Today is my birthday.


I am now one year closer to a decade change.


I am not going to mention which decade I am going to enter next year (if I don't talk about it maybe it won't happen), but if you care to formulate a guess using the number of children and years I have been married, you can probably figure it out.

I have been struggling with my next birthday. I have tried to put various spins on it including denial and looking at age group results in the bracket up for races that I want to participate in. My thought was that if I had to go up an age group, maybe I'll go up in results as well. Sadly, my new group is as fast, if not faster than the one I am leaving. (Don't those women have jobs or something else to keep from training?)

My newest strategy involves trying to reflect upon my current decade, as I have one more year in it, and celebrate all of the things that have happened to me during that time.

My list is topped off by the addition of my four wonderful, beautiful, smart, almost always (well sometimes, maybe) well behaved children.

We moved to Wisconsin where we have made friends that will undoubtedly last us a lifetime.

I have had the ability (privilege) of being a stay at home mom where I can witness many milestones and moments from the life of my kids that I would have missed if I had continued working.

We have had the opportunity to take vacations and spend time with long time family friends creating many fond memories for ourselves and our children -- a present that will last them forever.

I became involved in endurance sports (marathons and triathlons) and as a result I have met many great people and am in the better shape now than in the beginning of the decade.

Although my list is currently only up to five, I think that it is good start. I am planning on dwelling on the positive and celebrating what I have accomplished rather than rue a decade change. I think my new approach is much healthier than denial and drowning my sorrows in a bagful of Swedish Fish, Jelly Bellies, chocolate chips, or all three (kind of an unhealthy trail mix).

KITCHEN UPDATE!!

I currently have NO kitchen. As you notice in the pictures, I have a refrigerator and a stove. My kitchen counter is a old door (which is the color of the cabinets prior to me painting them green) and saw horses. No dishwasher. No sink. So far, no problem. We are using as much paper products as possible and I wash dishes in the bathroom sink.

All of my new kitchen cabinets are stacked in order in my garage. My new refrigerator in my living room and my new range, micro hood, and dishwasher are in the other half of the garage. Installation weekend is the Friday after Thanksgiving --

Who needs big sale savings when I am going to get my KITCHEN partially back?

(We have to reuse the old counter top until the new counter top is measured and installed)

Woo Hoo!!! Let the carpentry begin.

Let the insanity begin......

Today we started the kitchen remodel. I am quite excited by the prospect of a new kitchen. I have always hated my cabinets and we were constantly changing things to make the kitchen work for us. Here are some of the fabulous "features" of the old (current) kitchen.


The first thing that probably strikes you is the color. Believe me when I say that my paint job is a real improvement over the color they were when we moved in. As you will notice the floor is a honey oak color. The walls are painted white accented with a light avocado green. The cabinets were stained dark -- like the color of baker's chocolate. It made the kitchen look like a cave. After a year living in the cave, I decided that I could not stand the color of the cabinets and I painted them a light green and "aged" them with wood stain. When all of the doors were replaced, light finally shown in the kitchen. We were no longer cave dwellers. The paint however could not hide the fact that the framed doors were coming apart and paint could not repair the poorly functioning drawers.

This is a picture of the interior of the workspace. This peninsula has been the bane of our existence. When we moved in this was a breakfast bar. The counter top extended about 8 inches on the other side. At that time, we had two children ages 2 and 6 months. We would not sit them at a breakfast bar. The breakfast bar also limited access to the backyard. If you notice, there is a sliding glass door along the wall on the other side of the peninsula. The breakfast bar in a combination with the kitchen table made using that door almost impossible. Similar to the "fix" of the color, we "fixed" the counter top as well. We dusted off the circular saw and cut off the breakfast bar making more room for the kitchen table and giving access to the backyard through the sliding door. Another feature to note is the garbage can under the counter. The overhang is a little of the left over breakfast bar. We could not see losing the counter space. Prior to the garbage can residing there numerous "right height" children gave themselves some nice goose eggs on the overhang. This part of the kitchen coined the famous phrase in our house -- "It's not a party until someone throws up, there is blood, and a head injury."


