Helping hands

A can of green beans. A loaf of bread. Fresh vegetables and fruit. For many of us, these are things that we have at our disposal in our kitchen cabinets. For others, it's a challenge to pay the rent or mortgage, and a bigger challenge to put food on the table for their family. In partnership with the Itasca Walk-In Ministry, the Itasca Food Pantry provides local families with vital resources to put meals on the table when they need it most. Today, the food pantry serves 75 families in Itasca.

This morning, members of the Itasca Runners Club and their families spent a few hours helping at the food pantry, sorting food, stocking shelves, and learning about the incredible work that the Ministry and food pantry do. The Itasca Food Pantry is one of the beneficiaries of the Club's annual Itasca Oktoberfast 5K, the Club's flagship event held every October. Proceeds from the event allow the Club to support several local charities, providing both monetary and tangible item donations to those organizations who give back to the community. Recently, the Club was able to provide a Sub Zero freezer to the food pantry, giving them more space to keep meats and other frozen goods that they provide to their clients.

Volunteers tour the room of stocked shelves

A newer offering by the food pantry is the Birthday Bag program. Launched just a few months ago, the food pantry assembles bags filled with items to help make birthdays special for children aged 1-13, including a cake mix and frosting, candles, table cloths and other decorations, and age appropriate gifts. All of these items are donated to the food pantry, and parents can choose a bag for their child, already sorted by age and gender. The food pantry believes that every child should have something that makes their birthday special, even something as seemingly small as a festive table. Today, the food pantry provides bags for 70 children in their client families.

Helene presents the Birthday Bag
program to volunteers

The Runners came to work, and that's exactly what we did! Adults and children alike went to work sorting canned foods from boxed foods, stocking the shelves so clients can find what they need, filling boxes with toiletries and personal items, and cleaning the work room.

Father and son, working hard

Dan and Mark filling crates
with meats

Jim stocking shelves

Teamwork at its best

These kids worked hard!

Club members learning about
the Walk-In Ministry

The food pantry presented the Itasca Runners Club
with a certificate of appreciation for their
continued support of the food pantry's mission.

Members of the Itasca Runners Club.

Club members and
future Club members their children.

I will be the first one to admit that our family does not volunteer nearly enough. When you hear the stories of families who spend years donating to the food pantry, only to find themselves later needing the pantry's services, it is inspiring to witness the work that the women and men who run the pantry do for their community. Through generous donations from the community, as well as partnerships with the village, local food stores, and a regional food bank, they are able to provide a vital service to the community. In today's world, none of us ever knows if or when we might need a service like this one, and it's nice to know that it is there when emergency assistance is needed.

Have you volunteered lately? Do you know where your local food pantry is? Call your local village hall to learn more about the health and human services that they provide to your community.

Untitled

Coming back to something you've spent time away from is not as easy as it might sound. Not that long ago, I was involved in the Mommy Project 52 where I posted an entry at least once a week, but usually more often. Looking back, I don't know how I ever found the time. On the other hand, I don't know how I have not found the time to write more in the last year or so. For me, it's time to change that.

The last six months have been busy. I did complete my first marathon, and have yet to offer a summary of that amazing experience. It deserves more than "it was a great experience", and I will give it due credit by making the time to write about it.

I've also been busy this school year in my first term as PTO President at the kids' school. It's only logical when you're a wife, mother of two, full time corporate employee, and training for your first marathon to take on a leadership role in a struggling group that needs direction, right? I thought it took forever to get things done in the corporate world, but oh how wrong I was. If you think corporate politics are tough, you haven't seen anything until you've worked with the education system. Between trying to strengthen a bare bones parent group, researching and dreading Common Core implementation, and learning how to communicate with educators, it's been quite the learning process, to say the least. I have also become interested and involved with the local School Board and Education Foundation for our District. What an eye opener it is to see the inner workings of the school system, and learn about the challenges faced by parents and educators alike, and how disconnected the two truly are (to no fault of either, really). Still, it's interesting and if I can do anything to advocate for the best for my kids, and my tax dollars, I'll do it.

Ethel turned nine in November, and we hosted our first sleepover birthday party. Nights like that make you thankful for pharmaceuticals and wine. These are the makings of treasured memories, though, and Ethel was thrilled to have her closest friends all in one room, enjoying movies, snacks, and laughter. It really was fun for everyone, even little brother, Fred. One thing to remind me of if I ever entertain the idea of a sleepover - don't let Daddy off the hook and make plans out with friends. Ya, going solo is one thing, going solo with five eight and nine year old girls is another. Repeat thanks for wine.

