Whole30 wrap up

Happy December 1! (Note edited and posted January 1, 2018!)
Today is day 31. I have been eyeing this drink for a week. Our Elf brought it. 
I had a small cup of this with my breakfast.  I am going to step on the scale at the club where I weighed in last month for the MAINTAIN DON’T GAIN CHALLENGE.  Saw my friend yesterday and she thought I lost some weight.  (Weighed in at home. Scale said 155! Weighed in at the club got 3 different weights on the same scale.  What the heck?!?!)

This month my goal is to get on my bike for 20 minuets a day until my surgery and maybe after if doctor and PT say it’s ok.  I lost the exercise sheet he gave me to be in top form for this event.  I would like to be strong going in so that recovery time is short!


January 1, 2018

December went quickly.  We took our first college tour with Emily(swimchick)!  We toured University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  This is where I went to college.  The tour was cool and informative.  After we met up with my nephew for lunch.  We then headed to my sister-in-laws for our first Christmas celebration.  It was so relaxing and fun.

December 21 was my meniscus surgery.  I didn’t go in to the hospital until 2:30. Surgery was around 5:30?!?!  We were back home by 8:30pm.  I went to see the Physical Therapist at 9am the next morning!  He told me I was his fastest ever surgery to therapy.  With Christmas so close to surgery, I didn’t want to wait too long.  🤪

We decided to stay put for Christmas and travel for New Year. It was relaxing to stay home with the kids and take in the holiday.  We went to celebrate the holiday with my family this past weekend.  Spent New Years Eve at home watching the ball drop and planning my Whole30 menu.

I hope to be Off N Running again soon!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year readers!
AnnMarie

Elf on the Shelf

Our Elf on the Shelf, Red, and the goodies he brought the family, including the dog!

Do you have one?  We got ours a few years back, PeeWee was 4 I think.  She and I were at Target and I saw them and somehow one got in our basket!  LOL!

Every year over Thanksgiving, our elf "Red" shows up with gifts for the kids.  Usually simple eats and drinks, maybe a new Christmas Mug.  This year because we had my parents anniversary and were out of town, the neighbors who take care of our guinea pigs set up Red.  He brought drinks and a new collar for the dog!

If you have your own Elf, you know that it travels to the North Pole every night to report on the children's behavior to Santa.  These Elves are called scout Elves.  And we are not supposed to touch them or they lose their magic.  We have had several close calls in the past, but Red has always showed up in a new location every morning. 


Yesterday, when the neighbor kids got here (they ride the bus with PeeWee, to and from school every day.), they found Red sitting on our bookshelf holding the Magic 8 Ball.  Everyone found him right away and wondered what he was asking it.  The neighbor kids LOVE this 8 ball!  O, the 5 year old neighbor boy, likes to ask the 8 ball non-yes or no questions and throw on "YES OR NO".  Like, What is Red's favorite color, yes or no?  Or where is Red going to hide tomorrow, yes or no?  When we correct him, he replies, "but I said Yes or No?"

After school, I was working on getting dinner on the table and I went into the living room to ask them something, and I saw O holding the Magic 8 Ball!  I asked him where he got it from and he said the Elf.  I scolded him, knowing full well that if PeeWee found out she would be devastated.  I asked him if he touched the Elf when he took the ball - no answer.  I explained that you are not supposed to touch the Elf, because he loses his magic when you do.  O said, "Maybe I touched him a little bit."  Gasp!  So, our Elf did not move last night.  He is still sitting with the 8 ball back in his lap.  I pray that O learns a lesson in follow rules and realizes what he did was wrong.  We will see.  

In the mean time, after the kids went home last night, PeeWee and I were talking about the incident.  She said, "Sometimes I want to punch that boy!  He doesn't listen and he doesn't get into trouble. On the bus, because he is a K5 kid, he is not supposed to go past this area and every night when he gets on he does it.  He always gives me this look too.  It makes me so mad!"  (My kids are all rule followers, and know that if they don't follow the house rules there will be consequences.  They don't understand why all families are not like that, honestly, I don't understand it either!?!?)  Anyway, last night I was at work and got a text from PeeWee saying she thinks Red heard her saying she wanted to punch O.  Poor kid.  I replied saying she should tell Red that she was mad and really didn't mean it.

Now, what to do about this Elf business!?!?  Wish us luck on getting our Elf's magic back so we can have a great Advent season and prepare our hearts for Christmas!

