What, we run hills! Well, sort of.

It's been a great weekend full of running and hanging out with my boys. Here's the recap:

Friday: I fully intended to underachieve. Really. I didn't mean to run 3.9 miles Friday morning. I only meant to run 3. It just sort of happened. I might have loved it, too.

Friday evening (like every other evening), I had the pleasure to do some totally different running. Running after my son. Every day when I pick him up and he realizes we're home he starts almost frantically saying "cars, cars, cars!" or "outside" or, my favorite "ball," which we all know is a ruse. He takes the ball, throws it down the driveway, then takes off running down the sidewalk while I run after the ball.

He positively barrels down the sidewalk for 2 blocks, where he stations himself at a busy corner to watch all the cars go by. He often points and says "car" or "truck." We get waved at a lot. I love this kid.

Saturday: 10-miler with the Team. The got through the first 5.5 at a pace I was really happy with. Things got a little dicey for a few miles, but I finished strong. Overall, pretty happy with that long run. And then we ate our faces off at Panera. YUM.

I've been wanting to add more running pics. So yesterday when I met the Team and the trees were in bloom and we had amazing weather, I was kicking myself for forgetting my camera.

Sunday: Meg gave me the chance to correct that error when she missed the Team run. She needed to make it up today, so I decided to tag along, ostensibly to man her water stops and be there in case her injured leg gave her trouble (which it didn't). It just so happened to also be a good excuse to catch up with her a bit, cram in a couple extra miles (2.2, to be exact) and get some pictures.

(above: approaching our first water stop/starting & finishing area)

(above: I've never seen these before--metallic looking green and blue flies)

(above: this is approaching our second water stop, around 5.5 miles)

(above: what most of the course looks like)

(above: most of our course is wooded, but part of it runs alongside a golf course)

AND FINALLY...the dreaded hill. Mr. Joanna looked at this and said, "The old you would laugh at you for dreading that hill." I responded that I laugh at myself every Saturday for dreading this hill. Compared to where I grew up this is nothing...but at the end of a long run it's enough to make us groan. And in fairness, this picture only shows the first half of the hill. It continues past the bend. That's the fabulous Meg charging up the hill, almost finished with her 10-miler.

It was at least 75 degrees while Meg did her 10-miler, so to cool off and refuel afterward we went to DQ and indulged. Man, I love running.

177.2 + 3.9 + 10.0 + 2.2 = 193.2 miles (there's some rounding error)

My son is a dancing machine!

My little boy loves to dance. He dances to everything and sometimes dances to nothing at all. Over the weekend he introduced a new dance, which we like to call the "Grapevine & Point." I have NO idea where he got this from, but that's OK. It makes me laugh so hard. Capturing its essence proved difficult, but I think between these four pictures you can kind of get it. Enjoy!

(Oh, and while I'm at it, I ran today! 4 miles, and I took a few more seconds off the average pace. Total mileage = 51.9 + 4.0 = 55.9)

Pushing the pace

Today is President's Day, a day that has always struck me as an obscure reason to shut down the Federal government. It also means my kiddo's daycare is closed, so I'm home enjoying a snowy day with my little boy. I got him all bundled up this morning to go outside so I could shovel the path to our front porch. I shoveled out a little square area for him to stand in, since he seemed hesitant, and put him down in the middle of it. True to form, he refused to move. He wouldn't even move within the square area I'd shoveled out. I tried to get him to throw a snowball but he wouldn't touch it. It's one of his lovable quirks. Last summer he wouldn't walk on grass and absolutely loathed sprinklers and other water-based amusements. This winter he won't walk on snow or salt. Otherwise, we ran errands, had lunch with Mr. Joanna (his new blog name), and played and played and played. And now the babe naps, giving me time to tell you about my weekend.

