KINDERGARTEN....wth?!

We are 1 week in to this school year. 1 week into our first go round with public school. 1 week into kindergarten.  I drop my BABY off in the mornings and he says bye and walks himself inside.  He will be 6 in March.. when the heck did this happen??!! I am floored by how much he has grown. He is really smart, and I am not just saying that because he is mine. The way he thinks about things and problem solves is amazing.  

He is going to the school I went to for kindergarten through 5th grade. It is so neat to be able to go back into that school and see how its changed. It is even better to see how it has not changed. It smells the same. It has been updated, but overall it looks the same.  I can look at doors or halls and immediately be taken back to when I walked those halls. I can show you where my science projects were in the hall. I can show you where I sat in the cafeteria for assemblies.  I can remember where I had to stand when I was a safety patrol.  I can tell you where I was on stage with choir when I first learned to sing "50 Nifty United States" (I can still sing it today) I have been to fall festivals there. Book fairs. Secret Santa shop. The school store. Tornado drills. Earthquake drills.

So much more. I cannot wait to do it all again with Zak. I hope being a Mustang means as much to him as it did to me.  

He has only had 1 complaint so far. The school day is to long. Lol 5 year old me would agree 100%!

(Now... there are those who will read this and say, "well, it's time to have another one right?" 

The answer is no. If it were the time, right now, I'd be pregnant... and I'm not. )

A blue and yellow dream

Ok, this is going to be one of those "got to write it down so I stop obsessing in my head" posts. I am going to start out by being blunt. I am fat. I have weight on my body that needs to go away. I have struggled with it my whole life but it got worse in my late 20s. Oddly enough ,I gained the bulk of my weight when they put me on a medicine for depression in college. ( Please, ask me if that helped my depression...) 

There, I said it. Now that we have addressed that elephant in the room I will get to the point of this post. Those of you who have read my other posts ( if you haven't then you should),  or know me personally, know that a year ago I laced up my shoes and set out to run. 

My first goal was exactly that. Run. Run a mile without dying. It took time, but I can now . I've improved my time, over the last 11 months, from 30+ minutes per mile, with no running to 14.30 minutes per mile ,with minimal walking. 

I moved on to goal 2. Complete a 5k in under an hour. I accomplished that November 2018. I ran the Turkey Trot, here in Sumter, for Thanksgiving.  My cousin Katy stayed with me. We finished in 50 minutes.  ( no I didnt run the whole thing. I run/walk. In the words of our Lord, "Judge not.") 

Goal 3 was bigger. I wanted to run at least a 5k every month for a year. Some have been virtual, some have been a 10k. There is even a 15K in there. Some months I have completed more than one race but I have 11 medals right now. I get number 12 in September.  I will have done it. Right now, my 5k PR (personal record) is 42:18. I hope to beat that in September.  

Goal 4 is in place. October 2019 I will run my 1st HALF MARATHON!! (That is 13.1 miles)  I have my 2ed scheduled for November.  Goal 4 is to run a half marathon a month, for a year. 

I have another goal. A long term goal, but hopefully a "sooner rather than later" goal.

**DRUMROLL**

I WILL RUN THE BOSTON MARATHON 

 26.2 iconic and historic miles. I will hear the scream tunnel. I will defeat heartbreak hill. I will make that famous last turn and I will cross the finish line. 

I will wear that finisher medal with more pride than I can imagine. 

I may be fat, but you know what guys and gals???? That doesn't matter. Running doesn't care what size you are. I may still be overweight on that amazing day but I dont care. I do not have to be a size 0 to fit into that medal. 

Will I be smaller? Sure. Will I be healthier? Inevitably.  Will I be "at goal"? Heck yeah! Because my goal is Boston. Not a number on a scale. 

There is hard work ahead. There is training to do and qualifications to be met. I want to BQ ( Boston Qualify). That has to be done on a certified marathon course.  This year's time for women my age is an average pace of 8:30 or less to qualify. There are charities that will sponsor me at a slower time, so I can still run it without a BQ, but I want to qualify! I have to apply and be accepted once I BQ. 

