Sunday: Church Success and Swim

I was up early today and I had about an hour to myself just sipping tea and listing my least used clothing on ebay. It was lovely. I had two cup of tea - a green and a white. I listed a cashmere cardigan, a cocoon cardigan, and a pair of khaki chinos. I live for listing my least used clothing on ebay, because it always goes into the pot for new clothing. I can clean three things out of my closet and then buy the one thing of my choice for free. It is truly a thrill. For instance, last week, I sold a sweater on ebay and used part of my earnings to buy new insoles for my Uggs. If you have never bought a new pair of Ugg insoles to revitalize a pair of Uggs that have been worn one too many times on sweaty feet, I might have to say you haven't lived. When your toes settle into your new Uggs and that new shearling cuddles your toes, it is a small slice of podiatric heaven.

When Ivan and Elliott woke up, we got ready for church and headed out to the 11:00 AM service. It was the first Sunday of the Advent, the music was beautiful and Ivan was quite well-behaved. There was some aggressive greeting on his part. Ivan is a huge sayer of "Hi" at top volume. Also, he enjoys fist-bumping and hi-fiving. He will also shake your hand if he can get it. We get a 50/50 reception from the crowd with Ivan's dog-and-pony show. Some people seem to really love him, and some people probably think that we the worst parents ever.

The church business is a tight-rope, however; As at our church, children stay in the nursery until time for communion. Then parents go and get their children so that at communion the minister can say a brief individual prayer with the child. It is a sweet tradition, but by the time that Baby Sloan gets to the sanctuary and sits quietly while waiting on the minister, he is ready to jump out of his skin when the minister gets to him. By this time, he is talking, working frantically to make eye contact with everyone in the sanctuary and greet them individually with a hearty "HI!!!!!". Maybe we should just leave him in the nursery the whole time.

We walked to Starbucks after church and I had another breakfast sandwich. I am loving these sandwiches. At home, Ivan had his nap and I worked on some paperwork before getting ready and going to swim. I really only swam for about an hour, as I was late getting in the pool. I received a text last night, and I was told that due to a pool-regulating issue over the Thanksgiving Holiday, the pool was less than 70 degrees. FREEZING. I have been concerned about it all day. Anyway, all was well when I got to the pool. The water was at proper temperature, and I managed to dive in less than gracefully, but still!!!

Swim was all about IM drills. A lot of backstroke, a lot of butterfly, and a lot of breaststroke. It was not that long of a workout, but I am exhausted. Crawling in bed at 8:30 PM.

Saturday: Long Run and Suicide Watch

I was up at 5:20 AM this morning to get to the park to run. I had made plans with Marshall to meet at 6:00 AM to get in 6 miles before meeting with the main group at 7:00 AM. This morning it was seriously cold. Now when it is less that 40 degrees outside, I get reckless with my dress. I just can't pull it all together. I worry that I will be too hot, and then I worry that I will be too cold. So I leave this house in some seriously ridiculous ensembles. I just wish I had the wherewithall to take a picture of myself before the run, so you could see just how far I take my weather worries. No, I totally retract that statement. It is so ridiculous that it should remain between myself and the other poor souls who show up in the wee hours of the morning to run in the dark in sub forty degree weather.

Today, I arrived at the park in one of Elliott's camo-hunting hats complete with ear flaps, thinsulate, gortex, and a faux fur lining. I also wore a wind wall vest from Northface (a very useful item of clothing, if you are interested) and a wind-cutting turtleneck from Nike. I also wore my fleece ski gloves. THEN, I inexplicably wore a pair of thin running capris also from Nike. They are quite tiny and have absolutely no insulation. It was like being naked on my lower half. When I got out of the car, I asked Fraz if I looked "hot", to which he replied "in an Elmer Fudd kind of way". Why will Fraz be so funny?

I MEANT TEMPERATURE-WISE, NOT LIKE PARIS HILTON. Anyway, I ran a mile with Fraz then found Marshall, and we ran six more. By the time I finished my 7 miles, I was sweltering on top. My head was pouring sweat and my chest was soaked. I was carrying my gloves and wondering what planet I was from. My lower half, however, was an icecicle. The front of my thighs and calves were numb and my bottom felt like two blocks of ice.

I am going to do some reading about dressing for the cold this week. There must be some researched advice out there. Must be.

After I finished my 7 miles, Marshall and I met up with the 7:00 AM group and tacked on ten more miles. I was able to drop a few clothes in the car and complete the final ten at a more comfortable temperature. All told, it was 16ish or 17ish miles at a fast clip. I am pleased with long runs. I am not as sore tonight as I was last week, so I take that to be a great sign.

Also, my nutrition was better this morning: I had a smoothie and a cup of gold bar and some green tea before my run today, so I had plenty of fuel.

Now, when I got home, Elliott and I traded off with Ivan. He went to bike and I took care of Ivan. While I was getting Ivan's baby quiches ready to toast, (and I mean that my back was turned for all of one solid minute) Ivan climbed onto the kitchen stool and fell off backwards. I mean, I turned around and saw his little body hit the ground and bend like Gumby. It was terrifying. I wasn't sure whether to call 911 or pick him up. Anyway, he started sobbing and moving, and so I picked him up, and he is all right but for a nasty bruise on his hip and two bumps on his head.

This afternoon, as I was putting new sheets on the bed, I was shaking out the top sheet to put on the bed and Ivan crawled under the sheet and onto the bed before I saw him, he then leapt into the air as if on a trampoline, lost his balance and hit the floor. It all happened in less than a second. Again, I had a milli-second of indecision of whether or not to call 911, and then Ivan started sobbing, and I picked him up, and I am clearly going to have to mattress the walls at Sloan Manor. Or maybe the answer is that I cannot do one shred of housework or prepare any healthy food. I can only follow Ivan with no more that one inch of separation and feed Ivan whatever I can lay hands on without removing my eyes from him. Maybe this is my new strategy.

Finally, my pictures for today are the new rugs I purchased for Sloan Manor. We now have a dining room rug, a foyer run (picture is with a ladder than is inexplicably lying in the floor), a den rug (which I forgot to photograph), and a new bedroom rug. Note that my dining room is in a shamble, two different dining room curtains. I love the green ones (which are new), but do they go with the rug. I am hanging both temporarily while think on which is best.