On Saturday The Bestie and I went to a crop (12-hour scrapbooking get-together at a crafts store) with The Gangsta. We always have a good time at these. It's good time to hang out and be super girly and tease each other a little bit and spend some money on crafty goodness. When I left my house to go pick up The Bestie my jaw dropped a little bit. We had hoarfrost unlike anything I've ever seen. The frost was so thick on the trees, weeds, everything, that it looked like thick snow and ice. It was drop dead gorgeous. We got to the crop a little after 9. I spent the day making Mr. Joanna a Valentine's card and completing 3 honeymoon pages (might have a picture of two of them later). It was a slow, fun day.

Sunday was possibly the best Valentine's Day ever. We were just us and it was fabulous. We went to church in the morning, then the boys headed home and I headed to the gym for my long run (more on that below). I got home and got cleaned up just about the time the babe was waking up from his nap. We played and all ate dinner together, then went out to get an ice cream cone from McDonald's (49 cents of terrible wonderful) and rent Inglourious Basterds (to watch after the babe was asleep, of course). That's who we are--a couple that goes to see The Hangover on our anniversary and rents Inglourious Basterds on Valentine's Day and plays with our little boy in between. I think that about hits the nail on the head.

So the long run, on the 'mill again. It was great! It took me longer than usual to settle into. I didn't feel like I hit that groove until maybe mile 2.5 or so, partially because I forgot to change the incline on the 'mill until some point after 1.0. With the 'mill at a 0.5% incline, I got through 6 miles at an average pace of 9:28! I'm definitely happy with that. I'm on course to get that average pace DOWN before training gets very serious.

Mileage: 45.9 + 6.0 = 51.9

New Year

I've been thinking all day about what to write in observation of the new year. I don't have a very coherent set of ideas. Here's what I have.

It's been a year of huge things, preceding another year of huge, life-changing things. This year I accomplished one of my life goals--I finished a marathon. I also got my first post-PhD job, which starts in August and will require relocation to another Midwestern city. It also requires that I defend my dissertation and graduate for the LAST time this coming May. I've continued figuring out this motherhood bit, with incredible and growing joy and love for my little boy. In all of this I've learned that I can do incredible things, just not all at once. That might be the one thing I'll always remember about this year.

In the past year I have committed myself more fully to running. I tracked my mileage for the first time. I ran my third half-marathon and my first full marathon. I bought nice winter running gear. It was news to me when a coach observed that I'm slightly faster than average for my age and gender division in the half-marathon. Strangely, that small statistic gave me a little more confidence that I can do this, and I can keep improving. It's hard to describe to the non-runner (believe me, I've tried repeatedly with my brother), but running makes me really happy. I love knowing what I'm capable of, and knowing that I'm doing something good for myself and for others through the Team. Last year's final mileage tally came to 463.3 miles. It sounds like a lot until you break it down. It's actually less than 10 miles per week. Here and now, I'm committing to surpassing that in 2010. It isn't something I'm willing to give up when motherhood, work and life take over.

I've learned that even though you cross the finish line by yourself, your Team gets you there. My Team gave me a home away from home (so to speak) this year, coached me through injury and frustration, and celebrated with me when I finished the marathon. On the surface, we're sort of an odd collection of people. You wouldn't, for the most part, pick us out of a crowd to be friends with each other. But I don't know what I would have done without this group of people, especially our coaches and our resident Gangsta. Actually, I do. I would have slept in rather than toe the line that October morning in Detroit. You might argue that I could have said this at year end in 2007 or 2008, when I ran my first half and a postpartum half. But this is different. There is something about finishing that first marathon. It's our big fat secret, but almost everyone cries at that moment. This year with my Team was something different for me. I more fully appreciate my little group.

When I say I'm unwilling to give up running when motherhood, work, and life happen, I must admit it's largely a luxury my husband affords me. My bigger point here is that 2009 taught me, in spades, the fullness of my husband's heart. People often ask me how I combine being a mom and a student. The truth is, I couldn't do any of it without my husband. We work together to cram all the pieces of our lives into the under-sized jar it often seems like we are given, and I appreciate him so much for that.

