Signs of festival

It's so sad, Festival is now over and we have to wait another year for it to come again. I'm planning on doing the Public Safety thing again next year. Wow, two years under my belt right now.

In early April, things start ramping up for Festival. There's a buzz and excitement in the air. You see a lot of neighbors out in their yards and working on their houses to make everything just right. I get goosebumps sometimes walking through the neighborhood and seeing all the people out and about. I remember last year the first time I heard an ad on the radio for Inman Park's Festival, I was overwhelmed with emotion.

Then the big event arrives. The golf carts are delivered ...



The streets are closed, and the big tent goes up.


Everyone on the festival committee is always amazed how everything comes together and just happens. It's completely incredible to be a part of this event.

From a neighbor about her kids and Festival:
"Every year J and G look for the 'signs of Festival coming'……the very first sign is when Bob B comes and puts up the power pole in front of our house. They called us at work to declare the happy news on the day the power pole arrived. The second sign is when the banner goes up at Edgewood and Euclid . We got a call about that, too. The third sign is when the flags go up. The fourth sign is when the “emergency/no parking” signs go up. What a delightful assumption they make that Festival has just always been and will always be part of their springtime!!!!"

My "Joel Award"

Each year Inman Park recognizes individuals who have made significant and continuing contributions to the neighborhood. Joel Awards, named in honor of Inman Park's developer Joel Hurt, are acknowledged at the Butterfly Ball which is the big kick-off party for the Inman Park Festival.

This year I was honored to receive this esteemed award. Here is what is on my plaque:

Joel Award

She came to neighborhood meetings
Before they even had moved;
She gave us all hearty greetings
Then worked to see things improved.

She saw that our fine neighborhood,
Though strong and quite united,
Was lacking a new tool that would
Help keep us well provided.

With up-to-date tidbits about
'What', 'where', 'how' and 'who'.
She stuck her neck out
And asked, "Do you Yahoo?"

Hundreds of us signed up, of course;
Now we chat unabated.
(And so that things don't get too coarse
She keeps us moderated.)

But wait, there's more to tell, you know
(as if that wasn't enough)
She's helping run the April show --
Security and Traffic stuff.

She also minds their two-boy crew
While Bob takes care of his home-brew.

Please won't you join us in giving
As much praise as you can manage
To our most excellent neighbor,

KRISTINE (THE NEECHYKAT) SANDAGE

Purple party

My 40th birthday party was a purple party. Everybody asked why a purple party. Because I like purple! We had purple flashing balloons, purple glowing cups, and purple m&m's.



The cake was by Rachael, of course! www.rachmakescakes.com

I've got a secret ...

and I'm going blast it in your ear with this cannon!

Nathan-ese

Nathan's got a couple classic pronounciations that just crack me up:

"hab it" = have it
"gwub" = glove

My favorite is "gwub", it's so cute.

Caterpillars everywhere

Last week coming home from school, Colin picked up a caterpillar and carryed it home on his jacket. He named the caterpillar "puppy",said it was a girl and talked to it like a regular little pet.

So we went to the store to find a large jar to put the caterpillar in. We came home with a $20 habitat. I figured that this wouldn't be the first bug that the boys would find and want to keep. I wasn't wrong.

The next day coming home from school, Colin found another caterpillar. Soon we were up to 5 caterpillars. There was a mommy, daddy, baby, grandma and grandpa caterpillar. There were also accidents (Nathan broke one -- Colin's words), so we are now down to 2 caterpillars.

Colin is very gentle with the caterpillars and has no problem picking them up and letting them crawl on him. Colin likes to let them out of the habitat so they can get some fresh air and exercise. Last weekend he was carrying all 5 of them on his arm (no shirt) and the caterpillars were crawling up his arm and on his back. It was really creepy, but he didn't mind.

Just last night, I noticed the biggest one spinning a cocoon! This morning was very easy to get Colin up. All I had to tell him was the caterpillar was doing something different last night. In three weeks, Colin should be the proud parent of a beautiful ... moth. Oh well.

I can't wait, we are going to do tadpoles in the habitat next!

