not an imposter!

From that moment on, I was able to hit a stride that was perfect for me and allowed me to run the rest of the race at an incredibly comfortable pace. With the sun at my back, I began chasing myself… I loved my shadow at that moment, the physic… curvy, and slender, very athletic… I was beginning to see myself in a new light, really the body I am chasing, eventually I will reach it, but it became my motivation to keep moving.

I could see the finish line on the horizon and I looked up to see my dear husband on the sidelines. I will never forget his reaction when he saw me coming up… “WOW! You are doing really good!” He was completely surprised at my progress… That pleased my soul very much.

As I came up to the finish line, and I could see the official time clock, I could not help but to grin… but the closer I got, the bigger my smile got, and it took everything in me to hold back tears… I did it! I finished my first 10k in 69.35minutes and was 764 out of 1350 runners… right in the middle of the pack…

I am proud of my accomplishment! But I am more proud at the transformation of my mind that occurred in no other place than a Port-A-Potty…