Catch Up Take 1,999

Goodness, where I have been? Running around like a mad woman would be the answer to that question.!

Back up. 2 weeks ago, we hosted a charity event at our house to raise money for the Air Force Assistance Fund (to benefit families of wounded soldiers, etc.,etc.). Andrew and his buddy, Andrew, from pilot training (years ago), cooked up a massive crawfish boil (that I HEARD was tasty; I don't dare eat anything that is in the same family as a cockroach.) Best of all, Joe, Val, and HARB (all friends from Alaska), came in for the event and spent the weekend with us!!! For those of you who are unfamiliar, HARB married Andrew & I in Alaska and then Joe/Val a few months after (in AK, ANYONE can get a license to marry couples for a day.) Now, Joe is flying in Del Rio, and HARB is the West Coast A-10 Demo Pilot out of Tucson.

Val, Joe & HARB

So, the guys & Val (she loves crawfish), stood around the table all night eating bugs, while the girls took care of "real business"...... throwing shots down like they were going out of style. We had our priorities in order!




Ah, I almost forgot about the famous Quinn weed sprayer filled with margarita mix!

It was a wonderful evening full of friends, laughter, food , fun & Andrew sarinating us all with classic fighter pilot songs! I've come to conclusion that a party isn't a parrrrty without Jeremiah Weed, fighter pilot songs, & HARB showing us a crap ton of aviation related videos on the computer! Gotta love them!


Andrew singing to us

On another note, Katie is here (can't wait to see you!), my mom gets into town this evening, I'm in full-up ironman training mode (ex.... I trained for 5 hours on Sat, light run on Sunday, 4 hours yesterday, and 2 today.) I'm back to 2-a-days for most of the week with one complete rest day where I over carb-o-load. I get up at 4AM and workout for few hours before Andrew heads to work, then I go back with the kids to utilize the alloted 2 hours. This way, I don't feel as if too much time is taken away from the family. The race is in October (Austin), with a few olympic distance triathlons in between. I've been working with a trainer, swim coach, & friend (who've I've managed to talk into racing with me... love you Jenni!), to make me a more efficient/ well-rounded competitor and tweak my form/weaknesses. I love it all! Other than being a wife and mommy to my family, THIS is what I feel like I'm meant to do in this life. Pushing my body to its maximum limits brings me so much joy (crazy, huh!???)

Andrew and I also purchased iphones over the weekend. I find myself throughout the day wondering why in the hell I even did such a thing. People, I barely have the time to wipe my own ass, let alone play with a damn gadget! Half the time, I end up calling people by accident because of the sensitive touch screen. To be honest, if I didn't have children, I would just do away with the whole cellphone dilemma. The thought of people NOT being able to get a hold of me 24/7 sounds....... PEACEFUL! Although, with having 2 little ones around, I'm not quite sure what peaceful means anymore. It sounds good though!

Paris, Lindsey, Britney, or Marilyn?????

THIS, is how I found Salem when I returned from my run this evening. She had her skirt on inside out, was wearing it as a dress, high-heels on the wrong feet, and NO panties on!!! She was having the time of her life twirling and whirling away (thank goodness we still don't have any nearby neighbors!) If I would've arrived 10 minutes earlier, I would have found her "naker-buns" running around with nothing on but the high-heels (of course :) washing the car! He said one minute she was dressed, and the next she wasn't!

A Marilyn moment

She is my free spirited angel!

Is It......

odd that I have both Tavin and Salem's birthday parties planned, Christmas presents purchased (for EVERYONE that we shop for), Halloween.... CHECK! (family matchy-matchy thing this year), baby presents purchased for friends that don't even have babies yet ( just waiting patiently for THAT phone call... you know who you are!), the list goes on! I'm even starting on Christmas 2010 presents because they are going to be TIIIIME consuming! Just wondering what your thoughts were! Maybe I need meds.! Do you think???? And No, I'm not one of those crazy wives that wracks up the credit cards or anything; it's all done with reason/"budget". But still, my poor family. My children will one day resent me for putting them in such hideous attire for special occasions (if they don't already.) I get the feeling Salem is almost there and Andrew..... well, he just keeps his mouth shut (which is genius on his part!) Tavin is IT, so I feel like I have to take full advantage of him while I still can!

Not 1, but 2.....

Photo totally unrelated to what I'm bitching about... I just love this one!

bad days back-2-back, I don't know if I can handle this!!!! First off, as of yesterday, I had only slept 12 hours since friday. I had my in-laws fly in, my race, sick kids with coughs that lasted all hours of the night, training, etc.,.... with hardly any sleep each night. So, Tuesday night, I had just drifted off, when Salem came into our room. I stayed with her for 2 hours (coughing), went back to bed to go to my "happy place" again, when I heard Tavin screeching this GOD AWFUL sound in his crib. I raced in there to find him freaked the F out because he was having difficulty breathing. HOLY SHIT!!!!! I threw him in the car and drove him straight to the ER. They took one look at him and started my little man on breathing treatments (his oxygen levels were low.) The Doc, and myself included, SWORE up and down that it was RSV, but the test came back negative. A few hours later, we were sent home with an ear infection and albuterol to treat wheezing.