Off n Dog Walking,
AnnMarie

Cyber Monday...

That sounds like we are being invaded!  LOL!  So, how many of you shopped on Black Friday?  How many of you are waiting for today to get all the deals?  How many don't realize that Christmas Day is in 28 days!

Yipes!  I have barely scratched the surface of looking at my list and getting ideas.  Before we know it all the wrapping will be torn off and tossed out.  (Big deep breath!)

I woke up early today.  My little one went to bed feeling not so good.  We spent time with cousins and friends over the weekend, and she got something they had.  I hope she is well enough to go to school, but we will see.  I had her take Shaklee's Defend and Resist a few times yesterday, along with a hot bath in Epsom Salts.  I didn't put anything in her diffuser and should have.  At the beginning of November, when I felt yucky, I put in my own blend of Theives oil.  (I found a recipe on Pinterest.)  I like the Young Living blend, but didn't have any on hand.

Just wondering, how many of my readers use Essential Oils.  As a massage therapist, I have always been interested in them.  I found this great company about a year ago called Rocky Mountain Oils.  They are great!

Every January first, I sit down with the kids and we make a list of things we would like to do this year.  I put learn about Aromatherapy on my list.  I was lucky enough to find a great class in my neighborhood.  I earned continuing education credits for the class, and am wondering if I can take it again.  I really liked the class.  My teacher, Robin, is a certified Aroma therapist(?).  She earned her certificate/accreditation with Aromahead Institute (I think.)  Robin said we need to look at the way the oils are harvested and where they come from.  If you want to know if your oils are good, they should always have the latin name on the label as well as the origin of the oil.

Since then, I have been dabbling in aromatherapy.  I have pinned a bunch of "blends" I want to try.  I have been given oils from clients.  I buy some here and some there.  But I like 3 companies the best: Rocky Mountain Oils, Young Living and DoTerra.  These oils just seem fresher to me.  One of the things I learned from my class was the purity of each oil varies from company to company.  Some companies put the essential oil in a carrier oil for you.  What I noticed about these is they don't list what the proportion is.  How can I use 2 drops of Frankincense in my coconut oil if it has already been diluted?  Will the property be the same, I don't know?

I am rambling.  Sorry about that.  I guess I am sleep deprived - LOL!   With it being the holiday season, I am looking forward to buying a few Christmas Blends from Rocky Mountain Oils.  Last year, I got a set of Holiday oils with Candy Cane in it.  I ended up ordering about 5 Candy Cane blend to have for this year, just in case they didn't offer it again.  I see they do have the blend, but I need to read the label, I think they changed it up a bit.  Last year's blend smelled SOOO much like candy canes.  My house smelled tiny and fresh!  Because it is Cyber Monday, there is a deal of course.  Check them out.

And don't be surprised if I give you a scented something for Christmas this year!

Off n Walking the dog,
AnnMarie

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Anniversary

50 years ago on November 23, 1967, (alsoThanksgiving day that year) my parents were married. Yesterday we celebrated the occasion by attending mass at their church. My son did one of the readings with one of my nephews. My sister (Sister 2) and I handed out communion, my other sister (Sister 1) and her kids sang... it was nice. 

Sister 2 put together a video for them.  She asked all of the grandchildren to answer questions about love and grandma and grandma.  It was cute.  One question was “how do you think grandma and grandpa met.”  When my kids first read this question, they all said “at a bar!”  Several of the younger ones thought maybe in college.  I didn’t know the answer, so we asked them!

Dad said he thinks mom was 8 years old when they met.  Dad was friends with one of mom’s brothers.  They started dating when mom was a freshman in high school.  He proposed when she was a junior in high school.  Then he was drafted.  He got stationed in Texas.  They decided to wait until his term was up to get married.  So they chose Thanksgiving Day, Because they were thankful he was home and out of the service!

I think I have told you about Sister 2 being a race director for a local 5k -Run for the Paws- it benefits the Forest County Humane Society and the Crandon Cross Country Team.  My whole family (pictured here) was there this year, because we took family pictures.  The lady who took them did a great job. 

Anyway... after mass we went to a restaurant for a Thanksgiving meal.  If you are wondering, Yes, I stuck to the Whole 30 plan!  There was a small salad bar so I loaded up on lettuce.  They had hard boiled eggs and black olives!  I did eat a piece of turkey and some green beans.  

