Sorry…I’d gotten behind on blogging and had to catch up first. I’m like that.

What a gorgeous day for a run! Last year, if you’ll reminisce with me, you’ll remember it was a balmy 38 degrees. It left us wishing for appropriate running clothes, and a warmer spring.

This year, 57 degrees at race time and beautifully sunny, which left us wishing we hadn’t worn so many clothes by the time it was done.

Beth picked me up on this beautiful morning and we were off to meet Stacey in Cedar Falls.  (I cropped the picture because I didn’t like how the lower half of my body looked in it…but now realize you’re missing the best part – Beth’s pink sweatpants! They were the perfect thing for her to wear – if we got separated in a crowd, I could usually locate the pink pants!)

Don’t we look excited?

I wish one of us had brought a camera to the run…that way we could have gotten Stacey in the picture too. And we could have had a victory photo. Not victory for winning…victory for finishing of course!

I can’t speak for the other two ladies…but the run was awesome. Mile one felt great…miles two and three just kind of went by… and mile four, well that was probably the hardest for me. We were nearing the end I could tell. I’m not sure where Beth got it, but she found some pocket of unused energy at the end and took off trying to catch a mom pushing a baby jogger before we got to the finish line.

At the end…of course greeted with a buffet of healthy options…fruit, bagels, etc…and then there were the things I chose…a zinger and a ho-ho.

But…I did share.

We have to keep them excited about mommy running too. It’s all about the support system!

And over last year…quite an improvement I’d say.

I don’t know if you can read it at the size I have it posted…

Last years time is on the left: 49:17

This years time is on the right: 42:56

Since my two goals were to run it all and improve on time…i’m feeling accomplished. I’ve got a new goal for next years run though…find that unused pocket of energy, and use it to beat Beth.

Stay tuned for the next run of the season…the library’s own Run Your Buns Off…June 4th!

Now, I’m pretty excited about the laminate floor…but you haven’t even seen my favorite part. Get ready for it.

Okay, the suspense is killing you, i can tell.

There was once carpet in here too. Surprisingly, it wasn’t country blue.

This floor IS a little less forgiving on the knees when giving the kids a bath, but we’ll get over that. We’ll just make sure the ducky rug stays put.

And yes, there’s one of those lines in here too…

you know the ones I’m talking about. Going back to white. I don’t know if you can really tell, but its a peachy pink color now. I liked it when we painted it that color, but we thought it deserved new paint too.

So, if you’re handy with a paintbrush, i know where you can get some work. I promise to compliment you on your painting abilities.

Well, we’re on to step two.

First to go, the country blue paint. I’m sure it was THE color when it was painted. It is no longer THE color. Painting over it was kindof therapeutic. The reason this paint and i didn’t get along went far beyond color. It was a “flat” paint. No shine at all. I like shiny…and flat paint doesn’t clean well. When Ellie was little…okay little-er…she was sitting in her high chair, got frustrated with something and flung her sippy cup of milk off the tray. Into my wall. Milk does not come off flat walls. Nether does film from sticky hands. I’m happy to say a new coat of paint covered it right up.

The color of the paint dried darker than this picture. We painted one night after the kids were in bed, so it was late when we finished, and i couldn’t wait for it to dry to take a picture.

Notice the carpet…country blue.

Now you see it.

Now you don’t.

Oh, isn’t it pretty? (and you can see the wall’s true color in this picture too!)

In case you’re wondering. Pergo laminate. American Cottage collection. Classic Red Oak. Mmmm…..warm and pretty.

And in case you were wondering something else…yes, I will ask you to take off your shoes when you come to my house. It’s just going to happen.

Yes, the carpet from the living room went too. Want to guess the color? Yep…country blue.

The new floor definitely makes the room look bigger.

The hall too…

You can see the line on the wall, about 6 inches up…Yep, started painting. There’s a lot of those lines in my house right now. Just enough for the trim to go back up. And then, paining and more painting. It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do to clean up a wall…and the crayon/marker/greasy handprints that are on it.

Just the start of a long awaited improvement…

The fireplace removal.

This would have been my favorite part! The brick removal!

We’ll have to wait until a little closer to spring before taking out the rest of the chimney and vent from the fireplace…for now, we have insulation patched in to keep us warm this winter. We’ll have a patch of plywood for floor for a while…until the next phase begins after the first of the year, but we’re good with that…and the kids think its a lot of fun. After all, cars roll better on non-carpeted floor!

And i just want to say thank you to Santa…it’s what I’ve always wanted! It’s the perfect place to put my Christmas tree! Perhaps now it will make an appearance before the 21st of December and stay up longer than the 26th.

The race went well…all 5 soggy, cold miles of it.

A balmy 48 degrees, and light rain. I was really hoping for some sunshine, so I could run with my ipod…but no such luck, so just me and my inner thoughts to occupy the better part of an hour.

I wasn’t the fastest, I wasn’t the slowest either…but not by much. I did finish, running (jogging by many standards) all 5 of those miles in 53 minutes and 35 seconds. I was pretty proud that in May of this year I ran the 4 mile run in 49 minutes, and this 5 miles only took me 4 more minutes. I’m improving.

I know I’ll never win one of these events,…especially after hearing the winning time for the women’s 8K was 37 minutes…but I’m resolved to know that I can finish these events. Something I definitely couldn’t say 6 months ago!