The BIG Move...

Months and months of planning, waiting, building, waiting, and excitement we are in the final stages of moving.  That means we have 3 kiddos and a dog plus 2 adults living out of boxes in an attempt to pack and prepare since it looks like we will be cutting it close and moving right at the start of school.  This whole process has been frustrating at times, exciting at times but overall an amazing experience knowing that we have had the opportunity to build a custom home for our family, and we are extremely thankful for this.

Along with an actual move, I am moving "virtually" to a "Like" page on Facebook during our transition since it is so much easier for me to post and communicate from my mobile phone this way.  You can find me at www.facebook.com/smallstepssc along with my daily posts on Instagram (smallstepssc) and Twitter (smallstepssc).

When they cancel the race...

For the last 6 months I have been looking forward to a trip to Dallas.  It not only included a girls weekend with a runner friend from Michigan but also are friend who lives down there now and I have not seen since last spring but also the Dallas Metro PCS 1/2 Marathon.

However as the 10 day forecast stalking started so did the realization that the trip may not actually happen.  There were icicles hanging off clouds on the forecast! (I rarely see that in the Michigan forecast)  This could not be a good thing.  Never in a million years did I think when flying in December my problem would be flying into Dallas, if anything I worried I would not be able to fly back into Detroit Metro.

Yep it was going from 77 to 37 in a matter of days!

Thursday night though I remained hopeful, packed my suitcase, got the last few things together at the house and went to bed early.  I knew things were already getting bad in Texas and that the weather was already causing problems.  However are flight was not landing till 10:45 am on Friday, so there was still time for things to clear up.

Just a little weather advisory

Friday morning I woke up, checked my flight, it said it was still on time, so I got ready, picked up my runner friend that was traveling with me, and off we went.  We got the car parked, through security, grabbed a coffee and headed to the gate.  Sure enough close to 7:56 am they started boarding our plane. WHAT!?!? It's really going to happen.  I was so excited even though I was still a little nervous about the weather conditions but obviously if we were flying out things could not be that bad.  That's when things changed, the people that had just boarded were being escorted off and Delta was announcing that the flight was cancelled.  Within 5 minutes we had already been rebooked on the 5:25 pm flight.  Ok, just a delay, we can still get there.  Since we had already parked the car, we decided hanging out at the airport was the best idea and we knew we had an extra set of workout clothes so why not find a treadmill.  Luckily the Westin Hotel that is connected to Detroit Metro Airport has a very nice exercise room (4 treadmills, ellipticals, recumbent bikes, free weights, and a pool/hot tub).  For $15 a person we were able to access the fitness center for the day, which included the locker rooms and showers. Was this ideal? No. It was better then sitting in the airport though.  We changed and managed to each log 7.5 treadmill miles, plus some core/strength work before soaking in the hot tub and chatting for over an hour and a half.  Uninterrupted adult conversation with a friend, honestly it was great.

Selfie in the fancy Westin lobby

Selfie after 7.5 sweaty treadmill miles

View from the treadmill

As the day went on, the conditions in Dallas only seemed to get worse and before the Dallas Metro PCS Marathon had made the official announcement to cancel, we had collectively decided that making the trip was not the best choice or the responsible choice.  Not only was the weather still awful, there were (and are as I write this) that did not have power.  There were countless accidents already because the roads were so horrible.  Even if the flight to Dallas had taken off on Friday night, having our friend or her husband make the 20+ minute on a good day drive from Southlake to pick us up was not safe.  Even if the race actually happened on Sunday, it seemed selfish to expect emergency workers or city personal who could be better used elsewhere, blocking off traffic and monitoring a race.  It seemed selfish to have bottled water and finish line food, when there are people in the city that could use that at that moment more then me.  It seemed selfish to take a seat on an airplane, to make a trip that suddenly had so many more cons then pros, when there were men and women just trying to get home to their families who were suffering the storm alone.  It was not an easy decision, and really sometimes being an adult and making a logical choice stinks, but it was the right decision.  

Am I sad that I was not able to make the trip, sure, I was looking forward to a girls weekend with my friends.  I was looking forward to a long overdue run with my friend.  It will happen, there will be time around Christmas and we are already looking at a reschedule weekend (this time not in December).

Ultimately the race was canceled and in my opinion it was the right decision.  

PERSPECTIVE! This whole adventure was really a lesson on perspective, and honestly a much needed lesson because lately I have apparently forgotten how important perspective is.  It was about finding the positive in a negative situation.  I was reminded that how I felt about a situation was dependent on how I looked at the situation.

