The virus heard 'round the world...

... or at least the East Coast.

This is the story of our amazing Christmas holiday. And I start out by telling you it really was amazing and we had a fabulous time because when I tell the REST of the story, you are sure to think it was awful. Because it was. Except when it wasn't. Anyway.....

The week before Christmas break was a busy one for us. There were two evening obligations at school that meant we didn't get home until after official bedtime. (Remember, we live 30 minutes from school and when there is an event, I don't see the sense in driving all the way home only to turn around and go back again. So, we hang out at school for the late afternoon until the event begins). There was also a karate party to attend. And then there was the small detail of getting the boys packed for a SURPRISE Christmas trip to Florida.

Yeah. My in-laws very generously flew us down to visit them on December 21st. Scott and I thought the idea of making it a surprise was really appealing. Which it was. But it meant that we had to surreptitiously get everything packed and ready to go without them noticing. Totally worth it, of course, but challenging.

With all that going on - plus the general OH MY GOD WE'VE GOT TO GET READY FOR CHRISTMAS - it was of course the ideal time for Gabe to get sick. On Monday afternoon I picked him up from daycare and he looked like one of those babies on the infomericials. "For just 23 cents a day, you could ensure that this little boy gets the medicine he needs to combat the infections that overwhelm him." He was a conjunctivitis mess with crusty grossness oozing from every orifice of his face. (Num num!)

Cue me taking Tuesday off and carrying around 28 pounds of sad puppy most of the day. (Not an ideal way to pack for a trip!) He had a double ear infection, so good call on the Doctor's visit! We were a bit wary about the other boys because a stomach bug had been going around their classrooms but it seemed as though they were in the clear.

Cut to Saturday. Gabe is feeling better after a 3-day antibiotic. The boys are thrilled to to be going to Florida - they were VERY surprised! - and we get on our way. The Manchester airport is like candy - not crowded and easy to navigate. The flight down is a titch bumpy and Gabe gets a 6.5 out of 10 for handling the trip. Not awesome but not horrible. YAY! We are in the amazing 85 degree, sunny-ness of Florida!!

All is very well the first couple of days. (I have a very funny running story to insert here but that's another post). We go to EPCOT on Monday and that goes great, too: a little crowded but the boys are troopers and patient and everyone gets to do the things on their 'must do' list.

Christmas Eve starts out great. I go out for a 4:30AM run (my attempt to not interrupt everyone's plans with my running. Not so bad when it's a gorgeous 50-something degrees at that hour!). When I return I get showered and go for a walk around my in-law's neighborhood with Gabe and Elliott. Elliott quietly tells me that he had a bit of a problem in the bathroom earlier and that's why he changed his clothes. (I hadn't actually noticed). Long story short: he thought he had to go #1 when a surprising #2 showed up. To his credit, he did his best. And completely understandably, he was really embarrassed and didn't want to tell anyone except me about it. When we got back inside I went to his room to assess the situation. Oh. My. Plastic bags, stain remover for the carpet, and trip to the side yard and the garden hose were immediately in order for several pieces of clothing. Also, a very hot water wash in the washing machine.

Okay. No big deal. He wasn't feeling sick. Just given strict instructions to ALWAYS sit when he had to go to the bathroom for the duration of our trip. Just in case....

Cue Christmas Eve night. I go to bed pretty early because a cough is coming on and I'm tired from some pretty big runs I've taken. Around 11:30 I hear Scott bolt out of bed and I am up immediately because...

Tommy has barfed all over his bed and the floor next to it. Varsity level barf. Varsity level in consistency and color and smell. Varsity level fun. Back to the hose. Back to the hot water wash. New sheets. New pillow cases. Lame attempt to clean up the carpet. Though he never told us he wasn't feeling great, he had seemed tired all day and didn't eat much at dinner. Thankfully, just after the up chuck, he felt much better and went straight to sleep.

My throat and lungs, on the other hand, decided that this was the time to go nuts. I started coughing. And coughing. And COUGHING. After a few minutes I left the room for the couch. I made some tea. I drank lots of water. Eventually I took the Children's Cough Medicine (BLECH!) and I got a couple of hours of sleep.

Christmas day was mostly uneventful... E had one more 'oops' but it was easily taken care of. Scott very kindly made sure I had a couple of nap opportunities, thank goodness. I had, however, managed to cough so hard in the night that I pulled some muscles in the chest and shoulder. That's a special kind of idiot injury, don't you think?

On the 26th we had to head home. The trip was fine - though Orlando airport was CRAZY and we literally had 5 minutes to spare before we had to board when we got to our gate. Most difficult was the drive home from the airport. A snowstorm was blowing through and it was a sllooowwww go. We got home in basically one piece and immediately had to re-pack for a trip to upstate New York for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary party. We made it happen because we are, let's face it, mostly just made of awesome.

That night, Tommy came into our room to let us know... he barfed again. This time in the hallway because he was trying to get from his top bunk to the bathroom. Once again he felt a lot better when we was done but we had the fun of cleaning up yet another spew in the middle of the night.

