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Just say no. Thursday, July 30, 2009 Despite a fair amount of complaining about Benjamin's "no no no no no no no" stage, I have to say that I've actually learned something from him. He doesn't over-commit. In fact, he under-commits. I am not saying that under-commitment is an option for me, because clearly, I have a lot more responsibility, but the recent "days of no" have allowed me to see just how much of a people-pleaser I've become over the past couple of years, and how I've allowed my inability to let people down take over my life. Maybe I've just lost my mind, or perhaps it's that I am entirely unable to excuse myself from a party or fun event, but I am going to work on saying no. Or, maybe I've just morphed into an old, boring homebody (it's true, I love being home). So, if you ask me to do something, or go somewhere, or get you something, and I say no, please don't take it personally. Chances are pretty good that if you ask me for something, and I say no, you know me well enough to understand that I have to do this for me. And appreciate that. Or, at least can contain your irritation in front of me. Thirty year old Courtney is going to be a bit selfish. Oh, I am very, very tired, so if you want to see us, come visit us here. We're going to be home for the rest of the summer (minus one weekend that we've already committed to). Can you tell I am exhausted? ~Courtney posted at 7:05:22 AM SPAM! Wednesday, July 29, 2009 My work-email gets a lot of spam. Like, a LOT. I just got one with the subject "be a tank. Not a minivan" and I almost opened it. Almost. It really doesn't take much to make me giggle these days... ~Courtney posted at 9:50:21 PM Hot Mess Wednesday, July 29, 2009 "Mommy! I am a hot mess tonight!" Why yes, Benjamin, you most certainly are. If nothing else, the fact that he's picked up on that is probably (yet) a (nother) hint that we really need to watch what we say around him, because, clearly, he picks everything up these days. ~Courtney posted at 7:31:21 AM Things are so uninteresting, we crashed the server Tuesday, July 28, 2009 ...again. We're looking into some different hosting options, but I have to say, the down-time was representative of about how much I would have posted about over the last few days. Lots of running, family time, Andrew's work and school-work, and some dietary tweaks for me, in attempts to feel a bit better than I have been lately. Benjamin has been demonstrating a preview of what I am assuming is going to be his demeanor for the next few months. Let's just say, it's ugly, and jam-packed with the word "nononononononononononono." Yesterday, I hit the maximum time I could patiently hear the word no by 8:15 am. No joke. So, that's it. I have a couple of remaining to-dos on my before I turn 30 to do list, so I am hoping to get those crossed off in the next couple of days. And that's it, from here. ~Courtney posted at 8:34:34 PM Wait, July is 2/3 over already? Tuesday, July 21, 2009 So, despite bizarre weather, we've managed to be so busy that upon having to write the date out today, I was shocked to find that July is almost over. How on earth did that happen? Things have been busy here. This past weekend, I got up hours before the sun on Saturday, and drove up to Baltimore, where I transferred my stuff into another car, and some friends and I drove up to Philly for the 20 in 24 relay race that we participated in. It was such a fun event, and despite running FAR from my best times, it totally psyched me up for the Marine Corps Marathon. I'd been dragging a bit on the training for that, so it was just what I needed. We participated at the Gold-level, which meant the team of five was responsible for running 15 laps around a nice, flat running trail around the Schuylkill River in Philly. Each lap was over 8 miles. I went 4th, for my first lap, which ended up being around 2 pm. It was SO hot, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I pushed myself relatively hard from the temperature because, well, that's how I run races, whether it's smart or not. For my remaining two laps, I decided to do them back to back, so I could get a solid long run in for the weekend. It's the first time I've run more than 13.1 since April, so I was a tad worried about the whole "17 mileness" of it, but under the circumstances, did pretty well. Oh, and it was 11:18 pm when I started the double loop. I got to sport my awesome, nerdy headlamp. Tera and Katie were waiting for me at the end of the first loop to make sure I wanted to continue straight through, since we HAD been up for nearly 24 hours, but I just wanted to be done. The race had a midnight run, which conveniently for me, ran the opposite direction, and started when I was about 1/2 way through the first lap of the night. All of the people running were just doing one lap, but were decked out in glow-sticks, tee-shirts with glow in the dark paint, etc. It was like a rave. But not. It was definitely hilarious. And, they recognized that we were all running a lot farther than they were, so they cheered. That rocked. What rocked even more? I got to pass them again on the first part of my 2nd loop. They were still cheering. We were totally delirious by the end of the event, but we finished with hours and hours to spare, and ended up crashing in our sleeping bags for an hour or two before trucking back to Baltimore. It was a blast to spend time with Tera and Katie, as well as to meet two other strong, wonderful, running women. It was also fun to guiltlessly eat as many PB&J sandwiches as I did. Oh, and we raised nearly $1300 for Back on my Feet! ~Courtney posted at 5:44:22 