A Case of the Runs

"2010s" sounds very strange, by the way. As 2019 is coming to a close, I am both amazed at how quickly this year has gone by and also how much life has changed in the past decade.  Yes, I keep having to remind myself that we are, indeed, ending a decade ! I felt my spirit go back in time as I was re-reading my own  2009 "wrap-up post" .  I was in school and still living at home at the time, and I guess I envisioned that "...come next decade... I will be in my mid-thirties, possibly 'married with children."  And here we are.  I have two beautiful children who have wholly amazed me, and I have been constantly working on maturing myself into the mother and partner that I want to be. This is going to be one of those years where I won't be making lists of goals, because I'm very happy with most areas of my life and don't feel like I need to re-focus on them... for now.  As I just said, I am working on managing myself within my life's r...

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...

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 t...

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...

This post title reminds me of a very old post that is... pretty embarrassing to come across now.  I guess a decade ago, my biggest life concerns were my hair tie and my toenails. Now, I am absurdly sleep deprived and drowning under the obligations of work and kids... mostly kids.  Heck, it's mostly the baby, because she's in that 7-9 months range where I thought I was going to die the last time I had a baby.  Some people have babies that wake up twice or thrice in a night... and are understandably tired for that.  But lately, it has been soooo much worse than that.  I have read all the sleep resources and everything, but deep down, I know that this is just something to slog through.  Even if I haven't slept a full night for probably at least a year now and am not sure when I will get to do it again.  The words on this screen are blurred, to be honest. Doctors, lawyers, students, etc. get a break once in a while... I, on the other hand, don't...

Dear Readers, It's the beginning of summer, and in spite of my best intentions, I am not doing so well with my " get-in-shape plan " that I outlined at the beginning of the year. Granted, I was still pregnant and highly optimistic, I guess? My postpartum fitness journey has had a bunch of ups and downs, mostly downs.  When the baby was about 8 weeks old, I started tracking my intake again, but that didn't last very long.  I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and just wanted to eat my carbs (my sleep replacement) in peace.  I had been doing some light workouts in the house during the day.  Luckily, this baby was pretty chill and would let me work out while she watched.  I think I managed 4-5 sessions a week at one point.  In April, I did my first run and ran a total of ONE mile that month.  This was liberating since I was still having pelvic floor weakness that was finally starting to improve at that time.  In May, I ran 12 miles in total, whi...

EVENT: Baby #2's Arrival! DATE: Sunday, February 25, 2018 LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA RACE BEGAN: 4:30 PM, Friday, February 23, 2018 FINISH TIME: 42 hours, 15 minutes (approximately) Our second baby has finally arrived! We are a bit more than two weeks out, and it's been a flurry trying to take care of her needs along with the needs of our first child (whose birth story is here ).  However, I wanted to get this written before too much time went by and I forget the details.  Beware -- this is a long one! Background: This entire pregnancy , I was pretty obsessed with having a better birth experience than last time when I had an unexpected C-section.  However, I also had the mindset that it could end the same way, which was part of what made it particularly hard last time because I really thought it would go smoothly and so the unexpected surgery threw me for a loop.  Not to mention, I still cannot remember much of the day my son was b...

I totally missed the ball on creating 2018 resolutions (see here for my post on this last year), but I guess it's not too late, so here we go. My first focus this past year was to decrease negativity in the following areas: "Road/line rage": I think I've gotten a little bit better at letting things go here, as I can feel less tension when I am in these types of situations.  I know that's not quite quantifiable, but I really can feel a small difference. Work: I have been put under considerable pressure these last few months, but I think I handled it the best I could.  Still, this is something I want to continue to focus on, though I'll be out of work for a few months.  But I think that just makes it even more important! Home life: I also feel like I've been doing better here, as well, but maybe because things have been less intense with the boy growing up a bit and becoming "easier."  Of course, the home dynamic will change again! Complime...

The last time I blogged about this topic, I was not pregnant, but this whole story started when I was pregnant the first time around. The short of it is that I didn't have any indication or family history of diabetes and was shocked when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my first child.  I passed the postpartum check, but my A1C values (average blood sugar over 3 months) were creeping up each year, so I decided to act because my chances of Type 2 diabetes is forever elevated. I had a lot of success, since in July after I got pregnant, my A1C dropped .3 units, which takes me out of pre-diabetic range.  Still, I've spent most of this pregnancy worrying that it was only a matter of time, since again, my early tests last time did not register any issues, either.  I was hard on myself because I was nauseated for about 18 weeks into the pregnancy, and I admit there were nights when I'd puke everything I ate and then walk to 7-11 to have some candy and Slurpee...

