Hills, Humidity, and a High!

On the afternoon of April 12, I don't think I have ever been simultaneously so beyond elated and bone-weary exhausted.  And I was in a bikini.  Eating (wolfing down, really) a cheeseburger.  Now normally I would never admit that part about the cheeseburger, but I feel no shame or guilt because that morning I had just run the toughest and fastest 13.1 miles of my life.

Those feet were hurting!

Flashback to the morning of the race, and my best friend Naomi and I were fueling up on toast, peanut butter and a bit of crappy coffee in our hotel room around 6 in the morning.  And water.  Lots of water. The Zooma Texas Half Marathon was outside of Austin, Texas and we were back at the same hotel we had visited almost two years prior when we went on our own "mother's retreat."  This time we weren't sleeping in or staying up late, we were hydrating, debating race attire, and discussing our fueling strategy along the course of the race.  We were also avoiding much discussion or acknowledgement of any hills that we may encounter out on the course.  In my humble opinion as an Oregonian, Texas is one of the flattest places on this earth.  Driving across deep-in-the-heart of Texas, the only thing you see above the horizon are water towers, lots of them.  However.... we were technically in "hill country," whose hills are smaller than Portland's West Hills, but when you are running, any hill makes a big difference.  And so does humidity, especially to this not-so humble Oregonian.

The twins are ready to race!  Our room overlooked the finish line

It's bluebonnet time in Texas!

Our cheesy "mocktail" tea party picture

But let's flashback to a few months prior.  In January, Naomi and I were searching for a half marathon that we could run - our first race together.  And as I have already written about, we both really needed and wanted to run a half marathon in 2014, and doing it together would be so much fun.  Zooma Texas was the perfect race so we signed up.  It would be Naomi's third half marathon and my second.  We trained separately, but we would text about where we were on our training plans, chat on the phone about how our runs went, or send a funny running-related article or photo to each other.  We were both working hard to train for this race and excited to have a weekend away together, even if it meant we had to run 13 miles to do so!  Yet training in the winter was harder than we anticipated.  Dallas, where Naomi is from, gets quite a few ice storms and can be quite cold in the winter.  And our winter here in Portland was pretty dry, but then we had a major snow storm in February that lasted for days.  Add to that our husbands traveling for work and our kids getting sick (cause it's winter!), and getting in those weekly miles and workouts was a challenge.  But we kept at it.

Then I get a text from Naomi saying she had slipped on ice (yes, in Texas) and fallen on her tailbone!  She was in agony and with six weeks to go to the race and the miles ramping up each week, neither of us knew what was going to happen.  Should we cancel it?  Should we do the 10K instead?  It was just bad luck, but Naomi stayed so positive (at least she did to me!) about it.  I don't know how she did it.  Not only was she in constant pain for a few weeks, but she kept on trying to run.  After she saw her doctor and learned there was nothing broken, she started to relax and the running came along, despite missing a lot of long training runs.  But she is one tough mother, and I am in awe that she didn't just give up!  I am so proud of her!

Flash forward to the race....which went great!  Naomi and I kept the pace we wanted to, it was fun, and we were feeling good.   And despite the intense 70+% humidity and 70+degree temperatures...oh and a few hills, we finished the race strong.  The course was on country roads with some rolling hills that we did great on, only walking on the steepest ones.  But the last couple miles they had us looping around a golf course, and I have never hated golf so much in my life!  I knew I was near the end of my rope when I started getting mad and swearing.  I wanted to walk SO BAD!  But we kept at it.  It was kind of like being in labor, when Naomi kept saying stuff like "well, only a mile to go!" or "just about half a mile to go!" and I wanted to tell her to shut up but I was too tired!  (Sorry, Naomi).  All I could think about was where was the end and how I knew we had run near the finish line a while back and we were so close, but where was it?!?!  I think I closed my eyes or something near the last few hundred feet because all I remember was trying to get this thing OVER!  But we did it!  And even with the hills and humidity (which I wasn't used to), we ran it in 2 hours and 24 minutes.  Just typing that makes it sound completely insane to run for that long,...but that's what we did!

You don't usually see these guys at races in Oregon!

We got to run down AND up that hill!

VICTORY!

So back to that cheeseburger and bikini....man, it tasted good.  Good because I was sitting by a pool in the sun.  Good because I had run harder and pushed myself more than I ever thought I could.  Good because I was feeling a high on endorphins that I've never had before.  And good, great really, because I was sitting next to my best friend in the whole world...and we did it together.

