The last day

When my alarm went off at 0430 this morning for me to go run 8 miles, I was actually awake and looking forward to my run. But then I heard it. It wasn’t just raining. It was RAINING. I would have needed a canoe. No way am I going out in that. So I reset my alarm and went back to bed for a couple of hours. I brought Robbie to daycare on my way to class and it was a very short day. We cleaned off the computers we have been using and got them packed up and ready for our instructor to take back, and then we had “graduation”. We got our Certificates of Training, and once again I was the Honor Graduate with an overall average of 98.5%. I’m 3 for 3 in my classes at Ft. Drum so far. Then we were done – it was about 9:30 or 9:45 when I left. I headed into Watertown to get some prices and information on t-shirts and trophies for my next 5K coming up. I’m going to try and get some sponsors to help pay for the t-shirts – the more they pay, the bigger their company name/logo on the back of the shirt! I can get 11″ trophies for $6 each which includes the engraving, so I think I’m going to get 6 – top 3 males and top 3 females. I also stopped by my Country Radio station and picked up the Morning Splash (that’s the name of the morning show) t-shirt that I won. I gave it to Ryan as I already have a long-sleeved version. Maybe come August I’ll try and get another one so I can have a short-sleeved one, too. My last stop of the morning was to the Proverbial Women, a store that sells country decor and handmade candles. It’s a really neat little place and I didn’t even look through it. I got the owner’s name from the MWR guy at the Craft Cabin on post when I was looking into selling my dishcloths and flipflops there. The owner and I chatted for a while about my marathon and fundraising, and she agreed to try and sell my dishcloths and flipflops for me! And since any money I get from the sales is going right to my fundraising until the middle of October, she’s not even doing commission fees! I left 2 pairs of flip flops and 5 dishcloths with her, and she was going to make up a special display complete with info about Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and about my fundraising. And she was going to do a featured article about me and my stuff in her next newsletter! If things sell well, I’ll switch out flip flops for baseball hat ear warmer band things come winter, and some Christmas colored dishcloths. Of course, after the middle of October, I’ll be on a commission, but it will still be neat selling some of my stuff.

Then I headed home for a while and I got some stitching done before we went and picked Robbie up from daycare. We stopped by home to put long pants on and grab jackets and we headed out to Lowville for the Lewis County Fair. It was raining, but we braved the rain and walked through all the exhibit buildings. They had much more livestock than the Jefferson County Fair did – including horses! The craft section was about the same size, and I’ll be entering things in this fair as well as the Jefferson County next year – should be able to get some winners in both. After we looked at everything, the rain was finally starting to taper off and we ate supper. We did find a place that had seating under a tent and that was good because it did rain a little more. On our way out I got an elephant ear that I shared with Robbie and Ryan got some cotton candy. Robbie had some of that, too – his first cotton candy. He kind of looked at it at first and didn’t know what to do with it. But Daddy showed him. We got home early enough to play for a while and then Robbie had a bath before bed. Once he was tucked in, I stitched and watched some more Jeopardy’s on Tivo.

High: 65
Low: 60
Amount of rain: .45″

Final Exam

Same old, same old this morning. Get up and get ready and get Robbie ready. We took the trash to the street before we left. Robbie sure likes carrying the recycling containers. Then it was off to day care and class. We had our final exam this morning and I was the first one done. I got 100% on it and my average for the 2 tests is 98.5%. The guy next to me was about 1/2 done when I got up and left. We were done for the day after our test had been graded. I had planned on going into Watertown to take care of a few things, but it was POURING all day and I didn’t feel like going back out in the rain after I got home. I actually had planned on going straight into town, but I forgot some of the stuff I needed to bring with me. Once home, I got supper going in the crockpot and then did some stuff on the computer. Since it was raining, I decided it would be a good day to bake cookies, so I made some white chocolate chip cookies. They turned out pretty good despite my not having vanilla in the cupboard. After a phone call to Mom at work, we decided that vanilla bean ice cream would work. So that’s what I used. The cookies are actually a little softer/moister than normal. So they turned out good, but vanilla is on my grocery list for next time I go shopping. While the cookies were baking, I had a few minutes each batch to read newspapers, and I got caught up to today’s. I didn’t read today’s though. We got our Carthage Tribune today in the mail (it’s published on Wednesday’s, but we get ours in the mail a day later) and the whole top section of the front page of the sports section was about the Freaky Friday 5K last week! There were several pics – the race winners, all the kids that ran (yes, Robbie is in the paper, too!), and some other shots of the race – and a really nice article. Once Ryan reads the paper, I’ll cut the article out and try and scan it in to share with everyone.

