A dog?

Hans and I have been debating getting a dog for the last 6 months or so. We've visited the pet store way too many times and played with lots of different breeds. We can't decide. Neither of us wants a white fluffy dog. But I do need a hypoallergenic dog. Any suggestions?

I was pretty serious about getting one before we left for Hawaii and thought I didn't care anymore when we got back, but then we went to the pet store again and I saw some cute pug/beagle mix puppies that were cute. But then we came home and I lost the love again. I think what I really want is new carpet. Not a dog. But it's hard to tell.

16 miles

I have already forgotten what I did my last 16 miles in, which was only 3-4 weeks ago, so I am going to post about my runs. My own personal running record in case I decide to train for another marathon (unlikely). And just because. I'm not bragging. You don't need to read these. It's for me.

16 miles on the treadmill. Week 9 of training. Did a fast 7 Monday with 5 miles in 35 minutes. Felt strong. Started the long run at 7:10. Had half a protein shake thing at 6:30. Felt terrible the first 4 miles. Then felt okay. Sports beans at mile 7. Lots of water. I drank 20 oz this whole run. Not much gatorade. Mile 8 bumped the speed up to MP. Able to finish the last 4 miles doing speed intervals, but only up to 7:30 pace. Had a cliff shot thing at 13 miles. Finished in 2:09 and a few seconds. My legs hurt. Weighed myself before and after the run. Lost 3 lbs. Thought it would be less since I felt like I drank quite a bit more water then last time. Don't think I can drink more actually. Makes me feel kind of gross to drink.

Mia

A huge shout out to Melanie for watching Mia (along with Katelyn) for the entire time we were gone. I was most worried about leaving her because she is so attached to me. She needs to be held at all times. And Melanie has 4 month old Eden. But Mia and Melanie both survived beautifully and bonded to each other. It's nice to know that if I die Mia has Melanie to love her. And Jeff. She calls him daddy now. And when I see Melanie now, Mia runs over to her and begs to be held. And when I try to take her back she shakes her head no and puts her head on Melanie's shoulder. She lets me leave her at the Y with no problems now too. She just walks right in and says hi to everyone. I came home to a better adjusted little girl. Now I am getting a little payback though. She has to be held and if I go to someone's house (besides Melanie's) she freaks out. But I think soon we will be back to normal. I hope so anyway. For some reason too she was sleeping 12 hours at night for Melanie and then a 3 hour nap. For me, she sleeps 11 hours at night and a 1 1/2 hour nap. What's the deal?

She is learning lots of new words. The words she says perfectly clearly are - cookie, no, mommy, daddy, uh oh, baby, hold me, happy, and hi. I understand her when she says shoe, pancake, bottle, and binky. She also talks in baby talk all the time. It's really cute. She has her own language. She loves to climb on the table and walk around. She's happy if she's up high, but it's not so safe. She pushes chairs over to the counter and climbs on. Then she thinks she can back off.

Adjusting

This week has been crazy. We got home early early Sunday morning, rushed to church with soaking wet hair and came home. We hadn't slept the night before and we were both incredibly sore from running and the kids just wanted to talk to us and be with us. Then we went to Melanie's for dinner to see my mom who came to help Melanie with the kids for the weekend. Monday we were crazy trying to unpack everyone and collect everything from the 3 houses the kids were at. Then I made dinner for Melanie and my mom. Tuesday we made 34 valentines. We made pink and red play dough in huge batches and cut out hearts to put in bags with tags that said who they were from and what it was. The kids had a great time. We also made cookies to take to gymnastics and school for Katelyn's birthday. Wednesday we decorated the house for the party, made cupcakes and finished planning the party. And I ran 20 miles. I'm on week 8 of my 16 week marathon training plan. It actually felt okay. It took me 2 hrs and 46 minutes. It was about an 8:19 per mile average. Kind of slow for me, but I'm not too sore and I actually felt better in my tummy after then I did after the half in Maui, but I was running slower for this and it wasn't nearly so hilly, hot, and humid. I did lose a toenail and get a blood blister inside of my old blister that used to have another blood blister in it. That's what bugged me. I couldn't fall asleep last night because my toe was throbbing. Then today we had birthday pancakes and presents, gymnastics for Kate, then straight to school for her, then straight to a valentine's party for Kate and Justin, then rushed home to meet Ashley from school and wait for the kids for Kate's party from 4-6:30. We had 16 kids. Quite crazy, but they are all such great kids. I feel blessed to live in a neighborhood with wonderful friends for Kate. Now we finished cleaning up and are tucking kids in. I still can't fall asleep before midnight even though I'm up at 6. Still fighting jet lag. I feel so groggy in the morning. My other exciting news is that Hans bought me a new phone as a surprise last night. It's awesome. I love it. I'm hoping it prevents me from totally spacing things and standing people up like I've been known to do. It's so not who I ever have been, but last time it happaned I decided I should probably just admit it is who I am right now. Sad to do that, though.