As far as Ethel's school year is going, we couldn't be prouder. She is an avid reader, and when I say avid, I mean that every waking moment is spent with her nose in a book. She is fascinated with Greek mythology and is counting every second until the October release of the next installment in the adventures of Percy Jackson. She has continued her excellent performance in math, loves science, and, of course, reads like a machine. This year she is participating in Girls on the Run. I couldn't be happier, and she's asked me to be her running buddy in the 5K at the end of the program. Yeah! We're looking forward to it, and hoping to make it a family affair.

The plague avoided us this holiday season, so it was much more pleasant than 2012. We kicked it off with our annual wine and cheese early in December. The 2013 party, a "Wine and PJ's, I Mean Cheese", was our biggest to date. Easily 100 people made their way through the house, most donned in some version of sleep wear, tasting wines, cheeses, and whatever food found its way into the house. The evening ended early the next morning with a dance party to rival Dance Fever in its heyday. All in all, it was our best party yet, and the bar is now set very high for 2014.

The winter of 2013-2014 took its toll on all of us. To say that it was a tough winter is barely scratching the surface of Chicago's 3rd snowiest winter on record. It wasn't just the snow, but the bitterly cold, aptly named, Polar Vortex. A seemingly endless cycle of snow and cold forced us to stay inside most of the winter, even causing school to be canceled four days in January. This also got in the way of any consistency in my running. Twice we were forced to an indoor track due to icy roads, and just about every week there was a generous snow fall that messed with everything. I really fell off the wagon, and am still struggling to get back to my running routine. The fact that my husband started running right around the time of the marathon didn't help matters much. After a while, he was running more than I, and this is not a healthy change for me. Now that the weather has broken, I am slowly getting back to the sport that I love.

Fred turned seven in March. His birthday party was much easier than his sister's. We took a couple of his friends to go see Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Hilarious movie, by the way, equally enjoyed by the kids and me and Daddy. After the movie we went back to our house for play and cupcakes, and it was a big hit. Fred has developed and grown in many ways since turning six. Not only has he physically sprouted, probably adding at least a half inch in height, he has blossomed at school. Since August, he has made many more new friends, become the featured beat-boxer in music class, and emerged as our very own little Good Will Hunting. His love for sports stems from a fascination with numbers and stats. Everything he does revolves around numbers, and after meeting with his teachers, we're trying to harness the power of this beautiful mind.

Work is work. I just had my 18 year anniversary with my company, which just blows my mind. I was barely older than that number when I started there! Last year I had a major change in my work schedule. After 8 years of being able to work three days in the office and two from home, I had to return to the office five days a week. This may not seem like a big deal, but I am still adjusting, 13 months later. Our child care expense more than doubled, and I lost a lot of time at home. No longer can I toss in a load of laundry, sit with the kids to do their homework a couple days a week, or have dinner on the table by 5 twice a week. First world problems, yes, but adjusting to this new schedule has been hard for all of us. We've created a new normal with this change, and so far we're managing to stay afloat. Still, I am thankful to have a stable career which helps me provide for my family. I'd like to say I wish I could stay home, but I know the grass always looks greener on the other side, so I'll remain thankful for the arrangement we have.

I couldn't tell you what we are busy with except just getting through each day. We run, play, work, go to school, not necessarily in that order. So often I tell myself I'll make time that night, or tomorrow, or over the weekend to spit out the blog post I just drafted in my head. Not running much lately has messed with my mind big time, and not blogging hasn't really helped matters because I need a place to dump my thoughts. How about if I try to post at least once a week? I'm sure I can do that. It's long overdue.

I'll leave you with a recent shot of the kids.

We love Easter morning!

I don't have AD...wait, a squirrel!

There is so much I could say about living as an adult with ADD.  I would, in fact, but, I can't organize all my thoughts into something coherent that would be worthy of someone spending time reading it. Just getting to this entry has taken me weeks.


As a parent, as a mom, I can clearly see the impact of my ADD because it comes out in my family, specifically my kids. I can't organize my own time, my own life, how can I expect my children to be any better? How can I expect them to keep their rooms clean when I don't keep up with my own, let alone the rest of the house? How can I expect them to know what needs to be done, when I am too overwhelmed to know, myself? How can I teach my kids good time and money management, when I don't practice it, myself?

When did she have time to do her hair?

Once I start these questions, I begin the game of self-blame. It's my fault. I am not doing my job. I'm not an effective parent. I am breeding the behaviour, the problem, and not acting as part of a solution. But what's the solution? I'm not cut out for this.


Once that begins, it's not long before the defeat sets in. Suddenly, the hole gets deeper, and the light outside gets more dim. Before long, I've managed to convince myself that only something drastic will help solve this pickle I've gotten myself into, and I must act NOW.

