Crazy Legs or Crazy Linda???

About 3 weeks ago, my friend Jessica and I decided to join some of our other friends running Crazy Legs - an 8k in Madison today (ok, really I made her do it with me). At the time, we were running about 3 miles once or twice a week, and I use the term running pretty loosely there. Anyways, with 3 weeks of training, we did it! We ran the entire 5 miles. I thought I was going to die during the first mile and a half, but it got better after that. I really had no expectations of being able to run the whole thing, so I totally feel like a superstar. I came in 8023rd out of 27000. Not too bad, right? I finished in 51:12. Jessica beat me by 13 seconds, but we both came in under our estimated times of 55 min. We'll work on speed for the next one.

Me and Jessica pre-race

Whitney, Karen, me and Jessica. My camera was in the car, so we didn't get any great after pictures at the stadium. Just imagine this one, but with red faces and sweaty, windswept hair.

I can't wait for the next one!

Out of it...

My friend Karen introduced me to gomusic.ru, which is a super cheap music site. I am thinking I will go ahead and get myself some new music, since the last CD I purchased was the Backyardigan's latest. So I am looking at the website, trying to pick out some new tunes and I am realizing that I am completely out of sync with the music world. Honestly, in the car I try to listen to my own music, but Carter's requests usually win out. Even when I do listen to my own music, it is all old stuff that I got in college, or even worse, high school. Help! There has to be someone new out there for me to fall in love with. Who are some of your favorites?

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Today was this sweet girl's first birthday! I can't believe that it has been a whole year, it has flown by! Mike took a half day today and we went to the zoo. I think Samantha was just happy to be outside. It was amazingly warm today!

She pulled her hair clip out and was left with this awesome do.

She didn't eat as much cake as I thought she would. She used one of the decorations as a dip stick and just ate the frosting.

She didn't really get the unwrapping thing, which drove Carter nuts. After a little bit of assistance, she got the hang of it.

We love you Samantha!

Mmmm, fish

I am always looking for good fish recipes, (I can use all the help with my memory that I can get) and of all places, I found an awesome one in a Parents magazine. Crazy, right? I made it tonight and it was sooo good! It's great for a summer meal, it's really light. Plus, it's muito facil. Give it a shot:

(Sorry, no picture - Carter tore the one out of the magazine and I didn't take one of mine - although it was totally picture worthy).

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound tilapia fillets (about 6)
4 tsp canola oil
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp corn starch
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 Tbsp nonpareil capers, rinsed and drained, optional

Combine flour, salt and pepper. Dredge fish in flour mixture, coating well.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add fish cook until brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook another minute, then remove to a plate.

Increase heat to high and add broth to skillet. Bring to a boil and reduce until 1/2 cup remains, about 3 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in 1 Tbsp water and whisk into broth. Cook another minute, then add butter, parsley, lemon juice and capers. Spoon sauce over fish.

WHY????

I knew it was coming and I actually used to pride myself on being able to answer almost every "why" question to come my way. That was until Carter came along. I swear I hear "why?" a billion times a day. What makes it even more annoying is that half of his questions don't make sense. I have resorted to "just because", "that's the way Heavenly Father made it, you will have to ask him", and "because I'm the mommy and I said so" more times than I ever thought I would. Here are some examples:

Me: What else should we grow in our garden?
Carter: Cucumbers, lots of cucumbers!
Me: OK, we can plant cucumbers.
Carter: Why?

Carter - all right after each other: Why are bees so little and I am big? Why was that bee on the slide? Why does the bee like the slide? Why do bees fly? Is the bee going to come back? (I got this one at least 5 times) Where do bees live? Why do bees make honey for us? Why do they feed honey to their babies? Why can't I fly?

Why is he a dog? ?!?

Me: Carter, please don't shovel the grass.
Carter: Why?
Me: Because it kills the grass.
Carter: Why does it kill the grass? Why do you not want the grass to be killed? Why do you want it to look nice? Why do I play on the grass?

Carter: Why are you reading that magazine? Why does it help you be a better mom? Why do you want to be a better mom? Why don't I have a magazine?

These are all from today, and there are more. This is just a glimpse into the inquisitiveness that has become Carter. I am glad that he wants to learn, but sometimes a girl just needs a break!

A couple other funny notes:

Carter uses the word "amn't" quite frequently and won't believe me that it isn't a word. Example: I amn't ready to go to bed yet.

Carter is terrified of bugs. Not just a little scared, he freaks out. When he saw the aforementioned bee, he started crying, no, wailing, and yelling "oh no, oh, no...". He saw a dead ladybug on the floor the other day and he screamed like a little girl and jumped up on my bed screaming for me to "protect him!". Um, yeah, it was dead. A bug landed on him outside and he freaked out again, running toward the house saying that he wanted to go inside, that the outside was just too full of bugs! I guess I never have to worry about him catching bugs and bringing them inside, right?

Before and After

I finally finished cleaning up the office last night after a month of it being a complete disaster. I always think it will only take a week to redo a room, and it always takes a month. I need to be more realistic. I am still waiting on my side table for the printer to go on sale, and I am looking for the perfect chair to go in the empty corner, but here it is! I forgot to take before shots, so you just get the after. It looked pretty much like the rest of the house - we painted everything and did new hardware.

The curtains are what I am most proud of. I finally found the curtains I liked, but they only had 2 long panels and a valence. So, with a little bit of magic, I have 3 short panels! I am well on my way to being sweatshop material (I do need to work on my speed, though. These took me about 3 hours).

I also finally got rid of this bad boy, dreamy as it was:

I now have this beauty. Now we just need to make the rest of the bathroom match.

Martha would be proud

Martha Stewart, that is. I made chicken noodle soup last night from scratch! That's right. I simmered the carcass, chopped the carrots, alright, I did buy the noodles, but baby steps, right? Anyways, it was delicious! Thanks Laura, for the recipe!