SWBKRUN -CLOSED DUE TO TRAINING (Page 77)

Happy Valentine's Day MG!

We celebrate everything/anything in my house.  Lot's of treats for the kids today.  One of the few days I'll let them eat chocolate before breakfast.  Thrilled when Ashley pushed the chocolates away in favor of a stuffed puppy (he was really soft and fluffy).  After getting my stuff done I'll head to the school for the class parties.  Fun times.

You are super-mom!!! I'm a slacker!! Not much doing here. In the past I've made red meals for dinner, so maybe I'll try to do that tonight. One kid has a school party, but the class planned it and parents were never invited!! Middle school, no parties, plus kiddo is staying home at least this morning, wah.

I will ride the trainer, maybe run or swim (depending on sick kid), maybe go my Trip class (depending on sick kid), maybe go to Costco (depending on sick kid), maybe hang out on the couch with a book and a sick kid...!! Maybe my husband will come home from work in time for dinner?? Romantic for us will be deciding where to stay in Hawaii in April.

That's all I got.

Happy Valenties' Day!!

I love this holiday!  Sent my big kids 'fruit bouquets' that they received yesterday.  Today, they'll have valentines in their mailboxes.  Zach actually begged for his last night - seems he forgot to get candy for his gf, so I gave him his, and he wrapped it for her.  Not eaasy - he loves that candy!!  Jeff's traveling, so he has a valentine hidden in his suitcase that he probably found a few minutes ago - I tucked it in his runing shorts!   When he lands in Boston this afternoon, there should be a dozen long-stemmed, chocolated dipped strawberries waiting at his hotel.  I'll take my Dad out for lunch.

I got a valentine yesterday from my favorite daughter....it was a sweet, mushy one!  Raised that girl right.

Jeff is usually pretty good about doing something.....but not sure he's on it this year.  His birthday is Thursday (and he'll STILL be traveling) so we're going out Sunday.  He muttered something about doing it all Sunday, so he may be including Vday in that.  Hope not.....but I won't be surprised!   He did text me an early valentine message last night....

Hope everyone has a great day....spread the love!!

Sorry Kyla.  Had a sick kid yesterday.  I thought she just wanted some mommy time since I was gone all weekend, but she did have a fever so I kept her home.  Not too sick - fever came down around 11:00.  Kept her home the rest of the day anyway.  Was nice spending the day with her.  She's better today, just in time to go to school for her party   

I like the red dinner idea.  Fun dinner thing we do....every now and then we'll have a family dinner week.  Everyone picks a day that week and everything we have for dinner on their day starts with the same letter as their first name.  They get to come up with the meal (but it has to be a real meal...Connor is not allowed to pick "candy"). 

Happy Valentine's Day, all! and Happy Birthday, Drew!  In years past I did little baskets of treats for the kids but haven't gotten around to it yet.  Maybe I can scrounge something before heading home but I'm not confident.  This is the one day of the year when I cook myself my favorite meal; filet mignon, truffled mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus and open a bottle of wine. Yum!

Yummmm - my son wants a taco bar for dinner tonight.  LOL

Sorry about all the sick kiddos and travelling husbands.  Safe travels and healing thoughts.

Check out VRBO for a condo at the Whaler.  Right on Kanaapali Beach and close to some good places to eat!

I wouldn't mind getting the recipe for truffled mass potatoes!

VRBO is awesome, we've used it quiet a few times, I think for our Hawaii trip this year also.

Oh and I would stay away from that shrimp place... ; )

Oh, you should see the spreadsheet my husband has going with all of the VRBO options. It's crazy. We are booking later than planned (long story), so that's part of the issue. I think we're going to stay Kihei area, which we've done in the past -- like having restaurants and such close-by, and it's looking like we'll get a place on Sugar Beach. But I'll check out the Whaler, as we have friends (triathlon training pal!) in Kanapaali, so we haven't ruled that out!

Kiddo has a fever again and is back in bed -- so I'm gonna squeeze in my bike workout so I can nurture him the rest of the day (and watch more SpongeBob than I prefer, oy).

My little girls just surprised me for Valentines Day. My sister brought them with her youngest son and they gave me Dove chocolates, Balloons, flowers, and a stuffed puppy.  My girls were so excited. Makes me so excited. It was a total surprise and I loved it.

My sister's birthday is today. So we are having a big party at the house tonight. She doesn't know I invited more people so I hope it will be a surprise.

Tiana

I don't use a recipe per se and I typically don't measure.  Tonight's will be just potatoes, skim milk, and white truffle oil but if I go decadent I'll use shaved white truffles (from a specialty store), half and half, and butter.  So bad and yet so good.

Add me to the sick household list.  This weekend was brutal.  My littlest one got hit really hard and we ended up at urgent care with her.  She's still sick (though starting to get better).  The rest of us are doing alright.

As for Valentine's, we don't make too big a deal out of it.  I realized I had a Mommy-fail moment when I dropped my son off at school with his cards.  All of the other kids had cards and treats.  I had one of those "when I was a kid..." moments.  Because, while I remember sometimes bringing snacks to share, there were never individual treats handed out to everyone.  It was just cards.  Oh well.  Live and learn.

Tonight, bike class.  I'm so unromantic, but my husband will forgive me.  I'll make him a nice steak on the weekend.

I had the pleasure of looking at a dozen beautiful red roses that sat on my desk all day.  They belonged to one of my 8th grade female students.  She got them from her 8th grade boyfriend.  Really????? 

