everyday something new

Preparing for an upcoming marathon, I took a little run today. As I've said before, I'm wimpy when I run, and it's almost like the girl inside thinks of ways for me to slow down or stop to do something. Today, it was snails. It was drizzling outside, which brought out the monster runner in me today (I felt like I was in a movie, running through the drizzle that I was imaigining to be rain in my brain-movie). The drizzle mixed in well with my sweat, and it was foggy outside, so really between the drizzle and the fog, I felt like I didn't have to be so conscious of how sweaty I was! No one could see me. Then I turned that fog right around into scary fog in my head, and ran harder because creepy weirdos might be lingering in the fog. These are the things that go through my head in the fog. But look, for pretty fog, isn't it kinda creepy?

Another funny thing during my run - I start my run uphill, then come downhill the second half. I run way better downhill, as most humans probably do. But a song came on and I slowed down a bit, then I looked over, and the city guy on the riding lawnmower was going just as fast (if not a little faster) than I was running. We just cannot have that. I gave him a wave and he waved at me to run faster, so I did. I sprinted home. It felt SO good! I need that guy to come with me to the half marathon. He was very motivating. And not the least bit creepy in the fog.

Something else funny that recently happened - the date on my computer was changed. It was probably me, or a kid, but somehow my computer thought it was May, and it's only April. So I sent a few emails from the future, which was interesting when I had to look back in my sent mail file and the category the particular sent mail items went under was "two weeks away" and "three weeks away" (as pictured below). Also, I was trying to log into a website I help update, and into Pinterest, and neither would let me log in! Once I realized my problem with the date being wrong, I was allowed access to those sites! I had no idea that something like the date set on your computer could mess with your ability to log into sites! Very strange, but I learned something new. Now you, go check your date.

Sidney's 4th grade mission project is a little different than those projects used to be. No sugar cube missions, no packaged missions from the craft store. Instead, Sid and her classmates have made t-shirts with their own art and writing about details about their mission. Sid's is Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. What an interesting spot, and we'll go on a field trip there soon. I'm looking forward to it. From all the research I (I mean Sidney) did, it is a very interesting spot. Did you know Mission San Gabriel was the most productive (crops-wise and cattle-wise) of all the missions? And did you know it's Mission #4 of 21? I didn't. But I do now. And now I want to congratulate that mission in person, via schoolbus.

 The starts of Sidney's mission t-shirt.

So here's something else I learned recently - when you plant snapdragons and alyssums and cosmos in your little planter before Easter, and then your adorable little 3 year old  twin nephews decide they want to pick flowers for their momma, and they pull the flowers out by the root, and then decide the flowers are too dirty, so they shake the dirt out of the roots, and then bring them to their momma, and then their momma says "oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, look what my kids did to your flowers," and you say back to your sister "hey, no biggie, those flowers were on sale at Home Depot for $0.99 for the six pack, so that whole planter cost about $6, no biggie sis!" and then your own kids who planted those flowers say "oh my goodness mom, those flowers are dead" and you say "no, they're not, let's replant them and see which ones are the hardiest," well I learned that they DO grow back. Look at that planter! $6 for all that drama, I'd spend that any day! Look Cherie, your babies didn't wreck a thing! They all came back! Now I know of three very hardy, twin-proof plants to keep in my planter!

Another thing I learned in the past week - NEON IS BACK! Before school, Alyssa showed Grandpa Mike her outfit and he said "you look like a highlighter!" So I called her the human highlighter all day long. Neon's back, my friends. And Target is full of neon shoes, shirts, skirts, shorts and dresses to welcome back the 80's.

Another thing I learned - my kids are obsessed right now with Littlest Pet Shop animals. I learned how many varieties there are this week, because we're saving chore money to put toward this ten pack and a tree house play set. My girls LOVE these guys, and even though I think they're priced too high for what they are, I'll continue to pay for it. I like how they're just little animals and my girls' imagination makes them what they are - they don't have a movie or cartoon on that forces little personalities on the animals, my girls make up that part. I like that. And I love that my girls still love to play with little girlie toys. I love how some of the sets are little moms and babies of the same animal, and how some sets are special with glitter, or walking animals, or furry animals, and the girls just get so excited to compare and contrast what Target offers in their LPS section and what WalMart offers in theirs. And I love how the maker, Hasbro, has a cute little website http://www.hasbro.com/littlestpetshop/en_US/ and there's a collection scrapbook where the girls can look at the animals either by picture or by code and put into their scrapbook which animals they have and which are animals they want. How easy will THAT make it for Christmas time? Anyway, I'm just a big fan of this cute little toy. Good job, Hasbro. Well done.

Hasbro Littlest Pet Shop Animals - the pack my girls think they NEED.

Another thing I knew, but hadn't really thought about - how my kids miss their daddy when he is at work. This week Bobby wore his uniform home one day, so that meant the next day he wore it to work from home, instead of changing into his uniform at work like usual. That meant "Daddy works" was right in their face as he was getting ready to leave, and the kids just looked at him and hugged him and admired the stuff on his uniform, and Jack walked away crying. We asked him what was wrong and he said "I just don't want Daddy to leave for work. I don't LIKE when you leave for work." It made for a good time for Daddy to sit down with Jack and explain to him why he leaves, how he always comes back, and a brief little synopsis of what he's doing when he's gone. Now Jack's reminded about his Daddy being a hero and a hard worker, and all is well. Those reminders are so good, for ALL of us.