Last Saturday I had a 10 mile run scheduled. I was a little nervous because the week before I had barely completed a 9 mile run. I decided to go down to Lady Bird Lake (Town Lake) and run the trail there with the rest of the runners in Austin. I’d never been before, but I found a route on MapMyRun that looked good and was just about the right length. I took some route notes about where to turn and landmarks and what not and taped the list to my water bottle.
I got there about 8:30 in the morning and started to run. I set out with a goal of ten, 9:30 minute miles. I started to run and felt pretty good. I quickly realized that at the lake you run counterclockwise (which is how you run a track). Almost everyone was going the other direction and I hate to admit it, but I was tempted to turn around just so I’d fit in. But running against the grain has its advantages, mainly I didn’t get stuck behind groups of people I couldn’t pass.
The Town Lake trail in near the Congress Avenue bridge is apparently the place to see and be seen. There were more girls in impractically tiny running outfits strutting around than I have seen in a long, long time. They ran fast, they ran slow, but it didn’t appear that they ran very far. By the time I had gone five or six miles there weren’t any more girls. Just men and women (wearing much more appropriate clothing) running the stretches of trail where no one was watching.
Janette and Lisa had their baby. Please join us in congratulating them. We can’t wait to see them when they move down from Seattle. If you like you can leave a comment for them and I will pass along your good wishes.
- 9:54 am, November 14th, 2007
- 6lbs 10.5 oz
- 20.5 inches
Click on a photo for a larger view.
If you were to live in Texas. And you ran a lot, say maybe training for a marathon. And it was just the switch for Daylight Saving Time. If that were the case you might find yourself running through the park in the dark now. And maybe you might get hit by a bug right in your eye. And if that were the case that bug might be a firefly.
Well if all that were to happen, let me tell you that the firefly will light up on your eyeball in a brilliant flash causing you to wonder if you might go blind. He flies off, you run off rubbing your eye and looking for glowing on your fingers and find none. You are both fine, but now you’ve got some adrenaline pumping to finish that run.
Last Sunday Amber left me home alone with the kids to go to a card making party with Becca. The plan was that she’d feed Jillian, go while both kids slept and I’d have some alone time before they got up then I’d feed Jillian with some milk Amber pumped earlier in the day. A nice happy afternoon hanging out with dad.
The plan went wrong almost from the beginning. Jillian only slept a short while and then her crying woke up Wesley. I gave Wes his snack and then tried to feed Jillian. This is where things went from one crying sleepy kid to two. Jillian refused to take a bottle. I tried a couple of different bottles with five different nipples. Nothing going. She looked like I was trying to hurt her. Actually she kind of looked like I imagine someone does during a rectal exam. She had a very unhappy look on her face. A look that said I know you are trying to help me, but I am hating and resenting every minute of this and although I’ll act friendly enough to you when I see you in the future I’ll actually hold a grudge against you forever. Both of her hands were clenched and she never did relax. It seems that the idea of a pacifier leaking milk was not appetizing to her.
I tried to get some milk into her mouth for about an hour. She kept fighting, crying and screaming. Meanwhile Wesley wasn’t getting any attention and took to tearing apart the house. He focused most of his attention on the kitchen where I was trying to feed Jillian.
Eventually we all just kind of gave up. Wesley got tired of making a mess and I got tired of trying to feed Jillian. She was clearly tired of fighting me and my evil plastic nipple.
So we all just went into the living room and hung out and then drew with some chalk on the driveway. Amber was gone about five hours. Far longer than Jillian ever goes during the day without eating. She never fussed after the whole bottle incident. It was an unspoken agreement between us. If she didn’t cry I wouldn’t be forced to try and make her feel better. She ate like a pig when Amber got home.
It wasn’t easy, but I would do it again. It will get easier when she eats solid food and I can feed her without making her scream. Amber is a saint for being with the kids alone nine to ten hours a day.