Top 10: Travel, Texas, and Tornadoes

This spring, actually the past six months, has been really full of travel for our family.  And as much as I love traveling, I'm happy to say we are finally at the end for a while!  Sam's last big trip was to Ireland for 9 days with his MBA students.  It was a fantastic trip and he got to visit, tour, and speak with folks at Guiness, Intel Ireland, Jameson, and more.  A few months back, when I actually asked him to stop telling me about how cool his trip was going to be, he came up with the idea that I should go somewhere while he was gone to break up the time I'm alone with the kids.  It was mainly to reduce his guilt, I think, but with Sam and the majority of both our families coincidentally traveling at the same time, I thought it might be a good idea to get out of dodge.  So I got to go to Texas to see Naomi...again!  (We planned this trip before Sam decided to surprise me for my birthday.)

It would be my first time flying solo with two kids, which honestly made me want to change my mind several times in the weeks leading up to the trip.  But I looked at it as yet another badge I could earn on my motherhood sash. I can do this, right?  (By the way, I have many more badges for motherhood that I ever did for Girl Scouts!)  And I did do it, and it was mostly fun, which is pretty good considering how hard it can be to travel with small kids!  It was a fun, active five days in Texas, so here is my top ten list of exciting events on our adventure:

10.  Swimming: Naomi and Alex have a lovely pool at their lovely house, so when it's 90 degrees and kind of humid, the water feels quite lovely!  Provided you check the filters for reptiles and other critters, it was lots of fun.  Sasha was ready to jump in solo and swim around, and Morgan actually did some swimming in deep water and is so close to being able to swim without her floaties.

Mermaids in action

Sasha feels quite at home here

JUMP!

9.  Awesome dinners with good friends:  I was spoiled by the Calles and got all my meals made for me!  Naomi even took requests from the girls for pancakes in the morning.  Alex's pizza and all meat items were delicious, particularly after 'rendering' them with his special smoker and grill!  And the night we shared wine and watched fireflies on their back deck was really nice (other than strange bugs flying into my hair!)  The only thing that was missing was my husband.

Alex, meat master extraordinaire! 

They love having Naomi wait on them

8.  Four nights of putting both tired girls to bed on my own:  This was exhausting, included some tears and tantrums, and something that I am glad is over!

7.  Chasing after two running kids in an airport, racing to our gate in Seattle, and carrying a Britax car seat over 28 rows of people on the plane:  Hopefully I was some entertainment for the people around me.  That definitely got the heart pumping, though exciting may not quite be the word I would chose to describe it.  Again, glad that is over.

Pretending to be a civilized airline passenger

6.  BFF Facetime:  Our five kids played so well together most of the time, so we actually did get quite a few opportunities to chat and hang out together.  We are both still trying to figure out what is next for us and, unlike last summer, we figured that this was our 'Exploring Motherhood With  Kids' conference.   Kids or no kids, few things make me happier than chatting with my best friend ...and sharing a bottle of rosé by the pool too!

Our five kiddos - Calles have us on height!

Bonding over Netflix 

Morgan learned big wheel tricks from AJ and Max the dog.

5.  Broken bones and the Milky Way:  We visited the Perot science museum int his really cool, new building in Dallas with our three youngest kids.  They had a great children's play area, and it was so fun (for me!) to see the dinosaur exhibit with huge skeletons on display.  Morgan wasn't quite as impressed, and Sasha kept informing me that the bones were all broken.  But Morgan and AJ were really into the space exhibit and sat through a rousing show on our solar system.

4. My missing bag:  As luck (which seems to be missing a lot lately) would have it, when we did make it home to Portland with us all safe and relatively sane, my bag was not to be found.  Actually, we didn't get to the baggage claim right away because the girls were hungry and we grabbed some food after we got off the plane.  While trying not to burst into tears as I sat next to the empty baggage carousel with two tired/spastic young travelers, I tried to look on the bright side: at least I had packed the car keys in my carry on and we could still get home (since Sam was in Ireland).  Apparently, a gentleman traveling from Alaska to Roseburg grabbed our bag by mistake and took it down south. To Roseburg.   Two days without a bag was a minor inconvenience, but I was just thankful that it was not gone forever (along with my camera!)

Unicorn delight

3.  Midway Rides: For the girls' first fair experience, it was pretty perfect.  There was NO ONE at Dallas' Fair Park so we enjoyed all kinds of midway rides with no lines and no worries that the kids would get lost. There were honestly more staff working there than guests.  It kind of felt like the movie 'Vacation' when they get to Wally World and it's closed and break in and ride all the rides they want!  I was pretty impressed that my girls and I rode the log ride three times and went on some little roller coasters together (even after eating corny dogs and curly fries in 90+ degree weather).  They loved it (except when Sasha was too short to ride)!

