Running With Angels: A Book Review

"Running With Angels" by Pamela Hansen is a book about a mother who endures the loss of 2 babies (one to a fatal heart condition and the other as a stillborn for unknown medical reasons). She medicates herself through food and slowly puts on more and more weight as she struggles with her emotions and raising her children. One day she decides to go for a walk to help clear her mind. Pam begins using these walks as a way to work through her grief and start to feel better about herself. She eventually joins Weight Watchers so which she discovers she's 100 pounds overweight. This is Pam's story of loss, grief, weight gain and loss, a journey to a marathon, and eventual triumph over her bad habits.

I really enjoyed this book..as you can tell..

Okay, I'm a total geek... I shouldn't be left alone with a camera.

This book really touched my heart in so many ways. I tried telling my sister about it and um, yes, proceded to bawl like a baby. The author writes so honestly about her loss right off the bat. She describes the emotions of a child dying and then having to carry on for her other children. I've never experienced that level of loss before (and pray I never do), but I think any mother can recognize the amount of grief she must have felt. I also could relate to Pam's weight struggles. No, I've never been 100 lbs overweight, but I've encountered the same demonds with food and being disgusted with myself and body.
I thought this book would be more about the author's running a marathon and that journey, but that really isn't the main point of the book. She does go over what worked for her and the day of her first marathon, but other than that, it's a very personal story about physical and emotional health. The book is short at only about 250ish pages, so it won't take long to read. I would definatly recommend the book, although have the tissue handy! It's the only book that's ever made this lady cry!!
You can check it out on Amazon here
Or save yourself the hassle and go to the library if you're a cheapo like me! :)

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was another fun one here at the Stemp House! Friday was a rainy day, so we didn't take Parker to T-Ball. Not sure if his practice was actually cancelled since we didn't hear from his coach, so Cory made the executive decision to keep him home. Instead, we had snacks and hung out and played downstairs. I stopped at Home Depot to try and fix the whole "Hippie Lime Green" fiasco. More pics on that later. I will leave ya hanging!

Saturday Cory's Freshman team had a game vs. Eastmont (which they ended up splitting with), so the kids and I stopped by the fields for awhile before running errands. We couldn't stay at the game very long due to the hurricane wind gusts!! What's up with the wind lately? Anyways, we came home and I did what yardwork I could while the kids jumped on the trampoline. I don't know where they learn these things, but they started playing this game where Parker played dead and Callie tried to revive him. Have they been giving CPR training on Dora that I missed? Once Callie saved Parker's life, they would jump up and yell each other's names and hug really big only to fall back down and start all over.

Parker is working on getting himself dressed lately..saying, "I do it meselfs"..Here's how that worked out..

After dinner and baths, Cory busted out a playskool dance cam we've had up in the closet that I think I got the kids LAST Easter!! Okay so this thing is hilarious. Basically there are different characters that tell the kids how to dance in the bottom part of the screen. There is a mini camera you hook up to your TV so the kids see the little character and themselves dancing. It plays kid music along with the doggie or turtle telling them things like "Dig around", "Shake your tail", "Put your hands in the air!" That kind of thing. Even Parker was getting down with his bad self!!

Sunday I got up early, so I decided to make some coffee and finish the book I've been reading, "Running With Angels". I'll be throwing in a book review on here later this week.

After the kids got up, we went outside for some yard work. There was some major yuckage on the side of our house from winter. We have new neighbors next door and those poor people had to look at that everyday. I tried to take some before and after pics for your viewing pleasure.

Guess what? I did it all by me-selfs! Cory played beer pong all night with friends had a late night so we let him sleep in. Finally, I got him up, but all he could think about was Ibuprofen. Hahaha!! Here's the best shot I got of him.

A little hungover grumpy? Um Yes! Although, he did mow the lawn AND take Parker and Callie to his fields for a weekend T-Ball leason. What a guy!

While he was doing that, I headed to Badger Mountain for my first hike up the hill! I was excited Melissa invited me because hiking Badger was one of my fitness goals for 2011. I will try and share my complete goal list this week..Now that the year is a third over! Anywhoz, My mom came and picked me up and we met Melissa there. She brought the water!

