Kyle’s First Race

Kyle began running with a local running group about 1 month ago. He has enjoyed it a lot but up to this point he had just been practicing with the group at a couple local parks twice a week. When he first started running with the group, he wasn’t real sure about whether he would like it or not. After the first couple practices he seemed addicted! Now he runs with the group twice a week in addition to running or biking 3 or 4 times a week. It’s great to see him so excited and dedicated to something.

Last week the coach suggested that Kyle run in a 2k race that was being held at a local horse farm and sponsored by the group that he runs with. There was a 12k race for more experienced runners before the 2k. Kyle got to watch the older runners as they finished the 12k race, and he even helped collect the racers tags at the end of the race.

I think Kyle finished fourth in the 2k race, and maybe first in his age bracket, but most importantly he had fun. I was a little concerned since it started raining just as they started running. It was a bit chilly to begin with and then with the rain, it was really a rather unpleasant mix. I captured one, not so great picture of Kyle as he ran through one of the horse barns leading to the finish line.

The picture is a bit fuzzy, as I was using my Kodak and taking the picture from outside the barn looking in and Kyle was obviously in motion. I thought the fact that the horses were watching was kind of cool though. Of course, for anyone who knows anything about horses, the one on the right doesn’t look too happy with the whole situation. I don’t think he could lay those ears any flatter on his head than they already are! Good thing Kyle didn’t get too close!

Kyle runs his second race tomorrow. It is a 5k and it’s only a couple minutes from the house. Hopefully, for those of us watching the finish line it will be slightly warmer than today, but not too warm for the sake of the runners.

Cookies

On Monday afternoon it became evident that the congestion I was experiencing was a cold, not autumn allergies as I had previously expected. I take vitamin B everyday on general principles and it also has vitamin C in it. I also generally take a vitamin C everyday, although I ran out a week or so ago, and only just recently got more. A couple weeks ago Jeff had a cold and took Airborne, which he said worked wonderfully. He convinced me to try it, so I have been taking that a couple times a day as well. I felt the worst yesterday and this morning, but actually feel pretty good this evening.

Tuesday night I mixed up meat loaf to put in the crock-pot Wednesday morning for dinner. I didn’t have any eggs, so I made a mental note and then asked one of my co-workers to help me remember to get eggs before leaving work yesterday. She reminded me, so I got home, added the eggs, Sarah mixed it, shaped it, and put it in the crock. I plugged it in and went to bed. That was around 11 am. I awoke around 4 pm and eagerly went down to check on the loaf. Much to my dismay, it was at that point that I realized I had not turned it on! Raw hamburger and raw eggs sitting in the pot for 5 hours with the temp in the house hovering dangerously close to 80 degrees was more than I was willing to risk. Frustrated, but too ill to care, I went and lounged some. When Jeff got home I told him what happened and announced that everyone was on their own for dinner. I was much to tired/ill to eat, so I went to bed…again.

This morning I decided it was a good day for my wonderful shredded beef BBQ. I put a roast in the crockpot, fill it about 3/4 full with water, and put it on low for about 9 hours. Then I pour off the juice, shred the meat with a fork and add BBQ sauce. I then put it back on low for another couple hours. This is a wonderfully simple, but very tasty meal that my family loves served over hamburger buns or bread. I checked the crock pot 3 times to make sure it was turned on!

As we were finishing up dinner tonight, Jeff asked if I would go buy peanut butter cookies. Although I felt significantly better, I had no desire to go to a store and buy anything! Erin has been bugging for the last few days to make cookies, so I decided tonight was as good a night as any. I directed and the kids did most of the work. Sarah cannot eat peanut butter (or any other legumes) without getting horrid stomach cramps, so I had to make some other kind of cookie as well. I settled on ginger snaps since they were on the same page of the cook book and I didn’t have cream of tartar needed to make the snicker doodles also on the same page.

The kids began gathering the ingredients while I supervised the measuring and mixing. Both Sarah and Erin were excited to be able to use the Kitchenaide. Sarah made the gingersnaps and Erin made the peanut butter cookies. The kids could not find any cinnamon in the house, so we substituted apple pie spice. Jeff informed me that I should make a note in the cookbook that apple pie spice should always be used in place of the cinnamon. I did not actually try any of the cookies, but if the kids and Jeff are any indication, they are quite tasty.

Here are a couple pictures of the fruits of our labors:

When the kids were very young (Erin was a baby) I used to make giant chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies a couple times a month. I would make a batch of dough and only have about 8 cookies from each batch. I was telling the kids about them tonight and Erin (who was getting tired of rolling dough balls) asked if we could make some giant cookies. That’s what we did for the second pan. We wound up with 15 normal sized cookies and four giants. The giants are what you see on the top of the container.

So Sorry

To all of my faithful readers…all 3 of you…I have been so overwhelmed lately!

I work for a very large, up-scale grocery chain that is absolutely amazing. I worked there a few years ago for about a year while I was trying to decide what direction I wanted to go with my teaching career. After about a year of working overnights as a baker, I decided to go back to education in a slightly different capacity than teaching. It did NOT work out as planned, and I soon found myself looking for another job. I taught for one more year, then announced to Jeff, with much trepidation, that I was hanging up my teacher’s hat for good. I was not going to finish my Master’s degree (only 1 credit shy of a degree), nor was I going to secure my permanent certificate. I was really going to let it go. I had played with this thought for many years, and finally decided I could no longer bear to do something I hated so much. It wasn’t fair to me, my students, fellow educators, or (most importantly) my family. As of September 1, I am no longer certified to teach (sigh of relief). The last week in August I panicked for half a second and actually went to the website for the college where I nearly completed my Master’s to find out about enrolling to finish my 1 credit. I then went to the NYS Education Dept. website to file an extension, then realized I hate teaching high school and middle school! Why on earth would I decide to grasp at straws??? Fear of the unknown, I guess!

Anyway, back to my grocery store. About a year ago (1 year, 4 weeks, and 1 day ago to be exact) I went back to the bakery at the same store I worked in 5 years ago. Jeff and I talked about the jobs that I really liked that made me happy. Well, this is the one place I can say I actually loved. It is a truly fun place to work. The other wonderful about this company is that the sky is the limit as far as advancement potential goes. I went back part-time, but kept my eye on the internal job postings, looking for something full-time, or part-time at a higher pay grade. I found what sounded like a great job, I applied, interviewed, and was turned down. Then I found a full-time baking position at a store near my house. I applied, my paperwork was misplaced (extremely rare incident), so I obviously didn’t get that one either. I guess the third time is a charm (sort of). I applied for another full-time baking position at another store, interviewed, and was again turned down…I apparently impressed those interviewing me however, because they made a phone call and got me full-time status, in a training capacity, with no specific store. What all that means is that they felt I needed a little more experience in a couple areas, so they got me a full time gig while I am being trained. Then when a baking position opens in the area, I will get the position. I am thrilled to be full time and I get to stay in my current store until another position opens up, but… I have no idea where I will be placed, or when. It leaves a lot unknown still.

So for the past month or so, while I have been fretting over whether or not I would get a full-time position, my poor blog has taken a back seat. I haven’t really taken any pictures either. I do have a few I will post from a couple weeks ago, but all in all I have done very little except work, sleep, and school the kids. I will try to be better about blogging now.