Tag Archives: race

A Half Marathon In My Garage On Mother’s Day

Our original plan to start Mother’s Day off with a half marathon and 5k race followed by coffee and brunch and Brewed never happened. Guess that’s what I get for writing and scheduling a post ahead of time.

Due to inclement weather with tornadoes, heavy rain, and lots of lightning, the even organizers figured running in the stuff may not be the best idea. If only they would’ve called it off before I was half-way there, hydroplaning on the highway, that would’ve been nice.

With the torrential rain and lightning already rearing its ugly head at 5am, we had already nixed the plan of having G-Ma and Avery come watch Going Mom and I run. My wife was sure the race would be canceled, but since I didn’t see anything posted, I said I’d just go alone and come back to celebrate Mother’s Day after the wet run.

As I was driving through nasty weather thinking how much it sucks inside a car and how much more it will suck when running 13.1 miles, Kelley called to tell me they finally called it off. Actually, it’s now going to be next weekend on Sunday, the 17th. So, I turned around and picked up Grande black coffees at Starbucks for the 3 of us. And then I stopped again and made use of my free refills with the Gold Card to make a total of 6 coffees.

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This is the only way I can justify paying for coffee since it brings the cost down to only $1 per Grande. Not bad, eh?

When I arrived back home, I found my mom and Kelley asleep on the couch in the living room. We never woke Avery up, thankfully, and I’ve learned to never wake a sleeping lady……especially when they’re pregnant!

Since they went back to sleep, it would only make sense to join them (I only slept 5 hours) and get a little more rest, right? Wrong! When I have a certain thing to do in my head, I have trouble letting it go. Since the rain and lightning wasn’t letting up, I decided to make use of my indoor rower and row the half marathon distance in my garage.

13.1 miles / 21.08 km is a half marathon, and I ended up rowing 90 minutes with a distance of 22.2 km, or 13.8 miles. Talk about a sore butt! I listened to a great Ben Greenfield podcast to help the time pass while staring out at the rain which ended up not being that bad. I know being fueled by NuttZo (as the shirt says) helped keep me going since I had nothing to eat or drink before or during the stint.

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All three lovely girls woke up and greeted me just before I was finished, and Going Mom took a few finishing action shots for me. Right after, I stood in the rain to cool off as we all sipped guzzled our coffees. I made Mother’s Day NuttZo Oatmeal for the girls by request which was better than what we would’ve had at Brewed anyway.

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The secret, besides the obvious delicious and healthy addition of NuttZo is, add a crap-load of blueberries!

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This was the smaller bowl for my mom, but Kelley would send it back for more “bluebs” if I seemingly skimped on tiny tart fruit. Hers looks more like this….

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With bellies full of coffee and oatmeal (perfect combo for a rainy day), I gave my Mother’s Day gifts to my wife and mom.

Accompanying the personal letters I typed to each of them, I gave an old photo to my mom of her and me after my high school graduation. She had dyed blonde hair, I had earrings, and we both had 13 years back.

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We have more to give my spectacular Mom, but need it to come in the mail first. Although she liked her gifts, she deserves so much more than I could ever give. Raising me alone was not an easy feat, but she did it, and she did it well. I’ll just forget about those times we had fast food. 🙂

For Going Mom, I gave her a new pair of sandals from Soft Star Shoes which was received with great delight. Score one for me!

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I got the size right and a color she loves. Not an easy task a style-impaired guy such as myself. They looked great on their website, but even better in person, and absolutely wonderful being worn by my wife.

Besides the pair of sandals, I also pulled a few strings to get her a pair of these water mugs…

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Yep, they’re from the Baylor Health hospital Avery was born in. Kelley has been drinking religiously from the same one ever since Avery was born on 11/15/13, and we aren’t even religious!

After e-mailing and talking to a nurse on the phone, she said she’d give me two new ones for my wife. Avery and I made the trip up there one day as I took a trip down Memory Lane and voila!, we have two new mugs! Good, because the original is cracked and had water collecting inside.

After visiting and playing with Avery a while longer, G-Ma had to leave while there was a break in the storms. We said our farewells and she was on her way.

Avery ran around the house and threw things at our feet until it was nap time. Going Mom nursed her to sleep where, at one point, she was in a flying bird position.

Sleeping Bird Avery

How that’s comfortable, I haven’t a clue, but that’s how she slept for a while. Kelley and I relaxed together to enjoy each other’s company over one of my home brews.

Homebrew Cheers with Kelley

I love her, obviously, and am so happy to share this life with her. Sharing beer with her is just icing on the cake good because, beer and love.

The rest of the day had storms come and go, but we were able to fit in a walk with Avery with only a little be of rain. Now I just need to make it through another week and prepare to run 13.1 miles next Sunday. Hopefully the weather will hold out this time!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Are you stubborn/determined when it comes to having your mind set on something like finishing a race?

Do you like cards or handwritten letters when giving gifts?

How was the weather for you on Mother’s Day?

Happy Mother’s Day! Letters to my Wife & Mom

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderful Moms out there!

