Saturday, October 8, 2011

September List

I'm going back to my 10 lists for my monthly updates.

Things I loved in September:
  1. Cooler running weather. I even had one day where I wore a long sleeved shirt. I didn't wear it the whole time, but it was nice to get know it could be cool!
  2. My long runs. I did a 10, 9, and 8.  I  love the thinking time that long runs give me; it is amazing how much stuff you can mull over in 2 or so hours.
  3. That fall TV returned.  Although we are *this* close to turning off our cable and just doing Netflix, I did like having a DVR full of Grey's, Biggest Loser, Glee, and The Office to entertain me.
  4. Fridays.  I worked almost every Thursday for the 2+ months my kids were on track, which meant I only got one day to myself.  But let's be honest: I kind of didn't know what to do with myself for an entire day while my kids were in school for 7 hours.  Fridays were nice because I could run, shower, entertain myself (read: stare blankly at the ceiling for a while; I'm weird like that), and be ready for my kids to come home.
  5. Chore charts. We started one and now my kids do chores. Almost willingly.  I love seeing them clean (maniacal laughter.)  Seriously, it's nice not doing all the cleaning and letting the offspring pull their weight.
  6. Zupas. Holy cow. I resisted my friend's encouragement to eat there for months. But then one opened in Jordan Landing and I tried it and now I'm addicted.  The turkey spinach artichoke panini and lobster bisque soup are good enough to cry over.  Well, just when they are gone, really.  Mmmmm.
  7. A limited supply of Vanilla cokes.  I've cut back to just imbibing on the weekends (or when I'm having a particularly bad, bad moment - but even then I can usually resist.)  I don't feel bad when I drink it, but I feel better when I don't.  It's nice to not be drinking it all the time though.
  8. Looking forward to our San Diego trip (I'll post about this later!)
  9. Taking an afternoon to get a pedicure.  I didn't love how she shaped my nails (I'm always worried about ingrown toenails - what would that do to my running?!) but I love having cute toes.
  10. Getting my under arms lasered.  I had bought a groupon forever ago, but I could never get in for an appointment. It's kind of a weird thing to be excited about, but I take my kicks where I can get them!

Stuff we did:
  1. Went to Deer Creek reservoir for a day of fun, sun, and friends on Labor Day.  It wasn't super warm, but it was warm enough to get in and swim around for a while.  I threw on a life jacket and swam in the water for a while.  It reminded me of all the times my family used to go boating there when I was a kid.  I went out on a jet ski with Thomas for a while and I was reminded so strongly of my dad for a moment.  He would have loved seeing me and my son out there having fun on the water.
  2. Went to a carnival for a little boy in our ward with cancer. It was amazingly well put together; hey had a bounce house, a silent auction, a raffle, food, snow cones, everything! Shane and I walked away with 4 passes to the Living Planet Aquarium and 4 dinners at Cafe Rio for the bargain price of $30.  It was so awesome to see a community pull together for a little boy.
  3. Watched Netflix.  Mad Men on Netflix has taken over our weekends. I still have a huge crush on Don.
  4. Ran the Dirty Dash.  Well, not me, but Shane did, and I followed him around taking pictures and talking with a good friend.  It was fun to get up for a race at 8am, since he didn't have a start time until 11.  I loved walking around the beautiful shoulders of Timpanogas while my man got super dirty. I took a zillion action shots of him and his friends slogging it through the mud.  Maybe next year I'll do it.
  5. Recruited a few people for my Ragnar team next year. It's going to be so fun; I can't wait!
  6. Skipped out on church a few times. This almost never happens.  I'm not good at doing Sundays without church.
  7. Sewed.  Well, not actual sewing, but cut out some pieces I'm going to applique onto a Halloween wall hanging I made last year.  Maybe it will be done in time for next year's Halloween. I always want to sew in the fall; something about the days getting cooler turns my mind to yummy fabric and sewing patters.  I need to get motivated, because a whole new batch of babies are going to be born in the next few months who need blankets. 
  8. Went an entire week with the kids not watching TV or playing video games. It was a challenge, but I actually really enjoyed it.  We had an improv family dance night (after Thomas said "No TV will give me more time to practice my dance moves." Awesomest sentence from a 10 year old ever!), played board games, went on a walk.  Ah, so that is what people did in the olden days!
  9. Bonded with the neighborhood.  It's funny how one neighbor who makes life hell for the rest of the neighborhood can bring everyone else a little closer together.  Am so enjoying the new closeness I feel with the people who live around me.  I'm finally feeling happy on my new street.





8 Chores my children now complete:
  1. Dishes twice a week a piece
  2. Cat box (three times a week for Thomas.)
  3. Taking out the upstairs garbages
  4. Scrubbing the bathroom sinks
  5. Cleaning the inside and outsides of the toilets
  6. Tubs
  7. Shaking rugs
  8. Vacuuming their bedrooms. 
What chores do you have your kids do?

