My first day back running.

I believe in being prepared. When we go camping for four days, I pack Kelsey ten pairs of underwear. So it wasn't a surprise to me when I stepped out the door to go on my first run in over three months that I looked like a contestant on a hiking reality show gone wrong.

My sister recently came out for a visit. On her way out of town, she picked me up a bunch of Nike running gear for cheap. So I was armed with new shit all over the place. Since I'm generally allergic to the heat, I decided to run in the morning. I got dressed, put my new dri-fit tank on (along with my shorts) and was ready to roll.

Except I wasn't. It took me, like, 10 more minutes to get out the damn door. First I had to figure out how to get this on comfortably:



Then I had to go get my iPod out of the car. I was wondering where my Garmin was and knew I had let Kelsey use it on her bike (I don't know what I was thinking). Luckily, I found it (by complete accident of course), but the battery beeped and read "You have 0 hours of battery life remaining". Ah well, I wasn't planning to go far. It would last.

The hydration pack has two compartments, so I was saved from having to look for my arm band. After that, I had to adjust the pack and figure out exactly how it was supposed to rest. On your hip? On your waist? I filled it up with water, grabbed my sunglasses and was out the door.

Except I forgot my hat. So I came back in, went upstairs and got my hat. Went back outside. Forgot my sunglasses on the counter. Went back outside. I contemplated taking my phone (for safety purposes), but it's a freaking Blackberry. It weighs like 3 pounds.

By the time I turned the Garmin on so it could pick up the GPS, I already felt like I weighed an extra 20 pounds. In addition to the hydration back and water bottle, I had my watch on one wrist and my Garmin on another. Unfortunately for me, my Garmin is an old model. It doesn't look like a normal watch. And I forgot to take the damn battery charger clip off. I haven't decided on a good pair of running ear buds, so I had dangling cords. Even with all that, I set off in relatively good spirits, happy that I was finally able to do something.



The damn Garmin died at 0.75 miles.

I count on the Garmin not only to tell me how far I'm going, but what my pace is. If I don't have it, I don't run a steady pace. So I had to guess how far it was until I hit a mile. Which is really pathetic b/c I've run the route before. After running an errand, I eyed the odometer and realized I didn't even go the full two miles.

After all that shit, I didn't even go 2 miles. Mother-f-er.

Why reading isn't always a good thing.

Right now I'm reading Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh. It's damn good. Therefore, I have to place the blame for what happened yesterday squarely on her shoulders. Sorry, Nalini. You shouldn't be such a good writer.

When Kelsey was about two years old, I decided to do away with the bangs. At that age, she actually let me clip her hair out of her eyes or put it in baby pigtails. Those days soon passed; as well as my willingness to let her hair grow long. When she was four or five, I got her hair cut. Short. I was sick of her hair being a nest to food, paint, gum, and various other things that young kids get into at that age. Having her hair cut short served two purposes. She didn't look like a homeless child and I didn't have to deal with her hair in the morning. Double bonus.

It started about eighteen months ago. The inevitable fight about her hair. She insisted that she wanted to grow it long. I was just as adamant that it wasn't.going.to.happen. Whenever we went to get haircuts, I did what most parents would have done. I lied right to her face and got her hair cut the way I wanted it. Not b/c I wanted her hair cut that way. On the contrary, I just didn't want to deal with her hair issues.

Which brings me to yesterday.

Kelsey has been asking for side bangs for about a month now. I kept putting her off, trying to figure out how to convince her she has side bangs without actually giving them to her. At this point, I had already agreed to let her grow her hair out with the understanding that if she doesn't take care of it, that I will get it cut off.

Before


Yesterday we went into the salon. Kelsey wanted to go first. I told the hairdresser that Kelsey wanted side bangs (all while saying "hell no" w/ my eyes). I asked that she part her hair in the middle, trim it, then when her hair is parted on the side, it would look like side bangs. Perfect, no? It would have been if it weren't for Nalini.

While Kelsey was getting her hair washed, I pulled out Blaze of Memory to finish the chapter I was reading. When Kelsey came back, I looked up for a second and smiled to see how excited she was. Then I went back to reading. When I looked back up, there were side bangs.

After


I honestly felt like crying. At the same time, I couldn't help but laugh while I was getting my hair cut. I saw her looking in the mirror preening. She had to do that for twenty straight minutes.

Bill was less than thrilled when we got home. I'm sure he doesn't care what her hair looks like. It's what happened this morning that we both wanted to avoid.

"My side bangs don't feel right."

Srsly.

Health care rant ahoy

Is health care right or a privilege?

That is not a question that is black and white. There are many shades of gray.

Children definitely have a right to health care. You can't help who you are born to. If a baby is born to a drug addict mother, why should s/he not even get a chance at being healthy?

Illegal immigrants do not have a right to health care. They are in this country illegally. Why should Americans have to pay for their health care? And make no mistake, someone has to pay for the supposed "free" health care that is being proposed. Nothing is free. If you think it is, you need a serious reality check.

My family is a family of four. My two kids have been insured without a break in coverage since the day of their birth. Is it private insurance? Yes. Did it have to be? No. When I had my kids, my husband and I were making a paltry $20/hr (combined) salary. We could have chosen to have more money in our pocket, put our kids on Healthy Families and gone without insurance ourselves. Or we could suck it up and pay the cost of insurance for the kids we chose to have. We went with the latter.

I am all for health insurance reform. I don't think the insurance companies should have as much power as they do. I don't believe the government should have that power either. The federal government was not created to be the ruling power of the people.

A smart person I know says this:

The Constitution was created to limit the powers of the federal government. The Founding Fathers knew that the country needed some form of federal government to take care of some basic needs, i.e. defense of the country, infrastructure, etc. The Constitution is very specific about what powers the federal government has. It says in essence that anything that is not listed in the Constitution is reserved to the States or the people.

So we're going to change the Constitution at will to state what the federal government needs it to state? That completely goes against what the Constitution is there to do and specifically goes against the saying "All men are created equal...". Every one American has the same opportunity as the next. Sure, it's harder for some than others, but your life is what you make of it.

So why should I be forced to pay for your health care?