Marathon

Are you ready for the epic marathon post?

Our day started at 2:00am. I rolled out of bed and forced myself to eat a Zone bar for breakfast. I was pretty nervous but excited too. Karen drove to get my Mom and her friend Ula Rae from the Port Orleans Riverside resort and bring them back to the Port Orleans French Quarter resort where we were staying. At 3:00am we boarded a bus that would take us to the starting line. While riding the bus I turned to Karen and whispered, "This feels like the ride to the hospital to deliver Kylie. There's a part of me that is saying "Are you really going to do this?" and "There's no going back now". There was a 15 minute walk from where the buses dropped us off. Ula Rae was having some inner ear troubles so we got her a wheel chair from her resort for the walk.

From 3:30 -4:30 we mostly stood around the race prep area until we noticed a photo shoot opportunity.


Jeff Galloway was at the start line. He said that he attends all the Disney races. When asked what his favorite part of Disney races was he answered, "The Disney characters. I love how the characters bring out the joyful kid in people". This was certainly true when I saw Chip and Dale. I squealed like a little girl and jumped in line to get my photo taken.


And then acted like a complete goofball posing with Daisy Duck.


About 4:45, they announced that it was time for runners to start the long walk to the starting gate. We all hugged...





and I did my last sound check for my headphones (getting serious here).


Notice the bracelet next to my watch--it was a pace bracelet. I picked up a bracelet with a 4:15 finish time at the race packet expo. My goals were to a) finish the marathon b) finish faster than Oprah Winfrey's 4:30 time and c) finish in 4:15 if at all possible.

It seemed like the walk to the start took forever. I had been shivering in the 55 degree temps for hours and I was just ready to start running. I walked into the B corral and tried to move around just enough to get some blood moving to my cold-numbed toes. I spoke briefly to a guy who told me that this race was his 122nd marathon--how cool is that?

I had a few things during the race that really surprised me. The first was at the start. I noticed all this activity on my left. I looked more closely and there were hundreds of men leaving their corrals, running to the tree line, peeing, and running back. There was a solid line of men with their backs to me doing their thing for the whole 30-45 minutes we had before the race started. There were plenty of porta-johns nearby but these men chose a different option. I snorted out a laugh each time I glanced over.

The second thing that surprised me was in the few minutes before the race started. People were wearing "throw away" sweatshirts and coverups made of plastic (like garbage bags) to help stay warm prior to running. When we were just about to start, the people wadded up these warmups and threw them over to the side of the road. There were so many people doing this that it looked and sounded like like a scene from a movie where battle arrows fly across the night sky. Hundreds of items getting chucked over made me raise my eyebrows and simply say "Wow!"

Then the marathon started. For each corral's start there were beautiful fireworks.

(Photo courtesy Disney Photos)

By the time I crossed the start line, there were five minutes on the clock. And I was so happy to be running. I found my pace right away. I could barely see my watch. Since I never mastered hitting my watch light button without turning my clock off, I had to rely on looking at my watch when we passed the lights. Every time I looked, I was between 9:00 and 9:30 pace.

I was seriously impressed with this race course. We had plenty of room to run, usually 2 whole lanes on the highway. Anytime the course narrowed, there was a loud recording announcing "Runners! Course narrows ahead!" loud enough for me to hear over my music.

For the whole race, I never really noticed the runners I passed. I did notice the runners who passed me but the race was so incredibly huge that it didn't matter in the least. I didn't feel the need to run as fast as them. This was great because I was really worried that I would get caught up in "chasing" people and run out of steam.

There were Disney characters everywhere--at least every mile and usually every half mile. The only runners I saw consistently were two women running in tutus. Like tons of other runners, they ran with their camera phones in their hands. They would run to the characters, wait in the short line (usually only 2-5 people ahead of them), pose, then get back into the race. I would pass these two women as they were posing, then in a few minutes, they would pass me. The Disney characters made the race fun and kept pulling me along with the thought of "I wonder who I'll see next".