Things that didn't make me happy:
  1. A very good friend at work retired.  She and I had worked by each other for 7 years. We had shared books and space and lots of laughs and crazy family stories. I miss her so much!  Stupid retirement..
  2. We bought some couches in July. It took until September 23 for them to be delivered. Lame.
  3. Homework.  I love my kids, but those few hours when they need to do their homework and they have to read and they are late for karate and all they want to do is watch Phineas and Ferb make me grumpy.  I don't know why after school time has to be so hard!
  4. I completely spaced a visiting teaching appointment that I had made.  I remembered in the morning, and by 11:30 (when I should have been heading to her house) I was on my way to pick up lobster bisque from Zupas and a giant vanilla coke.  My partner called me and I had to rush back to her house.  I am lame!
  5. I realized I have become my parents.  You see, when we were growing up, my parents had a light with a dimmer switch. One day, the dimmer switch turny thingy broke.  You could still turn on the light, but you had to push the remaining metal post to get it to turn on.  This situation lasted for about 15 years, just something that they never got around to.  In June, the switch for the ceiling fan in my room broke. 3 months later, I am still using my tweezers to change the speed on the fan. Yeah, yay me.
  6. Despite giving up soda and putting in 15+ mile running weeks (which I usually never, ever even attempt to attain), I've gained weight.  WTF?
  7. I went over on my cell phone minutes and nearly had a heat attack when I opened my bill.  Sucky.
Please take this opportunity to complain.  I'm all ears!

6 songs that rocked my runs:
  1. Strip, Adam Ant
  2. Desperate, but not Serious, Adam Ant
  3. Jar of Hearts, Christina Perri (I've loved the Glee version for a long time, but finally got the real version)
  4. Changing, Airborne Toxic Event
  5. Hands Down, Dashboard Confessional (I was on Haley's blog one day and watched the link on her blog. I went home and uploaded our Dashboard Confessional CD to my iTunes.  Thanks, Haley!)
  6. Screaming Infidelities, Dashboard Confessional
What music are you loving? 

    5 books I checked out from the library:
    1. The Night Circus (holy cow - I ended up buying it because it. is. soo. good.)  If you are at all inclined - read it.
    2. Girls in White Dresses (short stories - didn't love it, but enjoyed a few of them before I put it aside.)
    3. The Submission. I haven't started it yet, but I've heard some good things about it on NPR.
    4. One Day - okay, I didn't check this one out, but I bought it for my book exchange group. I hope they like it as much as I did! 
    5. The Kitchen House (I couldn't get through it, though I really wanted to!)
    Have you read anything that I should know about?

    4 things my kids did:
    1. Thomas passed off his multiplication and division facts. It has taken us 3 years to get through them.  I am a terrible mother.
    2. Went to what was possibly the coolest birthday party ever.  Our friends had a party with a person who displayed all sorts of reptiles for the kids.  They loved it.
    3. Got lizards.  They (the lizards) eat live crickets.  The store that we usually buy crickets from sells crickets that never make a peep.  However, one week we got crickets from a different store and the crickets chirped for a week straight.  I thought I was going to go crazy before the lizards finally ate them all.
    4. Ben went to the zoo for a field trip.  And, despite my abhorrence for zoos, I went and chaperoned.  I went to bed that night still mentally searching for the the five little boys I was trying to keep track of.  One kid I kept calling by his older brother's name; nice! I've become THAT adult...And boys don't like to look at the animals at the zoo - they just like climbing on all the fences.


    3 reasons I love September:
    1. There is a feeling in the air that, despite the warmth of the day, you can feel that reminds you fall is on it's way.
    2. We go on vacation in September.  It makes the summer last a little longer, and when we come home it's October - the holidays are right around the corner!
    3. The trees on the Oquirrh Mountains changing to red.  They have been so beautiful this year!
    What's your favorite month?


    2 Things I'm looking forward to:
    1. Flannel sheets. Bring 'em on!
    2. The Halloween Half marathon!!  Registration is still open - join in the fun!!  I'm trying to figure out a costume that will be festive but not impede the running in any way.  Hmmm....

    1 more thing:
    1. One night, I was sad and missing my dad.  I called my mom and cried at her for a while.  Moms are great, and we never stop needing them, and they never stop being able to make us feel better.  Thanks, Mom.

      1 comment:

      Amy Sorensen said...

      I am in love with zupas, too, and I get the same sandwich, but you know I don't do the lobster soup. My favorite is the mushroom bisque. It is good that it's totally fat-free, yes? ;)

      Did the underarm lasering hurt?

      And...I find a lot of my newest favorite songs on Haley's blog! An older-ish recent favorite: Billy Idol's version of "Don't You Forget About Me."

      Oh, wait, one more: you got lizards???? like...seriously? You are brave!