Happy 21st Birthday, Pumpkin!

Even though she's away at college, there was no way I was going to let her celebrate her 21st birthday and us not be together.  So I planned a little surprise.  I texted Meg that I had her favorite coffee drink waiting for her at Kofenya and she just had to run up there, tell the barista, and it was my way of making sure we shared a coffee drink on her birthday (she thought I was in Cleveland).  She showed up at Kofenya, thinking she was just "picking up her coffee" and instead, I surprised her by actually being there.  Best part was hearing her scream, "Mom!" across the coffee house...and then we both hugged, cried a little and sat there just like Lorelai and Rory at Luke's Diner enjoying coffee on her birthday.

I can't believe you're 21...time moves way too fast.  Love you, pumpkin!

Christmas 2013 Interview with My Girls

Christmas Interview 2013

What do you like about being a kid?

Megan:  Sadly, at 20 I need to act like an adult!
Bridget:  I like seeing my friends every day at school.

 

If you could go anywhere this year, where would you go?

Megan:  Hopefully, Prague in fall 2014.

Bridget:  Disneyworld and Hawaii.

 

What one word best describes you now?

Megan:  Hot mess in a pretty dress.
Bridget:  Happy and nice.

 

What is your favorite thing about your sister?

Megan:  Her sense of humor, she surprises me every time I go home about how smart and fun she is.

Bridget:  Fun, nice and awesome. 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Megan:  First, I want to finish college.
Bridget:  Vet.

 

What makes you happy?

Megan:  family, dogs, friends, Costco.
Bridget:  family, friends, sister, dogs

 

For Bridget, now that you’re a first grader, what advice would you give to someone new in Kindergarten?

Don't worry, you're going to have fun!

 

For Meg, now that you’re in your second year of college, what lesson did you learn as a freshman?

To study and that you won't miss out on friend time.

 

What is playing on your ipod or iphone?

Megan:  Bastielle, Lourde, Tupac, and Biggie.
Bridget:  Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Teen Beach Movie Cruisin' for a Bruisin.

Happy Valentine's Day

I got the best Valentine's Day gift - my whole family was together! Happy Valentine's Day to you and your family!

Another Family Visit

After we came home from vacation, we had the wonderful opportunity to see my brother and sister-in-law and their two kids. I hardly see them because of the geographic distance, but each time I do, I get so darn excited. Mom, Dad, Angie, Zack, Scott, Char, Zoe, and Marcus all joined us for a couple days of fun. We got to catch up, go to the Natural History Museum and enjoy lunch and pastries in Little Italy. The time flew by and I can't wait to see them again!

A New PR!

My previous 5-mile PR was a 52:49 in 2010 running the Bill Luti 5-Miler in Concord, New Hampshire. Today, I shattered that number and managed to finish the Hermes Turkey Trot here in wonderful downtown Cleveland in 47:52!!!!! Holy crap, Batman, that's a minute faster per mile! Woohoo!

So today, not only am I grateful for a wonderful husband/kids and family, a good job with challenging work and enjoyable co-workers, fun friends, but I am also grateful for having good health and that I am able to do something I love - running.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Fall Bucket List

Autumn is my absolute favorite time of the year. How can it not be? Running is a pleasure, the colors of nature are at their most vibrant, and you can bring out the sweatshirts (yay!). I came across this cool little Fall Bucket List, so I thought I'd give it a go for my fam. Adapt it for you and see what you can check off as well!

Apple Picking

Make Leaf Art

Photoshoot in a Leaf Pile, then jump in!

Make Caramel Apples

Enjoy S'mores by a Fire

Go to a Pumpkin Patch

Make Fall Cookies

Take a Nature Walk (and Learn!)

Go Trick or Treating (or, for us, enter a Trick or Trot Race)

Bake Pies (suggestions?)

Carve a Pumpkin

Have an Outdoor Picnic While We Still Can!

Do you have any Autumn traditions or celebrations? What would you add to your list?

Holiday Movie Magic

Tonight our family will change into our pajamas, gather around the TV, enjoy Greg's special popcorn (made only on the stovetop), and watch a wonderful Christmas classic - Elf. My family knows I love the shower scene where Zoey Deschanel and Will Ferrell are singing Baby, It's Cold Outside. Elf has become our family's favorite modern Christmas classic with Greg and Megan repeating lines throughout December - "you're so pretty, you should be on a Christmas Card" and "Santa, I know him!"