San Fran - Nathan's bear

I can't believe we did this, but we left Atlanta without Nathan's bear. Nathan sleeps with the bear every night and nap. Now a little bit of background, the bear was a gift from my mom and was originally white with led lights inside so it glowed multi-colors. After I realized Nathan's attachment, I ripped all the lights out of the bear so I could easily wash it. Not that it gets washed very often. Also Colin has named the bear "puppy bear". I think it's growing on me, and Nathan has even referred to his bear by this name once or twice.

So I realized our error as we were arriving at the Atlanta airport, but there was no time to turn around and go back. I came up with a plan though. I called our neighbor and asked him to get the bear from Nathan's room and fedex it to us at the hotel. I figured we would only have one night without the bear.

The first night, the boys were tired! It was a long day of flying then seeing the birds and walking down by the water. So we were fortunate that Nathan didn't even notice that the bear was missing. The second night, he was throwing a tantrum and the bear was extremely effective in calming him down for the night.

A big thank-you to our neighbor for saving the day! ... and maybe the trip!

San Fran - Saturday

On Saturday, the last day in San Francisco, we rented a car and drove to Rancho San Antonio which is a large preserve with trails and a living history farm. Bob and I have been here before and really enjoy running on the trails. We thought there was a playground for the boys, but there wasn't. The farm was entertainment enough for the kids, although I felt bad that we talked about a playground that didn't exist.

Previously at the park, I saw a bobcat on the hillside, then watched her walk across the trail just a couple hundred yards in front of me. There were other people with me watching, so I wasn't too scared. It was really pretty exciting.

However, during this trip to Deer Hollow Farm, Colin, Nathan and I were sitting down eating a snack when I heard a loud buzzing noise. Looking up I saw a large swarm of bees hoovering above the courtyard. It wasn't exciting, it was scary. I tried to get Colin and Nathan out of there and was pretty agitated, when Colin says to me, "Just calm down Mom, if we don't bother them, they won't bother us." Words that originally came from me. It was rather cute, and at least calmed me down a little. Meanwhile the swarm moved over the barn and across the trail to an open field where I lost sight of them.

A park employee saw the swarm as well and confirmed my observations adding that they were acting a little bit angry. Yikes! I was really happy that I didn't draw attention to me and the kids. But I would've been a lot more comfortable to put some distance between us when I first saw the swarm.

Having a rental car enabled us to do something that we have not done the whole trip -- give the kids a nap! On the way to the park, Nathan fell asleep. Then on the way back, Colin fell asleep. They were so tired from a fun-filled week, and the hotel room was way too exciting to nap in. We did try to get them to nap after the aquarium on Friday, but didn't happen.

For dinner, we found a McDonald's close to the hotel. Ahh, comfort food! On the way back from dinner, Colin melted down. He didn't want to go home in the morning. I was a little touched by this because it meant that he had a really good time. Luckily though, we were able to convince him that going home was a good idea because the Inman Park Festival is in a couple of weeks and that meant Mom got to drive a golf cart!

I am ...

I've had this idea for a poem/essay that briefly and concisely captures the essence of me. So happy 40th birthday to me. This is who I am.

I am the first born.
I am shy.
I am the kid at school that never said anything.
I am the kid at school that the teachers always said "was a joy to have in class" because I never said anything.
I am a "schoolie".
I am a rebelious teenager trying to ditch the "schoolie" image.
I am best friends with the boys (but not in that way).
I am a Catholic high school student … and not Catholic.
I am nobody's steady girlfriend for more than 2 weeks.
I am an honor roll student.
I am breifly a sorority girl.
I am Bob's wife.
I am a Structural Engineer.
I am a CFO.
I am Colin's mother.
I am Nathan's mother.
I am a marathoner.
I am an Aries.
I am stubborn.
I am determined.

San Fran - Aquarium

Friday we went to the Aquarium of the Bay that is right on Fisherman's Wharf. In the morning was an "Aquatots" program for kids 2-5. Colin and Nathan got to see baby sting rays (Colin asked if they sting) and do some art projects with stamps and paint. It was nice for the kids to do some hands on stuff since vacations are so much looking and not a lot of doing.

After "Aquatots", we went into the "Touch the Bay" exhibit where you get to touch bat rays, leopard sharks and starfish. The bat rays were the neatest! They were so friendly and really seemed to enjoy the attention.

Then we went downstairs to the exhibits "Under the Bay" where you go through glass tunnels and look up at the fish swimming around you. It was cool, but it wasn't cool when the elevator started acting up and took forever to get back upstairs. Colin had to go to the bathroom and we had to wait and wait and wait ... Good thing Colin has a very strong bladder!

