Monday, May 25, 2009

Rain, Soccer, Rain, Run..

It was a very busy weekend here at the Caster household!

We left for Denver Friday when I was done with work (done for the rest of the summer!!). From the moment we got Denver it was go time! We went to the soccer fields, dinner with friends; got up the next morning for 2 soccer games, visited and had dinner with the Sandovals, went to a Rapids game; got up for another early game, went and saw the house my brother is buying, took Madison to the new Night at the Museum movie (cute and funny!), had rain delays for the afternoon soccer game, went to Dick's and got some new running stuff, back to the soccer field for a short game, pasta dinner, then to bed, up at 4:00 today to head into Boulder for the BoulderBOULDER 10k, ran 6.2 miles, drove back to aunt's, packed, gassed up the car headed home, stopped at the Adidas outlet got more running clothes, then pulled into town at precisely 4:28, two minutes earlier than I predicted and won the bet with Brian.

Weekend results:

Madison's team won 1 of 4 games but still finished 3rd because they only had 3 goals scored on them the whole weekend, Madison did great!!! She played every minute of every game and many people were very impressed with her! (not just her mom and dad, but complete stranger!!)

Ran 6.2 miles in 57:50, a 9:19 pace, 5 seconds faster than last year. My best mile was 8:36, and that was the first one!

The bet I won entitles me to a massage! JOY!

Learned? Usually being this busy makes time fly, but it seems like weeks since I left work; maybe it is because we did SO many different things!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Queen's Lady by Barbara Kyle

After reading "The Other Boleyn Girl" this period in history has intrigued me. So when I saw "The Queen's Lady", a book about a young lady in the court of Catherine of Aragon, I was pretty sure I would enjoy it.

It turned out to be nothing of what I expected, but still very enjoyable! I was expecting the story to center around the Queen's dealings with the Boleyn situation; instead I was treated to a different side, yet likely more influential aspect of this time period, the religious turmoil and persecution in England.

An excerpt from the book gives a great hint of what you will be treated to when you read: "She saw that everything that had come to her in the years that followed--the wrestlings of her conscience, the striving for some better social order, the fulfillment of love and the despair at its loss, the disillusionment at the self-deception of the world and the hunger to know why men craved such self-deception -- all this turmoil was nothing less than life itself."

"The Queen's Lady" is a great story of love, loss, faith, deception, suspense, following your conscience at all cost, and in the end finding yourself.
Learned: Though hundreds of years have passed, that simple truth applies today; all the messes and problems of this world are just a part of life; unless you want to quit, you have to learn how to survive it all.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Wow! That's Hot!

In my 6 (or is it 7?) years of teaching I have had many embarrassing and/or laughable moments; today I add another to the list.

One of the students at school, whom I do not have but he always comes in to say "hi", was making his daily appearance. Today he had a special treat, he brought in one of those dancing and singing stuffed animals and danced for the class. While he was dancing I went to type something and forgot that I had a scented candle burning and slightly burned my arm while reaching over it.

In reaction I yelped, "WOW! That's hot!" in that instant the whole class became silent looking at me with shock and discomfort, then completing my thought, I said "Don't reach over an open flame!"

This was met with an entire class bursting into laughter, and it dawned on me that they ALL thought I was commenting on how hot this student dancing was.. I of course couldn't stifle my own laughter.

Learned? Sometimes it is not wise to say what ever is on you brain.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

I Hear Birdies Tweeting In The Grill!

For the past month or so some finches have been building a nest in our grill. Because we love to grill so much, we would remove their efforts almost daily. Finally we gave up and let the persistent birds have their way and soon we had 4 little speckled eggs.

On Maddox's birthday we checked the progress and were all surprised to see four tiny, featherless, big beaked, ugly birds in the grill.

Today Maddox ran in the house from playing in his sand box super excited saying "MOM! I hear birdies tweeting in the grill!!!" He knew they were there but had never heard them, and they are quite loud!!



Learned? No matter the species, all mothers are "called" on Mother's Day.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Life Lessons On YouTube

Some great examples of life's greatest lessons.

First: Never give up, no matter the circumstances, perseverance pays.

Second and Third: Don't judge a book by its cover, you may miss out on something completely amazing. Don't let what others think about you influence your dreams.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

"I'm 3 Today!"

(I apologize in advance for the lackluster of my writing; I am exhausted but wanted to get this up before tomorrow.)

Yesterday we made a big deal about it being the last day Maddox would be two; during one of our conversations he said, "Mom, I don't like my number anymore (referring to 2), I like my new number 3!? Then this morning I woke him up singing Happy Birthday, and he looked at me with the biggest smile and said "I'm 3 today!"

We started the day with a special breakfast, doughnuts and Horizon chocolate milk, then I dropped the kids off at my mom's and headed to work. He was so excited at my mom's to tell her it was his birthday that he walked by the presents she had wrapped and placed in the middle of the room for him! A huge thanks to my mom who made his day super special while I had to work. They played outside, slayed dragons, rode trikes and scooters, flew his cool new dragon kite, and played his new game; he was so excited to tell me all about it when I picked him up.

We headed home and Madison gave Maddox her gift. (She is the most thoughtful girl, she bought him 4 really cool books at her school book fair with her own money!) He loved them and asked right away if we could read ALL of them tonight!


We originally planned to go out to dinner before he open the gift from Brian and I but he wanted to open it first. We tried to trick him and just give him his helmet, but he immediately asked "Where are we going to go ride?" Then he put it on and pulled out his skateboard and started skating. He did not want to leave to go get dinner.



So... we ordered pizza, had a picnic on the grass, and let him open his big present...




He was so excited and hopped on right away. It didn't take long before he figured out the rhythm of pedaling and was trying out new tricks.

We ended his birthday with some great stories and him asking if he could read one more by himself, with out me in the room. So I let him and when he was done he got up turned his light off, told us good night, and crawled into bed... too grown up at the age of 3.

Learned? 3 years seems like eternity from one vantage point and 3 minutes from another; either way our lives have been so enriched with Maddox in them! What a great kid! ( I am not bias at all!)

Sunday, May 3, 2009

GOTR 2009

UPDATE: Madison finished in 33 minutes and 3 seconds! She rocks! (I came in two tenths of a second behind her.)

Saturday Madison and I ran in our second 5K together. Last year I coached the GOTR at the school, but since I changed schools this year I didn't continue that. So we got to run together just as mother and daughter.

Once again the weather was crummy, though just a bit warmer than last year, we still had overcast skies and wind.

I let Madison set the pace, and she was amazing! She ran the whole thing, only walking for a total of maybe a minute! We had to leave right after we finished because she had a soccer game to get to so we didn't get our race results and they haven't posted them online yet. I know we did pretty good though!

After the race Madison played in a soccer game, in the pouring rain, and was amazing there too! She hustled her butt off even after running a race just before. I am so proud of this girl!

Learned: I wish I had the energy I remember having as a kid; the energy that allowed you to play all day long and never grow tired (or regret it the next day).

Good Intentions

This morning, bright and early, I decided to FINALLY download my DC pic, upload to flickr, create a slide show, then post about my trip here. I was thwarted at the very first step... my camera chord is MIA. So, maybe 2 weeks after returning I will finally get it posted.

Learned: Things that I own seem to grow legs and hide from me OR, just as my husband has said for over 7 years, I have difficulty putting things away. I choose to believe the former!