Tracey's Space

More deep thoughts from Ava:

"Mom, how can a baby get born if there is nobody born before them?"

Whoa! I guess I should be happy she didn't take the question in another direction.

So.... Juliana is grounded. On the first day of summer vacation. Wait, let me clarify- she was actually grounded on the afternoon of the last day of school. *Sigh* I won't get into the nitty gritty but it involves her teaming up with her BFF and some shenanigans and badness ensued. What? It's okay if your friend is doing something bad and you tag along because they make some sort of buffer/bubble around you that protects you from getting caught and/or being punished? I certainly never bought into any convoluted logic like that before. (Snort.) Now that my initial anger has subsided and I've spoken to BFFs mom to compare stories I have to almost feel bad for the kid. Ava is prancing around like a pretty pretty princess because if my girls love anything, it's basking in the glow of their siblings punishment. Plus, Ava got to go on a trip to Chicago with Steph and Maddie today while I dragged Juli around on all my errands. The horror! If anything, I'm hoping that maybe at least this way she can learn her lesson right off the bat that I am not about to take any guff this summer vacation. I'm laying down the law because frankly, I don't want to be sitting on Maury Povich's couch in five years watching Juli wave her finger at the audience and yell, "SHUT UP YA'LL! YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" Hopefully I can tame her now so the worst I'll have to deal with is her she starting a Facebook group about how her mom totally suxx.

Juliana: "Hey Mom? Did Aunt Stephy ever stab you in the back? Like not really with a knife but do you know what I mean?"

Me: "Uh, no I can't think of any time she stabbed me in the back. Did somebody do this to you?"

Juliana: "Yeah, well this one time, Ella said she would give me her cupcake for my Doritos but then she changed her mind and gave the cupcake to Kai for NOTHING."

Take THAT half marathon! You don't scare me!

The best part of my 13.1 mile run this morning was when during mile 12 a little bulldog with it's tongue hanging out started running along beside me. After a bit I started to wonder where it's owner was so I stopped and turned to see another pony-tailed blonde with sunglasses running after me with a leash and saying, "I thinks she thinks you are ME!"

Good thing I took my ipod off and checked because that puppy was so going to follow me home.

The Decemberists playing a cover of Heart's "Crazy on You."

You sit in the middle of a construction marred intersection in your dead car while people honk angrily and you totally freak out.

Oh, I guess that's just me.

Some of you already got the play by play via Facebook or Twitter so I'll be brief. We're getting a new car on Friday! Yay! This was put into motion before the old car decided to strand me in the middle of traffic but apparently the ol' cruiser got wind of how we were going to trade her in and decided to be all, "You wanna get rid of ME? I'd like to see you try!" And then proceeded to conk out in the middle of the road. This led to me and two other helpful ladies comically trying to push the car out of the intersection to no avail while other larger and most likely stronger drivers decided it would be more productive for them to honk/yell/give us dirty looks. Now I think I'm a fairly strong girl but I also think that if you saw me trying to push a PT Cruiser you would laugh. The cops that finally came to help me laughed when they saw how close I have to sit to my steering wheel when one of them could hardly even fit in my car.

Anywayz... What makes this story even better is that I was on my way home from the car dealer who had just finished checking out the cruiser for a trade-in when all this happened. I then had to turn around and have it towed right back where they promptly knocked $1000 off of our trade price. Aw, hamburgers.

But I'm ok. I'm actually able to laugh at my misfortune now because if the car was going to die then I suppose it was meant to be that we were already in the final stages of purchasing a brand spanking new one. It's even a hybrid so I can drive around like that episode of South Park where the hybrid drivers wave at each other and self-righteously pat themselves on the back. See? I can have a sense of humor about myself.

This week I became the kind of person who buys (and then consumes) something called Hammer Gel. Don't know what that is? It's this food/substance that comes in a nifty little foil pouch you can pocket while running long distances and ingest for an extra energy boost. Apparently after running for over an hour or so your body gets completely depleted of glycogen and you need some kind of sugary carby goodness to replenish yourself. Basically it tasted like cake frosting. Weird, huh? I started picturing runners carrying little tubs of Betty Crocker frosting on their backs and eating it with their fingers every few miles. And then I got paranoid that I was sporting a ring of chocolate around my mouth much like Ava wears after eating a pudding cup. You learn new things every day. Seriously though, running in general just makes me feel ravenous. Which isn't so bad considering I can burn over a thousand calories on these long runs, but when do I get to look like Paula Radcliffe already?

I realize that I probably set pretty unrealistic goals for myself. Like during the Olympics when I was obsessed with Dara Torres abs and forgot to consider that it was her JOB to look like that. Not that I'm running in order to whittle myself down to a bone but some of those distance ladies are crazy fierce. I can feel the muscles in my legs changing but I don't think you'll see me donning those little swimsuit buns anytime soon.

You know what I like? Doing things for me. That's right. I could get used to this taking care of me thing.

Sometimes I think I may have taken up running just so I could get all the alone time where I get to zone out and think. Now that I'm passing the 10 mile mark, pretty soon I'll be approaching TWO WHOLE HOURS of run time on a Saturday or Sunday morning that i get to focus on myself. Scandalous! I have to admit that it's pretty nice now that the girls are getting older and more self sufficient. I no longer have to spend my days and nights wiping up poop, pulling stuff out of little hands and mouths and basically monitoring every second of their lives. Granted, I had a psychotic episode a few weeks ago when I smelled a baby head at the hair salon and got all schmoopy but it quickly passed when I thought about waiting five more years to get this sense of semi-freedom back. People, I'm even thinking about searching for a part time job in the fall- you know me with all my marketable skills like coffee making, general flexibility, and the ability to "sell it" to the person sitting at the back of the theatre. (Not to mention all my enviable knowledge about the pioneers of modern dance.)
Part of it has to do with living in a town where I actually want to do things. I was pretty complacent in the suburbs going for walks around my community of little boxes and eating at Applebee's on the weekends. But now I have these things they all BABYSITTERS and ROCK SHOWS and NON-CHAIN RESTAURANTS and I am smitten. I love my family, yes I do, but there is something to be said for balance. For example, I'm sure this weekend I will be taking the girls to see the atrocity that is "Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian." However, I most likely will also be getting my "Terminator: Salvation" fix as well. And going for a two hour run.

26:05. Not too shabby! Now, talk me into doing this:

Lakefront Marathon

Now that I'm back from vacation I realize we are in dire need of some catching up. Basically, I'm blogging to tell you that I will have something to blog about soon.

Soon!

XOXO

Until then, enjoy some Dancing Kim!

Ava Elisabeth, age 5:

"I don't know why the other kids don't just learn how to read when Ms. Denice teaches them how all the time."

Insert an eye roll, sigh and a big "oh mah gawd".

Methinks somebody is getting a big head.