My First 5K!!

5K Mud Run!!

Today I participated in my first 5k! Yep...two friends and I did the Mud Run.  We did what all serious marathon runners (ha) do...and that is get great accessories.  We had cute little pink shirts made up with the saying, "I thought they said RUM!"  They were a hit.  We got a lot of points, laughs, and "love it!" By the time we got to the start line, I were feeling pretty good.  And then they said GO!

Tangela models

My first big mistake was not listening to my boyfriend (I HATE even saying that!) when he kept saying all summer, "You better start training!"  I kept thinking...it's SUMMER, I'm a teacher, I have TONS of fiction books to read, and tons of pages to write. Ugh...it seems my former Marine may have known what he was talking about!  One of my friends that participated with me today said she was just going to "wing it!" when I asked her about training...and that seemed like solid, sound advice...lol...so I decided I'd just wing it, too.  Not very smart!

I did okay the first couple miles...I honestly did!!!  There were mud pits to crawl through, steep cargo nets to climb over, walls to scale and crawl under, straps to walk on top of one foot at a time (very difficult for someone with no balance!)...all these things I did (EVERY ONE OF THEM) while sloshing through mud in 100 degree heat!  Okay, I did have help on the balance beam, but as a special education teacher, I take the "accommodation/modification" approach...my friends held my hands so I wouldn't fall. I have NO balance. When we got to this balancing obstacle, Tangela says, "Oh, Jenna, you are @%!&#$!!!!!"   LOL...she was right.  But even with the help they had to give me, I honestly was still feeling great!!  THEN...the last half of the 5K came crashing down on top of me!!!

It was the last leg...the end was near...I could see the victory (finish) sign in the distance...people laughing and partying, music blaring...VICTORY WAS MINE!!  This may seem like a crazy thought, but by this time, I was beginning to get delirious...only I didn't quite know it. Yes, victory was mine...until we actually came upon the last two sets of obstacles. One set was a huge, bounce house type slide.  Only, there was no stairs to climb up and slide down all graceful like...NO...you had to haul yourself UP THE STEEP RUBBERY, MUDDY INCLINE with only a nub and a rope!!!! WHAT THE !@#$#@!!!!  Who WERE these sadists!!!!

Tangela went first (which was not the norm...she usually was the one to give me help), then Lodder and I went next.  Lodder takes off like a freaking ninja scaling a wall...and I start to panic!!  I get halfway up, and I start to almost cry.  I was physically exhausted, I'd been lifting my BODY WEIGHT for the past hour and a half...and it's a hell of a lot of weight to be lifting!! LOL..and I had a momentary panic that for the first time, I couldn't do this!!  Lodder is sitting on the top of the slide, telling me to grab on and to haul myself up (yeah, like THAT was going to just happen in my panic attack)...and I hear myself crying, "I need Tangela!  I need Tangela!"  Lodder calmed me down, I hauled my butt up the last bit, and we slid down the muddy, steep slide.  I stood up, but I couldn't quit shaking.  Much to my dismay, not three feet away, was ANOTHER rubbery, muddy slide!  And here my friends, is where it gets comical!

Now, I did learn a lot about myself during this journey, and that is I admittedly have unresolved anger issues toward men.  Ha! This was a "women only" run, but men were allowed to watch...AND VIDEO!!!  Now, not all men were there solely to heckle the women, I know that...but I did hear some rather nasty comments...and I wasn't exactly thrilled that they were allowed to video us!  Like we were going to be their comedy relief for the week!  This is important to know...because the next part is why I didn't want ANYONE filming! LOL...so...this god-awful slide is mine to scale AGAIN!  By this time I am shaking pretty badly, and I seriously think I'm going to vomit. The three of us girls decide we will do this together...and we slowly take off.  Lodder and Tangela make it to the top and they turn to wait for me...and I WAS ALMOST THERE!!  I truly was ALMOST THERE...and the worst thing that could happen...happened!  I slipped....

Now, like on the first slide, the only thing you had were these little rubbery nubs sticking out of the steep incline and a rope.  When I slipped, my whole front side hit EVERY FREAKING NUB ON THE WAY DOWN!!!  Yes, this meant with every bump, my shirt inched upward!!  And with my shirt, also came my sports bra!!  I could feel the slide on my BARE STOMACH!!  Oh, the humiliation!!!  When I reached the bottom, I surreptitiously tried to pull my muddy shirt down, while listening for the sounds of babies screaming for their mothers about their eyes being burned!! LOL!!!!! I hauled myself up...and thought...that's it, I'm going to conquer this b!tch!!!! 

AFTER!!