Here's some pics from the bottom of the mountain..

Here we are at our first rest stop! We didn't roll off the hill or get bitten by any snakes so we were very excited.

WE DID IT! We made it to the top!!

The scenery was beautiful!

I will definatly do this again. Melissa has a goal of doing the hike once a week. I hope I can join her more often. I really cannot believe people run that thing!

After I got back I stopped by the baseball fields to see how practice with the kids was going. Parker's got base running down as well as dropping the bat! We'll see how that carries over the the game on Tuesday! Cory's really good at coaching Parker so I think it'll stick as long as Cory's there to help him remember this week. I didn't take any pics of them because well- I was pooped after the hike and forgot. I just wanted fluids and dinner..I was starving! We stopped at the store where Cory tried to pay with our gas card (oops forgot the debit card at home!) We had to turn around, go get the debit card, and go back to the store again. It was worth it though because Cory made me one of my new favorites- California Sushi Rolls. It's sticky rice with crab meat, avacado, and cucumber. Yum!
Shoulda took a picture of that too but you know, my legs are already stiffening up and it was getting late..my mind is on Monday..
So that was my weekend- how was yours?? It's supposed to be nice this week..what are your plans???? Oh, and KeHS vs. Kamiakin @ HOME tomorrow..who's goin'?!

Annoying Brag Post

I just have to say- I ran my first mile under 10 mins last night!! Yay for me! :) It was a 9:50 mile. My fastest ever. I know that's a snails pace for others, but for me, I was dying at the end!! I can't believe I'll have to do another 2.12 miles at that speed to reach my goal of a 30 min 5K but oh well! I've got another 5 months to prepare.

So on another note, my mom and I have decided to do the Lampson Cable Bridge Run this year in December. She's going to do the 1 mile run and I'm going to do the 5K. Yay! We really want people to join us so email me if you want to run with us!!

Parker's First Day at T-Ball

Wednesday we entered the baseball phase of Parker's life. It was the first day of T-Ball!! It was pretty cute. His team is co-ed with ages 3-4, although some kids are turning 5 in the next few weeks. Some have played many seasons of T-Ball already, so you can imagine the big gap between some of the kids. The coaches are volunteers and this is their first time coaching as well. Practice was a little unorganized, but we still had a good time.
This was the first time Parker's ever gone to something like this- no organized play groups, daycare, sports, class, camps- nothing where he's had a large group of kids and an adult he needs to listen to other than family. I wasn't sure what to expect. He stayed with the group of kids and listened to his coach very well. I was very proud of him. I'm betting he'll have no problem entering preschool this fall.
During batting practice, Parker did so good! We've never gone over base running so he had no idea when to run to first base. He was the kid that wants to run to third. OMG, it was hilarious. Also, he would not drop the bat while he ran. When we've watched baseball in the past, he's always said "He forgot his bat!" when the player runs to first. I guess he really thought you were supposed to bring it with you! The other funny thing Parker did was after he hit the ball, he wanted to field his own ball!! What can I say, he's used to practicing at home when he hits the ball, he goes and gets it. LOL. So this weekend, we will be practicing base running and dropping the bat!!
The weather was windy and freezing. Callie ended up sitting in the car most of the time with my Dad. When she did come out and see me, she kept asking "where's Parker?" She always worried about her brother! My parents, Grandpa Bruce, Grandma Lucy, Uncle Chuck, Uncle Catlin, and Uncle Trek, and even the new puppy Colt, all came to watch Parker's baseball debut. That was extremely sweet of all of them and really meant a lot to me.
Parker will have practice twice a week and a game each week as well. If you want more info on his schedule, feel free to email me. He loves having people cheer him on!

My First Virtual Race! (And My 100th POST!!)

First off- this is my 100th blog post!!! Oh yeah!!

Okay, moving on- I recently came across Run With Jess's blog and she's hosting The Jelly Bean Virtual Race! You can sign up for a 5K or 10K to be completed Easter weekend. It's going to be so much fun!

This is my first ever 5K Virtual Run! Please go over and sign up and join me on this super cool event. If you're local, we could even run (or walk) together! Head over to Jess's blog and check it out!