On a related topic, I've continued to learn the complexities of motherhood, and I've thought a lot about what it means for me and for my son. I've talked about it at length with my husband. It's a matter of the heart that doesn't have an appropriate home here, so I'm not really going to discuss it in detail, except to say that I'm in a good place. One less personal but related observation from the year: paternalism is alive and well! I never have and I still will not have any part of it. Criticisms of me and my family on this topic are senseless and categorically unwelcome.

I feel like I should say something about scrapbooking, but I don't really know what. More than anything, I feel like I've become much more focused in my hobbies, in the sense that I now have fewer and spend much more time (relatively speaking) on the few that I've kept. I think I've grown as a scrapper, largely as a result of better tools (yeah Slice!) and countless hours of conversation on the topic with N. I'm really looking forward to finishing the album I'm working on now...uh-huh, of 2005. Ha! It's coming along.

In closing, this is where I am right now. I'm looking forward to our life in a new city. How long until we know where things are? Until we have friends there? Until our lives feel rooted there? I remember feeling like this when I moved to Illinois. It seems a lifetime ago. I'm afraid that moving will scar my little boy. He's so small. So routinized. So in love with his daycare. How will he be able to understand? Will we find another church we love? What kind of house will we buy? In short, what will life be like in a year? I don't know, but for now I am in a pretty good spot--surrounded by awesome friends and anticipating a future we've awaited for so long.

This has gotten long and perhaps too personal, so I'm gonna wrap things up with, oh yeah, you guessed it, a NEW mileage count, from a run that got cut short by impassable sidewalks:

2.2 miles

Pictures to go with the Elliot update

My friend CH asked for photos to accompany the last blog update. Pictures really do enhance blog posts, so, I shall oblige! First up is a picture of Elliot playing his game outside the half-bath door. Brendan is in there, ready for the jar lid to come under the door. I love it! I'll miss this when he outgrows it.

I realized after writing the last post that I'd overlooked Elliot's funniest quirk: OCD-esque obsessions. Here are pictures of a few of my favorites. I love these! First, Elliot's beloved seed packets, which I think I've mentioned before. He loves playing with these, but sort of panics if he thinks he doesn't have a chance to put them away when he's finished. They belong in the drawer. Period.

And flashlights must be stored upright. He will take them out of their drawer and do this if they are stored horizontally.

He also strongly prefers that his cup be in a cupholder if possible, which might be my favorite of these traits. I hope it translates into coaster use later in life.

And finally, canisters must also be stored upright, and stacked on on top of another. If they are stored in multiple stacks, he will take them all out and stack them together on the floor, or try to restack them without taking them out of the cabinet.

Elliot at 18 months

Elliot has had an exciting advancement that's prompted me to write a short update on his little life. Re-reading my last "Elliot update" from August, I decided to do another enumerated list of all things E. He's such a great little boy, and I have no modesty about him.

1. He has gotten over his hatred of grass and will now willingly walk on it.

2. We still get lectured in unintelligible baby garble, BUT, he now has some words! His vocabulary includes: no, up, hot, row, boat, uh-oh, momma, dadda, hi, bye, baby. "Row" and "boat" of course go together, complete with arm gestures that go with the song. Other words have appeared a time or two, but not consistently. The ones that come to mind first are Thomas and twinkle, oh, and Hannah, the name of one of his caretakers at daycare.

3. He has changed from playing with the food storage lids to playing with the colander. He puts it on his head and walks/runs around. Sometimes he puts his blocks or other toys in it. If he's awake, it's probably on our kitchen floor. Some days I just give up on putting it away.

4. He still cannot bear the thought of someone being in the half-bath without him. However, his anxiety has evolved into game playing. We keep two odd items on hand: the lid to a baby food jar, and a business card-sized info card from Verizon Wireless. He slides these under the door and waits for the person on the other side to slide it back his way. So those random items on the floor in our half-bath? Yeah, not trash.