Only I didn't.  I tried one more time, but I was shaking so badly, I couldn't do it.  I had to tell Tangela and Lodder to go on down the slide without me.  I had to turn around and get off.  The other women there were very kind, asking me if I was all right, reaching their hands out to help me...I mumbled I was okay and tried to regain my kick-@ss attitude.  But I was having a hard time.  We finally get to the LAST obstacle, and it's TWO eight-foot tall walls to climb over.  By this time, I was dizzy, unable to speak, weak, I think I was going blind in my right eye, I'm trying not to vomit, sweating, shaking, skin was sizzling in the blazing sun, and I was just really, REALLY ready to be done!  I climbed up the wall, Lodder reaches up (they have finished) to help me steady my leg, I'm leaning over the top of the wall, eight feet in the hair, and I think, "She's going to be pissed if I puke on her!" LOL...and a part of me wanted to, because I wanted them to feel as badly as I did!!!  LOL...yep, I'm kinda a yucky friend when I'm having a heat stroke!!!! I swing my legs over, and down I shimmy.  We walk a few more feet, and there's the LAST eight-foot wall to climb.  I absolutely could not make my feet do it.  I didn't want the girls to have to wait on me, risk getting vomited on, or worse, fallen on....so I didn't do my last obstacle!  Was I disappointed...YES.  But by this time I don't really remember much else.  I know we made it to the finish line, had pictures snapped, and headed to our car.  I asked a lady to take our picture, or rather, I whispered it to her because for some reason I couldn't speak.  The world was moving swiftly and my body felt like it was standing still and ready to implode. I had to close my eyes on the ride home, afraid I'd get sick in Lodder's car.  James called me (I don't even remember this) and he said I was slurring my words so badly he thought I was hurt or drinking! LOL...it's hours later and I'm just now able to sit up without feeling like I'll lose my insides, and I still have a huge headache.  

Will I do it again...HECK YEAH...I'm looking forward to the Color Run, the Glow Run, and any other run I can find.  Because even though I am exhausted beyond anything I can ever remember...I actually was able to do something amazing!!  Something I didn't know my body could do!!!

   

Personal Testimony of my Sister's Amazing Journey!!!

This blog post is dedicated to my sister, Juliana. As most of you know, Jules has lost and kept off over 200 pounds this last year. I can't express how proud I am of her!!  Her dedication to making herself into a more healthful person has been surpassed by everyone's expectations!  I'll never forget her telling me the story of going in for her three month check up and sitting next to a girl who had surgery at the same time she did.  The girl had only lost 20 pounds in three months, while Juliana had already lost nearly 100 pounds!!!  Even the doctors were amazed at the way her body took to the surgery.  She was meticulous about measuring her food, eating what she was supposed to, and sticking to the diet. The result was a weight loss of over 200 pounds!!!  That's the amazing news...the not-so-amazing news, with this huge weight loss came real challenges.  Trust me, on this I know, when you have dramatic weight loss, it doesn't just melt away with the weight.  When I lost my 80 pounds, I loved the way my body looked, most days.  Unfortunately, there were many times I would be discouraged by the way my skin now sagged.  So I made the decision to have the skin removed.  Juliana is now struggling with this problem--the main difference, mine was only 80 pounds, hers is over 200 POUNDS!!!!  It's almost incomparable.  I'm writing this post because I am asking help for my sister.  We have started a fund for her to help reach her goal of having skin removal surgery. Juliana is the most warm, positive, and giving person I know.  She loves life, always has, but now that she's able to get around in it, she really thrives.  However, not surprisingly, there are days she has bouts of depression over the vast amount of skin that hangs down from her arms, stomach, and legs.  If you go on her Give Forward site, you can see AMAZING before and after pictures.  She starts with the day of her surgery (she had to drop down to 350 pounds before the doctors would do the surgery, so she had lost 30 pounds already)...and slide all the way over and see her FANTASTIC HEALTHY BODY minus 220 pounds!!! Thanks in advance...and please share this blog so that others may experience the amazing journey my sister has started!!     

Her link:
http://gfwd.at/1bVJKnq

Why Children Should Learn the Five Love Languages

This morning talking with Maddy, I had an eye-opening experience regarding her idea of "love" between parents and kids.  Thinking on it, she's probably not the only kid (especially from a divorced family) who may have this type of thinking. It was a serious conversation regarding how she believed one of her parents "loved" her more because that parent stayed home and took care of her as a baby, while the other parent worked outside the home every day and was really "never there" like the other, thereby he didn't love her like the other parent. I told her that her daddy working like he did paid for the house she lived in, all the toys she had, all the food she ate, and even made it possible for her mommy to stay home and take care of her full time.  That was Daddy's way of saying he loved her and her mommy.  She rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, right!" Now, to be honest, this is not the first time James and I have come across her "thinking" regarding the whole role daddy didn't play in her life or she thinks he didn't play and has never been told otherwise from the person she needs to hear it most from! But that's a whole different discussion about divorce.  

