Five Miles Away from the Mayhem

I escaped from the asylum better known as my house at 9 a.m. this morning and did my walk to Jake's new elementary school. I walked down Bay Shore Road to Patterson, entirely around the school and back to the house a different way. Walk took 1 hr 15 min, average pace of 14:57 per mile and burned 588 calories.

When I walked up the driveway I could hear Jason yelling at the hoodlums in the backyard. Our house looks like an atomic bomb filled with toys, clothes, plastic crap and empty Capri Sun bags exploded inside of it. Gotta run, we've threatened to throw away whatever the kids won't put away so I need to call for a dumpster.

I'm Married to a Freak of Nature

This is the note that I woke up to this morning. Enough said.

La Oficina de la Casa

Sooo... as a result of my mini-breakdown last week I can now work 24/7 from home and have access to EVERYTHING I need. I had my IT guy install remote access to my work computer here on my laptop at home. I jazzed that up with a cheap-o wireless keyboard and mouse... now all I have to do is get the freebie printer I got from the in-laws set up so that I can print stuff that I'm working on remotely here on my computer at home. Once that's done I'm all up to speed. Sweet. Now I'm never going to go to bed.

Garden Update: Still Alive and Kickin'

Exciting news at the Bennett household... the herb garden that we planted ain't dead yet! Shocking, but true. Thanks to all of the rain we have been having, and in spite of total and complete neglect from our family... five of the six plants are still alive, actually green and amazingly some are even thriving. We did lose the parsley plant, but who needs parsley anyways? Parsley... you suck. The rosemary looks awesome, thyme is a bit spotty but still mostly green and the basil is actually flowering. I didn't even know that basil has a flower. Tells you what I know about gardening.

If yelling at your kids was an Olympic sport...

I would have the gold in every frickin' category.

Short Yell
Long Yell
Uneven Yelling
Speed Yelling
Spank n' Yell

Starting to feel better...

Well, today I did four miles at about 9 a.m. and with a soft, cool breeze and light rain I felt invincible. I did my "old route" from when I was walking regularly about 6 - 8 months ago... and I really enjoyed it. I did the four miles in 59:05, burned 473 calories and averaged 14:44 minutes per mile. Mile four was tough as I started getting a cramp under my right breast and really slowed down... Oh, well. It was just what I needed. But another note to self, maybe I need to eat something before I do these morning walks... all I had was a cup of coffee beforehand.

Another nice thing, I got to spend about 2.5 hours of uninterrupted time at the office today which was awesome! Got caught up on a few things that were really starting to bug me, so that was good. Thanks, Jason for taking the kids to the movie.

I'm climbing my way outta the funk, methinks. I'd like to walk again tomorrow night, but that might be a tad too ambitious. We'll see how the rest of the weekend plays out.

Not Enough Hours in the Day...

NOTE TO READERS: THE FOLLOWING BLOG ENTRY IS JUST A FEMALE B**CH SESSION. IF YOU'RE A GUY AND YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WOMAN MOAN AND COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW TOUGH HER LIFE IS, THEN PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS ENTRY... AND BTW, GO F**K YOURSELF.

How is it that there is so much that I want to do and I can only seem to scrape the surface on some days? I have three business ideas rolling around in my head that I can't seem to get past the concepting stage, I have commitments that I have made for freelance projects that I really need to complete, and I have to update more than a week's worth of new contacts that have been found to add to our high school reunion database. This doesn't include the work stuff that I need to get to, namely closing out July in Quickbooks, finishing up billing for August, writing and designing a 1/2 pg ad, doing the 2009 budget, and WAY too many more tasks to count.

My in-box at work "over-floweth," yet anytime Connie asks me if I need help I am usually reluctant to give up some of this stuff -- unless I know it is her expertise area, which I do readily give her. (I think I do anyway.)

I think that I need some help with pritorizing stuff. I also think I want to get a real computer at home with the complete set up like at work with access to all of our files on the server at the office. (A work station, if you will, at my desk. )

Biggest challenge? Thinking that I was actually busy B.K. (Before Kids). What a joke. Now I've got to account for all the extra work a 5-year-old and 3-year-old add to my day. Two different school drop offs and pick ups. Lunches to pack. Etc., etc., etc. You know the drill. I'm really just tired of being tired. That's enough. I've got to go. Three loads of clean, but wrinkly laundry needs to be put away. And bedtime stories to read.

Can You Say "Anti-climatic?"

