Friday, January 30, 2009

Job Update

A few people have called and/or emailed Dan and I asking about our jobs. See, right about the time I posted about my job possibly being on the chopping block for next year, the company my husband works for announced that it was cutting a whole bunch of jobs as well. So I should probably clarify...

Yes, the position I have right now could possibly be eliminated next year. But I should explain that by saying that I might not have THAT job, but I will likely have A job in the district I work for. They don't want to lose teachers, so when they eliminate a position, they generally place you in another one (BIG district...lots of jobs). I am pretty sure the job would not be as interesting as the one I have now, but I will not be unemployed. Our boss's boss came into our staff meeting this week and reiterated that to all of us. I think her exact words were, "I will find you a job. It may not be one you like, but that's your problem." For me, it would probably mean a class full of teenage hoodlums...you know, nothing I haven't dealt with before.

As far as Dan's job goes... the announced cuts are not coming from sales in his area. They are already lean and mean. He won't get his 401K match this year, but in the grand scheme of things, that really is a trivial matter. I am just very thankful we both have jobs and benefits and food and stuff. We really are very lucky.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Inauguration Picture

This is my current favorite picture of Noah. It is him cheering in front of the Inauguration Day parade with President and Mrs. Obama walking down the street. I figure it will be a neat thing for him to have when he is an adult. You know, "look where I was at this moment in history..."


Sunday, January 25, 2009

Planned Races for the Year

Two of my goals for this year are to complete a triathlon and to run a half marathon in under 2 hours. I have slightly modified one of those goals and made my half marathon goal 2:02 because a book I am reading says 2 hours may be an unrealistic goal. (I am still hoping for sub-2 though.) Anyway, I think I am going to do the Crescent Moon Tri in September. It's a nice short one so I don't think the swim will kill me. It also gives me plenty of time to get a road bike and practice...right now I only have a mountain bike and that just isn't practical for triathlons. They run it through Cherry Creek State Park, so it should be pretty without adding any altitude to my normal training level. In June, I am planning on running the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon. It runs through downtown Denver, so again, it won't add any altitude to my normal training. In fact, I actually train about 1000 feet higher, so maybe that will help?

I am not sure I am supposed to be posting this, but Dan is planning on running the Bolder Boulder this year. Hands down, it is the most fun race I have ever competed in. It is a 10K run through the streets of Boulder, CO, every year on Memorial Day. Dan would love to have some company if anyone is interested (hint, hint: Crystal, Joe, Erics, Suzanne, Amanda, Mike). It really is an amazing experience...you finish the race by running into Folson Field and it seems like everyone in the place is cheering just for you. It's also beautiful. I will be there with Noah cheering Dan on...and you if you come!

I also want to find a pretty race up in the mountains that I can run just for fun. I may think about doing the Golden Leaf again, but it might be nice to try something new.
*Click on any of the images to check out the race websites.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Meeting Day

Oh my gosh, I am so bored. I have been sitting in meetings all day. NOT my kind of day. On a good note, I had all of my friends from my new job over to my house for lunch on our break today. Our training was at a high school 2 miles from my house, so it just sort of made sense. It was really fun, and I am so appreciative of these wonderful people who have made my new job so much fun. Now, if only there weren't job cuts still coming down the pike...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Tired Legs

400s suck...after you do 12 of them at close to your top speed. That's what this Run Less, Run Faster program had me doing yesterday. So, I woke up with sore arms from painting and sore legs from running.

When I first saw it, I was like, "12x400? That has got to be a misprint."

It's not.

I thought three days a week of running would be easy.

Not so much.

Inauguration Day

I have thought and thought about what to write about today on my blog. Really, there are no words. It's a good, good day. I am going to enjoy the historic moment and be thankful that I am able to be alive in this exciting time. Happy Inauguration Day!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Noah's New Room

It's all finished! Dan and I took Noah to school this morning and had it finished when we picked him up. We did the reveal like a Trading Spaces episode. The paint needs a little touch up, but I think we did ok for one day. And Noah was really excited. Here are some pictures of the finished product:

Sunday, January 18, 2009

New Bed

I guess Noah really is a big boy because we bought his big boy bed yesterday. Now I just have to find the bedding and we are ready to go. He is really excited for it, so I hope the transition will go smoothly. No more trapping my child in his bed against his will!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Run Less, Run Faster

I have been reading this book called Run Less, Run Faster that I got for Christmas (Thanks, Eric I.). It's about how with three days a week of running plus two days a week of cross training, you can improve your times for pretty much any racing distance (5K, 10K, half, or full marathon). You just have to train at a faster pace than you are used to and do three specific types of runs: track repeats, tempo runs, and long runs. I am still running 4 times per week, but I am doing cross training at least one day plus a couple days of strength training. But I am not up to the paces the book recommends for me yet, either. I guess you could say I am making a slow transition over to that program. I figure if I train for my half with that program, it gives me two days per week to bike and swim to start getting in shape for the tri I want to do this year.

Today I am doing a 7 mile run @9:48 (the long run pace recommended by the book for my last 5K time). I am going to need to speed it up if I want to finish the half sub-2:00. Right now, the book says a reasonable goal time for me is 2:02. I haven't decided what 1/2 I am running yet, so I need to figure that out soon to decide if I have enough time to speed it up.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Job Cuts

This is really freaky. I talked to a friend in the central administration building of my school district and about 2/3 of her department is getting wiped out today, including many people who have been working with my team. I still don't really know what will happen with the team I am on, but we keep getting reassured that there will be a job for us somewhere in the district next year even if our team has cuts. We still don't even know if any cuts will happen on our team, so I will keep you posted.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Is this the terrible twos?