The weather has finally stabilized after months and months of heat waves, and I couldn't be more excited to feel comfortable going about my life. It helps that this time of year is great in general, due to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the other holidays.  It is so awesome to see Baby Tuesday enjoy all of these things this year with a new awareness of what's going on.  He trick-or-treated like a pro! Also, November is "The Ukrainian" and my anniversary (5 years!) and Tuesday's birthday.  We're going to have an active few months indeed! Speaking of active, in the above picture, you can see I failed to be subtle about my 23-week baby bump in spite of my best intentions.  I know I said this before, but I feel bigger than last time and will probably be a full-blown pumpkin soon enough. With all these holidays and such, "soon enough" is going to be pretty soon, I think.  It is a bit surreal that this little one will be here not long after this...

What's in this box? (Hint: Not a carseat!) Right around now (19 and a half-ish weeks), I am at the halfway point of this pregnancy , based on my experience last time and the general medical plan right now.  Of course, I was "given" a few weeks in the beginning due to the way these things are calculated, so this half will probably feel long... ...Or maybe not.  The first half was spent being very tired, very aversive to many things, and was nausea-ville.  Not to mention, most of it was spent in triple-digit, mosquito crazy weather.  So although I'm already feeling big, kind of tired, ache-y, and still not completely back on the food wagon yet, I think better weather and the upcoming holidays will help distract me as things progress.  Cooler weather will also allow me to cover up more!! I know I haven't been very good about documenting this pregnancy, though I don't think I documented much the first time, either.  I have some pictures, but I haven't ...

By "baby," I'm referring to the one that is already here, although technically, the other one got to fly, too. But that means that this was NOT the first flight for the big "baby."  Hmmm. Anyway, we had wanted to go on a family trip for a while.  For his age (at least compared to me when I was his age), Tuesday has been to many places.  We've done road trips to San Diego several times, once to Solvang, and all the way up to Stanford more than a year ago.  I think that last trip was so exhausting that we shied away from trying that again.  However, I'm always glad in retrospect to make the effort. Traveling with Tuesday shouldn't be such a big deal.  I remember his first trip down to San Diego was when he was five months old, with me still pumping in the back seat while he napped.  That trip was easy, but as he got older, he started exhibiting motion sickness.  It didn't matter if the ride was 20 minutes or longer, and it happened often, t...

It has been a tough couple of months.  Work has been very busy, we had a several-week long heat wave (with temps 100+), and I have not been feeling so well. I am hoping that since it's almost Fall (late September), that things will get better.  I'm definitely less nauseous, and today, the temperature was under 80 degrees!! I've been pretty hard on myself recently because I would do things like not eat the healthiest, skip workouts because I'm too tired/it's too hot, or oversleep and then miss another workout opportunity.  If I miss mornings, I'm pretty done for the day since I tire out from working and the day.  However, I know I need to be kinder to myself and slow down sometimes. We're finally taking a family trip soon, which is exciting!!  I haven't been anywhere in a good while, and we get to take the boy on his first plane ride. Another enjoyable thing is that I received a lovely addition to my home from Commercial Silk  ( http://www.commerc...

Thanks to those who commented on my last post!  It all seems pretty unreal right now, but I'm starting to get pretty impatient and excited! I wanted to talk about one of everyone's favorite things -- yep, carbs.  In my last pregnancy, I was shocked that I ended up developing gestational diabetes .  After my son was born, I didn't exactly stay on top of watching my diet, and my yearly blood sugar tests kept inching toward pre-diabetes.  Earlier this year, I decided to reign it in and go back on a similar diet I did during pregnancy -- basically, low carb.  I was eating a ton of fat, just trying to see what would happen.  Well, by the time my next scheduled blood sugar check came along, I was pregnant.  I had been tested early last pregnancy, and this time was no different.  The results showed that my average blood sugar level was the lowest it's been in years, and I passed my glucose test with flying colors.  (I also did a separate ...