5. He has gotten good at stacking his blocks. He can stack them five high now!

6. He LOVES his daycare. He almost always resists going home at the end of the day, and he often wants to go on weekends. We feel so blessed to have found a daycare that is so nurturing of him, and that he likes so much.

7. I have a brush that I don't use any more. He loves brushing his hair with it.

8. He also LOVES brushing his own teeth (often with some assistance) and feeding himself with a fork. We often spear the food for him then let him pick up the fork and feed himself. It's so fun to watch him gaining independence and confidence.

Trip to DC

Mileage has been way down the last week and a half. Last week I was out of town for work. I just plain didn't have time for a 12 mile run, so I did my best, which was 5.3 miles. I also got in a 3 mile run on Monday morning before flying back home. Tuesday I took off to get unpacked, caught up on sleep, and get settled in. Wednesday I (brace yourself) planned ahead and brought running clothes to the office so I could break for a mid-afternoon run. It's starting to get dark early, and I had a hundred other things to do that evening, so I ran when I could. It turned out to be a great decision, because the weather was gorgeous when I ran and turned ugly not long after. It's been raining for the last two days, and hence, I've been inside, being lazy. So, the mileage update.

350.5 + 5.3 + 3.0 + 3.0 = 361.8

I'm definitely not as prepared as I would like to be going into my first marathon. I never got to the 18 or 20 mile long runs. My mileage these last two weeks has been way down. It might rain on race day, which I'm not really prepared for. Regardless, I'm excited for the race and hoping for the best!

In non-running news, I'm closing in on my niece's First Year album. I am so excited to finally be giving it to them when we go to Detroit. I'm headed to a crop tomorrow to wrap up work on it. N is going with me tomorrow too, and we're both pretty excited.

As for little Elliot, his babbling is becoming alarmingly more word-like every day. Yesterday while going upstairs it really sounded like he said, "I'm just climbing." It's amazing to watch him develop. I took him with me to DC so he could have some QT with the grandparents. He hung out with Grandma and Grandaddy Paulson for a few days and with his Nana for a few days. We also got to visit with my friends Jamie and Will. It was Will's first time meeting Elliot, and Jamie hadn't seen him since last Thanksgiving. I was SO happy to have the chance to see them and catch up. Elliot did very well with all the transitioning from place to place, and seems to have had fun with everyone. Grandma Paulson took the picture below. The travel was long though, and so he was overjoyed when we finally got home on Monday night. His face just lit up when he realized that we were walking into the house. He ran around the first floor, rediscovering his toys, opening all the drawers he has access to and waving around his play objects (like a sheet of stamps we let him play with). It was great. And his return to daycare on Tuesday was with even more enthusiasm.

On the mend, looking forward

Good news--the new plan seems to be working. I successfully ran 14 miles this Saturday and felt good afterward. The combination of the sleeve and ibuprofen mostly, with stretching and ice on the side, seems to be doing the trick. Who knew it would be so simple?! The hard part at this point will be getting crazy fit again in short order. Before this weekend, it had been four weeks since my last 14 milers. The 14 this weekend happened, and I'm pleased with how it went, but I did not feel as strong as I did 6 weeks ago. Moving forward, I'm planning 16 for this weekend, 18 for the following weekend, then 12 and 6 for the last two weeks before the marathon.

An update on miles shows that I've finally broken the 300-mile mark! I feel compelled to add here too that part of my recuperation includes switching one more mid-week run to a cross-training day, so while I'm working out just as much (and just as intensely), my total miles will be lower while I finish working through my IT band issues.

284.5 + 1.4 + 9.2 + 3.0 + 14.0 + 4.1 = 316.2 miles

On things not running-related:
This past weekend Elliot did something that amazed me. On Saturday afternoon, he walked into our mud room, picked up my running shoes and brought them to me. He waved them at my feet and put them on top of my feet like he wanted me to put them on. I thought he just wanted to see them on, so I put one on to model for him. He picked up the other one and waved it at me, so I put it on too. As I did that, he walked to the back door and grabbed the door knob (he can reach it, but can't turn it yet). I had no idea that he a) understood that he can't go outside alone, b) understood that you have to put your shoes on first, and c) understood the doorknob. Of course, he's never gone out alone or without shoes (beyond our driveway), and he can't use the doorknob himself, but it was his putting together the whole process of it that amazed me. It sounds so simple, but it amazed me. I love that kid.