I told Maddy about Gary Chapman's the Five Love Languages.  I tried to explain to her that just because one parent does one role and another parent may do a different role, does not mean that one parent loves a child more or less.  Not wanting to put it in a "your mommy" and "your daddy" blame game, I simply asked her to take a look around the house for a minute.  All the things that she has access to, all her clothes, all her games, everything comes from someone who loves her and who wants her to feel safe and loved.  All these things come from her daddy, me, my mom, my sister...everyone loves her, but everyone plays a different role in her life.  I then tried to explain the love between adults.  I told her that Daddy shows me he cares for me by working hard, making me things, taking care of problems around the house....and I show him I care for him by cooking (James may think that's up for debate), doing laundry, working outside the home...different ways in which we show we care about each other.  Trying to lighten the mood, I said, "I even show him love by mowing the yard." Maddy finally pipes up, "Hey, I've been mowing the lawn lately in summer!"  I said, "See, that's your way of showing us you love us."  Maddy, "No, it means I love the yard!" Hmmmm...

So maybe I didn't explain it as well as I wanted...but I will say it honestly broke my heart to hear her say (and be trained to believe it true!) that she believed one parent loved her more simply because their role was different.  As I'm writing this, Maddy is sitting in the "Daddy Chair" writing her own story.  James has brought her in a cup of hot tea (she took it without a word), he has exited the room and returned with a snack bar for her (he even opened it and pulled down the sides for her)...she didn't even blink at what he did.  I wanted very badly to say, "See Maddy, this is an expression of love he is showing you!!" Unfortunately, the last few months have taken a different turn as to what I can and cannot say to Maddy...so I simply said nothing, and I just hope that she learns by the example we are setting for her...even if I have my doubts.  

It's the "Comments" that Kill Us!!!

I was reading a very funny post this morning about a former Marine that becomes a teacher and does something smart to "shock and awe" the students. It was a joke/story to show the toughness and quick thinking a soldier does, but yet it was short enough a person could remember it and tell it later.  That's what a good story/joke is supposed to do.  I couldn't wait to either go in and tell James (my former Marine) this funny story or just share it with him on Facebook.  Then I did something I hate...I scrolled down and read the comments.

It's the comments that kill us!!  And I don't mean kill us in a funny ha-ha way...I mean it's the comments of life that kill us as individuals.  The first four or five comments of this marine story are all negative, like that wasn't a picture of a correctly ranked officer; other comments were criticizing the "theory" of the whole story; other comments were what they should be:  "Good one!"

I find I sometimes live my life as though I'm reading "comments" people leave for me.  Like I'm living under a microscope, ready to be scrutinized and commented on at any minute.  And not because I'm rich, famous, or even all that darn interesting (haha)...but because it's what people feel they are entitled to do.  It's like they feel it is their right to leave a "comment" on your life because it can be done so freely on the Internet.  Judging people and their "life story" they are telling at that particular moment in their life is somehow justifiable to some people to tell you (or tell others) what they think of you. Guess what...you are not entitled.  Period. You do not always have to have the last word--which is really what the comment section is!

I'm telling myself this as much as anyone.  I'm not so special that I should feel entitled to leave "comments" about what someone else does.  I'm not so smart I should feel entitled to "comment" to others how they should live their life.  I told James I don't know why I was so angry this morning after reading the comments from others regarding the Marine story, it just struck me as "this is what's wrong with our country!"

*As a side note...I did get an education from James regarding the generalized term "soldier" and the implication it has on military men and women who serve in the branches.  

Turbo Kick...Kicked my You-Know-What!!

Okay...so I have been pretty under the weather the last month.  According to the doctor is was nothing more than dehydration/stress/blah blah...so even though I slept 13 hours on Saturday due to pure exhaustion, I woke up this morning thinking no matter what, I was going to start working out again...it has been over a month since I even felt like walking, much less anything else!!

Enter Turbo Kick!  Oh, my gosh...where to start! I decided on Turbo Kick because another teacher in my building teaches the class (she made me swear to write a good review!)...and I've heard other teachers talk about it, and I've physically seen with my own eyes how much another teacher has benefited from this class!!  HOWEVER, I will say, no one told me there were DEFINITE prerequisites that you must have!! 

1.  You MUST have the ability to walk and chew gum.
2.  You MUST be able to have coordination in your left side (if you are right handed).
3.  You MUST be able to remember how to count under duress.

