Mommy's Project 52:52 Active

I'm kind of sad that Mommy's Project: 52 is coming to a close.  I am really happy, though, that it helped me keep my blog active over the last year!  Having a topic to write about each week (I think I might have missed one or two, though, sorry!), meeting other bloggers, and touching on subjects I wouldn't have probably thought to touch on has been lots of fun.

In the last year, my daughter completed first grade, my kids turned 7 and 5, I completed my first half marathon, we took a family vacation, my husband started bowling in a league which he really enjoyed, and we're getting set to do all that again (minus the 7 and 5 thing).  In the coming year, my son will be in kindergarten, I will be working toward resolving the injury to my hip, my husband will bowl his second season in the league he joined, and the kids will turn 8 and 6 (I closed my eyes to type that because I don't believe they're going to be those ages), among many other things.  Time flies, it's amazing.

First grade

Love summer vacations

Someone's 7

A happy five year old

Big half marathon finish!

I have never been one to exercise, I'll be honest.  I used to run in college (once in a while), ran reluctantly in high school (thank you, Presidential Physical Fitness testing), but that is about the extent of the exercising I've ever done.  Every once in a while I would try to follow those "melt those love handles away with these easy exercises" from the magazines, but it's always short lived.  Once I started running in 2010, I knew I'd found something that could help me melt away stress, get myself in better shape, and handle things in my daily life better than I was handling them before.  Once I got injured in January of this year, however, things changed drastically.

Not being able to run, for much of this year, I had to find something to keep myself active, while also helping heal the injury to my hip.  Because the hip area is a complex system of more than just your waist and a place to wear your belt, I focused on work that would strengthen that entire area and enrolled in a core class.  I haven't taken a class in years.  I took yoga and pilates several years before the kids with a girlfriend, and admit that I did yoga at home on a semi-regular basis until I got married.  This core class, though, is really making a difference, and I plan to stick with it for a while, especially while I recover from this hip injury.

I play coed softball and have since I was about 18.  These days, I play once a week in a beer league that I organize at work.  Hot Dad joined our team last year, so we get to play ball together again like we did when we first met.  During summers, softball gets me out of the house weekly, I get the opportunity to socialize with coworkers outside the office, and when we can get a sitter it's a break from the kids for me.  Before running, summer softball was my only form of activity outside of chasing the kids around and grocery shopping.

The kids have also gotten in on the action by having run a couple of kids' races at races I've done.  I think they're both really liking it, and I am hoping that I can get Ethel to join me in a 5K some time next year.  Fred is taking t-ball this summer, and at summer camp I enrolled Ethel in swimming lessons, so they certainly aren't letting the grass grow under their feet this summer. 

I don't consider myself a 'blogger', per se.  I don't do it for a living, I don't write articles about hard-hitting social issues, and I don't have unending wisdom to share and make money from.  I started to blog to unload my thoughts in a media that wouldn't require a translator to decipher my horrific hand writing in a simple journal.  The conclusion of Mommy's Project 52 doesn't bring my blogging to an end, no way.  I feel like it helped me get in the routing of writing more regularly, and I look forward to the next 52 weeks, hoping to post at least weekly, if not more often! 

Thanks to Robin for putting this project together and bringing together those of us who participated.  I have enjoyed the activity, and following new bloggers and their families and adventures.  Through this process, I've met other moms, other runners, other people with a variety of common interests.  Thanks, Robin, this has been loads of fun!!