We hung out at my parents for the rest of the day.  Munched on veggies and fruit in the afternoon.  I made chicken pot soup so DH and Sister 1, who is gluten free, would have something “legal” to eat.  Sister 1 loved it!  Sister In Law lived it too.  So, shout out to Jay’s Baking Me Crazy, for this great recipe.  ( I have pinned several from this site, will update as we try them!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Off n running,

AnnMarie 

Maintain don’t Gain Challenge

So a few weeks ago at work I saw this poster...

I grabbed a flyer on my way out the door.  What is it?  Well, let me tell you.  For $10, you weigh in during a set date (November 13-22) then you weigh out during another set date (January 1-9).  If you maintain your weigh-in weight, you will get your $10 fee back.  If you gain weight, you lose your fee. If you lose weight during the challenge, you get a portion of the losers money.  

So, I had to break one of the Whole 30 rules.  You know, the one where you don’t step on a scale for the 30 days!  At my last doctor visit, sometime in September (or was it October), the nurse weighed me at 168.  Last week, for the Maintain Don’t Gain challenge weigh-in, I logged 160.4, as my weight!  Not too bad, for a start.  

I want to get through the next 10 days of Whole 30 and see how December goes.  My DH and I are in agreement that we’d like to stick to the clean eating.  I personally would love to get back down to 135 pounds.  That is what I was in college.  Maybe I will fit back into my wedding dress for our 20th wedding anniversary in 2018!  We will see.  

As of right now, I plan to maintain in December and do this Whole 30 thing again on January 1.  Who wants to join me?  (I have a college friend that contacted me after my first Whole 30 post.  She said she was in the same place as me- borrowed books from library but never really read them or started the program.  She started on my day two, I think.  She is doing great but needs our prayers right now.  She is on a trip overseas!)

Please follow me here on my blog and let me know if you’re going to join me for Whole30 in January.  Thanks!

Off n Running,

AnnMarie 

Surgery is set

Hello readers,

Those who are here to read about my running, I am going to update you now!  As you know, I have been sidelined for awhile.  I finally did something about during this year's Cross Country season when I could not chase my kid around the course without pain or consequences!

Long story short, I went to PT, he sent me to Orthopedic Doctor.  He had some blood tests done and an MRI.  MRI showed very little wear in the joint but did pick up a torn meniscus.  The scheduler called me the next day to tell me that we can't schedule anything until the insurance approves the orders.  Last week, Thursday, I got the call it was approved!

I will be getting the tear fixed on December 21, 2017.  From what the Doc said, I would be on crutches for maybe 3 days.  So, I took off work for one week.  I don't know yet if I will be traveling anywhere for the Christmas and New Year holidays.  But, I will be home the week my kids are off of school.  That I like!  It has been too long since I have taken off to hang out with them.  I miss that.  Even though now a days, they tend to sit in their rooms and play games or watch videos on their phones...  I will get to be home with them to watch movies and play board games with them!
I was contacted today by someone in the Orthopedic office about getting in to see my Physical Therapist after the surgery.  She said that Doc usually wants you to go in 1 to 3 days post op.  I sure hope my guy is in the day after my surgery.

My goal with all of this is to be able to run again.  Not sure how far, how soon, but if I can chase my Cross Country runner around her course next fall, I will be so happy!  Shoot if I can run across the field from one side of the track to the other this Spring, without any pain or limping, I will be even happier!  So, the dreams of running again for my sanity are going to come true.  I can't wait!


Off n Dreaming of Running,

AnnMarie

Sunday, again!

Happy fall Sunday blog readers,

Where has the month gone?  We are already over halfway done with our Whole 30.  WOW!  And I am happy to report that I have not knowingly cheated!  I say "knowingly" because in the beginning I was not as good about reading those pesky labels.  My DH is not being as strict as I am about this round.