Intimidating right??? Yeah, but I dont care. I am Boston bound. I am determined.  I will succeed!!

Ask and ye shall receive...a stuffed cat

So over the weekend I found some cat fabric at Walmart. My child is OBSESSED with cats. The first thing he wanted was a sleep mask.            ( what??... a sleep mask...what 5 year old wants a sleep mask) 

So... I made a sleep mask. Why? Because I am Mom, watch me sew. 

Next he wanted a cat toy.  Ok.. considering I haven't been working with fabric to long I was not sure. What do we do when we are unsure??? We turn to Pinterest,  duh! 

I found a pattern for a cat, doll, toy, thing. Seemed easy enough. Again, I am mom...watch me sew..

STEP 1:  print your pattern. 

problem 1: no printer. 

I sat down with a crayon and construction paper and drew the best uneven pattern anyone has ever seen!! ( it's not horrible...just not measured AT ALL)

So, Pattern made. Fabric cut. Sweet!! 

STEP 2: pin it all on place

problem 2: how the holy hellfire am I going to attach all this so i can stuff it.....

I came up with the brilliant plan to pin it all down and sew all around the edge so it was all together. Go me! 

This worked awesome except when I turned it right side out I could stick my finger through its arm pit..

I then went back in and had to sew the arm pits and ear pits in place

 ......blindly. cause I was NOT flipping that darn thing back inside out ...

Now let me pause here to state my sewing machine is at my mom's.  So I did ALL of this by hand. With an embroidery needle and thick thread... 

*note the purple arm pit and ear pit sewing.

STEP 3: create the face. 

problem 3: this is me. Free handing a cat's face with a needle and the same type thread I would use to cross stitch...

I gave him button eyes. ( no way was I embroidering on eyes that would give my child nightmares). I figured, how hard can his nose and whiskers be. You'd think not so bad... Hahahaha I love you guys and your faith in me.

(Side note I am well aware that his eyes are 2 different sizes. At this point I had a theme going. )

STEP 4: sew, stuff and attach tail.

problem 4: sew, stuff and attach tail

Never in my life has a tail been attached but look like it could fall off at any moment. I stabbed myself. Got blood on it. I had to stop, unstuff, and wash the blood off the tail. Jesus, take the tail... my next cat may not have one. 

This picture is pre blood offering. 

STEP 5: STUFF THE CAT.

problem 5: I left his 2 bottom legs and crotch open cause " I'm so smart I will make this easier to sew". 

Stuff ears - CHECK.

Stuff arms- CHECK

Stuff body- CHECK

Stuff legs-.....crap

Now I had to push the stuffing down so I could sew up his leg. Reposition the stuffing and sew his other leg. Stuff extra up his ... well stuff extra. Push that down. Pinch it shut and sew it closed. Then shake the dang thing all around so the fluff would shift back down. 

I started this "easy" project at about 430PM.

6 FREAKING HOURS LATER!!  I finished the cat. His legs are 2 different shapes. His arms are different sizes. His ears are wacky. His tail has a blood stain and I think he is fantastic.  

Zak named him Jasper cat. #worthit

This picture will also let you see his sleep mask. 

What did my child say to me??? Oh thanks Mom. Now you can make me cat gloves.

I am mom, see me sew...

(Anybody ever made cat gloves???)