I knew you could.

Soooooooooooooo................................................................. we haven't had any rain, any wind. Frickin' nothing. The most exciting thing to happen here today was to talk to Christa on the phone (complaining back and forth about being prisoners in our own homes during this non-event with our kids driving us crazy), Bryce pooping and watching Oswald on Noggin. Don't you love how Fay just swerved away from us? I was ready for just a little bit more excitement here. I'm going to fire up the micro for a Lean Cuisine lunch. Oh, the life of leisure.

I'm no Jim Cantore...

But I've got a baaaddd feeling about this.

Get Ready Bay Haven, Here Comes Jake Bennett

Today was the very first day of kindergarten for Jake. He was very excited but not really emotional at all. I thought that Bryce would have a hard time going to pre-school by herself, but she was just fine, too. I didn't cry or get all emotional, either. Of course, this all could be due to the fact that we are all a teensy bit focused on this storm (GO AWAY, FAY!) this is poised to possibly wreak havoc on our area.

Above are some pictures of Jake from this morning at Bay Haven. I am delighted that he is going to school there. I had to sign him up while I was still pregnant, so it's amazing to realize that it's already here. Have fun, Jake!

Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

Holy crap! This could be THE ONE. And, can you believe that it's named Fay? What kind of shit will we have to deal with if we get totally pummeled by a storm named Fay? I mean, maybe a little bit tougher name would be in order here. I was at Publix and people were in full FREAK-OUT mode... so the panic spread throughout the store as the cashiers rang up all the bottled water, beef jerky, batteries and canned goods they could. I think the chick behind the counter waiting on me had a wrist brace on -- she probably got carpel-tunnel from ringing up all of the people going through her aisle today.

We're in storm plan mode at home and work. Should be an interesting week. Oh, and Jakey starts kindergarten tomorrow. And he has a cold. Oh, and Bryce, too. With a fever no less. Stay tuned.

Mid-day 4-Miler with Mr. Passive-Agressive

Today David and I did a 4 mile walk (jog/walk/jog for David) at about 10:45 a.m. Not exactly a time of day that I would recommend for this. Note to self: DO NOT DO THAT AGAIN. David started out jogging and was WAY, WAY ahead of me... but I caught him at mile 1. I passed him and then he caught me at mile 2. Mile 3 and 4 we stayed just about on par with each other. Last night David and Michelle came over and David (or as I affectionally call him "Dumbass" or DA for short) left a beer in our freezer... AGAIN. The beer, as frozen beers are wont to do, popped its top and dumped gross, smelly frozen beer-sludge in my freezer AGAIN. I'm not counting or anything but I think this is possibly the fourth time DA has done this, but only the second time I made him clean it up. I'm beginning to think that he really doesn't like us and this is his way of being passive-agressive. Either that or he's really, really dumb.

Brand-tastic!

I really like that commercial that is out right now that says "...we're a country of consumers and there's nothing wrong with that..." blah, blah, blah... "since there is so much cool stuff out there to buy"... blah, blah. I totally agree. It got me to thinking about my favorite brands. You probably couldn't give a crap, but here they are, in no particular order:
- Cosmedicine
- Pepsi
- Charmin
- David Yurman
- Le Creuset
- Tervis Tumbler
- Disney
- Ritz-Carlton
- Raymond Weil (watches)
- Coach
- Grey Goose
- Bounty paper towels
- Bonefish Grill
- Bobbi Brown
- Ann Taylor (LOFT, specifically)
- Wisk (new favorite, just overtook Gain, which I used up until recently for years and years)
- Burt's Bees
- Tommy Bahama
- Sony
- Margaritaville (flip flops, blender and drink mixes)
- Dunkin' Donuts (yummy coffee)
- Tropitone patio furniture
- Bennett Contracting
- Columbia sportswear
- DWR (Design within Reach) - not really a brand, love everything in the catalog
- Modern Organic Products (mop)
- Circle of Friends (kids shampoo)
OK, I think blogging about kids' shampoo could possibly be a new low for me. I'm out.

Am I a Freak? No, really.... I need to know...

I've been doing some soul searching lately and thinking about money and the future and life in general. Is that what happens to all of us in a shitty economy? I don't know. In my file cabinet I've got a file titled "Personal Goals" and there are maybe 25 pieces of paper with all different types of goals listed. Many are financial, some are travel "dreams" and others are just a combination of all types of goals. Some are organized, sorted and typed up with dates attached to each goal, others are neatly written in cursive and some are hastily scribbled on a napkin or scrap of paper. I used to go through the file a few times a year and toss out the old stuff, but now, I'm intrigued by how my goals have changed so I'm hanging on to all of them. For instance, here are a few of my personal goals from 4/24/04.