As you know, I am a Girl Scout leader.  In the fall, in our Council, we sell nuts and candy.  (Cookies are in January!)  I ordered a couple of items from each of the girls to boost their sales and was so excited to get my cans of Whole Cashews.  Then I read the label: Cashews, Salt, Peanut Oil.  Wait, WHAT?!?!?  Why would you put peanut oil on cashews?  Yesterday, I was at Aldi, and DH likes the Lightly Salted Almonds.  I read that label and there is peanut oil on those roasted nuts too?!?!  Who knew?  Well, know I know and sadly the can of cashews will be wrapped up for the bus drivers Christmas gift.  So, I guess that is a small win, as I won't have to decide what to get her.  😉

So, I think I told you all that DH borrowed the Whole30 book from his bus buddy.  I found a book store in my area that is sadly going out of business.  I got the last copy of the book!  Woo Hoo for me!  We gave Bus Buddy the new copy, since we are wearing the copy they borrowed us out.  I am loving everything that I have tried, except the mayo recipe.  I cannot figure out how to get it to emulsify.  I am pretty sure I added the oil too fast and now I have a jar of separated mess in my fridge.  I am going to try again, as I really want to make Deviled eggs for one of my Thanksgiving treats.

Was texting with my sister-in-law last night.  We are spending a few nights with them for Thanksgiving.  She has a son in college, a son who is a Sophomore in High School and an eighth grade daughter.  My brother, owns a farm and these kids help out AND are active in athletics and other school activities.  Add my three and we need to cook up a few feasts a day to feed this crew.  So, we laid out a meal plan.  I did tell her that DH and I are doing the Whole 30, so we will be bringing some of our own ingredients.  She suggested tacos/nacho bar for one night.  I just found this great recipe I want to try for Sweet Potato chips as your nacho chips.  If this works, I will be snacking on chips and salsa again really soon!

I love Pinterest.  For Thanksgiving, we will be going out to a restaurant to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary.  This will be our brunch/lunch time meal.  For dinner, we are all pitching in and bringing food to serve the masses.  I am going to try these stuffed mushrooms, I found them this morning on Pinterest.  I am also going to bring the Chicken Pot Pie soup I Pinned and my family LOVES!  And I will see if anyone is bringing a veggie tray.  I need to try the Ranch dressing from the Whole 30 book, so we can dip our veggies legally, if we want to.

Today is a Girl Scout meeting.  We are going to be finalizing the plans for the Winter Wonderland Brunch that is in less than 2 weeks.  Ack!  I have 8 registered girls, and I know that 2 of them are not going to be at the meeting.  We have a lot to do with so few girls in attendance.  Wish me luck.  And have a great week everyone.  Happy Thanksgiving, if I don't get time to blog again before then!  I have been thinking a lot about the new year coming and what that might look like for me and my family.  My son, needs to get a fire lit under him so he can rank up this spring before tennis and baseball season.  My oldest daughter needs to get started on her Gold Award project so that we can have it approved and work all next summer on it.  My youngest wants to earn her Bronze Award this summer before she bridges up to be a Cadet Scout.  Whew that makes me tired, but also makes me excited to see what the kids dreams are and where life will take them.  I will be having my meniscus repair surgery on December 21, 2017.  So, I hope to get on the road and actually run a bit in the new year.  We will see.

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

The test results are in...

I am not sure how much I have shared live and how much I have plotted to share in my head!  BUT... Some time in September, I think, I FINALLY made an appointment with the Physical Therapist.  Last August, the pain in my leg/hip/knee got so bad I could hardly walk. So, I stopped running.  I thought I will give it a rest and stopped cold turkey.  I was still working my office job and sitting a lot.  I felt like and 80 year old woman getting up from that office chair.  In January, the Mother Runners at Another Mother Runner, offered a "STRIDE INTO THE NEW YEAR" program to kick start 2017.  I joined in the fun.  I got onto the facebook group and started the program.

This is a run/walk program.  I had never done that sort of program before.  I am a go out and hit the pavement hard kinda gal, usually.  Since my fall in 2014, I have learned to slow it down.  I do not have to be the fastest.  Take time and look at the scenery, is my new mind set.  The first couple of days went well, then I started running more and walking less.  My knee didn't like that at all.  I think I made it half way through the plan and stopped.  I was so disappointed.  I was really hoping to do some running this year.  I wanted to defend my age group title at the Run for the Paws in July!

As usual, life, husband stuff, kid stuff, work stuff all took over my plate.  We adopted a dog and taking her for walks has been my main form of exercise this year.  I did join Burn Bootcamp in June for a free month, but there were days when my knee was not happy about that!  Started doing a program with them again in September, and that is when I said ENOUGH ALREADY!  and call E my Physical Therapist.

