As a parent....

TMI ALERT! 
I had to laugh tonight about how being a parent affects your sex life.

We put the kids to bed about 45 minutes ago, and I put on a fairly alluring little outfit.  It is a VS "maid" lingerie - I bought it for Valentines Day over 3 years ago, and now it is one of their best selling lingerie, sold in several different colors.  Wow, a little left turn there....  Anyway.  So, I crawled up on my husbands lap in his recliner and started kissing him seductively (see, I warned you about TMI).  It was really quiet except for our moans/sighs and then I heard the kids making noise from their bedroom.  I stopped and yelled "Boys, get to bed!"  Then we both looked at each other and laughed.  It is amazing the things you have to deal with as a parent. We weren't even in bed or getting really intimate when they interrupted.  Being a parent and also a married couple takes great balance, something that we have yet to figure out, even after 10 years.  I know that every couple goes through highs and lows, and every couple is different.  But I am dying to know how people balance being over-sensual or over-sexual with being a parent.  I am afraid that my kids are getting old enough to understand how much we touch each other.  Will that affect them greatly?  Will they understand later that it is how a couple in love acts, not just a couple?  Will it help them later in life knowing that they can have what their parents have in love?  I never know.  It is a difficult line to tow, and there is no manual for parents. 

Another couple of random thoughts....

Some days I have tons of thoughts to share, or I have saved them all up for one big blog...

• Ever feel like you can't shut the hell up?  Like you have diarrhea of the mouth?  Some days I talk to someone and I just can't shut up.  Today I found myself doing that with a friend I haven't really talked to in a while.   I was used to talking to her almost every day, but I haven't had a good conversation with her in a couple of weeks.  She came to bring me mail and work stuff, and I found myself running off at the mouth.  I miss talking to her all the time.
• Speaking of, I am having a difficult time dealing with friends that have moved away from our street.  My girl friend left a few months ago and her husband has been waiting to leave for a year abroad with the Air Force.  Then they are moving to Germany for 3 years.  I miss her tons, but I struggle with knowing what to email her about.  I just don't know what to say.  I feel like I need to say a million things, but I feel like she has her own life away from here, so does she miss me/us?  I see her posts on FB, so I know how things are going.  But I really do miss hanging out with her.  I miss her kids too, and I miss her husband.  He just moved out this week and it is weird knowing that he isn't there anymore.  I loved talking and hanging out with him, but it seemed a little inappropriate once his wife wasn't here anymore.  Not sure why though.  It is making me sad that my friends are gone.  I haven't had to deal with this before.  I guess that is what you have to expect when you live so close to a military base. 
• I love erotic photography, but I have discovered that it makes me feel pretty bad about myself.  The women are almost always super thin, huge boobs, evenly tanned, no body hari, perfect makeup, etc.  I want to take those picture myself, but I know that once I do, I will feel ashamed that I don't look like them.  I discovered that I still have a long way to go in my effort to not compare myself to others. 
• And on a different note - I am amazed that both of my kids are over the age of 5.  In a month and a half, they will both be in elementary school.  I am trying not to over-analyze it or get too sentimental.  I will wait until Aaron's first day of kindergarten to do that.  But I am still becoming a little more nostalgic these days.  Plus, my 8 year old never ceases to amaze me by how mature he is! 
• I finished reading Born to Run and I loved it.  I even teared up after Chris finished the race at the end and all of the townspeople and racers were there cheering for him.  I keep thinking about how I keep getting injured and wonder if I should start running barefoot.  I think that once I finish with my horribly painful yet apparently necessary physical therapy, I will try to start running barefoot through the park a few days a week.  I wonder if that will help me.  
• I am now reading Fifty Shades of Grey.  I have a lot of issues with the books, although I am completely hooked.  1) they are a romanticized version of BDSM.  2) they are written by a woman who hasn't had a man dominate her - completely obvious.  The way Christian's lines are written are "how a woman wants a man to talk to her" and not how a real man talks to a woman.  3) her use of vocabulary is laughable.  4) A thesaurus would help her out immensely.  I am annoyed that she uses the same large words over and over again.  When you put seldomly used words into your writing, it is readily apparent when you use them again and again.  Especially in the same paragraph! 

