Happy Anniversary!

Today is my parent's 37th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary! They set the standard of what a marriage should be.



I love thee, I love but thee
With a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars grow old...

Innovation at its best

Last night I was sitting on the couch, drinking a beer and getting ready to watch a new episode of True Blood on HBO. I'm in my own little world, thinking about what I'm going to wear to work Monday. Out of the blue, Alfred looks over and goes "Ewww!" I look at him and he points at my legs. Yes my legs are ewww. They are still peeling from the nasty sunburns I got during our week in St. Maarten. This is week two of the healing process and it's starting to look a little gross. I have scaly skin up the inside of my legs. It's pretty gross. So of course Alfred had to point this out to Darrius who was doing crunches on the floor. Darrius stop doing his crunches to take a look. This is how the conversation went:

Darrius: Why did you say ewww?

Alfred: Look at your momma's legs. I told you she was a snake.

Darrius: Ewww mommy! That's nasty!

Me: It's from my sunburn. It's going to peel for a while.

Darrius then decides to start picking off the skin. I let him do it because he seemed to be fascinated by it. He then stops and gets up. I have an idea, he says, and runs off. When he returns, he has the lint roller in his hand and proceeds to roll it up and down my legs, taking off the dead skin. And it actually worked!! I started laughing. I could not believe I was letting my child get dead skin off my legs with a lint roller. He seemed to be having fun doing it. Who am I to deny my child from doing something that's fun?

The nasty skin is back today. I may have him hook my legs up again with the lint roller.

Grand Opening!

Today was a BIG day for our family. After years of waiting and working and negotiating, my husband has finally realized his dream. Today was the grand opening of his restaurant Charley's Grilled Subs. It is located at the food court in Wheaton Mall. Darrius is so proud of his daddy and I am so proud of my husband. Getting the restaurant is going to take a lot of hard work and dedication but I know Alfred can do it. He's been wanting to own his own business for as long as I've known him. If today was any indication, I think Charley's is going to be very successful.

Oy!

I have been out of the training loop for 2 weeks and boy did I feel it today! I didn't think that two weeks off would set me back so far but it did. Today was my first day back on the treadmill and the first 5 minutes were torture! My chest was tight, breathing was heavy. I thought I was going to pass out. My legs and shins were fine. It was the breathing part that was giving me problems. I think the breathing issue has to do with my current addiction to 5 hour energy. I really need to stop drinking those things. I'm at the point where I drink one everyday and that can't be good for me. And I did have a sip of one before heading to the gym. I know - not smart.

My plan to get back on track is to run everyday the rest of this week. It's the only way I figure I can get my breathing back up. And I plan on not drinking any 5 hour energy drinks. I promise.

The 5 miler is a little over a month away. Right now I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm giving myself til the end of August to determine if I'm going to walk the race or run it. If I can get to a solid 4 miles then I will improvise on the last mile.

I'm staying focused on my goal. I am determined to run the entire 5 miles by September 19th.

Keeping my eye on the prize.

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!