#run

Running. I was the person who said " If you see me run then you need to run because something is chasing me." I HATED running in P.E... I "hustled " badly in marching band no matter how much Mr. Jones yelled.
September of 2018 I really looked at a picture of myself at Zak's birthday party.  I was embarrassed to say that was me.  I had chins and rolls and was in a size 20/22. ( dont tell anyone... that is still embarrassing) I decided I wanted to do something.  So I downloaded an app called Couch to 5K. I set out to run. I don't know why, but that is what I wanted to do.  I wanted to run and I wanted to get medals for finishing.
Run 1 day 1 gave me 30 min. I went .92 in that 30 minutes ...
That means it would have taken me closer to 35 or 40 minutes to make it a mile. I remember how hard it was to jog for 30 seconds at a time. Most of those times I didnt make it the full 30 seconds. I was exhausted and sweaty when I got back. My head hurt, my body hurt... it was terrible, but I kept going. I wasnt worried about weight or looks. I simply wanted to do it. I wanted to run a mile. I will spare you all the progressive details. Those are for another post. Today I run a 14.30 minute mile.  My record for a 5k is 43.50 minutes.  My 10k record is 1:33:44. My 15k record is 2:26:42.  My first half marathon is set for 10/12/19.
My records were made to be broken. They were all set over the last 11 months so the girl who ran 9.41 miles in January and finished in 2:26:42 is not the same girl who is writing this today. I will not be the same when I go back to Charlotte in February of 2020 to run that 15k again.

My goal was to run and get a finisher medal for 12 months. 1 year. That year is up next month. When I cross the finish line of the Tunnel to Tower 5k in Columbia,SC, I will have achieved that goal. More on that later.
I am not a size 20/22 anymore.  I am a 16/18. I am not horribly far from 14/16. My son thinks I am a champion who has won every race I've signed up for, I have a medal after all.
When you run you compete against the person your were yesterday.  So, he is right. I win. I am the champion (*enter queen song here) .
I will keep running.  I will lace up my Brooks Ghost 12 shoes. I will set my garmin forerunner 235. I will break more personal records. I will get faster. I will run Boston one day. 
And I WILL figure out the best way to carry the most water during a race.  (Seriously,  I thirst to death in between water stations...) #H2O

I am not a dog groomer..nope, definitely not!

Ok. Well, I can mark "dog groomer" off of the list. I will not be making a career out of that any time soon. My poor dog...

I am the proud mama of a cocker spaniel named Jasper. ( named this because he has curly hair like the vampire in Twilight.  Don't judge me!) He is 10 years old and he is not a good client when he goes to get a haircut.  He HATES his feet being touched. I admit, I had let the fur get to long. My bad, that's on me... but I get really tired of paying  $100 for them to tell me he is exhausting and I need to touch his feet more.  Yes, he gets a hair cut...but seriously $100??! He weighs all of 25lbs and I dont like people touching my feet either.

Tonight, I cut his fur. I stepped up and set out to give him a simple buzz cut, quick and easy. Here is what I learned:
1. He is exhausting
2. He hates having his feet touched and someone should really touch his feet more to get him used to it.

For the most part I accomplished what I set out to do. He is trimmed. I have a grocery bag FULL of fur. He has GOT to feel better..cooler...lighter! I mean come on, he even dozed off while I was working on his chest.
Y'all....he looks like one of those furry legged chickens.  (Seriously, they are real. Go Google it. You wont be disappointed.  )

Bless... my poor baby.

The required intro post

Hello All! 

The obvious first: I am Amanda. This is my blog. 

I have been wanting to do this for awhile, but I have had an impossible time trying to figure out what to write about. I dont have one thing that I do all the time. I dont have one thing I can teach everyone about. I do a little bit of a lot of stuff. I hope you enjoy my stories and please feel free to tell me yours. Below is a small list of things you may see me discuss. Thanks for reading and sharing!!!

1. I am a wife and  I am a mom to a 5 year old boy named Zak

2. I am a runner.

3. I dabble in MANY crafts...painting, sewing, quilting, jewelry making, scrapbooking,  card making, crocheting, and many other Pinterest inspired things.

4. I want to kayak. Flat water..none of those crazy Rapids that require a helmet. 

5. I work in the court system. That provides blog topics all on its own.

6. I am an AMAZING over thinker. That should entertain everyone with an interest in psychology