A Case of the Runs

Over the years, I've learned a lot about website optimization, SEO, and all the things I should have been doing with my blog to increase its hits.  Also during that time, I've encountered many blogs that are "well-optimized," and boy, do they feel impersonal.  So that means, I'm just going to carry on however I want (it's not like I'm making any money here [anymore -- yet??])! I'm going to review a few things, not because I was sent anything (though I'm still happy to do that -- contact me !), but because these are things that I use, and if you are so inclined, so should you! I will probably be adding more reviews here, since, let's be honest, they are what bring hits to the blog, and I want people to come and read so I don't feel like I'm writing to a cyber vortex! Invisibobble Hair Tie I have been using this for close to two years now, first tipped-off by a video by one of my favorite YouTube creators, FrmHeadtoToe .  Th

When I started this blog, I was in my early 20s, and very often, it feels more recent in memory than it actually is. Sometimes, however, it feels like another lifetime ago, and I feel so much older nowadays. I'm approaching my mid-30s now. I think I'm actually starting to look older, in my face, or maybe it's just that I am not nearly as well rested. I would post pictures, but I honestly haven't taken pictures of myself in a long time. The camera is always on others, and I'm not good about whipping it out in the first place. My clothing choices are far from what they probably should be, and self-photos take so much effort! Finally, I am admittedly body-conscious since I had my second child, which I alluded to in my last post. Although I am trying to take charge of this, there are some things I'm not sure more workouts or cleaner diets will address. Anyway, as I am going back and cleaning up my old posts' broken links due to my past sloppiness, I fi

I was doing a little research on the differences between HTML4 and HTML5 for a potential gig and suddenly realized that I missed blogging, so here I am.  Waaaay back in the day, I used to code my own blog, which isn't hard to do, but I got lazy -- thus, I moved to Blogger . Some housekeeping  I let my domain name (http://www.acaseoftheruns.com) lapse, though I think it's still on hold for me, so if you're here, you can see we are now at http://acaseoftheruns.blogspot.com .  I am not sure if I will restore it, or get a new one at some point... it's just that I didn't want to throw money into something I wasn't using. I've given the blog a little refresh, so older posts may not appear correctly.  I don't have any plans to take care of all of those at once, but if something is bothering you, you can contact me directly, and I'll try to address it. Some life updates Kid 1 (previously known as Baby Tuesday) just started elementary scho

Helloooo. Does anyone read blogs anymore? In an ideal world, I would refresh and revitalize this blog.  I'm not exactly sure how that would go, as my life (and focus?) is so drastically different than it was 13 years ago when I first started publishing here.  So I will start by trying to update more and go from there... might possibly try to clean up old posts as well. While you wait (HAH), you can check out my latest hobby..... drumroll.... handlettering!!  What in the world is that , you ask?  It's basically word art.  It was a goal of mine to try to learn modern calligraphy this year, so at the end of December, I bought this lovely book , a couple of pens, and started practicing.  And once I started, I became interested in mixing fonts, mediums, etc.  So it's been quite fun learning.  The best part of this is that I can chip away a little at a time, so I can do something here and there, which is important because... well, two small kids occupy the majority of my

EVENT:  Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5K DATE: Sunday, February 17, 2019 LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA RACE BEGAN: 08:00 am  FINISH TIME: 0:29:45 This is my first race report in two years.  This was not intentional. In March 2017, I was supposed to run a half-marathon, which had been a postponement of a 2016 race.  I guess it wasn't meant to be.  In 2018, the day of the Firecracker run, I had my second child right on the morning of the race.  Leading up to that, I was willing to participate if I had been able to, but alas, the Year of the Dog medal will allude me until she's 12. I registered for this race late because I wasn't 100% sure I was going to attempt to make a comeback, but somehow I pulled the trigger.  The kids would have normally come with us, but with an unusually cold (by Southern California standards... mid-30s) winter, we decided to drop them off instead.  We grabbed our bibs, and I walked over to the start line just as things were starting, very c

It's been so long that we are already in a new year, and so far, it has been a survival game around here for various reasons, some of which I can't go into, but among them: The heat went out at our house, during what is probably the coldest and rainiest month we've had in balmy Southern California in years, and we are weak and unconditioned (also need to keep the kiddos warm). One kid had the flu -- I didn't know it at the time, and even urgent care didn't diagnose, but when two other kids in the class are diagnosed at the same time, it is pretty much a given I've been touring elementary schools, and boy, is that a major time commitment.  The schoolsin the district are very hit-or-miss around here, so I feel the need to be informed. "The Ukrainian" is working a ton, so I'm bearing the brunt of the kid duties, keeping their stuff in stock, meals made, etc. It's kind of the worst of all worlds with the baby feeding right now, who is 10 mo