I haven't actually spoken on the phone to my coach in a very long time, so I picked up. Which breaks one of my rules in life, which is that its really annoying to be on the phone with a parent who is simultaneously talking to you and their offspring at the same time. I try not to, for the general cause of not being an a**hole to my friends. Which, in truth, is why mothers text as their primary mode of communication. We did manage a decent amount of conversation, even though I was putting a band-aid on my son's finger, laying out my daughter's outfit for her dance pictures, getting said daughter upstairs (a process), and telling her how to put on her outfit.
Me: "No underwear honey. Don't ask - it's a dance thing"
Coach: "Ok - I guess I understand that".
Me: "I was talking to her not you. You should understand not wearing underwear for athletic events". Chuckles.
I finally had to hang up when she put her tights on backwards and I realized I had about ten minutes to get her hair into a sock bun and her tutu-ed little behind into the car. My regular readers will remember my earlier hairstyle related breakdown on the subject.....
 |
| Came out pretty good! |
Anyway, I did get her coiffed, photographed, and transported to the next town without incident (she did great not touching or messing up her hair in the car, partially because she is awesome and partially because I ended every sentence I said to her with "and don't touch your hair!"). Once we got to her studio were were ushered into a very small, very hot, very chaotic room where dozens of other moms and their children worked together to get all the little heads in up-does, make up on, and complicated dance costumes tied (thank goodness my kid had an easy costume, if not easy hair) and into the photo room. Phew.
The chaos of a mass swim start is nothing compared to picture day at little girl dance studio.....
Once home, we started the reverse process.... feed child, bath child, scrub makeup off child, scrub hairspray out of child's hair.... get child to bed.....
Only to remember that I was supposed to meet friends that night. Oops. Once again, I'm a bit of an a**hole.
A "Dance Apocalyptic" evening. I love this song. "You're not afraid to freak out!!! You're not afraid to freak out......" Indeed.
What's my point? Well, that for all the reasons so eloquently and hysterically described in this article, being a parent of small children really does make you kind of a a**hole. Or if you don't like that word, at least accept that it makes you truly incapable of doing everything, remembering everything, juggling everything, and doing it all well. This absolutely impacts your training as well. Or at least it sure does impact mine. Even if I wasn't sick (which I am), and if I wasn't injured on running restriction (which I am), it is just really darn hard to pull off a consistent training schedule gracefully without sacrificing other areas of your life.
Side note: I just heard my husband yell from downstairs: "Stop playing in the toilet!! You're making a mess!" See? Parenting = crazy.
Can it be done? Sure. There are plenty of people out there who do it. I'm a huge fan of reaching for big goals. But I'm also a huge fan of balance and recognizing that's it ok to scale them back. I have several friends who have downsized their tri goals this season in favor of new jobs, more family time, and frankly more sleep and sanity. I realized several months ago that this was not the year for me to go for a long-course triathlon. I'm now realizing that this may even be a year that just finishing my current races is all I can manage - forget getting faster or any time or power goals. I am honestly ok with that. Of course the irony is that if I hadn't done two HMs to get faster on the run, I'd probably still be able to run at all.... neither here nor there....
 |
| A coffee machine at my work had a "Well-being" button. If only it were that simple!!! |
Gosh Cupcake Triathlete - you scaled back your cupcake business, and now you're scaling back your triathlon stuff? Really? Why should we even read your blog?
 |
| I don't actually know what this means.... |
And I'm not really scaling back on the tri stuff, just not leaping forward to take on anything huge or crazy anytime soon. Plus getting an X-ray for my hip and some other boring stuff. I know in my heart of hearts that staying active is my very best combat to the parental crazies, which is why yesterday I busted out of the office at lunch time for a quick walk to nearby conservation land for a trail run.
 |
| Ahhhh sweat and nature.... so much better..... |
In an effort to hold your attention, I AM going to share the recipe for the amazing cake that
Gather Round Pound Cake
- 1 (6 oz) package butterscotch chips
- 2 tbsp instant coffee or espresso
- 1/4 c hot water
- 1 1/2 c sugar
- 1 c butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 c buttermilk
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Heat oven to 325. Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup Bundt pan. Melt butterscotch chips with instant coffee powder and water; set aside.
In large mixing bowl, mix sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well after each addition. Mix in buttermilk and butterscotch mixture. Mix in all remaining ingredients. Spoon into pan.
Bake at 325 for 55 to 6 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool ten minutes. Remove from pan - cool complete on the rack and then dust with powdered sugar.
3 comments:
Amen to texting was made for parents! I don't even bother trying to have a phone conversation with my kids around. That cake looks amazing...I don't really have a favorite cake...as long as it's chocoalte :)
Wowza that cake looks and sounds incredible!
Just keep at it, things will fall into place. I have faith that you will not only survive you season but that you will do better than you think. Head up friend!
Agreed that texting/email is nectar of communication from the heavens...otherwise I would never communicate with anyone. Ever. I am a weirdo, and I like Jello cake.
Post a Comment