crossing the finish line in Columbus

This Sunday thousands will partake in the Glass City Marathon in Toledo.  There is a lot of buzz around this years event.  A new course that starts and begins at U-T’s campus seems to be attracting a lot of new runners.

Last year the Glass City Marathon was my first long race I ever trained for and ran in.  I participated in the half marathon …. then in the fall I went on to run in the full Columbus Marathon.  Both of these races were so much fun and great goals to work towards.  I am still shocked that I ran 26.2 miles in Columbus!

I had every intention on running in the Glass City Marathon this year….I signed up…I was in training.  Then when I was on a run on the beach in Cancun I did something to my knee.  After a trip to the Doctor, I was told to stop training or risk having to have surgery.

I am pretty upset, I know so many people participating this year.  But I plan to be back next year healed and ready to run.

I put our household on a pretty strict budget a few months back.  If all goes as planned all our debt including our mortgage should be paid off in 4 years.  It is a great goal to have but now that it is spring I have been itching to go shopping.

So in order is fulfill that urge I have been trying to stay in department stores like JC Penney, Kohls and Target rather then the specialty stores.  I find I can get  more clothes for less money.  I don’t have to budget to go crazy like I have in the past.  But this new plan of attack, of where I shop, is letting me add a few new pieces to my closet without breaking the budget.   

Besides certain stores, I have also been hitting the clearance rack first, seeing what is on sale.  So far it has been working.  I’ve been able to score really cute dresses and skirts on clearance.  My last trip to Target I picked up three skirts and a reversible dress for around $30.  If I can only stay strong for long enough to see our debt start to go down, I think shopping the clearance racks will get easier.

My husband and I were up late one night and we were watching one of those home shopping networks…don’t ask me why.  We ended up making two purchases.  Those channels really suck you in and really convince you that you need the product they are selling.

One product we bought has actually saved us money and we use it all the time.  It’s one of those vacuum sealers that you can use to vacuum seal your food.  It is a hand held unit and I love it.  I found I am finding more and more uses for it.  I started by resealing packages of hot dogs … then I would vacuum seal packages of ground beef and chicken breasts before I put them in the freezer.  This week I went to Sam’s Club and bought a lot of fruit and veggies.  I kept out what I would use for the week and vacuum sealed what I knew I wouldn’t.  Now I am saving money by not throwing out meat and fruit that usually would spoil.  It was a small investment that is paying off.  Maybe I will have to do some late night shopping again.

Last weekend my husband and Itook a little getaway, by ourselves, without our daughter.  I found a great deal on an all inclusive resort in Cancun.  This was our third trip to Cancun and this was the best resort we stayed at.  It was called Cancun Caribe Park Royal (if you haven’t been there in a while, it is the former Hyatt.)

I would give this resort a high recommendation.  The service was great, it was extremely clean and the food was outstanding.  It was a quiet resort, and geared more towards adults. 

But here is where I need your help.  Next time we go back….in a year or so….we would like to take along our 3 year old daughter and our parents.  So we are looking for a nice resort our parents would enjoy with good food and a kid friendly resort that my daughter would enjoy.  Any suggestions???  Let me know!

One of my favorite times of day is after I drop my daughter off at preschool and I have a couple minutes to myself on my drive into work.  I enjoy it because I am able to sip my coffee, listen to the radio and collect my thoughts before getting to work.

It’s ironic … because I think my least favorite part of my day is the drive home.  By then I just can’t wait to get home and see my daughter and am usually hungry and can’t wait to have a family dinner.  The drive home always seems so much longer.  But it is nice driving home with sunshine rather then in the dark now, since the time change.

This was an absolutely random blog … but isn’t that what they are all about … writing about what is on your mind:)

This weekend was such a great start to the nice spring weather in store.  Our family along with several others took advantage of the first warm day of the year by heading to the zoo.  We went Saturday morning and were able to beat the afternoon crowds.  The animals were very active … I love going in the spring and Fall … it is really the best time to see the animals out and about.

We spent a lot of time inside the home at Nature’s Neighborhood.  My daughter loved petting the guinea pig and I even took a shot at painting her face.  Here are a couple picture from out trip.

The Toledo Police Department offered a training day for members of the media last Friday.  This was the first class the department has offered in 10 years.  The reason the class was started back up was mainly because of the recent officer involved shootings.  TPD wanted to give the public a taste of the stress and split second decisions an officer is faced with every day on the job. 

The day started off in the classroom with a couple lectures and instruction.  Then we were handed a bullet proof vest and face mask and headed to the range.  In the range we were put through several real life scenarios and we had to react.  We used semi automatic handguns, loaded with something similar to rubber bullets.

I was shot so many times by officer acting out roles … I still have several bruises to remind me of the day.  But the training was eye opening.  It’s amazing how quickly officers have to react and how many dangerous situations they are presented with daily.  

If you ever have a chance to experience a training day I would recommend it.  And after the training I know I could never handle the job of a police officer.  I found I am too nice and not tough enough.

This weekend I have given myself a project.  I have three separate closets, one dresser and a couple laundry baskets full of clothes I no longer fit into.  I’ve lost 100 pounds over the past couple years and have hung onto what feels like 5 different wardrobes in 10 different sizes.  All those clothes cost me a lot of money over the years.  But I’m not hanging onto them because of the dollar amount … it is more of a fear or phobia of letting go of those clothes….they are kinda like my safety net.  I know and hope I will never gain the weight back but for some reason I have this feeling like I shouldn’t get rid of them….crazy I know!

But I really need to bite the bullet, so this weekend I want to get all the clothes together and take them to a resale shop.  That way I can make a little cash to help bulk up my summer wardrobe, and de-clutter my closets.  Anything the resale shop doesn’t want, I will drop off at Goodwill.  Wish me luck….I think this will be a day long project.

As you might know Lent is the 40 days before Easter.  Many Catholics use it as a time to give something up or improve a behavior.  This year I have heard of a lot of non-catholics giving something up because their peers are doing so. 

The past couple years I have not done this.  But this year I decided I should start back up.  So I have decided to give pizza up.  Wish me luck….the cravings are already setting in!

You hear about green energy, solar panels, and wind turbines.  but all those things seem so far off and hard to imagine your home being powered by anything else except for electricity. 

I was shocked to find out that using a wind turbine to power your electricity is actually an option.  And there is now a certified dealer here in the Toledo area.  Now you are able to actually walk into a store, sit down with someone educated about wind turbines and find out how they could help you save tons of money on your electric bill and in some cases get paid by the electric company for producing more energy then you need.

I found out the first step is to take your electric bill into the store and they will pretty much do everything from there for you….creating a plan, applying for grant money for you, installation…ect. 

If this is intreging to you head to Surenergy inside Perfered Pools and spas on 1285 Conant in Maumee.