The Ghosts of Halloween Past, Mwhahahaha. . .

And present. . .

I like to dress up.
And I like candy.
For that reason I think Halloween is just about the best damn holiday ever.
I know I am getting old and I suppose to be mature but I don't care; I still like to dress up.
So I do.
Granted I am not very creative.
I basically have 2 costumes: Witch and Tooth Fairy.
This is me as the Tooth Fairy with Ryan (a 5th Backstreet boy) and Dusty (a werewolf). This is I think the first time I wore the Tooth Fairy costume. I don't think Ryan and I were yet married.

Here is another picture from the same Halloween with Ryan and Tara (a witch) so that you can see the shoes.
The shoes are a key component of this costume.
Actually they were the inspiration-- as when I saw them I thought of teeth and the costume idea came to me then. I will admit to wearing them without the costume to go "clubbing" in the past. And I will admit that the only people to ever compliment me on those shoes have been drag queens. This clearly tells me that they are for costumes and theatrical use only. They really are terrible shoes that nearly every time I wear them I twist my ankle. Which with the marathon coming up was a good reason for me not wear them this year.

Here is me as Tooth Fairy (again) with Carmella. She is 19 months old. She is a flower fairy princess who has a black eye. I can't remember what that particular black eye was from. Both she and Beau have had lots of them. My life as a parent is a blur of black eyes--both mine and the kids(Beau has given 3, Carmella 1).

In the later Tooth Fairy years you can see that I have gotten a bit slack about making my tooth crown. The first one was a tour de force of spray painted and glittered tooth brushes, tin foil, sliver pipe cleaners, and a foam board giant tooth. Later it becomes just a white paper tooth, staples and tinfoil.

And just for shits and giggles and to embarrass mom, here is a picture of Lala.
What is that crap all over her face you are wondering, right?
Well, those my friends, are kitty stickers.
Stickers of cats.
Why she thought to do this I will never know but it was pretty funny when her skin had an allergic reaction from the stickers and she had a rash on her face where they had been. I like it when people do dumber stuff than me. It is fun when I am not always the one being laughed at for dumbass ideas.

Here is me as a witch last year with Carmella. Really it is all about the hat and the orange and black striped knee socks that you can't quite see.

And here is me this year with Beau as a witch.
The dress is my 9th grade homecoming dress.
It is hard to believe that I took that dress to be anything other than a costume. It is fun though-- ugly as it may be. And one more of me with the "princess sisters":

Alright, I know you don't give a rat's ass about my costumery of the past or the present, so on to the kids. . .

First though, a few shots from the fall festival (I told you we loves a festival) at Beau's school:
The unhappy princess on the merry-go-round:
The happy princess on the now merry-go-round-- once commanded to smile:
The show down:
Some of Beau Vador's fancy moves:


Ryan carved our pumpkin this year. Some years we have a contest and I do one of the kid's and he does the other and I always lose because I have absolutely no patience for that sort of thing or eye for detail. I have no idea why I ever even entertained that I could be an artist much less stuck with the sculpture major for more than a quarter. Good thing I came to my senses after only wasting a year or two.
The debate between the kids was: Beau; scary pumpkin. Carmella; happy pumpkin.
They compromised on silly scary pumpkin.
Ryan complied.
We did Halloween this year at Meme and Pat's house. There was the requisite chili and salad and beer. Yummy, yum and uh, yum yum.
And then there was the impossible task of getting a Halloween picture of all 5 kids looking the same direction:

I've got to say: nothing, and I mean nothing, can cause a fight between parents faster than trying to get a decent photo of their little darling/s to record some precious moment.
And yeah, that is all I am going to say about that.
Again, the princess sisters:
Baby Pat the Puppy:
Off they go:
Trick or treat:
Thank you!!!

The Life You Save Someday May Be Your Own . . .

Should any of these guys ever decide to become part of America's finest;
I think we will all be screwed. Well, maybe not if Carmella is in charge. . . But to be safe, better brush up on your fire safety while you have the chance.
Or, at the very least, remember to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.
So, on Sunday we-- meaning Ryan and the kids and Pat and Meme and baby Pat-- went to the Marietta Fall Festival( yes, I know, another--what can I say we love a festival!)