"Why, hello kitty!"

Future BFFs

Fighting the crowds at Fair Park

Fearless girls!

The very high view from the Texas Star

Enjoying the aquarium 

Sasha looks serious, but she loves the rides!

Lauren is in charge

The log ride - wahoo!!

A nutritious lunch of corny dogs!

A copperhead snake (courtesy of Google!)

2.  Copperheads:  I have heard Naomi's stories about snakes and weird creatures that inhabit the woods behind her home, and it always made me thankful I lived in western Oregon, where neither animals nor a weather event could really kill you.  Then we saw three copperheads (= poisonous snakes) while walking on the forest path behind her house.  It was even more alarming because we had been walking along for 20 minutes or so, AJ and Morgan had been collecting bugs off the ground, and only when we turned around to go home did we see the snakes where we had just been, less than 10 feet from us.  That was pretty freaky.  And we didn't see just one, but three different ones!

"This way, Mom, for poison ivy, bobcats & snakes!"

1.  Tornado Watch:  You would think that the snakes would be #1 on my list, but actually the threat of a tornado takes the cake.  The week before we visited, there was a very bad tornado near Fort Worth, but while we were there, the really devastating one hit near Oklahoma City, less than 200 miles away.  Two of the days we were there, there were tornado watches, which means that you better be ready in case the tornado sirens go off.  The first day, we were hanging out in the pool and not a thing happened.  But the second day, the threat was more serious and we had a huge thunderstorm (at least by my standards) with lots of rain and wind.  But we didn't have to hide in the closet and my kids didn't seem too bothered by the, as Sasha put it, 'wonder and lightning.'  While I was scared that something could happen to the kids and me, I somehow put my trust in Mother Nature (and perhaps a margarita) that nothing bad would happen.  And I thank my lucky stars that we were indeed quite lucky, after all.

Thunderstorm, Texas style

Thanks again, Calles, for a wonderful trip!  The girls and I had lots of fun and can't wait to see y'all in July!

Exploring Motherhood Without Children 2012

My best friend, Naomi, and I are both stay-at-home mothers, and we always seem to be talking (more like fantasizing) about taking a trip together and getting away from it all.  Somehow in the past six months we came up with the brilliant idea to finally do it!  Of course we could always come up with a million reasons why we shouldn't do it and how we can't justify the time away, but we realized that it was time to move our wishes to the very top of the never-ending to-do list.  That, and the fact both our husbands travel a fair amount for work has left us a little grumpy.  While we have terrific husbands (I'll get to that later), we can't help but be jealous of the work travel they do: visiting different cities, staying in hotels, air travel completely alone, and eating out at new restaurants. It gets old for them and is mostly work meetings, but we all know that they really do have some fun and secretly relish getting away from the kids, while we do double duty at home and dream about a day when there is no laundry or dishes or someone arguing with every single thing we say!

So, after some back and forth phone calls about where to go and what to do, we settled on Austin, Texas!  While we dreamed about escaping to some dramatic locale, like Mexico or Hawaii or New York City, the logistics were impossible.  But the Texas trip that we planned would work and had a bit of everything:  All-America road trip, some shopping, some history, dining out, spa treatments, lots of pool time, hiking, star gazing, urban kayaking, cocktails, and lots of uninterrupted time to hang out together.  So, a couple weeks ago I flew to Dallas where Naomi lives, we drove four hours to Austin, spent some time exploring the city, then headed out of town 20+ miles to a wonderful resort for two nights.  It turned out we planned the trip really well, with a few scheduled activities and the rest open to whatever we felt like doing.

During the journey, Naomi and I came up with the brilliant idea that this trip was essentially our "business trip," our professional development conference where we learn new ways to do our job better and inspire our day-to-day performance at "work."  To make it official, we named our conference "Exploring Motherhood Without Children," and with a fair amount of sarcasm in our voices, we went about discussing the different "seminars" we were participating in (or not participating in) and reflecting on the deep meaning that they brought to our lives.  (See, we are such great moms that we take our jobs so seriously, even we are on vacation!)  So, here are some of the seminars and "key learning" that we took away from the 1st Annual EMWC Conference (a.k.a. my awesome trip with my best friend!)

*  It's OK to run away from home sometimes.  Traveling by myself was quite surreal.  I tiptoed out of my house at 4 in the morning feeling like I was on the lam, leaving my husband and kids to fend for themselves.  For at least the first day I constantly felt like I had lost or was missing something, and going through security at the airport and flying completely alone was SO easy.  It was a luxury to have that much time to read, nap, stare, think.  I had very little baggage...both literal and figurative. 