I made a series of appointments with him.  He gave me some exercises and stretches.  I pulled 2 days of standing at events/work.  And by full days, I mean I worked at Petfest from 8am until 6pm and mostly stood the whole time.  Then next day, I had a 12-8 shift at my job behind the front desk, no sitting there.  Saw E the next day, and was in so much pain!  He did some testing and sent me to see the Orthopedic Doctor.

Last week I had a MRI on the knee, and could not get in to see Doc until yesterday.  E was right, Doc was right, I have a torn meniscus.  Doc said his scheduler will give me a call.  Now we wait.  My DH was not pleased with this diagnosis.  So, now we wait!  I pray that I can get it repaired before the new year.  Then I can recover and start planning my comeback.

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

Day 7 - Morning

Good Morning,
What a week it has been at my house!  I am sorry I let you (my readers) down.  I really planned on sitting down at this computer every night to recap my Whole30 progress and here we are a week into it and I have blogged, what twice?!?!  SO SORRY.

My son, is a Freshman.  He was invited to earn an extra class credit this school year, by being in the Jazz Band.  The Jazz Band meets BEFORE school 3 days a week.  This cuts into my blogging time.  LOL!  My son is also a Boy Scout, and I mentioned he played for the school soccer team.  He intends to go out for the tennis and the baseball team this year, too.  Boy Scouts meet every Monday from 7-8:30.  He was lucky enough to go to the National Jamboree this past summer.  He met boys from all over our great nation.  He still Snapchats with some of these fine young men.  About a month ago, he was on a camping trip and got to see some of the Jambo boys again.  This is the price I pay to have well rounded kids!  LOL!

My oldest daughter, swam for the team at Sectionals on Saturday.  She got best times in both her individual events (200 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke).  She swam the last leg of the 4 X 100 Freestyle Relay, and swam a 0:59!  She is still in shock about that one.  She will be going to the State meet this weekend, as an Alternate for the Relay that qualified.  Then on Sunday, I am going to sit down with her and we are going to start working on her Girl Scout Gold Project!  I will try to blog about that another time.  If we are lucky we can get her schedule her presentation to the Girl Scout Council in December or January.  This will be her off season time, before she starts Track in the Spring!

And let's not leave out my baby girl.  She goes to a local gymnastics gym two times a week.  She LOVES gymnastics!  We were told that as an Xcel gymnast, there will be a National competition this year.  So, my PeeWee has set the bar high and is working hard to get there!  As a family we have never been to Tennessee!  Her Girl Scout troop is planning a Winter Wonderland Brunch.

I worked a bit extra last week on top of running these three superstars all over the place.  And I stuck to the Whole30 plan!  On Saturday, we were tempted to just go out for dinner after a long day at the pool.  I looked up a couple of restaurants on my smartphone and got to their menus.  We would be that annoying couple making so many substitutions, that we decided to just go home and make hamburgers.  I had those in the freezer!  I also had some potatoes, that I sliced up to make homemade fries.  I "whipped' up the "legal" ketchup recipe and we had a nice dinner.

Shoot - I have to go walk the dog, before getting my boy to Jazz band!  Check in with you all soon,

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

Day 2 recap...

Happy Friday everyone,
Tomorrow is the Swimming Sectionals.  Tomorrow is the day we find out if our Swimchick goes to state again this fall or not.  She seems pretty relaxed about the whole thing, and ready for tomorrow.

Today is day 3 of the Whole 30 for me.  Today has been tough!  I had to work, and didn't bring along my lunch leftovers.  Now I am "starving"!

Yesterday, Day 2, I had leftover chicken hash for breakfast, leftover chili for lunch and I made shrimp fried cauliflower rice for dinner.  Everyone LOVED it.

Off N Running,
AnnMarie

Whole 30 day one recap...

I made it through day one!  I had a massage client come in and hand me two Hershey Nuggets, "to recharge before your next massage".  How sweet, but I did not eat them!  Super proud of myself on that one!

I made the chili from the Whole 30 book for our supper one night this week.  I had a very long work day, so I did the crock pot version.  A few things I would do differently next time: 1) When I brown the meat, I will not crumble it so finely.  As leftovers, this is too fine!  2) If I am going to cook this all day in the crock pot, I might not brown the meat all the way, so that it can cook a bit more in the crock.  3) The recipe says to put the seasonings in the pan with the onions.  Again if crock potting this, I think I might just put the seasonings in the crock, because I can't taste any chili flavor!  The family has not really commented on this dish, so I am not sure what they thought of it.