So yeah, here are the pictures:
There was a fox that the kids taunted or rather our kids taunted and danced with.
Not sure what his role was.
I think the beers at lunch may have caused me to miss some things.

So it was a nice fall afternoon at the festival. And thankfully Ryan's judgment was not altered from the lunch beers and he did not let me "adopt" a kitten for a $150.
And no, Mom, I do not want bad Kitty Boy Thor to come live with us.
And yes, Camille, Thor is still alive.
Questions, anyone else? I mean seriously, I just got Beau potty trained.
Last thing I want is a puppy or kitten.
Or, Mom, a another kid. Cute as they all are.
Guess I better lay off the sauce or Lord knows what is going to happen or what I might think is a good idea.

Silver Comet Half Marathon: Race Report

This morning I ran the Silver Comet Half Marathon for the first time. This is a great half marathon. I highly recommend it for any first timers. It is very flat and very fast. There is not a lot in the way of spectators but the trail is beautiful. I am also biased because I got a PR.

This past week has been difficult for me running wise. The kids were home from school Monday and Tuesday with colds and my legs have been hurting me. Nothing specific just general achiness and stiffness. I think I have strained my calves and my hamstrings are very tight and as a result everything else is hurting. I was not feeling very optimistic about the race today as a result.

The race start was a 7:45 am. I have a friend who lives over near the start--or at least where I thought the start was. It usually takes me about a half hour to get to her house. So I left my house at 6:45 thinking I would have plenty of time to mill around, pee, chat whatever. And it did take me 30 minutes to get over by my friend's house. So I was right on that count. But the Mablehouse, where the race started, was further than I thought. I had to park over at the middle school and run about a half mile to the start.

I didn't have pins to pin my number on at home so I am very thankful for the guy in the parking lot who had extras. I made it to the starting area with about 5 minutes to spare. Unfortunately the lines for the portalets were quite long. I absolutely cannot run if I have to pee. And since I have never been on the Silver Comet I wasn't too sure of the bathroom situation. A really nice guy let me go ahead of him and I am a fast pee-er but even still I missed the start. I came out of the portalet and saw the wave of people starting to move.

When I joined the crowd it was way in the back with those who pretty much planned to run slow or walk. My usual race MO is to position myself pretty close to the start--especially in races where there is no champion chip used so that I can get the most accurate time. I had to do a lot of crowd weaving and this really isn't all that huge of a race and had I been where I needed to be I wouldn't have had to weave.

I really didn't think I started all that late or was that far back but in retrospect it was probably a 1/4 mile back. I pressed start on Garmin as soon as I hit the pavement--instead of when I crossed the start line-- which since I started after the gun and in the back I am not exactly sure where it was. I was so focused on making my time I really wasn't paying attention to anything but getting through the crowd. Being so far back I had to change my race plan and I figured I would run a bit faster than originally planned until I got with my appropriate pace group. Around the 2 mile mark when they called the time I realized my watch was over a minute and half behind the called split of 16:30something. This proved very confusing for me the whole race in regards to figuring out my pace. Not to help matters-- because of the weather and the thick trees-- I kept losing my GPS signal.

On my way to the race I had set up the virtual training partner on Garmin. I set it for us to race at an 8:15 pace. I did plan to beat him. I wanted to run 15-30 seconds faster than what I plan to do for the marathon.

After the first mile I was not quite a 1/4 mile ahead of Garmin. I maintained that pace--whatever it was-- until I lost the signal. After that Garmin was really of no use to me since the pace and mileage were off from losing the signal and the time was off from starting late.

Since I started so far back I spent the whole race passing people. This was a totally new experience for me. The people I finished with were all "new" people to me. It very much made me feel triumphant.

My time? Well, I am not exactly sure. It was 1:41 something. And my watch was 1:39 something-- I didn't remember to stop it until I had already moved out of the finishing area and by that point it was reading 1:40. And you know what? I don't totally care what my exact time was since I--get this-- beat my personal record by more than 10 minutes. Granted my personal record is one from a much more challenging course, but still 10 minutes is huge. I have, since I started running 8 years ago, shaved 20 minutes off my first half marathon time.