I got chocoloate from one 8th grade  boy and a flower and marriage proposal from another (but I think it was really sent by his friend).  Oh my, the drama!! 

This has not been a good day. First there was the expense for the truck, oil change, tires ana leaky seal that needed fixing. (Lost 2 hours of work from that).

Then I get a message from the middle school that the principal has decided that Odyssey of the Mind teams cannot meet outside of school. This is a competition and I am coaching 5 11-13 year olds. zThe competition is 3/3/12 and we NEED to meet a lot to finish our project! It cannot be done at school. They think they have aliability issue! Never mind that no one has been hurt. That OM has been run for decades here without this issue, or that no other school is imposing these rules! Thus our teams are at a huge disadvantage!

I wish I could have my team show up, line up in front of the judges and hold up a sign saying "We had a great project going but Mr. S____ would not let us meet off of school property so we have nothing for you!" and then sit down. Unforunately while that might make me feel better it wont help the kids.

Now I am going to have to try and work this out with the school and then deal with the parents and most important of all, explain all of this to my daughter when I don't even understand it myself.

And to top it off, I am Double Posting!!! Argh!!!!!

Happy Valentine's day to Everyone!  No special stuff going on here, well, I am wearing a purple blouse today, does that count?  I bought myself a new pink cycling jersey and it came in the mail today? 

We had our special dinner last night (fresh porcini mushroom and truffle raviolis with a warm sourdough bagette...and some vino, the Voice and then sleep, exciting, no?!)

Happy Birthday to Drew!

Doug, I hope everything gets worked out.  Deep breath.  With your determination, I am certain you can find a way to make it happen!

Awwww man, Doug -- your msg hits home! (I need to do oil change -- overdue, yikes!) But the O of the M stuff bugs me here and I feel your pain!! I've stepped up this year and next to be our PTSA Prez, only when I agreed to do the job, we had a principal that I adored... then over the summer she resigned and we got a new one who is All Business, has no children, doesn't have the best interpersonal skills (IMO), and is a By-The-Book Rule Follower, to the point where she threw down in Septmeber that we weren't allowed to have any after-school clubs on campus without clearing every single one through the district -- something that had NEVER been required. My partner and I worked like crazy to make sure our long-standing clubs could have access to the school (although we still had to go through the district, grrr). This is just one small example of the many hoops we've had to jump through this year to keep our school humming along smoothly. Anyway...

OM isn't school-affiliated, is it? I thought it was its own activity, like Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts? (For us, Girl Scouts are not school-affiliated, although troops meet at school [but had to get permission from the district and go through all sorts of red tape this year] -- but they're not required to meet at school by any means.) I'm wondering if you could throw around some legal muscle and maybe approach the principal diplomatically and get permission to hold meetings off-campus? Maybe have principal sign something releasing the school from liability? Of course where schools are concerned there are a whole host of issues, many relating to the safety of the kids, which we all agree is of top importance. But if it's not a school club I don't see how they can pull rank on you. But if it is a school club, I'd hope there can be a middle ground? I say push back and find a way to make it work. Yes, you are a volunteer for this, and it's not always reasonable to hold all meetings on school property (what if you want to meet on a weekend?)! I'm sure this is all insurance-related. Does OM have its own policy that protects you and the children?? Good luck!!!

All right, I know this is all non-tri related. But when life doesn't go well the tri stuff can suffer, or it can be our life ring in a sea of chaos... Hang in there, Doug!

We are trying to meet with the principal. We'll see what comes of it. I used today's swim to get out my frustration. Tonight's run had better be on guard as I am still worked up! May set a new top avg. speed for the year!

Training is my salvation. Heck when all I did was stretch and some yoga yesterday I felt a little stir-crazy! But the recovery was great!

Pardon my drug-indiced rant.  My special treat for the day was another visit to the doctor and more drugs.  Add mine to the list of sick households.  I am going on four days of cough-interrupted sleep to the point that I wake up every 30 minutes to an hour in a coughing attack that leaves me out of breath.  I sleep in my recliner because I can't breath laying down, and I can't even watch Family Guy because it makes me laugh - which starts the #$*& coughing again.  I have, however, taken in a couple of episodes of Squarebob Spongepants with no ill effects.  I am also beyond tired of that #$*& Whitney Houston song that has played non-stop on every news show since Saturday night.  If she had seven number one hits in a row; could ya play one of the other six?!?  I owe my wife a million thank-you's for taking care of me and our son all week by herself.  But I don't even have a Valentine's Day card for her since I haven't been out of the house other than to see the doctor.   She says she is ok with that.  I definitely married well.  As did U because Q is awesome.  Not that it helps your situation, Doug, but back when I did OM we met at a local college campus.  Kim, how 'bout a Valentine's Day pic in the new pink top?  I think that's all I got (to borrow a phrase).  I'm off for another round of codeine-laced cough syrup.  I hope everyone and their kids stay well or get well soon.

My lovely wife had Kabobs ready for dinner tonight with pickled tomatos, black and white cookies for desert and Belgiumn beer. I had to hold off on the beer toinight, but I did run 6.09 miles in 50 minutes after dinner!

Broke 7.3 mph for the first time this year!

but you ate the cookies?

Just one cookie. But it was about 5" in diameter!

I would have gone with the beer.  Leffe? Duvel?

edit: ...and congrats on hitting that pace.