I went and got Robbie from daycare and we came home and played and read books and played some more. Ryan ended up working late (I won’t complain about overtime!) and he got home about 7 or so. He wasn’t feeling that good (probably too much sun this week and not used to working construction) so he went up to take a shower and lay down (which he’s been sleeping for 3 hours now). Robbie and I ate supper and then I put the rest in the fridge for Ryan. I got Robbie ready for bed and he gave Daddy hugs on his way up to his room. I read him a few books and sang his song to him and then I came down and stitched and watched a couple of Triathlons that I had Tivo’ed. I need to get to bed soon, too, so I can get up at 0430 to go run 8 miles before class tomorrow.

High: 71
Low: 63

Short day

I got up at 7 again and had to rush to get ready. My breakfast was good, though. I was out of Cocoa Puffs, so I poured some of Ryan’s raisin bran and I added the rest of the blueberries from last night and some almond slices. It was really good!! I think tomorrow morning will be the same, but with raspberries. Then it was off to bring Robbie to daycare and I headed to class. By 1030 we were done with all the instructional portion and our instructor said if we felt comfortable and ready for the test tomorrow morning, we could leave. Some people stayed and they would go over more practice stuff and just review. But I left and headed home. I had planned on going for a 7 mile run, but I was sooooooo tired I decided to lay down and take a nap instead. I slept for THREE hours. I guess my body needed sleep. Once I got up, I finished out my Freaky Friday 5K stuff – got the results posted online (you can see the results here if you want) and I got my list of participants finalized. I have to send a copy to Runner’s World as that was part of the deal with them sending me race numbers. I have to send back the rest of the numbers I didn’t use as well. That will go out in the mail tomorrow. And I also sent an e-mail out to all the participants that I had e-mails for to let them know the results had been posted and to let them know about my next race (another fundraiser). The Kickin’ Cancer 5K will be on Saturday, 25 August, at 9:00 a.m. Now I need to start working on that, but at least having done one already, I have some idea of what I need to do.

Then I headed out and picked Robbie up and headed to the chiropractor. Ryan met us there, and after we were done, we went to a little restaurant in Sackett’s Harbor I had read about in the newspaper. It was a little on the expensive side, but the food was pretty good. After a stop at Lowe’s to get Ryan some concrete boots (basically rain boots, but he’ll use them when they pour concrete) we headed to the ice cream place in West Carthage. Ryan told Robbie that because he was such a good boy yesterday he’d get a treat today and that was it. Then it was home for bedtime and then I crocheted on a dishcloth and we watched some Tivo. Maybe someday we’ll get caught up on our Jeopardy’s.

High: 78
Low: 65

Pampered Chef

I overslept this morning – didn’t get up until almost 7 so I didn’t get my 5 mile run in today. It was all I could do to get myself and Robbie ready to be out the door by 7:40. I dropped him off at daycare and headed to class. The morning was pretty boring – and short. It seemed we had just started and the instructor was saying that was all he had for the morning and to go to lunch. We all just sat looking at him since it was only 10:30. But he said go to lunch. Since we had 2 1/2 hours, I headed home and finished cleaning the kitchen and did some stuff on the computer. After lunch was more of the same – follow along as he does everything step-by-step and then sit and wait because there’s always a couple that are lost. So I sit and read my book. There’s so much wasted time in this class it’s not even funny.

When class was done I went to the commissary to buy the ingredients for the recipe we made tonight at the Pampered Chef party. Then I stopped and picked Robbie up and we stopped at our usual grocery store to get lime sherbet since the commissary didn’t have ANY sherbet. Once we got home and I got the groceries put away, Robbie and I played outside until Ryan got home and then I did the last minute pick-up things and changed out of uniform.

My Pampered Chef consultant showed up about 6:20 and she got stuff set up and ready to go. Lucy is really nice. My guests started showing up about 6:50. I had 5 guests and we had a great time. Everyone has used and owns lots of Pampered Chef stuff already, so they had all kinds of stories to tell and of course everyone ordered more. The recipe that we made was Lime-Berry Mousse Trifle. It had lime sherbet, lime slices, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries and a few other things in it. It was really yummy! During the show, Ryan and Robbie went for a walk and went to the local sub place for supper and went to the river to throw rocks (little stones) in. They got back near the end, and Robbie had some of the Trifle as well. My party was a Fundraising Party, and Pampered Chef will be donating 15% of my total sales to Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and my consultant will be donating 15% as well. If any of you wonderful readers would like to place a Pampered Chef order and have it count toward my show total, you can go to Lucy’s Pampered Chef page and order online. When it gets to the point where it asks you if you have a host’s name, that’s where you’ll put my name (Lani Yearicks). My show will be closing on 15 August, so you have some time if you would like to think about it. And I definitely thank you in advance if you do decide to place an order.

