Hey there.
I’m alive and well and stuffed to the brim with good food, drinks, family, and fun.
And I just wanted to check in to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Start making the most of the new year…………and hug your family tight.
I’ll be back soon.
xoxo
I’m pretty sure you all know that C is 10 years old (he’s going to be 11 next month!) and in 5th grade. Which also means I had him when I was 16. 
So I keep wondering……………..is the jig up with Santa?
C with Santa in 2007!
He hasn’t mentioned it. And when he made his Christmas list he listed gifts for me and Jay and then gifts for Santa.
But I wonder:
I can’t remember what year I realized there was no real Santa. I don’t think I ever even talked about it with my parents either – I mean, they actually JUST stopped giving us presents from Santa! 
I absolutely believe in the spirit of Santa and want to share that with C, but I also don’t want to ruin it for him if he still believes in the man, Santa Claus.
I don’t want to ignore the subject, but I’m torn. I’m pretty sure the jig is up, but I don’t know for sure and it’s killing me!
Do you remember when you stopped believing? Did you talk to your parents about it??
I don’t usually set too many personal goals for myself. Especially during the holidays (I like my Christmas cookies, guys!). I set tons of training goals, but that’s about it.
So here’s the plan for this month:
1. Crossfit 4x a week. I’m determined to get my muscles back. I was so focused on running this year that I let the weights fall to the wayside (boooo). I want these shoulders back!
2. Organize my baking shelves in the kitchen. I know this sounds so lame, but these shelves are out of control. And J and I have been on an organizing rampage lately. I don’t even recognize our basement anymore it’s so nice!
3. Finish my Christmas shopping before December 15th. I am a last minute shopper. I can’t help it – I love the last minute running around hectic crowds! But this year I want to be calm and peaceful and enjoy the holiday instead of running around like a crazy lady. (I think I’m almost done!)
4. Bake lots and lots of cookies and still manage to maintain my weight. This is a biggie. It’s no secret I love the sweets. Seriously. I love the cookies:
the chocolate covered pretzels:
the cocktails:
You name it. If it’s sweet, I love it!
That’s it. Definitely doable.
Do you have any December goals??
Last year I wanted to spice up the holidays a little bit, so we had our very first themed Christmas.
And our “White Christmas” was a hit!
We all wore white and/or light blue:
made snowflakes for the ceiling (see first picture), and even had white and blue sweets:
It was very “pretty” and “dainty”.
So this year I want to go big and bold with bright colors. Here’s my inspiration:
(source)
It’s a Candyland Christmas!
I envision gingerbread men, candy canes, paper chain garland, cupcakes, and gumdrops. Pink, red, teal, and green.
We already put pink and red lights on our tree, but I have so much more I want to add (I love the garland on the above tree).
I’m excited to decorate the house this weekend, but I’m looking for ideas. Any suggestions??
What theme would you pick if you were doing a themed Christmas?
Every year I’m so late at posting about the Greensburg Turkey Trot. I get so caught up in the holidays that I completely abandon my computer and blogging.
It was our 4th year running the 5k in J’s hometown and those hills never get any easier. They actually get harder because C gets faster every year!
But it’s been getting more fun every year because more and more of J’s friends come out for it now.
I can’t wait until their kids are old enough to join us!
This race was the best one yet. C went into this race with determination. He really wanted to beat last year’s time, but he especially wanted to break the dreaded 30 minute mark. His PR is around 28 minutes, but that’s on a flat Ohio course – the hills in Pennsylvania are no joke.
All I wanted was for C not to cry. He has a bad habit in mile 2 of wanting to quit (especially up the long hill!).
And not only were there no tears, but he charged the last, worst hill of them all (deemed “Cardiac Hill” because it’s right next to the hospital).
He’s even smiling!
I’m such a sappy, proud mom. He wanted this so bad. This was the first year I didn’t have to drag him up the hill or give him any pep talks – he did it all on his own. All I did was follow him.
I’m not gonna lie and say he was happy with this time. He wasn’t. BUT I told him that he was my hero that morning. Everything that I’ve ever taught him came out during this race. He was cheering others on, talking to us, having a good time, and running hard – never quitting even when he knew breaking 30 wasn’t going to happen. And then, instead of sulking, he turned his mood around and went to cheer everyone else on.