Friday:5:45 AM Bike Class

Some people get up at 5:00 AM to go shopping on Black Friday, but I dragged myself out of the bed to get to bike class. When the alarm went off, I decided that I was mentally functioning in the low average range for deciding to get up that early the day after Thanksgiving and a three hour drive with a screaming child. By the time I got to class, I was beginning to feel like I could string a full sentence together.

The workout was hard. I had to stay at 115 rpm's for eight minutes, then some rests before spiking to 120 rpm's three different times. It was quite hard. I was just struggling along the whole time. Todd, our coach, is endlessly encouraging and positive, but I got lots of constructive criticism about my form today. I could not help but decide on the spot that I am a lazy cyclist. I just tool along when I am left to my own devices, and when I am locked down on the bike for and hour and a half, my poor form and lazy cycling habits are very obvious. I got a little better today, but it is such hard work to improve.

I made it through class and headed home and hit Starbucks on the way home. I got my usual decaf soy latte and a coffee for Elliott, and then I got two breakfast sandwiches. Have you had these sandwiches? They are truly delicious, and I am pleased with the nutritional qualities as well. I bought a low-fat turkey-bacon egg-white sandwich and a egg and sausage sandwich for Elliott. Both were delicious, but the extra 150 calories in Elliott's sandwich made it a lot better than my low-fat turkey. His was just fabulous, mine was slightly bland, but with more fiber. I think I would continue to go with mine.

At home, I cleaned around the house, my parents came and helped me decide about a new rug. Elliott and the baby and I went to Swanky's for dinner. I came home and watched The Soup. Headed to bed to continue reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Thursday: Aaah, Thanksgiving

Today, friends, was the best Thanksgiving ever. Now, there were a few foibles which I will describe in detail, but overall, I give this Thanksgiving and A-plus. That cannot be said about many, if any holidays, ever. This one, yes!!! I vote for a permanent Birmingham Thanksgiving date.

I got a reasonable amount of sleep for traveling with a baby, then woke up to run the Thanksgiving 10k, which was supposed to start at 8:30 AM. My sister dropped me off at that starting line, and as I hopped out of the car, I forgot my gloves and forgot to take off my sunglasses. So, there I was, stranded at the starting line in sub 40 degree weather without my gloves. WIHOUT MY GLOVES, and with a huge pair of sunglasses that would rival anything Jackie O. ever wore. Also, making things even more bizarre, was the fact that I was wearing my race number, not just any race number, but 666. Who gives out race numbers that are 666. I mean seriously, it made me nervous. When I finally lined up at the starting line, the little man standing beside me shriveled up his face and backed away pointing at me. I was glad I was wearing the glasses at that point.

Usually, I run races that start on time, at least within 5 minutes of the appointed time, which was 8:30 AM. At 8:45 AM, there was really no one on the starting line. I was jogging around in a huge pair of sunglasses, with cold hands, just waiting for someone to show up to run with me. Finally, at 8:50 AM the starting line started to fill out, and after a lengthy discussion about the race and a the national anthem sung by Jules Tenenbaum, they fired the starting gun and we started running at about 9:00 AM. It was a good race, it was quite hilly as you would expect in Birmingham. My race was not necessarily great: 6:47 for the first mile and ultimately finishing in 47:45, but I like to get in a good run on Thanksgiving and I did.

We then got ready for a lovely Thanksgiving lunch at my sister and brother-in-law's club. I love a buffet, and could not imagine a more desirable Thanksgiving. I had shrimp salad and smoked salmon, sweet potatoes and turkey, fried pickles and corn puddings, pumpkin pudding and english trifle. Now, most of my entree plate was eaten cold as I was chasing Ivan who fought his way out of his high chair. It was still good cold, and I think this is the price of having a not-quite-two-year-old.

We drove home after dinner. Ivan cried the entire three hour drive, but at home, he went to bed quite quickly and I am watching Bottle Rocket as I just love Wes Anderson.

Pics from the run and the dinner!!

Wednesday: Run and Swim

My day yesterday was too busy to blog. It seemed like I was on the run from 9:00AM to 8:30PM. I took running clothes into work, so that I could sneak in a quick few miles on the treadmill, and only got in a mile and a half, before my appointment arrived and I had to hop off the treadmill in mid-sweat. I was on the run all day.

Today, my work appointments were cancelled and I was able to get up early and run three miles without the jog stroller. So great. It was a quick run, and I am really proud of myself for getting up early. I was on the street at 6:15 AM. I had a great run, cooled down while I surfed the internet, and had a cup of tea. Then Ivan woke up, and we packed up to get into swim.

Swim was full of students off school for fall break getting in their last swim before Thanksgiving. It is always interesting to see the students who have been swimming their whole lives as they are completely fluid in the water in a way that is probably out of my realm at this point. Their butterfly strokes are perfect.

Our swim workout was great. NIck was there, and he kept us on interval. Workout as follows:

• 200 swim/ 200 kick/ 200 IM drill
• 8 x 50 kick @ 1:15
• 3 x 200 pull @ 3:00
• 6 x 150 (drill/swim)
• 8 x 50 kick @ 1:15
• 8 x 50 IM order @ 1:00

Really good workout. I sprinted home as I had a sitter for Ivan in the afternoon. I ran errands in an effort to get ready to go out of town with my parents. We left for Birmingham and had an easy trip with Ivan napping most of the way. Am getting ready for the Birmingham Turkey Trot tomorrow morning. Hopefully the 10K will take me less than 48 minutes!! Wish me luck!!

Monday: The Worst Monday of All

Oh friends, today was a bust. I should have just stayed in bed. Do you have these days? I got to the pool in plenty of time, but made the peripheral but damning mistake of forgetting Ivan's diaper bag. Can you believe it? So important, yet so trivial. I confessed this fact to the women in the nursery and the nursery workers struck a bargain with me: You can swim until he has a dirty diaper.