Weekend Adventures

It's time for our weekend wrap up! I'm going to try and make this a regular thing on Sundays so let's cross our fingers I can stick with it longer than, um today, which is Monday, so already I've failed..:(
Friday was pretty laid back. Cory had work and then baseball practice so it was me and the kiddos! Parker is still not feeling well with his sinus infection. He's restarted on antibiotics (again!) so keep him in your prayers that his little body will respond to the medicine and we can get some answers on why he is stuggling with these infections. The only plus side to him not feeling well is I get extras of these:

Little Parker Snuggles! Any mom with a three year old boy knows this is the age when these sweet hugs are getting less and less. Even while feeling ill, he manages to put a smile on his face. I think his shirt says it all!

Callie wanted in on the picture taking too!!

Friday night, I ran my 3.1 miles on the dreadmill in 33:35. This run was a mixed bag. I had to take 2 walking breaks, but ran the last half mile at a 9:20 pace. That's the fastest I've ever ran, so I was pretty stoked. I also learned that I can put TV shows or movies on my Ipod and watch them while I run!! What the What?! This could change my life people!!
Saturday was spent doing home projects. We have a leak somewhere between the main level and the basement. It's been H-E-double hockey sticks trying to find this dumb leak!!! We are eventually going to remodel our master bathroom anyway, so Cory started tearing down the shower. Who knew we would be welcomed by tons of concrete?! Maybe Cory did- but I didn't! That is still a work in progess..Here's how it looked at the beginning..

here's how it looks today.

All the repairs caused us to have no running water all of Saturday. Our sink quickly turned into this:

On another note, I learned how to drywall!! Yeah, I'm a regular handywoman these days!! I'm taking bids if you need to hire someone.

We finally took down the ugly wood paneling downstairs. We are going for the whole "cabin" feeling in the basement..a semi-mancave for Cory..so we wanted to paint it a green. This is how the first green turned out.

Um no. That's not going to work. Cory calls it "Hippie Lime Green". I'll have to keep you posted on how Round 2 of painting goes.

That brings us to Sunday. I also went for a 3 mile run with my oldest bud, Corrin. She pretty much rocks. She is a Catholic school teacher and her loves include ANY sport (I'm not kidding, this girl will turn ANYTHING into a competition), wine, and entertaining me! Love ya Corrin!! It was only the 2nd time I've ran outside since I started training, and it went well except for the wind. That's something you can't really replicate on the treadmill. My time was 33:30, so it's about the same as when I run inside. That was good to know because I've heard running on the treadmill is "easier" than running outside. I say, running is NEVER easy!!
The rest of the day I spent cleaning up all the dust from the bathroom remodel and hanging out with my family.
So that was my weekend. It was a good mix of hanging out and being productive. Our house projects didn't go as planned, but I should know by now they NEVER do.
How was your weekend? What did you do?

Parker's Dr. Appt

Today Parker had a follow up visit with his doctor for his allergies and sinus problems.
Let's recap: The poor guy has been fighting allergies along with 2 sinus infections since January of this year. After treating the infections with antibiotics, Dr. Taylor went ahead and started Parker on Children's Claritin. We also had a visit to the ENT to discuss removing kiddo's adenoids. The ENT wanted to wait and see what Parker would do over this year, and if he started getting more and more sinus infections, he would go ahead and do the sugery.
Last night lil Parker started getting pretty stuffy again and thankfully, we had this follow up appt scheduled to check on how the allergy medication was working. Dr. Taylor wants to have Parker's blood drawn to run an environmental and food allergy panel, continue the allergy pills, and add a nasal spray along with it. Hopefully that will do the trick. If the allergy testing comes back that he is extremely allergic to things, he will refer him over to an allergist. If none of the above work, and the allergy testing comes back fairly normal, we will send Parker back to the ENT to revisit possible surgery.
So that's the plan! Meanwhile, Parker is laying next to me, running a low grade temp, completely plugged up and miserable. I just wish I could snap my fingers and he'd be all better again. Looks like we maybe calling Dr. again in the morning and asking for antibiotics AGAIN! Either that, or we'll be headed to doc-in-the-box! Oh, and my big guy was 38 lbs at the office..that's with layers and boots on-but wow-he feels way heavier than that!!