Sunday 9:22pm

After dinner we played in the basement for a bit. Then Alli & Bri watched a Strawberry movie while I got B to eat some oatmeal. The big kids were in the tub by 7:10. I washed both of their heads and then let Brennan in. At 7:30 I took Brennan out, gave him some Tylenol, and tried to give him a bottle. He drank 3.5 ounces and appeared ready for sleep when Alli butted in to ask for help getting a dress. Yes, I was pissed, but nary a naughty word nor a cross tone escaped my lips. I put B down & tucked him in and he went right down. After getting Alli dressed I went to get Brian. We brushed teeth and that's when I heard Brennan. I lightly scolded the older kids for making so much noise that they woke up the baby and told them to pick out a book and I'd be in to read to them after I got B to calm down. B didn't want to calm down so after a few minutes I just put him back - he cried for a couple more minutes, but I didn't check my watch when it stopped. I snuck downstairs because I was tired and didn't want to read to the kids. Alli came down in 10 minutes with a nasty look on her face, wanting to knwo why I hadn't read to her. She snuggled under a blanket while we watched "Newhart" on channel 9, and "Extreme Home Makeover" on channel 4. At 9pm we came upstairs - Brian was fast asleep!!! I read Alli one book, got her some ice water, and here I am. Night-nights. I'm goign to get up early and clean up the room a bit. I did get the dishwasher run and swept the floor, and most of the laundry got done yesterday, but it'd be great if I can clean up a bit. I'll probably take a half-day on Tues or Thurs to get ready for the trip, too.

Sunday 5:10PM

Just finished "dinner" after playing outside w/ the Z clan. ZBrennan went down the slide and caught his leg, but he's walking on it fine now. Owen didn't listen to his mom and right away she said, "That's it - we're going home." Good for her - you should have seen how tight her grip was on his wrist when he was trying to get away.

Brian had most of the chicken from a lunchable; Brennan had some cheerios, 1 oz of milk (formula), half a yogurt, and a couple little pieces of chicken nugget from Brian's meal; Allison had 3 or 4 french fries leftover from this afternoon and some little pieces of chicken left over from the piece I tried to feed Brennan. At 6 I'll go with grilled cheese and see if I can get them to eat more.

Sunday 3:29pm

I just got off the phone with you and went upstairs to get Brian. Alli followed me upstairs and was reading "The Missing Tooth" book while I changed Brian's poopy diaper. When the change was done Brian got up and was walking over to his train table when he said, "She's ruining my life".

'Nuff said - I just spoke toyou on the phone.

Sunday 2:22pm

Just got back from Sams. Actually went in twice because I forgot the $5 check / coupon for Enfamil. Got diapers, wipes, pull-ups, and 1 pair of pants for work to replace cargo pants that have blue stain. After 2nd trip I got fries at Wendy's for the kids and gave Brennan bottle that I had along. He drank 3 oz, but still started griping around the country club all the way home. I gave him a paci - it disappeared. I gave him another and same thing.

Right now the kids are eating their fries - they were too hot at Wendy's. Brennan is having cheerios because he turned his nose up at yogurt, Kidz bar, french fries, and chicken nuggets. He slept until 12:30 - a 2.5 or 3 hour nap!!! I thought it would only last 45 mins or so and I missed out on a chance to play with the kids who spent a lot of that time outside on the swing set / trampoline. They also watched Strawberry Shortcake & had pop corn for lunch :-)

Expect B to go down again around 3 or 3:30 - maybe he'll sleep in the stroller if we go to the park. Brian warned us that it's really muddy, though, so we may stay here.

Sunday 10:01 am

Had a quick shower after "helping" Alli spell Brian, Brennan, Mommy, Daddy, and Nordman. Just as I finished Brian poked his head past the curtain : "There you are daddy!" He told me that Allison was calling me because she needed more ice water. I told him to tell her I'd be right down. He left the bathroom, maybe got to the top of the stairs, and came back, "Daddy - are you dry yet?" It was pretty cute.

Time to get teh diaper bag ready - heading to SamsClub shortly for diapers, wipes, pull-ups, and yogurt. Happily, I found a 1/2 full baby Tylenol so that can wait until tomorrow.

Sunday 9:27am

You left not long ago. The kids played nicely together. I turned off the TV because Brian wanted me to read Johnny Appleseed to him, but he kept insisting the guys name was Eric. Allison finished a painting in "her" craft room - I had to close the door because Brennan kept trying to eat paint brushes. So far this morning I've given Brennan a 2 oz bottle 3 different times and he has nearly finished each one. He also had Eggo waffle, Cinnamon/Raisin bagel, and Honey Graham Kidz bar which he loved. I just put him down for a nap.