In my head, I thought I would get to swim until at least 9:30. This, however, was not the case. I dove into the pool at 8:39 AM, swam to the end of the lane and then back again and then one more trip to the end of the lane. When I got to the end of the lane, at 8:45 AM, Miss Glenda was waiting on me. Ivan had a dirty diaper. As I climbed out of the pool, I had several ideas in my head. Surely, there was a mother from whom I could track down and borrow a diaper. Of course, today, there were only two decidedly potty-trained 5 year olds in the nursery outside of my son, Ivan of the Dirty Diaper.

SO, I had to slink down to the nursery in my bathing suit, dripping wet and collect Ivan. Then get on some clothes and take him home. At home, I saw the despot diaper bag smirking at me from the dining room table as I took Ivan back to the changing table.

At home, since I did not get to take my usual Monday shower deliciously alone in the gym locker room, I had to take my shower at home. I tried to get Ivan to play with some toys and such on the floor of the bathroom, while I took my shower. No sooner had I lathered my hair and rinsed it off, than I opened my eyes to see that Ivan had crawled into the shower, fully clothed. He was completely soaked and his little boots were running over with water. His little diaper was so saturated with water, that he could barely remain standing and it ballooned out in an orb about his groin. Absorbancy technology is truly amazing.

Anyway, this setback made us late to meet my parents at Cosco. Once there, Ivan ate a sample Thanksgiving dinner and somberly allowed himself to be confined in his car seat when we left. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, and slept in the car for about an hour. He woke up completely hysterical and was only calmed with a bottle of milk, walking, petting, and watching the Lollipop Guild from The Wizard of Oz. He just loves those munchkins.

After this, I was able to get in a four mile jog stroller run and a Gilad workout, before putting Ivan to bed and sitting down to watch PBS. Sea Biscuit and Elbert Hubbard were featured this evening. Woody Guthrie coming on Wednesday night. Surely, I can get in a better workout tomorrow.

Sunday: Swim and The Three Martini Playdate

I am going to admit to you right now that I was QUITE sore this morning after my run yesterday and also it was quite wet and chilly out, so I really did not do anything but have cereal and tea and watch the wiggles with Ivan before we left for church. It is unfortunate, but I often notice that if I have not made a date to do some sort of workout, it

might happen that I sloth the day away on the couch; especially Sundays.

We made it to church as a family, and it was one of the loveliest services I have ever attended as we sang both "A Mighty Fortress" and "Crown Him with Many Crowns". Our church's organ is just stellar, and the music was beautiful. The sermon was a little confusing now that I think about it, but that will happen from time to time.

At home, I put Ivan down for a nap and spent some time reading through a book my sister gave me before I had Ivan. It was called The Three Martini Playdate. While the title is off-putting, it isn't really about inebriated childcare. For instance, listen to this gem of concisely put advice:

"Some parents simply haven't figured out that they have potential hours at their disposal, peaceful, unfettered, child-free hours. They have overlooked that magic time between, say, eight PM and one AM when books may be read, newspapers caught up with, novels written, and, of course, parties held." BRILLIANT!!!! Look at me!! I am blogging and watching Arrested Development, this very instant!!

Another chapter, called Child Labor: Not Just for the Third World espouses the importance

of giving children chores, as it gives them a sense of efficacy and self-reliance. Please note that

in the picture of Ivan today, he is vacuuming. I have taught him to use both the vacuum cleaner

and the dust buster. It is so rewarding to see a tiny pile of whatever be excitedly sucked away by

Ivan. It cracks me up to see him stomp his tiny foot on the vacuum cleaner button and diligently

scoot the vacuum cleaner nozzle around the kitchen baseboards. He knows that is where the dirt

collects!!!!

Also, he is able to feed the cat and empty the silverware portion of the dishwasher. Do you

think I could have a couple of more kids and let the cleaning women go all together??

Oh, Happy Day!!!

So hilarious and common sensical. The book offers so many truisms about holding your ground and not taking this parenting business too seriously.

When Ivan woke up, I traded off with Elliott and headed out to swim. I only swam for about an hour, and it was another butterfly practice. I was mentally prepared, but the lanes were twice as long as Wednesday. On Sundays, the pool is set up for long course. This meant that instead of 25 yard lanes, we were swimming 50 meter lanes. 50 meters is a long butterfly lap, and every lap, I thought I wouldn't make it to the end. I felt that with every stroke my body rose less and less out of the water, as I just didn't have the strength to make it to the end. At home, my stomach feels like I have done 1000 crunches. So, a great day, a reasonable workout, and am about to start up some serious knitting!!

Saturday: The Long Runs Begin

Today, I was determined DETERMINED to get in a long run. Based on my hip injury, I had to take it easy for several weeks, before starting to run again just in the neighborhood. I have ramped up my neighborhood run and have been ready to get back out with the running group, but have been so busy on my weekends. I had two trips to Birmingham, a fundraiser and a shower on the same day, and then Elliott was out of town last weekend and I had to take Ivan on my run with me. So, today I was finally able to get to the park at 6:00 AM for a long run. I was thrilled; except that I did not get a great sleep last night and also had a bit of a sore throat, so I was out of sorts when the alarm went off at the alarming time it always chooses.

I made it to the park a bit early, and it was Europe cold. The temperature was 31 F and the humidity was 85 percent. The cold was wet and it was really chilly. We ran a really fast warm-up run on the golf course, before meeting back at the park entrance to head out to Radnor Lake. The Radnor Lake run heads up Belle Meade Blvd. , right on Tyne, right on Robert E. Lee and across Granny White to get into Radnor. It was a nice run, but I couldn't keep up. I started quite fast and got slower and slower and slower. It was fifteen miles all together, and I think I will get faster as I keep upping my mileage and running with the group. It was my first day back since August, after all!!

At home, I had a large breakfast and a long nap when Ivan went down for his. I have just lazed around ever since. Am watching Breakfast at Tiffany's, and am reminded that I need to work on my bouffant. Swim tomorrow!!!

Pics from before the party last night!! Also, some of Ivan climbing fences.

