Running Etiquette?

Today I ran 2 miles in 21 minutes.

Two months ago I couldn't run a half mile.

Since it's been so hot here, I've been running at the YMCA. Apparently, Wichita has one of the best YMCA programs in the country.

It is pretty amazing. There are at least 6 facilities in the area and with a membership you can go to any of them. 4 of them have water parks. They have climbing walls, indoor pools (lap and play ones with structures and fountains). They have tracks, basketball courts, gymnastic equipment, I could go on and on.

However, the track is pretty small and to do 2 miles I have to run 16 laps. That's a lot of counting.

It's either that or pass out from the heat. Keeping track (pun intended) like that actually reminds me of my swim team days when I had to count laps.

Anyway.

The past two times I've run on the track I've gotten comments from other runners. Mostly stuff like "good finish" and "keep it up."

Runner friends: Is this normal running culture? Does this happen to other people?

Or are they just encouraging the lady who needs to lose the weight gained from having 2 kids 17 months apart who is obviously a new runner? Could they tell that I was contemplating where to toss my cookies in the last 1/4 mile?

At any rate I'm 50% appreciative of the support and 50% wanting to tell them to mind their own business.

I'm hoping to run a 5k in October. Apparently Wichita has a fairly prominent running community. They even have their own website. Honestly, I'm not anywhere near ready nor willing to call myself a runner, but I like how running makes me feel.

Busy Week

I've been kind of quiet on the blog this week.

There's been a lot going on.

Aleks had his first day of school!

The girls and I have been exploring Wichita when it hasn't been too hot.

We found a great playground about 5 minutes away:

We found a place to go for breakfast:

We visited the zoo and saw this beautiful tiger:

Since it's been so hot, we've been inside a lot too.

Maia and Ruby are starting to play together more and more:

Maia discovered one of life's small joys (yes, she's wearing tap shoes):

My mom was an angel and came to babysit visit during this first week of school. We had a wonderful time and the girls were especially excited to see their grandma. In fact, Maia was so excited that she hasn't been sleeping during her nap. And Ruby has now made the transition to one nap. 

I'm actually really glad Ruby's only taking one nap now. I finally feel like I have more freedom to get out of the house. 

Maia, on the other hand... 

1. I need a break from that kid

2. She's only 2

My plan is to give her quiet time every day and if she chooses to sleep, great! If not, then she can just read books and sing in her bed.

Which prompts me to post this:

She's got about 20 books in bed with her. 

Every night she tells me she wants ALL of them in her bed.

This morning when we asked her how she slept, Maia answered "I slept so impressive."

That kid.

New Job

Inquiring minds want to know.

(Actually, I have no idea if anyone wants to know, but here it is anyway).

I got the job!

I am now a faculty member at Wichita State University.

I'm anticipating about 20 students this semester.

I have a new office (the windows are from an old submarine).

One of my colleagues calls it the "double wide."

I like my colleagues. They seem like genuinely nice people.

The bad news: the pay is awful. 

Really awful.

Almost insulting.

But, because I might go crazy if I'm home alone with the girls all the time, I've decided to take it.

They don't know what a deal they're getting!

Audition/Interview Hurdles

With regards to dress, women singers in particular have a tough time when it comes to auditioning/interviewing.

They are faced with issues such as:

1. Pants or dress (if you're a soprano, it will be a dress 99.99% of the time)
2. Decolletage or high neck
3. Sleeveless or covered shoulders
4. Flats or heels
5. Open or closed toed shoes
6. Hair pulled back or left down

Now this may seem trivial, but in my experience, picking "incorrectly" for any one of these can result in a negative impression before you've even begun to sing.*

And aside from any number of judgements your repertoire selection can bring, you are then faced with the dilemma of what to do while you are performing. Of course you should always be acting, but should you be still or gesture or touch the piano?

Why am I even talking about this?

I had an interview/audition at Wichita State University this past week and found myself struggling with these issues.

Here's what I wore:

Despite the bare arms and open toes, I was on the more conservative side. My choice was well received. And because of the 20+ age difference between myself and the rest of the faculty, my powder blue high heels were regarded with envy and longing. (It was mentioned several times that their "high heel days" are far behind them.)

I felt good about how I performed and taught. (I chose not to touch the piano- based off some harsh criticism I received in a recent masterclass- and minimally gesture.) I was impressed with the voice faculty and felt warmly welcomed.

I'll let you know the outcome of my interview soon. School does start on Monday!

*However, if you can sing/teach and are the right fit for the job, I suppose it doesn't really matter what you wear.

