Oh how I wish I could work from home. I have loved the last few days at home even with the sick kids! I got to run this morning and then I did an upper body workout. Just because I had no where to go, I also got my ab workout done. Then I took a nice long bath after I had iced. It was so great. I even managed to get some laundry done.

The kids all seem better. My oldest still looks a little pale but has made it through two days of school. My youngest was set to go back to daycare tomorrow but convinced her Grammy to take her home tonight for one more day off.

I know it is late and I should be sleeping but just can't fall asleep. Don't know what's wrong lately. I was trying to blame it on the house of sickness but it's more than that. I have my trusty sleep aid but last night had some hallucinations with it. Plus you need at least eight hours with it and I don't have that to give tonight. After an hour of laying in bed, I thought I would get up and blog a little. My sister once told me she holds her arms straight up in the air when she can't sleep. Eventually they get tired and you fall asleep. I was going to try it but it was so warm under the covers! Any other ideas? I have cut down (way down) on the caffeine so that can't be it.

Back to work tomorrow. Hope I can find my desk.

Just as one was getting well another one went down. My daughter started feeling bad Saturday night. Fever, earache, drainage, and sore throat. We couldn't get to the dr. until today which meant two sleepless nights due to the ear pain. It wasn't strep and the ear pain was just from the drainage in her throat so that's better than I expected to hear. We got two prescriptions, one didn't get mixed so I had to go back to pharmacy to get it fixed. Finally got home 6 hours later. We have gone through two bottles of fever reducer this weekend between the two kids. Hopefully the third child will stay healthy!

My diet grocery money went to dr. visit, rx, jello, juice, popsicles, kleenex, motrin, vapor rub, and the like. Oh, and she had to have new pjs to make her feel better. Oh well guess I will have to survive on protein shakes. Maybe my DH will cut me some slack and up my allowance! Guess that would mean I would have to do my chores.

I had my DH take pictures of me tonight BFL style in what I would like to wear for SBSA. It was gross. I have a long way to go. I am not forgetting how far I have come in the last 7 months but just realizing I am not finished yet. So not finished! I also just realized how close the end of the diet contests are. Basically two months left in both and they are both worth $500 smackers. I have to get going again. Get out of the rest stop and get moving. I have become too lax with my food and exercise. If I am not careful I will be back where I was instead of continuing forward.

I will get the pictures printed tomorrow and hang them everywhere I can think of without causing anyone else to become violently ill.

Yesterday we had a blizzard (by West Texas standards) but today we have warmer temps and most of the snow is melted. I went out for a 7 mile run in shorts and long sleeve shirt. The wind was high 20+ mph and the temp was okay in the 30s. I tried to get my DH to take a picture of me in shorts with the water hose doing my cool down in the yard with the snow behind me. I think he wanted to say that I was lucky he came out to turn the hose on and off but not to expect him to get a camera out also. At least that's what I read from the look on his face. I did have my son bring me some coffee to drink while I did the 15 minute hose treatment.

My plans for the day include making a nice big poster with my SBSA schedule on it so I can hang it up somewhere near my target outfit. I need constant visual support to get this accomplished. I also want to knock out some major housework so that I can do light up keep and not worry about the house for the next few months (okay 8 months) required for training.

Please, I am counting on you all for some major support in this marathon endeavor. I have talked about running one for a few years but always came up with excuses. Now as my health/life depend on improvements, I really want to commit to running one. I already forked over the registration. I have the hotel rooms. I have the schedule. I have the new treadmill. I have the knowledge. I have or will make the time. I have the support. (Right?) Now it is just a matter of doing it.

Oh my goodness! It is cold here. Winds are still blowing with gusts up to 65 mph. I can't tell if it is snowing or just blowing. Wind chill is in the single digits. My DH went out around 3:00 am to start work on downed power lines. School was still on this morning but my oldest child who never gets sick...was sick. He really goes down hard when he does get sick. High temps, rash, chills, with strep. Even with meds we can't get the temp under 102. He can't go back to school until Monday so I thought it was perfect to stay home with him and out of the blizzard like conditions. Several people called to tell me they didn't think I should go to work cause they couldn't see the road and couldn't drive over 5 mph. It didn't take much for them to talk me into it.

I had to venture out twice. Once to talk the other son to school and once to replenish the juice and pain reliever. Too bad I forgot to get the meds and the toilet paper. Looks like I will have to head out again later. Hopefully my hubby will get to come home this afternoon and maybe I can talk him into it.