Friday: Bike Class/ Swim

This morning, I hauled myself out of bed at 5:05 AM. Now, Todd Nordmeyer, my cycling coach, wants us all to be to class no later than 5:30 AM. I have come to the conclusion that I cannot get out of bed before 5:00 AM.

6:00 AM is the time that I strive to get out of bed, though this has not happened since the baby started sleeping through the night. Anytime before 6:00 AM, and I had better be catching a plane or the house had better be on fire. So, I was the last one to arrive at bike class, but I was reasonably on time.

I loaded my bike onto the trainer and biked for a solid hour and 30 minutes at approximately 115 watts. I wish I could tell you my calorie burn, but I forgot to look at the final tally. It was intense, however, and I was crazy hungry when I got home.

When you ride in Todd's class, it is really interesting, because you take your bike with you and hook it into Todd's master computer so that you all ride together and you can see what the other seven people in the class are doing. There is a huge screen at the front of the room and everyone's calorie output, watts, and mph are in front of the class. The first class I took with Todd was a beginner class and there were only three girls in the class, and a couple of them had never been on their bikes before. We rode, but Todd also taught us to change a tire and he also taught us about road riding, and we had a field trip. Todd babied us and I was wildly appreciative.

The class I am taking now is a base building class, which means we are trying to ride at 115 watts for most of the class. AND everyone, especially the men, seemed to be quite competitive throughout the class. I started riding at 5:45 and crawled off the bike at 7:15 AM.

I hurried home and unloaded my car and made a smoothie and loaded Ivan into the car for swim. At swim, we swam a great workout. I swam the masters workout, which was really exhausting after the bike class. Workout as follows:

• 500 swim/ 200 pull/ 200 kick/ 200 drill/ 200 swim
• 10 x 200 swim @ 4:00

Not much to the workout, right?, but a lot of good yardage and I stayed on interval throughout and swam with the masters swimmers. After picking up Ivan and getting home, I ate an avocado and some chips to take the edge off my ravenous hunger. When I put the baby down to nap, I got right into bed and had a monster nap.

Then we went to our first Christmas party of the season, to which we had to take Ivan. It was a reasonable night. There were no major meltdowns and only some light mess-making. I had my first peppermint bark of the season, and I now truly feel that Christmas is upon us.

Thursday: Run and Gilad and Yoga

Today, was a rather dull day for the Sloans. I hung out at home, ran 4.5 miles with the jog stroller and got in a Gilad workout. Now, the idea was to run further today. For this reason, I scheduled my entire run around 9:30ish AM, so that most likely, Ivan would fall asleep in the jog stroller and take a brief nap so that I could get in a longer run. HOWEVER, my ipod went out AND just after Ivan went to sleep a lawnmower being unloaded off a trailer landed loudly and woke Ivan and the whole run went to pot. SO, 4.5 miles it was, and daylight savings time is killing me. I need one more hour of daylight. If I had it, I could run when I got home. I got home from work early tonight, but could not run, because it was dark, so dark.

If I run with the jog stroller earlier in the morning, Ivan will not fall asleep in the stroller (as he just woke up) and I will definitely not get in any more that 4.5 miles. If I get up before Ivan wakes up, then it is still dark. It is such a predicament. I guess that I could have come home early and gone to the gym after work, but THEN, it would have been crowded and I might have had to wait in line and could not have gotten home in time to relieve our sitter.

I guess I could have gotten up really early and run on the treadmill at the gym while it was still dark, BUT FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE; how many machinations can I go through to meet the expectations of my workout? I have to draw the line, and I draw it at going the gym at 5:00 AM to run on the treadmill.

On that note however, I am meeting to begin a new cycling class tomorrow morning at 5:45 AM. I will be cycling at 5:45 in Todd Nordmeyer's endurance cycling class. I will cycle for an hour and a half and then arrive home by 7:30 AM to get prepped for swim.

I was really excited when I signed up for the class, but now, I am getting a little bummed at the idea of waking up at the crack of dawn. Will let you know how it goes!!

Wednesday: Double Swim

I got to the pool at a reasonable time this morning, and swam a great masters workout with Dennis. When I left the pool, I let Rogers, a great swimmer, have my workout. Dennis gives us our workouts printed on a slip of paper in a ziplock bag. This way we can keep them beside the pool and not get them wet. Other swimmers covet Dennis's workouts. I am going to report as much of the workout as I can remember. I know that we swam 3200 meters, so somewhere in my workout, I have stuck in something extra. Hmmmm:

• 300 swim/ 300 pull
• 4 x 200 odd IM/ even swim @ 4:00
• 200 kick
• 8 x 75 swim
• 8 x 50 kick
• 8 x 50 swim
• 8 x 25 kick
• 8 x 25 swim
• 200 cool down

I got home, and finished getting ready. I ran some errands and got in a Gilad workout. Then worked a bit, before heading back to swim.

Now, this week is butterfly week in the triathlon swim group. I just want you to know that I have been working on my butterfly stroke for two years now. This does not mean that I will be swimming in the olympic trials anytime soon, but I was gaining some confidence in my butterfly. It is challenging and it seriously ups the heart rate, but I was pretty proud of myself for learning a new skill. I thought that I would be the leader of the pack with my pre-worked butterfly skills. I was so over-confident. I bragged to other people in my lane that I was pretty good at the butterfly. SO foolish, because after the first drill, I was clinging to the pool side panting and thinking wistfully of curling up in the fetal position on the the pool deck.

Tonight, my confidence was shattered. We began with several different butterfly drills. One-arm drills, butterfly kick drills, and then real butterfly strokes. For the first time, in a long time, I thought I was going to have to give up. I felt like I was completely out of shape and maybe drowning. It was just brutal. I will try to recount the workout:

• 300 warmup
• 4 x 25 butterfly kick on back
• 4 x 25 butterfly kick on tummy
• 4 x 25 butterfly roll
• 500 pull
• 6 x 25 right arm butterfly drill
• 6 x 25 left arm butterfly drill
• 6 x 25 left arm/ both arms/ right arm butterfly drill
• 500 pull
• 8 x 25 butterfly
• 200 cool down

I think I got all that right. By the time we got to the 8 x 25 butterfly at the bottom, only sheer will and the thought of the shame of having to slink out of the pool in a puddle of shame kept me going. Even now, I am amazed at how difficult it was. It was so hard. IT WAS SO HARD.

