A look into my drawers...

....or one of them at least.

I spent the majority of the day working on about 87 loads of laundry. OK, maybe not 87.....but I did do at least 6-7 loads today, and even put it all away as it got done (a small miracle).

As I was working on a load of my clothes, I realized that I had to fight entirely too much to get all of my t-shirts into my drawer. Granted, I have the smallest dresser ever owned by an adult, but still...I shouldn't have to wrestle with the shirts and the drawer in order to get it to close the whole way. Opening it is even worse, because the top shirts get stuck, and blah blah blah...you get the idea.

I've tried rolling them. I've tried folding them in different ways. The point is - I have entirely too many t-shirts. And I keep getting rid of them, but at the same time, every time I do a race, I get another one - herein lies the problem.

So I sat down tonight and went through my t-shirts. I found 7 from actual races, 4 from walks and other events, and there are 3 more long-sleeved ones from races hanging with my other clothes.

Pile on the left: walks and other events
Pile on the right: races
And a happy drawer that will now close.

Fourteen shirts from runs and walks. That's a lot of shirts.

And I don't want to get rid of them - I busted my butt for those shirts. But I just don't have room for them anymore. So what's the solution?

Duh.

Yep, they're going to get turned into a quilt. It's not going to happen until at least the first of the year - just in case I manage to squeeze another race in before then. That way, if I do, I can make the quilt from all of my "2012 and before" shirts, and then start saving more for the next quilt.

I know I had said at this time last year that I wanted to do one race every month this year - I didn't make that goal, but I did end up doing 9 (I think) different events if I remember correctly. Maybe next year I can actually do 12. I already know that the half-marathon is on May 5 - and I'm going to do it again even if it kills me.

If I keep this up, I wonder how many quilts I'll eventually have.....

JDRF walk and a really ugly shirt.

So today was the JDRF walk - just going to slap some pictures up of that....the kids opted not to walk, and instead hung out on the big playground with The Dude while I walked with my team.

Daniel and The Dude heading for the playground

My teammates

The mayor of Wichita

Me and the ________ - whatever he is. Wichita State University's mascot

Dave and the _______

Post-walk

Quick lunch at Subway after

*sigh* I can't take him in public.....

After lunch, we dropped The Dude back off at his friend's house and then we ran back into Wichita to pick up my race packet for tomorrow and then we came home. I performed some semi-major surgery on the vacuum to get it working again, and then did some cleaning and stuff before I ran some errands and dropped the older 2 off with their father (Emily was spending the weekend with a friend).

The Dude is staying here tonight so that he can go with me to the race tomorrow to act as photographer and kid wrangler - but right now, he is in the kitchen making us something to eat. :)

And finally....my oh-so-festive shirt for tomorrow. Man, this thing is ugly, and the picture doesn't even do the color justice. I like the gray one from last year so much better. But, it is what it is, and I will wear it with pride....or anytime I feel like looking like a pile of rotten mustard.

The race is about 9 hours away, and I'm already a bundle of nerves. I know that I didn't prepare nearly enough, but I'm going to give it my best shot and see what happens. I did it last year in 3:12:32 (I think) and I'm hoping to do it in under 3 hours this time - but I'll be happy to finish regardless.

So, keep an eye on my facebook page throughout the day for updates....and I'll post pictures after we get home!

What should I write about?

I've been sitting here all night, chatting with friends and trying to figure out what to write about. I get bored just saying "we did this and this and this blah blah blah today" and I know that it has to get boring to read. So I posted a question on my facebook page and asked what I should write about and got several suggestions. So, I'm going to attempt to combine all of them.....

This could be interesting....

The first suggestion was from One Tired Mama, who said that I should write about what I'm thankful for - and that's really an easy one, but it's something that we all take for granted.

I am so incredibly thankful for my kids. Of course, they aggravate and annoy me on a daily basis - poopy pants from kids who are old enough to know better, jumping on beds, refusing to eat supper, arguing, bickering, and the like all get old very quickly. But at the same time, the hugs and kisses and love that I get from them make it all worthwhile. They really are great kids, and they've all been through a lot in their short lives, but I think that they are all coming through it alright. We still have our issues, and we always will, but we are a family and we love each other regardless of the crappy days.

I am thankful for my friends and family who have supported me over the years. I know that I put some of them through hell with my whining and complaining when things were rough - but they stuck by me and showed me how much they love and care about me, and for that I can never thank them enough.

I am thankful that right now I am financially secure enough to be a stay-at-home mom and to keep a roof over our heads and dependable wheels under our butts to get us to where we need to go at a moment's notice. I know that we can make ends meet, even if it is tight at times. And because of that, I can focus on the kids and what they need.

But I think right now, I am most thankful for The Dude. He has put up with a lot of crap from me since we started dating. He has dealt with my mood swings and my stressed-out frazzled crazy self, he has held me while I've cried, he has celebrated the good times, and he has shown me so much love and support that I never even imagined was possible. He is truly an amazing guy, and I have learned so much about myself simply by being with him. I now know that no matter how much I might have tried to fight it, it is possible for me to love and be loved again. And yes, in case there was any doubt from anyone, I LOVE HIM.