If you’re not a wonderful Mom, this doesn’t apply to you, but hopefully that’s not the case. It’s well known I’m not giving flowers for Mother’s Day (or ever), but I’m good at creating handmade cards for special occassions, just like the one I made Kelley last year.

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Well, I guess “good”, is giving myself too much credit, huh?

This year I opted to type my letter and nix the whole “thumbs up” cut-out.  This not only saved me time since I was writing with toddler pulling on my shorts (not kidding) and needed someone to push her toy plane, Tilly, as mentioned in the letter to Going Mom.

At the time of this being published, my wife and I should be done with our runs and hanging out with my mom and Avery at Brewed where copious amounts of coffee will be consumed. I’m sure Kelley and I will be the winners of the race happy to be done so we can relax and enjoy spending time with each other on Mother’s Day.

Speaking of, I’m cutting this short and will leave you with the letters I wrote to my wife and to my mom. So much better than words from a mass produced card!


 

Kelley,

I’m standing here, at my “work station” with our crazy little girl at my feet demanding my attention as I write this. Oh, hold on….

Okay, had to make Tilly go takeoff, I’m back now.

Anyway, there are times when I feel like I could go absolutely insane from these things. You know the feeling since she does it to you too. But, despite the madness, when all is said and done, I unquestionably love it!

If it weren’t for you, none of this could be a reality, and I am forever grateful to you as a beautiful, magnificent, and loving mother and wife! You’re my best friend with whom I can share all my thoughts and feelings, and although I admit I don’t do it enough, I feel instant comfort when I’m in your arms.

You’ve rocked at being a mom and are still going strong with giving Avery the best stuff ever. I know it will come to an end eventually, and I support whatever choice you make, but the sacrifice you have made will live forever in our healthy little girl.

I could go on raving about your awesomeness, but Tilly needs to takeoff for the sixth time, and I have 3 half books piled up to read. Basically, I love, I love our life, and I appreciate you as a mother to our beautiful girl and as my stunning (sexy vixen?) wife.

Happy Mother’s Day, dear, I love you forever!


Mom,

I’m writing this at the same time as Kelley’s, with Avery dancing around me for my utmost attention. You know, just like I was. 🙂 Thank you, by the way, for always giving it to me!

You’ve always been there for me, even when on your own and going through so many stressful times. To have a mother like you is rare, and I love that you are now giving all of your love to Avery without hesitation. She has the best G-Ma ever and it makes me smile seeing you two together. Even when she’s tugging at your hair.

I found this picture from after high school graduation and since it’s not being used here, hopefully you will have a place for it at work or at home. It makes me think of how much we’ve all changed, but never made us distant from each other. Again, thank you for always being there for me and now for Avery. No one could ask for a better mother than you, especially one that puts up with my crap!

Sorry for the lack of gifts, you deserve so much, but instead I ask you watch our kid so I can run. Which, by the way, thank you for that!

I hope you have a very Happy Mother’s Day, and we spend it all together enjoying each other’s company.

 

Do you create a lot of handmade gifts or prefer to buy your gifts?

How About Five Puns For A Top Daddy Vote?

Friday’s are awesome, and Friday’s with puns are awesomer full of even more awesomeness! So I have a deal for you, I’ll give you 5 puns and only ask for one thing in return; a vote on the Top Daddy Blogs website.

I’ll make it easy for you, just click the button below and BAM!, your vote is in and I sincerely thank you!

Click to vote for me @ Top Daddy Blogs // Dad Blogs Directory

This button is also on my sidebar and at the end of every post, so if you are so inclined, I’d love it if you clicked it once a day or whenever you visit. Maybe I’ll have more puns lined up for the future in return. Deal? Please?

Now, we have to go off the honor system here, so I’m assuming that you have clicked the badge above or will soon if you scroll down for the puns. And, under this assumption, I deeply thank you and express my Top Daddy gratitude.

Although they are now my Top Daddy enemies, these dad bloggers are also asking for votes. Since I’m such a nice guy, here’s a link to their accounts on the website.

Mike Smith – Sunshine Dad

Gary Mathews – Skipah’s Realm

Kevin (aka Spike) Zelenka – Double Trouble Daddy

There are many other great dad bloggers on there, but these are the guys I communicate with most and they’re all cool enough to earn my vote!

1. When egoists meet for the first time, it’s always an “I” for an “I”.

2. How do you define a will? Hint: It’s a dead giveaway.

3. The little old woman who lived in a shoe needed money, so she sold her sole with no strings attached.

4. I have a photographic memory, it just never developed.

5. Poisoning America’s national bird would be ill-eagle.

Hey, I never said they’d be out of this world knee-slapping hilarious, but hopefully you got a chuckle out at least one of them! Don’t worry, as a pun-loving dad, there will be plenty more to come on this blog.

I’m not expecting to do a lot of blogging this weekend as I have 13.1 miles to prep for on Sunday, Mother’s Day, and then it’s spending time with my lovely Mother and wife…..Avery too!

Have a great Friday!

How did you like the puns?

Did you click the badge to vote for me? If so, THANKS!

Any plans for Mother’s Day?