Tuesday: I Started Getting Serious About Boston

This week is the week that I need to get serious about thinking through my Boston Marathon training schedule. During the week, my strategy will be to up my mileage by three or four miles a day. On Saturdays, I will get in a long run and some Sundays, I will be able to get in a long run as well. Upping my mileage during the week will take some thinking and doing, as during the week, I have to run with the jog stroller. Unless Ivan falls asleep in the jog stroller, he usually won't stand for more than 4 miles. Today, Ivan did not fall asleep in the jog stroller, and when I started my second loop, he began a melt-down that induced serious feelings of guilt in me and forced me to head home. So, on run one, I ran 4.5 miles. Then I came home and showered and got Ivan showered and headed in to get a hair cut. Today was the first time that Ivan had to come with me to a hair appointment, and it went rather well. We had one incident, where Ivan somehow crawled onto the counter-tops and prepared to jump, but he was rescued, and I intensified my suicide watch and all was well

At home, I was able to get in a Gilad workout, and get ready before Katelen came, and I ran some errands and then came home to run a fast three miles without the jog stroller. The three more miles felt great and I hope to have a few jog stroller runs where Ivan falls asleep, and I can run long.

At home, I made a spectacular salad for dinner. I made a dressing of olive oil, rice-wine vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, dijon mustard, and sea-salt. The salad was roast turkey, avacado, grapefruit, salad greens, fresh basil, blue cheese, and sliced pears. I also had a mint three musketeers for dessert.

After dinner, I devoted myself to putting up what I think is our first Christmas tree. It is a lovely fake, and it is a hand-me-down from my parents. I got the lights on it and a few ornaments. A great day!!!!

Monday: Swim and Gilad

So rather dull today, I did hurry out of the house and get to swim late. Though I did put in a hard workout and managed to stay on interval and get in 3400 meters. Workout as follows:

• 200 swim/ 200 kick/ 200 pull/ 200 swim
• 8 x 25 kick @ :40
• 8 x 100 swim @ 1:50
• 4 x 100 IM @ 2:00
• 8 x 25 kick @ :40
• 6 x 100 swim @ 1:50
• 8 x 25 kick @ :40
• 4 x 50 swim @ :50

I was pretty proud of myself. I got home and put up the Christmas tree that my parents brought for me yesterday which is surprisingly large. Was off to work and then to do a Gilad workout!!

Book Report: The Life of the Party: The Biography of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman By Christopher Ogden

Now, back in the days when I was breastfeeding, and Ivan had just been born and I was spending hours at a time in the rocker in Ivan's room, I was watching a copious amount of movies and miniseries and such. I watched John Adams (life-changing) , Rome (scandalous) , Mad Men (really good), and The History Channel Presents: Winston Churchill. Now, the Winston Churchill footage was amazing. It was all of his speeches, and the German propaganda songs (The Man with the Big Cigar), and interviews with his daughter-in-law and his grandson (Young Winston). I thoroughly enjoyed all of it, and now that I am reminiscing about it, may have to watch it again. It was inspirational, and I might have shed a few tears.

Anyway, the woman that was interviewed the most about Winston Churchill was Pamela Digby Churchill Hayard Harriman. "Who is that??" I continually asked myself. She was older, yet attractive and spoke about Winston Churchill as if she knew him best of all, better than his daughter (who was also interviewed and was rather dull). Pamela was vivacious and warm and quite pleasant. SO, I decided to look her up. She has a Wikipedia page, and it is completely enticing. For this reason, I needed to read a book about her. SHE WAS A MYSTERY TO ME, AND I HAD TO KNOW MORE. I found one book that is now out of print, but I ferreted it out of the used books on Amazon. It is called The Life of the Party: the Biography of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman. It is written by Christopher Ogden. Ogden has also written a book about Margaret Thatcher. He doesn't have a Wikipedia page or any page at all, and I would really like to know more about him.

The whole story behind the book is remarkable. He and Pamela entered into a legal agreement whereby Ogden would write her biography. As he began to dig up dirt, she balked at the agreement and they had a legal/financial squabble that ended in another agreement which was that he would write the book with no help from her. He interviewed 200 people that had known her when and learned much more than anyone wanted him to. Overall, everyone he talked to seemed to genuinely dislike her very much. Ogden himself seemed to hate her as well. Maybe the only biography that I have ever read where the author was absolutely hateful about his subject.

Anyway, to sum up. Pamela Digby was an English country aristocrat with no title and only a small annuity who moved to London and had a random date with Winston Churchill's son Randolph. Randolph was a well-known drunk and abuser and deeply in debt like the rest of the Churchills. He had proposed to several women before (all who said no), as he was desperate to procreate before going off to war (though Winston Sr. would never really let him go anywhere dangerous as he was the only son).

He proposed to Pamela and based on the importance of his father, she said yes. She married Randolph, became pregnant, and left Randolph and sent their son (Young Winston) off to be raised in the country until he was 5ish, at which time she passed him off to relatives, until he was old enough to go to boarding school where he stayed until he graduated. The neglect was the most disturbing aspect of the book.

Anyway, Pamela parlayed her new Churchill last name and the neglected son into meetings and relationships with famous and wealthy men. Among them were:

• Averell Harriman
• Edward R. Murrow (amazing broadcast journalist)
• Jock Whitney
• Aly Khan (later married Rita Hayworth)
• Baron Elie de Rothschild
• An Agnelli Heir (Fiat)
• Stavros Niarchos
• Leland Hayward (who became her second husband)
• Averell Harriman again (who became her third husband)

All of these men were married and Pamela was so desperate to be married and spending so wildly that she converted to Catholicism in a failed attempt to convince the Agnelle heir to marry her. She seemed to spend most of her life alone between relationships and hiding from wives, she developed cancer from an STD and a myriad of other tragic health issues related to what you would think.