*  Heat things up!   It was about 100 degrees every day I was in Texas so it actually felt like a real vacation since summer has yet to really begin here in Oregon.  It was pretty intense, but considering we were able to spend a lot of it in a pool, it wasn't too bad!

*   Get out of your comfort zone.  Texas is a bit like being in a different country because it is so different than the Pacific Northwest.  With the heat, humidity, and crazy bugs, I was starting to wonder if I was still in the US.  I heard the buzz of cicadas that was even louder than I remember in the south of France, creepy Junebugs that aren't as cute as their name sounds, and crickets that were everywhere you stepped!  While I was also on the lookout for snakes (many which are poisonous), I was also treated to lots of pretty butterflies, cardinals, and white egrets.

*  Don't underestimate the power of the Road Trip!  There is something exciting and fun about heading out on the open highway that can't compare to flying in a plane.  But as a parent of young children, the thought of "road trip" sounds more like a nightmare.  But Naomi and I loved traveling in a non-mom vehicle (thanks Alex!), singing along to songs, stopping when we felt like it, having HOURS to talk (or not) to each other, ... and there was no whining, bathroom accidents, or craning around to pass/retrieve things from the back seat!  

Me, the Czech flag, and the kid selling lemonade

*   Take time to stop and smell the kolaches.  In an all-American moment, we stopped at a tiny town just off the freeway called West, Texas.  It was founded by Czechs in the 1800s and their cultural pride has remained.  It was pretty surreal to see Czech flags flying next to Texas flags smack dab in the middle of the state. We tried their famous "kolaches," a doughy roll filled with fruit or meat, and cups of 70 cent coffee at the cute little bakery.  But I knew I wasn't in the Czech Republic because people we so nice and friendly - glad to see that part of the culture didn't stick.     

Down home charm at the Village Bakery

*  Shop outside the (big) box.  Exploring Austin was really fun, and we stopped spontaneously at the Capitol and wandered around the stately (and air conditioned) building (for the record, I heard crickets in the Senate chambers).  It wasn't Florence's Duomo but it reminded me of all those old churches I toured in Europe.  Then we explored SoCo, the South Congress neighborhood full of funky shops with antiques, cowboy boots, and hipster clothes.  Having a leisurely adult lunch and a couple hours to browse shops that contained many fragile items is a luxury we rarely (never?) seem to get.  I'm so used to impulse shopping because I don't know when my kids will meltdown, and of course I"m always at a big box store so I only have to make one stop.  Breaking out of that routine was so refreshing!

Allen's Boot Shop in Austin

Hiking along the Colorado River (Texas version)

*  Get in touch with the nature, Part 1: Hiking  We spent two nights at a Hyatt Resort outside of Austin that was fabulous.  In fact, I was thankful for the trips Sam makes and the points he has earned at Hyatts.  We used some points to upgrade ourselves to the "Club" level, where we could use the lounge that had breakfast, snacks, and drinks all day.  Anyway, after a yummy breakfast where we could drink our coffee with no one talking back, we went for a hike in the adjacent Nature Park.   I was on the lookout for the aforementioned bugs and snakes, but all we saw were a few sweet little deer and one enormous pecan tree.  Whew!  Hiking is something I rarely do anymore, and I really miss it.  We only went a couple of miles (and it was already close to 90 degrees that morning), but it was so nice to get outdoors and hit the trail....with no whining allowed!

Ready, set, paddle!

*  Get in touch with the nature, part 2: Kayaking   At many professional development meetings or retreats, employees participate in some kind of team-building/character-challenging exercises.  You could call our kayaking adventure that portion of our trip. Our second night away we went in to Austin to kayak on Ladybird Lake and observe the largest colony of Mexican free-tailed bats as they make their nightly exit to catch insects.  Our tour guide was kind of an idiot and there were some entertaining folks on our tour, but it was a fun adventure.  Nearing sunset, we headed out paddling into the blazing, bright sun (it was 8pm and still 97 degrees), for a much farther paddle than we envisioned.  But it was pretty cool to be paddling right into downtown Austin.  The bats nest under the Congress Avenue bridge during the summer, and not only did we hear their little squeaks as we waited for the sunset but we could smell (and feel) their "guano."  They were tough to see because they didn't fly out until it was nearly dark, but we did see them and made the long paddle back to the dock at night!  While we were mainly worried about the family in our tour who had disappeared (they turned up at the end), we didn't anticipate Naomi's camera (or the lower half of her body) sitting in a puddle of water for two hours!  