I ran the first 5 miles in 46:11. I remember checking my watch around the 8 mile mark. Mile 8 has been my "magic mile" all during my training. I noticed early on that if I finished my run strong, I had also felt strong and/or good at mile 8. If I finished my run feeling like crap, I noticed that at mile 8, I usually felt weak or nauseous. I was praying to feel good at mile 8 and felt like celebrating when I did, in fact, feel good.

After I got through mile 8, I started looking forward to seeing Karen at the Magic Kingdom Cinderella Castle at the 10 mile mark. At mile 10, I had been running for 1:32. I spotted Karen right away and made my way over to where she was standing. I grabbed her hands and said, "Karen! Karen! Karen!" as she looked right at me and said "Good Job! Good Job! Good Job!". I kept moving and she got a picture of me running away. (I'm in front of the man with the blue shirt. Look for the white hat and black long-sleeved shirt.)

We ran by the Cinderella Castle, looped around, then ran through it. As I ran through, I got tears in my eyes as I thought, "Oh Kylie would just love this!"

Once we got passed the Magic Kingdom, we were soon at mile 13 which was the Relay point for the Relay runners. A part of me sighed with envy when I saw the relay runners head off, I knew their race was done. And then the new runners came charging into the race with lots of fresh energy. I grumbled a bit in my head with ungenerous thoughts like, "Yeah you feel good; you just started!" but reminded myself to focus on MY race not anyone else's. I finished the first 13 miles in 2:01.

After the 13 mile mark, there was a long stretch of open road. It was 7:30 and the sun was up. I entertained myself by looking at all the different tattoos on people's calves. I had eaten about half the GU chews in my pack and drunk half the water in my pack water bottle. I started drinking cups of water at the water breaks.

There was an amazing 21 water stops on this race. The volunteers at these water stops were fantastic and I was so grateful for all of them. I drank more water than I ever had during a training run and my body felt much better for it.

Somewhere between mile 16-17 we went from a service road, right into Animal Kingdom. There was no real transition just boom! we were into the park. Straight ahead of me were two drummers in costumes. They were banging away on their drums. I almost stumbled to a stop because for just an instant, I thought I was hallucinating!

I started giggling to myself! I knew that my family would get a kick out of that story. I also thought it was a good idea to cool off a bit. The temps were in the mid 60's, heading toward 70. At the next water stop, I dumped an entire cup of water down my back, another on my head, and drank a third. I felt a little more normal after that.

There were lots of spectator spots throughout the race. It was great to see and hear so many cheering fans. The fans became even more important to me at this point in the race. I reached out to high-five people with Mickey Mouse gloved-hands. I remember thanking a tween boy who was high-fiving runners while yelling, "Go! Go!" At this point, I needed any little extra boost of energy. I was particularly grateful to the staff members in Animal Kingdom who held out tissue boxes. The simple act of blowing my nose on a tissue held me in grateful prayer for several minutes.

It seemed like we just briefly touched on Animal Kingdom and then we were back on a long stretch of road. I was thrilled when I saw mile 20 and was fine until mile 21.

I had read a quote from Dean Karnazes that went something like, "You can plan, train and condition for the marathon and that training will get you to mile 20. Absolutely anything can happen those last 6.2 miles". This quote had been one of comfort and of fear to me in training for my marathon.

At mile 21, my calves felt like they exploded. It was the weirdest sensation. It felt like they swelled up to twice their size within seconds. It felt like my calf muscles were going to explode out of my pants. And they started really cramping and hurting yet also feeling huge and numb. All of a sudden my quadriceps starting screaming in harmony with my calves. It didn't feel like "hitting the wall" (which I had experienced a few times before), I felt like my legs just reared up and started yelling at me to stop.

"All right," I told myself. "You knew this was going to happen. You've got to keep running. Just keep running."