She seemed to think that each man would divorce his wife for her but it never worked out until she met the recently widowed Leland Hayward when she was in her forties. To her surprise, Hayward was in an unfortunate way financially and when he died, she had nothing but a house, which could not maintain her lifestyle. In a strange turn of events, she stayed with Frank Sinatra (though not romantically) for a while after she was widowed and then contacted Averell Harriman after his wife died. This time, he married her within months. She was fifty-ish, and he was eighty-ish.

This marriage made her HUGELY wealthy. Averell left everything to Pamela, something close to a net of a billion dollars. This included several homes, a jet, an art collection that was just stunning. He pretty much left his children cold. It was an amazing coup, though she didn't really get her hands on any of it until Averell died when Pamela was 65 or 70.

For whatever reason, though she was a British citizen and typically a quite conservative one, in the vein of Winston Churchill, she became a HUGE supporter of the democratic party. She was influential in getting Bill Clinton elected, and he rewarded her with an ambassadorship to France. Which is where she lived, in the embassy, until she died after swimming laps at the Paris Ritz-Carlton.

To sum up, a fascinating but really terrible person. A quote from a "friend" is as follows: "She is totally self-centered and narcissistic." So, WOW. WOW. Nobody likes her, but she got what she wanted in the end. COMPLETELY. It was a quick read, some of the Democratic party minutia got a little dull in the end, but just really interesting and I felt I learned a lot about the culture of London during World War II.

On to a fiction book: The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Sunday: We Are Not Buying It, Hot Air Balloon Bandits

So last evening (Saturday evening), after Ivan woke up, and he and I went for a hike, a hot air balloon landed in our front field. Now, the first time that this happened, I was pretty wowed. It is this huge hot air balloon, and it touches down in the field and skids around dramatically and a couple of trucks pull up full of equipment, and it is all very exciting. That was the first time it happened. NOW, it happens every other weekend, and every time the truck pulls in, the driver says, "Oh sorry, we've had a little emergency, do you mind if we land here?" DO YOU MIND IF WE LAND HERE, again. This happens all the time, and my thought is that this hot air balloon situation is totally orchestrated. How many times can you accidentally land in the same place?

This is the first time I have photographed the situation, and Ivan was just so thrilled. It's exciting to be able to include the pictures.

Anyway, Sunday has been lovely. Ivan and I were up early and ran a quick three miles before getting ready and heading to church. Ivan was great in the nursery, and was also a champion during the church service. He waved and was absolutely congenial with everyone. At home, he had a nap and I got in a Gilad workout. Then, my parents arrived to watch Ivan while I went to swim practice. It was a great swim, though we are doing a lot of drills in the off-season. So, we had to do a lot of drills that involved swimming on my side. I really am just terrible at swimming on my side, and as per usual I breathed in half the pool through my nose. Workout as follows:

• 500 warm-up
• 10 x 50 side drill, shark and vertical arm drill
• 1 x 400
• 6 x 50 stroke count
• 1 x 400
• 6 x 50 stroke count

Also, there was some other swimming thrown in there. I am thinking that it turned out to be 3000-ish meters, overall. This coming week in evening swim, we are going to be working on our butterfly. I am pretty excited about it, as I have been working on mine in morning swim for a while now.

I made it home and relieved my parents of Ivan and settled in for the night. Ivan and I made some cookies to send to his cousin, Sloan who is at school and recovering from the H1N1, the angel of which seems to have passed over this house. Yay!!!!

Saturday: Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels

With my husband busy biking today, I had to take Ivan with me on my run. My friend Genie, who I now qualify as a saint, met me at the park to run the 5.8 mile loop with Ivan in the jog stroller. She even pushed the stroller up some of the hills. We had a great run, though Ivan melted it down for the first couple of miles. We finished in good time, and I let Ivan run about afterwards, though as per usual, he wanted to play in the street oblivious to oncoming traffic, so his running about did not last long.

After we ran, I wanted to hang around and talk to the running group, but I quickly realized as I have realized many times before: it is difficult to fraternize when you must be actively involved in suicide watch. Ivan wanted nothing more that to hurl himself off the brick steps at the front of the park directly into oncoming traffic. I felt like my conversations went something like this:

"So, how far did you run - Saints preserve us, Ivan don't jump, DON'T JUMP OR MAMA WILL SPANK - what were you saying?"

"Ten miles, that is great for starting at - IVAN!!! IVAN!!! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!! IVAN!!! - I'm so sorry, what were you saying?"

Honestly, that's about how it goes. I screech at Ivan, I run to stop him from hurting himself in some way, get back to the conversation and forget what in the world I was talking about. It is a bummer, no doubt about it. The thing is, I don't care if he gets dirty or muddy or puts his hands or feet in a puddle. I don't care about those things at all. All I need to do is avoid a time consuming trip to the ER and preserve Ivan's life. It doesn't sound so hard, right?

Next week, I should finally get to run with the running group unimpeded. Also, I am very pleased that Lynn, my swim friend, is going to be joining our running group. She is also running Boston this year, and I am hoping that I can casually force a few people into a training group that will keep me motivated until April. That is my covert plan.

At home, I got in a Gilad workout, which was just great, lots of good ab work and lunges. I finished watching Valentino: The Last Emperor. Such a great film about one of the last classically trained couture designers left. Just amazing craftsmanship and extreme personalities. Now watching Lagerfeld Confidential, as I am on a couture film jag.

In closing, my sister sent me a great quote from Kate Moss (probably her only one, for the love of Mike): Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.

So true, right? It is my holiday mantra. I am ready for the three of you: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. Skinny feels better than egg nog, or dressing or pumpkin pie. Honestly, friends, if I am forced to stimulate the economy by buying new jeans after the New Year, my budget might explode.

Friday: Swim

Today, I woke up late as per usual and sprinted out the door with Ivan in tow. OF COURSE, there was some epic traffic snarl which put me to the pool LATE, though I left ON TIME, though I woke up LATE. I was on the edge of the pool at 8:50ish and was able to swim a 200 meter warm-up, before starting the workout, which is as follows:

• 200 warm-up
• 4 x 100 IM @ 2:00
• 3 x 200 @ 3:45
• 12 x 100 @ 1:45
• 12 x 50 @ 1:00

Actually, I probably didn't get in all the 50's, which means it was like a 2700 meter workout. Generally, I feel like anything less that 3000 is a pittance, but I had no choice but to make do. I got Ivan from the nursery and headed home and meant to do many other things like run and do a Gilad workout, but no.

