The New Way is the Really Old Way

I love to watch How Clean is Your House on the BBC. It has to fabulous older women that go through and clean up peoples apartments. The from the show what has really struck me is that they rarely ever use commercial or brand name cleaners. In fact most shows they use 4 primary cleaning supplies; Baking Soda, Vinegar, Lemons and Elbow Grease. All of which are far less expensive than cleaning supplies. So this month in an effort to save money I bought a giant bag of baking soda at for around $5 and a bag of lemons for $5, I forgot to pick up vinegar but it is also really inexpensive.
Today was the test to see if these easier, enviormentally friendly supplies would do a satisfactory job. I went up and clean the bathroom with the lemons and baking soda. I scrubbed the sinks, the counter, the cabinets, door, and the bath (the toilet is a diffrent story I use bleach for that just to make sure all the germs are gone). The result was a sparkiling bathroom that was left smelling slightly of lemon. It was quite pleasent.

I finished!

Today was the 5k and I really debated going but by telling everyone I was going to do it I really felt that I had to. 5k is approximately 3.1 miles and I wasn't sure I could do it.After some sound advice from my friend Ame who said "if you finish you win" and Enoch who said "You only have to race against your own time". After registering I looked around and started sizing up the competition. There were a lot of young women and some dudes a few old people, and not very many big girls like me. About ten minutes before the race I saw Lani my personal trainer, and she grabbed me and took me over to her group of friends (which I really appreciated because before that I felt very alone).
So the whistle blew and the serious runners took off at a fast clip I took off at a decent jog. I jogged a fair amount of the first mile, I was at the end of the runners but ahead of the walkers. By the end of mile one my legs were cramped, and my feet started to feel numb. By Mile 2 I was walking and then would do a burst of jogging to avoid being with the walkers. At the end of the race I was numb from my knees down. All I could think is that the kids would be at the finish line so I had to finish. It was the motivating factor, I'm not sure I would have finished if they weren't going to be there.
I finished in like 52 minutes. Not great but a time to beat in the future. In the end I'm just glad that I did it and finished it.
My friend Allison has invited me to run the Ice Breaker in Great Falls next month, I think I will start training more seriously for that. Probably by running 2 to 3 miles every other day or so. Any suggestions?
Here is a pic. I put Bo in charge of taking them.

The Night Before My First 5K

March 14- Tomorrow is the St.Paddy's day 5K. I just found out about it yesterday and figured I might as well give it a try. Today I am feeling less enthusiastic about the whole thing. I went to the gym today with the intention of running three straight miles with out stopping. About half way through mile 1 my calf cramped like crazy, and I wasn't really running, more like trotting. Mile on took me 15 minutes, then I took break and stretched out my calf. Then on to mile two it took me 16 minutes then I took a break and got some water. Mile three I was dripping with sweat and feeling all kinds of muscles I didn't know existed. I made it .50 before I decided to call it a day. I am hoping that tomorrow I will be able to struggle through and be motivated by the other runners. I am super competitive and usually don't do things that I won't excel at. I know that I won't be able to compete with the other runners, I just really hope that there are some other runners that are slower than I am. I would hate to be the last one to finish.

I just bought this cd

Parent Teacher Conferences

The kids second trimester just ended, so that means it is time for parent teacher conferences. Last trimester Bo had a 4.0 and Rory's grades were barely at grade level, with a few subjects slipping below grade level. We take their grades very seriously and do expect them to do well.
This trimester Bo still made Honor Roll but not with a 4.0, instead he ended up with one B and the rest A's. After talking to his teacher the slip in his grades is because he rushes through his school work with out following directions so he can read instead. So we had a long discussion about paying attention in class and being respectful of his teacher because she puts a lot of work into planning their day. He wrote up a plan on how to get his grades back up to a 4.0 by the end of the year.
Rory's grades all went up with the exception of handwriting and spelling. Those both stayed at grade level. The biggest concern his teacher had was for a test where the kids have to be able to read 90 words a minute orally. In 3 consecutive test he has been at 68, 68, and now 69. She stressed that it is very important that he speed up. My only argument to this is that Rory really lives in his own time zone really in his own world. I have figured out that pushing him to speed up only makes him go slower. So we will be practicing reading out loud more at home but I don't want to push him because that just hurts his feelings.
So all in all conferences went pretty well. I am hoping that both kids improve their grades by the end of the year. Luckily they both love school which is great.

March 10

Follow this link
March 10th Statement of H.H. the Dalai Lama

Feburary FitLinx