The Breakfast Club

One of the things I love about Rodger is that he makes breakfast for all of us 4 or 5 times a week. I don't eat this breakfast lots of times because I'm stuck with cereal, but the boys love it, and I am thankful for his willingness to do it. I think kids learn much better with a tummy full of healthy food. (Pay no attention to the fact that we have to have bacon at every breakfast, the rest is healthy).


The thing I love even more is that he is teaching the boys to cook, and to enjoy making food for the family. Their wives are going to love this about them someday....

The Crash

Our dog Queso is having a little problem. Actually it's grown into a big problem...he's fat.

This was Queso a few years ago when I used to take him running with me.

Anyway, as my waistline expanded so did his. He has a huge yard to run around in all day, but except for the occasional burst of speed when he decides to catch a bird he usually just lays there. Kind of like I used to do. So I took pity on the poor dog and took him running with me on Monday. It was going really well except that I was using a very short leash. I don't like short leashes when I am running because he has to stay pretty close to me, and I need lots of room. Have you ever seen Phoebe run on friends? Well that's me. I don't like to have anything around me so that I can flail my arms around or something.

Like I said the run was going very well. We were at mile 2 and I thought I had enough juice left for 2 more, and then Bam!
Queso crossed in front of me and my toe caught on his back leg. Down I went, like a ton of bricks. I jumped back up and tried to keep running, but the damage was done. I hobbled for another 1/4 mile or so before I decided that I had definite damage and better go home to assess the situation.



The offender




The damaged toe
(the big toe is swollen and has weird line bruising on the back)



I tried running again yesterday, but running on the side of your foot so you don't put pressure on the big toe is not easy or fun. I wonder how long this is going to take.....

BAAAAAAAAA

I'm still trying to figure out why I do the things I do. I thought that raising goats for 4-H would be an incredible learning experience for Alec. I thought it would help to teach him responsibility and compassion. As well as build self-esteem and teach him to be a producer as well as a consumer. So why does it always turn out that these little projects of mine always wind up being a learning experience for me too. Maybe that's the whole point of being a parent. It's more about Heavenly Father giving us a learning experience, rather than us teaching the kids anything.

So back to the story...

We went to a local family and picked out our goat, and Alec quickly named her sissy because she complains about everything. And when I say complain, I mean cries, like a small child in pain. It's very disconcerting. We got the goat about 2 weeks ago, and quickly figured out that she didn't like to be alone. We determined this because she wouldn't stay in the 4 1/2 foot high pen we had constructed. Every time we would leave her she would jump the fence and come running after us. If you've never seen a goat coming charging at you....it's quite a sight. It cracked me up that she never tried to run away, just straight toward us every time.

So we had to get her a friend. Enter goat #2. So we now have two goats Sissy and Nanny (a mother goat is called a nanny, hence the name). The goats did just fine for about a week, until they got to missing us again and they both jumped the fence. Of course this happened on a day when Rodger was at work, he is always gone when the fit hits the shan. So my 80 year old Grandpa and I spent 4 hours in the wind and rain making the fence a foot taller. So far they have not been able to jump it, but it may only be a matter of time, they must have Mountain Goat blood in them.

We go to Grandma and Grandpa's twice a day to feed, water, and exercise them. That's right I said exercise. Have you ever seen anyone walking a goat down the street on a leash? Well around 5 O'clock everyday, you too can experience this sight. The Hansons struggling down the road with 2 goats in tow. If you're lucky you might even get to see them drag us down the road....goats are strong.

Sissy in the trailer that she gets to call home every time she jumps the fence.

Sissy eating in the trough that she generally insists in standing in while she eats.

So You Think You Can Dance?

I have to say that I am truly disappointed that I don't have any pictures for this latest post because they would be hysterical. Rodger took me out on a date with some friends last night, and we went to dinner and then dancing. Let me just say that dancers, we are not. I used to dance quite a bit in high school, and I thought I was pretty good, but I have now figured out that my partners were the ones that were pretty good. I can only do well if I have someone great to lead me.....unfortunately the same is true for Rodger, Ha Ha.

