There is a change in the wind and cooler temperatures to go with it, which I am LOVING! Today is only 68 degrees...and of course all the windows in the house are open:) The boys enjoyed playing outside after lunch and not sweltering in the middle of the day, and I am happy to get them out and have some fresh air.
Sorry up front this post will be very random, but that's how I roll this week:) I had a calmer week work wise (thank goodness) and was able to go to lunch with my new running partner Liz while our boys were all at school. We picked a Thai place in downtown. It was an interesting lunch for sure!! I felt like a moron in there...I have no clue about sushi or anything Thai. She ordered a huge sushi roll and shared it with me. I was pretty scared to eat it with all the orange and black circles on top (caviar??)! There was crab meat and avocado inside too. I got one down, but that was it for me! I ordered some lettuce wraps hoping they would be similar to PF Chang's, but alas, were not. They were disgusting! Ha! We had a great lunch visiting and trying new things, but Thai food is not something I will be going back for any time soon:) I am a burger and fries kind of girl. It was nice to have a "girl lunch" though and hopefully we can do it again soon.
On the parenting front, lets just say this week has been "challenging." I am worn out emotionally and physically with the boys. Jace is full on Terrible Two's, and Tyson is just emotional and very in tune with my stress level, so we feed off each other constantly. He is also learning about "telling the truth vs. lying" which is not easy to deal with some days. Jace is Mr. Independent and it's driving me nuts-o! He yells, "NO MAMA I DO IT!" to just about everything we try to do during the day, and in reality, he can only actually "do" about 10% of what he is wanting to do on his own. Like he tries to get the gallon of milk from the fridge and pour it on his cereal. Breakfast time is the worst around here and it starts my day off with a major power struggle. Yuck! There is lots of spilled milk, crying, and time-outs. I don't really know who does more of those things, me or the kids!! Parenting is not for the weak, that is for sure:) The boys are like monkeys and can and do climb anything and everything these days. They get things off the top shelf of their closets, get stuck hanging off the side of the bunk bed and bookshelves, and climb the cabinets in the kitchen. I can't put anything out of their reach anymore, so I have resorted to locking entire rooms of the house and hiding things in there! I keep telling myself, this is just a phase, and this too shall pass:)
One fun new thing in our lives this fall is BSF! I have grown up with Bible Study Fellowship as my parents have both participated for years, and my mom was a discussion group leader for years and years while I was in high school and college. They didn't have a group in Searcy, but there is one here, and so I signed myself and the boys up last spring in hopes we would all get in this year. We did! Our first meeting was on Wednesday morning and we all loved it. It is an all women's Bible study based only on the Bible, and thousands of people around the world all study the same thing together every week. This year we are studying the book of Acts, and I am very excited. We have a lecture time, singing, and break into small discussion groups to talk about our questions we answered on the text for that week. I have really been scattered with my Bible reading and study, and this is very organized and in-depth, so I should learn a lot! My favorite thing is how amazing the children's program is. They are very structured and teach the kids Bible verses, songs, etc for the 2 hours we are there each week. I am thrilled we all got in (the kids have a HUGE waiting list) and am excited to see how we all grow and learn this year through our study of Acts.
I am hitting the meat of my training for the marathon, so the next 2 months should have some pretty big mileage (for me anyway). This week I should hit 28 miles, which isn't huge at all, but it is the most miles I ran in one week during my entire training for the last marathon!! And I am only up to 14 miles for my long run:) I am excited to get up into the 30's and really hope the higher mileage base will help tremendously come race day. I am LOVING the cooler weather too...you just can't beat temps in the 50's and 60's for running:) I am still trying to work on my speed a bit too. I had a 5 mile tempo run this week and averaged an 8:34 pace. My last mile was my fastest at 8:06, which felt great. I usually start off too slow, so I am working on getting going a bit faster and finding a good pace I can maintain mile after mile. I run my half marathon in 3 weeks and am getting excited and nervous already!