Right before mile 22, my left knee starting hitching and my right heel starting yelling more than my calves. And bam! My run descended into a shuffle. I looked at my watch and my pace bracelet. I knew I was ahead of pace for a 4:15 finish but I didn't think there was a chance for a sub-4 finish. I decided to walk through the mile 22 water stop. I drank my first cup of PowerAde. I had never drunk anything but water on a run before and was fearful of breaking my "nothing new" rule. But I was desperate to try anything that might make me feel better. I ate my last 2 Gu chews. I drank another cup of water and threw another on my back. I walked somewhere between 2-4 minutes in the hopes of getting some blood to circulate in my calves. Walking hurt just as much as running.

"Ok", I told myself. Walking hurts just as much. It's just going to hurt from here on out. It doesn't matter how fast you run but you've got to run." I had run out of my "special" end-of-playlist music. I decided to start my playlist over. This was the best decision I could have made. My body had moved to those first songs on my playlist so many times so I was able to start running/shuffling again.

Then we entered Hollywood Studios. The park was open but there was a running lane just for us. There were spectators cheering but there were also people who had paid to come to the park and didn't look to happy to have to wait for a gap in runners to cross the street.

And at Hollywood Studios, there were small rolling hills. These hills probably wouldn't even register as bumps on a normal day for me. I could get up and down them in 8 steps. It was "Up, up, up, up" then "down, down, down, down" and then I was on a straight-away again. But the first time I went over one, I wanted to cry. All my legs muscles started cramping even more. "Brutal!" I thought.

There were a stretch of these. I could see each one ahead. These little bumps of agony. "Up, up, up, up, down, down, down, down." "AAAGGHHHHH!!!"

I was oh-so-glad to leave that park. Then there was a short down-and-back--a split highway where you can really see all the people that are ahead of you. I've never been a fan of these. I whimpered to myself "Just look down. Think about picking your feet up. Concentrate and help your legs."

And then, I was at mile 26. There was a huge choir singing. As I ran by, I took off my headphones. This beautiful choir raised their arms in harmony and sang one loud "Jesus!" as I ran by. "Yes!" I shouted out loud. I knew I was almost done. That I had survived. That there was just a little left to go.

I rounded a corner and there was the finish line. "Pick up your legs!" I told myself. "Pick up your legs and really run!"

My family was waiting in these Cheer Squad bleachers.


They say I looked right at them. But I don't remember seeing them.


I don't remember seeing Goofy and Daffy. All I could see was the finish line arch. They called my name "WENDY!" and I lifted my hands in celebration.


It was one of the proudest moments in my life. I ran a marathon in 4:12:57. As I'm writing this, tears are pouring down my face remembering it. My dream had come true.

I walked to the medal bearers and started sobbing as they draped my beautiful medal around my neck.



I met up with Mom and Karen. This was a hug I will cherish for the rest of my life.


I told Karen that I wanted a ton of pictures. But it was suddenly hard and painful I would go from smiling...


to leg cramps, leg cramps, leg cramps!


By holding onto Karen, I hobbled my way over to the porta-johns to change clothes. Karen had to take off my shoes and put my other shoes on. I couldn't bend over or lift my feet. After getting my official times, we made our way back to our bus and back to our hotel.

I took the most painful ice bath in my life. Then a shower and then more ice (frozen pea packages are the best!) I ate my post-race bagel, a pack of pretzels, a bottle of PowerAde, and my celebratory Hershey's bar. Then I collapsed into sleep.


We woke up about 2 hours later. I was starving. So we got dressed and Karen presented me with her gifts. Flowers from the Disney florist


and this beautiful framed poster along with several cards and a marathoner coffee cup.


The Disney employees were great in congratulating the runners. I heard "Congratulations" over and over throughout the rest of the day. "You are loving this attention." Karen commented to me. "Oh Yea" I said. "I can eat this up with a spoon!"


On Monday, walking was doable as long as I went slowly. Sitting in the car made me stiff and I had to lean on Karen again to get around. We made it home in time for me to share all about my marathon with my Dad who had graciously taken care of Kylie all day Saturday and Sunday and taken her to school on Monday. My final gift from Karen was seeing Kylie come home from school on Monday afternoon with this great shirt.


