Got Resolutions?

The new year is quickly approaching and with it comes the media upswing to catch us at one of our weaker moment - when we are setting a resolution. Yes, the onslaught of ads for health clubs and weight loss services has begun. It also means that the club is going to be packed for the next 4 - 6 weeks. I know, that is selfish, but I prefer to actually have a treadmill to run on rather than wait 30 minutes for one to free up or to have room to jump and wiggle my hinney during a class!

In defiance of the tradition of resolutions, I typically do not set one. Okay, that sounds like grandstanding, but I know myself and I don't tend to keep the ones that I make on Jan. 1st, so I try to make smaller ones throughout the year. They don't always work either, but for some reason I feel less defeated than when I am unable to keep them at the beginning of the year. Any psych majors out there who want to comment on that? ;)

This year might be different, though. I went scrapbooking at Scrapbooks Too on Friday night and all day and night Saturday. I ended up sitting with some of my scrapbooking friends, Susan, who I haven't seen in a while. We got talking about running and how I did the Reindeer Run while she opted to stay in her cozy, warm bed. Yes, I should have stayed in mine that day, but now I get bragging rights for doing a race in sleet and sub-zero temps! She then went on to say that missing the December race made her not meet her resolution for the year because her resolution last year was to run in a 5k race each month. What a GREAT idea!!

So, it sounds as though I do "Got Resolutions" and I will officially state it:
"My resolution is to run a 5k each month of the year"

So, here is the plan so far:

• Sunday, January 13th
• Frigid 5 around the State Fairgrounds
• REGISTERED!
  
• Saturday, February 16th
• Marathon Sports Valentine's Day 5k around Lake Harriet (hopefully, it will be warmer than during the Reindeer Run!!)
• Sunday, March 16th
• St. Patrick's Day Human Race
• Saturday, April 26th
• Get in Gear at Minnehaha Park (MINDA - are you joining us???)

Those are the ones that I want to do for sure (along with the Turkey Day 5k and the Reindeer run again). The rest of the year is up in the air; well, except for November and December.

There are a lot in May (obviously, it becomes a little more pleasant run at that time of year). Has anyone run any of these? Any feedback?

• Saturday, May 3rd
• Arise and Run for the Prize at Elm Creek
• This one has a kids run that might be fun to let the boys try
• Sunday, May 4th
• Sholom Community Alliance Oy Vey 5k
• How can I pass up a t-shirt that says "Oy Vey 5k" on it???
• Sunday, May 4th
• Arboretum 5k Bud Break
• Saturday, May 10th
  
• Eden Prairie Spring Run for Fun
• This one is on Purgatory Creek and around Staring Lake - that would be a nice run
• Benefits the "Girls on the Run"

What about you? Got Resolutions?

2,056 Legos and 31,000 Lights

2,056 Legos for ages 16+ assembled by Mr. Ethan (9 years old) in 2 days! Here is the proud boy with his amazing creation! This Lego set is really cool. It is part of their new "modular" line, so each floor is an independent entity and can be separated without disconnecting Legos.


31,000 lights cover this oak tree. The backside of this house overlooks the river valley and the tree can be seen in Burnsville and Eagan. We confirmed it by crossing the river and viewing it from other side. The picture just doesn't do it justice!

Poor shutter speed choice, but I love the smiles on the boys!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. We had a fun day opening presents, obsessing, sledding, skating, and eating. the boys really loved their presents. Ethan's big gift was a big Lego set of Cafe Corner and one of his other favorites was Mario Party for his DS. Alexander's big gifts were a punching bag and a big Ferris Wheel Lego set. The surprise of the gifts is that Alexander LOVES his Webkinz. We spent the day attempting to get on the website and were successful most of the time, but there was a message posted about the fact that they were experiencing larger than expected volumes and were having difficulty keeping up.

Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas.

Feeding the reindeer on Christmas Eve:
Ready to open presents!

Reading Santa's reply to Alexander's list of questions:

Sheer joy when Ethan received the Lego kit he really wanted!