There....see? I used the L-word!

Now, back to that status on my facebook page...

While my neighbor does have a dog, she's a good dog, and she doesn't bark much unless there's something to bark about (usually). She does alert me if there's something going on, but for the most part she's quiet. So I really can't complain about barking dogs....

And as for butt plugs....I have to say that I will leave that one up to the experts, as I have no experience in that department. However, I will admit that I have been tempted to jam a cork into a few butts around this house - it might cut down on the amount of laundry that I have to do, but at the same time, it could increase the amount of paperwork that I would need to do once the State found out about it and took my kids from me.

My favorite "go-to dinners" was another suggestion. That one's actually a tough one, because I can't get all of my kids to agree on ANYTHING for supper. However, the 2 youngest will always eat macaroni and cheese (barf) or peanut butter and jelly. Generally, anything kid-friendly will work in a pinch....pizza is always good. Or stromboli, but that takes some planning since the dough has to thaw out for a few hours before I can make it. They like hamburger helper (barf) too. And sometimes spaghetti. And there's always the good ol' standby - anything from any fast food restaurant (which I've been trying to avoid lately).

And last but not least....how am I feeling about my walk tomorrow and the half-marathon on Sunday. Well, I'm not worried about the walk tomorrow, since it's just a walk. The Dude is spending the night tonight at a friend's house so that he can watch the NFL draft stuff, so we are picking him up on the way to the walk and taking him with us. It's an easy, untimed walk around one of the parks in Wichita so it'll be fun and it's for a great cause. While I am relieved that I don't have to wear Cowboys crap for it, I am disappointed that I didn't meet my challenge of raising $250 for it. There's always next year though....

Now the half-marathon on Sunday - yeah, I'm worried about that one. I did it last year in 3:12:32 and I would love to beat that time this year. Actually, I would love to do it in under 3 hours. But, I feel totally unprepared, and I'm just not sure that I can do it. I'm going to give it my all though - I have The Dude's mp3 player to keep my mind occupied, and I found my watch that I can use to keep my pace, so as long as I can stay focused and I don't hurt too much, I can do it. I know that I can finish it - I'm just worried about my time. But just like life, I will get through it one step at a time.

So there you go - a blog post brought to you by the wonderful friendly folks who follow me on facebook!

Randomness

I finally got around to dumping the pictures off of my phone today, and just thought that I'd toss a few of them out here...(in no particular order)

The boys walking to kindergarten roundup last night...

The results of our shopping trip tonight...

Daniel having an absolute blast in the waiting room at The Dude's chiropractor appointment. He *loves* to go there now!

Some more Easter fun...

Daniel and The Dude, hanging out...

I think I might have to rethink my running trail - it seems to be getting a wee bit overgrown...

And last but not least, have you ever seen a tree growing out of another tree?

And last but not least (yes, I'm going to keep harping on this one, because it's important) if you haven't read THIS yet, please do. And please, share that post any way that you can. Post it on your facebook wall, tweet it, email it, send it out by carrier pigeon if you have to - just please share it all over the place! The more people who read it, the more chances we have to raise money and awareness for both of these causes. And no, I don't get any special prizes for raising money - I'm doing these walks and promoting the issues in the hopes that cures can be found!

Please help if you can.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the type of person to ask for help. I hate to do it.

But, there are some things that we can't do alone, and I'm reaching out in an effort to get some help.

There are two fundraising walks coming up, and I am now officially registered for both of them. These walks help to raise awareness and much-needed money for research into treatments and cures. I have friends and family members who have been affected by both of these diseases.

The first one is The JDRF Walk To Cure Diabetes. This walk is being held in Wichita on May 28, and the kids and I will be walking in it for the first time. Diabetes has affected so many of my friends and family - I can't even begin to list everyone, so this is very important to me. If you would like to make a donation, you can doing that by going to THIS PAGE - once you're there, you can either donate in my name, or if you click on "View My Team Page" you can donate to one of the kids. Either way works for me!

The second one is the Great Strides: Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis walk that is also being held in Wichita and takes place on May 5. I have done this walk several times - I went to school with two sisters who lost their battle with this disease, and now my great-nephew Corban has it as well. Research has made massive strides to find a cure, but without fundraising, that research will not be able to continue. If you would like to make a donation to this one, please go to THIS PAGE to do so. Because CF is genetic, there is a very real chance that my kids could be carriers, and could pass the recessive gene on to the next generation - knowing that a cure has been found would ease my mind so much!

I understand that many people can not afford to make a financial donation. But, we all have the power to spread the word. Share this post on your facebook walls, email it to friends and family, post it on twitter - the more people who see it, the more chances we have to raise enough money to find cures for these diseases. So please, if you can't do anything else, just share this post!

Thank you so much!