That night, we started a Disney movie. At the start of the movie, there was the traditional shot of the Cinderella Castle. "Did you really run through that castle on your marathon Mommy?" Kylie asked. "And was there fairy dust?"

"Yes I ran through that castle." I answered. "And there was fairy dust. It was a dream come true."

Thank you dear readers for all of your comments. I've printed them all off for my scrapbook. You each became part of my journey and I'm so happy to have your words of support.

I may have to share my race photos from the official race photographers when they get posted, but for now, I plan to move on to telling more Kylie stories and less running ones.

Thanks again!

Marathon

I did it! I ran my marathon in 4:12:57!

I have so much cool stuff to share about the marathon with you and a bunch of pictures to share but for now, I shall turn to the writing of one of my heroes, Dean Karnazes. Here is one of his quotes:

Don’t we spend enough of our lives doubting ourselves, thinking we’re not good enough, not strong enough, not made of the right stuff? The marathon gives you an opportunity to tackle these doubts head-on. It has a way of deconstructing your very essence, stripping away all your protective barriers, and exposing your inner soul. The marathon tells you it will hurt you, that it will leave you demoralized and defeated in a lifeless heap on the roadside. It says it can’t be done—not by you. Ha! It taunts you. In your dreams!

So you train hard. You dedicate yourself wholeheartedly, you sacrifice, and you overcome countless smaller challenges along the way. You pour everything you’ve got into it. But you know the marathon will ask for even more. In the dark recesses of your mind, a gloomy voice is saying, You can’t. You do your best to ignore this self-doubt but the voice doesn’t go away.

On the morning of your first marathon, the voice of doubt multiplies, becoming a full chorus. By mile twenty this chorus is screaming so loudly, it’s all you can hear. Your sore and weary muscles beg you to stop. You must stop. But you don’t stop. This time, you ignore the voice of doubt, you tune out the naysayers who tell you you’re not good enough, and you listen only to the passion in your heart. This burning desire tells you to keep moving forward, to continue putting one foot boldly in front of the other, and somewhere you find the will to do so.

Courage comes in many forms. Today you discover the courage to keep trying, to not give up, no matter how dire things become. And dire they do become. At the twenty-five mile mark, you can barely see the course any longer—your vision falters as your mind teeters on the edge of consciousness.

And then, suddenly, the finish line looms before you like a dream. A lump builds in your throat as you cover those final few steps. Now you are finally able to answer back to that nagging voice with a resounding Oh, yes I can!

You burst across the finish line filled with pride, forever liberated from the prison of self-doubt and self-imposed limitations that have held you captive. You have learned more about yourself in the past 26.2 miles than on any other single day in your life. You have never been so free. A marathon finish is more than just something you earn; a marathon finisher is someone you become.

As you are being helped away from the finish line, wrapped in a flimsy Mylar blanket, barely able to raise your head, you are at peace. No future struggle, doubts, or failure can wipe away what you accomplished today. You have done what few will ever do—what you thought you could never do—and it is the most glorious, unforgettable awakening. You are a marathoner, and you will wear this distinction not on your lapel, but in your heart, for the rest of your life.

Dean Karnazes—50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days

Marathon countdown- 1 day to go

Over the past 16 weeks, I've run 576 miles.

My hope is that I'm able to run my first marathon in good time on Sunday.

Please give us safe travels to Orlando.
Please let us have an easy check-in at the hotel and at the marathon packet pick up.
Please let me get a good night's sleep tonight.
Please let my alarm go off so I don't miss the show.
Please let the weather be 55 degrees and either sunny or overcast.
Please no rain or snow.
Please let me not panic when I see the 14,000 other runners.
Please let the people I'm starting with not be too fast or too slow.
Please keep Karen and my Mom safe, sound and happy while they wait by the sidelines for me.
Please keep Kylie and my Dad safe, sound and happy in Atlantic Beach.
Please let me find my rhythm and pace early on and may I hold that pace as long as I can.
Please let me feel strong and capable at mile 8 (my magic mile).
May my legs and feet have strength and endurance.
If my legs give out, let me run from my heart and soul.

