The eve of Forty Five

Here I sit, almost alone, on the eve of my 45th birthday. Sports has taken over our lives, once again, and it is just me and my trusty side kick, Jack, for the evening. I know I have been absent from my blog for a couple months and I thought now would be a good time to reflect on the year I have had.

I find it ironic than when I looked back at my blog post from my birthday last year there was none. This time last year, I was in a place of hopeless despair with Jack's school situation, I was in an unhealthy mental and physical state, and I was just getting thru each day. No wonder there wasn't a picture or blog. I didn't want to exist.

The tide started to change after Christmas break when Jack started going to Haugland. It is not always the ideal place for him, but I am so thankful that they can educate him and work on his behavior issues without expelling him every week. Moving him there was a HUGE load off my mind.

Somewhere along the way in the beginning of the year, I decided to not post any negative posts on FB and to over all banish negativity from my conversations. I was going to try to be more like my better half, Tom, and look at the bright side. Find positives in adversity. This was exhausting at first after living a life of "have no expectations and you won't be let down". But day after day, this positive thinking changed my life. It changed every relationship I had and I became a better wife, mother, co-worker, and friend.

Amazing what the mind can do.

Looking back at the top three moments of this last year, they rank in order like this:

My parents moved from NC to the Cincy area. It was a relatively quick move and we have had to learn had to see each other more than twice a year, but it has been a great benefit to me and more importantly my kids.

My folks have been to ball games, birthday parties, and school functions that they have missed the last several years. Though the kids hate to admit it, they like knowing Grammie and PopPop are cheering for them. Grammie has been known to be heard over the rest of the spectators at baseball games. Fruit does not fall far from that tree!

The second best part of my year was getting to see my Junior High best friend, Kathy, over the summer. It was too short of a visit, but it was so good to see her and you would never know it had been decades since we saw each other.

I hope to see her every chance she comes to Ohio.

And last but certainly not least: this year has brought me back to running. I won't get into all the sappy details bcz most of you follow me anyway on FB, but running and the MRTT group has saved my soul. They have made me believe in myself, banish any negative talk, support others the best I can, and I have made some AMAZING friends. I am so utterly blessed to have these ladies in my life. I cannot ask for anything more from the friendship that have given me.

I am so thankful that this year has turned around my life. I am very much looking forward to 45 in 2015 and my story is left unwritten at this point. There is a very good chance I will sign up for a half marathon. I have tasted the koolaide and I am hooked.

I wish you all a fantastic Holiday Season. Find your passion and follow it in anyway you can. Your soul will thank you.

Thanks friends for reading,

Cat

The last blog at 44

The Reluctant Runner (?)

Hi friends!! Sorry it has been almost two months since my last post. Life has been going full speed ahead with three kids in three different schools, sports, and "leisure time". That last part is a joke, there is no leisure time in our lives.

I have been keeping up my running and the race I "trained for" all summer was last Sunday, The OSU 4 miler. 

I was running with a new friend, Libby, that morning (this seems to be a new, nice habit for me, meeting lots of new friends to run with) and we got there plenty early, had tons of time to chat and meet up with our MRTT group for some fun...

But by the time the race started, a good 3 hours 22 minutes after we had gotten there, I felt a little off. I hadn't eaten anything that morning and was keeping my water intake to a minimum bcz I didn't want to wait in line to pee. I was all ready tired before we even started.

I was excited, though, bcz as we rounded the corner to start, I saw Jack and Tom looking for me! Tom missed coaching a very important game to make sure 1/2 our family was there cheering me on. That made my morning.

I should have easily been able to do 4 miles but I really struggled. Libby was so great with reminding me that my pace was faster than I could maintain and let me walk when I needed to. Libby trains for MARATHONS and here I was killing her pace. I know mentally that took a toll on me as well. Of course she was cheery about the whole thing and I think that made me feel worse!! But thank you Libby for being with me that morning.

Anyway, I finished in the time I hoped I would. Finished on the 50 yard line at 50 minutes.

I was bummed all this past week with my performance and though I try to tell myself "one race does NOT define you", I couldn't squelch down that thought. I thought long and hard this week about running, why I do it, do I even like it, etc. I was getting ready to remove myself from our running group: I would still have my same group of gals I run with, just not in the group.

