Uhh, no good title

Oh, my heck, this video cracks me up. This is from the other night in Denver at the museum of Nature and History. We were there so I could run my second 5k, the Summer Solstice Race. This one was for the Kristin Michelle O'Connor Foundation, which benefits research for Melanoma. Colorado has the highest rate of Melanoma in the country, which isn't surprising with the 300+ days of intense, high-altitude sunshine that we get. It is something that needs more attention, and it was a fun way to support a good cause. The race was a lot bigger than the last one that I did, and it was a flat course. My goal was to beat my last time, which I did by a little over a minute, so I was glad. I hope that there will be at least one more race this summer, because J told me he would run one with me...

I popped into a knitting shop up in Arvada, called Knit Knack, right down the street from one of J's favorite fly shops. I browsed the yarns and Mimi played with the shop dog. A lot of fly shops have what I like to call a shop dog. Usually, they are huge golden retriever type dogs that are super friendly and just lay right in the middle of the floor. This was a little version of the shop dog. He was a little guy, but so friendly and cute. Mimi is a dog lover, and it made her day to play with him. I got a pattern for a stuffed bunny that I can't wait to cast on for. It takes about as much yarn as a swatch, and it is really cool. I think I might have some left over alpaca from the invisibility shawl, that will be perfect. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking, I have an Internet glove that needs some attention. And I haven't even mentioned that Berroco Bonsai that I picked up months ago. That is just because I don't know what to make from it. But the bunny. I can make the bunny quickly, it might even pull me out of my lazy knitting slump. Even if it doesn't, it is summer time. Who needs fingerless gloves in the summer?

The rain is falling now, which makes me nervous about lightning striking my computer and blowing my hands off. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned my irrational, yet very real fear of being struck by lightning. I am terrified of lightning. I'm pretty sure that it started in childhood, because that is when I started obsessing about rubber-soled shoes to insulate me against high voltage and fearing that lighting could strike through windows. Anyway, thirty years later, and things are not much better, let's just say you won't find me wearing wooden shoes.

June bug -vs- hurricane

Well, I have spent the last two weeks making sure that I will never have another visitor again. Have you ever noticed that when things are clean and looking nice, no one feels like they need to stop by? But kick up your feet with a good book or some knitting for a couple of hours while your house falls apart and see what happens. Try going in your pajamas for an entire day and see how many unannounced visitors will knock at your door. I often wonder if my working friends believe that my job as a "stay-at-home" mom is easy. I get to do things on a daily basis that the rest of the working world has to squeeze in on the weekends, like going to the library, the gym, walks, visiting on the phone, blogging, etc. There is no happy balance, you either stay continually busy keeping your home and family looking nice, or you do something you enjoy, while it all falls apart. And the more you "stay at home" the more house work needs to be done. No one is sitting still while the house is getting clean, oh no, they are all busy working to ensure my job security. I like to joke that if I ever get fired, I will have to get a paying job. But that was a huge aside from the whole point I am making, which is that I have been on a massive de-cluttering mission (ala www.flylady.net) these last weeks. My upstairs looks incredible, and I have managed to keep it that way. It has been a lot of work, not to mention a lot of tossing and goodwill heaps, but wow, if sure feels good. I started the downstairs yesterday. The downstairs is where J keeps all his fishing goodies and the kids keep all their toys. There is a lot of junk down here that needs to be pitched, but taking little steps, I think I can do it and find some sanity. My dream is to fit everything I own in one car load. I hate stuff. Over the years, I have managed to cull my pile into something manageable, basically only the things that I really use. My family, understandably, likes their stuff and wants to keep it, I am trying to make them see how much more useful things are when you can actually find them. I am desperate to make them understand that horizontal surfaces are not to stack stuff upon. Everything should have a place, and it it doesn't fit in that place, then something has to go. It isn't easy to convince a bunch of stuff-lovers that they don't need so much stuff. But when I am the person responsible for keeping up with all their things ("where is that lego that I placed on the entertainment center last year?" "I can't find that Thomas the Tank toy that I left in the kitchen eight months ago." "Who has been messing with my huge box of flies that has been sitting out opened for as long as you've known me?"), I should get to expect them to see things my way. "Where is that ___? Have you checked Goodwill??"

Run Forest, Run!

Well, my 5k was a lot of fun, so much fun that I am going to run another one on the 18th. I don't know my place, but I am pretty sure that I wasn't last, I am also sure that I wasn't first. I know for a fact that a lady with a huge toddler in a jogging stroller, the kid in unlaced skateboarding shoes AND a firefighter wearing all his gear, including his air tank, beat me. My goal was to run more than I walked, and I did. I guess we probably ran at least two miles, or a little more. My time was 36 minutes. Not bad for a chick who had reconstructive knee surgery less than nine months ago. I didn't run this huge, long, neverending hill, seeing how I haven't ran a hill since last summer, but I am planning on remedying that this week.

Here are some pictures of the last few seconds of the race. Unless you are an olympic runner, I am not sure that it is good to see yourself running, at least in still photos. I had this mental image of myself looking tall and powerful with arms at my sides, pumping away. I didn't realize how poor my running posture is, until I saw these pictures. It is a little disappointing to know that I look like I am in severe pain, which I was at that point, but still. No one wants to have their idealic image shattered. Maybe next time, I'll have J take pictures at the starting line, to see if I look less on the verge of collapse. In the meantime, I am going to focus on staying more upright in the future.

The kids ran the kids 300 meter race, which was fun to see. Jack loves running, but I don't think he likes being passed. He is still talking about it, he wants to run again. Mimi came in dead last, but she was smiling and running the whole way. It was so cute, unfortunatly, you'll never see any pictures of that, since we didn't take any. B was conserving energy (which I told him to do) until it was too late to catch up, but he still ran it in a little over a minute, and thinks he came in fifth or sixth. All in all, we are all hoping to improve the next time around, but we had a great time.