A bathroom fit for 2 princesses

Before I left for Pullman to get that pesky lump checked out, I painted the girls' bathroom.

Here is a before picture.

It actually doesn't look that bad in the picture, but it was pretty awful. I think the previous owners must have bought paint from the clearance bin to use throughout the house. Some of the rooms look great, but others are just ugly.

Painting in humidity is fun! Just kidding, it's not, but you feel like you're detoxing with all the sweat pouring down your back as you paint the area above the vanity lights.

Now the bathroom is this soft lavender that makes me think of princesses and daintiness and sweetness.
Perfect for my two girlies!

I'm going to keep my eyes open for some cute artwork to hang in here.

Oh, and behind the toilet? There's totally a 8x8 inch section that is still offensively yellow. I didn't feel like dealing with all that monkey business.

Today I decorated Ruby's room and am about halfway done. I will post pictures as soon as it's finished.

Until then, I'm trying to meet some people so I can make these and give most of them away.

An unexpected trip

Since moving to Wichita, things have been a bit rough.

It's been hot. Like too hot to go swimming. And stuck in the house hot.

Right away the washing machine broke and we had to wait a week to get it fixed. It actually got to the point where we had to buy more underwear.

Then we got ants. After trying to kill them for several days on our own, we decided to have someone come and take care of them.

Around the second day of the ant invasion, I noticed a lump on my neck.

Two days later our refrigerator broke.

I spoke with my doctor in Pullman and after hearing where the lump was placed and some other details, he encouraged me to have it looked at.

Due to our complicated health insurance situation, the most cost effective way to have this thing looked at was to fly back to Pullman and do a biopsy there.

We decided on Wednesday that we should go. Thursday morning we boarded a plane with one way tickets. Packing for this trip was hard. Worst case scenario, I would be there a few weeks to get a cancerous lump removed. Best case scenario, we'd know by the weekend that it was nothing.

Thursday afternoon I was here.

And about 10 minutes after checking in I was here, where they discovered that the lump was on my thyroid.

About 20 minutes after that, I had this on my wrist, a precursor to the biopsy.

I could write 3 full paragraphs about the biopsy itself. You know- the needles, the cute radiologist, the needles, how I wasn't supposed to swallow, the needles, the gown to keep blood off my dress. Stuff like that. If you want the details, let me know and I'll send you an email.

When the doc finished, he took the last needle out, and walked the sample to the lab that minute.

That might not sound like a big deal, but here's the thing. They all knew my situation and were doing their best to get the fastest results. The courier was waiting for my sample and paperwork. The lab guy who would do the tests was on call specifically for me. I would know Friday at the earliest, Monday at the latest.

(see the bandaid on the left side of my neck?)

Friday morning I got a call from my doc.

It is benign.

Even now as I type, I'm not sure that I've fully accepted how stressed and scared I was. For about 5 minutes, at the beginning of all this, my mind went to that awful place. Thinking about not being around to see my girls grow up and to help Aleks raise them. And then, that was it. I couldn't let myself go crazy with the worry.

(kind of looks like I got a hickey from a snagle-toothed vampire)

We had champagne Friday night.

There are 2 more parts to this story.

1. What happened to the refrigerator?
We had someone come out and look at it the day before we flew out to WA. Apparently the motherboard was dead. So that was replaced and the freezer was thawed.

I was worried that we were going to come back to our house and see ants invading our kitchen and have a refrigerator that wasn't working. BUT, no ants! and the fridge works!

2. On Saturday Maia and Aleks went to the Farmer's Market. When they got back I noticed that Maia was limping. After talking with our doctor we decided to head to the hospital to get some x-rays taken.

(in the waiting room reading Sports Illustrated)

Maia knew that she was going to have pictures taken of her leg. She also knew that it wasn't going to hurt. However, that didn't stop her from scream/crying through the entire process. The poor x-ray lady. After the ordeal, Amy (the very tolerant x-ray lady) went to get some stickers for Maia. When she came back Maia said, through crying induced hiccups  and with her adorable stutter:

"f-f-f-f-fank you for the pictures. f-fank you for the pictures of my leg"

That girl gets me every time.

What's the deal with her leg? No obvious fracture. Today she was still limping a bit, but hopefully that will disappear in the next few days.

This week was made so much easier by our friends and family.

My mother-in-law, who made it possible for the entire family to go to Pullman to be with me and was willing to be wherever we needed her.

My mom, who was on standby to fly to Pullman to help with the kids if I had to have surgery.