Robbie was a real gentleman as my guests were leaving. He walked my friend Christie to her car – she’s pregnant and about a month from her due date. And he helped carry stuff out to Lucy’s car and he gave her hugs goodbye. Once everyone left, Robbie headed up to bed, and I’m about to go up myself. It’s tiring sitting in class all day.

High: 79
Low: 56

Monday again, and a new beginning

I brought Robbie to daycare on my way to class this morning. It was another long day in our classroom. I’ve decided I don’t care much for the instructor. He seems to waste a lot of time, and is sometimes slow on his computer. And the guy next to me. He’s an ok guy, but as far as the class stuff goes, he’s lost. The class average for our test on Friday was 83%. Does that tell you anything? So today we started working the computer program at the Batallion level as opposed to the company level we did last week. It’s not much different – just more detailed and more work. But you still do everything step by step. After lunch we started talking about convoy planning. There’s a section in the computer program for that as well.

After class I stopped by the band hall to make a few copies of something and to just check in with my platoon sergeant. Then it was off to get Robbie and then to Sackets Harbor for chiro. Ryan met us there since he has a new job and isn’t working in Watertown anymore (yes, Dad – ask Mom if she didn’t tell you). Then it was a quick supper (for me, anyway) at Burger King. I left Ryan and Robbie because I needed to be back in Carthage in time to go to the Board of Trustees meeting at 7. First I thanked the Board for approving the race I had on Friday and let them know how I did with it. Then I respectfully requested permission to have another 5K on Saturday, 25 August at 9:00 a.m. This one will be another fundraiser and we’re going to call it the Kickin’ Cancer 5K. Ryan thought of that name. So now I’ve got 6 weeks to make new posters and forms, and I will personally get the word out to Brigade and Batallion Commanders this time. Apparently the sports director on post didn’t do like she said was going to. Once the meeting was over, I came home and went up and tucked Robbie into bed. He and Ryan had just gone up so he was still awake. And then after folding a batch of laundry, I stitched and watched Tivo for a little while. Off to bed now as I have to get up early to run before Ryan has to leave for work.

High: 76
Low: 55

My last Sunday run until. . .

I slept throught my “get-up-and-go-run” alarm this morning so I didn’t get my 5 miles in before church. After church we went to the mall so Ryan could get a new book and we ate lunch there at the food court – Wendy’s for Robbie, Taco Bell for Ryan, and Chinese for me. Then we went to Lowe’s for a few things including a new water filter for our ice maker/water dispenser on the ‘fridge and then to Michael’s so I could take advantage of their sale. I bought several pairs of flip flops for $1 each and the yarn (all on clearance for $2 each) to go with them. Ryan picked out all the colors of the yarns. I also bought a couple of BIG skeins of dishcloth cotton that was clearance as well. Now I just need to start selling some dishcloths and flip flops. . . Then it was home for naptime for Robbie, and I finally got my run in. It was my last run on a Sunday until my marathon in November. The days I’ll be running on are shifting a little so I’ll get to sleep in some on Sundays now!

After Robbie’s nap we played outside with his ball for a while and Ryan worked on a plumbing project he’s been working on. Then we had pasties for supper (Thanks, Mom!!) and fresh radishes out of our little garden. Robbie didn’t like the radishes – they made his tongue hot – but he thought it was neat how he got to pick them. After we ate and had cleaned up, we headed to the grocery store for a few things for the week and then stopped at the ice cream place on our way home. Once Robbie was in bed, I stitched and we watched the rest of the NASCAR race that we had Tivo’ed earlier.

I’ll leave you with a picture of Robbie holding his radishes!

