Good Idea, Bad Idea

Waaaaay back when my teen was a tot, he and I would spend a little time on Saturday mornings watching Animaniacs. We both loved it, though for different reasons. General zaniness appealed to a four year old, and the clever songs and writing roped me in. How could you not relish the opportunity to sing along with Wakko during the 50 States & Capitols, Cheese Roll Call, Parts of the Brain, or Schnitzelbank?

There are a couple of things from the show which seeped into the family traditions:

• Before DD was born, B1 & B2 were known affectionately as Yakko & Wakko, so it was only natural for a baby girl to become Dot.
• For the last decade, any action taken which leads to a Doh! moment is greeted with the words Good Idea, Bad Idea

Today's Good Idea, Bad Idea moment for Joy?

Good Idea:
Taking photos of pretty flowers to send loved ones from a long run route.
Bad Idea:
Taking photos of bloody kneecap to send loved ones from a long run route.

As I learned today, that second type of photo tends to cause a panic. I tripped in spot where a missing chunk of sidewalk was masked by a few leaves. Narrowly averted face plant. Scraped up both hands, both knees, and jammed two fingers by bending them the wrong direction while trying to roll to one side... and scraped right shoulder & elbow when I got there.

No head trauma or bones protruding from skin, so my old tomboy mindset kicked in. The soon-to-be-swollen-purple fingers, road rash, scraps of skin dangling from kneecap, and all the blood... well, it's kind of cool. Helluva way to kick off the official fall half marathon training schedule, eh?

Just call me Grace.

Pushing limits this Autumn

Looking to push myself a bit harder this fall. If only a little from the physical, then definitely a lot from the scheduling standpoint. I'm not sure if the prospect of regaining my mid-day exercise time has made me lose my senses, but I'm thinking about filling many weekends this autumn with events. Considering a few new events, in addition to the races I enjoyed last year. Not just races for myself, but a few for the whole family. (Or whichever portion of the family in town that week.)

August:
8 - Dog Days Run, 5k
At least one family member will be gone this week, but B2 and DD should be up for doing this one. After all, it's a technical shirt with a dog on it. They have race shirts with tigers, pigs and possums, but no dogs.

September:
4 - Midnight Flight (Anderson, SC)
Think this year I'll push myself a bit, and run the 5k and 10k, back-to-back. Not sure that I'll take the whole weekend like last year, but I will definitely sleep in at the hotel Saturday morning and drive home by the slowest route possible, with stop(s) for delicious food & reading.
26 - Big Peach Sizzler 10k
Enjoyed run/walking the Big Peach 5k with B2 this spring. He won't be able to make the longer distance, but chances are I can get the 15yo B1 to run it with me. (He'll probably beat me, too.)

October:
3 - Ted's Montana Grill Stampede 5k
This is a maybe. The race is downtown, and post race food includes sliders, so I'm all for making a day of it with the kids, and adding a trip to the Georgia Aquarium after the race. We'll see though, because the next day is...
4 - 1st Annual Locomotive Half Marathon & 5k
The idea is for kids & dad to run the 5k while I'm running the half. If we do the 5k on the 3rd, it may end up being just me. Or B1 doing the 5k, since he's old enough to hang out while I finish the HM.
17 - Big Peach Fall 5 Miler
This one would be just me, and largely depends on whether or not I sign up for...
24 - Carolina's Challenge Metric Century (Spartanburg, SC)
The ride is a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project, which is a cause I'd be glad to support. It would be my first "official" ride, and is in the town where I graduated HS. Rolling past all the things that have changed in the last 20+ years could be fun.
31 - Silver Comet Half Marathon
Definitely running this. Might even wear some sort of costume - or at least orange - since it is Halloween. Chances are good B1 would be running this as his first HM, if he'll do the work and get out of bed for training runs in Sept/Oct. (Yes, he'd probably finish this faster than me, too.)

