Clown Feet, Socks and Blisters

So a couple of months ago I went to Run On in McKinney to get measured for my new walking shoes and I discovered that I have clown feet.  Now, I have always had large feet, but this is ridiculous – I am wearing a size 10 shoe!  Something about not wanting your toenails to hit the end at all or they might fall off, so I decided to just agree and get them!  Next they took me to the sock options – would I like the $11 pair or the $14 pair – for socks, really?  Well, I got one of each thinking that there was no way socks could really make that much of a difference that I needed to spend that much, but I would see what happened.  I was shocked at how different the first night of walking was with the new shoes and socks, hmm, maybe they do make a difference.  I still wasn’t convinced, so I went to Target and bought a 3-pack of their athletic socks for $6 and figured I would give them a try.  For a short, 3 mile walk, they were fine, but I took them on a longer walk and about 4 miles in, I started feeling a little burning, just before I got back to my house, it was a full fledged blister.  Moral of the story, I will be going back to buy a few more pair of ridiculously expensive socks :)

Ashley and I have been walking 3-5 times a week for the last 2 months.  We normally go for about an hour and get in about  4 miles.  Tonight we did our first 5 mile walk and it was good.  We both felt we could keep going.  We definitely keep a pace much faster than we will do for the 3-day, but these training walks take a lot of time!

So, all in all, the training is going well.  I bought my sleeping bag for the event, but I still need to find ours or get a new air mattress to take with me.  Thanks for checking in with me, and make sure you look at the older posts because I have finally updated from the events of the last month!

Dance Recital

For the time being, this was our last year of dance.  The girls had fun in the classes, but they aren’t really passionate about it.  We gave them the option of what 2 activities they wanted to continue next year and the 2 that made the cut are soccer and they added ice skating.  That means dance and softball are out.  Dance always ends with the big recital, and this year didn’t disappoint.  McKenna had 2 numbers in the early show – 1 tap and 1 ballet.  She and all her friends did a great job and this was the first year where they didn’t look at their teacher in the wings the entire time – you can’t tell by McKenna’s pictures, but she really did a good job at the actual performance!  Anna had 1 number – hip hop.  The girls did great and it looked like they were having so much fun.  Theirs was a much faster paced show, so a lot of the pictures are blurry.  We aren’t allowed to take pictures during the actual performance so these are taken during the dress rehearsal and waiting around during the dress rehearsal.

I just thought this picture was kind of cool.  It was as they were setting up and the shadows just look neat :)

Anna Graduates 1st Grade

So I completely forgot to take my camera to all of the end of the year festivities, but rest assured that Anna did in fact graduate 1st grade and is heading on to 2nd grade next year.  Her last day of school consisted of rotating between the playground, the bounce house and dodgeball, skipping out of school early and having lunch with her sisters, grandma and I, and then swimming at the community pool with lots of friends.  It was a fun last day, and while she could have stayed at school all day, they had pretty much just been watching movies all week, so I didn’t think their was too much harm done by taking her out early :)  She received great marks on her final report card, and while we started the year off a little shaky on reading, she has turned into quite the avid reader now and loves reading Junie B. Jones and Magic Tree House books.  I am so glad she likes it as it is really hard to try and force someone to read.  Anna will really miss her 1st grade teacher Mrs. Johnson, and we will let you know who she gets for 2nd grade in August.

I’m going PART-TIME!!!

After much discussion and deliberation, Patrick and I decided that I would reduce my hours at work, and as of June 1, I am a part-timer!  I am still working 2 days a week – 1 from home and 1 in the office and a few hours at night.  Mayu comes to the house those 2 days so I can REALLY work and then I get to play with the girls for the rest of the week.  It has been great so far (I back dated this entry, so I have actually been part time for over 2 months as I write this,oops).  We have been staying busy playing with friends attending soccer camp and cooking camp and just having fun.  I am so glad we made this change!