Those are a few of the things I have been thinking lately and thought I would share.  

PT

Went to my first physical therapy appointment today, and while it hurt, it was also helpful.  I saw both a physical therapist and a student.  They were both really nice, which helped ease the tension I felt about being in a huge room with a bunch of others doing their therapy.  I didn't mind the big room though because I could still see the boys in the waiting room. 
I found out that the swelling in my right ankle and calf also was effecting my achilles and the bottom of my foot.  And as the student was massaging the areas, I also discovered that my calf was sore.  That was a bit weird....  I was pleased to find out though that the strength and agility is the same in both legs.  And, I got a weird since of confidence when they were talking about how my muscles were that of a runner.  I don't have runner's legs - they aren't slim and sinewy like the other runners I usually see.  But I was glad that I am transforming them below the surface.  Now if I can only get the fat and cellulite to go away, they might look a little better.
I was a little disheartened by the fact that I haven't been given a full green light to start working out again.  I knew that they wouldn't want me running yet - apparently the swelling is worse than the doctor led me to believe and it could do more damage if I started back.  I was hoping that they would say "go ahead with the elliptical", but nope.  They were okay with swimming, and the stationary bike would be okay too if it doesn't hurt too much.  I can lift weights too, but I can't really do that every day.  Kind of sucks.  Hopefully soon!  They seemed to be okay with getting me back to running as quickly as possible so that I can start training for the half marathon.  I have a feeling that I will have to walk along with running during the half, but for right now, I am okay with it. 
I got home with a list of excercises and stretches to do, and some massage techniques that should help with the swelling as well.  I also got home with a lot of pain, so I immediately put my leg in an ice bath, which did help.  I am going to be good and do my "homework" so that I can get back to my old self as soon as possible.  I am starting to get grumpy without my workouts!   :)

Falling Apart!

I feel like I am falling apart - and I only have shin splints and tendonitis!  I am a freak, right?  I am reading Born To Run right now, and a lot of it has to do with Chris McDougall trying to find his way to run.  He felt like he was getting injured all the time because he wasn't meant to run.  But it turns out that we were BORN TO RUN!  Well, maybe not me.  I have been feeling like that for a few weeks now.  I did my first 10k race on Memorial Day, and I have been having problems with my right ankle/calf since then.  Walking through the airport, through the mall, in the sand, and through the hotel.   I talked to a doctor a couple of days after I got back, and he said he thought it was tendonitis in my right ankle.  He put me on a Rx anti-inflamatory medicine and told me to go see a sport medicine doc.

I saw him today, and he said that I have tendonitis and shin splints.  I have to see a physical therapist, get new shoes, and do ice water baths a couple of times a day.  He seemed like he took an interest in me, asking me all kinds of questions unrelated to the injury.  He talked to my kids as well, which helped me ease up a little.  I was worried.  I have to start training for the half marathon in a week and a half, so how I am supposed to do that while injured????  I had to laugh though, he was asking about my shoes, my running, and when I started to run.  Then he said "why did you start running?"  All I could think of at the time was "Because I wanted to!". He laughed of course, but really, why does anyone start running?  They want to - because of health, meditation, relaxation, alone time, etc.  You have to want one of the benefits of running to go do it, don't you? 

Ice baths - I always thought they were for marathoners or ultra runners.  But he said I needed to ice my right leg up to almost my knee a couple of times a day for 15 minutes at a time.  This was funny though - he told me that I would probably not make it to even 10 minutes.  He said that the first little bit was okay, but between 8-10 minutes I would be struggling to keep my foot in.  If I could make it through the 10 minutes, then my foot would go numb and the 15 minutes wouldn't be a problem.  Challenge Accepted Dr. Genuario.  It sucked, but I made it through tonight.  Partly because he hurt me so badly while he was examining me this morning that no amount of medication could take away that pain. 

So, I am feeling positive by the fact that it is only shin splints, and that is the most common running injury out there.  I have an appt with the physical therapist tomorrow morning, and I hope that she has good new for me.  I want to start running again.  I want to start training again.  I want to get off my fat ass and get back to being the active girl I was 3 weeks ago!  I know that the heat is a big factor and that the 100 degree temperatures aren't helping, but I have high hope that I will be back to my old self again. 