As far as running, I got in three miles last night before the storm hit. Believe it or not, it was 75 degrees yesterday. My middle son went with me and we did a tour of town again. We try to find interesting things along the way. Yesterday we found a bouncy ball and then a spoon. We had been bouncing the ball back and forth. I tried to get him to pick up the spoon and see how far he could carry the ball on the spoon. We ran down by the train tracks and he kicked the ball into some grass. It was a green ball and was lost to us forever. Sometimes we also play the alphabet game when we run. I love having the kids involved in something healthy that we can do as a family.

I am so sore from my long run on Saturday and from lifting weights. I know, I know, it is a good sore. I will keep at it. Food was good today until tonight. Didn't really overeat just had some chips. I was under my calories count for the day though. I still need to get to the grocery store.

My IPOD started freaking out on the second leg of the marathon relay last Sunday. It would speed through songs and change randomly. I got my distance measured and calories accounted for on that run before it went out completely. Today I got it out to strap back up to my Nike + since we were heading outside for a run but it wouldn't work. I had been using it with my treadmill so I thought maybe the Nike + had gone bad even though it was fairly new. So tonight my husband was trying to get himself into Jo's challenge and we were having to update our IPODs cause they are/were both connected to another computer. Turns out mine was corrupted and I had to restore everything. Which means I lost all my workout data, all my music, and all my movies that I had bought from ITUNES. If anyone out there understands how to get all that back even though I bought it on another computer, please help. It makes me mad to pay $10 for a movie only to lose it when my IPOD or computer crashes. I think it should be in your account forever. I will have to work on it all later.

As for running, I got in at least 7 and no more than 8. I did 4 on the treadmill and what I thought was 4 outside but my husband told me the new course is short so maybe I only ran 3 outside. I must have my IPOD/NIKE + back.

Atkins is not working for me. I am going back to crackin' and BFL combined. I need some carbs to continue with my training.

We redid the whole kitchen/dining room area to make it a workout room. Not sure what we will do about a table but there is still room in the kitchen for one.

The end of the competition is fast approaching and I have to win that money! Better get busy.

Oh did I mention that I love spring break. The kids are spent the night somewhere else last night and I got to sleep in today. I actually slept until 1:00 p.m.

The race results have been posted. My DH officially had a PR. Remember me writing about my boys playing soccer after running their portion of the relay. Well, my husband ran his leg in 51 minutes with less than 15 miles of training in all since oh shall we say, October! After I got over being mad at him for kicking my butt, I was really proud. I am so sorry I didn't mention his great time in the earlier post about the race. I will get my pictures up tomorrow hopefully since we are still on the road driving home!

Thanks Jo for the trip!

"I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race." Too dramatic? Okay. We finished the marathon relay. I will put pictures up later. Right now it is super early and my camera is upstairs. I have to plan my trips upstairs very strategically since yesterday's run so going only to get the camera is not gonna happen. But I digress, Lucky Trails was a great place to run. We had our two teams and thank goodness there wasn't much trash talk cause the boys beat us by an hour. Of the real legs of the relay I had the slowest time but made it under my post-surgery goal. We didn't have our fourth runner to finish the relay. We debated about several ways to remedy the situation. My husband said he would run two legs but I didn't want him to get hurt before our goal race in April plus we were only scheduled for 7 not 13! My now 3 person team said we would all run it together just slowly. In the end we decided that wouldn't be fair to the 3rd leg who would have just finished running. I had been sitting for a while and think it might have been better to run the legs together. Anyway, my sister waited at the exchange and I went down the trail a little ways. We took off down the course in a slow run/walk pattern. I made it through the butterfly garden and up to the road. I had the first water stop in sight but my ITBand wasn't having anymore of this stupid plan. My awesome sister said she could do it. You go! (Yes, she is medicated!)

I thought my dad was bringing my stepmom over to meet us so I continued to walk to the prearranged place. And yes, I was doing the stiff leg ITBand walk. Dad passed by honking and waved. What? Please stop! He did and I shuffled over to the pickup. (Did I crawl?) We took off to the meeting place quickly because he had gotten a text from my sister but was confused by where she was already at. My stepmom had planned to run back in with her to finish up the last 2 miles. My dad said he was just going to tackle her and rip her shoe off so my stepmom could just run with her chip. We convinced him that was cheating and could get us kicked out FOREVER. They finised the race for our team. When they crossed the finish line, the announcer called out our name, "Three Cowgirls and a Stud" and of course the medal people wanted to know where the Stud was so we had to explain that he was a dud and the Cowgirls had to carry the team. They were all women so of course they understood! JK, kind of!

