Craft/Bake Sale for the Cure

On June 25th we are having a yard sale.  During the yard sale, James and I are holding a craft/bake sale for the cure.  We have been hard at work making little crafts to sell and we will be making cupcakes, cookies and candy to sell as well.  Here are a few of the crafts we will be selling.

Magnets $.50: A variety of animals, designs, cars and planes

Suncatchers $.50: variety of butterflies, flowers, animals, and other designs

Handmade Soap $1.00: Variety of shapes, colors and scents

Potholders $.25

Scrapbook Paper Scrap Pads (50 sheets) $.50

We are hoping to make at least $50 from this craft/bake sale.  James is really excited!







Great way to start the week

I got up this morning and went for an early morning run.  I love early morning runs!!!!!!  It's so nice and cool, for the most part, and quiet.  I love the quiet peaceful runs.  I thought I was moving a bit faster than what I was, but that's okay.  I got out and ran and that's what's important.

Last night we had some storms go through so the air is so clean and fresh.  I love that smell!  Now it was a bit humid this morning.  I know I wouldn't have gone out if I had waited to later.  Nope, it was a perfect time to go out.

Today is a really busy day for me.  I may not have to work, but my day got filled up with all sorts of things that need to be done.  It seems that way every time.

I love to be busy though!  Well, off to start the day!

Hiking at Waterdown Falls along Bruce Trail

Yesterday we took a wonderful trip to Hamilton.  We went to Waterdown Park and hiked for about 5 miles.  We started at Waterdown Falls.

We started by heading down to the bottom of the falls.  We found some flat rocks and sat and enjoyed the sun and the sound of the rushing water.  I was so perfect.

The trails were narrow and in spots really muddy, but we kept going.  We walked along the river and watched all the beautiful rapids.  The water was cool and clear.  It was so pretty and I took pictures along the way.

We were tired by the end of the hike, but it was a lot of fun!  We will find another waterfall and then take another hike soon.

Thursday morning run

I am getting ready to clean and organize our bedroom, but I wanted to get out for a quick run.  I ran 1.71 miles in 19:21.  It was quick and it felt good.  I used to think that if I didn't do a 5k at least 3 times a week then I wasn't doing a good job.  I have sinced learned that I just need to get out and enjoy the run.  If I only have time for a short 20 minute run then at least I got out and ran for those 20 minutes.

Now I look and see that I ran almost 2 miles in 20 minutes.  That's pretty darn good in my opinion.  I have learned that I can't get mad if I just get 4 or 5 short runs in.  It's okay.  I'm doing this for me and my sanity.  I'm doing this because I enjoy it.  I'm doing it to get out and enjoy being outside.

I still have my goal of under 30 minutes by September 24th.  I will be working towards that goal all summer.  Now that it's nice out I will be running outside.  I love it!  Today the weather was perfect for running.  It was nice and cool with a light breeze.  The air was clean and fresh.  I loved!!!!!!

Oh and my mental block song...Yeah I kicked its ass today.  I just got done running up a long hill and was almost at the top when it came on.  I kicked it up and pushed to the top then enjoyed the run down to the bottom.  It felt good!  Now I need to get that song off my playlist so I have to get my iTunes transfered to my new computer.  It was pretty awesome though.

Well, off to take a quick shower and then to start organzing our bedroom.  I can't wait for June 25th to get here.  I get all this stuff out of my house.

Finally got out and ran

After battling a cold and then rain, I finally got out for a run today.  It felt so good!  I ran just over 2 miles through the arboretum.  It was a bit cool, but perfect for running and I got my run in between rain storms.

I love running through the arboretum.  It's so quiet and there is no one there.  When it is drier, I run on the trails and off the gravel/paved areas.  That is nice to run through all the wooded areas.

As I was running I kept thinking how good it felt to be out there.  I am alone with my thoughts.  I have music on to keep me going.  It's great.  Then my mental block song came on.  My mental block song is one that for some reason makes me think that I can walk.  My last race I pushed through it, but today it came on and my body wanted to walk again.

 Now you're probably saying, "Why don't you just take it off your playlist?"  Well, I will as soon as I move my iTunes from my old computer to my new one.  That involves taking it to the Age of the Geek store near us to do.  My old laptop takes about an hour to start up, then it's super slow.  I'm afraid that I will lose data so I'm letting someone else do that for me.  Until then I have that song on my playlist. 