I've been harping on Alli & Brian to eat some shredded wheat cereal, but had limited success. I'll push it again when I'm done with this because if they get too hungry, the day could turn ugly, quicly.

Day 7.6 - 30 mins @ West High

I haven't run since Monday due to shin splints and today I went crazy wearing my new Asics Kayano 15's. I ran 30 minutes non-stop on the dirt track at West High and my legs feel fine! I slept well the night before and got to the track around 7:30. There was a nasty head-wind on the back stretch (I ran counter-clockwise) but I made it through. I still had 25 seconds to run when I completed 3 miles. There were some puddles on the track and a few soft spots, but I'll take that over shin splints anyday.

Love the new Asics!

Day 7.4 - Thursday - no running

Haven't run since Monday I think, and my shins are a LOT better. I've been stretching a lot and doing the heel-toe walk recommended on Runners world. I might run tomorrow, or may just ref on Saturday and see how that goes.

My weight has been 222 the last 2 days in a row and I was pretty active today so both my belts are getting too loose :-)

Day 7.3 - Wednesday - Lots of shin / calf pain

Didn't run today because my legs hurt so much. I did a game in Bath last night and my shins / calves hurt so much I was frequently out of position. I walked for 10 minutes and will try to do that a couple times today as well as the lower-leg exercises recommended on Runners World. I'll keep you posted. I wore my new InSport tights and the new Asics Kayano 15 and they were great - at least for a walk they were.

day 7.1 - Monday - 20min run, 1 min walk, 9 min run

Another hard day of running. I'm definitely connecting the dots to lack of sleep at this point as I was up until 1230am doing the closing for work. I did sleep in, but in general, I didn't get enough rest 2 nights in a row.

I ran at the Y on the track and my lower legs were painful / sore right away. I'm going to try to incorporate more of a warm-up routine so that hopefully it will stop happening. I'm running and refereeing tomorrow so I might have to take Wednesday off. Annie leaves on Saturday so fitting everything in could be a problem. Next week will be even worse as we're traveling to VA, but in any case, I think it's close to the point where I need to take off a week.

Day 6.7 - Sunday late morning

Didn't run until 7:30am this morning and it was a very hard, tiring run. Two minutes in I wanted to stop. Maybe because I ate poorly yesterday, or stayed up late, or because I was up four times in the night - whatever the case, it wasn't an easy run. I also started out with too much clothing and was too warm, but when I turned around I realized I had been running with the wind and I was glad to have the hat & gloves going into the breeze.

I ran w/ tights, supporter, Army jacket, and my NB 1224's. It was comfy. I should get my new Asics this week and I'm anxious to give them a try. Tomorrow I'll probably go w/ my Brooks one last time before the new pair arrives. The schedule for week 7 is pretty whacked - supposed to run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, & Saturday. Friday & Sat aren't a problem, but I'm reffing on Tuesday and I think that's going to be too much. Unfortunately, w/ Annie leaving for Germany on Saturday afternoon, I don't think there's any way for me to offset the schedule. It means running 4 days in a row plus one refereeing night, but if Monday is hard, maybe I'll get someone else to ref for me.

Day 6.5 - Friday morning

God Bless that boy, Brennan! He woke up once at 11:45 and after 2 ounces went back to sleep for the night. I had to wake him at 7:30am to get him ready for Linda's!!! He couldn't have picked a better night for it as I HAD to wake up early today for my run as I've got closing, Darla's retirement party, and a varsity game to ref this afternoon.

I finally bit the bullet and will be returning my Saucony Hurricane 8's. They just never got any better no matter what I did. Today I ran in my Brooks Adrenaline and felt awesome. Wearing just tights & no underwear caused a bit of a chill in the wind that I'll have to watch out for in the future, but I got through it. I ran 1.6 miles in 17:10 which is under my previous 10-minute-mile pace, perhaps because the weather is so much nicer, or perhaps because I was under 223 pounds for the first time in over a year! I was wicked psyched today and I can't wait to run tomorrow, too. I'm exchanging the Saucony's for some Asics Gel Kayano's. I tried Asics back in the 90's and got blisters, but they are so well liked by so many, I thought I'd give it another shot. Tomorrow is a 19-min run, 1 min walk, and a 10 min run. It's 2 miles from the Y parking lot, up Williams street, to the intersection in Painted Post. Hopefully I'll be running 4 miles (2 out, 2 back) by summer. Looking at that trend, it's probably not a good idea to try for the Boilermaker in July, but if I can find a good plan, I'll be looking into it more seriously at the end of April.