So JoJo ran 13, GJ and I ran @ 9. You better believe we had our NIKE + on so we could get credit for those miles and those calories!!!

BTW, my 9 and 13 year old boys both ran their 6.5 in under an hour and they hadn't run more than a mile in training. The sickening part, they played soccer all afternoon after the race. I hate being old.

I made it almost all the way to work (30 of the 35 miles) when I got a call that #2 was sick again. I turned around and headed home. Not sure what's wrong but he is running a fever. Oh well, I will sacrifice and take a nap...I mean stay home with him. Plus I can get laundry done and get packed to head out for Seabrook Marathon.

http://missysironmanflorida2008.blogspot.com/2009/02/injured-sick-worn-out-just-tired-what.html

Okay, I am done pouting, crying, and whining, at least for a few days. I am working on getting my WOE back in line. I realize I had been letting myself get by with a few things that I shouldn't have. I know it is a way of life and not a diet. I know what I need to do. I just have to figure out how to make myself do it. I did have good results from the scale this week so I hope that stays with me.

I am starting to get a little self doubt thanks to Bry. I hope we can all get through our leg of the marathon relay. But like L said, a little walking is okay. Jo said it may rain which would be fine with me. That would bring the temp closer to what we are used to. However, we have been running on the treadmill this week with the heat on in the house to help us get ready for the temp change. A sloppy muddy rainy trail race sounds like fun. Better get my old shoes out!

I had a bad doctor's visit yesterday. I am not talking about it because I don't want to accept it. No need for any one to worry. I will give the report in a day or two.

Also had to go to the judge today to pay my ticket. Yes, she did make me pay. Then she called the stalker and had me confront him because it was all just a coincidence. Whatever! Needless to say, I wasn't happy when I left there. He denied everything.

I was very stressed today and know it wasn't good for my health but I survived the day and will be stronger because of it.

I will update later.

Stomach virus-gone. Bloody head-gone (at least the blood part). First run of the week-gone. PreTAKS jitters-almost gone.

Anybody want a dog? My son and I are always wanting to get a dog. My husband always says no. I always get one anyway. Then I have to find a way to get rid of it. My husband said this time we have to keep the dog to learn our lesson. That was until he changed his mind today and said in a really nice voice, "GET RID OF THAT DOG!!!!!!!!" So we have a mini daschund that is about 10 weeks old, registered male, sable head, brown and black body. Let me know if you are a sucker like me.

We ran 2.6 miles tonight at break neck speed-at least for me. I usually run 12 minute miles when I am out by myself. My husband agreed to run my 3/1 pattern with me tonight but little did I know that we would have to run it at a 10 minute pace. I think he upped my life insurance today before we went out to run. Better investigate that before I agree to run with him again. We were supposed to run 3-4 miles tonight but ended up back at the house in 2.6. Since we left all the kids so we could go run together, it was easy to convince each other to stop .4 short.

The weather here was wonderful today. Diet was so-so. Doctor's appointment tomorrow so I am hoping for some good news.

@ 15 days to closing. I love that house but am accepting that we have moved on. Please let it sale! Gotta close up to finish watching my new favorite show, Ax Men!

The stomach virus has hit me. About midnight last night I headed to the bathroom and emerged this morning at about 5:00 am. Hubby sent me back to bed and I slept to 11. All the family went to church and brought me something to eat after. Bad idea for food that soon.

I must have been out of my mind all day because I watched a marathon of Ax Men, which is about loggers in Oregon. I think I watched about 6 hours.

Yesterday we went to get some of the last stuff from our house. My middle son and I went to organize storage and the rest of the crew went to get stuff. We went to the back of the storage to start. He was standing up some bed rails, telling me they wouldn't stay. He turned to get another one and I yelled to watch out as the first one fell and bashed him on the head. Boy does the head bleed. I opened up the first thing I saw and grabbed a t-shirt to put pressure. He went weak in the knees. I knew I needed to get him to the front of the building in case he did pass out. I called DH to come back and get us to the hospital. We were only a block away from the hospital and I have to tell you it was the quickest ER trip ever (we have had lots). Maybe the amount of blood helped rush the procedure! He ended up with three staples. He was pretty brave about it and glad they didn't have to shave any hair.

One more weekend of excitement!