Please let me finish.
Please.

Marathon countdown- 2 days to go

Here's the music that will hopefully carry me through 4 1/2 hours of running at the marathon. I actually have 11 hours loaded on my ipod shuffle if, heaven forbid, it should take me a long time to finish.

As I took these screen shots, I had a premonition of Kylie looking at these lists 20 years from now and laughing her butt off at the goofy music her Mommy listened to.

I find music so motivating. If you need an extra "umph" in your workouts, try incorporating some new songs! In fact, check some of these out.


Notes on songs:

I Drove All Night by Celine Dion
This is an oldy but goldy that has been on my running playlists for many years. But I love it because it reminds me of my favorite Jazzercise teacher in Oregon. She gave so much energy while teaching her classes. She just poured energy into us while we were working out with her. And she always made me smile and laugh as she lip-synched Celine. So I send her blessings when I hear this song.

Dynamite by Taio Cruz
Although Kylie mostly listens to music by Justin Roberts and Laurie Berkner, she fell in love with this Dynamite song. She has asked to hear it over and over. And I love to watch her dance to it and to sing along. I think of Kylie so many times when I'm running, yet this song has a special place in my heart.

Apache Rocks the Bottom by Scooter
This was my favorite training song when we lived in Burke, VA. It brings back memories of trail running in the rain and snow. I've heard it hundreds of times but I never get tired of it.



Little Bad Girl by David Guetta
David Guetta's Nothing But the Beat cd has been a godsend these last two months of training.

Raise Your Glass by Pink
Well since I am "wrong in all the right ways, an underdog, loud and nitty gritty" naturally this song makes me want to wave my freak flag proudly!

Firework by Katy Perry
This song got me through my first half marathon.

Without You by David Guetta and Usher
This song is for Karen. Karen is the best thing in my life.

And since I'm a die-hard Rocky fan, those last two songs on the playlist are a must!

Marathon countdown- 3 days to go

I've watched this youtube video of my "120 pound journey" over and over. It never fails to motivate me or to bring tears to my eyes. As I get ready to run my first marathon this Sunday 1/8, I thought I would look back at my own recent weight loss journey.



I was a skinny kid. I stayed skinny through my 20's although heaven knows I had crappy nutrition and hardly ever exercised. In my 30's, I started putting on some pounds and my weight fluctuated between 140-160. I made an effort when Karen and I decided to have a baby and Jazzercised my way to 140 before conceiving. While pregnant, I kept Jazzercising but still put on lots of weight. I stopped looking at the scale in those last weeks before Kylie was born but I know I was past 185. I dropped some weight after Kylie was born but the pounds came flooding back on. I became immersed in being Kylie's mommy and lost some sense of myself outside of that role.

When Kylie was 2 1/2 years old, we went to TN to visit our family. I was shocked when we got home and looked at our photos. I had started diets and stopped them over those past 2 years but there was something about seeing these pictures that started me once again.


November 2009
Weight-185
Sizes-XL shirt & size 18 in jeans
I called my Nanny (pictured here) and told her that I was going to lose some weight. She told me that was good because she was worried that I'd become diabetic. My Nanny was diagnosed with mild diabetes late in her life. From the moment she heard this, she never ate anything with sugar again. Never. She had amazing will power.

This was my last visit and last photo with Nanny. We exchanged letters and phone calls. By the time she passed away in February, I had lost over twenty pounds and she was proud of me. I was even more determined to reach my goal of getting to 140 (my pre-baby weight) before Kylie's April 17th birthday.

First goal reached:
April 2010
Weight-140
Weight lost: 45 pounds in 5 months
How I lost it:
In the beginning, I exercised with my Wii gaming system. I was (and still am!) a huge Biggest Loser fan. I did the Biggest Loser, EA Sports and Jillian Michaels workouts on the Wii. I woke up at 5am, crawled down to the basement and did my workout as silently as possible as to not wake up Kylie. On some days, I would work out again at night. But I made it a point to get five workouts in per week.