I wore my Bolder Boulder shirt today, and in the mail today came my stats from the Bolder Boulder.  So really, there is a force out there telling me to get back in to the swing of my regular workouts.  I can't wait to get back out there and prove that I have what it takes to make it!  2 months before the Warrior Dash and 3 months until the half marathon.   I need to be better fast, but really, I am trying to be as patient as possible. 

Soda vs Pop

Do you call it SODA or POP? 
When I was growing up, I called it pop.  "Mom, can I have a pop?"  If you just wanted a cola, it was always Coke, but when we wanted to get a carbonated beverage of any kind, it was POP!
I don't know when it started or with whom, but I have switched to SODA!  What????  James said that he called it soda before he met me, and now he calls it pop.  I think that there had to have been someone else to influence my Soda conversion, because I say it like I have an accent.  I can't tell where the accent is from, but I say it "Soooda". 
Things that make you go "hmmmmm?". 

Star Struck

I am such a nerd, but I can be so star struck when I see a person or place I know on TV.
A couple of my cool things lately:

1. One of Dylan's favorite teachers at freerunning school is going to be an extra in the new The Lone Ranger movie with Johnny Depp.  They are filming part of the movie in Colorado, and he is going to be "China Man #56".  We have to watch it, just to see if we can see him.  That is so exciting!
2. On American Ninja Warrior, 7 of the athletes from Dylan's freerunning school are competing, which is awesome!  And the owner of Apex Movement, Ryan Ford, has been seen several times on the sideline.  For me it is cool because just a couple of weeks ago, we got to watch Ryan teach a class for level 1 instructors while Dylan's youth class was going on.  I wanted to watch sooooo bad, but I felt like it was a bit of an intrusion.  So, I looked occasionally, and I was in awe the whole time.  These people are so fit and light on their feet that I can't seem to get enough. 

Okay, that is about the extent of my "brush with celebrity".  But I always feel like I would be that one fan that would be staring at the star going "humina, humina, humina...."
 :)

A Car Girl

I am such a car girl!  I went out to move the water tonight, and I heard a car.  And not just any car, it sounded like a muscle car or a race car.  It really reminded me of when I was little and my Dad would be working on his race car in the garage outside my bedroom window.  Even during the summer I had a bedtime, but my Dad would stay outside working until well past my bedtime.  I don't know if he knew I was watching, but I would gaze out my window until well after the sun went down, taking in every little thing they were doing.  I have also loved old muscle cars for as long as I can remember.  The deep rumble of a classic engine is orgasmic!  Yep....  TMI I am sure.  Anyway... As soon as I finished with the water, I ran through the house and out the front door.  I had to find out what car made that sound!  James was hot on my heels, having heard just a little of the rumble when I came back through.  We found it, sort of.  It looked like an old black 80's Camaro.  It was in a garage so we couldn't get that close of a look. 
I had to laugh at how others know my love of cars.  My sister and her family are in CA visiting Disneyland, and she texted me a picture of the black Ferrari that they parked next to at the beach!  She said I would love it out there, with all of the cool cars.  Yep, that's me!   

HU - still Hip

We were on our way home tonight from James' parents house and a car pulls up next to us....  It is an older ghetto kind of car with a young driver and passengers.  They were blasting a Hollywood Undead song at top volume like they thought they were cool.  James turns to me, says "Hollywood Undead."   We turned on the same H.U. song as they had on, and I just wanted to yell out the window "Hey, we like them too, and we are an aging couple with 2 kids!  How cool are they now!?!?!??!"   Not that it would have made a difference.  But I love when kids thing they are "the shit!" when I, a thirty-something mom, is listening to the same thing, wearing the same brand, doing the same thing, etc.....  Not that I am old and listening to "hits of the 80's" all the time, but I remember back to when I was 16.... I would have been mortified if I was listening to something I thought was cool and "an old chick was listening to the same thing!".   Just my thoughts tonight....

video games

We have been watching the 100 BEST VIDEO GAMES on G4 - they are only on pat 2 of 5, but I am realizing how much of a girl I really was.  Sometimes I look back and think that all I wanted to do was play the Nintendo, but now I know that I didn't play hardly any video games!  I can only remember a few games I played - Mario, Mario 3, Dr. Mario, Tetris (the best!), Duck Hunt, and Excite Bike.  But James can tell you almost any game they are talking about before they reveal the actual game, no matter how old it is.  That is amazing!  With the exception of Tetris, which I would play for hours on end with my dad, or Dr. Mario that I played with my mom, I was usually the girl in the back watching all of the guys play. 
Now I don't feel like such a geek!  Crap, that puts me even further behind the males in my household...