I know this is a repeat of the first image, but I forgot to point out an important "non -safety" feature of my kitchen. Note the stove, it is right next to the doorway. I have always been paranoid that I will have a handle of a pan sticking out over the edge of the stove top, into the door opening and a child will whiz by and send food sailing and (most likely) send a child to the hospital for burns. It is obvious that the kitchen designer did not have kids. (We did in fact have a pan fly, but it was a husband, not a child that caused the demise of that dinner -- I think that it may have been on purpose as he was quick to suggest pizza after he cleaned up the mess). The stove will move over to the right and a small cabinet will been added to the left of the stove for additional storage and safety.

There is something "off" about this picture. Did you notice it? It's not the mess. It is the fact that the sink is not centered on the window. As Mr. Spie and I were standing in the kitchen talking about what we would like, I said that I would really like to have the sink centered on the window. He said that he never really had noticed that it wasn't centered on the window before. (We have lived here 6 years). Now, he says it bothers him. -- The sink has been centered on the window in the new kitchen plan.

Wait? What is that ringing? Do you hear the telephone? Where is the telephone? Why can't I find the telephone!?!You can't find the telephone because it is in this wall of cabinets. The "bat phone" as we lovingly call it sits behind door #1 in the middle row of cabinets. The cabinets are only 13.5" deep so they do not hold much bigger than a box of cereal. The top row of cabinets I used to hold food. The middle row held the telephone and telephone necessities, napkins, kitchen linens, etc. I had small appliances, which you can see, in the bottom row. This made the Fry Daddy very accessible to Captain Destruction. He is also the reason for the missing cabinet door. As he was climbing the cabinets to get his own "snack" the door broke off. We had repaired at least three other cabinets after they met the same fate.

Our new cabinets will not be green. My stove will not be a safety hazard. The view will be the same from both sides of the sink. I will have functioning drawers. All cabinets will have doors and the "goose egg maker" over hang will be no more.

Up next -- pictures of the interim kitchen.

a questioning blog about nothing

1. Is it right to feel guilty about missing a workout during the off-season?

Last Monday, Mr. Spie left really early in the morning (3:00 a.m.) on a business trip. Sunday, in preparation for his trip, I made him get the dreadmill out of hibernation as I will not be able to run outside until his return. (What a waste of daylight savings time ending!) Monday morning, shortly before my alarm went off (5:30 a.m.), Captain Destruction was wandering around the house. I captured him and snuggled with him until he fell asleep again. This action, however, did not leave me enough time to get my run in before I had to rouse the troops for school. I need to get over feeling guilty over a missed workout -- especially a missed workout during off season.

2. When do you cross the line talking about an athletic event you participated in?

In my swim class, there is a woman that talked incessantly the first day about the marathon she had just completed. (most likely the Chicago). Every sentence was "When I was in mile 20 of the marathon..." or "I am still so very tight after the marathon", "My foot hurts still after running the marathon" I completely understand the excitement of completing your event.


On Sunday, a week later, the marathon continued..."I was so elated to get out and run this week. It was the first time that I ran since the marathon." "It was a great run, a little slow though because I just did a marathon". I listened in silence as she talked to her friend, but my in head I was thinking "Enough already!" I am torn between making a comment like "I know. After I ran my first marathon it was hard to get back into the groove, it becomes easier after subsequent marathons" or tracking how many weeks that she will continue the marathon talk.


3. Is it wrong to anxiously await the arrival of your Ebay purchase? Does this giddiness become weird if the purchase is new set of Carmichael training dvds?


On Tuesday, I discovered in the most unfortunate way the Captain Destruction had gotten a hold of my one and only trainer dvd. It is (was) a time trial work out and as I was in the middle of the final "power interval" of 5 minutes sustained at 100+ rpm. I was staring at the clock, intently, wishing that time would go faster than it was. Rather than going faster it stalled, then stopped -- at 1:46 of the interval left to go. I kept pedalling waiting for it to correct itself.

Pedalling. Waiting. Pedalling. Waiting. Still pedalling. Still waiting.

Oh, Tatar Sauce!!