I recorded everything I ate in the LoseIt app on my iPhone. I was determined to eat "normal" foods instead of frozen diet foods. I added more fruit, vegetables and grains to our weekly menus. I went through all of our favorite dinner recipes and calculated the calories and nutrition of each. That way, I knew the calories in our favorite chicken enchilada casserole dish or my usual pot of chili. I could calculate the appropriate portion based on the calories and plan for those calories in what I ate for breakfast and lunch.

Later, I added in some running. Even running in the rain and snow in that horrible winter in DC. And then I joined Gold's Gym and started running on their treadmill in the evenings after Kylie was asleep and on the weekends. The first time I ran 6.2 miles (10K) was on the treadmill at Gold's. It was a 12:45 pace.


In May 2010, we moved from DC to Florida. I still recorded everything I ate but stopped working out on the Wii. I found a gym and kept up with my running on treadmills. But in July, I started to feel stagnant. I had maintained my weight at 140 for four months but I felt like I could so very easily slip back into old eating patterns and gain back the weight.

Plus, Kylie was now in preschool and I had 4 precious and wonderful hours that I could use to workout each day. Having some time to myself made a huge difference in me. My eyes were opened to new hobbies, new possibilities, new energy! So I decided to take on the challenge of running 13.1 miles. Between July and November, I trained for my first half-marathon and my weight dropped to 132.

Second goal reached:
One year from my weight loss start date
November 2010 (my 40th birthday)
Weight-132
Weight lost-53 pounds in one year
First half marathon time: 2:11

Running the half-marathon gave me a huge confidence boost. Running became something I loved to do instead of something that burned the most calories in the least amount of time. I enjoyed pushing myself and I enjoyed training. I was no longer embarrassed when I walked into my gym. I started thinking "What's next?"

In December 2010, I started training with a personal strength trainer at my gym in Florida. I still ran mostly on the treadmill but I added a fun Body Combat class and a spin class into my weekly workouts. I discovered that my trainer had completed an Ironman triathlon. I joked with her saying what a huge stretch it would be for me to complete a triathlon (since I could hardly swim or bike at all). But in January 2011, I took on the huge goal of training for a triathlon for 2012. I started swimming and biking and running mostly on the road. My body loved all this variation and without really trying, my weight dropped to 115 in May. In June, I signed up for a life-long goal of running my first marathon. As part of my marathon training, and as a wonderful reminder of my 1st half marathon, I ran my 2nd half marathon in November.


Third goal reached:
Take time off my half-marathon time. Ran 13.1 miles in 1:56 (last year was 2:11)
Two years from my weight loss start date
November 2011
Weight-118
Weight loss- 67 pounds
Sizes- Small in shirts, 4 in jeans.

So in just a few days, I'll be at the starting line of my first marathon. I know as I run, I'll be thinking about that youtube video and my own weight loss journey. As I run, I've been known to pray like crazy (and not just "Please God let me keep running!). I pray for my family and friends. I pray for people I've known and for our nation. I always add a prayer for those just beginning their weight loss journey and for those faltering in their weight loss journey. So if you fall into any of these categories, just know that on Sunday morning, I'll be sending energy and prayers to you.

My dear readers, thank you all. Thank you for your encouragement and support.

And stay tuned for my running playlist!

One Little Word 2012

Image courtesy of Ali Edwards.

This will be my fifth year with the One Little Word project.

I first read about this from Ali Edwards blog. She encouraged me to pick a word that would be a guiding force for the year.

My first word, in 2008, was Create.
I loved that word. For that year, I was ALL about creating. I created new experiences for my baby Kylie. I created a lot of love with Karen. I created a loving home in Portland. I created tons of scrapbook pages. I created lots of knitted projects. It was a fantastic word that truly motivated me throughout the year.

