All Manner of Pressing Issues

Spring break has gotten off to a great start! Olivia was such a trooper in the airports and on our flights!

Here is a little recap of how we’ve spent our spring break so far.

Day 1: I took a long nap, knitted, played with Olivia, went on a date with Richard to Dupont Circle where we ate at Lauriol Plaza. It was in a neat area and the food was great…not to mention the company!

Day 2: The three of us took a little roadtrip to Gordonsville, VA. We got to take a scenic drive through the country where we saw a lot of plantation houses. When we got to Gordonsville we ate at a restaurant that was in an old house, but I can’t remember the name of it. When we got back to Arlington, Richard and I went to the Kennedy Center for dinner and to hear the National Symphony Orchestra. It was fabulous!

Day 3: The first half of this day was spent in Annapolis. We had brunch at a neat place called Wild Orchid Cafe. Richard said it was in the top 5 best meals he’s ever had. After we ate brunch, we walked around downtown where we saw the Maryland Statehouse that was once our nation’s capitol.

Day 3 Continued: After our outing to Annapolis, we brought Olivia home and Richard and I headed out to the mall area. We walked forever and saw the Capitol, Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and the White House. We stopped for a hot dog between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. After all of this sight-seeing we made one last stop to the seafood market. After that we headed home  ordered a chicken pesto pizza for supper and played Scrabble.

Day 4: I took a nap, knitted, went running, grocery shopped and went to Target. Later I went to dinner with Richard and some of his coworkers. It was an uneventful day for the most part, but I liked it that way!

Day 5: After eating a leisurely  breakfast, Richard and I headed to the National Museum of American History. There we saw many interesting things, but some of the highlights for me were Julia Child’s kitchen, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog and THE ruby slippers.

<— This is how I feel after all of this running around! I think I’ll take it easy tomorrow. After all, it’s spring break!

I had the absolute BEST time at the race (as in I really enjoyed myself…not the best time as in I won)! I was very, very nervous/excited, but after the race got started I relaxed and had fun! Before the race I ran into some friends. The picture of me above is with two of my teaching friends. They are a mother-daughter pair and are very sweet and fun. I love to talk running with them. I also made connections with another friend, but I don’t have the picture we took. The non-pictured friend and I got to run together for the first several minutes! That was extra special!

The part of the course I was most concerned about (Capitol) actually turned out to be my favorite part. I was worried about it because it is a long, long hill. It was my favorite part because it was so beautiful to run up the tree-lined street looking at the capitol. That stretch was the only time I stopped during the entire race. I stopped to try to take a picture on my phone, but it didn’t turn out good. During the race I ate Sport Beans (I had them in my Spi Belt) and drank water and Gatorade. I had half pack of Sport Beans at mile 4 and the other half a a couple of miles later. I had another half pack at mile 8 and then the other half of that pack around mile 10. I have never eaten during a run or drank anything except water and I really do think the Sport Beans and the Gatorade made a huge difference. I ran the race 15 minutes faster than I had anticipated. That could be attributed to a lot of things, but I think the Sport Beans and Gatorade really had a lot to do with it. I also really concentrated on my posture because I read that if you lean forward when you run you’re constantly fighting gravity. I didn’t want to fight gravity any more than I already was, so I made sure my back was straight! After I got to mile 10 I ran as hard as I could (within reason) to the finish. I found myself feeling sad that the race was almost over.

On a side-note…here are four things I did prior to the race that I think also made a huge difference: 1) ate carbs for two days before the race 2) drank A LOT of water the week of the race 3) clipped my toenails very short the day of the race and 4) smeared Body Glide all over my toes and heels.

There were several things I saw today that inspired me, but here are just a few: military men in full uniform with their backpacks running the half marathon, senior citizens running and persons with disabilities participating in races.

I am officially addicted to running. My running hobby is now in direct competition with my knitting hobby.

Thanks, Mom and Dad for coming to cheer me on! I would also like to thank Sport Beans, Gatorade, Body Glide, Beyonce, Fergie and Nelly. Thank you all very much. You got me across the finish line.

This year I have been  faithful to keep my pansies watered after I saw last year what a difference a little water can make. I have been so proud of how my pansies have grown and how colorful the blooms are. I love looking out and seeing all of the color on our balcony.

Apparently Olivia has enjoyed the pansies, too. Maybe the Miracle Grow in the pansies explains why she has gained another 2.5 lbs!!

We have had several days of rainy weather here, which translates into indoor recess. Since I have to go home to let Olivia out during lunch, I am not there when my students are inside for recess. The adult who has recess duty stays in my classroom to monitor my students. Typically, when we have indoor recess, the students get out our Play-Doh and play with that. However, yesterday when I came back all of my students were sitting quietly at their desks and there was not a trace of Play-Doh anywhere. The adult on duty left and I asked my students about the Play-Doh. They told me they had to put their heads down during recess because they were talking. It was their recess time. I didn’t really see the problem with talking during recess. So, we had our own recess! I got out the watercolors and shaving cream (some students opted for computer time) and we had RECESS!

All throughout our city I have seen beautiful trees in bloom. I was actually counting on today being a rainy day, but it turned out to be a gorgeous, sunny 80 degree day. So, I decided that Olivia and I should go for a ride out in the “country” to see all of the trees that are in bloom. Before we went for our ride, we made a Sonic stop for a drink. Unfortunately, there weren’t as many trees in bloom as I thought there would be, but we still had a nice ride.

Olivia has been to Sonic twice in her life and both trips were documented.