I vacuumed my new rug and got rid of the old rug, I did phone errands and worked my crossword puzzle. In the afternoon, I took Ivan in to the pool to practice his swimming. While Ivan has not lost any of his floating skills, he is currently a terror in the pool. As soon as he hits the water, his behavior plummets to what I would assume is the behavior of a pack of wild dogs when tossed the carcass of wildebeest. He takes toys from the other kids, he fights and sprints around the pool, he hurls himself into the pool nearly hitting his head. By the time I had tackled his slippery little body and dragged him from the premises, he was bleeding from his chin and had scraped up the tops of his feet and his knees and his his stomach from trying to get away from me and get back into the pool. He was not crying, but shouting angrily and waving his fists and no doubt uttering infant expletives.

At home, I decompressed took Ivan on a walk. In the evening, my parents brought me Moe's for dinner. Early to bed, as up early to run!!

Thursday: Three Workouts

You know, I am clearly one of those nerdy, accomplishment driven people that thrive on tatting up their "to do" list at the end of the day. It is what I do and probably why I find this blog so deeply satisfying.

To all of you wondering about when Sloan Manor may be completed, you may not want to hold your breath. The porch is finished to the point that it probably meets some codes, and the windows do not have pane dividers, but are functional windows from which I can see the pile of sidewalk stones that have not yet been used to make the new sidewalk. We do have up the new molding, but it has not been painted. The lump in the front yard has been shaved off and re-sodded. AND TODAY, we got seven new trees AND new drapes. It seems that we Sloans are starting many projects that do not get completely finished in the originally assessed amount of time. NOW, I will tell you my strategy for tying up loose ends: throw a party. In the month of February or March, I am planning on setting a date to invite many people to my home. This will throw my husband and I into a frenzy (A FRENZY) of project finishing. All loose ends will be tied up in a week; mark my words. So watch for a party invite from the Sloans and let the FRENZY begin.

Now, Ivan and I had a good three mile run this morning, and when we came home, Ivan had a ride on the tree diggers backhoe. Ivan and I then took a walk and had coffee and got home to find that The Beast had killed a mouse. So fabulous!!! It is the only reason to have a cat: we are mouseless.

After, dead mouse removal and a diaper change, Ivan and I did Gilad. After Gilad, I made Ivan some mini-quiche for lunch and he did not eat any of them and I ate all six. Yes, its true. Then Ivan went down for his nap and I rode the trainer for half an hour at top speed, while I watched National Trust Gardens: Stourhead edition. It is my favorite program on our HD channel. It is a video tour through all of the National Trust properties in the UK. The gardens and homes are just amazing.

I got ready and headed into work, which was so nice. I then came home and worked with the new drapes and made dinner before settling in for the Thursday night line-up. Parks and Reacreation made me laugh outloud!!!!

Getting ready to knit and watch the Project Runway Finale: Part I

Back to swim tomorrow!!!1

Wednesday: Veteran's Day

So, today was Veterans day and the pool was closed, so there was no swim practice at all. I have been at home all day. Not once did I drive my car. So weird, right? I was somewhat insomniac last night, so I stayed up and read a good deal of my Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman book. She gets more horrifying with every page, and I just keep turning. Most likely it will be finished up tonight, and I can get started on The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Anyway, because I stayed up so late reading, I overslept. This is a common occurrence. This time of year, however, I start to get stuck running later in the morning anyway, because, if I run too early, I worry that Ivan is too cold, and then I feel the guilt. THE GUILT wears me down. The birth of Ivan gave me a monster dose of THE GUILT. It hangs around my neck like an anvil if Ivan has been in his car seat too long or if he is cold or if his teeth chatter because I have let him play in the bath so long that the water has gone cold. For this reason, I got up later and had breakfast and tea to let the weather warm up, before loading Ivan into the stroller and getting in a 3.5 mile run at a fast clip. For the occasion, I loaded a great song by Owl City onto my shuffle called Fireflies (please click and listen). A new song on the shuffle is a huge boost to the morning run.

At home, I let Ivan run around the yard and climb and chase the cat, before we went into the house and Ivan took his nap. I lazed out and took a nap while he took a nap (I never do this, but it is a holiday). I managed to get in a Gilad workout, which was great, as I neglected it while convinced I had H1N1. When Ivan when down for nap number 2, one of my students came over to work on his freshwater perch lab for marine biology.

Ivan is officially down for the night and I am settling in to knit. Oh, what shall tomorrow hold?!

Tuesday: Recovery Run

So today, I slept late. I stayed up a bit too late reading my Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman book, because it is THREE KINDS OF FASCINATING. I can just barely put it down at night. I can't wait to write the book report, because Pamela is conniving yet caring, a gold-digger, yet she seemed to come from old money. She is a conundrum; so terrible, yet so amazing and bold. She's not really all the attractive either. I mean I am just baffled by her, yet mesmerized!!!

Anyway, the book is a great read, and I sense that the author kind of hates Pamela, so I will have to delve further into that. It is all very interesting.

I went to Bible study today, and it was great!!!! I did not stay for small group, because I was supposed to do some testing at the Learning Matter's offices today, but it was cancelled. This was actually a great thing, because I had missed my run when I slept late. When I came home from Bible study early, my husband was home tending to some tree acquisitions. For this reason, I had the happy occasion of going on a run on my own. I ran a fast 3.5 miles and made it home so that Elliott could head in to work and I could put Ivan down for his nap.

I showered and got ready for work, traded off the baby with Katelen and headed into work. No swim tomorrow, since it is Veteran's Day and the pool is closed. Hopefully, Thursday and Friday will see me back on the workout schedule. Watching the Little Couple and getting ready to continue knitting the cabled bolero!!

Monday: Am Hypochondriac

I have felt relatively ill all day. Not extremely sick, just a little achy, a little nauseous, and my head hurt. I became more than convinced that I had some latent form of H1N1 that was going to render me ill like a small-pox victim of the 1400s.