Other must-see classics for us are Christmas Story (hey, we are from Cleveland!), Christmas Vacation (thank you, Nitmos, for the month of quotes), and It's a Wonderful Life (Jimmy Stewart makes me swoon).

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season enjoying your own traditions or making new ones.

xoxo

A Short, But Wonderful Weekend

Just returned from a wonderful weekend with my brother, sister-in-law and their family. It was a spur-of-the-moment trip compliments of a Continental last minute specials (Yippee for the $119 round trip fares). Way too short, but full of fun, great conversation and complete excitement filled with family activities. We had a leisurely breakfast and morning, then spent Sunday afternoon at the aquarium, where I think Megan had the most fun petting the sting rays. Enjoyed a great dinner on the grill (a treat in December..especially being from Cleveland). And best of all, I came back with some wonderful decorating ideas (thanks, Char!). Bridget even came back with ideas for her room and toys (thanks, Zoe!).

Polar Express

As Cuyahoga Valley National Forest members, we have the first shot at Polar Express train tickets. So I've had these tickets for the four of us since September. I was not a fan of the movie (sorry, Tom Hanks), but I figured we would make it magical anyway.


The train left the tracks for it's 2-hour ride to the North Pole. The elves entertained us by playing games with each child, singing Christmas Carols, filling our tummies with hot chocolate and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.



After an hour ride, we arrived at our designation - the North Pole. We were greeted by dancing elves outsid the train, the Grinch (hello, scare the small kids), gingerbread men, geese in a small red wagon, dancing Christmas trees, and other assorted characters. I was disappointed that we didn't get to deboard. But it was cold and snowy, and I had lost my head and wore ballet flats sans socks, so I guess it was ok to stay in our seats.


In the end, the train ride last almost 2.5 hours, which is tough for a 3-year-old, and even tougher for her 17-year-old sister, and downright punitive for the dad (no beer or wine to be found!). It's kind of like a 3-hour movie, where you walk out saying "that would have been better if they cut an hour from it!"

Happy holidays!

Phoenix, Camelback Mountain & Family Time

This past weekend, we visited husband's family in Phoenix, Arizona and had a wonderful time. It was great seeing Megan and Bridget connect with her cousins Ben and Maeve. We got to catch up with Kim and George while spending time with Greg's parents. Saturday, the group (including the kids) hiked Camelback Mountain. I am still laughing about George's comment. We were going down quite slow with the kids. There were rocks and it was technical at times. And this comes from a trail runner (keep that in mind). Anyway, we were slow going and someone had asked George to slow down. He responded, "Are you kidding me, I just saw Steven Hawking pass us. We can't go any slower." I am still laughing as I write this! The family time was great, the hiking was wonderful, and we enjoyed catching up!


Megan and Greg doing their "Captain Morgan" pose.

Hiking up Camelback Mountain, Scottsdale, Arizona 3/13/2010.

At the base of Camelback Mountain after hiking with the Carlin/Corcoran Family.

A Good Week of Running

I'm happy with all I was able to squeeze in this week and I'm looking forward to longer daylight hours (minutes) in the evening so I can increase my workout length. Plus, I can add Bridget to my rotation of running partners. So the recap:

Monday - rest.
Tuesday - speed workout of 4 sets of 800m at 6.5mph with 400m recovery at 4.2mph. With warmup, intervals and cool down, I finished 4 miles.
Wednesday - strength which included th 10+1 workout (situps/pushups) and 3 sets of 10 of squats and tricep dips.
Thursday - tempo run of 3 miles at 6.0mph.
Friday - rest.
Saturday - hodge-podge mix of 6 snowy miles in Peninsula on trails and towpath with Greg accompanying me on his mountain bike. He was a trooper because it was a miserable ride of thick snow with uneven patches and ice. Afterwards, we enjoyed ourselves with a couple wonderful microbrews at the Winking Lizard. He had this full body cherry stout and I had a Two Brothers Bitter End IPA. I will have to add Two Brothers to my list of attractions when visiting Chicago.
Sunday - 10 miles on Metroparks all-purpose trail with Megan riding alongside me and puppy taking the lead.

Best of all, I had fun this week in my workouts and I'm looking forward to squeezing in an early morning yoga session tomorrow!

Hope you had a wonderful week to review and an even better weekend!

Expanding the Definition of Family

This blog started out as a way to track the wonderful traveling and race adventures of my family. What originally started out as Greg, Robin, Megan and Bridget has turned out to include more! My sister-in-law Kim is going to join us in a race or two (or three). And if I'm lucky, she'll be running Cleveland and Salt Lake with me! Go Kim!