So this weekend instead of sitting around a pouting (which I will admit I did Friday night for a short period of time after the kids went to bed and allowed myself to be a little sad I was not going), I decided to make the best of it.  It has included a sunny 10 mile run around the beautiful city of Detroit, a stop at RUN Detroit, breakfast from Avalon Bakery, a nap, some quality time and dinner with the family, the MSU game and tomorrow includes a big day of lounging around, snuggles and the Lions.

After 10 wonderful miles w/ our friends Alia and ACE from RUN Detroit

I hope you all have a great weekend! Any big plans?

Update: My sh*t is still not all together

So remember a few weeks ago when I wrote Operation Get My Sh*t Together, well I am still slowly but surely working on it. I got thrown for a loop when I went out of town for Red Eye Relay and when I got back it took almost a whole week to recover and regroup inside the house (but it was TOTALLY worth it!!!)

Things I have done:

• Updated calendars/Cozi/and schedules so I at least know where every one is/needs to be and important engagements.
• Found our routine again that includes getting as much done the night before so I can wake up a half hour before the boys and enjoy a cup of coffee in peace and while it is hot.
• Shopping Lists: I have updated our numbers spreadsheets with everything we have in the house and also our current shopping list.  It's nice to be able to quickly pull it up in the grocery store to see if we are running low on Ketchup.

What I still need to work on:

• The actual meal planning, I have done ok but there have been a few oops like planning hamburgers, but not having any buns, or the stove that kept shutting off today for no reason so we ended up ordering pizza.
• Returning Wednesday's to full on cleaning day, we have been using this day for fun/relaxing/enjoying life lately and really I am not to worried about it till school starts.
• Actually using 1-2-3 Magic, I am just not consistent and I know that for any system to work consistency is the key, but being out numbered most days 3+puppy to 1 it makes it tough.  I need to come up with a plan for sure.
• Still have not had the kids actually help me with a meal, mainly because the weather is nice to they have been playing together while I finish the last minute preparations.

Obviously this is going to be a long process, but we will get there...In the meantime we will be enjoying the daily life and the dream we are living.

Before you leave do not forget to head over to my recent post HERE and ENTER TO WIN a sweet pair of SLS3 Compression Socks!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Anyone racing this weekend? Long training runs? Any fun plans?

Life seems to have gotten "busy"...

These last few weeks have flown by! Alvin started his Little League Coach Pitch so we have been shuttling him back and forth to practice and now games. On top of that the husband and I were headed to Hawaii for his annual work conference so I have been spending the last few weeks getting everything ready for everyone that was helping out taking care of the little ones. And because I was not worried enough about leaving the boys, Alvin had a fever of 102 only two days before we were leaving. Thankfully our family doctor has sick bay hours and it was only an ear infection, and the other 2 boys checked out just fine.
Then the husband and I were lucky enough to spend a week in Hawaii, seeing some amazing sights and spending some much needed time together to reconnect (it had been 2 years since we were able to get away together and only a handful of "dates" in between there). We even had the opportunity to renew our vows and spend sometime with Father Miles and talk about our strengths and struggles in our marriage to make it even better. I know I was worried when we left but the boys did wonderful in our absence and from the sounds of it they had a great time as well.
I look forward to going home reenergized and recharged, and I also recognize the importance of time with just the husband, we need to focus on our relationship just as much as we focus on work and the boys because our relationship is the backbone of it all.

Transition to stay at home mom "signing bonus" from the husband #dryer #domesticgodess #smallstepsseriouschafing

In all seriousness this was not actually a "signing bonus", it was simply replacing the broken dryer that never shut off, took forever to dry, and well stopped working for the second time in 6 months.  But there is some truth to the title, I am now a full time stay at home mom (at least for the most part).  Do to the husband's new position, demanding schedule and travel it was really what was best for our family.   It has taken several months for me to come to terms with this transition and to finally embrace the change.  See, I have working since I was 14, sometimes I even held 2 jobs, if I wanted something I worked for it, including a trip to DC and Europe when I was in High School (that is a ton of hours at McDonalds back in the 90's just so you know).  That is 19 years of employment, 8 of which were at my current employer.  Needless to say I felt a bit lost, like a part of me is missing.  It was not until these last few days when a change in attitude and a change in perspective really helped me to settle in and embrace my inner stay at home mom/wife.  I have never fully been 100% focused on my family because there was always work, and because I did not have a set schedule, work found it's way in at all hours via phone or email.  Now, all I have is my family, and that is more then enough.  I know eventually I will find my way back into the workforce (and I do plan on picking up some "work" here and there to stay connected because I really did love my job) and find a career that "fits" but for now, I am going to be mom and a wife (and of course a runner because once I kick this virus again I will have plenty of time to train!)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/X5HevORf90/