stone mountain aka climbing out of a funk

I've been in a funk lately.  A pretty serious one, where I didn't want to talk about serious stuff, do serious stuff, or be serious.  I just wanted to float along in life and pretend everything was awesome on the outside while it was dark and ugly on the inside.  I was thinking some pretty mean things about people and then felt awful and couldn't share them with anyone.  But I finally opened up about it and now it's not taking over every waking minute...just some of the waking minutes.  :)

So I got on that metaphorical ladder and climbed out.  I picked up a good book (Honeymoon with My Brother by Franz Wisner), I picked up some knitting needles (just started some basic stockinette), and I got serious about our budget and got enough groceries for two weeks for our family of four under $150 (lots of soups, rice and beans, but still), and I also finally feel like I have something to blog about.

While I was away, my husband turned 29, we celebrated 7 years of marriage, and Clark started summer.

Our first weekend of summer was today, so we finally used that Stone Mountain parking pass I took from my parents' car and went for the morning.  We tried to get there early before the sun decided to think it wasn't quite hot enough at 83 and we walked up the trail.  Clark wasn't feeling well (cough and puniness) but we urged him on with stories of his past experiences on the mountain.  This was his sixth time, if you count the time I walked it pregnant with him (he certainly does) and Oliver's first. 

We took the hike slower than running (Corey's pace) and made plenty of water breaks for Clark.  We finally reached the top and spent some time looking over the edge and at the city skyline.  We also witnessed a proposal (sweet!).

After the much quicker hike down the mountain, we ate lunch, bought some candy and fudge, and called it a day.  I look forward to many more family trips this summer!

 

  

monkey squares

I pinned this recipe for Monkey Squares a few days ago and when I saw the uneaten brown bananas on my counter, I decided to try it out.

They turned out pretty good, although next time I'll either use less ripe bananas or one fewer because they are still under done/didn't firm up as much as I think they should have.

The icing totally makes these.

neverwhere

Another book down on my list for the year is Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.  I had been looking for a new book to read at the library and always check my list of "to-read" first.  I wanted to read Stardust after seeing the movie.  They didn't have it the last time I was there, so I grabbed Neverwhere.  

After reading some reviews, most good and excited about the writing, some were bad and compared it to other "better" novels, I had a hard time starting it.  The story is fast moving, but I just kept trying to figure things out and you can't.  Plus it's science fiction, which always throws me off, but apparently I kind of like it.

The story is about Richard who rescues a girl named Door.  She ends up being from London Below, which is a sort of magical place everyday Londoners don't notice.  His life gets turned upside down as he goes on a journey with her to find out who killed her family and why.  The characters are all interesting.  Hunter is Door's hired bodyguard and has redeeming qualities.  de Carabas is Door's guide and keeps you guessing the whole time.  So much goes on, I don't even know how to say much more, so I won't.

I would recommend this and hopefully I'll be able to read and recommend more from Gaiman.

cooper interval

I must sound like all I do is spend time running with Kacy, but right now...that is pretty much it.  Ok, not really, but Tuesday night we went running.  Kacy used to do a Cooper Interval workout in college when she played soccer.  Corey had never heard of it, but it sounded good, so he ran one on Sunday afternoon.  He wasn't pleased, but there were lots of factors out of his control that led to his time. 

The Cooper involves you and a track and a timer.  You run one mile, rest for the amount of time you ran, run 800 yards, rest for that time, run 400 yards, rest, 400 yards, done.  Your goal is to run in under half the time of the previous part.  So example:  10 min/m, <5 min/800, <2:30 min/400s.

Last night we hit up the track with our kids and Kacy and Mikey with their kids.  They went first while we timed them, then Corey and I went so they could time us.  I was nervous for a few reasons.  I have this idea in my head of what I want things to look like and whif they don't, I want to give up.  I hate when people do that and I don't want to be one of those people, but I am.

So everyone was doing well, Kacy and Mikey were pretty impressive and Corey always astounds.  My mile was not too bad, sub 8:00.  My 800 blew.  My 400s weren't terrible, but I was ready to give up.  I wasn't planning on running a sub 8.  I aimed for 8:00 and then knew I would do the others no problem.  But I let the 7:32 get into my head and couldn't let go.  I knew where I fell apart each time and really just wanted to walk off the track, but Corey would never let me do that and Kacy and Mikey had been good sports and finished, so I figured I shouldn't be the only quitter.

Now Corey is creating charts and setting goals for the four of us, which is fun for him and very helpful for my running.