For Day 1 Dinner, I made the Chicken Hash recipe.  This took WAY longer than 15 minutes prep!  I can see now that having a meal prep day is going to be key to stay on this program.  This dish was DELICIOUS!!!!  Everyone in the family loved it.

I had 3 eggs scrambled with some mushrooms and peppers.  For lunch, I had leftover chili.  I think I had more water to drink on Day 1 and that helped me feel fuller.

I will try to get photos and page numbers of the recipes for you next time!

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

Whole 30 here I come...

Don't you love it when things start to come together?  A few years back, I learned of this program called Whole 30.  I requested the books by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig SEVERAL times from the library.  I might have paged through them even, before they were due.  Way back in 2002, I was great about cleaning up my diet.  I lost 18 pounds just from cleaning up my diet!  Then baby number two came along and I gave into the cravings and here we are 15 years later, and pushing the scale to limits I am not yet ready to talk about.  😐

Sometime in maybe August, my Dear Husband came home and told me about his Bus Buddy being on this "new" program called Whole 30.  Bus Buddy's whole family is on this amazing program.  Bus buddy looks unrecognizable!  Thanks Bus Buddy, but really where were you in 2014, when I needed you?!?!  😉

Bus buddy did the Whole 30, looks amazing, or so I have been told, and now his family is eating mostly Paleo.  Because Bus Buddy looks amazing and told my DH how easy it was, once you got past the first week and detoxed out the bad stuff, DH has decided to go on the program.  Seriously, I have tried several programs to clean up my our diet, but DH wasn't having it.  I heard, "I need meat and potatoes and sugar!"  Well, DH started last Monday and seems to be doing ok.  I needed time to read IT STARTS WITH FOOD and look into menu planning for the family with these "new" recipes.  I told DH, I am going to start on November 1.

SO, here we are!  It is November 1, and I have been up since 5:30am.  I just finished my 3 eggs scrambled with mushrooms and sweet peppers.  I made up the classic chili recipe last night for dinner and have packed some leftovers for my lunch.  DH has picked out a recipe from the WHOLE 30 book for dinner tonight.

Here is what I need from this... to get sugar out of my system.  I am a junkie and crave the poison so badly!  I still think I have a candida overgrowth and cutting the sugar will help with that.  I am convinced that the sugar I eat has also attributed to the hip/knee problem that I have.  So I hope to use this blog as my sound board and get some help from others who have succeeded on the Whole 30.

So, I want to kick the sugar to the curb.  As a result, I hope to start the healing process on my leg issue, which will allow me to run again.  Running again will lead to weight loss.  These are all that I hope to get from this program.  I am bringing the family along, whether they know it or want to, for this journey.  I am praying that this will be a plan we stick to and keep the sugar out of the diet!

Wish us luck, hope to be Off n Running again SOON,

AnnMarie

Photos from the school year...

I have not posted in FOREVER!  I love sharing pictures and am going to share a few today.  Happy Sunday everyone!

At a movie in the park.  Milwaukee skyline at dusk!

We got a dog this year!  PeeWee and DH took her for a car ride in this picture, I think!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2017-18.  Junior, Freshman and 5th grade!

Took in a few soccer games...

On the 50 mile bike ride with Boy Scouts

A fan at one of the Cross Country meets!

Our dog, Lanie.  Rescued in March or April?

Boy Scout Court of Honor

PeeWee always doing gymnastics.

Off N Running,

Annmarie

Soccer Season is over

 I love this photo of my Buddy.  It was one of his first High School photos and the one were I looked twice to see if that was really my boy!  He has grown up so much in the last year.

He decided to go out for the soccer team this fall.  He spent time over the summer at Captain's practices to get ready.  Our school doesn't have enough boys interested in the sport to field two full teams, so many of the boys play on the Varsity as second string.

After "Hell Week", Not sure why they call it that, as they only practiced once a day for 2 maybe 3 hours.  The swim team meets twice a day for 2 weeks, but I am not the coach and I am not a player, so it is what it is.  Anyway, after the first week of practice, Buddy was in the top 10 for the fitness testing.  This meant he was going to get to play more on the Varsity team.  Or that is what I understood, anyway. LOL!