Anyway, that song came on and my body wanted to walk.  It started to hurt and ache.  I wouldn't stop.  As soon as the next song came on, I was fine and able to pick up my pace a bit.  That got me thinking even more.  (I know, my runs are dangerous thinking times.)

If this song can trigger that response, it really shows how powerful our brains really are.  Yes, I knew this before, but it's like seeing Pavlov's theory in action.  I never get tired of seeing it proved right.

Tomorrow when I run I will probably have the same thing happen, but I'm really hoping that it will get less and less each time I push through that song.  Now it's almost a challenge to see how long it takes before I can run without even noticing that the song is on.  That's the way it is with all the other songs.  They are just white noise.  That song is the only one I really tune into too.  I'm going to start keeping track and see just how long this effect lasts.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...James and I are really hitting the crafts hard.  Last night we did little stain glass flowers and butterflies.  They are leftover from Mother's Day last year.  I had bought a box of these plastic ornaments that came with the paint.  He made a few then got bored with them.  So last night we painted them and they are going in the craft sale for breast cancer.  As it stands we have about 20 notepads of scrap scrapbook paper that we made, 20 wooven pot holders, 75 bars of soap, 15 cards, and these ornaments.  I have about 8 Christmas ornaments that we are going to paint yet, some more cards that I will make, 8 wooden model cars he wants to put together and some pom pom animals he wants to make.  We are planning what dog cookies to make and I bought pink cupcake liners for cupcakes and some small candy molds to make pink candies.

I'm really hoping to make at least $50 from all this.  Its been fun doing these things with James.  He loves doing it and I love doing it with him.

Well, now I'm back to work.  Swim workouts to write and test set data to finish entering.  Tomorrow is Thursday and we have a long weekend coming up.  I can't believe we are halfway through May.  The time is just flying by.

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure: Craft and Bake Sale

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure:

James and I are hard a work making crafts for our yard sale on June 25th. While Mike is running the yard sale part, James and I will be manning a table full of crafts and baked goods to help raise money for our Run for the Cure.

So far we've made soap, potholders, cards, and ornaments. Still to come...magnets, wooden cars, more cards, more soap, bath salts, and whatever else we can come up with.

We are also going to bake dog cookies as well as some sweet treats for their humans.

We're hoping that this will really help us raise funds for our run. At least we are having a lot of fun making everything.

Spring Cleaning!

It has been one crazy week.  First off I have been a giant slug.  At the beginning of the week I had a wicked cold.  It really knocked me out.  I slept every chance I got.  I am finally feeling better and Mother Nature decided that our area needed a good shower.  I'm hoping to get up early tomorrow and get at least 5k in.

Today, since it was raining we decided to start Spring Cleaning!  We are planning to do a garage sale in June so we are trying to get things together and ready to go.  We have also been trying to get James involved in all this.  Today we started our big clean!

I helped James with his bedroom.  We started by trying on all our summer clothes.  He was very methodical with how he did it too.  First all the shorts, then the shirts, then all his winter clothes.  LOL.  As we were deciding what fit, what didn't and what he liked, we were pricing things.  He liked that idea.

Next we tackled all his books.  His school is trying to raise money to build a well in Haiti so they are doing a book and bake sale at the end of June.  They are looking for donations.  I told him that the books he didn't want anymore would go to his school and that daddy and I were doing the same thing with our books.  We went through every one of his books and he decided what he wanted to keep which was most of them.  I can't say too much though because I have a ton of books.

Then came the stuffed animals.  This is where I thought I would have the most problems.  I was wrong.  He went through them and got rid of about half of them.  I was really proud of him.

Last came the toy box.  He did really well with that too.  He kept all his Hot Wheels, Nerf, and Playmobil.  He got rid of about half of his toys.

He got to put the price stickers on everything and he didn't have to get rid of anything that he didn't want too.

His room is now clean and organized.

Mike cleaned the bathroom.  He really scrubbed it too.  I think he even used a toothbrush to get into all the little places.  It looks awesome!