Alexander thrilled with this new punching bag and gloves!
The fruits of my obsessive labors - assembling Alexander's Lego Ferris Wheel. The set was for 8-12 year olds. It took me most of the day to get 2/3 of it finished, I took a break for sledding, skating, and dinner. We finished it up a couple of hours later! Whew! The cool thing is that it has a motor so that the ferris wheel really goes around!

New Favorite Pizza

Just needed to share that my new favorite pizza is California Pizza Kitchen's Thai Chicken minus the cilantro. YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY! I had it Saturday night when Alexander and I had a date for dinner and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Needless to say, I liked the pizza more than the movie! ;)

Here is the description:

This is the original! Pieces of chicken breast marinated in a spicy peanut-ginger and sesame sauce, Mozzarella cheese, green onions, bean sprouts, julienne carrots, cilantro and roasted peanuts.

It is especially yummy after my butt wiggle group fitness class, aka Soul Cardio. It is a great class, but it really is a lot fo butt wiggling!

For the Love of Snow

I love snow - especially when it falls on the weekend and there is plenty of time for the crews to clear the roads before I need to drive on it. Yes, I was out in the storm on Saturday morning for the Reindeer Run, but I was in Minda's big truck, so I didn't have to stress about driving. In addition to the truck, she used to live in the areas where we ran, so she knew which roads to take that would have less traffic and be more clear.

After arriving home from the race, I didn't leave. I opened all of my blinds and admired the storm. My favorite place to admire it was curled up on the couch watching movies. It was lovely. Sunday was a busier day, but the day still had a wintery theme to it. I went over to the house and helped put up the Christmas tree because I learned that Kyle wasn't going to put it up. I couldn't let the boys be without a tree and I didn't want to haul everything over to my apartment, so we put up the tree in the traditional place in the living room. Side note: I learned today that a friend at work is going to loan a small tree to me. I can't wait! I need to get some lights and a few ornaments. Okay...back to Sunday. After the Christmas tree, I headed home to relax, but how could we let a beautiful, wintery afternoon pass by without sledding?! So, I called up the boys and they agreed to meet me at the sledding hill. It is pretty close to my apartment, so I walked over there fully outfitted and ready to go. Alexander, of course, was right in with the big kids who were building a snow jump. He was one of the several "testers" and "crashers" for the snow jump. Ethan took the more even routes without jumps. Needless to say, I joined Ethan on runs down the hill, but never Alexander! My brain still remembers the pain in my tailbone after going over one of those snow ramps last year! Our festivities on the hill ended when it started to get dark, Ethan was cold, and Alexander did a nose-dive into the snow off of the snow ramp and his nose hurt.

We then headed off to the Galleria to pick up some yummy, Big Bowl. While we waited for our food, I couldn't resist going into Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, and Pottery Barn Kids just to see the looks on the clerks' faces when someone dressed like us entered the store. Side note for Mom - the Galleria is the snooty mall by Southdale where most people where fur coats rather than sledding gear!

Today, I didn't really get to enjoy the snow, but I do love the crunchy noise it makes under your feet. What we did do instead of play in the snow is volunteer at Creekside to serve ice cream for after the meal and to sing Christmas carols. This was the resulting service project from our small group's 40 Days of Community study. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about it, but I ended up having a blast. The boys weren't too sure about it either, but after a while, they really warmed up to the microphones and had fun singing carols on the stage.

Afterwards, I headed to the club for a run. I hope I get used to running on a treadmill or else it is going to be a VERY long winter!!! Maybe it is time to get some running snow shoes and to give that a try! I do want to try cross country skiing. I hear that Hyland lights up their cross country trails - that should be a lot of fun. Maybe we will try it this weekend!

SUCCESS!

Minda and I successfully completed the Reindeer Run this morning! Woohoo!

I finished in 35 minutes even after a super slow start. It was sleeting directly into our faces for the first leg of the races. I reached a point where I couldn't feel my lips and was getting nervous about frostbite. Luckily, the run was around Lake Harriett, so after the first 1/2 mile or so, the wind wasn't too bad.

Minda brought her camera, so I should have some pictures to post later today! WE already have a couple of inches of snow on the ground! I am going to take a long, hot shower and then plan some inside activities for the rest of the day. I might even pull out my scrapbooking stuff again!