It's been tough to adjust back to real life even with a busy week like this. I'm starting to feel more normal as of this morning. Monday and Tuesday I was pretty pathetic. Maybe cause it was my birthday and I'm now 30? Who knows. I felt a little like I should not be dealing with the same issues in my head I was at 20. Maybe I realize I may still be crazy at 40, etc. I also realize how much time Hans and I don't actually talk about anything but business and logistics. You pick that up, don't forget that, I'll do this, etc. Because when we are together, we are being mobbed by small people. And I got used to talking to adults all day in Hawaii. It's weird going back to kid conversation and just business meetings with Hans at night. That and needing to stare at the TV just to let the buzzing stop in my head.

I am able to hold and love the kids more. I did miss them. I do appreciate them. But I could go back to Maui tomorrow. Anyone want the kids for another week?!

Hawaii

Hawaii was awesome. We had a great time. We got to Maui late Saturday night and had the entire week there. We left the following Saturday at 9 pm. It was a full week of activities. So here we go:

Sunday - We went to church in Lahaina and then went and planned our week's worth of activities at the hotel. Then we drove up to Napili Beach and snorkeled and read. It was relaxing. Every hour felt like 10. I'm not used to that much relaxing. Then we went out to eat and to bed early thanks to jet lag. We had an awesome hotel on Kaanapali beach in a nice resort.

Monday - We woke up early and went on a kayaking/snorkeling trip. It was awesome. It was so nice to be on the ocean in the sun. We saw lots of cool fish and a coral reef that made snapping noises from the shrimp. There were also lots of whales. We saw a bunch and could hear them under the water. Then we went to lunch and layed out at the pool and went to dinner. Doesn't this sound rough? Again, every hour felt like 10. Still not used to being just me, alone. Very alone.

Tuesday - We woke up early again so Hans could go do a surfing lesson. He did great and got up a few times. I went for a long run along the coast. It was beautiful, hot, and humid. Then we went back to the hotel pool and did a refresher course on scuba since it'd been 7 years since we'd been. Then we dove in the ocean straight out from the hotel next to us. It was incredible. We saw tons of huge turtles, barracudas, eel, tons of other fish I can't name and Hans held an octopus our guide caught. It sprayed tons of dark ink stuff at the guide and then relaxed. I didn't hold it. Then we hurried to a luau in the evening. It was disappointing. But the fire dancer was impressive.

Wednesday - It was rainy. We drove up the coast to do some hiking and hiked to a really impressive blow hole. It was a little creepy since we were the only ones around, but definately worth the trip. Then we went back to the hotel for lunch and layed by the pool in the rain until the sun finally came out. We went to dinner and walked on the beach. I'm amazed at this point that I still like Hans. I haven't had this much adult interaction in a really long time.

Thursday - We woke up early and went on a boat out to Molokini crater and dove. I got really panicky at 100 feet deep and had to come up to 20 feet. We saw some sharks and tons of other cool fish. Then I sat on the boat while Hans dove again. I let my anxiety get the better of me. When we got back we went and did a timeshare thing for an hour to get 3 free dinners. Totally worth the time. And it was sunny so we were actually able to swim in the ocean without a wetsuit. It was SO nice. Thursday was by far my favorite day. Then we went back to the hotel and I ran while Hans did laundry. Sounds fair, right? Someone stole our white laundry out of the washer. I was ticked. Who would steal our underwear? Then we went to dinner and watched a movie.

Friday - We woke up really early, checked out of the hotel, and I decided to do a walk through of the 5 floors of laundry to see if our prayers were answered and I was totally surprised to find them on a different floor then we'd put them on dry in a dryer, with a dryer sheet even. And someone had even taken the time to zip up my jacket. I was happy. Then we did the drive to Hana, which is a drive I won't do again, I think. It was really scary. It's one lane freeway and you have to drive 15 miles an hour and wait for cars to run into you around the corners. I was carsick. We did stop off at tons of places and were able to do the most incredible hikes. My favorite was at Oheo Gulch into the bamboo forest. It was beautiful. I think I have pictures attached. Then we drove to Kihei for dinner and checked into our hotel.

Saturday - We woke up really early for the half-marathon. It was the hilliest course I've ever run ever. It was hard. And hot and humid. It was beautiful though. It was not my best time by quite a few minutes, but I still managed to take 10th. Hans ran the 5K. He did awesome. He ran it in 7:45 minute miles. He was extremely sore. But he also only trained with one run. Not so bad. He has more appreciation for me running faster then that for 13 plus miles. Then we went and soaked in the cold swimming pool and checked out of our hotel and spent the rest of the day on the beach until we went to the airport.

This was such a great trip. It was so strange dropping the kids off to Melanie, but I didn't get sad or miss them like I thought I would. And it was nice to want to come home and see them. I realize that 4 kids takes A LOT of time and energy. And that I do know how to relax and be alone. Mainly it made me realize that a little balance would go a long way. If I could just have 1 hour alone everyday, I could feel relaxed without having to go to Maui. Except it was wonderful to go to Maui. I felt like I got to know Hans again. And I quite like him.

The kids were excited to see us. They did great. Mia and Justin are doing a little bit of payback and we came back to a really busy week, but I'll journal that later.