We did have a good time with our friends, and both of us have resolved to practice so that we can do better at the 4th of July dance. The good part is that only 6 other couples showed up to the dance to bear witness to our hilarity. So wish us luck for July! Now if only my crushed toes will heal in time....

All Kinds of Crazy

So I have known for a while now that we have some ahem...interesting characters here in The Sticks. What I didn't know was that the animals here are crazy too.

We have had this bird that has been driving us nuts with all her loud, obnoxious, squawking every day. Rodger and I have both shooed her away, but she just keeps coming back. Well we finally figured out that she has made a nest and had her babies near our house. Actually it's not near our house, it's on our house. And when I say on our house I mean in our rain-gutter. That's right this dumb bird had chosen to lay her eggs in the flood plain.

I climbed up when I heard them chirping and moving around to try to get a picture, but they are in the bend of the gutter where it goes down, right where they are sure to drown should it rain.


I am hoping that they will be able to fly in just a few days. In the meantime I can't believe I am hoping in WON'T rain.

The She Rox Tempe Sprint Tri

"The Miracle isn't that I finished. The Miracle is that I had the courage to start."


This is my new favorite quote after finally competing in my first triathlon.


This whole thing started because I wanted to lose some weight.....I think most of us would like to do that. Unfortunately, I had some significant weight to lose. I was already carrying around the extra 15 that most women would like to lose, and then I tore not one, not two, but three ligaments in my ankle. I would have preferred to just break the dang bone. Anyway I could hardly walk for quite some time, and then I had 6 months of physical therapy to get through. Needless to say more weight was gained.

I guess the part that made me so mad was that I had lost most of my child-bearing weight. All of this is just leading into a 3 year pity party that you all don't need to know about. Anyway I decided it was past time for me to do something major and change my life...bring it back to some sort of normalcy I knew it had to be big for me to make the kind of changes I wanted, enter the Danskin Sprint Triathlon.

I started training last November, and I started to see changes right away. I roped my Mom in, and I think she only agreed because she wanted me to continue to get healthy.

When I was heavy I only wanted to think about losing weight. What I wanted to do when I got back to my old self. I didn't care that much that I was out of breath when I would run, or that I wouldn't go for family walks outside anymore, and forget about putting on a swimsuit. I did lose quite a bit of weight before Jamaica, but I was really unhealthy, and it all came right back.

So for the past 6 months I have worked my butt off, literally. I have lost 32 pounds, but more importantly I feel amazing. I can run again! Let me tell you, it's not fun to be married to a fireman when you are in less than stellar shape. I am able to exercise with my kids, and more importantly they see me work out all the time. They see me make better food choices for myself and the whole family. We spend more time doing instead of sitting.




So for my first Triathlon I finished in 2 hours and 10 minutes. I'm not that proud of my time, but September will be better! That's right, you heard me, I'm hooked!

Thanks Rodger and Mom, I wouldn't have had the courage to try if you weren't both convinced I could do it.

Worries

OK, I am really starting to worry about this Saturday. After all it's the big day. The culmination of all my hard work for the last 5 months.

I did the trial run last Friday, and my shins are still trashed, although I think that is more because of my lack of stretching them out for my run two days previous to the trial run.

I'm starting to worry that I am an idiot for deciding to ride my mountain bike instead of just breaking down and buying a racing bike. I just figured that if I decided to continue in this hobby that I would purchase one then.

I just figured out that the Tempe Town Lake is 70 degrees when I am used to swimming in 85 degrees. Oh, and the outside temperature may very well kill me...who wants to try to do all this in 100 degree weather.

I also have to go buy whatever I am going to wear in this mess. I swear I will shoot myself in the head before I will wear those little tiny running brief things that everyone keeps telling me are so great.

Also, are you supposed to wear water shoes or go barefoot for the swim portion...

How did I get myself into this mess...