I am definitely not Forrest Gump

Running. I have decided that I mostly hate it, but I still do it. I signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon that is in February. The last half marathon distance I did was in August of 1999 when I ran the Pikes Peak Ascent with my mom. I was 19 and full of energy. I didn't train for it at all. I had a job where I walked for 5 hours a day during the hot, Midwest summer day so I figured that was good enough. It wasn't. That race kicked my ass. My mom was kind of enough to stay with me and it took about 6 hours to finish. I told my mom I would never run again. The last race I "ran" was a 4th of July 5K in 2005 which is in memory of my mom. I walked that race with my family. I was hungover and feeling horrible so those 3 miles were brutal. I spent most of early and mid 20s drinking and dancing as my exercise. After that exercise consisted of walking to the kitchen to get chocolate and walking the dogs. Luckily, I do enjoy vegetables and healthy food so that balanced the lack of exercise and chocolate. E (who is my husband. He didn't want me to use his name and I am tired of referring to him as "the husband") has to stay in shape for the Navy. He started getting into running about a year ago. After we learned that Jacksonville would be our home this winter, he signed up for the Disney Marathon. I thought he was crazy. He challenged me to do a 5K. For some odd reason, I decided to take it a step further and here I am training for a half marathon. Some days I am pretty sure I made a huge mistake. However, last night I had a breakthrough. I ran for 30 minutes. No walking. This is a big deal for me. I usually have to walk at some point. I ran at a slow pace, but I did it. I know I will never win an award for time. My pace last night was around 11 minutes/mile, but I didn't walk. Plus I actually enjoyed it a bit. It was nice to have 30 minutes to myself listening to music that is not kid friendly. I almost ran 3 miles last night. Here is hoping I can an additional 10 after that in a few months.

So much to do, so little time

It has been almost a month since my last post. It doesn't seem that long, but I guess time flies. Not much has really happened around here which is why I haven't felt the need to post. We bought annual passes to Disney World. We went again a few weeks ago and experienced the lovely Florida thunderstorms while there. It ruined our pool plans, but we found other stuff to do. This last visit we went to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot. Hannah is catching on to how Disney works. You visit an attraction, and at the end the funnel you into a gift shop where she promptly picks up all the fun stuff that is conveniently right at her level.  I am about to take my husband's debit card away so we don't spend so much on stuff while we are there. I keep telling him we can go back whenever we want so we don't need to buy everything we see all at once. Hannah also rode her first "adult" ride, the Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom. I heard she was afraid at first, but then she loved it. I stayed back with Meeghan so I missed it. She is also really into meeting the characters. She gives awkwardly long hugs which is cute, but then I feel odd for trying to peel her off the characters. We are trying to go next weekend for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I have never been and it looks like a lot of fun. Also the Food and Wine Festival starts next weekend. I can't wait to eat around the world at Epcot.

Meeghan turned 9 months old and had her well baby checkup. I love her nurse practitioner. I hope we have her every time. Meeghan is tiny, but doing great. 16 pounds 5 ounces, 28 inches long, and a 16 inch head. Her head is tiny, but so is mine so I am not worried about it. My cousin has a 4 month old who is 15.5 pounds, 25.5 inches, and a 17 inch head. Talk about two ends of the spectrum! She has suddenly wanted solids and not purees. She wants table food so she now eats what we eat at dinner. Plus she wants sippy cups and water bottles instead of a bottle. I am good if she wants to self wean off bottles. She has started pulling up and cruising. I am okay if she wants to wait a bit before walking. Hannah was walking by this age and I am not sure I can handle two running away from me right now. Also, she finally has a tooth! I was beginning to think those suckers would never come in. She has one on the bottom and the one next to it is starting to come in so she should have two soon. I hate the teething process so I hope the rest come soon. She has also started to make an adorable face that I have dubbed her "Popeye face", but she never lets me take a picture. I will get it one day so I can share it here.

Hopefully I can start to blog more. I never use my laptop since it isn't as convenient as the iPad, but I hate typing on the iPad.