San Fran - Alcatraz

We finally made it to Alcatraz Island. Bob and I couldn't get tickets that last couple times to San Francisco so this was a treat. There is an audio tour of the prison that we passed up. Less frustration that way. So we saw what we could see and were happy to just be there.

Colin did not like the prison cells very much and didn't want to go through that part again when we were headed back to the dock. Since we didn't have the audio tour, we were kinda lost when it came to leave.

In the gift shop, one of the last living inmates was there signing books. We didn't talk to him or anything, but it was neat to see him. Colin and Nathan's souvenirs were great big prison keys, replicas of the real thing.

The last picture is of the pelicans that inhabit the island. That is actually where Alcatraz got its name, it's real close to the Spanish word for pelican.

San Fran - Wednesday

Our second day in San Fran, we had so many things we wanted to see and were probably as little aggressive with everything that we did. First on the list was a cable car ride. We got to the Powell/Hyde line early enough that there wasn't a line. Lucky us! Colin and Nathan really thought it was cool riding the cable car (or train as Nathan called it).


We got off the cable car about 15 minutes before the cable car museum was suppose to open, but it didn't. So we went to Lombard Street. Walking. All the hills. With two kids in one stroller. Crazy people!

Anyway, after seeing the curviest street in America it was then off to Fisherman's Wharf. Nathan saw a giant paddle wheel (see picture) and kept saying "Wow, wow" over and over. He was very impressed. The paddle wheel was at the entrance to the historic boats that were on display so that was naturally the next stop.



I forgot to mention that this was the day the Olympic Torch relay was making it's only North American stop in San Francisco (and probably why the cable car museum was closed). I was very excited to see the torch but some annoying protesters made that impossible. The torch was supposed to go along Fisherman's Wharf right where we spent the whole day, but in order to foil the protesters, the route was changed. Really sad if you ask me. The Olympics is about the atheletes or should be. These people who use the Olympics to make a statement are just missing the point. Anyway, I'm going to get down from the soap box and get back to our day.

So next stop, and my favorite, the sea lions of Pier 39! Not as many as the last time that Bob and I were here. Must not be sea lion season. Still there were a lot. Colin and Nathan thought they were pretty neat too. Nathan really didn't want to leave the sea lions either and had one of his temper tantrums. He throws a pretty good tantrum. We were lucky with Colin, no tantrums like this but I digress.


Finally we found the Alcatraz tours sales booth, and all the tours were sold out for today. Not surprising. They did have tickets for the next day though. Now here was the problem, Colin really really really wanted to go on a boat ride. We were going to do the Alcatraz tour as the boat ride. The boat ride to Alcatraz Island was only 15 minutes or so. So I thought that we could do another boat ride before going back to the hotel for the night. Lucky for us, the Olympic Torch relay that was suppose to go through Fisherman's Wharf had all the streets blocked off so tickets sales were way down for the day, and we were able to find a boat tour of the bay easily.

The boat was a three level with the top open. Colin's choice was to ride on the bottom level where we were inside, nice and warm. I wanted to get a picture of Colin's expression when the boat start to go, he was soo excited and happy to finally be going on a boat ride. But I guess I took too many pictures because eventually Colin said, "Mom, put the camera away." I was happy to comply and just enjoy the rest of the boat ride.



Tomorrow, Alcatraz!

San Fran - We found the birds!

So Tuesday we caught an early flight and landed at San Fran airport at 1pm. Checked into the hotel, then it was off to find the birds. We were headed toward Embarcadero and the bay. Mark Bittner indicated in his email to me (yes, the guy in the movie actually answered my email asking about the flock and where to see them!), anyway, Mark said that we might see the birds around Ferry Park which is around Embarcadero 3. I was skeptical that we would actually be able to find the parrots, it's a big city and they are wild and unpredictable. But one can try!

We are walking down the street and I think I hear something ... Mark also said that you would hear them before you saw them. I couldn't believe it, I asked Colin what he heard, and he got a big smile and said, "The birds from the movie!" Across the street was a park, so we raced for the park. The noise was deafening and wonderful, but still I couldn't see anything. Then on the ground ahead of us was a puddle and tons of green parrots bathing in the water. Jackpot! We found them. The kids were overjoyed, almost as much as I was. I keep saying that we went to San Fran because of Colin but the truth of the matter is that it was really for me to see the birds! But that's my little secret (and I'm publicly posting it on the web).

