Runners are Weird

Just finished the Country Music Half Marathon this weekend, and the experience confirmed it.  I knew it going into this thing, but I have also had some of those brief moments in my running career during which times I experienced the elusive "runner's high," and I might have enjoyed it. Like, when I ran my first mile when I was 8.  And about 3 weeks ago when I ran my first 10-miler.  And... that's about it.  

Among the 32,000 runners that I elbowed  encountered on Saturday, there were a surprising number of people who were genuinely excited for and who eagerly anticipated the pain that was to come.  I started the morning off in the longest Port-a-Potty line in the history of Earth, in front of some psycho  dedicated woman who had recently run a 100-miler and thought it was a fun "mental challenge".  Then, there was the dude in my corral who juggled for the first 4 miles.  There were people in tutus and two guys in white polyester suits.  

Honestly, I didn't notice a whole lot since I was preoccupied with staying upright and alive, but some of the signs were pretty funny.  One guy's sign read, "What are you complaining about? Getting up early to make this stupid sign wasn't easy either."  Some kid held a sign that said, "Run faster you must," with a picture of Yoda on it.

My peeps were convinced I was on a runner's high here. I do look a little funny...

I knew Mike, the kids, and my parents would be at the 10K mark, so I was concentrating on looking strong and making my dad eat his words ("I hope they don't have to call an ambulance for you!") from the night before.

After mile 8, though, things got a little hairy.  In the end, the darn P.F.Chang's dragon beat me, and so did 6,530 other people.  My goals of not throwing up and not getting passed by anyone dragging an oxygen tank were achieved.  I'm not sure how proud my family was, though.  Sarah was way more impressed by the guy dressed like Elvis, and Will was mad that he couldn't get in on any of the free chocolate milk and bananas.  Mike has really been resting up since watching me run.  I’m really worried about him.  I think he might have pulled something...

Ta Dah!

The family room is finally finished.  Actually, it's technically been done since Friday night, but I was hoping to get some pictures of it all nice and tidy.  Ha!  Well, at least our delightful little demolition experts had no problems adjusting to the new room.

Dinosaurs!

Recently, the kids and I hit the zoo and we decided to brave the DinoTrek exhibit as well.

You know how, when somebody tells you something is going to happen, and you think you are ready for it, but then it happens and you scream like a little girl anyway? That's what happened to me when the Dilophosaurus spit at us. I knew it was coming, but it still spooked me. Sarah bore the brunt of the attack, since she was sitting in the front stroller seat and that, combined with me acting like a 12-year-old at a Justin Bieber concert, sent her into a little bit of a panic. We couldn't race through there fast enough.

But, Will and I were strangely fascinated by this Jurassic Park in our own backyard and I apparently enjoy torturing small children, so we went through again. This time, we bribed/armed ourselves with cotton candy and put Will in the front seat. Ready for anything those dinos could throw at us, we faced our enemy Dilophosaurus and put her in Time Out.

Did you know that cotton candy has magical properties?

What a difference a bribe makes

Sarah spent a lot of time trying to figure the dinosaurs out. Were they robots? How did they move? Are robots alive or dead? Do dinosaurs eat people? Where do they live? Is "a Long, Long, Long Time Ago" near Memphis?

Will really got a kick out of the roaring and spent a lot of time practicing his dino roar. Predictably, the T-Rex was his favorite and I had to peel him off the fence next to it. A lot of Middle Tennesseans and Kentuckians (sp?) have the back of his head in their pictures. Fortunately, there was a skeleton to excavate, and like moths to a flame, my progeny are drawn to sand.

Or dirt.

Not part of the zoo attraction

Renovation Reality

Say goodbye to this:

And hello to this:

Even though we're only in the middle of the process of taking down the wood paneling in the den and changing it over to wallboard, it is still a vast improvement.

Oh, and did you see those bad boys at the end of the room. French doors. Very grand.

I was talking to the contractor the other day, and I commented on how clean the process has been, and not at all like he warned us it would be. Apparently, the worst is still yet to come. Greeeeaat.

Stick Horses

Fireplace Tool-Holder-Thingie = Stick Horse Stable

Sarah and Will have been going through a cowboy/cowgirl phase lately. For like 6 months, really. I wanted to make them stick horses so they would quit trying to ride anyone or anything that stayed still for more than 30 seconds ("Giddyap, Daddy!" or "Hi-yo, Biscuit!", the 10 lb. she-poo that lives next door).

This was a quick project that only took me 3 weeks. Locating the fuzzy socks I bought when Sarah was born ate up a lot of time. Then there's the minimal hand-sewing that was involved. I had to procrastinate and moan and groan about that for 5 days. Anyway, the Easter Bunny ended up bringing the horse and unicorn, so of course our equine friends were upstaged by chocolate bunnies. Hopefully, this cowgirl/cowboy phase lasts long enough to give me a return on my investment.

Sarah and I did establish that her unicorn eats fairy dust and carrots. ("Not rainbow dust, Mommy! You're so embarrassing!")

Last night, we took Bullseye (tentative moniker for the horse) and Melon (gotta get a new name for the unicorn) out for some exercise at the park, and now they need a bath. And some bridles.

Easter Recap

Bunnies!

We love a holiday over here at the Brown household. Halloween? Right up our alley. Christmas? Must you even ask? Valentine's Day, Arbor Day, Chinese New Year? Got 'em covered. Everyone here has his or her own opinion, but my personal favorite holiday is Easter. So, this year, I took the opportunity to attempt every Easter-related craft in the blogosphere.

Anyway, I'm not going to show a bunch of pictures of the random stuff I made ("Look, hon, a wreath made out of Peeps!"), I will just give you some shots of the short ones dressed in their Easter Sunday best hunting for loot at Church.

Despite the fact that Will still has blue hair from his experiment with Noise Putty and I have a zit on my face that makes me look like John-boy Walton, I'd say we clean up pretty good.

As a side note, I asked Sarah what Easter is really all about besides eggs, bunnies, and new clothes. "Candy!" was her very honest reply. And so I attempted to talk about Jesus coming back from the dead. On our way into church this morning, Sarah queried,"Is Jesus coming to my Sunday school class?" Last night, she was giving Mike the lowdown on the Easter story, and I overheard her saying, "...And then his killers ran away! And Jesus came back to life! But they couldn't find him anywhere!"