As most of you know (because you know me) I have NONE of these prerequisites!!  We start off the class, and I'm feeling great (we were working on our right side)...then the evil instructor had to go and make us do the same thing on our LEFT side.  I had no idea until tonight just how UNCOORDINATED my left side really is! 

I will pause right here and let everyone know that there are a few things I will never do in my life:
    1.  A "burpie"...the only "burping" I will ever do will be to a baby...and since I've never had one, we can just move on.
    2.  The "Roger Rabbit"...I saw the movie at a drive-in theater in 1988 with my cousin.  I'm almost CERTAIN my instructor wasn't even BORN then, so by default I am never required to do this move!

Now...for the other fun tidbits running through my mind as I was lagging three beats behind everyone else tonight. There came a spot in the routine where we had to jump in the air and turn around in one motion.  I swear, I actually thought about doing this...immediately, my butt checked my reality!  I suddenly hear my butt (yes, it does speak) screaming, "WOMAN!  You've taken physics...you understand momentum and force! Unless you want to take out the right side of the room, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS!"  Needless to say, I simply turned in a circle. Another place where I actually giggled and almost laugh aloud, was when we were doing "jab, jab, punch, kick, cross" and all I could think of was if I was ever attacked and I tried this stuff, my attacker would probably BUST A GUT laughing at my antics!!!!!  I mean, really, who the heck can't remember how to jab, jab and which foot goes forward...ME!!!  I kept repeating to myself "opposite....opposite" but my feet could never remember! 

After the class, the instructor came to me and asked me what I thought.  I replied honestly, "This was the most ridiculous thing I've ever done!"  And for those of you who know me....you know I've done some PRETTY RIDICULOUS things in my life!! 

So...will I ever go back to this class?  HECK YES!!  I plan on making this a regular thing.  Why, you may ask?  Because after this class, I left feeling like tomorrow I will be able to WALK, TALK, AND CHEW GUM!!!  And I will own it!!   I haven't felt this great in a very long time!  Yes, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing...yes, I was constantly lost...yes, I looked like an idiot out there pretending I could jab, punch, and move all at the same time.  But I left feeling great!  Alicia does a great job at motivating as well as instructing!  So when I am in St. Joe on Mondays, I will make this my thing....who knows, by the end of school year, maybe I will be jabbing and kicking my way to awesomeness!!!   

 

Thank you, Mom, for my literacy!!

I don't know why I asked this question in my Comm Arts class today...maybe because we are back from Christmas break, and I wanted to see where I needed to start again, but I innocently asked, "How many of you got a book for Christmas this year?"  No one raised their hand...hhhmmm...okay..."How many of you asked your parents for a book?"  Not a hand.  I don't know why I am so astonished, but I am...I'm amazed that kids don't ask and parents don't think to give books as gifts!!  Buying books and reading them are so much a part of my life, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have them! Last year my mom bought Maddy the full Puppy Place series for Christmas...and this year she bought Mads seven new books!!

I grew up in a family that embraced reading of anything!  LOL...I once got in trouble in junior high for bringing an "inappropriate" book to school..thank you Sidney Sheldon!  And I believe I read my first Harlequin in fourth grade.  But my mom's theory was she didn't care what my sister and I read as long as we read!  Every summer my mom would take Juliana and me to a used bookstore and let us get ANYTHING we wanted!!  I remember carrying out FOUR trash bags full of books one summer...and after we read those, she'd let us trade for more.

Reading is something I believe my sister and I took for granted growing up.  My mother used to always tell us that reading was a struggle for her as a child (Dyslexia...what is that?)...and she wanted to make sure we never struggled like she did. And I love her for that! Granted, growing up in a time where there was only two or three tv stations and static radio didn't HURT (haha)...but it really was a matter of my mom making reading important for the family!

If you were to ask me today who the bigger influence was regarding my desire to read--school or home--I would tell you without a doubt...HOME!       

I AM a Military Wife!

I AM a Military Wife!


The heartache hits around every corner,

The loneliness stretches for miles;

I desperately need to touch your sweet face,

And be graced with one of your smiles.

…..I am a Military wife!



The days are filled with everyday duties,

Like errands, the kids, the house;

But at night I lie in bed all alone,

And wish I could just hold my spouse.

….I am a Military wife!



Myriad memories that Daddy is missing,

I try vainly to capture them all;

The walks in the park and bedtime, too,

But the effort just seems so small.

….I am a Military wife!



I know what you do is important,

But that doesn’t alleviate my fears;

The impending call to head into battle,

Your sacrifice of blood, sweat, and tears.

…I am a Military wife!



So forgive me if sometimes I rage and cry,

Most nights I am really strong;

It’s just that I miss my lover’s embrace,

So please don’t be gone too long.

…I am a Military wife!



--For Angel Utt by Jenna Buhman