Fun Run and Gardening

I am so excited to say that both of the new garden beds are here and have been filled up with dirt. I have done some planting on Friday of the leafy greens. I filled up 3 of the 4 raised garden beds with seeds and a section of the one. I started in the back and worked my way to the front. I am so grateful to have been able to get the 2 new raised garden beds and to fill them up with dirt and to have been able to get the seeds to plant this year. That’s the biggest project. The way I have them set up is perfect. I don’t have to get a new hose and I don’t have to move the hose either and I can get to everything. My next project is to get the pots filled. Part of me wants to refill the pots by the porch that already have dirt in them. The dirt has been in those pots for several years now. I am going to see if I can get some more crates from Waffle House. I need about 5 more. I got the other crates from Waffle House from when I worked there. I’ve had to throw a couple away. The crates help with draining the water. The new pots have a self watering part at the bottom but I would still like to raise them above the ground a little bit. I have 8 new pots in the same colors as the ones I bought 2 years ago. I’ll go back to Walmart tomorrow morning after dropping the kids off at school. I may not have to water plants today since it rained really big today. We had a tornado warning and a severe thunderstorm warning. It’s since stopped raining and the birds are chirping outside. It’s been a while since I have been excited about something.

Yesterday was the Run the Runway 5K. Elijah as I was waking Wyatt up decided he was going to come with us. He was a little slow to get up and moving around. I’m glad that he did come with us. He was a great support. The 5K started out great even tho we were a little behind getting there. I think we ended up starting out with the runners who all passed me fairly quickly more than once. The way they had it set up was you take a lap around this one loop on the road and then head over to the runway and finish it up. Wyatt ran the loop and walked the loop with me instead of continuing to run with the group and meet Elijah at the end. We made it to the runway and started walking and pretty quickly slowed down. I slowed down. I wanted to start out running but my body said no. We fell behind. I told Wyatt he could run ahead but he chose to stay with me. At one point there was a huge gap between us and the last set of people which is disappointing. After walking for a little over 1.3 miles we ended up getting on the back of a golf cart that a police officer was driving. That was disappointing for me. I know 5Ks are tough but this one was a bit tougher because of my knee and not properly training for it. Wyatt and I did walk the last 0.25 or so miles of the 5K and we walked thru the finish line. We did have to tear off the bottom of the bibs that had our names on it and the timer thingies. I was the last one to walk thru the finish line. As disappointing as it was to not be able to do the whole thing we showed up, started the race, walked almost half of it and walked across the finish line. I don’t know if we will go back considering that there’s only 2 options. Option 1 is the kids fun run which Wyatt is too old for. It stops at 7. Option 2 is the 5K. I’ve walked a 5K before so I know I can do it. Since we were running late we didn’t park where we did last year and we had a shuttle bus take us as close to the starting line as possible and on the way back we got on another golf cart. Elijah sat in the front and me and Wyatt sat in the back of the golf cart and unfortunately Wyatt fell off. He’s fine. He scraped his elbow. The kid that was driving it just hit the gas too hard and Wyatt slid off. When we got back on Wyatt and Elijah sat in the front. I had to brace myself because I almost fell off too. I don’t blame the kid driving or Wyatt. The kid did not mean to and it wasn’t on purpose. After the race we went to the closest Walmart because Wyatt want to go to a Walmart in that town. Then we stopped at McDonald’s before coming home because we were all hungry. Part of me wants to go back next year and get redemption but at the same time part of me does not want to do another 5K. We have 4 other races that we have signed up for. The first one is in April and Wyatt is doing the kids fun run. He did the kids fun run last year at the stables. There isn’t a mile long option or else I would have done that as well. Then in August we are going back to the Fort we went to last year and we are doing a 3K color run. We did not get the shirts this year. We may wear other white shirts or the ones we got last year. In September we are going back to the Fort again and doing a 1 mile tutus for cancer run. We did not get shirts last year and we did not get shirts this year. Both of the runs at the Fort are free. Since they are at the army forts I do have to do the background checks which is fine. I passed both of them fairly quickly last year and it should still be easy to get a clean background check this year. In November we are doing a 1 mile turkey trot on Thanksgiving. It’s my redemption for missing the 5K last year. I chickened out because I didn’t want to do it. If Wyatt wants to do the kids fun run at the end of October at the stables I’ll sign him up for it. I wish they had a 1 mile option at the stables for the runs in April and October instead of the 5K because I totally would sign up for it. They have the kids fun run, 5K, 10K and half marathon. Wyatt is not doing the fun run down town at the end of April because that is the same day as the fishing rodeo that Elijah wants to do. I gave Wyatt the option of doing the fishing rodeo as well and he decided he was going to do it. Unfortunately for Elijah it only goes up to 16. If that changes next year I’ll sign him up. If not I will give Wyatt the option to do the rodeo or the kids fun run down town. I asked Wyatt if he wants to do the run the runway 5K next year and he said he’ll think about it. I know a lot can change in a year and I don’t know if registration is open yet or if it’s even on the calendar yet for next year or not. There is one race I want to do at the beginning of June and it’s up where I grew up in Pittsburgh. I’m hoping to have the finances to be able to travel there in June for the kids. It’ll be a vacation for us. My best friend said she wanted to do the 2 mile run as well. Nothing is set in stone yet and I have not signed up yet. I’m hoping to be able to take that vacation and do that fun run. I know the girl they started the runs for 20 years ago. She had passed away. When I lived up there I usually had to work on Saturdays. Then we moved and I couldn’t afford to go up and when we did go up it was almost always a month after the race. The one time it was months before the race. Eventually we’ll get up there to complete the race.

Between now and the next race I am going to work on my health and my knee. I’ve started journaling again for the first time in years and that’s been helpful. It’s not an everyday thing but more of an as needed thing. I am going to make sleep a priority and say no more. I have a person who calls me only when they need a ride and it’s usually at the most inconvenient time like when I’m not home, when I’m about to get the kids from school or when I’m cooking dinner. I’ve asked them to not call me after a certain point. They called twice this past week. Once I wasn’t home or in the same city or state as them and the other time was when I was making dinner. I know what it’s like to be without a vehicle. I also know the expenses of having said vehicle. Plus my time is important and I have things I need to take care of. The kids have appointments and meetings. I have myself to take care of. I have given them a list of resources of people who actually drive people around for a living. They need to use them or work towards getting a license and a vehicle. I have let the call go to voicemail on several occasions. I am also best friends with the block button. That is always an option.