High: 71
Low: 59

12 Miles and Fireworks

Saturdays are my long run days and this morning it was 12 miles. My friend NJ came and ran with me again and it always helps pass the time better when I’m running with someone else. It was a beautiful morning for a run. It was a little cool when we started – N had a long sleeved shirt on (too much for me), but once we got going, I was almost wishing I had worn a tank top instead of a t-shirt. We ran in 2 hours and 14 minutes – a little slower pace than last week’s 13 miles, but I’m back on the hills. After I showered and changed, me and my guys went to the Golden Unicorn for their breakfast buffet. It’s nice to be able to eat and eat after my long runs. I figure I burn about 125 calories per mile – I’ll let you do the math on that. On our way home we stopped at our Farmer’s Market Park for the “craft show & flea market” they had there today. There was like 10 tables of stuff. One lady had lots of really pretty crocheted baby ensembles and some afghans and stuff. It’s nice seeing some crocheted stuff out – it’s mostly knit and wood and stuff at these things. Then we came home and started “working”. Ryan used the weed eater (weed eated??) and I mowed our yard. Then he used his saws-all and cut down some tree-like things at the end of our garage and in front of our meters. Robbie played with his ball the whole time. Then we cleaned out Ryan’s truck and emptied my van from last night and boy were we tired when we came in the house. But the “work” wasn’t done. Robbie went up for a nap and Ryan cleaned his computer desk and I vacuumed and swept and mopped. Then I finally sat down and relaxed. I read almost 2 weeks of newspapers and now I’m almost all caught up. After Robbie’s nap, we left and went and ate supper and then headed to where the fireworks were being held. Our town does their fireworks later than everyone else for the 4th so that more people can come. And boy were there the people – probably 1000+ and on our way home (we walked) I even saw a few cars with Ontario plates! We were sitting right up front and could see where they were setting them off from on the other side of the river. It was pretty cool. The display was awesome and Robbie enjoyed them as always. I got a picture of the beginning of the finale with me cell phone camera, so I’ll leave you with that!

High: 74
Low: 53

Freaky Friday 5K

This morning started off with a 6 mile run. It was a beautiful morning for a run and I was doing really well for the first 5 miles. I felt great and my pace was pretty good, too. But then it hit me and I had to walk a good part of the last mile. My tummy problems. . . . After a shower, getting into uniform, and breakfast, I headed off to class. We had our first test today. We were given 3 hours to complete it. I needed a little over an hour. I missed one question (3 points) because it was kind of a trick question. I’d say 97% isn’t bad for a band geek! LOL Once we were done with the test and the instructor had graded it, we were done for the day. I met with GG at the band hall so I could get the table I was borrowing from him and then I headed home to do all the final prep stuff for the race tonight. I finished my posters, got all the registration stuff together, got money for change, picked up my fruit from P & C (our grocery store), and even had a little time to relax and do some computer stuff. Ryan picked Robbie up on his way home from work and after he had changed, we headed to the park to get set up. It turned out to be a really nice day after the thunderstorms this morning. It was still quite breezy and it was a bit of a challenge at times to keep everything on the registration table, but with the help of a couple of rocks, we managed. There were 2 people there from my chiropractor’s office helping out, and my chiro donated coupons for each race participant – for an exam and free 1/2 hour massage. So at least people got something when I couldn’t afford t-shirts.

I ended up with 32 people. Not the best, but every little bit helps me toward my fundraising goal. Of course, at this point I have $3000 to go. . . I’ll get there one way or another. The winner of the race was a guy from the band! And the first female was a local runner. It was a pretty hilly course, but everyone seemed to have a good time. Oh, the kiddie race before the “big” race was fun. There were only about 6 kids, but they had fun and I had medals for each of them. They were sure proud of those! Ryan was a HUGE help with this whole thing, and I want to thank him publicly. He went down to the turn-around point and hung out there with the State Trooper that came to help with traffic at the turn-around point. As I expected, there wasn’t that much. But everyone had a good time, and the sports reporter from the Carthage Tribune was there as well and took pictures and will be doing an article in the paper. She’ll be putting a blurb in there about my fundraising and stuff, as well, and after she gets back from vacation in a couple of weeks, she and I are going to get together again and she’s going to do an article about me and running the marathon and stuff. That’ll be cool! Afterwards when we were mingling after I presented the awards (full body massage to each of the first place winners, thanks to GG, Massage Therapist Practioner), I had several people tell me that I should plan another one to help with my fundraising. I’m hoping for 25 August, but I have to check my work schedule and see if we’re going to have anything going on that day. It would be a Saturday morning race (5K using the same route) and I would get the word out to the Brigade & Batallion Commanders on post myself to ensure it gets done.

Time to get to bed and get some sleep before my 12-mile run in the morning.

