Three Things Thursday

1. Y'all, it's hard to figure out what to blog about when I'm not running.

I LOVE my job so far, and everyone here. I really, really didn't like my last job. I'm at the end of my fourth week here, and it's so great being trusted to handle the responsibility I was hired for. The work I'm doing is certainly nothing earth-shaking, but it's engaging and really fun. AND THE PEOPLE ARE SO GREAT. Also, fun fact, it's a restaurant marketing company, so they keep us really well fed. Which really makes the not running extra trecherous....

But after spending a year+ having allthetime, I totally feel like now, I have NONE of the time. It's befuddling to me how I ever trained for marathons AND worked full time.

I recognize that I'm just making excuses and being whiny, because in reality, I'm working great hours, I get to take the kids to school, and my commute is half of what it used to be. I just can't seem to get it together. Yet. I'm sure I will. I'm just adjusting still, I guess.


2. Would you like to see my kids instead?

First day of school!

ignore the dining room that is currently in remodel phase...

Me: Take a quick picture I can send to grandma.

#2: Like this!

Um. Okay, then.


3. Cross Country season is in full swing, and there are so many numbers and statistics and man I love it! For the first time in years, #1's girls' varsity team was not ranked in our division, and the coach was very sad about that. To be fair, they lost the three strongest runners when they insisted on graduating and going off to college or some nonsense.

But the new team is working hard, and they're doing pretty well - they're all better than they were at the start of last year, so hopefully that trajectory continues.

I was SUPER excited to hear that they were going to be bussed to the races this year, so we didn't have to go so so so early, and STAY all day.

I was SUPER excited to hear that, until this news was followed up with instructions to have them at the school by 5:45am on race days. That is less appealing to me.

Anyway.

Our school hosts the third largest invite in the country - this year was the 34th year, and it's AN ORDEAL. The kids head over on Friday before lunch, then work to set up the course and act as course monitors, leaving after the last race around 11pm. The next day, they race while parents are course monitor, from 2-10. AND THEN we get to break down the entire course, and transport everything back to the moving trucks. It's a pretty special time.

I don't even get to watch her race!

The highlight of the evening was when the company that supplied the timing chips advised a group of 50 kids at 11pm that all FIFTEEN THOUSAND chips needed to be sorted into numerical order. That was really fun.

The next morning, a friend alerted me to this cool shot in the local paper.

Which was followed by 20 minutes of me driving all over Irvine looking for a copy, only to be thwarted by Late Sunday edition I could find being different from the home delivery edition he was showing me. It's all cool, though, because I totally snagged some killer coupons, so it paid for itself, because last night I used it to buy 10 yogurts for $3. #ExtremeCouponing