The next morning everyone woke up feeling okay. I managed to get squeezed into my chiropractor to get my neck and shoulder back into place from my coughing nonsense Christmas Eve. We got on our way to NYS and all was well... until about 1/2 way through Vermont when Gabe barfed all over the back of the car.

I really wonder about the folks who drove by us at that point:  a woman on the side of a snowy road undressing an unhappy toddler in the freezing cold. Thankfully I had a spare pair of jammies for him NOT buried in the suitcase. Scott did his level best to get the barf-ness removed from the car but you can imagine that the scent of it lingered for the next 5 hours of our trip. We called my mom at this point and begged to stay at her place instead of the cheap motel we had reserved... the whole point of the weekend was to NOT stay at Mom and Dad's since we wanted them to enjoy their family, not cater to us! Of course Mom was happy and excited at the idea of spending more time with us, even if it was virally-gained.

Finally, we made it up the long, snowy road to my parents' and Scott said, "Please just find out what bed we are staying in. I am not going to make it long." And he didn't. When we got there he had a very high fever and was just 'done'. He went to bed and I unloaded the car and the boys ... a very long process! When I went down to check on him and encouraged him to take something for his fever, he said his stomach was not feeling up to taking anything. I suggested that the boys felt a lot better after they threw up, so maybe he should try that.

An hour or so later when I came down to bed, he reported a successful "boot" and that he felt better already. The next morning he was not at 100% but by the time we left the house a little after noon, he was back to normal.

Off to the 'schmancy' hotel we went. Pool time for the boys and then we got dressed for the party. It was a wonderful time (pics, sometime... IDK why my family who had cameras have not posted any yet!) with the usual noise, chaos, laughter and joy that my family specializes in.

Back to the hotel we went. We were very nervous about Gabe's ability to sleep with all of us in the same room. So, Scott took Tom and Elliott back to the pool in hopes that G would go to sleep and not awaken when they QUIETLY returned. Worked like a charm. He was super tired and basically begged for his pack n' play. YAY!

And then, about 11:30, Tom started talking in his sleep. He talks a lot in his sleep and when it's 'upset' talk, I have found that usually means he has to go to the bathroom. So, I woke him up and told him to go to the bathroom. He went but didn't have to pee. Went back to bed and continued to have very upsetting sleep talk. Eventually he woke up fully and said his stomach was hurting.

He had stomach cramps. Horrible, horrible stomach cramps. He was in pain and it made him angry. And it made him not-very-quiet. By the grace of God, he didn't wake up Gabe with his hollering. We went into the bathroom and I tried to help him breathe through the pain. The cramps died down eventually and he went back to bed. For a while. Then they kicked in again. The 'cure' I think, was when I told him to get into 'child's pose', which I assured him would get any gas in his belly out. It did. And then led to a very drawn out session in the bathroom. Which mom needed to be present for. I won't go into details here but let's say we had a few flushes before things finished up. I was worried we weren't done at this point so I pulled out my phone and we watched an episode of The Regular Show on Netflix on the floor of the hotel bathroom.  I told him I was hoping we were taking a horrible time and making a sort of nice memory out of it. "Remember that time we watched The Regular Show on the floor of the hotel bathroom...?"

At LAST back to bed. And my coughing started. Just like Christmas Eve. I went straight the bathroom hoping not to wake anyone. I downed the last of the Children's Tylenol (could not find the cough medicine or Ibuprofin...) but the coughing did not let up. Scott got up and reminded me that there was hot water and lemons in the lobby. So, down I went. That would totally do it!

But no. The beautiful lemons were plastic. The hot water had been put away for the night. The desk clerk gave me a tea bag and said I could heat up water in the room's Kuerig. Had I been more with it I would have said "DUH! I don't want to wake up my whole family!" but I did not. I just said "thanks" bought Tommy an overpriced Vitamin Water (to stay off dehydration, I hoped) and headed back to our room.

The tea worked and the kids didn't wake up, despite the noisy production process. I finally stopped coughing and everyone was drifting off to sleep. It was about 2AM.

And then the bars got out. And the nut jobs in town streamed into the small city streets below us. And there was a fight. I honestly thought it was a small riot. The yelling was crazy. Couldn't tell what they were saying but they had STRONG feelings about it, let me tell you. Eventually: police sirens. It was PERFECT. Scott and I were officially NEVER going to sleep. (Thank the good Lord, the kids managed to sleep through this!)

At some point this stuff settled down. At some point I went to sleep. I am guessing that I enjoyed it. I am guessing it was really lovely.

At 5AM Tommy woke up again with awful pain. Back to the bathroom for some fun. Short lived, thank heavens.

But this time, Gabe heard the party going on and said to himself, "Five in the morning, it's time to get up!!"

So, Gabe and I left the room. We went down to the lobby. (Thank heavens it was a nice lobby with cable TV). We walked around the halls of the hotel. We went to Starbucks. We hung out in the lobby some more. At some point my sister and her husband came down to use the gym. We had a nice chat and she read a book to Gabe and I took a mental break. At some other point my niece came down because her family was still asleep and she was still on South Korea time from her semester abroad. And at some point (about 8AM) I got a message from Scott that they were awake and it was safe to return to the room.