Then, it got worse from there. Salem wouldn't nap (which we all know can make for a bad day itself), Tavin required obvious attention, and then,..... I BROKE my freakin' toe!!! I've never broken a bone in my body, until now that is. It's black/deep red, swollen, mushy, and I'm just PISSED OFF!!! I got up and went to the gym at 5 this morning, to manage to get somewhat of a workout in. I won't go to the doctor because I can't bare the thought of listening to him tell me to stay off of it and not run! NOT RUN, I have to! It is the ONLY thing that keeps my sane! I have a bad day... I run, not enough sleep... run to wake-up, husband stress.... run, ate to many cookies... definitely RUN!!!! I can't function like this!!

Black toe with sugar stuck inbetween my feet (see above) and in much need of a pedicure!

So, here we are. Sitting around. We're trying to make the most of our "lock-down" status by baking cookies, coloring eggs, art activities, etc. Salem was helping me make cookies this morning, when the lid to the sugar container decided it didn't want to stay on anymore; therefore, all 5 pounds of sugar ended up on my kitchen floor. Then, I attempted to vacuum it all up, only I managed to ALSO suck-up a sock of mine (that has now stopped my $500 vacuum from functioning... fuck!!!!)

I'm worried about my kids heath (even though I know they're making progress), my toe fucking hurts, and I have a charity event/party/crawfish boil this Saturday at my house that I have to prepare for.. SHIT! I need sleep, a new toe, a set of children that are 100%, a couple housekeepers to follow me around, a chef (or 2), some prozac, painkillers, anxiety medication, a case of wine, and someone who is ready (and willing), to bling out the colored eggs with some glitter (that will then spill on the floor and stay there for eternity, due to the broken dyson.) Are you interested????

VICTORY FOR THE NORTH POLE BIZNASTIES!!!

Reliving the moment!

Before the day begun!

Valerie and I competed in the Great Urban Adventure Race held in Austin on Saturday! Okay, we didn't come in first, but we came in 14th out of 500 teams!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!! Never, in a million years, did I EVER think we would do so well! Thanks to my teammate being familiar with Austin, we are now headed to the National Championship in New Orleans this November!!! Clue man
The best thing to compare it to is the Amazing Race. We were handed a list of clues to kick off the race, and had to complete 11 challenges/puzzles/obstacles/boat rowing,etc. (you were given 12, but could skip 1) in under 5 hours. Val would have to correct me on this and the results aren't posted yet, but I'm pretty sure we did it right at 2 1/2 hours (which felt like 4-EVAAAA!) We had them confirm our placement on multiple occasions because we couldn't believe we did that well! The top teams do this crap for a living people. They have teams of people that help them out with where to go, what clue to do first, what bus to get on (the only other form of transportation you can use is a bus...which Val and I used 2 x's.) There was a team that placed 11th that ran the entire race and DIDN'T use the bus (all the stops slow you down.)

Valerie had to feed me an empanada

The blue sock lady with us giving her $5 for being so generous!

You can also utilize navigation systems, phones, and have people google info. for you. This sounds easy, but it is WAY more complicated than it sounds. We tried to have Joe & Andrew help us, but it didn't work in our favor. In this particular clue (photo), we had to find a blue sock, grape mike & ikes, or a bounty bar. Sounds simple, right???? We had the guys out looking for any of the above, and they couldn't find a single item!!!!! We were running around the UT campus searching for Bevo, when Valerie came up with the idea to start knocking on college kids doors in search of a blue sock. Well, the 1 door I knocked on came out to work in our favor and the chick gave a pair to us for $5!!!! You also had to take photos of all clues and receive stamps for completing the task. If you screwed up or didn't complete the task, you were penalized 30 minutes on top of your finishing time. We were careful with attention to detail, and didn't accumulate any penalties.

Adam and Eve should have won for best costume; but nope, they were beat out by 2 lesbians called "Dos Frutos" (2 fruits!) Funny, and I guess that's what I should have expected coming for Austin and all!

My supportive hubby!
Aahhhh...... so now we will be gearing up/strategizing for the Nationals in New Orleans. I'm thinking we need a team of people to fly out there, set up shop at local coffee bars with internet connections to google the crap out of stuff for us while we run our asses around town! Anyone interested?????

Celebrating at Truluck's downtown Austin

"Lets Go......

First off, don't you just love Mr. Mom with the monitor attached to his belt????
I love this!
And this!


fly a kite!"  It has been windy (as all hell), so we've been trying to take full advantage of it (because I can't fathom a day without getting out of the house!) Salem did/does exceptionally well flying the kites on her own.  I say kites because we can't seem to keep them around after each use.  We do fine flying them for hours (literally), but when it's time to head inside, the damn things always end up in a nearby tree.  

 Uh.... we'll eventually get there!  For $3 a pop, I won't complain for an endless afternoon of pure fun!