My fear of small-pox is well documented. I once made the mistake of listening to the audio book The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston on the way to Birmingham to visit my sister. By the time I arrived in Birmingham, I was so terrified at the idea of an air-borne epidemic that I could barely inch myself from the car. I thought seriously of forming a saran wrap bubble around myself and communicating with the outside world only while swathed in latex and a protective layer of hand-sanitizer. Also pondered was the idea of going through life with a scuba pack so as to avoid breathing the easily contaminated air of the masses. Another step that should clearly be taken, I thought, was that a massive vaccination/immunization project should be started by our government. I developed a catchy logo, "be a fox, outsmart the pox" (seriously, I thought that up on my own), and pretty much lived in a paralyzing catatonic state of smallpox/anthrax fear. I'm just a bit that way. It took me months to get over.

Anyway, I took Ivan to get the second part of his flu shot today, though I must admit, it was really just a front to get the Doctor Bastian to see if I was going to die of H1N1 today or slowly and painfully tomorrow. Doctor Bastian, ever patient with my ridiculousness, told me that as I was not running a fever or showing ANY major flu signs, he was not even going to test me for H1N1. He said I probably had some sort of vague viral illness and that if I still felt bad later in the week or got worse, to call him. As per usual, I appreciated his waiting until he left me alone in the examination room to roll his eyes all the way back into his head, as I imagine he must have.

I texted one of my students to let him know that I might run late, as I was getting tested for H1N1. He promptly emailed me back to say that "you are such a hypochondriac. Why don't you get tested for testicular cancer while you are there?". So clearly, I have issues.

That's about all that went on today. I just finished my Bible study assignment, and I am now getting ready to continue work on my cabled bolero.

Sunday: Sickness or Slacker

I went to bed at 10:30ish last night, and I got up at 11:30 this morning. Clearly, I am seriously ill or Ivan is staying with my parents. I did not feel great, but I woke up and was able to spend my afternoon knitting my cabled bolero. I knit my way through Away We Go. I recommend this if you are 30-something and expecting a baby and planning a road trip. It had Jim from The Office and this girl who was on Saturday Night Live. It was sweet and weird and made some good fun of breast feeding. So watch it, or maybe don't watch it if breast feeding and purposeless child having make you uncomfortable. I think breast feeding is great, an there is a relative purpose to my child rearing, so I found it to be a lovely film.

The soundtrack to the movie, however, was worth the watch. Alexi Murdoch is a new favorite of mine. The music in the movie was just great, and the music is both poignet and perfect for the film. So, I will be reading and listening to more about this artist.

After this I continued knitting and thought about getting ready for the party we had this afternoon. My friend, Linda van Auken had a birthday party that was hosted by her boyfriend, Marty. He has a lovely home and had everyone over for Linda's birthday. It was such a nice afternoon, and I have had a huge allotment of both kale and broccoli: a superfood triumph that I like to think negates my chocolate chip cookie intake. Surely it does. Why will I eat so many chocolate chip cookies? It is and inevitable failing of my willpower.

Anyway, I really did not feel great today, so I skipped swim and luxuriated in the slight possibility that I might have the H1N1. While this did not prevent me from having a fine time at Linda's party, it did prevent me from exercising today. I knitted up a cabled bolero storm and ate myself into an alternate chocolate chip cookie reality.

We were able to pick up Ivan after the party. We brought him home and shuffled him right into his Christmas footie pajamas. It's November, right?; the perfect time for Christmas pajamas with reindeer on the feet.

Currently, renewing my love of Arrested Development on IFC. So brilliant was the show that renewed my crush on Jason Batemen. It is the best show of all time, by the way. 30 Rock is a close second, but if you haven't watched Arrested Development, get started!!!! It will make you laugh out loud.

Saturday: Learningpalooza, The Red Pony, and a new Necklace!!!

Today was one of those Saturdays that felt like a full time job. I started at 9:00 AM and finished at 6:00 PM. I gave a wedding shower for my fabulous babysitter this morning and then had to get to my fundraiser for Learning Matters: Learningpalooza. Both were things that I wanted to do, yet just wished they were happening on different days. I drove all the way out to Antioch yesterday to pick up petit-fours (none of which I have eaten 24 hours later. May I please have a gold star?). I also went to Party City, a terrible place, but I think I said that yesterday.

Anyway, I was out of bed this morning and ran with Ivan in the jog stroller. Then I got in the shower and got ready to head out to Katelen's shower, despite the fact that my house was in some serious disarray. The comforter was actually separated from the comforter cover, and there was not one bath mat on a bathroom floor. How do those things even happen?

Anyway, I got to the shower in my party skirt and assembled my salad and arranged my petit-fours. Several people commented that they were the best petit-fours of all. I wouldn't know, because I have not eaten one (for which I would like a gold star. Is someone getting my gold star??) . I was able to leave the shower relatively early so that I could get to the Learningpalooza.

Learningpalooza was a dinner, an auditorium of children's performers and an auditorium of adult performers. the adult performers used the sanctuary of the 2nd Presbyterian Church. The acoustics were great and we were totally lucky to have my cousin's husband, Daniel Tashian, perform for us. His music was great and he sounded great in the sanctuary. His song Country Life from the album High Society by his band, The Silver Seas is on every one of my running mixes. It refuses to get old. I recommend it!!

Also, at the silent auction I won a beautiful beautiful necklace by Patricia Miller that I am absolutely thrilled about. Her things are so lovely and I despaired of ever owning a piece of my own. Tonight, however, I am the outright owner of a rose quartz necklace. I am counting down the days until next year's Learningpalooza.

At home, we had dinner at the Red Pony in downtown Franklin. The food was great and since Ivan is staying with my parents, Elliott and I had dinner alone for the first time since our anniversary. I said yes to the Creme Brulee. Good Times!!! At home, I started watching The Duelists, with which I have a vague obsession. If it is on, I will watch it. Do I love the story, or Keith Carradine, or Harvey Keitel, or France in the Napoleonic Era, or costume dramas, or bloody sword fights? Toss up.