Getting to know Elliot

The other day as I was getting something out of the oven, I remembered being pregnant and telling my friend Marla how odd it seemed to grow a person in my belly and know only two things about them: it was a boy and he hated heat. Remembering that moment, I decided I wanted to stop and record the things I know about him now, at 14 months.

1. He loves anything on wheels. On walks, he inspects every parked car. He also loves toy cars and trucks.
2. He loves being read to, especially right before bedtime.
3. He's a talker! Sometimes he lectures us, sometimes he's telling jokes, sometimes stories--all in unintelligible baby garble, of course!
4. He's blond, with dark blue eyes that have small brown rings. His eyes and (I think) mouth are shaped like mine, but overall he looks more like Brendan. He has Brendan's nose and coloring. He has awesome dimples.
5. On his play & learn table he shows a consistent preference for the banjo music/movement to the other instruments.
6. He loves to dig things out of his toy box, sometimes to the point of almost falling into the toy box.
7. Cell phones and remote controls are his cryptonite.
8. He loves applesauce.
9. The blue lids that come on Ziploc disposable storage containers are lots of fun. We almost never have many in the drawer because every day he takes them out to play with them. After slobbering on them, he even sometimes puts them back. :)
10. He hates grass. I have no idea why. He will play with grass clippings, but will not voluntarily walk on grass and screams if you put him on the lawn, sometimes even with shoes on. He finds it especially not entertaining to be put in the yard and then sprinkled lightly by the garden hose on a hot day.
11. His most coveted toy is the grill. He simply does not understand why he can't play with it, and that pisses him off.
12. There are only two things Elliot consistently dislikes. The first is grass (see above). The second is knowing that someone is in the bathroom. It matters not whether he's home with both parents or just one of us. If either of us goes into the half bath and closes the door, he takes up his post, where he hits the door, tries to cram his hands underneath, and talks/yells at whoever is in the bathroom. Why? I have no idea. It sounds annoying, but it's actually really cute.
13. He loves dogs. There are a few at daycare that are great with the kids and vice versa.
14. Every time he sneezes, he smiles or laughs.
15. We think he could find a bag of Cheerios in the middle of a corn field (we live in IL)

Those of you who see him, please feel free to add to this list!

Rock & Roll!!

Yesterday was the inaugural Chicago Rock & Roll Half-Marathon! We made it to race day!! I don't have much time to write, but I had such a good time, I have been looking forward to posting some pictures.

The basics: The weather was perfect. It was in the 70s with less humidity (I think) than was expected. It was so perfect, in fact, that I didn't even think about the weather until a slight breeze came up from the lake front, but even that died down quickly. It was perfect.

My finishing time was 2:06:09. That's almost 6 minutes faster than I ran the (almost identically) same course two years ago (pre-baby!) and over 2 minutes faster than I ran Indy last October. My ultimate goal is to run a half in two hours flat. Of course I hoped to do that, but my realistic goal was to beat my previous best race time, and I did that. I am more than pleased!! The only thing that could have made the race more enjoyable and possibly faster would have been Meg, but there will be more races.

Brendan and Elliot came with me to this race, and my friend Lynn met them there. I saw Brendan and Elliot between miles 4 and 5. I have to be honest, seeing Elliot watch all the runners choked me up for a minute. He didn't even see me, but that was ok. Just knowing that he was part of this was touching. Brendan did a fantastic job of containing Elliot and helping him to enjoy the weekend. The only major kid-related snafu all weekend came on the trip home, when I turned around to see that he had spilled milk all over himself, the car seat, the car, etc., after he was already mad about being cooped up in the car. These things happen. We did finally make it home and even got to the tail end of N's graduation party.