Then my Messenger started going bezerk. 4 of my very new running friends wanted to know if I would do a MARATHON relay with them in April 2015: we would all run between 4-6 miles and 

make a girls weekend out of it.

I figured they texted the wrong person, I could barely do 4. SIX? They were nuts. But there it was, them asking me to do it. I was floored. Perhaps moved to tears but don't let them know that. I don't want them to know I am a softie.

So in April 2015,I will be sharing a hotel room with 4 gals I met less than a year ago at that point, and completing a MARATHON with them. A FREAKING MARATHON!!

I am also thinking about signing up for a half marathon with my friend April and some of the other MRTT friends. I am still on the fence and need to look at a training schedule to see if it's feasible. I know I can walk some of it so that helps.

I will be over hauling my eating and work out schedule to get me ready for at least 6 miles, perhaps twice that. I know I can do it and I sure as hell don't want to let these 4 gals who believe in me down.

Hope you find the motivation you are seeking to live out some crazy dreams. Surround yourself with people who tell you you CAN. You have no room for Can't people.

I will try to post every week how I am doing and any crazy stuff that comes up. Hope school is going well for your kids and you are all staying healthy!!

Thanks again for supporting me. Would love to hit 50 subscribers this year. I know I CAN!!

With much love,

Cat

My summer is almost over....

I could pretend that I am sad summer is coming to a close, but I am not. I am ready to go back to work, I am ready to be back into a routine, I am ready to cook for people who appreciate it!!

I AM READY!

With that being said, here are some highlights of my Summer:

I started running again and actually enjoying it as much as I am able to.

Thanks to this gal who made sure I did some kind of exercise every day from Memorial Day to 4th of July. And we are still moving!

Thanks Sandy for keeping me moving! And a big thanks to the Columbus Mom's Who Run This Town group that have changed my life and keep me motivated to get out there and get after it!

Griff played some baseball

The dogs did A LOT Of this

Jack is enjoying the pool Grammie bought him

We also spent a lot of time at a local waterfall

I broke the mower

We went to our town's carnival

And to Kalahari

We met Grammie and PopPop at the Air Force Museum

Emily got her license!! And a job and giving me a heart attack every time I see her drive away...

But the best part of my summer was seeing my best friend from 7/8th grade whom I have not seen in 32 years

This picture makes my heart happy in so many ways! Thanks, Kathy!!

Emily is at the beach with her dad right now and sent me this pic

Just beautiful.

I hope you all have had a great summer and are enjoying the last couple weeks. I know some kids all ready went back. Yowza!

Have a great evening!

Cat

Fit in 40 days: 3 days left!

This is going to be a short blog as I have an eye appointment this morning and an afternoon filled with fun stuff with the boys.

I have been thinking a lot about weight loss lately and had a light bulb moment at my son's baseball game Saturday (it was either heat stroke or a light bulb moment...). One of the mom's from the team does Cross Fit and needless to say, is in incredible shape. You would for sure want her on your side in a fight! I was thinking about what dedication that takes, and if I had that dedication,would I rather be really thin or buff like she is?

That's when the light bulb (heat stroke) clicked: I am thinner than I was 7 years ago. I have lost a significant (40 lbs) amount of weight, slow and steady. I do have that dedication to lead as healthy of a lifestyle as I can (I literally threw out a barrel of cheese balls this week to keep me out of them!).

I also want people to know that losing weight does not mean all your problems will be lost, too. I still have car problems, problems with the kids, money concerns. I think we, as women, feel like "Oh, if I can just get to my goal weight, everything will be sunshine and unicorns!". The reality is, it is the same reality as before, you just aren't carrying as much weight thru it.

I have three days left in my 40 miles in 40 days streak. I have logged over 184 miles in that time. I am excited for the next streak: my neighbor and I are going to do a July 4th to Labor Day streak: still logging miles but adding 1 minute of planks every day. I am also going to dust off our weight machine in the basement and incorporate that into my free weight routine.

Ok, I need to get off here and get ready for my eye exam!

Have

a

great

July

1st!