So last night, Dan and Noah and I were picking up his toys because it was almost time for bed. He had no problem picking up the dinosaurs, but then here's what happened:

Dan: OK, it's time to pick up the balls now.

Noah (Yelling): No! It's not

Me: Yes, it's time to pick up.

Noah (still yelling): No! It's not time to pick up yet!

Then Noah runs over to the stairs, throws a ball down the stairs, turns back around and yells at us:

Now you'll never get it!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Selfish A-Holes

The voters in my county are selfish a-holes. If you are the one person who reads this blog regularly, you probably remember that I posted back in November about how voters rejected the school bond. Well, start feeling the effects people because a whole bunch of people were notified yesterday that their jobs will no longer exist as of the end of this school year. And my friend Kate's job is one of them. This sucks.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Big Boy Bed?

So, Noah is completely potty trained but he wears a pull-up at night. Not because we don't think he can make it through the night without peeing the bed...but because he is still in a baby bed. He hasn't climbed out yet and I am reluctant to move to a regular bed until he tries. He's trapped, ya know, and that's not really a bad thing! Anyway, we are starting to look at beds and can't decide between the following options:



1. twin bed

2. double bed

3. bunk beds

4. some kind of a trundle...do they make boy ones?



I'll keep you posted...stay tuned.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

2008: Favorite Moments Recap

I know this is a little late and backwards because I already did my resolutions, but I am very thankful for so many things in my life. I am so lucky it's not even funny, so I wanted to take a moment to appreciate 2008.

My top 10 moments of 2008:

10. KU winning the national championship in basketball ( and how cool Dan was about watching it with me)

9. The election of Barack Obama

8. Camping in Steamboat with Dan and Noah and the Intfens

7. Running a PR in the 10K Colorado Springs Classic

6. Running a PR in the 5K at the Sprint Turkey Day 5K with all of my siblings

5. Finding out I got my new job

4. Finishing the Colfax Marathon with Noah and Dan cheering me on

3. Running (and finishing) the Golden Leaf 1/2 Marathon in Aspen and then spending that weekend in Aspen with Dan and Noah

2. Noah's second birthday party. It was a blast!

1. Moving into our new place and spending time here with Dan and Noah

Monday, January 5, 2009

Resolutions

Here are my New Year's Resolutions. I figure maybe if I put them out there now, I'll be forced to do them no matter how low I run on motivation.

1. Spend more time playing with Dan and Noah and Japhy
2. Finish a triathlon
3. Finish a half marathon in under 2 hours
4. Spend less and save more $$
5. Drop 5 pounds to lessen the pounding my knees are taking from all that running.
6. Increase my weight and resistance training...also to help the knees. See a theme here?

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Winter Park, Colorado

While Amanda and AJ were here, we took them snowboarding up at Winter Park. I was glad to go there because Dan and I hadn't been to that resort in literally 5 or more years. We just usually go to Keystone or A-Basin now. It was great to get back there and see how much our skills have improved.

Speaking of improved skills, Amanda and AJ both did awesome especially considering that it was their first time. By the end of their lesson, they could both stay up on the board long enough to consider themselves snowboarders. After the lesson, we had some time on the mountain to ride together. It was so much fun. Both of them want to come back next weekend and do it again (You're always welcome, guys). I was nervous that one or both of them would not like it and the day would be a bummer, but they both had a great time. Here are some pics from the day.

Amanda rockin' the slopes:
Amanda and AJ after a couple of pretty good falls: Amanda and I at the end of a LONG run: Amanda and AJ at the end of the day: Amanda wiping me out: AJ at a yard sale: Amanda and I getting ready to ride:AJ in his lesson:

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Happy New Year

My little sister, Amanda, was here for New Year's Eve with her boyfriend, AJ. We had so much fun. We had dinner at an Indian restaurant. Neither Amanda or AJ had ever eaten Indian food before so that was an experience. Then we took the light rail downtown to watch the fireworks. Denver does their fireworks display twice on New Year's Eve: once at 9:00 for families and once at 12:00 for partiers. We went down for the 9:00 one. Dan loves fireworks so I knew we couldn't miss it! While we were waiting for the fireworks, we went to ESPN Zone and played some games and hung out for a while. Noah loved being able to run around all over the place and thought the fireworks were really cool. The ride home on light rail was kind of a nightmare because so many people were leaving at once, but they really did a great job of managing all those people and it definitely could have been worse. Noah didn't go to bed until 11:00!!! Then we all actually stayed up and rocked in the new year with Ryan Seacrest, Dick Clark, and Carson Daly. All in all, it was a really fun night and I am so glad Amanda and AJ were able to be here for it.

The ride downtown on light rail:

At ESPN Zone:
Walking around downtown Denver:Dan and Noah watching fireworks. It was a dual display so you can see the second set in the background

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Christmas in Iowa

Playing air hockey with Grandpa: Noah's cousin Brayden:

Go Favre:
Uncle Mikey teaching Noah how to golf:
Aunt Christie, Uncle Jim, and Brayden:
Noah and Brayden:
Grandpa with his Christmas present from Noah: Grandma opening her present from Noah:Sara and her Grover:Brayden: Grandma and Brayden:

Christmas in KC

Noah's cousin Luke:


Dan and Luke:
Luke:Luke: Noah's cousin Kenny (the one he couldn't stop talking about after Christmas):
Noah and Kenny jamming:

And then "sleeping" on G.G.'s bed afterwards:Luke:

Luke and Dan:
Noah and Grandma G.G. reading a bedtime story: Noah:Aunt Amanda and Noah: Daddy and Noah playing with the new toys: Noah opening presents: Noah and G.G.:

Noah and G.G.: