Training Plan

A weekly training plan was emailed to 3-day walkers today. Omg - I actually do need to *train* for this thing. I walked 5-6 miles a couple of times in SF before we moved and was actually fatigued afterwards... something tells me 20 miles won't just come naturally to me THREE DAYS IN A ROW.

Today I did the elliptical for 45 minutes - it was 3 miles in total. This fit with the training plan, but how I am going to actually get out for super-long walks with two squirmy children in tow - that is the question. I suppose the dead of winter is not the time to start freaking about it though.

During exercise, it's nice to reflect upon how far we have come in a year. Last year at this time I was pretty darned pregnant and recovering from a bad sinus infection... Tyler was working 80 hours a week (and commuting for almost 12) and Natalie was in daycare, sick for literally weeks in a row, in that crazy-rough 18 month developmental stage. My place of employment was going through heavy downsizing and my job was changing dramatically. We had just found out that my dad had pancreatic cancer. Things really seemed tough.

This year, even when I catch colds from the kids, it just isn't bad like it was when I was pregnant. Natalie and Noah don't have to go to daycare so we can all recover together at home, with nice naps for the kids and no further exposure to germs. Tyler is still working busy season hours but his commute is shortened to 2 hours a WEEK instead of 2 hours a day. He is making it home for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, no matter how late he has to work the rest of the week... this makes a *huge* difference with the kids. Two and a half isn't the *greatest* of all stages, but Natalie is freaking hilarious, so that makes up for it - today she decided that yet another stuffed animal was named "Mrs. Boots". Tyler said quietly to me "sounds like Mr. Boots is a polygamist" and Natalie piped up with "MR. BOOTS IS A POLYGAMIST." Tyler and I have never had to struggle so hard not to laugh before. I get to hang out with the cat all day (oh, and the kids too) - and Noah is in this time of his life where he just wants to crawl around, so if I sit on the floor near him, he is happy for at least 30 minutes - I can read a book if I want to, and he is thrilled just to crawl around me. I CAN READ A BOOK AT WORK, DID YOU HEAR THAT? :-) Granted, this isn't an option when Natalie is awake ("Mommy! Dress Polly! Mommy! Read this! Mommy! I want something! Mommy! I need you!" This is literally what my day sounds like...) but it's nice for that time when she is napping but he is awake.

If my dad had beaten the odds and my friends were here, life would be pretty near perfect.

Snow

Does shoveling snow for 1 hr and 45 minutes count as training for the 3-day? I think so, as I just burned about 770 calories! Shoveling in our neighborhood is really fun, though - people actually walk over to say hello if they see me outside. This whole neighborhood is like "Cheers" - everybody knows everybody, and they live here specifically because they want to live in a family-friendly, social neighborhood. In other words, it's heaven on earth for me.

Thinking and thinking of fundraising ideas during every activity lately. $2300 is a lot of money to request from friends, family, and acquaintances. I keep thinking that I want people to *get* something from this (aside from the tax benefit of course, and the sense of accomplishment from helping raise money for an extremely worthwhile cause). I'm wondering if "Crafting for the Cure" might be an answer... Personalized note cards could be the start but I could even branch out to small framed embroidered items. Now I just have to find people who want these items. Therein lies the rub!

Coughing, hacking 10 month old. Must go.