Cat

Fit in 40 days: Day 27

I have a lot to share. So grab a beverage, turn up the sound on the USA soccer game (I have it on as I type this. GO USA!!) and see what I have been up to.

Fitness

I don't really consider myself a "runner". Sure I have done a few 5k's and a 1/4 Marathon, but I have never felt like I fit into that elite group of people who run because they love it (maybe because I don't). But I recently joined a Columbus Mom's running group on FB and have been sucked in by what these women accomplish. I have doing well on my 40 day streak (148.3 miles logged, in 213th place out of 38,827 participants. Nothing to sneeze at), lost a few pounds and have cleaned up my eating. I admit, there were a couple times I almost quit the online group as I did not feel worthy of these mom's that get in 5 miles at 5am a couple times a week. They do 5 miles in like 45 minutes!

But then a strange thing happened Friday: I organized a local hill climb run with a few of the mom's for 7am this morning. SUNDAY morning. And 4 of them showed up! I never thought of myself as THAT motivated but I am so glad I did. These mom's, and the ones on the site, are so supportive. There is no bashing anyone's time, there is no shame if you have to walk some of your race, it is a genuinely caring community of women who want nothing but the best for all of us who are trying to be better runners.

I feel like I have found my groove with running and though I doubt you will ever see me running more than 7 or 8 miles at a time, never say never.

Food

Now on to the good stuff!! I have been doing really well with my eating but I admit, I have not been that strict with the kids. I am making sure they eat their fruits and veggies but I did buy them an enormous barrel of cheese balls at Sam's Club the other day. Fail.

Normally I get my meat and poultry from our local butcher but in a desperate move to get away from the kids for a bit, I went to Sam's Club for my chicken and pork. I gotta tell you, I was disappointed with the store in general. It has been a long time since I shopped there and I was surprised at how sparse the items were. There was hardly any poultry or other refrigerated white meat options. I did get my annual bag of Ahi Tuna fillets, and I did get chicken and a pork loin, but for sure going back to Mosley's Meat. They package it the way I want, and though I don't mind taking the time to clean everything up, it is nice to have someone do it for me. 

I spent $100 at Sam's and another hundred at the regular grocery store. It is my goal to eat our way thru everything we have in house, without going to the store for close to two weeks. I will get outside aisle things if needed but darn it, we have enough here to get us thru more than a week.

So I did my hill run this morning, barely made it up the stairs to lay back down, we went to a state park, put loads of laundry away, threw the baseball around a bit and then the best thing of all:

I barricaded myself in the kitchen and COOKED.

We were having breakfast for dinner, so that explains the bacon. 

Then Tom decided he wanted a BLT and pancakes for dinner.

I made a triple batch of pancakes so the kids could eat them the next couple days. I am smart like that.

Then I made my new favorite thing:

Low fat cream cheese with green onions in it. I spread it on my bread when having turkey sandwiches, it is great on egg sandwiches, too. Really, anything you put cream cheese on or in, this is soo fresh tasting. Chives would be great in it as well.

Then, in an effort to make eating a morning meal easier, I came up with this gem:

I precooked sausage patties Sat morning for breakfast and used the leftovers in this. 6 egg whites, some milk and some various colored peppers I had. Baked it in the oven while the bacon was cooking and now all I have to do is cut out a square that has sausage in it, microwave in the morning and I have breakfast. Nutrition wise, it shakes out to about 100 calories, 7 grams fat, 9 grams protein. And I get some veggies in, too. Nice!!

Finally, and I don't have a picture, I made my white bean and avocado dip, too. Though this time I made it more with a Mexican flair. I added cilantro, 3 chipolte's in adobo (this is my new favorite food), some lime and lemon juice, garlic and tahini. It has some nice heat but not too hot. I bought some bib lettuce and plan to use those as wraps for the bean dip.

I feel really good and it has been a long time coming for that feeling. I love that all my friends are finding hobbies they enjoy: golf, tennis, walking. We deserve to do things that make us feel good.

Thanks for reading, sorry so long winded. And how the heck do you tie in soccer??? At least we are still in it.

