Girls!

I am going to dedicate this blog post to the girls in my life, the ones here with me and the ones at home waiting for me. I believe you are all strong and amazing and are doing great things for yourself and everyone around you! KEEP BEING AWESOME!

YEAH…we rock!

On Sunday prior to our weekly group run there was an organized Fun Run for Kids that started at 8 in the morning. The run was comprised of teams of 4. We made a team of all women. I was with a female U.S. Marine, an Australian Naval Officer, and an Australian Army Officer. There was a staggered start and each team started five minutes after each other. We were the first team to start.  We started by running to the first station.

 

At each station we were required to perform a certain task and then given a slip of paper with directions to the next station. Our all-female team, the only all-female team participating didn’t win, but we did come in third (I might need to mention there were only six teams). We did however win the award for most ingenious team. At one of the stations we were expected to conduct fifty pull ups. I think if I had to do fifty pull ups I would still be at the station. I am not capable of doing one proper pull up, much less fifty. I truly believe I am much more capable of completing a full Ironman than I am of completing fifty pull ups. This is where our ingenious came in. The instructions stated we had to complete fifty pull ups with our chin coming over the bar and then fully extending our arms. The pull-up bar was on a set of racks. I stood on the pegs on the rack and did squats which allowed my chin to go over the bar and then I extended my arms fully. I didn’t break any rules and knocked out fifty pull-ups within the rules of the race in less than a minute. Then we were off to our next station. We had a really great morning running around and having fun.  Plus we proved how smart women really are.

Recently I took a day trip over to Bagram Air Base to touch base with some of my colleges. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone, but the military is a male dominated career, although while over there, and just by chance we ended up having an all-female lunch. The lunch was joint and multinational. We represented the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, the Australian Army and Navy, and the British Army. It was nice to share some comradery with my fellow female service members from around the world. The food, well that was just ok!

Last week my lovely mother turned 60. Her birthday fell during a week when the kids were really busy with activities. We were able to find a sitter to help out and I think we were still able to make her birthday special. Thank you mom for understanding! My sister took her out for dinner, while TJ ran the kids around to their various activities. Our neighbor Rosie, an amazing make-up artist, did my mother’s make-up. If you are looking for of a make-up artist, please check her out on Facebook at Rosie Dow Makeup Artist. Timothy did think Grandma looked scary, but only kind of scary. The next day Taylyn asked her where her mask went. Sometimes kids!   I am proud to say I have these genes, I hope I can look this young at 60!

Mom on Her Birthday…thanks Rosie!

In the middle of all that was going on last week, Timyra had swim team tryouts every evening. She had been looking forward to trying out for the swim team for a while and this was her chance. Between everything else that was going on, with the help of a babysitter, everyone made it where they needed to all week and Timyra was able to go to tryouts every day. By the end of the week she was exhausted. The tryouts went until 8 and then she’d have to come home, shower, eat a snack, and wind down before going to bed. I call TJ most mornings when I get up and he’s usually on his way to bed. Last week Timyra was still up after tryouts.  In the end, it was all worth it. We found out Saturday she made the team. Thankfully practice doesn’t go as late as tryouts did and she’s only swimming two or three days a week instead of every day. I am very proud of my little mermaid, but now is when the work really begins. I’m excited to get home and watch her compete! (If you haven’t noticed, I love this stuff and I find it really rewarding watching my babies do what I love…watch out world if any of my children run cross country!)

She’s in the far lane