He was ready to scoot the boys out so I could sleep for awhile. All I could think of was the 20 mile run I was meant to take. I had set my alarm for 4:30 so I could get it done. Sometime around 2AM I turned the alarm off. But I had to get SOMETHING in. I was wide awake. I probably could have slept but I felt fine at that time. So, I got on my running clothes and instructed Scott to come and pick me up in about 90 minutes. It would not be 20 miles, but it would at least be about 10. And it would be on some kick ass hills.

(This is not really a post about running so I will say nothing here of the chilly but lovely weather that quickly turned to chilly and rainy weather that quickly turned to chilly and icy weather that led to a big car accident that led my family members who knew I was running in that direction to panic about my well being.. I was fine, thanks, but very glad to have my pick up from Scott when I did!)

And so I did. And so he did. And so we went back to my parents house where a wild snow storm ensued. And we had another lovely day with family and food and even some football, which we do have some capacity to appreciate despite our low level of sportiness.

And most importantly, after the rough night we had and given the not-so-pleasant weather, we chose not to go to my sister's place in the Syracuse-area that night and stay at my folks' again instead. This choice proved very wise as it we avoided getting stuck on the side of the snowy road along with her family and 7 other cars for several hours on THAT fateful trip. (If that had happened, Scott says he would have gone completely "Clark Griswold" on me.)

We got home late yesterday afternoon. As we sat down to dinner, I looked at Elliott and said, "Do you feel okay?" He did not.

He had a fever....

Of COURSE he did.

Redeemed on Cape Cod (or, Tough A Little Late)

As promised, I DID go running once we got to my in-laws house. I EVEN dug deep and did 8 x 800s.... ish. I didn't get to a track so I used my Garmin to do a fast 1/2 mile (after a 1.75 warm up). I timed it and hit 3:30 (on target!). I then put the watch away and just ran hard for 3:30 followed by easy for 1:30. Simplified keeping track.

This morning at about 6:30 Scott and I went out for an easy 4-miler. My "non-runner" husband kicked my butt, which was fine by me. He's lost a boatload of weight this summer and I am SUPER proud of him. I was definitely still feeling the hard workout from yesterday so I was happy to let him pull ahead after 2 miles when I walked and sucked some water down.

Now we are in an internet cafe in Provincetown enjoying immensely the time my in-laws have given us while they watch the kids. Kayaking on the calm ocean waters, lunch at a "colorful" poolside, a siesta on the beach... We just made dinner reservations and then we'll head back to my in-laws late this evening. Nothing like walking around P-town to add some life to your life!

Follow me, please!

I have a whole schpiel in my head, but I'm gonna try to be brief.

There's a very cool relay race called the Hood to Coast which happens each year in late August. Basically, a bunch of people form a team, rent a couple vans and take turns running a really long way.... (200 miles). Each year there are about 15,000 runners. It happens in Oregon. It starts at Mt. Hood and ends at the Pacific Ocean in Seaside. There's a great documentary about it.

There is an opportunity for me to run this race for free-ish (I'd need to pay my own airfare but the other - fairly hefty - expenses would be paid for). The makers of nuun, an "electrolyte enhanced drink" are going to sponsor a team of Blogging Women Runners.

Just THINKING about this race makes me giddy. As many of you know, I qualified but missed running Boston this year. I feel like this would be beyond Boston as far as life experiences: Travel across the country, meet up with a bunch of like-minded strangers, spend an exceptionally long time in a stinky van with them, run a whole boat load of miles, see the Pacific for the first time in over 10 years.... What could be better??

But the thing is, there are some SERIOUS running bloggers out there. Not only do they have great posts and giveaways and superawesomefun links... They also have a bazillion followers. The application for this opportunity requires the blogger/runner to be creative, which with my warped mind I'm not too worried about. But, if these nuun folks click on my blog and see that I have an embarrassingly small number of followers they won't even consider me. (I mean, it's all well and good to sponsor a bunch of women to run a race, but nuun is, of course, trying to get some publicity out of this!)

So, I'm beggin' ya: Follow me! You don't have to like what I write. You don't have to be interested in my running. But... it sure would be spectacular to have an opportunity to run this race.

And better yet... I'll owe you one. Think of the things you can demand of me....!

Train Like a Mother Survey: Part 4

Here's the final installation of the Train Like a Mother survey I'm filling out to help the stupendous Sarah Bowen Shea & Dimity McDowell Davis write their follow-up to "Run Like a Mother". They are looking for running mamas of all ilks so if you have XX chromosomes and have ever run a race, click on over to Another Mother Runner and bare your soul. You won't find a more supportive Tribe of Mamas anywhere!

NUTRITION
What’s your favorite pre-run meal/snack? I run pretty early in the morning so I only eat before my long runs. Usually just a banana and maybe some toast. At least 1 glass of water before any workout, too.

What do you like to eat and drink during a run? I'm lucky in that I don't have a very sensitive stomach. I generally have a gel or chew along w/ water and sports drink. I am not too fussy about flavors... just NO cherry! Blech. Every-so-often I struggle with a sudden "need to go" during a run, so before a race I normally take a couple of chewable immodium (and lots of water) a couple of hours before the gun goes off. It may just be dumb luck but so far I've never had a problem with poo on race day.

Do you have something you always eat after a long or hard run or race? If so, what’s your favorite? Pretty much every day I eat plain oatmeal flavored with cinnamon, brown sugar and dark chocolate chips along with a tablespoon or so of chia seeds. I am a SERIOUS chocolate addiction and if I don't have it I am miserable and feel like I'm STARVING all day long. I'm sure that it's a problem I ought to deal with, but the joy I get from chocolate so far outweighs the health consequences... which so far seem to be none.

What do you consume during a race? And do you carry your own fuel and fluids, or rely on what’s available at aid stations? I pretty much eat the same thing as I do on a training run. I will take what they offer, too, but I always carry my own stuff just in case I need something when there's no aid station in sight.


Have you barfed after (or during) a race? I consider it a flaw in my character that I've never, ever barfed because of physical effort. I don't really WANT to puke... but I feel like if I haven't I haven't pushed myself as much as I could.

RANDOM

Have you run through injury? If so, how did that end up? Knock wood... I haven't had any real injuries in a long time. I had cuboid syndrome when I was training for my first marathon... The cuboid is a bone in your foot and mine became “loose” and hurt "like a mother". Come to find out it was linked to our unexpected success in our practice rounds of baby making. (The joints get all loosey goosey when you're first knocked up and ta da!) I went to podiatrist who did a fancy tape job and gave me a shot of cortisone to get through the race. The foot didn't hurt at ALL during the race! And I didn't realize I was knocked up until about a week after the race.

On a scale of 1 (not at all)-10 (totally anal), how much do you pay attention to your running form? Two... I've always had decent form that works for me so I don't think about it too much.


60-second quick-fire round
Strangest thing you’ve ever seen on a run: Early this spring (it was pre-dawn) I literally almost tripped over a deer carcass on the side of the road. It's not strange to see road kill but to be almost upon something that huge before I saw it was quite startling. It also seems to me that on almost every run I see something that amuses me and makes me grin.... But damn if I can every remember it later on.

Dream running date: Sounds dumb... but my kids. I hope some day they want to and are able to run with me. My eldest was born on “(Boston) Marathon Monday” so I have a teeny hope that some day we'll run that together.

Dream running locale: Somewhere in the southwest. We have very pretty, green mountains 'round here but the red rocks and spectacular mountains of the southwest are just awesome. And a Hawaiian Beach..... And Central Park..... And Patagonia.... And Denali National Park (in summer)... And.... well, it looks like I'm sort of a dream running locale slut. Who knew?

Power song: This changes almost every run, but I always go back to “Defying Gravity” from Wicked and if I need to push through a tough section I'll hit "repeat" a couple of times.

Favorite podcast: Just one!? I love The Moth, Fresh Air, This American Life, Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, Only a Game... Oh, and ANYTHING those wacky ladies at Another Mother Runner put out!

Best way to motivate yourself to go for a run: Remind myself of the peace & quiet I will have... and how I can strap on my invisible badge of honor when I'm done and flaunt it all day long.

Best way to entertain yourself on a long or boring run: Think of clever Facebook status updates.

A TMI running-related moment you want to share (we can do pseudonyms here): I poop in the woods. Not a lot. And not with a ton of pride. But it's been known to happen. And it's getting easier.

Proudest running moment: I am a chatty runner without a lot of, um, personality during races. I cheer people on and comment on the things I see along the way. If there's a band, I dance when I run by. I “scold” spectators who don't seem as excited about my running as I think they ought to be. I was finishing a ½ marathon in March. In the last couple of miles ALMOST accidentally spit on another runner. I was embarrassed and apologized profusely. She said, “You missed me and don't worry... You're amazing. You've totally made this race for me.” That was definitely THEE best moment of my running life.

Proudest racing moment, if it’s not the same as above: My fairly unexpected BQ in September of 2010. I felt great afterward and breezed through a busy afternoon and a late night of community theater rehearsal.

When I cross a finish line, I feel: Proud and happy and pooped and thirsty and ouchie and stinky and hungry and relieved and.... "what's next!?"

Twelve more cents accounted for!

You may have heard I kind of like to run.
You may also have heard that I have 2 children, whom I also kind of like.
The demands of these two very likable things sometimes conflict. Enter, SBS and Dim....

About a year ago I found a great article in Runners World magazine by these two women/moms who talked about how to balance running and mom-ing. It was funny and dead on and pretty darn inspiring. The article, as it turned out, was excerpts from a book that they had written. I smelled a Mother's Day present and promptly (okay, like a month and a half later) bought it.

Cut to last Friday. I had a great opportunity to interview the authors, Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell, for their first-ever podcast! (This is where that title comes from. I used about 12 cents of my Ithaca College Park School of Communications degree in broadcast journalism).... See, in the year since I first read the book I've sort of, ummm, joined the cult. Now, they call it a a TRIBE of Mother Runners. But I think Cult is far more hilarious. Anyway, Sarah (also known as Champy and SBS) and Dimity have done an amazing job of marketing their book and bringing together legions of Mamas (and Mama supporters). They have a fantastic Facebook page and blog. Literally THOUSANDS of people's lives have been touched by this book and the accompanying website and FB page. And since I got nothin' better goin' on.... Well, sign me up!

I had a chance to meet and run with Sarah last summer when her book/running tour took her to Cape Cod. We immediately found that we shared a very sarcastic sense of humor, a competive side and an appreciation for a glass of wine following a run. We've been in touch since via email and FB and we check in after races we run on the phone. She noticed that I enjoy a good "nyuk-nyuk" and honored me by asking me to be the host for their premiere podcast. And so... TA DA! Last Friday afternoon/evening, via Skype and sitting in 3 different homes in 3 different states and 3 different time zones.... We did the interview. You can listen here. (You have to scroll down a bit and then you'll see a pic of me and Elliott...)

And finally, here's a pic of SBS and me enjoying a glass of Pinot Grigio of a sweaty Cape Cod run.... which I can't make bigger without getting super blurry. Trust me. We're gorgeous.

Vacation!

It was a great week in Disney World. I could never re-tell the entire journey (and who'd want to read it).... but as I go about my day today I'm going to jot down questions and the answers that occur to me.

1. Running in Disney? Success!! I ran everyday we were there except yesterday... clean up and go home day. So, I completed my streak and did 14 days in a row of working out. I'm very happy that I stuck with it and I feel no guilt about taking yesterday off. I got up at 5-ish every morning to do it. Mostly I did a 2 mile loop that I made up by going around the parking lots and down the roads (there was no good running route on the grounds of the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we stayed) followed by treadmill and/or elliptical time in the fitness room. I also did yoga after each workout. Since I never "get" to work out on a treadmill it was cool to be able to monitor my exact speed and distance. Wouldn't want to do it every day and grateful for the bells and whistles to distract me from the monotony.... but it was cool. The somewhat heartbreaking/hilarious P.S. to all that early morning running is that I stepped on the scale this morning to find that I have gained about 4 pounds. Wow!

2. What zone were we staying in? The Twilight Zone. Ya see, the Animal Kingdom Lodge is very cool. The Animal Kingdom Lodge has a lot to offer. The Animal Kingdom Lodge gives some of it's patrons (literally) a .25 walk from the lobby to their room. No joke. In order to give all the guests a view of the savanna they have 2 VERY long wings off of the lobby in the center. Our room was absolutely, positively the furthest it could possibly be from the lobby. It was amusing to me but difficult for others. The reason we Christened it Twilight Zone was because the loooonnngggg hallway to our room looked exactly the same from section to section. Around each slight bend in the walk you saw the same thing as the bend before. The only change was the numbers on the doors.... but obviously if yours is the last room you don't need to look at those. For 400 yards you just walk and re-walked the same 25 or so meter section of hallway. Or so it seems. Crazy. The suite was amazing, though. Great balconies to see the animals. A master bedroom/bath down stairs along with a huge living/dining/kitchen area. Upstairs were 2 big bedrooms with baths. Plenty of room for the 10 of us. (Scott's parents, his brother and sister-in-law and their 2 boys were there.)

3. Six years and 10 months? A great age for Disney. Tommy was in his glory. He had a great time everyday. He is lucky he has a little brother, though, because he spent some time in the stroller every day we went into the parks. He tried out (and loved) the Test Track at EPCOT. He loved the water slide at the hotel. He got trained as a Jedi at Hollywood Studios. He was just plain loving the Disney Life.

4. Four years and 8 months? A good age for Disney. Elliott was generally very happy, too. Not so brave as his brother (of course) and ready to go back to the hotel after about an hour in the Parks. (Yeah, a big fat "NO" to that request each time!) He loved all the things he ought to and was not up for trying anything "risky". But.... he was by and large delightful as usual.

5. Sharing a bedroom with the kids? Exhausting! The kids went to bed great each night (anywhere between 7 and 9:00). The trouble with our kids (especially Tommy) is that they are UP every night. Not fully awake, but talking and rolling around and sitting up like prairie dogs. They also were ready to hop out of bed at 5AM (no matter what time they went down or how exhausted they were when they did). This was fine for me (I was getting up anyway to run) but challenging for Scott who, frankly, wanted to sleep and needed to corral the boys in our room so they didn't walk up the rest of the Giesslers.

