Back to School

Monday Darrius went back to school. His school -Franconia Elementary - officially started the new school year on August 3rd. Since we were on vacation last week, Darriu's first day was August 10th. This is Darrius' last year in elementary school. He's a 6th grader and I can hardly believe it. This is also the first year where Darrius will not be in before and after school care. He will be riding the bus to and from school. When he gets home in the afternoon, he will be home alone until I get home from work. He did great his first day. He called me when he was at the bus stop and called me once he was home. I worried all day yesterday. I know he can handle it but he's my baby. And I know that there are children out there who were latchkey kids at an earlier age than Darrius. When Alfred brought up the subject of letting D take the bus, I was hesitant. I didn't think he was mature enough. And I thought it would be safer to keep him in before and after care. But then I thought about it. I was in the 6th grade when we moved to Virginia and I became a latchkey kid. My mom didn't work when we lived in Memphis so she was at the bus stop in the morning and in the afternoon. Once we moved to VA and she had to get a job, I had to become more self-reliant. I was responsible for waking myself up, getting dressed, doing my hair and getting to school on time. I walked to school, taking a shortcut through the woods. There were a couple of times where I didn't make it to school on time but I blamed my walking partner. It was never my fault. ;-)

I guess Darrius is mature enough to handle the responsibility of getting himself to school. I did it at his age. Next week he turns 11. I can hardly believe it. It seems like yesterday he was just starting kindergarten. Time has flown.

D's first day at school was almost without incident until last night, when he realized he left his math book at school. Not a good way to start off your first day. I'm hoping this isn't a preview of how it's going to be all year. He is so unorganized; he has consistently left homework, books, supplies at school throughout his elementary school career. I've seen his desk at school and it's a wonder if he can find anything in that mess! His backpack is just as bad. I need to figure out a way to get this boy organized, at least by the time he enters high school!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a great year. I am praying for no parent-teacher conferences! I just want one grade without me having to go to one of those things. They are never for anything good.

I've told Darrius that I want him to not repeat any of his usual bad habits this school year. He said he'll try. I guess that's better than nothing.

Vacation Part Deux

I'm still recovering from my week in Paradise. The nasty sunburn on my shoulders is now turning into a nasty peeling, scaly mess. I look like one of those aliens from the TV show "V". But the sunburn was worth it. Here's a vacation collage that summarizes how spent our 7 glorious days of relaxation.

Vacation 2009

We're baaack!!! After spending 7 glorious days on the island of St. Maarten, the Whitmore's are back in town and back in the real world. The vacation was wonderful. This is the first time we've taken a whole week for vacation. I can no longer go back to the skimpy 4 or 5 day vacations. On our last day we still weren't ready to leave but all good things must come to an end. We spent our days either by the pool or lounging on the beach. We went to our favorite beach - Orient Bay - not once, not twice but three times! It's on the French side and it is beautiful.

One day was spent shopping to buy souvenirs and look for bargains on jewelry. The Dutch side of the island - Front Street -is known for their great prices on jewelry. It seemed like every store was a jewelry store.

The best part of the vacation was spending it with my family. My parents were able to join us and it was great spending time with them. Darrius was happy to have his Grandma and Pop-Pop on vacation with him. He has already suggest going on another family vacation next year. Destination - Turks and Caicos. Sounds like a good idea to me!

On a roll!

I am so excited. Today my podrunner workout was to run 2o minutes uninterrupted. I saw this as a daunting task. There's no way I would be able to do it. But I did - sorta. After the 5 minute warm-up, I cranked up the speed and started running. As I was approaching the 5 minute mark, I decided that I would take a 1 minute or less break. I figured this would be the only way I would be able to get the 20 minutes of running done. The mini-breaks really helped me a lot and I was able to finish the 2o minutes.

Even though it was supposed to be 2o minutes of non-stop running, I'm still proud of myself. I'm glad I added in the 1 minute break every 5 minutes. I'm hoping soon I will be able to run the 20 minutes without needing the break.