One huge lesson learned this time around: it helps to know the course. Having done essentially the same course two years ago, I knew where the harder parts would be, and planned accordingly. I really believe that the combination of good weather and knowing the course helped me to lower my finishing time. After the mileage update, some pictures!

193.4 + 6 + 3.25 + 2.45 + 13.1 = 218.2 miles

Elliot with Honey at Lynn's parents' place

Lynn and me after the race

Elliot and his sweaty Mama after the race

Me (on the left in the purple shirt) somewhere between miles 4 and 5

Catching up while waiting for data

Mileage update:
154.6 + 38.8 = 193.4

Between this afternoon and tomorrow, I should hit the 200 mile mark!

Rock & Roll Chicago is in 9 days. I'm very carefully tapering--watching food (or trying), keeping each run at an intentional pace and distance--all those things. I'm feeling good about race day. Last week and this week at track practice we did 800 workouts (half-mile intervals). Last week I was running each interval in 3:55. This week I ran each in 3:50 (give or take a second, in general). Both weeks, the workout felt comfortable, and even more so this week even though I was faster. So, I'm feeling good about where I'm at physically. I'm pretty excited about the race! Now we're all just praying for good weather.

In other news, life is going about at its insane pace. Elliot is finally having the surgery to open his blocked tear duct (in his left eye). I'm so thankful that we have access to the medical resources needed to safely get it taken care of! That thankfulness is tempered by the unending doctor's appointments, phone calls, and cost associated with such treatment. But nonetheless, I'm happy for Elliot that he won't continue to have incessant goop in his left eye.

As for me, I've been making great progress on the last paper of my dissertation. I've had to ease up working on it in the last week though to focus on getting ready for conferences and related professional endeavors. I'm getting ready to head out to two conferences, which thankfully are both within driving distance. I'm pretty excited about them. They are both good places to meet potential employers, and they are both a little less stressful than the conferences I'll go to in the fall. I'm happy to have lower-stress places to debut my dissertation work and smooth out the wrinkles in what will become my job talk. I do not plan to discuss job applications here, but will say that the season is slowly starting, and with it, B and I are starting to have long conversations about where we can see ourselves living, and how we might plot out a future in which we both can find fulfilling careers.

Finally, a few shout outs.

1. A HUGE congratulations to N for the successful defense of her dissertation!
2. I've said it privately, but want to say publicly how proud I am of my Dad for doing something that he enjoys, and not just doing it, but making it an integral part of his life. Check out his website here.
   

All over the place

I am waaaaaay behind on updating miles. Here's the update:
Monday/Tuesday = 6.0 miles
Thursday = 2.0 miles
Saturday = 3.7
today = 2.4
Total = 14.1
57.3 + 14.1 = 71.4 miles

Otherwise, things have been up and down here. My aunt (Mom's sister) died in a car accident on May 16. I made the trip to Pennsylvania sans husband and baby. I wanted to be there for my Mom and family. My brother also made the trip from Michigan. It was really nice to see my cousins, but of course we all wished it could have been under better circumstances.

This weekend my brother, sister-in-law, and niece came to visit to celebrate Elliot's birthday and hang out. It was a weekend filled with good food and good company. We had a batch of the filled pancakes in my new pan, dinners of tri-meat kabobs, homemade pizzas with beer crust and great toppings, and chicken oro bianco. I also made cupcakes for Elliot's birthday. We went shopping, stayed up late playing games, and hung out. I bought a shirt over my sister-in-laws objections (it was fun!). Dan, for funsies, changed my homepage to the Youtube video for my least favorite song on the planet just before he left. We had a good time.

miles and the jogging stroller

51.6 + 5.7 = 57.3 miles

Two of the 5.7 new miles were spent pushing my 21 lb. son in a jogging stroller. I had imaged this would be easy. Not so much. If you ever want a great arm workout while running, give it a try! He seemed to enjoy going for a run with me, and I was glad to try it out. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the people who do races while pushing their handicapped/sick children. They always inspired me, but now to a whole new level.

waiting for data

Yes, I'm doing the unthinkable and posting to my blog while at work. I'm waiting for data and really have nothing else to do, so I decided it was a good time to update the blog. It's just been an insanely hectic spring. I'll try to pick out some highlights to catch up on the month of April, in roughly chronological order.