High: 69
Low: 57

Dentist, PE’s, Chiro, & Paint

It was an early morning for us today. I had a dentist appointment at 7 and I had to bring Robbie to day care on my way in. My alarm went off at 0445 so I had time to get ready, brush my teeth good, and get Robbie ready – and help get the trash to the road since Thursday is our garbage pickup day. My dentist appointment went really well, and for the first time in I don’t know how long, the metal pokey thing they use didn’t hurt!! I told the hygienist that, too. But after the flouride I couldn’t eat for at least 1/2 hour and I was HUNGRY. I finally ate my poptart for breakfast about 8:25 – just before class started at 9. Class went well, too. We finished learning the main parts of the program and then after lunch we had 2 practical exercises (PEs) that we got to do on our own. The first one was pretty lengthy, but not super difficult. It pretty much gave you everything you needed and if you just went step by step, it was easy. Once again the guy next to me was asking me for help. Once I was done I got to read my book for about 20 minutes while everyone else worked on finishing up. Then the instructor handed out the 2nd one and it was a really easy short one. Once we were done with that we could leave for the day.

When I left, I headed to the band hall to use the copy machine to make copies of my race registration for those registering the day of (tomorrow) and I also got 2 orange vests and 2 stopwatches from the training office. Then it was off to pick Robbie up and head out to the chiropractor. Ryan met us there, but it turned out he didn’t need to go today. As of this week, he’s down to 2 times a week, and I’ll be starting 2 times a week next week. That’ll be nice having one more evening at home and not driving to Sackets Harbor. We stopped at Sam’s Club to get some cases of water for the race (I had some donated, but only 72 bottles) and then to Applebee’s to eat supper. After a quick stop at Michael’s for poster board, we headed home. I quick changed and grabbed the letter I needed to bring and we headed to Kinney Drugs to pick up the water they donated. I had to get it today as the manager I’m dealing with is off tomorrow. Then we headed to the park and we drove the course and I marked the miles and the turn-around point. It would figure that as I’m marking the turn-around arrows, a State Police Trooper pulled up next to me. Luckily, I’ve already talked to them, and I have a trooper coming out to help with traffic and stuff tomorrow night. He knew about it, and when I said I was marking the course for tomorrow’s race, he said “Have fun!” and he drove off. We finished that and then headed home to get a sleepy and fussy Robbie off to bed. Then I made my posters that will go out by the road on one of Ryan’s sawhorses. I’m heading off to bed here shortly – another long day tomorrow.

High: 74
Low: 54

The first of the fairs

I slept in a bit too much this morning – an hour after my alarm had gone off. Luckily I had given myself plenty of time after the alarm went off, so I wasn’t late. But I still had to rush a bit to get myself ready, breakfast eaten, Robbie ready and out the door by 7:45 so I could drop him off at daycare and be at class by 0830. We finally got started about 0845 and then were done for lunch at 1100. Now, why couldn’t we have just come in at 0900? With the longer lunch, I got a good bit of stitching done after I ate and then it was back to the classroom for another 3 hours. It’s still pretty easy. We had our first practical exercise this morning and I was done with it pretty quickly. The guy sitting next to me, I don’t know. The first problem on the PE, he leans over to me and says “I don’t get this.” And this is stuff he learned at his AIT for his job! Hello?? I’m a band geek. . . Ok, whatever. LOL So I make it through another day and then head to pick Robbie up from daycare and Ryan up from home. I also changed quick. Then we headed to Sackets Harbor to the chiropractor and then over to the fairgrounds for the Jefferson County Fair. We looked at all the cows and pigs and sheep and chickens/ducks/geese and bunnies. And the craft stuff – I’m DEFINITELY going to be entering stuff next year. It kind of snuck up on me this year. Not a single cross stitch item was stitched on anything other than Aida cloth. And some of the crochet stuff that won blue ribbons, I was like mine is way better than this. So next year I’m planning on entering cross stitch stuff and crochet stuff in many varieties – doilies, dishcloths, shawls, baby blankets, etc. I need to start planning now so I have a year to work on stuff. Then we walked around for a while and looked at all the games and rides that cost way too much money. And we ate. Robbie had a hotdog and Ryan and I had corn dogs. And then they had ice cream and I had an elephant ear. When we got home, Robbie said he wanted to go sleep in his bed. I think he was sleepy. LOL He was dozing off in the car on the way home.

High: 81
Low: 62 (current temp)