Stay with me for 13 more days of streaking. If Runner's World doesn't do a 4th of July to Labor day streak, I am doing one myself. It is 58 days between the two. I am aiming for close to 100 miles. I go back to work Aug 13, so I will get a couple miles in a day at work, but I am going to keep up the running and hill climbing. Feels too good to stop.

Cat

Fit in 40 days: Blog/Day 18

So I got my crap together today, didn't spend the whole morning sleeping and when I was approached about "what kind of FUN thing are we going to do today?" (Jack thinks there needs to be a fun thing every day in the summer. A challenge for me, for sure!) I replied "we are going CREEKING". Griffin immediately said "nope, not going" as he barely looked up from his kill all things in the village game he plays on my computer (I killed his Xbox live membership for the summer and he is restricted on his Itouch due to some bad choices). But here's the thing, he's not allowed to stay home alone anymore. He didn't do anything wrong to have this privilege taken away, but I have noticed a few of his friends, who are home alone A LOT, are going astray. Not happening with my kid, at least I will try my hardest to make sure that does not happen. He moped and groaned but got in the van and here's where we ended up: 

 Jack in the creek. You will notice Jack likes his picture taken WAY more than Griff. (Note, Emily is still in training at her new job).

 The area is a park called Indian Run falls and it has a ton of little water falls and then one bigger falls. Very manageable for people of all ages, though I suggest shoes. Jack didn't have any on but was ok.

 There are the boys trudging up the creek.

 That's Griffin a million miles ahead bcz GOD FORBID he stays with his family.

Here's the big falls. Griffin managed to climb down it while Jack sat on the ledge (keep in mind my heart is lurching out of my chest at the thought of balance challenged Jack on the edge like that and then how the heck is Griff getting back up? But it was all ok. Thank goodness!)

Me with Jack and the bridge behind me.

Griffin has NEVER let me take a selfie of us, so this is a HUGE trip for us!

And for dinner, I grilled chicken thighs and made chimichurri to go with it. Chimichurri can be a lot of different things, for me it was: garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt, pepper, lime juice, fresh basil and cilantro. Mix with white vinegar and olive oil and drizzle it on EVERYTHING. It is soo good.

Tomorrow is grocery day and I am hoping to get some yard work done. Griffin has baseball tourney all weekend but not sure how it will shake out with his broken thumb. And Sunday is Father's Day. Yay for all the dad's out there!!

I have done 18 straight days of exercise and have gone 91.3 miles. I have lost a little bit of weight but not as much if I was not sleeping half the day!! Gotta get my rear in gear.

Happy Friday evening, friends!!

Cat

Fit in 40 days: Day 16, yes, I may have missed a couple days...

Here's the thing about summer for me: I really don't have to do anything. Of course I have to feed the kids and dogs, do some laundry, clean stuff occasionally. But there is no rule book that tells me what I have to do every day.

This is a blessing and a curse. I can very easily fall into the doing nothing category but since I am really trying to clean up our eating and our lives, I have TRIED to be proactive.

We had a great weekend at the pool and then just hanging out Sunday since it was rainy. 

Emily got a job, so we have been shuttling her back and forth to training. I cannot tell you how EXCITED I am that she is in food service. I feel like she has followed my footsteps with running and now food service and it makes me so happy.

I am also reminded of how quickly these next two years with her will go and I miss her all ready. When she graduates High School, Griffin will be entering High School and Jack will be starting 7th grade. Ugh.

So this is what I have been up to the last 5 days: I have not missed a workout in 19 days, 15 days for the Streaking contest.

I made homemade crouton's tonight. I have a TON of hamburger buns in my freezer so I thawed and left them out and made croutons. They are all ready gone. Soo good!!

This is what menu planning looks like for me. I am so budget oriented, I write it all out. The legal pad on the left is all the breakfast/lunch/dinner ideas for the kids. At the bottom of the paper is dinner for me and Tom! The little, middle paper is our menu for the next week, and the list on the right is my actual grocery list. Top half is Meijer, bottom is Aldi. I get most of my groceries from Aldi.

Hope you all are doing well and getting thru summer ok. I am a little worried bcz this June is shaping up like last June where it rained 29 straight days and never got above 75 degrees.

Until I went to work, then it was over 90 for weeks!!

Here's hoping better weather is coming!!

Cat