6. Junk food? Not a ton! I am kind of proud of the way we managed to eat. My in-laws very generously offered to go grocery shopping for us. My father-in-law is wicked anal retentive so I decided to go with that and give him a very precise list for meals and snacks: whole wheat pasta, frozen veggies, Triscuits, fresh fruit, chicken, ground turkey... It was good to know that it wasn't going to be a week of nugget-based-only meals! We managed to bring in sandwiches to the Parks for lunches and even to the airport for the trip home. (This is more about economy than nutrition, really, but it is a positive in both arenas, I think). It got a little tricky at times because their cousins (who are age 4 & 2) are not accustomed to a huge amount variety in their diets so at times we were competing with, say, corn dogs and chocolate milk for dinner... But, thankfully, the corn dogs had eggs in the them so there was no discussion or argument about whether Tommy should get to have one. There was also a tense moment when my mother-in-law prepared dinner for the kids. She had re-heated left over chicken, peas & corn and some Kraft mac & cheese. We are not monsters about food but we like our kids to eat their "growing food" before they have junk. We gave them a certain amount of veggies and chicken they had to eat before they could eat the "junk". Big mistake calling it junk. My mother-in-law was completely offended. To her, it's healthy. "It's got milk in it!" Thank God it was Scott who used the "J" word and not me. And honestly... they asked us what we wanted the kids to eat... I sent them a precise menu... and mac & cheese was NOT on it. Whole wheat pasta, yes. Tacos with ground turkey, yes. Tomato soup & grilled cheese on whole wheat, yes. But NOT mac & cheese. We guessed that they would get enough processed food from the restaurants and we didn't need to add to the pile of empty fat-laden calories in the hotel room. Anyway, thankfully this wasn't until Thursday night and it was the only night she insisted on making dinner for the kids.... so I maintained control for most of the week.

7. Three families? Three very different ways of getting things done. As with food preferences, it's not easy to negotiate the parenting styles, circadian rhythms, activity preferences.... the list goes on... of 4 parents, 4 children and 2 grandparents. Our boys were up and raring to go bright and early. This worked okay for us because we are used to it. It was not the way everyone else operated. We were all about making as many snacks and meals from the hotel kitchen as possible. Others are more, umm, food service based eaters. (Is that a thing? I don't know. But let's face it: "It's the economy, Stupid." We can't drop 40 bucks for lunch everyday. Everyone else didn't bat an eye about that kind of thing). We have a definite way negotiating what we need from our kids (I am thinking of writing an entire piece on the beauty of "Two Minutes"...) It doesn't always come out the way we want and we certainly had moments over the week when we lost our tempers.... but I definitely noticed the contrast in the way Scott & I get things done and the way the others did. There was a definite deaf ear from the other boys until they heard shouting or threats. Unsettling.

8. Am I a Princess? No. The Disney Princess Half Marathon was this weekend and I totally missed it. I knew it would be happening and I spent a good deal of the week checking out other women's legs to contemplate whether or not they were there to run the race. Unfortunately it was Sunday morning and we left Saturday morning. It was a hoot to see all the Mamas in tiaras with their racing faces on, though!

9. French clowns? Yes, please! On Friday night my sister-in-law, her friend from Ohio, and I went to see Cique de Soliel. It. Was. So. Cool. I had never been to see any of their shows and I was totally blown away by the spectacle of it. The precision of their moves was mind boggling. I kept thinking, what if somebody sneezes? They're all going down! They had trapeze artists, fancy jump ropers, fancy bikers, trampoline artists, hanging-off-of-giant-red-ribbon-ers (ya had to be there...) and four of the cutest freakin' little girls ever. Trying to explain all of what I saw would be a complete waste of effort because you just have to see it. I was a little skeptical but I have to say, if you have a chance to see any of the Cirque shows, do it.

10. Characters? Not really our thing. I've come to the conclusion that you are either Disney character people or you are not. We are not. While some kids would happily wait in line or race acoss the park to get a photo with Mickey or Jasmine or whomever, our boys would walk by and have no interest. (This was also in contrast to their cousins who LOVE the getting-photos-with-characters thing.

11. 2019? The year Tommy can audition for American Idol at Hollywood Studios. He's already got his audition song planned. It's either "It's the Wonderful Time of the Year" (we haven't broken it to him that the actual song is "It's the MOST Wonderful Time of the Year") or "Livin' on a Prayer". Last year Scott & I did the American Idol experience and both got to perform on stage. Tommy was NOT happy about it.... because, of course, HE wanted to be on stage. So, no Idol for us this year. We'll all just have to wait till 2019 when he can show off his stuff.

12. Isn't there more? I'm sure there is.... but it will have to wait. Been writing this on & off all day and time to get the boys to bed.

Dispatches from Candor

Draft press release to the Candor-area paper re: Scott's show. Hoping to get it to Candor "where it belongs." This is happening Boston marathon weekend. Couldn't think of a more difficult or more perfect time for it to occur. Here's hoping we can make it all come together.

Last fall, the Candor community said good-bye to a woman who inspired thousands. Polly Ann Tompkins, age 39, passed away from breast cancer after a valiant multi-year battle. No one who knew Polly or her story can forget how her spirit, courage, humor and grace demonstrated a life well-lived.