Back at the hotel, we realized that we could see the park where the birds were from our hotel room, so every time I looked out the window, I would imagine that I could see little green spots sitting in the trees and flying around. Of course from the 19th floor this is impossible.

Spring break - San Fran

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Colin has been watching a documentary called, "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" which is about a flock of cherry-headed conures in San Francisco and a man that was feeding the flock and learning about the birds. I thought this is the perfect time to capitalize on Colin's interest in the movie, and take a trip to San Fran for Spring Break. I mean it's a great place to visit, lots to see!

However, after the trip, I think we were completely off our rockers to do what we did. Specifically, taking a trip to the hilliest city in the USA with an umbrella stroller, a 4-year-old and 2-year-old! Our hotel was not on Fisherman's Wharf where we spent the majority of our time, and a couple of days we walked most if not all of the way there. Bob calculated that we did 22 miles of walking while in San Fran. For some of that distance, we were carrying Nathan or Colin. But luckily, the kids liked to both ride in the umbrella stroller together! Now how did we manage that you ask? Colin would sit down first and Nathan would ride on his lap! I overheard one person call it a "double-decker"! At first the kids really liked it, by the end of the trip Nathan didn't really care for it so much and we were carrying him a lot.



I think we have broken our trend of cold spring breaks -- hopefully. Last year in Nebraska and Iowa, it was so cold that we borrowed winter coats and bought hats and gloves for the kids. During the spring break that Bob and I took in college, it was very cold in Arizona (not as cold as last year in NE and IA though). The first day in San Fran was chilly, but by the end of the trip it was unseasonably warm, yahoo! Maybe next year we can go to the beach without fear of the cold-curse following us.

Also during the trip, we got a hotel room suite with roll-out beds in the living area for the kids, and Bob and I got the separate bedroom. This was the first time trying this arrangement where the kids would have to go to sleep in the same room together. Our hope is that some day Colin and Nathan will share a room -- we got a bunk bed for Colin's room with that arrangement in mind. So this was a good experiment.

The first night went very well because the kids were so exhausted. We got up very early for the flight that day. So shortly after tucking them in, it was quiet. The next morning, waking up in the hotel room was quite exciting for them. I walked into their room about 7am to find them both sitting quietly by the window looking out at the bay. Did I mention that the room was on the 19th floor and the windows had an awesome view of the Bay Bridge? It was heaven for two little boys!


Going to bed the rest of the trip had it's challenges and required numerous reminders to them to go to sleep especially by the last night there. But I'm very optimistic about getting them to sleep in the same room at home now. Maybe after school ends for Colin.

I will continue details about the trip in later blogs.

Pollen

Springtime in Atlanta means lots of pollen. So much that it just coats everything outside ... yuck!

Fun with beads

It's Spring Break for Colin, so I scheduled a playdate with some friends that live up by the old house. We got there in the morning and didn't leave until late afternoon (and got stuck in traffic on the way home).

Just to recap some of the highlights, the kids played inside at first doing paints which Colin wanted to bring from our house. Then free play where the grown-ups got to catch up on grown-up talk, and the kids did their own thing. After lunch, the activity of choice was more crafts consisting of stringing beads this time. Finally, time to go outside for some good old running around, jumping off tree stumps and riding tricycles kind of fun.

Block city

I came home one evening from a meeting and found this in the playroom. Apparently, Colin and Danni were very busy before bed. Danni said that Nathan tried to help too, but only managed to knock things down.

Hold hands

The brotherly bond between Colin and Nathan just keeps getting stronger and stronger everyday. It's a beautiful thing to see. Nathan has been going in the car to school with Colin, and he loves it. I just watched them holding hands, head down toward the car, just as cute as can be. I guess that when they got to school, Colin insisted that Nathan walk with him to the gate. Then they hugged and kissed good-bye.

Nathan had his interview for Colin's school a couple weeks ago so we have been talking about Nathan going to Colin's school next fall. About a week ago, Colin asked me if today is the day that Nathan gets to go to school with him. He is so excited for that.