I got the month started on a good note, by passing my prelim on April 1. For those of you who are not insane and consequently pursuing a PhD, the prelim is the second of the three big hurdles of a PhD program. The first is the qualifying exam, which is usually an exam covering coursework. The second is the prelim, which is a defense of a dissertation proposal. I've learned that this means different things for different programs. Sometimes passing it is permission to start research. In my case, I had already done a significant portion of the research. It was a mid-process check with my committee and a time for their input on my ideas to move forward. I was pretty anxious going in, but it turned out to be a really constructive exam.

Easter weekend I went to Chicago just to get away for a weekend. It was long overdue and much needed! I went on Saturday morning and came back on Sunday evening. On Saturday I ran around with my friend Lynn. That evening we had dinner with her husband and a good friend of theirs from college. On Sunday I slept in (which was half of the point of going) then went to the Art Institute for a few hours, then headed back to the hotel to get my things and head to the train station. It was my first night away from Elliot since he was born. This trip has made it clear to me that the occasional weekend getaway is a great thing. Everyone needs a break every now and then!

This past weekend I bought a new car. This had been a long time in the coming. Two weeks prior Brendan and I spent a lot of time talking about whether it was worth it to keep up the maintenance and repairs on my Sable or replace it, and we decided it was much more practical to replace it. I loved my Sable. I'd had it for over 7 years and put over 70,000 miles on it. It was 13 years old with 129,000 miles. I loved that car. It had been my Grampa's and felt in some way like an extension of him. But, it was time to move on. So after a lot of tears I forced myself to go look at cars. After much test driving and hours spent on Edmunds, I decided on a 2009 Toyota Prius. I will post pictures of both the Sable and Prius when I get home. I'm still taking nominations for names for the new car. Please make suggestions!

Throughout all of this I've also been working on a scrapbook for my niece, Nadia. It's coming along. I just finished a spread for February that I'm particularly happy with. I'm currently on the Christmas pages (I'm doing them very much out of order). I'll post some pictures when the whole album is finished and given to the proud parents. In the meantime, suffice to say I'm really enjoying working on it. As N says, hobbies keep us sane.

Saturday night we went to card club, a monthly get-together of us and five other couples we're friends with. It's always a good time. We found out that one of the couples is expecting their third child. We're really happy for them!

Monday (two days ago), Elliot took his first unassisted step! I didn't even see it. Brendan was playing with him in the living room while I was working in the kitchen. Brendan said he took one step then fell over. I haven't seen him try again since then. He's happy cruising and using his new walker toy (thank you, Lisa!). We'll get pictures/video as soon as we can. I think he'll start walking more regularly in no time, but we'll see. I just love to watch him figure things out. His other new trick is turning on the water in the bathtub while I'm getting ready for work in the mornings. I think he's pretty much the greatest kid ever.

quick update

Meg and I ran yesterday, which reminded me that I needed to add our last few outings to the mileage list. As is obvious at this point, I haven't been running much recently. Hopefully that will change as my work pace slows down after this week and the weather encourages me to go outdoors more.

Mileage update: 25.2 + 8.7 = 33.9

Elliot news, before I forget, he climbed his first stair yesterday! He's getting progressively confident about being mobile. It's fun to watch.

videos

Quick post just to share some recent videos from E. I'm not sure which I like best. Feel free to vote!

Up first, a midwestern baby discovers that winter isn't forever. Confusion ensues.

Second, a baby loves his green beans.

And finally, he starts trying to learn to walk (ignore the clutter!)