Train Wreck

Have you ever started out thinking one thing, catch yourself thinking about something totally different at the end, and then try to retrace your train of thought?  I do that, A LOT!  Or I will be thinking something and have an odd look on my face, James will ask me what I am thinking about, and when I tell him, he says "How did you end up thinking about that???"  Then I actually have to tell him how I got from point A to point WEIRD THOUGHT. 

Well, we were laying in bed last night, and he started laughing and told me about a small random thought train of his own.  So I said something like "You have random trains of thought too!"  So he says "I have as many as you, I just don't tell people about them like you do."  And then he proceeds to say something along the line of - It's better to keep your mouth closed and have people just think you're weird then to talk and have them KNOW you're weird.  So, that got me thinking about being weird, and I will share a bit of my train of thought and tell you how I finally got to thinking about playing football with John Elway. 

1. Started out thinking about being weird, and how I tried to be normal for so long that my weirdness seems so much worse. 
2. That got me thinking about pearls of marriage wisdom.
3. That led to thinking about working out with James and how nice it is.
4. Which led to me thinking about what I am going to do at the gym tonight since I can't run for a while.
5. So then I started thinking about getting on the elliptical, and I can get some reading done in Born to Run.
6. Which then led to me thinking about how I was at the place in the book with Scott Jurek and how Amanda's husband got to run with him Monday night (so cool!)
7. Which made me think about how Amanda must have felt about having to stay home with the kids when both she and her husband wanted to meet him and run with him. 
8. Then I thought about what James and I would have in common like that.   I think it would be akin to my getting to go interview Kevin Smith while James stayed at home.
9. So I started wondering if there was something I would be envious of if James got to do that I didn't.  Which led to my thought of him getting to go meet John Elway.  But it wouldn't be just meet - like Amanda's hubby got to RUN WITH SCOTT!  So it would be if James got to go play football with John Elway!  Ooooh, I would be super jealous.
10. Then, I started thinking about my getting to throw a ball around with John Elway.  Would I be able to catch a ball thrown by him, or would I make a fool out of myself? 
11. Then that made me think about my stupid ankle, and I realized that it was throbbing and really hot.  So I stretched my feet out in the bed to find a cool spot to rest my ankle, and that was when I found a pair of panties at the bottom....
12. AND THAT IS WHERE THE THOUGHT TRAIN WRECK HAPPENED!   Ahhh, the end of it.  Then I was just wondering about the panties.....

So, there you go.  My weird train of thought. 

Hope you enjoyed the journey......  :)

Pete the Cat

If you haven't heard of the Pete the Cat books for kids, they are great books to look into.  They come with free downloadable songs @ harpercollinschildrens.com. 
Aaron's teacher in preschool had Pete the Cat: I love my white shoes.  The kids learned the book and then would all sing along with the song, at high volume.  It was adorable! 
I imposed a "1 hour of books a day" rule for summer vacation, and so Aaron is sitting behind me listening to the 2 Pete the Cat books we have, looking at them, singning along with the songs, and dancing around.  It is pretty awesome. 

missing the water

I must be missing the ocean and pools this morning.  I found myself in the shower after 20 minutes just standing there daydreaming. 

OCD

We put the pool up in the backyard this week, and after one day with kids in it, it was already filled with grass.  Not to mention the cover from a kick pad that had disintegrated in there.  James was using the cleaner on the bottom and I was using the skimmer for the top, but when I start, I just can't stop. 
James - "It's relaxing, isn't it?"
Becki - "Not relaxing, just OCD."
It's one of those things that I just can't stop doing until it is actually clean.  It isn't like cleaning the bathroom or vacuuming - you can actually see what is still in there!  I could be out there for hours in the hot sun trying to get the last little bit of grass or whatever out.  IT SUCKS!