My second word, in 2009, was Choose.
This was an interesting word for me. The thought behind it was that life with Kylie was so encompassing that all lot of other things were starting to slip. Like my health/fitness. Like our finances. Like anything that wasn't Elmo-related. It was easier to go about the day-to-day stuff and not think nor work on the bigger goals. So picking the word "choose" was like a light slap on my cheeks encouraging myself to wake up and start working on my life. I was partly successful. But my memory of the word "choose" was that it wasn't much fun.

My third word, in 2010, was Steer.
"Steer" was "choose" on steroids.
I did steer my family to our new home in FL. I did steer my but to the gym and steered my attention to our budget. But "steer" was heavy in responsibility. It was my least favorite word of all three.

My fourth word, in 2011, was Triathlete.
For the entire year, I ran. I learned to bike. I learned to swim. The process was fear-filled yet exhilarating. And I fell in love with the training. I believe that in a non-competitive sense, I did become a triathlete. I have a long way to go before I feel ready to compete in a triathlon. I hope to do a triathlon the summer of 2012. So I'm still hanging on to this word. And I'll still be sharing my triathlon journey with you on this blog.

But I want to do more than just train for a triathlon in 2012. After a lot of thought, I chose CULTIVATE as my 2012 word. Or as Becky Higgins writes on her blog: Cultivate a good life and record it. I fell in love with this phrase. So when it was time to pick my word, I knew that cultivate would be the word for me.

You can read more about the One Little Word project here. And for inspiration, you can see Ali's list of words here.

If you've picked a word for the year, please share it with us!

Gymnastics

Kylie has attended gymnastics camp this week. She has learned straddle jumps, tuck jumps and ziz-zag jumps. She has jumped on the low trampoline, hung on the uneven bars, and walked the balance beams. She has played duck,duck, goose and other games too.

And she has stretched. Or as Kylie puts it "stretched and stretched and stretched!"

"Mommy, Kylie said "They told me to put my nose to my knee, to my other knee, to my toes. They want my nose everywhere!"

She has worked hard this week and for the first time, she is actually sore. Her back and ribs are a bit sore. Karen and I got to explain what "sore" was and how it was different than an injury.

Even though kiddo is tired and ready for a relaxing weekend, she is also quite proud of her new skills.

Book list for 2011

If 2010 was my year of the memoir, then 2011 was the year of the series. I’m cheating a bit on my “top ten” list as three on my list weren’t individual books but series of books. In 2010, I only read 47 books. This year, I read 75. I attribute this to Kylie’s growth and her new-found tolerance to me sitting still and reading.

Here are my top ten favorite books of 2011:
11/22/63 by Stephen King
The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
The Soldier Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb (Renegade’s Magic, Forest Mage, Shaman’s Crossing)
The Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobb (Dragon Keeper, Dragon Haven)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians-all 5 books- by Rick Riordan
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
A Discovery of Wtiches by Deborah Harkness
The Radleys by Matt Haig
The Long Run by Matt Long


This year I read six Jennifer Cruise books (Getting Rid of Bradley was my favorite), six Melissa de la Cruz books (the first book, Blue Bloods, was my favorite), three Anjali Banerjee books (Haunting Jasmine was my favorite), three Amanda Hocking books and two of Chelsea Handler’s. Here’s the rest of the list in no particular order:

Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James
The Kinshield Legacy by KC May
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts
The Search by Nora Roberts
The Matchmaker of Reigord by Julia Stuart
Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Violets of March by Sarah Jio
Groundswell by Katie Lee
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Fast Women by Jennifer Cruise
Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Cruise
What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Cruise
The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Cruise
Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Cruise
Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Cruise
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler
The Art of Forgetting by Camille Noe Pagan
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz
Blue Bloods books by Melissa de la Cruz (Masquerade, Revelations, Van Alen Legacy, Misguided Angel, Blue Bloods)
The Ninth Wife by Amy Stolls
Working It Out by Abby Rike
Invisible Lives by Anjali Banerjee
Imaginary Men by Anjali Banerjee
Haunting Jasmine by Anjali Banerjee
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking (Switched, Torn, Ascend)
The Wildwater Water Walking Club by Claire Cook
Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes
Horns by Joe Hill
Run! By Dean Karnazes
Metal Cowboy by Joe Kurmaskie
Awakened by PC Cast