After James took a short break he wanted to do more cleaning and asked to help clean the craft room. I had started on it, but it is going to take a bit more work and organization.  I did let him help pick stuff up and put it on the shelves for further organizing.

He then decided to write a book.  He found some paper that I had were there was a place for writing and to draw a picture.  He's been working on it off and on since around 2:30.  It's going to be a cute book.

Tomorrow our cleaning spree continues.  I'm going to finish the craft room and the living room and Mike said he'd do the kitchen.  Monday I will start on the basement and our bedroom.  Next weekend we are cleaning out the garage.

I'm hoping by next Saturday evening the house will be cleaned from top to bottom and we will be organized for our garage sale.  It's been a very productive day.

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure: Almost to $500!

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure:

I'm only $85 away from my goal of $500! Please click on the link and help Mike, James and I raise money for breast cancer research. Every little bit helps.

I'm on a roll!

10.5 miles today on the bike!  It felt great!  I decided to try something a bit different and did some intervals while I was reading.  I warmed up for one mile then sprinted as hard as I could for a half mile.  I did that for 3 rounds today.  It felt pretty good.  I think I'm going to add 2 more rounds on Friday.

I also finished reading my book.  I was reading Darker Angels by M. L. N. Hanover.  Its the second book in the Black Sun's Daughter series.  I loved it!!!!!!  It really keeps me going.  I find that when there is a lot of action I pedal faster.  When I got done I hurried down to the office and quick hopped on Amazon to see if the next book was out.  It was!  I ordered it.  It won't be here until the end of May, but that's okay because I have the 2nd book in the Blood Lily Chronicles by Julie Kenner to read.  I am alternating between the two series.  Both are great and really keep me going.

Tomorrow it's a running day for me.  I just need to decide if I am going to run in the morning or after my nail appointment.  I'm thinking morning.  We'll just have to see.

Only 10-15 more miles and I've got my goal for the week!

A New Best on the Bike!

Woo hoo for me!!!!!  Today I did 10.41 miles in 40 minutes on the recumbent stationary bike.  It felt so good!  I really didn't know how far I was had gone since I was reading my book.  I just kept going hard and at 25 minutes I realized just how hard I was pushing myself.  I had my heart rate up and I was going hard!

Tomorrow I really think I will go 45 minutes and see if I can go hard for 30 minutes at the higher resistance.  My goal for the week is to get at least 35-40 miles in between riding, walking and running.  I had planned to get the dogs out for at least a 2 mile walk today, but it is just pouring down rain and cold.  There is no way Mulder will go out with me.  He is not a cold weather rainy dog.  Anya would have no problems at all.  She loves playing in the rain.

Right now I'm just relaxing for a bit before I start gearing up to get some more work done.  I have to go to the post office, the bank and this little toy store near us.  I also have practice later on.  Mike and James are going over to his parents for dinner so I don't have to get anything ready for tonight. 

I really can't wait for it to get warm and sunny outside so I can get back to taking my morning runs.  I love running early in the morning.  It's so quiet and peaceful.  The air is always fresh and it's a wonderful way to start the day.  Hopefully very very soon!

God Bless America

I woke up to the news that we got Osama Bin Laden.  While I can't celebrate the death of another human being I can be happy that the man that took thousands and thousands of lives can no longer take another one.

I am saying a prayer for all the families who lost loved ones and those that still continue to protect us and our families.

The Downtown Mudpuppy Chase

This morning we all had races.  Mike and James ran the 3k and I ran the 5k.  It started out as a so-so day, but we were all ready to go.

When we got to the race we had to show off our homemade t-shirt and our race shirt with number.

After a wait and a warm-up it was race time.  

24 minutes and 39 seconds later they crossed the finish line!

James was so proud for finishing his first race.  We were very proud too!

Then it was my turn.  I ran the 5k.  I finish with a time of 35:33.  Not my best, but I'm happy with how I ran the race.

We missed the heavy rain thank goodness.  All of us had to run in some light rain, but that was fine.

It was a good day and James has asked to start running more.  I will take him out when we have him.  I just want him to have a sport that he really enjoys and can do at his own pace.  He seems to really like this and swimming so we'll keep going with both.

The next race for my is June 18th and July 23rd for James.