A bed just for us....

Here is the TMI that I left out of my anniversary bog, but you know, I have to share the funny stuff.

We were having "relations" this afternoon, and I couldn't help but laugh at the difference between sex at home and sex on vacation.  While we were getting into it, our pug Dobby jumped up on the bed to find out what we were doing.  Nothing like dog breath and bug eyes watching to heat up the mood, huh?  Then, Draco (our other dog) started putting his dog toy up on the bed next to us, waiting for us to throw it for him.  We have cats that are usually laying at the bottom of the bed, or they lay down on the pillow next to us, just waiting for us to finish so we can pet them.  In addition to the dogs, there are kid noises also to contend with, and trying to be quiet so that they don't hear.  Nothing kills your mojo more than a knock at the bedroom door and a "Mom?"

It was funny to me though, because even though our vacation sex wasn't "knock the bed against the wall, loud enough to cause a disturbance, doing it on every surface of the room", it seemed like the best ever because we were ALONE!   There was nothing to worry about but ourselves, which is what aids in intimacy. 

It wasn't just being by ourselves for sex - sleeping was great too.  There were no dogs snoring, cats meowing, animals sleeping on the bed, dogs whining to go outside first thing in the morning, kids thundering through the house.  I am sure some people take advantage of having a quiet house.  But, while I did enjoy the quiet for the 5 days, I am happy to be home with all of my noise and chaos. 

SO WRONG!

Here is the conversation I JUST had with my 8 year old, who is currently eating a Drumstick.
Dylan - You know what I hate when eating an ice cream cone with a crack?  it leaks out the crack when you try to lick the top.
Me - Well, you just have to learn how to eat it.  Lick the top, lick the crack, lick the top, lick the crack, just like that so it doesn't drip out.
Dylan - I have 2 cracks though...
Me - Well, then lick each crack after you lick the top.

All the while James is staring at me with this bewildered look on his face.  It was hilarious!

Our 10 yr anniversary trip

I know, this isn't random thoughts like the title suggests, but really, how many are???  :)

Our 10 year anniversary was on June 1st, and we decided to take a trip by ourselves to an adult all-inclusive resort in Cancun.  It was called Aqua Live - we highly recommend it!  If you are looking for a truly relaxing vacation, this is it!  It was wonderful.  Okay, I tried to think of how to best put all of my thoughts and experiences into a good blog, as I have so much to say!  6 days worth of thoughts is hard to condense.  I wrote down all of things I wanted to remember onto a piece of hotel stationary.  But HOW do I write it down for you?  Okay, here goes, and if I hate it, I guess I can always edit, right?