Austin skyline at night and the Congress Ave. Bridge

*  Get in touch with nature, Part 3: Stargazing  I'm not sure if a man-made "lazy river" in a resort pool is considered a part of nature, but when you are floating along with the current gazing up at the dark, star-filled sky, I think it's pretty close.  That was how we spent our first night at the resort (until they kicked us out of the pool at 10pm) and it was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip!

*  It's important to spend time with other adults (i.e., at the adult pool).   I'm not usually one who can sit and lay by a pool, but because it's such a rare occurrence, I took full advantage of it. We also took advantage of the excellent poolside service and tasty cocktails.  I can't really explain it, but those drinks tasted so much better when I was sitting by (or floating in) the adult pool!

That perfect lazy river!

Motherhood should always be this relaxing!

*  Overindulgence is important after years of sacrifice.  While a massage when you're already feeling relaxed, or another cocktail when you already feel pretty happy may seem overindulgent, it actually isn't when you can't remember the last time you put exactly what you want before anyone else.  And knowing that it was all going to come to an end rather quickly, left me with no guilt.  

Cheers for adult pools...and really great husbands!

*  Talk to someone who is actually listening.  Naomi and I try to talk regularly, but with our kids' schedules and the two-hour time difference, we really only talk a couple times a month.  We seem to be getting better at that lately, but it was such a treat to have uninterrupted hours, ... no, make that DAYS, to chat about whatever we wanted.  Music, running, inside jokes, sleeping, aging, our marriages, our bodies, our houses, our sisters, going back to work, staying home, and a lot about our kids.  It's easy to get lost in motherhood and forget who you were before it all began and who you are apart from your children, so we both found ourselves wondering what is next for us as our kids get older and this job continues to evolves.  

*  Marry the right person.  I'm not sure how Naomi and I knew what we were doing, but we both seemed to know who we wanted to marry right around the time we turned the legal drinking age.  That boggles my mind, but I know we are both thankful for our supportive, hard-working, and thoughtful husbands who make the job of being a stay-at-home mother much easier.  Thanks, Alex and Sam, for watching the kiddos so we could make this trip happen!

I think these smiles speak for themselves!

*  Money can definitely buy some happiness, but time with your best friend is priceless.   A family friend commented on a Facebook photo of Naomi and I that we are "like sisters who grew up in different houses."  It is so true.  Yet Naomi and I have not spent this much time together probably since our senior year in high school.  That was 19 years ago.  Nineteen years!  But being together for four days straight was so easy and relaxing because we know each other so well and are so similar.  I couldn't ask for a better traveling partner, and I see many adventures ahead for us!  

And while it will likely be a very long time until we can do something like this again, being able to look back at these photos and remember the fun, laughter (I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!), and the much-needed break we had will sustain both of us on those crazy parenting days and nights ahead!  

Who's Your BFF?

It's not often as an adult that I use the term "BFF" but Noami has been and always will be my Best Friend Forever. Since age three when we met, if someone asked me who my best friend was, I would and still do answer "Naomi." Yet since the age of 18, we have never even lived in the same city. We have graduated from college, tried new jobs, gotten married, had babies, and met lots of new friends, but Naomi will always be my BFF. Now I rely on her long-distance mothering wisdom and sense of humor to lift me up. It's amazing we can still indulge in hour-long phone conversations with screaming kids in the background, but being able to change a poopy diaper while still talking on the phone is a skill we have mastered. She also inspires me: she introduced me to the world of blogging, and she motivates me through her new-found hobby of triathlons and running.
Now, though, I only get to see her once or twice a year, but it doesn't matter - we always have great time. One of the reasons we do have fun is because we married great guys who like hanging out with each other probably even more than Naomi and I do. We always say how lucky we are that we married guys who get along so well, and we also hear Alex and Sam say how lucky they are too. We all have a love for great wine and great food. In fact, one of our best ideas to date is to all go out for a fantastic meal together as our Christmas gifts to each other. I also never seem to laugh harder than when the four of us are together. I guess it brings out that dorky kid in me and I laugh so hard I can't breathe and my side hurts. And having all known each other for so long (at least 11 years), the four of us have many inside jokes and long-running "traditions." I won't go into too much detail so as not to embarrass anyone (okay, all of us), but needless to say I am very blessed to have an amazing lifelong friend in Naomi, as well as many great memories of the four of us together.This fall was no exception, as we got to see them twice: in October when we visited them in Dallas, Texas, and this Thanksgiving, when the Calle clan was in Portland for a week. Not only was it a blast to hang out so much, it was also great seeing our kids play together. And we are creating friendships amongst our kids now too. Things are definitely different then they were a few years ago. But I know my BFF will always be there and we will still be giggling about things when we are old and gray.