My overall pace was somewhere between 7:35 and 7:45. Totally awesome for me. The only thing that sucks is starting late may have cost me winning my age group. I got second. The woman's time who won was 1:39 something. But I can't say I would have pushed myself so hard had I not felt I was behind. I probably would have gone out way more conservatively. So it is what it is. Today's race really felt like a race for me.

And yep, I wore skirt. Skirt kicked ass. Will be wearing skirt for marathon most definitely. I am looking into getting some of those compression knee socks. I think it will make me look extra kicky.

Race Run down:
Silver Comet Half Marathon
Time: 1:41
Pace: 7:45
Weather: Cloudy, temps in the low 50's at start, high 40's at finish. Wind advisory--though was not a huge factor because of tree shelter.
Awards: T-Shirt, Finisher's Medal ( a spinner!) and 2nd place age group plaque.

End Training Week 3:
As of tomorrow 2 weeks until OBX
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 6 miles at an 8 minute pace
Tuesday: Forced rest
Wednesday: 10 miles at an 8 min pace in the am. 30 minutes cross train and 35 minutes weights in the evening.
Thursday: Bad day. Was a planned 14 miler. Did only 5 at about 9:15 pace--ran 3 in 24 minutes but then walked ran the rest.
Friday: 30 minute cross train and 20 minutes weights.
Saturday: Half marathon
Total miles: 34--MPW totally sucks but I think the extra rest paid off today.

On to the taper . . .

Costumes and all that jazz

The dance studio where Carmella takes dance encouraged the kids to wear their Halloween costumes to class this week.
I forgot my camera on Wednesday for her ballet class but here are a few from jazz today. It totally sucks I forgot it earlier this week because Carmella's ballet teacher is like 7 months pregnant and it cracks me up to watch her do leaps.

Her teacher for jazz, in case you are wondering, is a 1989 prom queen. She nailed it.
I think Tara actually has a dress very similar to that which she wore for homecoming court one year. Not that any of my homecoming/prom dresses were any better but I did at least always go with black and strapless. I do not like and never have approved of the puffy sleeve look. I did though have a penchant for the strapless ball gowns in a tea length. My favorite by far was the Gunne Sax black satin number with a full black tulle skirt and green iridescence polka dots. My date that year got me a black orchid corsage. I thought he was so cool.

Hey, Mom, do you still have that one? I might want to wear it for Halloween this year.
Toothfairy costume might get a year off.

Carmella, by the way, is Princess Annelise from Barbie'sPrincess and the Pauper. Really she just looks like the princess bride. For Halloween's past she has been: ballerina princess(8 months), flower princess (19 months),Cinderella (2 1/2), Butterfly princess (3 1/2) and last year, Sleeping Beauty.
She definitely has a theme and is sticking to it.

My digital camera has a setting called "best shot" and since the lighting sucked in the studio I messed around with it--hence the weird tones and fuzzy pictures. Still though, I think they look kind of neat.

The Future of Baseball Does Not Look Promising

I signed Beau up for a sports sampler class at the YMCA. They get to do 2 weeks each of soccer, t-ball and hockey. It is for ages 3-5.

Soccer went pretty well. I mean it is pretty simple: do not touch the ball with your hands. Kick the ball into the goal.

Baseball, I mean t-ball, is much more complex. Coach James, to help them with running the bases put a little colored cone at each base. He explained "First you run to orange and then to yellow and then to blue and then home plate." All the boys immediately started yelling "I want blue! I want blue!"

The throwing and the hitting of the ball went okay.
But hitting the ball and running the bases proved infinitely more difficult for them.

Every. Single. Boy would hit the ball and then chase after the ball and then bring the ball to either Coach James or Coach Nora and then after much prompting would run the bases, sometimes stopping to pick up the blue or yellow cone. The instructions had been: Hit the ball. Drop the bat. Run the bases. Do not get the ball. Do not get the ball.

Next week they are going to play a game.
I can't wait.
And then it is on to hockey.
I also can't wait to see what happens when Coach James gives 10 little boys hockey sticks.
It is going to be awesome.