Aaaaaaaahhhhhh

Miles: 28.4 + 6.4 =34.8

A quick recap of our last week, at which point you'll understand why this has to be quick.

Last Friday:
8am: husband left for weekend trip to Maryland
2pm: had a meeting with my advisor in which I was asked to write up the proposal for a third paper in less than a week
5pm: discovered that our daycare provider thought she had 7 weeks of paid vacation time in her contract, which was not our understanding at all

Saturday:
9am: called Child Care Resource Service to get a list of licensed daycares in the area, discovered that they are closed on Saturdays and you can't get the information from their website.
all day: watched Elliot and worked feverishly on proposal for advisor during nap time and after Elliot's bedtime.

Sunday:
I do not work on Sundays. Instead I went to a basketball game with N and had a really good time.
Brendan came home

Monday: called Child Care Resource Service back and requested information on daycares. Stayed up late working on proposal.

Tuesday: finally got proposal sent to advisor around 11pm.

Wednesday: got packet of information from Child Care Resource Service. Went through it flagging places that looked promising.

Thursday:
8:30am: dropped off Elliot
9am: met with a potential daycare person
9:30-5: ran around campus like a crazy person, from one meeting to the next (seriously, I was at 4 different meetings/obligations, all of which were in different buildings, between the hours of 11am and 3:30 pm)
5pm: gave daycare provider 2 week notice

Friday:
9am: met with another potential provider
10am: dropped off Elliot
10:30: met with yet another potential provider
11:30 finally got to work, worked like mad person
2pm: meeting with advisor. Outlook--write grant proposal by Sunday, write Chapter 1 of my dissertation by Monday morning. No pressure, but it has to be good so I can finalize my committee and schedule the prelim, which by the way, might have to be during the vacation we were planning to take.
5pm: daycare provider told us she is closing her doors and will not be open effective immediately. Translation, we have to find someplace else by Monday morning.

Right.

This and that

Miles: 25.2+3.2=28.4

Work has been CRAZY recently. I'm nearing completion of my proposal, and am busy being strategic, editing, meeting with committee members, trying to find a prelim date, and getting ready to apply for various funding opportunities, all of which have deadlines in the near future. Coordinating deadlines, vacation, work schedules, and faculty availability is more complicated than I anticipated. Then there's the 20 hours a week I get paid for.

Elliot now has four teeth, two on the bottom and two on the top. Unrelated, but I got him to nap in his crib today! This is exciting because he almost never agrees to do it. The trick might have been sweetening the deal with his favorite blanket. He took his first assisted steps a few days ago. He's still timid about cruising, but there is definitely progress.

Mileage update

Mileage update: 15.3 miles.

5k plans update: We decided not to run the 5k portion of the Illinois Marathon/Half-marathon/5k because the entry fee is rather high. There are many other local options though, so I feel confident that we'll find something appealing. Talking with Meg about it yesterday I realized that I have no idea how to train for a 5k. I'm consulting Runner's World and some online training schedules. It's also meant to be fun, so I doubt there will be much hardcore effort on this one. Plus, I prefer distance over speed, and speed is the whole point of a 5k.

For those of you on the long list of people hassling me about uploading recent pictures of Elliot, I offer you this teaser. My son is a total goofball and I love him.

Addendum

Addendum on previous post: Elliot is also now crawling! It's not the traditional crawl, but rather something between an army crawl and a traditional crawl. He can cover a good bit of ground pretty quickly these days. Today I saw that I need to take the stereo out of his room, or at least put it on a dresser, as the shiny silver of it attracts him, then the cords overtake his curiosity. He also loves my ladybug slippers (who wouldn't?), the handles on his dresser, and his Jumperoo. I think crawling over to the Jumperoo is his way of telling me that he wants to play. I am loving watching him explore his little world!

I started to make this a post about 2008, but realized that I have a lot to say and that most of it that I want to share is already on this blog elsewhere. I might take up my long lost New Years tradition of curling up with a journal and committing it all to paper. I miss writing, both personal sorts of things and short stories.