My dad and father-in-law, who offered to do whatever needed to be done.

My doctor and friend who helped with making this whole process go as quickly as possible.

Our friends Keri and Andy, who let us stay in their house while they are in Thailand.

Our friends, the Whitneys and Yens, who were there for emotional support and make it feel like we have family in Pullman.

It's been a crazy 5 days. Aleks thinks that it's been the hardest 3 weeks of our married lives. I agree. 

I also think that all this was so much harder because we're not settled anywhere. Going back to Pullman this week didn't feel like going home. But Wichita doesn't feel like home either. 

So, I guess for now, this is home:

and this.

11 months old!

My baby girl is 11 months old!

She's still such a little peanut, but it's not for lack of trying.

I've never seen an appetite like hers.

Ruby eats everything and anything I put in front of her.

She's the exact opposite of Maia.

We went out to a restaurant for dinner. Maia would only eat the grapes. Ruby ate bread, salad, and about half of my mom's lasagna. She was still eating when we were ready to leave. I don't know if she'd actually stop eating on her own.

And yet, she's just tipping 17 pounds.

She's probably burning so many calories with all the crawling that she's doing. And the waving. And clapping. And dancing.

Oh you should see this girl dance! She's got the head bob down and then does this sixties-ish thing with her hands.

She's still pretty attached to Mommy. Although, I'm happy to say that I can leave the room now when she's with Daddy and she doesn't cry. It may not sound like much to you, but believe me, it's a miracle.

She's something special.

You keep an eye on her because I think she's going to surprise us all.

Settling In

*Sigh*

On the bright side, we got our vehicles registered in under an hour.

So, I'm kind of addicted to the Real Housewives series on Bravo.

Mostly, the NYC and New Jersey casts.

Stop judging me. We all have our vices.

Anyway, Teresa (from New Jersey) was talking about her GIGANTIC new house (I think it was like the first season, before all her financial problems) and how she has to move into brand-new houses because ones that have already been lived in are dirty.

When I heard her say that, I was amazed and delighted at her absurdity. I mean, was she for real?

But, now I kind of know how she feels. 

I love our house.

Apparently so do the ants.

I keep a clean house, it's not like I have trails of maple syrup running down our cabinets.

The ants started showing up 2 days ago. I retaliated with lots of Windex and ant traps.

They'd disappear for a few hours and then show up again in a different spot.

Last night they invaded the dishwasher.

Aleks and I have both spent time on the floor with a flashlight trying to find where they are coming from.

Today the ant/bug people are coming. Hopefully once they get here, the constant itching I've been experiencing will vanish.

The other day the temperature was slightly cooler and all of a sudden living here didn't seem to be so awful. I think once this triple digit weather is over, the girls and I will really be able to explore the city.

I have to say, so far, the best thing about living here is that Maia now goes to bed at 7 and sleeps until 7. She's always slept a long time at night, but it was usually 6pm-5:30. That extra hour feels decadent. Now we just have to get Ruby on board.

On today's list: painting the girls' bathroom.

Thanks Mom!

I'm so exhausted I can barely think.

I can only imagine what I would feel like if my mom hadn't come to Wichita to help us unpack and get settled.

My mom is a force to be reckoned with.

We had to wake up at 3:00 am to catch our flight to Kansas.

We arrived at our new house around 11:00 am and by the time we went to bed that night, the kitchen was unpacked.

And we have A LOT of dishes.

Not only did she help unpack, but she also kept Maia entertained so that I could work without interruption.

Thanks Mom. You're the best.

I love you.

Tornado

Yesterday my mom, Ruby, and I were upstairs unpacking boxes.

Aleks was in the basement setting up the cable.

Maia was napping.

All of a sudden I hear a siren. I look at my mom with big eyes.

"Do you think that's a tornado warning?"

We listen to the siren awhile longer.

It shows no signs of stopping.

Adrenaline starts pumping through my system, and I holler down to Aleks.

We open the backyard door and look at the sky.

There isn't a cloud to be seen, but I don't know how tornadoes work.

Are we in the eye of the storm?

As Aleks comes running up the stairs the sirens stop.

My mom and I look sheepishly at each other.

"It must have just been a fire truck."

..................

Later that night Aleks and I had dinner with some of his new colleagues. As I'm retelling this story and laughing at my naivety we are informed that every Monday at noon the tornado sirens are tested.

Sure enough, yesterday was Monday.

So I guess if I hear those sirens any other time than noon on Monday, we should head to the basement?

I'd better do some research on this whole tornado thing...