• We almost missed the plane there!  How does that happen?????  We got to the airport really early and right through security to the gate.  It was early, so we went to have a bagel and beer at the lounge right next to our gate.  It didn't take us long, but neither of us wears a watch.  OOOPPS!  We were looking at sunglasses 1 gate away when James heard our names announced as a last call.  Well, at least we made it, right?!?!?
• When you walk into the hotel, it smells a bit like eucalyptus.  It is just a relaxing, welcoming kind of odor.  And when you are checking in, they have the most amazing sweet green tea for you to drink.  There is a really cool little water feature in the lobby, but every time I walked through, I thought I was going to walk right into it!  
• I put on my first real bikini on our first day, and I felt great!  I look back at the pictures now and hate the way I look, but I was actually confident there.  My cute pink and white suit was cute, and I was so excited to get into the ocean and play in the waves that it didn't occur to me to be self-conscious.  I am like a kid in a candy store in the waves!  It was tough to tear me away.
• Our anniversary was on the 2nd day, and honestly, it was nice to get it done with.  We got to plan it right away, enjoy it, and not worry about it the rest of the time.  But we had the best time, rain and all.  We worked out in the morning, had breakfast, and then went to the beach.  Then we had the only real nap of our vacation, which was really nice!  After that, we went down to the "adult pool".  It was the temperature of a cool hot tub, there was hardly anyone there, it is fairly small, and it is the only pool with a bar in the pool.  TONS MORE TO SAY ABOUT THAT DAY, BEWARE!  The adult pool was funny!  We met a really cool older lesbian couple from Alabama there and talked to them for probably a half an hour.  Then, as the rain came in, the pool filled up with a bunch southern people.  The girls were funny - they were trying to teach me how to be and drink like a southern belle.  And then these guys were amazed at my husbands nipple rings.  It was a trip and a half!  And +3
• I thought it was funny that they were all into sharing drinks, no matter who it was with.  They taught me about Scooby Doo shots and CC & Sprite.  One of the funniest part was when James pointed out a couple having angry sex in the other side of the pool in the rain.  Mind you, it was a small circular pool and they weren't very far from us. The VERY BEST PART was that while we were drinking and waiting out the rain, OUR SONG was played through the speakers.  We rarely hear it, and it was played there, on our anniversary!  BTW, it was KC and JoJo All My Life. 
• For dinner, we made reservations as Inlaakech.  It was an all-you-can-eat steak and lobster intimate restaurant.  We were the only ones there for a while, which was nice.  The service was phenomenal.  The food was incredible!  James had a tomato cappuccino for starter, and then Lobster and Filet Mignon for an entree.  I had a berry and blue cheese salad for a starter, and then Lobster and a Kobe Beef burger patty for dinner.  Then they brought us a chocolate cheesecake covered in nonpareils and a white chocolate triangle that said "Happy Anniversary.  It was amazing, every single little bit of it.  
• It is amazing how confident some girls can be.  There were several girls wearing thongs on the beach!  One was the girl having sex in the pool, so that is self-explanatory.  Another was a girl that looked about 22 years old with a 50+ year old man, she obviously had implants, they were foreign, and he was SOOO her sugar daddy.
• There were the coolest birds flying over the resort.  We called them the pterodactyls, but we honestly have no clue what they were, but they hovered over the pools and beach the whole time.  It was cool.  
• It is amazing how you can only put your feet in the sand and then end up with sand in places you never knew possible!  Just playing in the ocean put sand in all kinds of different cracks.  I couldn't help but think of the South Park when Cartman kept referencing Dect. Sandy Vagina.  
• It is hurricane season down in Cancun right now, so the weather wasn't that great.  It rained quite a lot, and it was windy the whole time.  That kept people off the beach and out of the pool.  
• There were people that were running on the beach that I was in awe of.  Some ran in shoe, some barefoot.  Some with MP3 players and some without music.  Some ran in the lower sand near the beach where it was stiffer, and some ran where the sand was nice and soft.  But they are all badass for running on the beach!  Wow.
• We were across the street from the mall.  James found a new pair of sunglasses at Oakley that are yellow with "transformer lenses".  They look very sexy!   We had some Cold Stone ice cream.  And we found the funniest glasses ever!  Shot glasses, corona glasses, and even magnets had the most perverted people sculptures on them!  Some where just men with their dicks hanging out, some were having sex, and some were in 69.  But all you had to really look close to figure them out, which made me feel more like a pervert!
• Our last night for dinner, we went to Siete.  That night they had Mexican food by the menu and an Italian buffet.  James had Italian, and I had Mexican.  The most memorable part was the waiter, Jose.  He was great!  Enjoyed talking to us, helping us, and just "servicing" us.  And then he made us "flaming coffees".  One was rimmed with cherry and the other with chocolate.  Then there are like 5 different liquors that he mixes, sets on fire, mixes together while flaming, and then pours into the coffee glasses.  It tasted great too!

That was a wonderful vacation!  I know, long blog entry, but I couldn't help but to put it all in there.  I left out all of the mushy stuff, so you just got all of the details without the TMI.  

I hope that our next 10 years is just as great as our 1st, and that our next trips just get better and better. 

Kids Ages

I was sitting at dinner tonight and was amazed at my 8 yr old.  He spilled a little milk, and immediately got up to get a towel to clean it up.  A year ago, my husband and I would get so annoyed that our 2 boys would spill a drink and then just stare at it.  It still annoys us about our 4 yr old.  It amazed us that our oldest was mature enough to take care of it himself, quickly.  WOW!