Feeling Good

Today, the treadmill was my bitch. I had a great workout and like Tony the Tiger, I feel g-r-r-r-eat!! I'm on week 5, workout 2 of the Podrunner 5k training. This workout consisted of a 5 minute warm-up, 8 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, 8 min running and 1:45 minute cool down. I pounded the treadmill hard. I was focused like I've never been focused before. I did take a 30 second break during the 8 minute run but that was mainly due to being thirsty not because I was tired. I guess I should hydrate a little before I start training. My concern is that I might drink too much and end up getting a stitch in my side. That would not be fun.

I am proud of myself today. Next training workout is running 20 minutes straight - no breaks. It's daunting and I'm a little nervous but I am determined to do it.

Woo-hoo! I'm still on that runner's high.

Making Progress

I'm baaack!!! I've been keeping a low profile since I've pretty much fallen off the wagon. But now I'm back on - I hope. I ran Saturday dreading it the entire time. But to my surprise, my endurance had kicked up a notch. I just knew I would be huffing and puffing at the one minute mark but I wasn't. I ran for 5 minutes before I slowed down to a walk. (And I only stopped at 5 minutes because my mouth was so dry my tongue was stuck to the roof of it!). I walked for 2 minutes and increased the speed again, thinking that first round was a fluke. Nope! It wasn't! I ran for another 5 minutes. I slowed it down again because now I am getting winded and didn't want to over do it and pass out. But I continued this for 30 minutes. At the 30 minute mark I was winded, sweaty and proud of myself. I think this was the nudge that I needed to get back in the training mode.

Since I felt so great about my workout Saturday, Sunday I went outside and did a 30 minute run/walk with Darrius. Running outside is so much harder than being on a treadmill but I plan on keeping at it.

Today I signed up for a 5 mile race in September. I have a goal in sight. And I plan on staying on track working towards that goal.

Wish me luck!

New Obsession

Darrius is going to summer camp at Yong In Martial Arts Academy. Every day the kids go on a field trip. It's normally the same trips every week. For instance, Mondays is Chuck-E-Cheese, Tuesdays they go to the park. Well one of their trips is a weekly trip to Six Flags in Largo, MD. The kids have to buy a season pass which is $60 bucks. It's a good price considering they go weekly. Darrius has never been a thrill-seeking kid. He's like me - cautious. He doesn't get his kicks doing dangerous stuff. So needless to say, he's not a roller coaster fan - until now. They've gone to Six Flags the last four weeks and each week, Darrius has stepped out of his comfort zone and has gotten a little adventurous.

A couple of weeks ago, Darrius was talking about his Six Flags trip and asked me if I like going on roller coasters. I told him no I don't. I have a fear of heights and roller coasters are not my friend. I then proceeded to tell him that back in the day when I used to go to Kings Dominion, I would get on roller coasters due to peer pressure. I didn't want to be the only one sitting on the bench waiting, while everyone else was standing in line to get on the rides. Little did I know, he would take this to heart and do the exact same thing.

It worked for him. Each week he has gone on more roller coasters, multiple times, and when I would pick him up, he would be so excited, telling me about the rides he went on and how many times. I'm proud of him. He didn't let fear get in his way. He took my ass backwards way of riding roller coasters and used it to conquer his fear. Go Darrius!

But now he's a roller coaster, riding MONSTER! He has become obsessed with riding them. The last two days, he has been on Six Flags' website showing me the roller coasters he's been on, telling me the height of the drop and how fast they go. And now he wants us all to go to Six Flags when his dad is back in town. I told him he could count me out. I still don't like roller coasters to this day! So now I have a 10 year old trying to convince me that roller coasters are not scary and I have nothing to be afraid of.

This make me laugh. He then says "If I can ride a roller coaster, I know you can Mom. There's nothing to scared of."

Boy, the tables have turned.

I'm still not getting on anybody's roller coaster.