PM Not sure I dare say it out loud... Thursday, July 16, 2009 ...but Benjamin is about 90% potty trained. I just opened the last section of diapers (we'll use them up at night/naps, and then he'll wear pull-ups to bed), and realized the last time I had gotten diapers was way back in early May. He did great on our road trip, with a few accidents, but he's been accident free since we got back on Monday! He has really blown my mind with how quickly he picked it up. I wouldn't have even bothered trying it before three, but he has to be trained for nursery school, which starts in September. So, GO BENJAMIN! And, since Benjamin has a hard time doing anything without being silly, every time he uses the potty, he'll say "Oh mommy, I am so proud of you for going on the big potty. And running." I guess he knows how proud of him we are! ~Courtney posted at 1:24:52 PM I found 2 dollars, mommy! Thursday, July 16, 2009 Benjamin just came up to me with a $20 bill in his hand. He'd been playing with his bank, so I figured he'd taken the lid off, and pulled out a twenty that one of his grandparents sent for Easter. Then he brings me his bank. Which has a 20 in it already. Hmmm. Yeah, he totally swiped it from my secret stash in my running belt, and wanted to add it to his bank "so I can buy some more energy jelly beans," which were also swiped from my running belt. ~Courtney posted at 8:30:25 AM Mommy and me... Monday, July 13, 2009 Not of the class variety, but Benjamin and I spent the last week on a whirlwind trip over the Eastern sea-board (okay, not really), and had an absolutely wonderful time, despite Benjamin's cold from hell. A good update to follow, but here are the road-trippers, at about day 5...  Anybody want to guess which parent he got his dimples from?? ~Courtney posted at 11:11:41 PM Best day ever Saturday, July 04, 2009 I am not 100% sure that I'd call this MY best day ever, but Benjamin has decided that today was the best day of his life. And for good reason. We went to the (lame) parade in Leesburg, VA this morning, and saw a ton of trucks, motorcycles, politicians, and even a camel. None of us were huge fans of the parade; Benjamin, because of the scary dogs, me because of the scary politicians in their gas-guzzling SUVs (and lack of candy throwing, might I add...), and Andrew, because of the UVA/UVB rays that he doesn't handle so well. Fast forward through lunch, nap, the run from h-e-double hockey sticks, and onto the fun stuff. We were on the fence about where we wanted to spend our evening, but ultimately decided to go to the swing-band concert at Reston Town Center. We got there JUST in time to get our name in for a table at Clyde's, and even with an hour wait, were psyched to get seated just as the concert began. Worried about being rushed through dinner, so they could flip the table, we were thrilled (particularly because ARL and I got drinks at the bar before we were seated on the patio) that our waiter forgot to come to our table for about 25 minutes. We spent about 90 minutes eating a nice, long dinner, and had more than one person stop to tell us how charming and well-behaved Benjamin was. That never gets old. He did rock it, though. After that, B and I danced to the swing band, waiting for the fireworks to start. While catching a breather, Andrew mentioned that he was not correct about where the fireworks were taking place, so we hustled back to the car so that we could scoot back to our town to try and catch the end of them... Now, if you're not from the area, you might think, WOW, they drive from town to town, but it was actually only about 2 miles. Andrew, however, was white-knuckling it in the passenger seat as I broke the 30 mph speed limit by a mile or two. Hey. My baby wanted some fireworks. So, we parked, and walked to the town green, and were able to catch the (thankfully, running late) entire show. Benjamin loved it, and despite being tired said "this is my best day ever." I've been a tad hormonal lately, but it definitely brought a tear or two to my eyes. We came home to another surprise...four hours gone from the house and Benjamin waited to use the potty. GO BENJAMIN. He stayed up until 11, and basically outlasted me. I am mere moments from bed, myself. I hope everyone celebrated this fantastic day, our fantastic country, and wonderful friends and family in a fun and safe way. Next holiday...my 30th birthday! Please let me know if you'd like access to my wish list. Kidding. Kind of. ~Courtney posted at 11:14:12 PM Some stay-at-home-fun... Thursday, July 02, 2009 So, we've lived a very low-key life the past couple of weeks (pretty much since we got home from LA in mid-June), and I am proud to say that Benjamin is FINALLY getting the whole potty-usage thing. To get to this point, we've spent our mornings at the gym, and then the remainder of the day at home. And, when we're just hanging around, we often take a lot of pictures of ourselves making funny faces on the computer.  ~Courtney posted at 11:00:24 PM "I'm too tired." Thursday, July 02, 2009 That's Benjamin's excuse for just about everything he does not want to do lately. He'll say it after walking 10 feet, when he'd rather be carried. He'll say it when he doesn't want to go with me to the gym. And, now, when he doesn't want to nap. "Mommy, I am too tired to stay in bed and take a nap." Um, get in bed, and close your eyes little boy. And don't try to tell me you have to go potty, because you just went. I can hear footsteps upstairs, so it's time to get that little stinker back in bed. ~Courtney posted at 1:12:50 PM Blah, blah, blah Wednesday, July 01, 2009 That's all. This week stinks. ~Courtney posted at 4:53:45 PM |