Finally, I stop, get off the bike, fast forward the dvd a few seconds, get back on the bike and complete the never ending interval. I needed to replace this dvd. I love being told what to do in training and at 5:00 a.m I am not creative nor motivated enough to do a real intense work out on my own. An Internet shopping trip was in order. So, Happy Birthday!! early to me, I now am awaiting 5 new dvds!! Four of which I will use. The fifth is a mountain bike workout that I intend to convince my husband to use.


4. Is remodelling your kitchen the during the holidays pure insanity or a great way to keep company at bay?


I am at T minus 18 days before we are ripping out the kitchen cabinets. At best I am looking at 1 month without a complete kitchen. The appliances are expected to take residence in my garage on the 19th and installation has been scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving. I am excited about the new kitchen. I have to admit that I am even a bit more excited at the prospect of not having to entertain during the holidays. No kitchen = no food + no cleaning, because why bother!


5. At what point do you write a letter to a store manager?


Tuesday is my grocery shopping day. After I drop the two oldest off at school, the two youngest and I drive to the grocery store with list in hand. Our school does a grocery store gift card fundraiser, so I shop that store to give money to the school and get a discount on my tuition. I arrive at the store and am greeting by signs that indicate that due to a system upgrade starting a four a.m. and until further notice, they will be unable to accept gift cards and debit cards for shopping purchases. We walk in and stop by the service desk to see if the upgrade is still going on. It is and now I cannot shop there because my methods of payment (gift card and debit card) are now eliminated. I gather the kids and return to the car to shop at a different store as we are desperate for food. As I drive the 15 minutes back into town, I wonder why advance notice could not have been given about this upgrade. I could have moved my shopping day, planned in advance. Surely they must have known this ahead of time. I am not the only person in the world that shops once a week am I?


Upon arrival at grocery store number 2, my children indicate that they would like to ride in a truck cart. We examine 3 truck carts before we find one that has both steering wheels. I have two children riding so I need two steering wheels. The drawback to the cart with the dual steering wheels is that there are no functioning seat belts. I decide that the steering wheels outweigh the seat belts and I will deal with the consequences of my choice as they appear. Shopping goes fairly smoothly. The two year old (Captain Destruction) is doing fairly well. He pops out of the cart when I stop, but gets in when I request him to. Near the end of our shopping adventure, he starts to get a little antsy and starts to climb the outside of the truck cart. I am not driving fast. I am stopping frequently to put items in the cart, so I am not too concerned when he rides on the sides of the truck cart, but am adamant that he will not ride on the roof and stop and request that he get off and back in the cart when he attempts to "truck surf".


I am in the last aisle, searching for the elusive last item on my list and a gentleman approaches me. He is the operations manager of the store (as indicated by his name tag) Here is our conversation.


Operations Manager --"I just wanted you to know that it is unsafe for him to ride on top of the truck" (Mind you that the cart is not moving at this time and I am standing still looking for my last item -- CD must have climbed on the truck while I was searching for the item)

Me -- "I understand that you are doing your job, but understand that I am just trying to get my grocery shopping done as quickly as possible"

Operations Manager --"But, if he should fall...."


"If he should fall, I wouldn't dream of holding the store responsible"


Operations Manager --"Just as long as we have had this conversation" -- and he walks away.


Now, I am a little upset (insert a nastier word to get the real emotion). I find the elusive item, with CD in the truck cart and see the Operations Manager talking to a wine vendor. I stop by him and wait for him to finish.


Me "I just wanted to let you know that part of my problem is that this cart's seat belts are not functioning. If they were, my son would be belted in."


Operations Manager -- "I doubt that that would stop him from climbing on the top of the cart"


Me "I don't think that you have ever had a precocious two year old and he would be belted in"


Operations Manager -- "I have had my share of precocious two year olds"


Then I walked away. As I waited in line, because I needed the food, I seethed. Then the lady behind me jumped line in front of me and when I questioned her about it she wasn't even apologetic.


Fortunately, it is not a tale all of woe. A cashier from heaven appeared and took me immediately, helped me bag my groceries, and I was out of the store before the tears appeared and the line cutting lady even had her groceries on the belt.


NOW, after all this questioning and contemplation, I still have no answers and have realized that I have a lot more to remodel than just my kitchen. I obviously need to remodel my attitude and most significantly my parenting skills (according to the operations manager at my local grocery store).