- Design easy, inexpensive exercise routine to incorporate walking, jogging, exercise ball and weights. (FYI -- it took me 4 yrs. and 4 months to get to this one and actually do it).

- Cut down on Pepsi to one per day only. Drink lots of water. (Shit, I've been working on this for as long as I can remember and still today even though I only drank it at lunchtime on Friday I had four -- FOUR, count 'em frickin' Pepsis!!!!!!)

- Get information about lasik eye surgery. Schedule within next 12 months. (Done. Did it in summer of 2006 and have had 20/20 vision ever since. Awesome! Thanks, Dr. Kantor.)

So, I guess what I'm getting at is that it's been very cool to look introspectively at myself and see what my hot buttons were and what I've been able to accomplish. But mostly it's been pretty eye-opening to see what personal battles I'm still dealing with after years. And years. And years. Am I a freak? Does everyone do this?

Walk #2 Update

OK, I missed bootcamp tonight b/c Jason and I were meeting with one of our clients so I decided to just walk instead. This time I did the four miles in 58:08 (yea! I shaved almost a minute off of my time from Saturday!) Average time per mile was 14:32 and I burned 461 calories. You know, I really think the watch is helping by keeping me motivated to beat my previous time and I'm going to use this blog to keep track of my progress... So, dear readers, if I don't blog about my walks please bug me about it.

OK, Brent, I'll Play Your Silly Game

My friend Brent just "tagged" me... no it's not what you're thinking, besides he plays for the other team. So here goes my answers to the questions. Love you and miss you, Brent!!!! XXXOOO

Four Places I Visit Over and Over:
1. Disney World (Duh.)
2. Lee Roy Selmon's Restaurant
3. IKEA
4. Sam's
(I'm sure you're all amazed by my incredible world travelings!)

Four people who call/e-mail/text me regularly:
1. Jason
2. Christa
3. Sara
4. Michelle
(Well, I actually have to call/e-mail or text Michelle regularly, but that does count, right?)

Four favorite foods:
1. Any kind of bread.
2. Stone crab claws.
3. Spinach quiche.
4. Pepsi. (To me, that is a food, OK?)

Four places I'd rather be:
1. On a pristine, deserted Caribbean island beach by myself with an unending supply of strawberry daiquiris with Malibu rum, a good book and no one else around.
2. Exploring the pyramids in Egypt.
3. Siesta Key beach at sunset.
4. In Beijing, China, for the Summer Olympics.

Four Movies I'd watch over and over:
1. What's Eating Gilbert Grape
2. Monster's, Inc.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean (any of the three will do).
4. Elf

I'll add my own category here of what movies we have to watch over and over ad nausem in my house:
1. The Little Mermaid
2. Cars
3. Shark Tale
4. Cinderella

Four bands/groups/musicians/DJs that I love to listen to:
1. Paul Simon
2. Jimmy Buffett
3. James Taylor
4. Flight of the Conchords
(And anything 70s or disco-era. I know, I know. At least I am confident enough to admit what I like even though it means the people around me will make fun of me.)

OK... now it's time for me to "Tag" someone else, so, Carol "Gimmegodiva" are you up for the challenge? Consider yourself "Blog tagged" and answer the questions by posting them on your blog.

It's Pretty Freakin' Far

I.... just.... got.... back. Still breathing heavy and hands are shaky so it's hard to type. I did the four miles twisting around the New College campus, over the crosswalk on US41 and back towards the museum and around the neighborhood and once again twisting around the bayfront side of the New College campus. Phew. I did it in under an hour though, 58:58 to be exact. Average time was 14:45 per mile, but I only burned 456 calories. Going to take a cool soak in the bathtub. I guess I need to get used to this. I want to do 4-milers in August, 6-milers in September and then sixes and eights in October, leading up to the 13K on 10/28. That is a scary thought... just in time for Halloween. How appropriate.

Exactly how far is 4 miles?

I am just about to change into my walking clothes and attempt to speed walk 4 miles. Actually, instead of dread I'm kinda jazzed b/c the kids are acting like total hoodlums and both Jason and I are ready to do things the DCF would definitely NOT approve of; so getting out of the house seems like a good option. Jason just got finished mowing the grass -- that's how much he wants out of the house.

