My new Kindergartner

Well we survived the first week of kindgarten! So far beyond good! Izzy has been excited and happy when it comes to going to school. She is loving riding the bus despite the long ride home. She loves school from what i can tell. She is very excited she gets to go to gym class, music class, the library etc. I don't think she has made any real friends yet but really all of the kids were only together one full day without parents. Hopefully she will find a few buddies in her class. She says her best friend is the 1st grader that lives next store...these two have known each other their whole lives. They certainely have had ups and downs together...almost like sisters, historically they either play really well or are really mean to one another :). I am glad they seem to be loving having each other in school together. They sit next to each other on the bus and see each other at lunch.They even have been holding hands on and off the bus.

This will be the real test though. One full week of full days. We will see how she is doing by Friday afternoon. She already has her first stuffy nose/cough ..but it doesn't seem to be getting her down.  I am so very proud of my grown up girl. She is so independent all of a sudden. It is truely a shift i wasn't 100% ready for but I am grateful for. I hope it all continues. Stay tuned.....

Kindergarten...already??

I have been strong so far but I am starting to freak out a bit. I am suddenly realizing that i have reached the end of an era and am quickly entering a new one. Gone are the days of me being home with Izzy two days a week, and gone are the days where when I am not with her she is either with family or a trusted sitter. Gone are the days of ultimate flexibility in her care, i am so fortunate to date that Nana and Grandma are always available when i need them...soon coming izzy will be in school everyday and they will not be needed.

The new era will include homework, bus schedules and after school activities to fill up my calendar. I am super excited for her but I am sad at the same time. She is my one and only, there will be no more little babies at home. There were parts of the last 5.5 years that have gone by so slow but mostly i cannot believe i have arrived at kindergarten. She starts tuesday...and will go everday full days. I know in my heart she is ready and she will do great. I know in my heart that I am ready to take on additional challenges at work and put in more hours...but there is still part of me that is sad.  For the next 13 years we will follow a school schedule and routine for most of the year. She will spend more time with non family members than with family members....

We have everything just about ready for next week. Clothes shopping is done, school supply shopping is done, hair cut appointment scheduled for Thursday. We need to take and print a new picture of her, our family and our cat for her to bring into school the first week.  We have a meet and greet ice cream social with her teacher at school tomorrow afternoon. And we have one last weekend before the craziness starts. She is nervous but i think starting to get excited even though i know she is nervous. I am excited about the teacher she has, it will be her 22nd year teaching kindergarten so she is clearly a seasoned pro. I have heard from other parents that have had her that she is fabulous so that makes me feel better. The class size is going to be a huge adjustment for her though, last year she had 11 kids in her preschool with two teachers, this year she could have 1 teacher for up to 26 students.  I know the days will be long but after sending her to camp for some full day 3 days week this summer I am feeling better about her ability to handle them although i am sure she will be cranky at first.

I am so proud of the girl she is becoming, she is smart, funny, beautiful and happy. I can't even begin to imagine how much she will mature this year.  I love her so much and as i type this my eyes are welling up. Proud mommy. The end of an era has occured and we are entering the new one like it or not...

Little Fish

We have been investing in swim lessons for Izzy since the fall and it sure has paid off!!! Last fall she wouldn't even put her face in the water at her first lesson and she required a floaty for swimming. Fast forward to now and she can swim with no floaty, dive to the bottom of the shallow end to get a diving stick and jump off a diving board without being caught! (with a life jacket ) Her confidence in the water has gone up so much! She absolutely LOVES the water. She spend majority of the weekend swimming at a friends pool. She never got out of the water until she was given no choice.  The beginning of last week she said she would NEVER go off the diving board...by the end of this weekend she was doing it all by herself while no one else was even in the pool!

She continues to work on learning the different strokes in swim lessons..she is learning freestyle, backstroke and breast stroke. She is in the last level of swim lessons before pre-team. I don't know if she will continue on to the swim team or not. She tends to fight organized activities...but we will see. She will be goign to camp at the Y for 5 weeks this summer and a swim lesson will be included in that as well.

It is so nice to be at a pool and watch her enjoy herself and not have to be in the water with her the whole time. It is going to be a GREAT summer!

First ever 10K- I DID IT!!!

I DID IT!!! I set this goal for myself and was so worried about being able to accomplish it. On Saturday May 12th I DID IT!!!! I completed my first ever 10K!! I was a nervous wreck before the race started. I ran it with my friend Becky who i have not seen in 2 years and it was so nice to be able to run the race with her. We turned out to be great partner's for each other pushing each other along the whole way. We ran the whole first 2 miles without stopping. I then had a stitch in my side and we walked a little bit after the first water station and then ran to the 3 mile marker and walked a few mins and then ran to the 4 mile marker.  Between mile 4-5 were the toughest for me. As we were walking up the one hill..my legs were so tight..but once i stopped and stretched them we ran from the top of the hill to the 5 mile marker. once we got to the 5 mile marker something took over in me. We walked for a little ways because Becky wanted to and then we ran....and i kicked into a gear i didn't know I had and ran the last .5 miles or so faster much faster than my pace for the first 5!!! When i rounded the corner and saw the finish line i seriously almost cried..i got so emotional! It felt so good to cross the finish line. My official time was 1:16:37. I wanted to be under 1:20 and i totally was.  It was a super fun race, beer tent at the end with dueling pianos...can't beat that! 


Some of the crowd getting ready to line up. The 5K race was first.  There were 4400 runners in teh 10K and a whole lot of runners in the 25K. I have never witness the finish of a race that long...very inspiring!!!

                                                                                     Here i am getting ready to run.

We Did it!!!                                                                                    Cheers!