God, I love that kid.
What did you do this Thanksgiving? Did you host at your house, go to your parents, visit friends out of town??
Oh, and the winner of the entry to the Santa Hustle is #22: Anna!!! Guess all those tweets made the difference, girl! Email me your info and I’ll get it over to the race director. Congrats!
Oh, hey there. I’ve got something good for you guys today:
The Arthritis Foundation is holding it’s inaugural Jingle Bell 5k on December 8th and I’ve got one free registration to give away!
Jingle bell runs are the jam. They’re silly, they’re fun, and almost always come with a good race shirt! Unfortunately I can’t participate in the race since I’ll be running 18 miles with my Team that morning, but you can bet that I’ll be sporting my jingle bells in spirit!
Remember, you don’t have to be a “runner” to participate. You can walk, run, skip, jog, whatever it takes so that you to get up and get moving that morning.
So, if you want to get into the holiday spirit and start the season off with a kick run, you can win a free entry by:
You can also register for the race here.
Good luck and happy racing!
Since trick or treating was postponed to Sunday evening due to Sandy, and since we seem to be the only people in Lakewood who have power, we had an impromptu Halloween party at our house for the kiddos tonight.
But you know J and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join in on the action.
Hehe. I think this may be my new favorite family photo.
I sure hope everyone is safe and sound and staying warm. We’ve been very lucky with minimal damage from the storm and not losing power. I seriously think we’re one of the only streets to not lose power in Lakewood. I’m very grateful for that.
And if you didn’t get to enjoy Halloween tonight, I sure hope your city has alternate plans. It’s too fun not to get into the spirit!
Did you dress up this year??
I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July with lots of friends, family, food, and fun! I know I sure did.
I spent the morning sweating my butt off with an early morning run at the high school track and then again watching our city’s parade shortly after. I’m not normally a huge parade fan but, this year, C was IN the parade!
My two closest friends, their kids, and my parents all made the trek to Lakewood for the event.
And C did not disappoint.
From what I hear, he did not take a break the entire parade. The kid is a machine on that unicycle!
I give him credit – the heat was pretty much unbearable today.
But that smile says it all.
He had a blast. And we had a blast watching him.
Did you watch a parade today? What did you do to beat the heat?? J and I went to the movies this afternoon to see Ted. Who has a pool and wants to be my friend?? I’ll bring cookies……….!
I sure hope every mom out there got to experience as nice a day as I did today. It was full of all my favorite things!
An awesome sweatfest:
Bike ride to lunch:
A little fun:
A long walk with the fam (missed you, Mandy!):
Quality time with my mom:
And the boys in my life:
Surf and turf dinner made by J and C:
And now we’re all pooped.
But not too pooped for homemade strawberry ice cream!
I’m off to enjoy ice cream and the last few hours of getting to be “Queen for the Day”.
Hope all you moms out there got to be Queen today. It’s a great day!
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I’m glad we get to share this day now. Love you!
I think Marathon Monday is my new favorite holiday.
I took the day off of work so I could enjoy the Boston Marathon without interruption. Best decision ever.
The day started off with walking C to school with J and the pups.
And from there we all split up. C went to school, J walked the pups home, and I took off for a run.
5 miles later I was home just in time for the 9:30 women’s start. So I plopped my sweaty self down in front of the computer and stayed there for the next 2+ hours.
J and I had fun tracking the runners while watching the live feed. Gotta love all the technology!
Once my mind was blown by the way the race finished (hello, Mr. Korir!!), I put on my swimsuit and headed up to the pool. The pool has the WORST adult swim times ever (Mon and Wed from 2 to 4??) so I had to take advantage of it since I was home.
2000 yards later I was on my way to the school to pick up C. Mondays are unicycle club days so I was excited to finally see him ride the sky cycle!!
Can you see that?? He’s riding the sky cycle. The tall one. The one they ride in the circus and in parades. And it was no problem for him. Unreal. Can you get a college scholarship for unicycle riding?? Seriously, I’m not kidding. Can you?
The day ended with a long walk with a great friend I hadn’t seen in awhile while the boys were at soccer practice.
Perfect day. I think this may just become a tradition. My kind of Marathon Monday!
Did you watch the race today??
