Running

I finally broke down and started getting up before 6 a.m. to go running. I never thought I'd be one of those early morning runners, but running at night was really becoming a chore. I found I really didn't like running anymore, I did it out of obligation. And it cut into my time with Tom after the kids went to bed. I would literally start dreading it the moment I got home.
So for the past two days I tried running in the morning on a trial bases. I have to get up at 5:45 to get everything done on time, but it's SO WORTH IT!
I absolutely love it. Today I ran 4 miles in 32 minutes. I'm training for a 10K at the end of the month, and my goal is a respectable (though not spectacular) 58 minutes. I've already hit that mark a few times in practice runs. But in running shorter distances at faster times, I'm hoping to improve my long distance times, too.
Either way, I find it refreshing, invigorating, and a great way to start my day! And, I enjoy my evenings more, too!

My thoughts on Bin Laden's Death

I am getting really frustrated with comments like, "how can we celebrate someone's death? What is this world coming to?" To avoid political heat, I am blogging my response because only people who like me, for the most part, read my blog. So I'll assume this is safe territory.

We aren't celebrating the death of a man, we are celebrating the death of a key, leading role in worldwide terrorism. We are celebrating what we hope will be a large stride in reducing the power of merciliess extremists, who for decades, if not centuries, have slaughtered innocent people in unspeakable ways to gain power and money, with the end goal of overtaking the world...literally. Their mission, was to crush all Western society, and be the rulers of it. Bin Laden has been quoted as saying, he will no stop killing until every single Christian church has been burned to the ground. Sounds awfully familiar....Hitler, anyone? Were they not after the same thing? The complete eradication of a people, race, or religion? Or all three? Was Hitler's death something to be mourned?

How about all you self-righteous, oh-so-tolerant and enlightened "liberal thinkers" march your ass over Afghanistan or Iraq and ask the people how they feel about his death? Do you think they are sad? Worse off? Do you think they're not sleeping just a little bit easier tonight, knowing that Bin Laden won't be cutting off their daughter's noses that night? Because that's what he did. He mutilated his people, beat them into submission, tortured family memebers for NO REASON other than to instill fear. I have friends in Sadi Arabia praising Allah that he is dead. So don't you, for one second, tell me I can't praise God he's dead.

You know nothing, NOTHING, of the horrors this man was responsible for. So yes, I am happy he's dead. And yes, the death of his leadership, and what he represented, should be celebrated. If you disagree, then sit there and don't celebrate. But don't try to stop my rejoice that the world is short one more mass-murdering, genocidal, truly evil bastard. And don't be so impressed with yourself. Chances are you've never looked into the eyes of a woman whose nose was carved out, leaving a gaping cavity in her face, in order to scare her father into submission. My Dad, has. My brother in law, has. Bin Laden will not be missed.

Ballerinas, hockey games, and cute kids

Things have been rolling right along here, for the Griffith's. Tom just finished the first quarter at Wells Fargo where he was qualified to bonus...and he did! In fact, he's #1 in his branch, and #4 in the district. I'm so proud of him! I couldn't do that job. Be nice to your bankers, by the way. You have no idea what goes on behind the scenes; it's an enormous amount of pressure and ridiculous regulations.
Still loving my job; April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, so it's pretty busy at the Family Support Center. We'll have an online auction going on the 24th through the 29th. Check it out at www.familysupportcenter.org. Never know; you might find something you like! Proceeds go to child abuse prevention and treatment.
Ethan is growing like a weed. There's a HUGE difference in little boys and little girls. I had to BEG Lucy to eat; still do. Ethan has NO problem eating. He out-eats his sister 9 times out of 10. He does a little army crawl and can get across the room faster than you can catch him. He says "Da ba da da" a lot; I really do not count that as "da da", but Tom does. Wishful thinking, sweetheart :)
Lucy is SO SMART! She knows her ABC's and most of the sounds, she can count to 13 without help, knows all her shapes and colors, and speaks in complex, grammatically correct sentences. She's my little talker! She loves to do craft projects, put together puzzles, watch Elmo and Dora, and play at the park. She truly has a sweet heart.

Cannot Handle It

Some of you know, and some do not, that I sometimes obsess a little bit about my weight. Good, bad, or indifferent, I am always at least aware of my weight and shape. So I decided to start training for a 10K so that I would focus more on strength than on the number on the scale. It started out well, but now that I'm a couple of weeks into it, I sure can run harder and longer than I ever have..but I'm also gaining weight. I know some of it is muscle gain, and some of it is straight up needing more reserves/energy to burn to run that far and long. I went from running 8-10 miles a week, to about 20 miles a week.
However, I think part of it is also my letting myself eat what I want. This probably sounds pathetic, but it somehow feels better to blog about it. I cannot handle gaining weight like this, even when I understand what it's for, and know I can drop it all after the race. It makes me irritable and angry at myself all the time. I just don't feel good when I gain weight. And I have no energy when I lose it all. AHHGHGH!
So, there is my whiny, "poor me" post. Sorry you had to read it :)

Working with women

I love my job. One of the things I love about it is all the wonderful women I get to work with. Powerful women, docile women, energetic women...all varieties, all working together to prevent child abuse. It's incredible.
What I love, though, is also what I hate. There is always this game, this balance, of friend and coworker, supervisor and supervisee...and it seems someone is always offended at what another has said or done, or not said or done, or said in a different tone, or didn't use any tone at all...you get the idea. I feel like I'm constantly doing damage control; smoothing someone else's feathers, or my own. It can be exhausting. I think I'm joking around with someone, then find out they took offense. Someone is joking with me, and I take offense. It's ridiculous.
Today seemed to be exceptionally full of those games, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
The tricky thing is, in order to bond on a certain level with people, you have to go outside a certain level of office formality. And once you cross that line, you risk falling into the cycle I just described. This seems to always happen, and I end up wishing I'd just stayed on the outskirts of the office friendships. Ugh. Maybe someday I'll figure this out.
I welcome your advice. Please.

Picture update...going clear back to Halloween. Yes, I know.