We took the kids to a pasta potluck before the marathon. At first the boys were overwhelmed by all the people, and were very shy. But by the end of the night, they were running around, holding hands of course. A couple people commented to me that they thought Colin and Nathan were closer in age. Probably because they get along so well.

I hope that they are always this close and are the best of friends as well as brothers. A mom can hope!

Marathon mom

It's a life goal of mine ... to run the marathon.

Last October I started training and ran 5 miles, my longest run since before both boys were born.

About two weeks before m-day (marathon day), I started experiencing pain and swelling in my ankle. It wasn't going away entirely so six days before the run, I went to the doctor for x-rays. I wasn't going to run, if it meant doing permanent damage. Luckily, I got the a-ok from the doctor that it was just tendon damage and that he didn't know if I would finish and it could be painful, but I could run. So lots of anti-immflamatory drugs later ..

It's the night before the marathon, I planned on getting to bed very early so I would be well rested for my marathon debut. I started out good and was in bed by 9:45pm. Fifteen minutes later, Simon started yowling. She is siamese cat, and a siamese yowl is a pathetic sound. I figure she misses Neechy so I didn't want to be too hard on the cat. Went out to the stairs where Simon was sitting and shooed her down the stairs. This went on until 11:30pm, and finally Bob had enough of it and went downstairs to convince Simon to be quiet. Ahh, almost midnight and I'm finally getting to sleep. Not exactly the way I wanted things to go.

Then at 2:30am, I wake up with an upset stomach. Great, now why is this happening? I went downstairs to eat a granola bar, maybe I was hungry. I didn't really eat very much the night before at the pasta pot luck that the Operation Bootcamp training team put together. Well, the granola bar didn't help. As the hours wore on, it got closer to 5:00am (wake up time), and my upset stomach got worse.

The babysitter was late, and we were finally out the door. Almost immediately my stomach issues were gone. So I guess I had a little bit of anxiety? You think?? As I was going to sleep, I kept thinking "at this time tomorrow, it will be over!". Maybe not the best thing to be thinking!

The race started at 7:00am. It was cold, but at least it wasn't raining. There was a chance of that. I didn't mind the cold too much, I got to wear my blue nylon jacket that has a big pocket in the front that is good for holding gloves, energy gu packets, and whatever else I wanted to carry. I've worn the blue nylon jacket for all my training runs and bootcamps, it's like a part of me by now.

My goal was to just finish, however, I anticipated completing the marathon in 5 hours or less. I started out with a 9:45 min/mile pace for the first 6 miles. A little faster than usual for me. Must have been all that adernaline. It was amazing, the people, the runners, just the whole thing. Between 6 miles and 20 miles, my pace was held steady at 10:30 min/mile which is more like my speed.

Then at 21 miles, I started to feel a little something in my foot/ankle. By 22 miles I was sure it was going to get worse before it was over. Mile 23 was very painful and lots of walking, then at mile 24 I decided to just suck it up and run the rest (and just block the pain!). My pace was 12:01 min/mile for the last 6.2 miles.

As I approached the finish line, the time on the clock read 4:58, just under 5 hours! I couldn't believe it! And that was the time on the clock, my actual time was 4:40:15. I'm very happy with that time, especially considering that I walked a considerable distance at the end (the time could've been 4:35 or less without the injury!).

Bob did very well too in the half marathon. His time was 1:52 which averages out to a 8:35 minute/mile (amazing!). He was experiencing a lot of pain too, but running was less painful than walking for him! He is just a glutton for punishment sometimes.

I've also have to note the beer stop during the race! Right before going into Piedmont Park about 22 miles, there was some folks out with beer and offering it to the runners going by. Not many people were taking them up on the offer, but I did! Boy, did that beer taste GOOD!

Another funny that I have to share. On the way back home after the race, Bob and I were going to the Peachtree Center Marta station. This Marta station is under Peachtree Center and there is a super long steep escalator that you take. Well, I got on the escalator and in my exhausted condition didn't trust myself to stand, so I just sat down for the long ride down. The people coming up the escalator were laughing so hard at me, the running girl in her sweats and medal just sitting on the escalator for the ride down. One woman commented that she wished she had her camera!

Now the question is ... am I going to do another marathon? There's a good chance, I really enjoyed this one, despite the ankle injury and hills. (Did I mention that this course is one of the hilliest marathons out there!) Maybe I can get my time under 4:30? That would be a good goal.