November:
Not sure what, if anything, I'll schedule us for in November, but the one event I'm planning on is the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. It worked out so well last year, I'm hoping to convince my family (and any relatives who wish to visit) that having our big family dinner on Friday is a perfectly good tradition to build. After all, even without all the money we'll be spending on race fees, there is no way I'd be participating in Black Friday shopping madness.

Now, to get everyone signed up for any August and September races, then figure out what comes next. And by next, I mean October through December of this year. I'm not quite ready to talk about where I'm thinking about setting the bar for 2010.

House Cleaning As Exercise?

End of a very busy week, and I was so looking forward to hitting the trail for a few hours today. Didn't make it. Like I said, it was a busy week, so that means I'm a touch behind on laundry, dusting, shopping, and just about everything else. Had two large maps, and a few smaller projects, in production at the same time, instead of the normal workload. Got everything off to the printer yesterday though, and my weekend is... not quite mine, but at least it's my family's?

Rather than getting in a snit about it though, I'm diving in. Massive grocery shopping trip, as the pantry and fridge were both stripped by all the extra people next week. Scrubbed the kitchen, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, the works. Amazing how much activity this is, when it's all in one day. I'm taking a short break while waiting for the third load of linens to finish drying. Blogging and menu planning as a break? Sigh... I'm such a mom.

The kids are working furiously, bagging up leaves in the yard. Well, maybe furious is the wrong word. For every leaf that makes it into a bag, there's another getting shoved down a sibling's shirt. In a few minutes, my oldest son will remember the amount of payment is dependent upon the number of finished bags, and they'll be back at real work.

As for why I'm menu planning AFTER the grocery trip, it's more of re-planning. A few of the items were unavailable, so I'm adjusting the plan for meals I'll be cooking tomorrow for later this week. The produce section had been picked clean of all the desirable peppers, tomatoes and lemons, and the broccoli bin was empty. Cauliflower has to be fixed a certain way to make it past one particularly picky eater, so I'm figuring out how much extra cheese sauce I need to make tonight. I can add salsa to it tomorrow to go with grilled chicken & chips, and save some for Monday with the cauliflower. Yea, me!

I've pulled most of the items that are leaving my closet this weekend and set aside for drop off. I'll start taking stock (and photos) of the pieces I'm keeping next week. Building up a virtual wardrobe, I guess.

Now, back to work.

Fall Cleaning

Except for a brief bit of sunshine on Saturday, which allowed for a trip to the Atlanta Botanical Garden for a scavenger hunt with camera phones, the icky weather gave me the opportunity to do a bunch of clearing around the house.

Pulled outgrown clothes from kids' dressers and closets. Got photos finished and have made up my list - so I'm dropping off three paper bags of winter clothes at Goodwill later today. Woo Hoo!

Have noticed it's damn near impossible to get my daughter to part with anything. If it's worn out, then it's her favorite, and she wants to keep it because it's too sad to throw it away. If she's outgrown it, then she wants to keep it for her dolls. Ack! Have finally had to take a hard line - if she wants a replacement, then the old one has to go before we go shopping. It's working so far, but there are still tears shed over the sizes 4 & 5 that were put in the bag.

I also started on a complete purge of my wardrobe. Some of it was needed anyway, since I still have several 8s and 10s hanging at the back of the closet, and even a couple of 12s. After 2-1/2 years in size 6 and under, I think it's safe to let those go. I'm also weeding through and putting aside my favorite things, in preparation for taking a hard look at all the indifferent items. Anything that doesn't either serve a specific purpose or make me happy will be going. I was inspired by, among others, 34 pieces together, the blog of a young lady who made it a goal to do more, fabulously, with less. I don't know if I can get down to that small of a list, but figure that 40-45 pieces is a good target.

At some point, I need to figure out how to put a link list down the side. Maybe I can figure that out later this week. After all, I only have two maps going into the final production and proofing stage over the next two days, and sleep isn't that important, right?