He did start all Junior Varsity games, when they had a team to play.  One day, I worked my schedule out so that I would come to the JV soccer game and see him play.  The other team wasn't there and when coach called them, he was told they forgot they had a game.  REALLY?!?!  How do you forget you have a game?  What a lame excuse.  The next week, there was another JV game on the schedule.  I was torn, do I go to the Cross Country meet to watch SwimChick or do I go to the soccer game to see Buddy play?!?!  He told me to go to Cross Country, because I am bad luck.  When I come to soccer games he doesn't play.

We did go to the first game of the regionals.  He did get to play part of the first half and we cheered loudly for the team.  They won that game.  I missed the second game of the Regional play offs because of cross country.  The team lost that game.

Great job, Buddy!  Now to gear up for baseball?!?!

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

I'm baaack!

The starting line at Division 2 Sectional 8, WIAA Girls Cross Country

Here we are, October 25, 2017.  I have been thinking about this blog for what seems like a million years!  I am failing on this New Year goal, of blogging more.  I cannot believe how quickly this past year has gone.  I need to update everyone on myself, but I am going to brag about my kids in this post!  😜

This year, I have two high school students!  SwimChick is a Junior this year.  She decided to go out for Cross Country AND Swimming this fall.  We have had an average of two swim meets and one cross country meet a week since Labor Day.  ChessMaster, who needs a new name on my blog, is a freshman and went out for soccer.  I will post about him on another day.  

Today, I am going to write about my daughters great Cross Country season.  I pray she doesn't end the season and say, "I wish I would have..." because this has been an amazing season.  First let me tell you, that to do two sports in one season you must get the permission of the Athletic Director and both team coaches.  SwimChick has wanted to do both since being a freshman.  I was not too sure how her grades would go, and her swim coach that year would not allow it.  So, she swam.  She did well for a freshman.  She swam Varsity, to the annoyance of the upper class-men.  She swam well enough to go to the State meet as an alternate on a relay (or was it two, I don't remember and she didn't swim at the meet.)  Her sophomore year, she had a couple of hard classes and a new swim coach.  We had tossed around the idea of just running CC and not swimming, but she loves the water too much.  So, she only swam.  It was another good season, that ended at State as an alternate again.  

So, here we are Fall of 2017.  Sometime in the summer, we were told we had a new swim coach.  AND a new Athletic Director.  SwimChick and I drafted some emails to both and they said, "let's do it!"  DO WHAT?  Well, SwimChick had decided to run Cross Country AND swim.  All the coaches were on board and so was the AD, and on August 8, 2017 she started swim practice.  We really love the new young lady swim coach.  She is fun, as long as you don't cross her or break any rules.  The CC coach is really laid back and understands that swimming is SwimChicks first sport/love.  A week or so, after swimming started, CC started.  The rag tag group consisted of my girl and a freshman girl, and two boys, who are also on the boys soccer team.  

The first meet, coach put SwimChick in the JV race, so she could test out the grass and get a time.  She finished in 4th place!  She wore her regular old running shoes over the 5000m course in a time of 23:34.9.  The next week, we went to the shoe store and bought her a pair of racing spikes!  She was so excited.  The next race, she ran a 21:32.5 in the Varsity race.  Her fastest time of the season occurred at the Conference meet on October 16.  She traversed the 5000meter course in a time of 20:49.9 and placed 14 in the Conference.  Woo Hoo!!!

Saturday October 21, 2017 was the WIAA Division 2 Sectional race.  My rock star ran the course in 21:06.5 for an overall finish of 10th place!  There are two ways you can move on to the State competition, first is by being on a team that finishes first or second.  OR you be one of the top 5 individuals, not on one of the top 2 teams.  SO, my girl finished 4th individually, sending her onto the State meet this weekend.  

We are so proud of her.  She will be running at the State Meet, representing her school.   We are still waiting to find out the last time someone did this for her school!  

Go Get Em Girl!!!!

Just signed up for a challenge

Happy Week Two of 2017!

How did week one go for everyone?  Remember I said I was going to blog more?  Sorry, time was not on my side, and the basement is cold, and ...  I was lazy and thought about posting several times.  I just didn't do it.

I also said I was going to start my better eating plan too.  Well, I found some candy and cookies and fell flat on my face off that wagon.