I'll report back later. Jason's going to let me borrow "the watch" so I don't have to figure out when I make it 4 miles. Gotta love technology.

On to the Big Leagues... Kindergarten

So last night we went to Campus Kids Pre-School program to celebrate the fact that Jake and three of his other classmates, Erin, Isabelle and Malcolm are moving on to kindergarten in a week. The program included singing three songs, a presentation to the "graduates" and finished up with an ice cream social.

Jake and his best friend Malcolm are both going to Bay Haven Elementary, along with Isabelle. During her speech about Jake, Miss Claudia described Jake's block building abilities and how he creates towers that take up the entire block area. She made predictions about what each child might be in the future based on the talents they have displayed. Well, due to his elaborate block creations Miss Claudia and the teachers think Jake will be the "architect" of the group. Go figure.

Here are a couple of pictures from the big event.

Saturday Night Horror Show

You know how things can sometimes go inexplicably wrong when a large quantity of alcohol is consumed? Have you ever seen someone (a close friend... maybe your husband) morph into a bizzare creature that does things so out of character that you think you just may be in a parallel universe? Well folks, that's where Cindi and I were on Saturday night. It all started when the boys came back from the liquor store with some crappy, creamy "Tequila Rose" stuff in a black bottle. We decided to play "Cashflow," our favorite game and apparently shots of this crap and the Patron we had were part of the deal.

I'll spare you the details and just say that Kevin doesn't follow the rules and Jason is a thief -- bottom line is that the game (shown above before the melee) ended in a shouting match with the boys locked out of the house and nefarious actions that I hope never to see again ensued. Luckily, none of the kids woke up, but I'm truly surprised the neighbors didn't. Thank GOD we have an 8 foot privacy fence in the backyard. Thank, God.

Fun with the "Master Minds"

This past weekend Jason and I were the host company for a meeting of four small contracting company owners that met a couple years back while we were involved with a business building program specifically designed for contractors. Instead of paying the ridiculous fees to stay in said program, we broke off as a group and decided to run our own little gatherings with the idea of learning from each other while enjoying each other's company (i.e. drink lots of alcohol together, visit each company's office and meet their staff and then have a meeting where each company shares their goals and has "their feet held to the fire" on what they are doing to achieve those goals).

The group flew into Sarasota on Thursday afternoon so we started with a BBQ/Pool Party at the house Thursday night... lots of margaritas and strawberry daqs with Malibu flowing... the pool felt great after dinner and the kids had a blast. Friday we have everyone over to the shop to "play" on the heavy equipment. We did a tennis ball challenge on an excavator and an obstacle course with the skid steer... everyone loved it! We had dinner at The Table that night...amazing! Saturday we had our "MasterMind" meeting, which was very productive and actually emotional, as one company in our group is dealing with some changes in their life stages and are considering getting out of their business. Tears flowing. Wow... that was something I didn't expect.

I think the best part of getting this group together is that as business owners you don't always have someone to turn to... these meetings reassures each one of us that we are NOT in this alone and that we have friends that we can call on when we need help.

Saturday night The Smiths and the Erbsens left for Tampa as they had an early flight out on Sunday morning to get back to Sacramento, CA and Salida, CO. The Foshees, who were staying at our house with their 6-year-old daughter, Summer, stayed so that we could hang out.

Saturday night with the Foshee's deserves it's own post. Stay tuned.

I'm Exhausted... but I can't Sleep

So what is up with this? I'm freakin' tired, so tired that I went to bed smelly from my work out and didn't even wash my face because I had such a bad headache last night. I NEVER DO THAT, yuck. I was supposed to call my friend Karen in Ft. Lauderdale last night to catch up with her as truly we have been trying to talk on the phone for months... maybe even a year I dunno... It is 2 a.m. and when I woke up about an hour ago I was so wired that I knew there was no going back to sleep. This does not bode well for the rest of the week.
I think I'm just stressed out (for a lot of reasons) but one main one is that we've had company at our house the past two weekends and now, my Dad called me on Tuesday and he and his wife are coming to stay with us this weekend. I guess I need to wash those sheets on the guest bed. Maybe I should come up with a nightly rate for our guest bedroom.
That reminds me, I'll do a post about this weekend's past events with "The MasterMind" group that we share business ideas (and lots of alcohol and laughter with) in a minute... (yawn.)