NOW usually involves a frantic day cleaning the house, going through a closet, or rearranging the furniture in a room or three. With a weekend of frenzy behind me, I turn around and there is yet another pile of stuff that I hadn't seen in the madness, and I'm back to square one. I have to start all over again and tackle this pile. Will it ever end?

Now I'm paralyzed. I can't see past the things I haven't done, or how to upkeep the things I have. Before I know it, everything is back to the same state of disarray it was in when I started my frenzy. At this point, a child usually wants something to eat, needs me to do something for them, or decides it's a good time to piss the other kid off and start a battle royale in the living room.

Forget Calgon...wine...take me away!

I have a supportive husband who keeps up with the dishes, and is often found doing the kids' laundry. I can't wait 'til those little buggers can reach the washer and dryer themselves. All kidding aside, I wouldn't be able to keep what little sanity I have if it weren't for Hot Dad.

Wine Running has also helped me curb some of the madness that comes along with ADD. Changes in my diet have also helped curb some of my symptoms, and helped my mind see things in a more positive light. I have more patience with my kids after I run, which is something I make a conscious effort to show every day.

Mommy running, by Ethel

There are times when it feels like there will never be a light at the end of the tunnel. Hell, who am I kidding, end? What end? Other times, though, I realize that it's all just one day at a time. I need to take things slowly (no easy feat for me), and not worry about everything all at once.

I'm doing my best to get there. I really am. I'm not certain why I wrote all this out. I think my mind needed to dump a few things, it's gotten pretty overloaded over the last few days. I guess if you got this far, I say thank you. I'm doing my best to make time to get back to the blog. And next time I see you, I will likely have a glass of wine in my hand, or be sweaty from running. What some might find crazy, I find to be necessary for survival. Oh, and chocolate. Chocolate is vital to making it through the tough times. And it pairs well with wine. Especially after a run. I digress....imagine that......

"I'm going to live somewhere else"

We made it almost two years before giving her McDonald's. We made it five years before our first visit to the ER. We made it eight and a half years before she packed a bag and left the house for greener pastures.

That's right. Ethel decided today that we are mean, and she was going to live somewhere else. In a defiant act of unholy tantrum independence, Ethel got a duffel bag from under my bed, packed a few things in it, and triumphantly made a teary-eyed exit through the patio door. No good byes, no note on her pillow, no sorrowful look back with sad background music - she just left.

There was no looking back, and no cute puppy

 She went to the front yard. She went to the side of the house. She went from the front yard to the back yard, and back to the front. Daddy found her and tried to get her to take One Eyed Pete, her BFF cat. She said she would not take him because he would die. She didn't know how she'd get food for him. Despite the last minute nature of her decision, she had put some thought into it.

What horrible thing would drive an eight year old to decide to go where the grass is greener, you ask? Being told to change her clothes. Yes. In order to go see a play, in a theater, she was asked to put on an outfit that was color coordinated, if not a real ensemble. {insert shock and horror here}

You told your daughter to do WHAT?

Yes, we are mean parents that do not want our children to wear pink shirts and orange shorts with green socks and blue/green Crocs in front of the general public. Truly, our eye for fashion is skewed, don't you think?

We are obviously monsters. Unfit parents.

Initially very excited to see our friends' daughter in the play, once she discovered that her brother wasn't going and she would have to change her clothes, the deal was off. She.wasn't.going.

These are the times that drive a mom to drink heavily really question her parenting. And drink heavily. And yell. A lot.

Rest assured, Ethel returned home in less than 20 minutes. She figured out, faster than a college graduate, that life just ain't that easy. Honestly, I don't know why she came back in the house. She was probably hungry. Who knows.

She finally agreed to unpack her bag and write a letter of apology to the star of the play. She agreed to move home. She agreed to a few conditions, including apologizing to Mommy and putting away the things she unpacked. More conditions will follow, but we all need a bit of a cooling off period.

After some time beating myself up over everything from bad dinners to not teaching my daughter better fashion choices, I am now enjoying a beer blogging in peace and quiet. Daddy realized that we would all be on the news before long if everyone didn't make themselves scarce, so he took the kids to the library.

We almost had a mutiny on our hands when I suggested books that each of the kids should look for. Don't panic, crisis averted. They, quite wisely, conceded.

You thought I was kidding, didn't you.

Testing, testing, 1-2-3....is this thing on?

I have been absent. Bad blogger. It's not on purpose, or for lack of interest. I never could have anticipated how busy life would get with a husband, house, job, two kids, and the bit of a social life that I try to cling to. I feel like we emerged from the plague that hit over the holidays and hit the ground running, never looking back.