This morning, before taking my gymnast to her first meet of the season, I was trying to catch up on emails.  I subscribe to too many blogs and things, so I get behind in my reading/looking at them.  Today, for the first time in a VERY LONG TIME, I stopped and read a few that I have just opened then deleted.  Today, I read the post/email from Another Runner Mother.  I think reading it before made me feel bad because running was causing me pain, so I stopped back in August.  So, I didn't want to read all about other mother runners doing what I couldn't without pain.  Today I sucked it up and read the post.  Today was the last day to sign up for some of the fun training stuff they offer.  Last year, I was very tempted to sign up for their heart rate training program.  I was tempted because many of the mothers were saying they were able to run pain free.

Today, I took the plunge and signed up for the STRIDE INTO THE NEW YEAR Challenge.  It is a 35 day run, walk or run/walk plan.  I just printed it off and am putting it on the fridge when I get done posting this.

Today, my husband and I also got signed up for his companies insurance incentive program.  They have a new fun app to track your workouts and join challenges and stuff.  So, my "rally age" is 47, same as my real age.  With my Running program in hand, and my calendar a bit empty this month, I hope to lower that age before lets say April!

Some of the challenges I signed up for were to do Yoga twice a week.  Something I want to do for real, so hopefully this will help.  Declutter for 10 minutes.  This I want to do for real every day, the app says once a week.  Again, something I need/want to do anyway.  Eat more fruit and veggies.  Get enough sleep.  Do something creative.  This is a fun app.  Rally is part of our insurance incentive, does your company do this?

PeeWee is in bed and waiting for me to tuck her in.  Best get to that...

Off N Running,
AnnMarie

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2017!

Remember me, Mama Kolb?  I feel as though I have been away for far too long.  Lots of changes in my life since 2014. Remember back then????  Life was simple and I was running and ... then I fell and broke my wrist!

God sure has a crazy way of changing the direction of your life.  After I ran the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, my neighbor/friend called me up looking for help at her office job.  I have known Mrs. P for at least 8 years now.  We met either on the massage table or at church.  She lives maybe 3 blocks from me.  She and Mr. J introduced us to dog fostering!  Well, anyway, when she called me way back in 2014, all I knew was she worked in an office.  I did not know where or what she did. She called me because she needed help for a week during Insurance Open Enrollment and maybe for a few other odd jobs. I took the job, thinking it might lead to something more, but oh well if it didn't.  

It did lead to more.  And thank goodness because maybe two weeks after I started I fell and broke my wrist.  I had to have surgery and couldn't do my massage job so this was great.  

Fast forward to October/November of 2016.  Something in me had had enough.  I heard blips of stories saying sitting at your desk was as bad as smoking!  What?!?!  Over the past two years, I put on at least 30 pounds.  A year ago, I signed up for a running challenge: to run 2016 miles in 2016. One of my massage clients and I made a team: Running Yogis.  (I was running and doing yoga a year ago.  That has since stopped, too.)  We were excited.  (Side note:  I ran the Lakefront Marathon in October 2015. It was painful.  Training was hard both mentally and physically.  I didn't lose any weight!  It was frustrating.  I needed a goal.)

I slowly got into a running grove again, but everything hurt.  I developed a leg issue.  I believe it is an IT band thing and saw a doctor about it. Starting Physical Therapy next week!  So by August of 2016, I stopped running.  Not sure how many miles the Running Yogi team really completed of the 2016, I only contributed about 500.  ☹️

Sometime in September or October, my Ironwoman neighbor found out about a new gym opening in our area.  Has anyone heard of Burn Bootcamp?  She won a free month trial and I signed up for their 30 days for $30! Man has that been tough. But amazing!!!!  I didn't lose weight but did lose inches.

This class/gym got me to thinking about my family, my lifestyle and my real dreams and goals. I decided that I need to focus on my health and my family again.  So, I gave my notice at my office job.  Starting next week, I will be working more at the Wisconsin Athletic Club. 

Today, January 1, 2017, I am working on my plan to become a better me. I am going to start with my diet.  I had success years ago with Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover. So, I dusted off the books I have and started reading them this last week.  The 30 Day Makeover started on Wednesday.  Now to get my menus together and get some groceries to be successful.

Off n Running,

AnnMarie

PS.  I wrote this early today.  It is now 5pm, and the kids and I wrote up our 2017 Goals.  I will post about them tomorrow!  One of my goals is to get back to blogging.  Wish me luck!