Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I know, I know, no blogging in a month! Don't worry I haven't given up running for another hobby or sport, though I do have a strong interest in learning Kenpo, but that's a story for another day. I'd also love to be proficient at knitting (you know something other than a scarf), but I lack the patience for such a skill. I think I'm straying off topic here....

Christmas:

We celebrate Christmas, so the last month has been filled with lots of Christmas crafts and celebrating and music. Here's the brief list:

Our Merry Christmas card! This is the first time we've used a family picture (versus just a picture of the kids). The picture was from Thanksgiving.

 We visited LaSalette, which is really the best place for Christmas lights around our way. We also went to a place called the holiday festival of lights at the Nashoba ski place, but it was like a creepy B horror movie (in my humble opinion). The kids liked it though, so I'm glad we at least gave it a shot, but I don't think I'd go there again. (The picture is from LaSalette.)

We made these snow men out of old socks for Kaylee's teachers. Yeah, I know, I'm wicked nice right? So giving and thoughtful by giving away our old socks. Well, we also made them peppermint bark and gave them a gift card, so it wasn't completely lame. All kidding aside, the little snowmen were easy to make (essential for an un-crafty, inpatient person such as myself), and really did wind up being cute. I'm new to teacher presents. I'd be interested to hear what others do. I liked the idea of a gift card, because then they can get what they want, and I think some sort of homemade yummy treat might be okay too, but I'm guessing three dozen homemade crafts or mugs filled with candy gets old (so maybe we'll skip this craft next year).

We also made wreath ornaments for the grandparents and aunts and uncles. They were made from buttons and sparkly pipe cleaner. Very easy to do, and they look pretty. The one shown in the picture wasn't one we made, but it looked close to that.

The kids also decorated new stockings (a tradition we started a couple years ago), and it's a lot of fun. The stockings are nothing special. Just cheap stuff usually from Michael's, but they usually come out nice, and they become special because the kids did it themselves.



The New Year:

With Christmas behind us, I guess now would be about the time that I review 2012 and set some new goals or resolutions for 2013. Well, 2012 was good to me. I ran a number of PR's, which was a big deal because it meant that I've gotten as fast as I once was in college, something I just didn't think was possible a few years ago. Things outside of running were good too. We moved. We were apprehensive about moving, but we love our new home and Kaylee's school (the primary reason for moving). We are so happy that we took the leap. Work has been good. I had a paper published, which was cool, and I've started a new project that I think will be interesting. In short, 2012 was a good year.

What's in store for 2013? I don't know. I don't generally make New Year's resolutions, but if I were to make one this year it would be to have more patience with the kids. I never yelled with just one kid, but I find with the two, I do yell. And it irritates me. It's like they play off each other. When one starts, the other starts, and I'll go from being fine to suddenly having no patience left, and then I yell. I'd like to fix that.

As far as running goes, I don't know what my goals are. The blog-o-sphere is both good and bad for me, I think. I've stumbled on a number of blogs of women near my age with kids who have that whole break 3 hours in the marathon goal going on. And I've stumbled on some ladies who have recently done it too. So, of course, now I'm starting to think about it too. I've been running some treadmill workouts with that thought in mind....

I'm currently training for a half marathon in February and Boston in April. I was sick most of last month, so my training was all over the place. I don't feel like I've gotten into a groove yet. I have had some really great workouts, but I'm having trouble figuring out what my easy pace is, and I don't feel like I've built a good base yet. I guess things just feel inconsistent right now. If I were to take on the goal of breaking 3 hours in the marathon, it wouldn't be a goal for Boston. It would be a goal for BayState.

Something new for recovery the FRoller:

In a week or two I'll be writing a post about a new recovery tool called the FRoller. It's a lot like "the stick" except you freeze it. It's meant to replace ice message. I don't do ice baths. Besides the fact that they're uncomfortable, they're also time consuming and use a lot of ice. I do rub my legs down with ice after almost every run. For the next couple weeks, I'm replacing my ice rub down with the FRoller. I'll let you know how it goes!

What's your favorite recovery tool?