Among those in attendance at her memorial was Scott Giessler, the husband of Polly’s cousin, Phoebe. Giessler is a New Hampshire resident and a high school teacher. He is also the director of the Kingswood High School theater program. For the last several years, Giessler and his students have written and produced original one-act plays each spring. In Candor during that September weekend, he was inspired by the profound faith, joy, pain and love expressed by all who were present.

The kernel of an idea grew and, with input from Phoebe and his students, Giessler wrote Dispatches From Candor, a one-act play inspired by Polly’s life, family and untimely passing. “Although it’s not a biography, the play is in every sense a memorial and meant to reflect what was beautiful about her world,” Giessler said. “There’s highs and lows in it, but there’s beauty in the lows, too.”

The theater students, who of course never knew Polly personally, were immediately intrigued and inspired by her story. They have tirelessly worked to capture the spirit of Dispatches and are excited about the challenge of bringing the play to the stage. Kingswood Theater will be performing the play twice in March at their Arts Center in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and again as part of a statewide theater festival.

These shows will doubtless be moving to audiences but Giessler was not satisfied. There had to be a way, he thought, to bring the play to the people who knew and loved Polly the most: the people of Candor, NY.

And so, with a good deal of fund raising by the theater students, encouragement from Polly’s family, favors called in and the dumb luck of one empty weekend on the calendar, Kingswood Theater will be bringing Dispatches From Candor to the Candor Jr.-Sr. High School auditorium on Saturday, April 16. Tickets are $8 each or $50 per family and can be purchased by contacting _____ at ______.

Giessler is a native of Massachusetts and became acquainted with Candor during his time at Ithaca College. Something about the town and its people begged to be explored. “I had been looking for an opportunity to write about the community of Candor for a long time and although these events were tragic, they summarize why.”

After working with this show for so long, Giessler’s students are anxious to meet the people and see the places that inspired the play. The group made a unanimous decision to sacrifice a chance to perform at the New England Theater festival in order to be in Candor. They will take an 8–hour bus ride from New Hampshire on Friday night, sleep on the gym floor, utilize the Candor locker rooms for facilities and eat food provided by volunteers from the community. It is their hope, and the hope of Scott Giessler, that the Candor auditorium be filled that Saturday afternoon with the same kind of love and hope that lingered over every moment of Polly’s memorial service and funeral.

The road ahead

My head is spinning with what's coming in the next 3 days....

Share my anxiety, won't you?

7:30AM - 3:15AM Daycare
3:15PM - 3:30PM Hello, in-laws. Good bye kiddos.
3:30PM - 11PM The long road home, NY
11:30PM - 5AM Sleep. Hopefully.
5AM - 5:30AM Eat. (Pray. Love.) Dress.
5:30AM - 8:30AM Run 20-ish miles
8:30AM - 9:30AM Eat. (Pray.Love.) Shower. Dress.
9:30AM - 1PM Hurry. Clean. Wait. Help. Cook. Clean. Buy milk. Stress. Dress up.
1PM - 3:45 Calling hours. (Talk. Hug. Cry. Laugh.)
4PM - 5PM Memorial Service. (Sing. Listen. Pray. Talk... eulogy on my head!)
5PM - ??PM PollyFest. (Talk. Hug. Cry. Laugh. Collect Polly Stories.)


SUNDAY - Wedding... Blessed happy event... with an open bar!!
MONDAY - Funeral. Long road home, NH.

Getting my urban on: RESULTS

We're going to Boston shortly. The agenda is:

1) Stop at Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord. The boys can run wild, we can have a picnic and it's FREE. Well, unless you want a guided tour which I don't think Thing 1 and Thing 2 are up for at this point.

1) In fact: We did do this. It was lovely, if a bit breezy. We had left over pizza and sunbutter sandwiches. Tom & El were impressed with the 3-D map of the area and really enjoyed taking the short walk to the North Bridge. Lots of school groups there but totally great. Obviously the historical significance of the place was lost on the kids, but they liked it. A win.

2) Go to Medfield. See the house Scott grew up in. Tour the town. Tour the high school.

2A) In fact: Before we went to Medfield we stopped at a camp ground to see if we wanted to stay there for a couple of nights in June. We are torn about it. It's got EVERYTHING.... indoor and outdoor heated pools, workout equipment, sauna, jacuzzi, activity center, play grounds, ball fields, bathrooms with hot water and showers. But we don't know if we want to go there with the boys. First, it's kinda pricey given that we will be sleeping in a tent. Second, we may ruin them for camping for life! We're just not sure if this is the way to go.

2B) We saw the house. It looks amazing. Scott was awed by the growth of some trees they had planted. I noticed the swing set in the back yard and imagined that the people who live there are about our age. Which means they can afford to live in a house that looks like that in that neighborhood. I'm always amazed at people with a lot of money!

2C) T & E sucked down all the drinks we brought and were being SOOOO good waiting to get to "The City" so we went into town and got ice cream for the boys at Lords, a locally owned department store that has somehow managed to stay alive in the age of Walmart. They have an old fashioned soda fountain (though not old fashioned prices!) along with more Legos than any child ought to be exposed to!

