Today is a busy day in the world of Zoot. The weekend of racing/hiking/visiting with family has left me in a drunken frenzy and I can’t quite seem to move as fast as I need to be to get everything done today. But - I’m not letting it stress me out because the weekend was so awesome I’d take 100 more days like today if it guaranteed me 100 more awesome weekends.

NikkiZ took her first “steps” on Labor Day weekend, but we have not been able to encourage her to do more than 1 or 2 at a time since then. She prefers to just stand there for awhile, unassisted, and then lunge towards the person/object closest to her. However, we did catch this adorable video of her last night, while at the in-laws’. Beware: the cuteness may kill you.

You know how sometimes the Internet can help you earn money with ads on blogs, or eBay, or clubmom gigs or whatever? Well, I am not currently taking advantage of any of those things. Which has always made my addiction to Mighty Goods very dangerous. It becomes more an adventure of How Much Can I Fall In Love With But Not Afford?

Lucky for my wallet - I’ve always been able to withstand the temptation to buy. Even stuff as cool as this. But then Megan had to go and start this site. I mean - there’s a Compass necklace! Do you know how much that appeals to the Geography Geek in me? And what about my female Cartographer friends? It’s a perfect gift. CAN. NOT. RESIST.

BUT. I still stayed strong. Sort of. Maybe. How do you define “strong”?

And now? What has Linda gone and done? Started Sundry Buzz. Not only does she talk about cool products on the market (man, I almost wish I had hardwood floors so I could buy a Roomba) - but she tests them out and posts pictures of the results. Do you want to guess what leave-in conditioner I’ll be buying this weekend? LOOK AT THE PROOF!

You people are going to be the death of me. I’ll send you the legal bills when I declare bankruptcy.

Remember how I was worried that I wouldn’t finish the race? Remember how I was worried I would come in last? Remember how the fastest I could run on a treadmill was a 12-minute mile? Well. I have learned that I am a lot more awesome than I thought I was. I finished in 34 minutes and 47 seconds. That is WELL under what I thought I would finish at. I was 643rd out of 805 and 37th out of the 53 from my age group. Not too shabby for a beginner.

I ran the ENTIRE time. Well, except for the water station they had in the middle of the course. There were girls handing out cups of water and I grabbed one and threw water into my mouth. I realized as I started choking that there was ice in the cup with the water. Call me crazy, but isn’t that dangerous? Well - I decided to take a couple seconds to drink the water without running so I could avoid choking on more ice.

The first half-mile of the race was exhausting and I was convinced I’d fade out long before the half-way point, but after that half mile, it got much easier. I kept a VERY consistent pace and since I started at the back of the pack, I passed waaaay more people than passed me - which did wonders for my ego.

All in all? I’m thrilled. Everyone actually did really well. My Dad beat us all, of course. Luckily, he’s not one to rub it in. You had better believe that if I had come in first of our group I would have spent the rest of the day reminding everyone of that fact. MrZ ran the race 10 minutes faster than he did last year, so he is very proud of himself. LilZ finished the race saying, “Maybe next time - I’ll train a little bit first.” heh.

I think we’ll try to run more races in the future. Give us motivation to keep training. I’m actually not too sore today. My Dad and I went on a 3 miles hike yesterday after the race, if you can believe it. Then we got up this morning and walked around downtown. Before we left, we asked MrZ if he wanted to come too. He politely declined and said, “So, what’s with all of the walking?” Ha! That’s just what my Dad and I do when we get together. Walk places.

The morale of the story: It is possible for anyone to get in shape enough to run a 5K. It is also possibly to each 5000 calories worth of bagels in one day. But that’s a story for another day.

Wow. I’m running a 5K in a few hours. Can you believe it? How many times have I made fun of my brother for this “hobby” of his called “exercising.” How many times have I mentioned that I enjoy running about as much as I enjoy trips to the gynecologist. (read: NOT AT ALL.) Yet somehow, I started running three times a week at the Y. And somehow, I got myself up to running 4 miles at a time. FOUR DAMN MILES. That’s a long way. And somehow, I am registered to run a race today. How did all of this happen?

Baby steps. I just took baby steps. And I’m here, and I’m actually really proud of myself. I’m not one to harp on how awesome I am (I don’t want to make you jealous) - but I’m DAMN awesome. If you had told me a year ago (when I was 34 weeks pregnant - HA!) that I’d be running a 5K, I would have said, “Yeah - sure. Crackhead.”

(Watch me get out there, run half of a mile, and then have to walk the rest of the way because the shock in my system of running on the ground instead of a treadmill will keep me from completing the race. Hell, just running without watching TV at the same time may send my system into shock.)

Goals: I’m will run the entire 5K. No walking. I’m not going to worry about the fact that my 59-year old Dad (who is in town) will be finishing a day or two before I do. I will not try to intentionally trip small children who pass me on the route. I will not think about the time of my run. I will only think about rewarding myself with a Pumpkin Cream Cheese bagel from Bruegger’s.

Go me.

NikkiZ is still asleep as we speak. She has slept through the night (in her crib - sob) every night this week but Sunday. I think I actually made it all night last night without once freaking out that she was still asleep. I did, however, freak out because she’s in her damn crib instead of in our bed. I just miss having her next to me, but - that’s part of the Two Parent package, I guess. Compromises. And matching airbrush t-shirts.

If you’ll recall, when NikkiZ was born, we started locking the dogs out of our bedroom at night. This has meant that since last October, LilZ has been sharing his bed with Sweetie (the blanket hog) and Cisco (the stinky sleep-farter). There have been several times where he has expressed frustration with them and how sucky they are to share a bed with. I’ve told him he could lock them out of his room at night, but he has always felt too guilty.

But now, as he stays up later and gets up earlier - his sleep is becoming more precious. This week, he decided to lock them out at night. When I woke him up after the first peaceful night’s sleep he’s had in 10 months, he was euphoric. He kept saying, “I can’t believe it! I didn’t wake up at all last night!”

So - both my babies are finally sleeping through the night. Now, if only I could say the same about myself.