Healthy Living section:
Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism by Maria Emmerich
Unlimited by Jillian Michaels
Big Book of Bicycling by Bicycling Magazine Editors
Triathlon Start to Finish by Sam Murphy
Swim, Bike, Run by Wes Hobson

Audiobooks:
Karen and I adore the JD Robb “Eve Dallas” audiobook series. This year, we were pleased to listen to these three additions:
New York to Dallas, Treachery in Death, Indulgence in Death.

I also enjoyed Patrick Taylor’s Country Doctor audiobook series and listened to:
An Irish Country Courtship, An Irish Country Christmas, An Irish Country Village, Irish Country Doctor.

Feel free to share your comments and/or favorites! Happy Reading Everyone!

Christmas

What a fun Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, I enjoyed watching Karen and Kylie track Santa's progress on Google Earth via NoradSanta.org.


The anticipation of Christmas Day wiped Kylie out. On Christmas Eve afternoon, I asked Kylie to play quietly in her room. A short time later, I noticed it was too quiet. I opened her door to find her sleeping soundly on the floor. She hardly ever conks out like that! Of course I had to take a picture of her.


On Christmas morning, we got up at 6:30am to open presents. We had presents from the family on our living room table and presents from Santa under the tree. I'm not sure this distinction meant much to Kylie. She loved all her new things. We heard the most squeals from her when she saw her hula hoop...


her Groovy Girls prince and princess,


her first pillow pet,


and her Rapunzel doll.


If you scroll up to one of the earlier pictures, you might see three pink suitcase-looking storage boxes sitting under the tree. We got those to store Kylie's wind-up toys, Barbie clothes and other things. I made some suggestions on what she could store in them but I also told her they were her boxes to do with as she wanted. When I was cleaning up last night I opened one up. Can you quess what I found lovingly stored away?

Some of you long-time readers much guess correctly....empty toilet paper rolls.

Sigh.

Happy holidays from Karen, Wendy and Kylie

Winter camp

I'm sitting here hoping and praying that the presents for Kylie I ordered from Amazon make it to my house today or tomorrow. Someone please remind me next year to get my act together and order presents a tad earlier.



Kylie's been at winter camp held at her school this week. She's come home every day with several completed holiday crafts. She's had fun playing lots of games. The other day she was telling us about a game where the kids sit together in a circle and one puts on a blindfold. Another child tiptoes behind them and starts the game by saying, "Knock Knock". Who's there? "I'm a little elf coming out for Christmas. Guess who?" and then the blindfolded child guesses who is behind them. Kylie loved this game; we had to reenact it several times at home. Her camp lasts until 3:30 and it has worn her out. Last night she actually fell asleep while brushing her teeth before bed.



She has loved her camp experience. When I pick her up, she is so excited to share all about her day. Her fast little run-on sentences prompted me to shoot a few videos of her.









I hope all of you are doing great this holiday season (and not sweating over post office and ups service like I am). Cheers!

Santa's message

Big thanks to Ali Edwards who introduced me to the free, customized Santa messages on the Portable North Pole.

Watching her video from Santa was one of Kylie's highlights for the week. She has seen it six times and still loves it.

Here's a picture of her waving to the Santa on the screen.


Here are some other pictures I took of her at the park on Thursday. We've loved the warm temperatures and have gone to the park every afternoon this week.


She and I were having an interesting conversation while I snapped the below pictures. I was explaining why she had to wear shoes everywhere at the park except the sand lots. She was debating the merits of wearing shoes.


Kylie can get quite serious and intent.


And just like that, she decided she was done with talking. She thew herself onto the sand and giggled and how the grass tickled her neck.


Ah, childhood.