2D) Scott's high school is in what used to be the middle school. It was renovated in 2005 and looks fantastic. Many of the teachers and secretaries knew him or at least his mom, who was a secretary there. He enjoyed looking around and catching up with people. I met his English teacher who wrote his recommendation letter for Ithaca College.... had to thank her for that!

3) Back up to Newton. Get our Charlie Cards for the T. Check into the hotel. Take the bus and then the train into Boston.

3A) In fact: We drove by Scott's grandmother's house (where his mom grew up) in Newton on the way to the hotel. Looks great. We also tried to find the house where I rented a room for a couple of months back in '96 but couldn't figure out which one it was. Oh well!

3B) In fact: We skipped getting the Charlie cards and went straight to the hotel. It was getting renovated. Oh, boy, was it getting renovated! The reason for the low-low rate became very obvious very quickly. Kinda shabby and dirty looking hallways. Searched 4 floors before I found a functioning ice machine. We had decided to skip the Children's Museum since the boys were so beat and just wanted to swim in the pool... but, alas, the pool was CLOSED during renovations. D'oh! So, we went to Unos across the street for a very nice dinner (holy God, try the Veggie Quesedia with guacamole! A glass of Pinot and/or beer are also helpful...) and then took our chances on the bus.....

4) Go to the Children's Museum of Boston. Fridays from 5 - 9PM are $1 admission so we are taking advantage. Sure to be chaos... but it's CHEAP chaos! Dinner from a sub shop or something at the museum.


4A) In fact: We took the bus into Boston for dollar night at the museum. The bus ride was easy and the driver was exceptionally helpful to us.

4B) The museum was.... FANTASTIC! Lots of people but not totally crazy. So completely better than I expected. We divided up so that the boys could each do whatever they wanted which was totally key. They had a great time and were totally wiped out when it was time to go.

5) Back to the hotel. Maybe swimming. Hopefully sleep....


5A) In fact: We went back to the bus stop to get to the hotel and waited around for a few minutes. Then I looked at the fine print on the sign. Yeah, the buses stopped running at 7:45. It was 8:30. There was no train that goes near our hotel. We weren't sure if we'd find a cab from the closest station to our hotel (2 miles away) that would get us there. Soooo.... we took a fairly pricey cab ride back to Newton. The boys LOVED it and we were just happy to get back to the room. Oh well. Live and learn.

5B) In fact: SLEEP did happen. Amazingly well, given the boys' track record in hotel rooms. Thank heavens we brought the humidifier and cranked the A/C, though.

6) Early morning run for me (supposed to be 18... we'll see!) while the boys swim and chill.

6A) In fact: Did my run starting at 5:45AM. It was PHENOMENAL! The first 3 miles were up hill but they were "city hills" so they didn't seem so bad. I ran to Commonwealth Ave and then followed the train tracks into town. Took a left over the BU bridge and then ran along the Charles River watching the crew teams on the water. Ran past Harvard and close to where Click & Clack do Car Talk.... Then at 9 miles turned around and went back. It was so great! I was low on energy (no fruit available at the hotel unless you wanted to pay $14 for breakfast!) and low on fluids (my hydration belt did not hold enough) but I felt better than I have in a long, long time.

6B) The boys, in fact, did not swim. Cuz, well, you know... So Scott chilled with them in the room and then went searching for breakfast. He forgot that T CAN have Dunkin Donuts bagels (there was one across the street) so he bought them oatmeal and apple juice at the hotel restaurant. They didn't eat it. It cost $17. He wasn't happy and told them if they didn't eat more oatmeal they wouldn't get anything until Mom & Dad were ready for lunch. So... when I got back from my run he was, to say the least, irked.

6C) Back from my run. Quick shower. Pack up. Back to Dunkin Donuts for our breakfast (the kids didn't even ask for anything... they knew better).

7) Bus and train back to Boston for the Aquarium. We received gift certificates so this is "free" to us. Again, it's a Saturday so chaos... but FREE chaos!

7A) This all went very smoothly. Kind of a long walk to the Aquarium from the bus stop with Elliott on my back.... after the run, I mean. But, we checked the times for the final bus back (yes, we do learn our lesson eventually!) The Aquarium was good but so obnoxiously expensive ($21 for adult admission!) Very glad we had $100 in gift certificates. The boys like to look but are frankly not that interested in the nitty gritty of the stuff. Thankfully we had enough $ on the gift certificates left over to buy lunch in the cafe. Then, pooped, we headed back to the bus stop and the hotel to get the car. None of this, of course, was captured on the camera. (Not to tell tales, but SCOTT had the camera during this time. Just sayin'.)

8) Home in time to get to a friend's dinner party.

8A) In fact: We got home. Elliott and I did go to the dinner party, which was great fun. Tommy & Dad stayed home because Tommy had had enough. It all worked out very well since the delicious dinner was laden with recipes that contained eggs. It would have been HEART BREAKING for Tom.

I will update this post on Sunday (probably) to see how accurate this agenda is. My guess is there will be a LOT of changes...!

In fact: MUCH closer than I would have thought!