Merry Christmas To ME!

It's getting close! Are you ready for Christmas?? Me, I'm about where I usually am at this point, which is ALMOST done. There are always last minute odds and ends to clear up.

I've been desperate for some new shoes. My current pair have more than 300 miles on them, and for me, that's a LOT. So when John came home from work on Friday and handed me $180 in gift cards to my favorite running store which he'd WON from work, I was over the MOON.

I got a new base layer shirt, new adrenalines, and a pair of adrenaline TRAIL shoes. I am so so excited to run in them!

Then yesterday, I got my bloggy secret santa present! It cam from Aimee who blogs at I Tri To Be Me. (She just completed her first Ironman at IMAZ - if you haven't read her report, you totally should - AMAZING!)

I busted into the box like a little kid!

oooo, a pretty box inside the box!

what's inside?

This is what I saw when I opened it up - LOVE!

Already, I was in love. I am not crafty, and I refused to pay outlandishly for a running related ornament, but OH did I WANT one - so before I even took it out of the box, I was so excited! BUT! Then I turned it around...

this made me cry. yes I am a sap. SO AWESOME!

I immediately hung it on the tree. I couldn't love it more. THANK YOU!

why yes, it IS right next to a Slayer ornament. (love my hubs.)

But THEN I remembered there was MORE in the box! Gotta check that out too!

her family is gorgeous! and GU!

Thank you so much Aimee! It couldn't have been more perfect! And thanks to Jill for organizing this gift exchange - so much FUN!

Lastly (because who knows when I will be able to post again - today is the kids' last day of school for winter break) I was tagged by The Unexpected Runner to share 7 random things about myself. Since I did this recently, and since it IS Christmas time, I'm going with a Christmas theme today.

1. My earliest Christmas memory is sitting crammed with all my cousins in my Grandmother's kitchen singing carols and waiting impatiently. After a bit we'd hear a loud "HO HO HO" and run into the living room to what seemed like a MOUNTAIN of presents! It was magical!

2. My Dad is Polish and my Great-Aunt (who married into the family) was from Japan originally. So early Christmas meals were kind of dyslexic - czarnina next to egg rolls, anyone? But I loved it.

3. I love Christmas music, but prefer it done traditionally. To me, it should be quiet and reflective more than upbeat and peppy (which gets annoying to me every year - please no more Mariah Carey. Ugh.)

4. I used to sing in church choir and midnight Mass was always my favorite. Although I haven't been in many years...

5. Since having kids, Christmas traditions have changed. Now, each Christmas eve, John and I drink lots of wine and wrap presents until the wee hours of the morning. So much that it doesn't even occur to me that I could get the wrapping done ahead of time.

6. When I was a teenager, instead of having a big meal on Christmas eve, my mom would make every delicious appetizer she could think of and we'd munch all evening as people would stop through. I miss this, and hope to resurrect it when my kids are older.

7. I haven't been to Christmas Mass in years. I prefer to spend Christmas morning in my pajamas, surrounded by my family, and just take in the joy on my kids' faces.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!

Made It (mostly) Through....

Well, I managed my way out of this week, for the most part. I'm glad to have it as a memory now.

Tuesday I managed a 7.4 mile trail run. I knew I'd need it to make it through the rest of the week.

Julia's Christmas program was the sweetest thing. She looked beautiful, proudly sporting her new 'do. I was (of course) super proud of her, and despite being REALLY nervous, she did beautifully.

I wish I could say I enjoyed the rest of the show, but truthfully, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention. James has had a rough month, and has been fighting a cold. Add that to his normal personality, and it was a rough go. I spent the majority of the time trying to keep him from having an outburst, getting kicked, getting stepped on, bla bla bla. But we made it til the end. Barely.

The next day, we had Jack's winter band concert. I was looking forward to this - he really is getting good! I was anxious to see him perform.

In hind sight, I should have known better. I should have done it SO differently. We got a decent seat, but were smashed on bleachers. The warm up is always excruciatingly dissonant. The lady directly in front of us had no regard for people behind her. The chaos of the room left James anxious and volatile. We had 15 minutes of warm up to go, and he was already in full on melt down mode. So I took him out.

I wish I could say that I calmed him down and we made it back inside in time to see Jack play, but that wasn't the way of things. Sometimes autism fucking sucks. I spent the concert in the van, crying. James was happy to wait for the performance to be over. I didn't get to see any of it.

But. Jack did extremely well, and the concert was a success without me. We got home, got the kids in bed, and instead of running (which is what I SHOULD have done) I busted out french onion dip and pretzels and stared at the TV. Not my finest moment, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

Yesterday, I woke up with another crazy morning ahead of me. Everyone was tired. We had to get to James' school early for his IEP review. James woke up PISSED off. *sigh*

But once he got all that out of his system, we had a great meeting with his teacher and therapists. He is doing beautifully, and they are starting to prep him for kindergarten. I'm really proud of how far he's come, and thankful for a system that is working for him, despite the difficulty of the last weeks.

I left him at school, came home, and got a call from my friend Sarah - could I run? HELL YES. It was 47 degrees and I wore a skirt and a long sleeved tee. I froze my ass off the first mile (damn it was windy!) but I didn't care. 4 miles later and I was a new person. It was Sarah's birthday the day before, so she shared some of her cake with me. I ate it for lunch. Don't judge.

I'm really behind on Christmas shopping, but hoping to finish this weekend. The tough stuff is behind me, and the fun stuff coming up. Can't wait!

(oh, and only 32 miles to go!!)

"Faster Than My Bullet"

Bullets is all I have time for, so today, bullets is what you get:

• Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. There are no expectations, just food and family. Christmas stresses me out, even though I love experiencing it through my kids - but there is so much pressure to get it "just right" and we are struggling financially this year, so there's that.
• If you click on Riyanti's blog, she's got a great picture of us from the Turkey Trot. I am too lazy to steal it and post it, but click if you want to see...
• Last weekend I took Jenna, my 12yo, to her first concert. We saw Christina Perri, Kelly Clarkson and the Fray. It was a fantastic show, and I had so much fun hanging out with my daughter. I am a new fan of the Fray - seriously good band.
• The temperatures are starting to creep lower. Not a fan. My drive to get out the door wanes a lot as temperatures fall into the 20s...and the wind! Ugh.
• Next week is going to be psychotic. Julia's Christmas program and Jack's band concert and James' IEP review, trying to get shopping wrapped up, trying to figure out teacher gifts. Plus I need to get our cards mailed. Bla bla bla. Need to get OFF the internet!
• Running has been going well. One interesting thing to note - I am addicted to running on the trail. Consequently, I haven't run with any music in I can't even tell you how long. Now all my marathon training cycles so far have had their "song." (Pumped Up Kicks was TCM's song). I'm not sure what to expect for my next training cycle - I wonder if I don't RUN with music, if I'll still feel like a particular song defines that time frame. I mean, it still plays in my head whether I'm listening to it or not...

Gotta run (literally) - only 60ish miles to go!!