I can't juggle and I don't wear dresses

Fred has now completed kindergarten. His first year in institutionalized education went quite well, and I am certainly looking forward to his first grade experience. He has now lost six teeth (one of them at 2AM last week, which was awesome), and I'm still getting used to seeing him without his top fronts. He is very excited because without these key choppers, he proudly declares that he looks like a real hockey player (Duncan Keith of the Hawks, to be exact).

We've enrolled him in baseball for the summer, which he's really looking forward to. I can't count the number of cold spring days after the snow melted when he would take his tee ball set out back and set up a field and practice hitting and running the bases. I think the cutest part is the way he lays out the bases. His patterns are wonderful. :)

Ethel continues to excel in school and just finished up 2nd grade. She reads like it's her job and is still as artistic as ever. She began to lose some focus toward the end of the school year, something which we're trying to target to keep from getting too far off track. She's hot a huge heart, but often times her desire to help others keeps her from doing her own work. I admire her charity and am insanely proud of all her accomplishments this school year. She's excited to have a teacher she knows pretty well when she returns for third grade in August.

Hot Dad has finally found a hobby which I think is sustainable. He's joined a Lego User Group and spends lots of time building, researching, and sorting Legos at home. It's an activity the kids can get in to, and Ethel has taken to it like a fish to water. The two of them could play with Legos for days on end if I let them.

I have not just returned to running, I have regained my love of running. I started out slowly in the fall and slowly brought myself back to decent mileage, and along with that came some speed. I'm not breaking land speed records, but I am pretty happy with the way things are right now. I've run a lot, raced a bunch, and am having a great time.

I completed a Whole30 program in April as part of my attempt to kick start my diet and continue on the Paleo way. I can't say enough about how much I learned about food, my body, my mind, and my overall health. It was difficult at times, but I couldn't be happier with myself for sticking with it. I continue to eat clean and still feel great. I hope to soon post my daily diary that I kept during April. I also hope to jump the whole family into better eating, clean eating. We'll see how that goes.

Pictures and more details will follow, of course. I just completed my second Ragnar Relay Chicago, and am trying to readjust to life at home. It's funny how quickly one can adapt to the fast-paced life of Ragnar, living in a van with five others, yet, it takes several days to get used to being back to the life you spend every day living. It's crazy.

More will follow soon, I promise!

This is what six looks like

Fred turned six years old yesterday. I'm not quite sure how that happened. We just got home from the hospital a few days ago, right? I was just finishing counting all those tiny fingers and toes. And celebrating my 28th birthday. Oh, wait. Sorry, off topic.

This is what it looks like to be six.

This is what it looks like when you turn six and your obsession with hockey is fed.

This is what it looks like after you help put the
sprinkles on your sixth birthday cake.

This is what it looks like when the Blackhawks win a
huge game on your sixth birthday.

This is what it looks like when you have to waste 45 minutes waiting for a
table for your sixth birthday dinner.

This is what it looks like when you have to sit next to your
sister at your sixth birthday dinner.

This is what it looks like when you blow out the candle on
your sixth birthday sprinkle cake.

 

 

This is what it looks like when you've had an awesome sixth birthday.

On this day in history...

1789: Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs, forerunner of the State Department.
1861: during the Civil War, Union Gen. George McClellan was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac.
1866: the first underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe was completed.

1909: pioneer aviator Orville Wright tested the Army's first airplane, flying himself and a passenger for an hour and 12 minutes in Virginia.

1921: Researchers led by biochemist Frederick Banting announced the discovery of the hormone insulin

1980: An earthquake in Sharpsburg, Kentucky, measured 5.2 on the Richter scale

1988: Big traffic jam in Boston

2002: Hot Dad and I were married on the hottest day anyone in attendance can remember

Happy 10th anniversary to my wonderful husband.

We do...

We did!

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!!

Easter 2012

Our Easter weekend

Hm, maybe I should have picked the 'lime'...

...that's OK, my green is going to look awesome!

...just the beginning...

Red.  That's so 40 seconds ago.

Ya, but my red is going to kick your lime's butt!

Touche! {no, the beer isn't Ethel's}

Hope the local hens aren't reading this.

Fun outside before our Easter Seder (ask later)

What's some good fun without some,
"IT'S MY TURN TO THROW THE FRISBEE!"?

Daddy to the rescue

Fred is in heaven.  I'm still working on the grass
stains on the knees.

Obligatory action shot.

That Easter bunny, leading
us out of Ethel's room with
jelly beans...

...and out of Fred's room...

...down the stairs...

...to our Easter baskets!!

"I got PEZ!!"

What?  The Bunny hid an egg on the
back of the toilet?

We totally scored.  And we're going to
drive you crazy all.day.long!!

...until we find the iPods.

Another soldier down.