My Second Race - Look at me go!

Ta da! I finished my second 5K race! And even made it with a better than 10 min/ mile pace!

I didn't run with a friend this time, and there was no packet pick-up last night, so I got there early, and then wandered alone feeling kind of stupid, not sure what to do with myself. I tried to keep walking for a warm up.

It was hard work - I have yet to be running and think, "Wow, this is easy!" LOL ... and it was hard to find my own pace while surrounded by others. I tried to listen to my muscles and not worry about people ahead or behind of me. I hit the iPod Nike+ button to check my pace, but since it was set for a 5K it told me the pace in minutes/km which meant little to me, so I just kept running.

I tried to push myself at the end, but I was tired and it was hard. And I was busy looking for my family. :-) I am so thankful they were kind enough to come cheer for me and see me run!! I love my family, they're great!

I wanted to have a "wow, she looks great!" sort of picture, but oh well, I guess running is just plain hard work and I don't look so great. I can live with that. LOL

In the end I ran about the same pace I ran on Monday's practice run, 9'51" per mile ... I'll post my official time when they post the results. I was 4th in my age group (8 women) which was nice to see.

Here's a little link to a video of me crossing the finish line - that's me in the lime-ish green:

Tiny little movie of my grand finish

Oooh, and I won a "major award" and got to pose with Lou E. Loon! A $5 gift certificate to a ... local sports bar restaurant. Um ... yay!?

All in all, it was a successful morning, I'd say.

And now I'm pooped.

**Official, Posted race time: 30:17.02** - whooooo!

Monkey, Monkey, Yeah

I took these pix awhile back but didn't get them blogged ...

here's a monkey I knitted for the baby, with floppy knotted arms to chew on...

And with baby...

75% Chance of Clean

Side note: The results are in, those of you who are still reading would like me to write more. Those of you who voted "more photos!" missed the point! But that's okay. I hear that you like pix and I'll try to get them when I can get to them, but will also try NOT to let the "waiting for pix" keep me from writing.

So anyway.

I pulled out an old overwhelming homemaking list I was working on a year or two ago. It still needs revamping. I'm good at working on lists forever, then being daunted, overwhelmed, and rebellious and rebelling against my own list, and never following it.

But today I thought I could use it as a guideline for "doing the next thing" to keep me moving through the day. Because, really, how often do I sit around thinking I should do something but can't decide what I should do, so I end up doing nothing? I know you don't do that. But I do.

(Um, no, blogging isn't on the list at all. Shhh. We'll call it a well earned break. No? Okay, just a break, then)

What was I saying? Oh, right. The next thing. So the next thing was cleaning the back bathroom. And so I did it. I was hurrying so the baby didn't get too cranky while I was back there. So I did, oh, maybe a 75% job. Trusting the FlyLady's mantra that "housework, even done badly, still blesses your family" - a rule I really need to live by more often.

Because as I was scrubbing the soap scum in the tub I realized that I can get about 75% off it off with the Scrubby Bubbles and a scrubber and 10-15 minutes of effort. But the other 25% wouldn't take me another 10-15 minutes, it would probably take me an hour, and a LOT more scrubbing. And then, when I was all done, I'd realize it was still only 95% done, and I'd see some spots that were stains that will NEVER be done, and so on ... So I decided 75% was about the point where outcome still surpassed effort. And the baby agreed, she was very happy to see me after I was, apparently, long long lost to her.

So that's my new plan. Not all the time, sometimes I'll shoot for 90% or more ... but when I'm feeling stuck and unable to attain the perfection I think I should, I'll remember that some is better than doing none until i "have time" to "do it right" ... becuase, really, when is that gonna happen?

So... I'm going to go work on making my kitchen 75% shiny clean.

Well, when the baby decides to let me.

...

(In my best Mr. Nezzar voice) One more thing ...

we had our bathroom floor replaced after a wobbly toilet did years of damage to the under-floor (who knew!)... the new floor is that nifty Allure flooring which is, supposedly, so easy to install that WE could do it. Not that we did. We let the guy who would do it all - rip out the old floor, redo the joists, replace the toilet properly, install a new sink & vanity and install the flooring - do it. And we're glad we did.

Here, at Justin's patient request, is the old bathroom, the ripped up floor bathroom, and the new bathroom ....

Before: (this was taken some other time, not specifically to show the floor, or my towel folding abilities, sorry)

During: (yikes, you can see right into the less-creepy crawl space)

After: (see how my towel folding is at least somewhat improved?)

We like the new floor very much, it's easy to clean, a much better color than that ... salmon? ... tile with the icky old grout ... and it feels nicer on our bare feetsies, too.