I now know i can build on this milestone as I reach towards my crazy 13.1 miles in October.  I know i can do it with proper training. My biggest lesson is that I don't have to run the whole thing to be a runner...i can run walk with i need to and it is okay! That being said I have a 5k this Saturday and my goal is to run the whole thing without walking. I will keep you posted. I know i can do it. I have done it once before.

Running Woes

Running---
I need an attitude adjustment on my running. I am so frustrated i could scream. I know i have made some progress since i started a couple years ago casually running but compared to the average runner i still suck! i have created these crazy goals for myself and I am so indimated by them. My first 10K is coming up in May 12th and I still have yet to go more than 3.4 and the last time i ran it was only 2.4 and I was dying! When is it going to get better? When will i ever be able to run without having to walk! I have a lot of runner friends and seeing them reach some amazing goals is so inspiring and defeating at the same. I just don't get how they do it!!! I know I need to just stick with it, and try to stay positive but it is real struggle for me!!

I made it a priority to run minimum of 3 days a week in prep for this 10K (and don't even get me started on the insane goal of a half freaking marathon i am registered for in October!!! That totally scares the shit out of me!). I guess on a positve note I have done this for the last 3 straight weeks. ...i have run 3 times a week with an average of 8.5 miles total for the week. ...my times and my stamina are just not getting better. I know so much of it is in my head. How do I get out of my head???

In my job we teach all about Attitudes , Behavors and Technique ...and I know from work that Attitude is the most important...so why can't i fix it???? I think i need to start changing my mental image...need to focus on positive and maybe even start journaling...we teach things like this to clients everyday. Journal positive thoughts not negeative thoughts....yet look at me! Urgh.

Okay here I go:
I am a runner, I am a runner I am a runner. I can do this I just need to stick with it and stay focused.

My clothes are packed and I will run outside today for 3 miles....I can do it. I am traveling this weekend to Boston for a conference for work. I am committed to running once during the trip. The girl i am rooming with is a great runner and said she wants to run with me , be my cheerleader and help push me along. I need to let her do this instead of saying....i can't keep up with her, she won't want to run with me...she just said she did.

I also need to lose 5-8 pounds but more to this later. Lets focus on one thing at a time.

I am a runner, i run more than 90% of hte population of people....or something like that. I can do it. Just stick with it. I am a runner.

2012 Health and Fitness goals update

I have fallen a bit off my healthy life wagon..I haven't fallen off completely but thought I would give an update.

Running-
This is still my nemisis...i want so badly to be decent at it but my consistency just isn't there so I stlil pretty much suck at it! I have run 2 5K's this year..the first one was superbowl sunday...and i finished with my second best time...35 mins and I don't remember the seconds..and felt pretty decent....well I ran another one last sunday...and i didn't go well. I finished in 37:35 and had to fight for every second of it...walked way more than I wanted to.

I know that I am not going to ever get to the point where I can consistently run 3+ miles without walking unless i run a min of 3x a week...i just can't seem to make it happen.....

So I am recommitting today...with the weather getting nicer and it staying light out later i have no excuse...if i have a prayer of making that half marathon in October..i have a lot of work to do.

Healthy Eating
Have been so so on this one. Not great...but better than where i was the last few months. I still need to cut back on the drinking during the week..some weeks are better than others...and i need to eat more veggies and less carbs. I am hoping that the motivation of being in a bathing suit in a few months will be enough for me to stick with it.

Physical
I did get my physcial done finally that I had been putting off for a very long time...I think the last time i had a physical (beyond my yearly OBGYN) was almost 6 years ago ...when we were going through the adoption process! All my test results came out great. My cholesterol and tri glycerides were both great (even the dr who is my age said he wishes his was as low as mine) so that is a positive

Weight
I still haven't taken really any of my 10 pounds off...i flucuate a few pounds of each other but essentially am the same. Based on my jeans...i do need to get the 10 off. Hopefully with teh running more it will start to move.

That is my update. Hope to have better results with the next update.

2012 Here I come

Seeing that we are now in 2012 I have a few personal fitness goals i want to capture somewhere. I am still working on my longer list of professional goals...

Here they are...2012 Health and Fitness goals......pretty agressive

Lose the almost 10 pounds I have managed to put on the last 6-8 months. I am still no where near my lifetime high, but i have officially reached my number threshold where i told myself i would not go again..and I can tell by the way I feel and how my clothes fit (or don't fit :) )

Get back to regular excerise...minimum of 3 days a week. I no longer have a membership to my favorite kettle bell gym and my sister n law trainer so it is back to my local YMCA of which i am not a huge fan of. So that being said..I am commiting to doing the Jilian Michaels Shred DVD a couple of times a week at home combined with walking/jogging on the treadmill ...and at minimum my Monday morning cardio/strenght class at the Y.

I am also committing to getting back to jogging...i did a 5K in August and was able to run the whole thing without stopping for the first time ever...pretty much stopped after that. So here are my race goals

one or 2 5K's by late spring

10K-July 4th or August or both

half marathon in Detroit in October. ....this is a HUGE stretch goal for me.....not sure i will make it but that is my plan.

DH has put on a lot of weight this last year and really needs to get back to better health...he has some agressive fitness triatholon and running goals as well and we are using the October Detroit Half Marathon as a shared goal. I hope by having my running goals and his goals we will push each other.

Oh and as far as healthy eating goes...pretty obvious..eat out less, eat better at home....NO evening snacking after dinner and the biggest/hardest adjustment for me......NO alcohol during the week...going to try to stick to Friday and Saturday only....with book club on Wednesday once a month and greys girls nights as exceptions. DH and I have been really really bad the last month or two and have been drinking a drink or two just about every night ...NOT good.

We will see..I will keep my blog up to date on my progress.

For ultra honesty....Today's weigh in 140lbs...ultimate goal....130. Lifetime low...132.

Here is to a healthier 2012!